The Lottery

Allow me to begin by introducing myself. I am a current JPA scholar with a straight 10A1 in SPM 2002, and I am currently studying medicine in Melbourne. Despite being 6000km from home, I am constantly in touch with the socio-political scene in Malaysia, and it hurts me on a daily basis.

One of my friends has invited me to appear in a video conferencing in DAP's JPA forum to provide a feedback from the perspective of a current scholar. Call me a coward but I have decided against doing so - if JPA finds out about this, there's a chance of myself being labelled "a threat to the country's peace and development", "unpatriotic" or whatsoever. And my JPA contract basically says that they have the right to terminate the scholarship at any time for any reason. So I decided to write an anonymous letter instead - just to be safe.

Today the JPA drama is making its scheduled yearly apperance again. As usual MCA and MIC are busily playing the role of "concerned big brothers" who are there to help us get our scholarships; meanwhile JPA DG is busily clarifying that JPA has tried its best in selecting the most eligible students for its awards. We all know that things are wrong - 15A students are here with us sharing their grief of rejection, while in newspapers we can read news of 7A students sharing their joy of getting the scholarship. We are angry, we want justice, and we want all these drama to be fixed once and for all. But years have gone by, and all these yearly begging practices are starting to sound like a broken record.

Now, many of what I would like to say have already been well elaborated by pundits in the media and blogs. Instead of repeating these points and sounding like a broken record myself, I would just like to tackle this issue from a relatively under-explored perspective: What is JPA supposed to do for the country?

When JPA was first introduced in our country, it was given only to the bumiputera as part of the NEP national policy in order to "raise the education standard" of the bumiputera to catch up with other races which were faring better. After some years, the bumi-only award system was seen as an unfair affirmative action, and with the mounting political pressure, JPA was eventually opened to other races at the end of the last decade, although there remained an undocumented 80%-20% allocation between bumi and non bumi every year, and in recent years this proportion has undergone more changes. At the same time, due to the slackening of SPM's grading process, what used to be a rare species of straight-A1 scorers (about 60 in 2000 if I'm not mistaken) is now a dime a dozen (with no disrespect to the current candidates).

These two parallel processes have opened the Pandora's box: who should JPA give the 2000 scholarships to? Or to put it plainer, "What are JPA scholarship's goals and objectives?" I believe that no one can quite answer this question with certainty - and that's precisely where the problem lies. To quote Kian Ming from his excellent article in Education Malaysia blog, JPA is trying to be all things to all people and trying to fulfill too many fast changing objectives with the awarding of these scholarships. What used to be a plain affirmative action is now a cake for grab by everyone on the street. The relatively disadvantaged view JPA as the financial aid. The academically outstanding think JPA is THE reward for doing well in SPM. Many Malays think that JPA should help Malays more than other races. The rich... well, the rich wants a fair piece for themselves too.

So, when it comes to answering to pressures from all quarters, JPA finds itself wading in a giant swamp. As hard as it tries to extricate itself from troubles, year after year it's beleaguered by more pressure from everyone. The academically advantaged Chinese are fuming in anger. The Malays with special-right pride are unhappy with the change of racial quota from 80-20 to 60-40. The poor people are admonishing the rich people who get the scholarship. It seems that apart from the 2000 lucky students, no one else is in a good mood.

JPA has turned into a lottery draw.

By attempting to live up to multiple expectations and trying to please everyone, JPA is sinking itself deeper and deeper in the swamp. Every year, we see a lot of rejected applicants come forward brandishing the ONE criteria they do well in and question the others' eligibility for the scholarship. The 15A Chinese points at the 12A Chinese and asks, "Why does this 12A guy get JPA but I don't?". The 12A Chinese parents point at the Malays and asks, "Why is this 7A Malay going to UK while my 12A son gets nothing?". The poor 12A Chinese then points at the rich 12A Chinese student. The rich 12A Chinese student points at the rich 12A Chinese student who happens to be a MCA leader's nephew. (The MCA nephew points at the offer letter) Ad nauseum.

At the end of the day, JPA's black-box selection process is the perfect recipe to breed distrust and provoke emotion. In all fairness, it's possible that out of the rejected 15A students there could be some who are indeed a disaster in the interview and are hence not good enough for the scholarship. In that case, it's fair game that the next 12A student gets the scholarship but the 15A doesn't. The problem is, we just don't know - all these 15A students know is that they are rejected, and they can't help but to be teary and angry when they see the next 12A people chirping about their dream UK universities. They don't know whether they are rejected because they did badly in the interview, they are of the wrong skin colour, their dads earn 1k more than the 12A's dad, or simply because the selection panel missed a zero when they typed the total score.

In principle, it's commendable that JPA is trying to incorporate factors like extra-curricular achievement, family income and interview performance into the selection process; but the lack of transparency totally nullifies the benign intention behind these criteria. Today, the only way JPA can help itself is by doing the following:

a) Reveal everyone's total score in the selection process. The rejected people can then learn why they failed, and appeal accordingly if they deem that they are given an unfair score.

b) Stop trying to do everything. Face it - 2000 scholarship places are not enough to meet the multiple dozens of what people perceive to be JPA's role. Tell us what you really want to do (with a specific order of priority), to help the Malays, to help the poor, to reward the academically excellent, or to offer a yearly lottery for SPM students. Tell us, so that we know. Stop trying to be everything. You can't be.

It pains me that so many Form 5 leavers have to be punished cruelly with the consequence of our society's wrongdoing at such a tender age. While we must continue to fight for what is fair and just, I hope that my fellow juniors who do not get the scholarship will keep in mind that there is more to life than scholarships. If you get rejected, it doesn't mean that you are worthless or you will never have an overseas experience in the future. There are so many examples of people who did not get JPA but end up getting into top US unis with need blind policy; and at the same time there are also people who got JPA but end up having their careers shackled by the terms and conditions of the JPA bond. In the end you will get what you deserve even if you were kicked out in this game of scholarship lottery.

A Welcome Speech

Welcome to Malaysia.

I am the Inspector General of the Police, and I am here to give you my welcome speech. Oh ya just to clarify our name, we used to be called Polis Diraja Malaysia, but recently we thought "Police Raja di Malaysia" sounds better.

This audience over here, you have a question? Oh you heard something about democracy? Don't worry, we are a democratic country. One day every five years.

Three arms of the government? Oh of course we have three arms of the government. It's called the Man and His friends, FRU and Polis Raja di Malaysia.

People's government? Of course we are. About 51 percent of people still support us in the five-yearly democratic day. The Sarawak and Sabah people are amongst the friendliest people, may I add.

Any more question? Okay, no? Alright, enjoy your stay here. We are a very safe police state. Just make sure that you don't join non-BN activities and you will be fine

Okay ciao. I am off to catch that audience over there wearing black.

Wait wait, where are you running?

BANG.

I Thank Abdullah

Note: I wrote most of this post in April last year, shortly after the 2008 general election. I am posting it now because the content kind of befits Abdullah's departure from his tenure as the fifth Prime Minister of Malaysia, largely due to his loss in the election. While you read please pardon the awkward appearance of "recent election".


Everyone knows what happened on March 8. Some called it the "political tsunami" of Malaysia, while some say that the day will go down the Malaysian history as "the day BN lost".

With the political tsunami receding and the dust settling, enthusiastic commentary mushroomed in both the mainstream media and the blogosphere. Most of these commentaries hail the recent election as a watershed of the Malaysian history and a harbinger of more changes to come, despite the amplitude and pace of change exceeding everyone's expectation. Malaysians all over the country celebrated the victory and their own maturity, and maturity is the apt word here as no unrest broke out while four states changed hands to the opposition. People feared a riot between races on the big night - but many nights have since passed with peace, again to the surprise and comfort of many. Both young and veteran politicians like Tony Pua, Jeff Ooi, Lim Kit Siang and Anwar Ibrahim are now being celebrated as the true voice and the "conscience" of the people. Meanwhile, people like Zainuddin and Samy Vellu are booed off what used to be their stage.

The newfound spirit and optimism going on in our country, in my opinion, have been well-deserved after so many years of corruption and ineffectiveness in BN's governance. Malaysians, especially the older generation who have been pressing for change for decades to no avail, have all the reasons in the world to revel in the much-needed fresh air in our extremism-laden country. Amidst our celebration, however, I feel that people forgot to thank someone in this change - and that person is no other than our Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Abdullah is arguably the weakest Prime Minister Malaysia has ever seen, his ineffectiveness especially amplified in contrast to the political finesse of the iron-man he succeeded the helm from. Abdullah was widely believed to be a man of well intention, judging from his seemingly sincere promise to reform the political landscape in the country. In 2004, partly due to his Mr. Nice Man image, he garnered an unprecedented support from Malaysians and helped BN grab an overwhelming 90% seats in the parliament. During the time, even the most hardcore critics ceased fire and anticipated for a positive change from this nice man to exact change within the government. Much was anticipated from him indeed.

Over the years, Abdullah failed to deliver most, if not all of the promised reform. Cronyism thrived as we see Khairy Jamaluddin climb up the ladder of power, capitalising on his father-in-law's power even more effectively than the father-in-law himself. Not only did Abdullah not solve the old problems he inherited from the Mahathir era, in some ways his ineffectual governance catalysed the old problem and generated new ones. Trust in the judiciary system and the police force plunged to a new low.

So, you may ask, what am I thanking Pak Lah for? For what he has done to my beloved country?

Nope, I am not thanking him for what he has done for the country; I am thanking him for what he could have done, but has not done for the country.

Pak Lah has allowed a slightly increased level of press freedom in the country. In Mahathir's era, newspapers were to be closed and executive editors invited for coffee if they were to publish any sort of opinions deemed as anti-government. But under Abdullah's governance, I have seen an increasing amount of opinion pieces critical of government being allowed in mainstream media like SinChew or The Star. Yes there is still the obligatory kowtow to the government in the overall tone of the paper, but they are now increasingly able to give some nods to the opposition every now and then. More coverage is also given to the opposition, especially around the election time. Yes I also know there remains controversy of the Herald about the "Allah" issue, and the blackout of media regarding Islamic State and Meng Chee's negarakuku. But overall, I still thank Abdullah - for what more he could have done to control the media, but hasn't.

Pak Lah has also not clamped down on the dissenting voice in the blogosphere hard enough. Yes there have been the ludicrous blockage of Malaysia Today as well as sporadic harassment of political bloggers; but overall blogosphere thrived under him, and it played a huge role in the democratic progress in the country, however little it might be. For once Malaysians had a little taste of free speech, though it was not as free as it could be.

Inevitably history will judge Abdullah as a weak and ineffective PM, one whose tenure is embarrassingly amongst the shortest in history. In fact his tenure would have been the shortest if not because he managed to delay it so that he has more than one month longer in record than Tun Hessein Onn. However, for all his wrongdoing, I am convinced that he will also be remembered as the guy who did some good through his nonchalance, ineffectiveness, or even good will. By design or by default, Abdullah freed the media, allowed opposition to grow, and gave us a glimpse of hope for a healthy bipartisanship. For that reason alone, he has my gratefulness, as illogical as it might sound.

And I shall try to restrain my trepidation as tomorrow arrives.

Democracy

We always say that in a democratic system, people deserve the government that they choose. We often take the word "deserve" to mean that "you get who you vote"; however, rarely does anyone reflect on the deeper meaning behind it - the elected government reflect the people's mentality.

The fact that a country has a racist government doesn't only reflect the effectiveness of the party's great machinery in wooing the people during elections. On a larger scale, it reflects the fact that people themselves choose to endorse racism in these parties by giving them their precious votes. People themselves are in some way racist, so they get precisely what they are - a government manifesting the racial lens from which everyone views the world.

Of course there will be non-racists who are going to suffer because of the majority's decision, but sadly, that's just how democracy works. So next time when you are about to start ranting "why is our government so racist", take a look at a mirror. You can probably see a racist standing right in front of you. It's us, not them. They are us.

GE Ranting

NOTE: This post is a work in progress. There are just so many things I would love to talk about yet I have been restricted by the time factor. If you are here by chance, just come back every once in a while to look for updates.

Last updated: 07/03/08 18:17pm

Since general election around the corner, I would like to write something before it becomes rather meaningless after Saturday. It is going to be very unorganized, so just bear with me as I ramble about various topics in my mind. May I shamelessly recommend you to finish this post as I think I am making some good points across the whole spectrum of dilemmas in Malaysian politics as well as its future. Many of these points, I think, are not elaborated elsewhere in many angry ceramahs and blogs. Rational thoughts tend to be overwhelmed by emotions, and as I have always mentioned, people don't like angry people. So I strive to provide a clearer, fairer and more rational perspective without incitement, hatred and fanatic propagandas.

Let me try to write this post in Question and Answer style.

Q: Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said "We need two third majority in the BN government so that the country is more stable and the foreign investors are more inclined to invest here." Doesn't it sound quite right?

A: Many countries with the most prosperous economy and social stability DO NOT have two third majority; and many countries with overwhelmingly powerful government (read: dictatorship) are not stable and prosperous. Every single person with reasonable general knowledge will be able to give you a dozen of examples for both categories above. Also, look at the US election: Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton are stuck in a dead heat in the US election primaries for Democrats, but it is a good sign because competitiveness begets progress. People are not worried about the "unstability" in politics, are they?

Sorry, what you said was nonsense, Abdullah.

*****

Q: "I have many plans, but I need more time to implement them. Give me more support so that I can do an even better job!" Should I consider giving him more time and chance for better plans?

A: 90% majority in Parliament (the last election outcome) is as much support as any generous population could give, Pak Lah. People had faith in you, they thought you are the fresh air of Malaysia . Even the most staunch anti-BN bloggers and opposition leaders once held their fire and anticipated some good things from you. (Go check any anti-BN blogs out there e.g. Jeff Ooi, Lim Kit Siang, Niamah etc, and look up posts around Pak Lah's new appointment as a PM).

With all the resouce and support in the world, if you are capable and sincere at all, you wouldn't have had any problem implementing any change or even overhaul in Malaysia. Things that you acknowledged, things that you talked about fixing, things that you promised for Malaysians. Words like "I work for you", and "I want to hear from you".

But no, Pak Lah, with arguably the most supportive population in the world, you failed to deliver most of your promises and pledges. You talked about fixing corruption; but we have Sir Zakaria who built his giant mansion in Klang, public agencies that bought stationery at unbelievably high price, fund for Primary School that went unaccounted for, and a chief justice who have the uncanny tendency to bump into his favourite lawyer throughout a trip. You talked about safety, but now we are facing an almost inexorable increase in crime. You talked about justice. Eer, well, you know the scripts.

You ignored the problems, you sheltered the corruption, you held nobody responsible. You punish the whistle-blower, you order black-out in the media, you warn the people who wanted to send a message to you. And you once said you wanted to listen to them. That you work with them.

What do we stand to gain by giving you and your party overwhelming support again this time? More whimsical changes of constitution such as arbitrarily prolonging the age of election committee chairman, just so that he can chair the election for one more time? Or more jokes like "we need the original video tape, without verifying the authenticity of the tape we will not investigate any of the allegations."

*****

Q: But if I don't give Pak Lah and BN support, what should I do? DAP, PKR, PAS etc all look quite extreme, many of them look fanatic, especially the PAS ones. I really don't want PAS to gain power. I don't want my state to be undeveloped like Kelantan. I don't want alcohol to be banned. I don't want my arms to be chopped off. I don't want my kids to be named Muhammad. I don't want to part with my foreskin.

A: I disagree with PAS' fundamentalist principles as much as any other secular person on the street. I do not look forward to the rise of fundamentalism and the conversion of Malaysia to fundamental Islamic state. The Malaysian constitution dictates that Malaysia IS TO remain as a secular country with Islam as the official religion, so Islamic state is unconstitutional in Malaysia, regardless of what Najib claims about it.

I also know that PAS does play a lot of dirty tactics when it comes to voting, sweet promises, vote-fishing etc. They tell the rural voters things like "vote for the real Islamic party if you are a real Muslim". They also promise lots of good things to the Chinese community, but have never nudged a single inch regarding their ultimate goal of ruling Malaysia with fundamental Islamic principles. They can be rude, and do a lot of ugly name-calling Najis, Mahadzir etc.

Yes I know that. And I don't want PAS to rule the country (not because of the foreskin part, in case you are wondering).

*****

Q: So, should I just draw a pile of shit on both the squares of UMNO and PAS candidate in the ballot?

A: No of course you shouldn't draw a pile of shit. Draw something that looks nicer. Like flower. (just kidding)

*****

Q: What do you think we should do then? Cast a blank vote? Vote BN?

A: Many people have this impression that a blank vote is a vote of no confidence to both parties. "I think both parties are not good, so I am going to cast a blank vote to let them know the fact," some say. While this might sound true theoretically, casting a blank vote simply shows indecisiveness. [to be continued]

[continued] (Writing this after Ming's first four comments)
Yes, if you have a general election with a high percentage of blank or spoiled vote, the government, the country and the world are going to get the strong message that "this country's government do not get a mandate from the people, and the opposition do not live up to people's expectation too".

But the problem is, everyone already knows that, with or without your blank vote. CNN, BBC, IHT, Reuters, The Age, Herald Suns, you name it, report about the Malaysian people's disgruntlement towards the government on a regular basis.

So what is someone going to achieve with a blank vote? A blank vote is just that - a blank vote. It's non-participation and relinquishment. I know that many people are of the opinion that opposition can do nothing much apart from shouting slogans and tirading against the government, and hence they are "useless". In fact I do feel that once in a while too. Also, some opposition members are equally, if not more radical, racist, extremist, dishonest than their BN counterparts.

However, what many fail to recognise is, one's vote in an election does not simply imply "who you want to form the government". A vote for the BN doesn't mean you agree with everything they do; a vote for the opposition doesn't mean you want PAS to rule the country. On the grand scale, the biggest implication of one's vote, is to skew the vote distribution to either party.

A corollary of the previous paragraph is that:
a) If you vote for BN, you think that BN deserves their votes (90% was what they got last time) or even more.
b) If you vote for the opposition, you want to reduce BN's majority.
c) If you cast a blank vote, you are giving your consent to the status quo (since it's the same as not voting at all) ,and hence agreeing with the current vote distribution (90% - 10% for seats, 65% - 35% for actual vote count). And no, letting them know about your discontent doesn't help with things - everyone already knows that.

In short, it's more important to think about the consequences than the "meaning" of one's vote, whatever that was supposed to be. If you think BN deserves more support, then vote BN. If you think BN's hegemony needs to be curbed, then vote for opposition. (unless that particular opposition running in your constituency is an absolute bigot, of course) So if you choose non-participation in election, either you think that the status-quo is worth preserving (which is patently wrong IMO), or you are failing to exercise whatever right that remains in you. In a country where democracy has been reduced to a five-yearly event, a blank vote is a wasted vote.

*****

Q: You are talking as if BN has been evil and useless. But they still did develop the country and produced a bit of result. And HEY they also gave you your scholarship! Our country is developing well, the rural areas are becoming more developed, people are not starving. Just compare with Ghana etc, we are so much better than them. [insert a few random "achievements" here]

Shouldn't we be thanking BN for what we have, and why are the opposition parties creating so much troubles? All they do are clogging up roads through demonstrations, screaming blue murders and creating tons of allegations, and some parties even talk about this unthinkably horrible thing called Islamic state. Why do you people support the opposition? They are hindering the progress of our country.

A: Many bloggers, including myself are at fault of being biased when it comes to commentaries. We seem to nit-pick the most minute mistakes of the incumbent government in order to support the opposition. We seem ungrateful to the existing progress and development, but choose to be greedy and ask for the sky in everything. We highlight all the blemishes of the government but conveniently ignore the good deeds they are doing every day. We also seem to conveniently forgive all the antics and sins of the unethical opposition members.

Ungrateful bunch, aren't we.

To begin with, I shall clarify that I am not a proponent of opposition for the sake of opposition (as always claimed by BN regarding opposition parties). Similarly, contrary to some opinions, BN is not being evil for the sake of being evil (can you believe some people actually believe that?). Those impressions are drummed in us in order to influence our rational thoughts, and in this regard "opposition = blind opposition" and "government = naturally evil" are just some of the messages drilled in us via the propagandas from both sides.

If we look at politics more rationally, what we should realise is, everyone plays their own role in democracy, and "everyone" here includes the "evil" government and the "anti-establishment" opposition. Abdullah and his friends are being ridiculous when they propose "Malaysia is a democracy that does not need opposition" - that sentence itself is a logical contradiction. Yet, it would also be naive for an opposition supporter to think that the best government would be one that is dominated by Lim Kit Siang, Hadi Awang and Anwar Ibrahim (and Wan Azizah).

All dynamic things come in an equilibrium, and it's this very equilibrium that we seek in all criticism from Jeff Ooi's to Frank's. We definitely need to be at least a bit grateful for all the development and achievements brought about by the government. It is imperative, however, for us to recognise that a government is not the same without its opposition. When I support the opposition, it doesn't mean that I fail to recognise whatever effort the government made - instead, it only means that at this very juncture, the need for more check and balance from the opposition to curb corruption and complacency is more important than the need to acknowledge the government's work.

To put it shortly: Thanks for all your good works. But tell me where all the money and justice went to!!

*****

Q: My constituency's candidates are from UMNO and PAS respectively. I don't like the way things are, but I don't like PAS either. Should I still vote? Who should I vote?

A: I have no right to tell you who you should vote for, but I would like people to remain astute in their options. I may come across as a staunch pro-opposition person, but I am not all out to ask people to vote opposition blindly, with songs, slogans and invectives. [to be continued]

*****

Q: "We can’t change things, so migrate only lah!"
Q: "Sigh politics sucks. I don’t want to get involved"
Q: "After all the complaints, but in the end BN still win la, so go vote for what wor?"
Q: "I know the BN will win for sure, so what's the point to vote?"
Q: "Politics is dirty, I am not interested, don't care lah."
Q: "I give up already."
Q: "Why do you still care? Politics in Malaysia is like a drama with the most boring and expected ending!"

(Some are adapted from Su Ann's brilliant post about General Election)

A: Why do we have people who complain about things, yet refuse to vote come election time? Or even worse, why do some young people not bother to register as a voter at all?? I am disappointed with the attitude of some people around me, especially the younger generation who is already of voting age. They give all sorts of reasons like the ones listed above. [to be continued]

*****

More questions to come.

Why? Why? Why?

Go read this: http://pokuan.blogsome.com/2008/02/19/i-am-sorry/ (and its comments)
And this: http://myop101.blogspot.com/2008/02/it-doesnt-end-here.html

It gives me warmth inside, but frustrates me at the same time. Fong Po Kuan just gave us a first-hand experience of what it felt like to be an opposition MP - you thought you have the arena and reason to right the wrong, but soon you come to the painful realisation of everything falling on a deaf ear. What we feel about Po Kuan's resignation at this moment, is exactly what every single opposition MP feels everyday.

So many people are in tears. I almost cried reading the comments too.

Why? Why? Why??!

A Not-Too-Short List

• Squategate: Ketuk-ketampi Video - A detainee under lockup by Royal Malaysian Police had her breast groped and was forced to perform ear-squats. A video was leaked, stirring commotion in the public.
  
  Status: Largely forgotten.
  
  
• APKings - Rafidah Aziz, the "Queen of the Parliament", is accused of corruption - issuing Approved Permit (permit to import cars) to her relatives, government officials and former officials.
  
  Status: She's still there.
  
  
• 'He looks like me, sounds like me': VK Lingam - From the guy famous for "Correct Correct Correct" - trying to convince us that the guy in the video is his brother in a parallel universe. VK Lingam, a senior lawyer with a funny accent, is alleged to be involved in arranging Ahmad Fairuz's promotion to the top judiciary post, through his relationship with former Chief Justice Eusoff Chin. By the way, he might consider a romantic relationship with Mr. Chin, considering their "accidental" encounter so many times in New Zealand.
  
  Status: Original video not yet found, so shut up la everyone. Copy doesn't count.
  
  
• Baby Nurin, Baby Sharlinie - The former 8-year-old girl was abducted, raped and killed. The latter was missing for more than three weeks now. The cases reflect the poor state of security in the country.
  
  Status: MMS continue to be distributed through Maxis. Best wishes to her.
  
  
• Altantuya Shaaribuu - A Mongolian woman who was shot and blown up with military explosive. Suspects: Abdul Razak Baginda (a close associate of Najib), and two members of special action unit who were then serving as body guards of Najib.
  
  Status: Trials ongoing.
  
  
• Violent Crimes up 119% in PM's 4 Years (Rape +116%, Gang Robbery without Firearms +268%) - The statistics kind of supports the notion that our police force is far more efficient at dispersing demonstration than catching real criminals.
  
  Status: Aiyarr it's like that lar, there are always bad people one lar.
  
  
• RM4.6 Billion Port Klang Free Zone Fiasco - Allegedly, the Port Klang authority was forced by well-connected individuals to buy far more land than planned for the free trade zone and at highly inflated prices, even though it could have compulsorily acquired the land, literally saving billions. This and development costs, and "professional fees", blew out the total cost for the zone from 1.845 billion ringgit to 4.2 billion ringgit. It is a scam of outrageous proportions. Rather than make arrests, the Government is using taxpayers' funds to bail out the authority. The auditor-general tipped off the responsible minister (a term I use loosely) - Chan Kong Choy, the Transport Minister - about the problems, as did a foreign partner in the zone, but Chan ignored the warning. (copied from Michael Backman's article in The Age)
  
  Status: He's still there.
  
  
• 'Saya Pantang Dicabar': PM AAB - I say YES, you can't say NO. Democracy is JUST a five-yearly event.
  
  Remark: True also, if you keep on disagreeing with the PM, how can he govern well wor?
  
  
• RM 400,000 per self-cleaning toilet - Title says it all. Opening Ceremony here. A comparison: It can buy a bungalow.
  
  Remark: Really ahh? I want to go try out the toilet lehh...
  
  
• Great Johor flood 2006; PM Opens Nasi Kandar Store in Perth - When the country was facing massive floods in Dec 2006, the PM was busy opening a Nasi Kandar restaurant (which closed down months later btw). He is said to have been "watching the country via remote control".
  
  Remark: Aiyar unfortunately the restaurant closed down, if not next time go Australia can go visit.
  
  
• Everything Scomi - Scomi Group Bhd, a company owned by Abdullah's son, had a meteoric rise over the past few years and are alleged to be awarded contracts via cronyism.
  
  Status: I didn't even know about this until this poster.
  
  
• Cobra King: The Turkish Luxury Yacht - Abdullah's private yacht as reported by a Turkish paper..
  
  Status: Kids say in unison, "Mummy I wants to be a Prime Minister next time"
  
  
• New RM200 Million VVIP Jet - The Malaysian version of "Air Force One". Officially bought by Penerbangan Malaysia Berhad, allegedly for the PM.
  
  Status: Kids cry.
  
  
• Highway Toll Increase - People may not notice the other things, but no one can miss this issue. The highways in Malaysia seem engineered to generate profit for the highway owners.
  
  Status: Numb already la.
  
  
• Cooking Oil Shortage - News.
  
  
• Putera UMNO Sponsors Mat Rempit in Sky Diving Expedition: Mat Rempit are rebranded as "Mat Cemerlang", and are sponsored in a sky-diving expedition in North Pole.
  
  Remark: Man how I wish I chose Mat Rempit as my career!

This is just one third of the list, but you get the idea.

Before you vote, think about whether your vote is for the better future.