The Yat (One) And Only Journey…

WARNING : Content MIGHT contain disturbing remarks over religions issue or such but I’m not condemning any of it, yet, I’m discussing it as a FREE THINKER and as a Malaysian who knows nothing bout Malaysian Law in specific..You’ve been warned..

Last Saturday, a bunch of Muslims protested at the Bar Council building at Jalan Lebuh Pasar Besar (nearby Central Market)..

They were demonstrating against the Bar Council’s forum on conversion to Islam forced the forum to end early than scheduled..

Apparently it’s an so-called open forum in a private premise, which is the Bar Council building itself discussing problems faced by some Muslim converts..

Well, I was not present at the scene that day so I didn’t how serious or heated the situation was..Everything just from Malaysiakini’s Video..

So from what we can see from the videos, this group of umat Islam actually going against the forum which they saidwas undermining Islam and the Constitution stated in Article 121 (1A)..

Well, I ain’t a law student so I don’t really know what’s stated in the Article..

I’m not here to condemn Islam or Muslim or being a racist or whatsoever..It’s just my view as a liberal Malaysian..

From what I can see from the video, it’s a group of people gathered illegally and interrupting a forum in a private premise..

Yes, you can say that the Bar Council was trying to challenge and opposing the Constitution even they themselves should know the law better..

What about gathering illegally and stormed into the Bar Council’s conference room? Are these acts deemed legal and courageous?

Can’t they do it with manner? And I think I heard some racial slurs from some of the fellow demonstrators..

Malay-Muslim is NOT the only race in this world that holds Islam..I guess most of them didn’t know that China got loads of Chinese Muslims..

Or they’ve forgotten that Middle Easterns aren’t Malay as well? Or maybe they thought Muhammad Ali the boxing champion is a Malay as well..

Well, I’m not picking on Malay nor Muslim here..It’s just that their mindset are too shallow and that reflects the others too..

If they want to protest, do protest in a proper way coz their silly act would definitely affect the good ones..I know NOT ALL Malays are that shallow-minded..

There are some smart Malays as well..And I didn’t say that all Muslims are stupid either..It’s all about what you do and that reflects your personality..

Same goes to other races and religions as well..I myself as a Chinese I do think that Mainland Chinese are quite dumb too..

Their attitude are dumb in a way, or perhaps their jakun attitude looks dumb..

And I always thought Americans are dumbass..Look at their President, George W. Bush..That’s a real dumb..

But anyway, back to the Bar Council forum issue..

In the second video, you can actually see political blogger Mahaguru58 got pissed off with one of the demonstrators, said to be PAS Youth leader or something..

Anyhow, the funny thing was even PAS Research Centre or whatever it is, they agreed on the forum..

Now that’s what I call matured thinking and they are focusing it on a larger scale, unity of Malaysians..Therefore we have an open forum..

I’m thinking, why all these Malay-Muslims were so afraid of their religion being discussed by others? They can discuss about Christianity or Buddhism if they want to..

These Muslim converts they discussed about Islam because they want to continue their life in a better way..

Say if they are not devoted enough to uphold Islam, what for they continue on because they were converts, just to marry an Islam partner..

Do you think they feel better living as a Muslim but not practicing it..

Worst come to worst, they wanted to eat pork but they can’t coz they are still a Muslim..In reality, they aren’t practicing Islam teachings, they aren’t fasting during puasa, etc etc, just to name a few..

If they discuss it doesn’t mean they are challenging the status of Islam for being the national religion or whatsoever..Why they have to be afraid of their religions being discussed?

And they even booed and jeered the people when they left the building..

With these kind of attitude, whoever wanted to marry to a Malay-Muslim anymore? They got booed and jeered for God’s sake..

Anyhow, I rest my case..

Last Sunday, the Protes rally was held at Kelana Jaya Stadium..

It was an anti-oil hike rally, organized by Pakatan Rakyat..The objective is to gather 1-million people and sign a petition to be handed over to the Parliament or something..

The gathering was going on fine until, this happened..

The performer, Carburetor Dung, got mobbed by most people in the stadium, because of the lead vocalist, Alak’s gesture..

IMO, considering that most of the people there were PAS and PKR members, I’m not surprised with the mob thingy..

But the problem is, why they have to tarnish the image of their own race or religion, Islam?

I’m NOT saying that all of the Muslims in the world are terrorists but that’s what is reflected in most of the incidents..

I don’t see the reason to hurl object missiles onto the stage even if they’ve behaved indecently..

Can’t they just boo or jeer the performer and kindly request to the organizer to stop the performance?

Why they have to be offended and make things worst?

Well I ain’t racist..As a matter of fact, I fully support the rally, by heart..I didn’t make any noise about the roadblocks made in 2-3 before and during the rally..

Carburetor Dung was not supposed to perform in the first place, considering they are an underground band..

For sure their music is different from the mainstream’s..Think Ben’s Bitches..Their lyrics are absurd..

But have you ever heard of any mob or anything from the Chinese or Buddhists or Christians who react over those lyrics?

I don’t think so..Most people would have just brush it off as some kinda humor or won’t take it seriously..It’s just some lyrics of a song..

Anyway, the crowd should have acted decently and not violently..They are representing the Opposition parties and that reflects their image..

To turn over the current Government, who have always been violent, literally, we should counter them with polite and manner..

I’m utterly disappointed with the members of the Pakatan Rakyat who have behaved childishly and take things on their own hands..

If they thought they can take over the Federal Government with this kind of attitude, be ready to lose all of the seats in the next General Election, and I’m sad for that..

As everyone already knew, our Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Datuk Seri Najib Razak and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim were on the dailies cover page in the recent days..

Involvement in the murdering case of Mongolian Altantuya Shariibbuu for the former and the latter was accused for another sodomy case..

Our country is getting interesting, ain’t it? It’s one of the reason you shouldn’t leave Malaysia and stay on to be part of the Malaysia history..

Everyone already have guessed that the alleged sodomy is just another fluke, from Najib perhaps..But there’s also a probability that it’s just another Anwar’s trick to make himself the highlight of the country, and also the world..

Even before Anwar’s case, blog editor of Malaysia Today, Raja Petra (RPK) had blogged about the involvement of Najib, Najib’s wife Rosmah, and two more names..

Now, RPK has been detained by the police force for his statutory declaration or whatsoever, like I know all the legal terms..

Then Najib claimed that he has never met the accuser, Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, few days ago..Then now he said Saiful had met him before Saiful few days before Saiful made the police report wtf..

All Najib did is deny and deny and deny all of the allegations regarding him, Altantuya, and Saiful..He has been very calm and steady, just saying that it’s all lies just to tarnish his image and all..

See what Anwar did..Anwar filed a defamation suit against the former aide, Saiful Bukhari, for tarnishing his image..

That’s what a politician should when people tarnish your image and it goes international for god’s sake..

But why Najib didn’t file any defamation suit against Anwar nor RPK?

The only explanation is he didn’t want any investigation on him or whatsoever..Otherwise it will lead one to another clue to his many many bad-doings..No?

Then he must be the kindest of all ministers, for not suing anyone even if his reputation goes down the hill..So I think I won’t get sued for saying things like this? LOL..

Well, it’s not any big news anymore that he is pumping this much of full tank petrol, she is pumping that much of full tank petrol..

Everyone is sick with the new petrol price already..RM2.70 per liter is like hell for low and middle-income earner..

Even with the rebate system, there is loads of loopholes where people would abuse this privilege..

The following article is an idea from my dad, which he also sent the article to few major newspapers in the country..

So far, only The Sun has published it and you can check it HERE..

Otherwise, I’ve copy-paste everything and put it in here with red-highlights and further elaborate the points stated out by my dad..

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The most effective way to overcome the problem of the fuel price rise and inflation is for Petronas to declare dividends to all Malaysians above the age of 21, since Petronas, as a national corporation, belongs to all Malaysians.

Assuming that 17 million Malaysians (or 63% of our 27 million population) falls under this category, it would cost Petronas RM17 billion if it declares a dividend of RM1,000.

The merits of paying dividend as against subsidy are:

• 1. The present system of subsidising RM625 to car-owners may be subject to abuse. It may now be worthwhile to maintain the registration of a car that is not roadworthy just to enjoy the benefit of the subsidy.

Besides, there will definitely be more ingenuous ways to cheat.

Take for example, a person who an old car registered under his/her name..The car is old enough to become your father and no one is driving it..

But at the same time, one can use that car to claim the rebated provided by the Government..Isn’t it unfair?

• 2. News reports said that it is estimated that the government would be subsiding RM18 billion this year (RM8bil from January to May and RM10bil from June to December).

Therefore, it’s better for Petronas to pay a dividend than to provide the subsidy.

With subsidy the petrol price is already ceiling high..Then it’s better not to give any petrol subsidy but to give out dividend that will benefit the people in many ways..

• 3. The fuel price rise affects not only car-owners. The chain reaction has caused undue hardship to everyone.

Therefore, it is only fair that non car-owners, especially the poor who cannot even afford to buy a motorcycle, are assisted on the same quantum.

The rebate system only pays to car-owners of below 2,000cc..What about the other people who got affected by the chain-reaction?

Due to increment in petrol price, logistics companies and any other courier service will definitely increase their price as well..

And from there, food operators will have to increase the prices of their food as well..This will only cause hardship to the people who didn’t benefited from the rebate system..

• 4. If Petronas were to pay RM1,000 to all Malaysians, each family on the average would receive an additional RM3,000 disposable income.

With RM17bil injected into the financial system, the purchasing power would be strengthened; thus generating more business and opportunities.

On average, say a family have both parents, a child of at least 21-years old (considering that he has license to drive around), and maybe a child or 2 that are studying in primary or secondary school..

If we go by the dividend payout system, by default a family will get to have RM3,000..And later in the coming years after the children have grown up, they’ll get to have RM5,000 altogether..

Don’t you think RM5,000 IS ALOT for some families that are living in poverty? Consider this, some families are to poor to own a car..

But at the same time, they are affected by the chain-reaction caused by the petrol price hike..Do you still think that so-called NEP still applies in this matter? I don’t think so..

• 5. The unrealistic price of oil is manipulated by speculators. In due course when these future contracts are due for delivery, these manipulators would surely bring down the price to below US$100 per barrel; otherwise they would be losing their pants

We should not subject our economy to the havoc created by these manipulators. By subscribing to the dividend system, Petronas could pay a higher dividend when the oil price is high and a lower dividend when it is down. It is so flexible.

Why we would say it’s manipulated by speculators..Yes, The States is under recession or whatsoever now but, they are not the only oil producing country..

Think Middle-Eastern countries..They didn’t even mention that there’s insufficient of oil at this very moment..

Why the oil price has increased drastically? These speculators are offering future contracts, where you buy the materials for a certain time period, say you are buying it from them for 10 years of supply..

Heard of Enron? It’s almost the same case as the Enron Scandal..

At this rate when the price of barrel is increasing like shit, these speculators aren’t earning anything from it and yet, they are losing their money..

So by prediction, the petrol price would drop when it reaches somewhere near $200 per barrel..

But it’s still surprising that OPEC isn’t doing anything when the price is manipulated by the so-called big player..

• 6. If subsidies were to be channeled through a chain of commands in the form of government departments, loopholes and hiccups are bound to develop and the effectiveness of the purpose would be negative.

For this, I’ve claimed my rebate from the post office..It’s really easy and fast..

The queue aside (just 4 people in front of me), the whole process between the counter operator and I took about 3-minutes only..

All I needed to do was to fill in the form while I’m in the queue..Just put in all the details of your fullname, IC number, and your vehicles registration number..

Hand it over to the counter, they go online to check your details to match it with the details you have provided..

Voila! The operator open the drawer and start to count the exact amount of money to give to you, CASH!! See, it’s that easy..

But then again, if it’s so easy, you can do the same thing in every different post office in KL area..

For one post office you’ll get RM625..For 10 post offices, you’ll get RM6,250..

Then you go to another area, say PJ..You go to another 10 post offices and you’ll get another RM6,250..

That sum up you’ll get RM12,500 in just a day or two..Yes you might get caught for doing so but that is only IF the authorities decided to do so..

See how many bus drivers and and traveling bus agencies got off the hook and non-stop killing people in accidents..

I might do it to get myself a DSLR! LOL!!

• 7. Malaysia does not have to be a welfare state, but the yearly dividend from Petronas would ensure that nobody goes hungry.

Since Malaysia is subsidizing some goods and raw materials but the people didn’t really seemed to benefit from it, why not just give out the dividend..

Say, you demolish the subsidy system, all the goods put in its real market price..Use the money in the subsidies as dividend to the people..

That might be even better..For the initial plan of giving RM1,000 per person of 21-years old above, one might even have the chance to get around RM1,500..

This would totally benefit those big families of the poor..Don’t you know that there are a lot of parents with almost 10 children and yet they are living in poverty?

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The petrol price hike have been creating hardship to everyone else..The rich is just slightly affected from it..

While the poor gets poorer..And I bet the crime rate would increase in the next few months..

And it’s not any propaganda or whatsoever of the Opposition..It’s shown and everyone else IS joining it..

*Pictures taken from Malaysiakini*

This happened on 13th of June, after the Friday prayers..It’s touted as the biggest demonstration and a peaceful one..

They walked off their initial path to KLCC and headed to the cross junction of Jalan Dang Wangi and Jalan Tunku Abdul Rahman..

They dispersed peaceful without any attack from the FRUs of tear gas and water cannons..

See, people just want to vent out their anger and would walk off just like, without causing any trouble to the FRUs..

Now you know why the some past demos ended up in bad shape? It’s all because of FRUs..

Not long after that, our so-called PM, Pak Lah announced that there will be no petrol price hike anymore in 2008, at least..

Well, as we all knew, the moment he announces that certain IS not going to happen, THAT particular issue IS going to happen..

What’s your say?

Alright, if you have my MSN, you’ll sure noticed my nickname “Watch The Youtube Video To See How Our Shitty Government Works”..

Okay, for those who don’t know what is happening, here’s the update..

As every Cheras resident knows, to go to Kajang or Sungai Long, one have to pass through 2 toll plazas..

One is right before the Tun Hussein Onn intersection and another just right before the Sungai Long intersection..

Apparently, before the second toll plaza heading towards Sungai Long and neighboring housing area, Bandar Mahkota Cheras (BMC), there’s a toll-free route and allowing BMC resident to reach home in shorter time..

Now, the whole story is as below..

September 15, 2005: The RM16mil Bandar Mahkota Cheras road is opened by developer Narajaya Sdn Bhd with the consent of the Kajang Municipal Council. A few days later, Cheras-Kajang Highway concessionaire Grand Saga closes the road.

October 2005: Grand Saga business development and corporate affairs executive director Zainal Abidin Ali informs council that the closure is due to compensation issues with Narajaya and says the road would only be opened with a directive from the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM).

February 2006: Bandar Mahkota Cheras residents begin signature campaign to protest road closure saying they are forced to use a longer route through Bandar Sungai Long. More than 10,000 signatures are collected. Peaceful protests are also staged over the months.

September 2006: Former Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu tells Bandar Mahkota Cheras Open Access Road Committee members that road is illegal.

December 2006: Committee members led by Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai seek a meeting with LLM representatives but are told the matter would be referred again to Samy Vellu.

January 2007: Grand Saga workers are spotted doing earthworks near site with the intention of putting up toll booths.

May 2007: Samy Vellu insists in Parliament that toll has to be collected at the access road in order to put an end to the long-standing issue.

July 2007: An emergency motion on the matter brought up by Tan Kok Wai in Parliament is rejected.

Residents led by committee chairman Tan Boon Wah visit the Prime Minister’s office in Putrajaya to present a memorandum.

October 2007: Developer Narajaya files a suit against Grand Saga and the Malaysian Highway Authority at the civil division of the High Court.

April 2008: Selangor state government says road is on state land but appoints surveyors to determine who has right of way. Residents go ahead and demolish the first barricade on April 21.

May 2008: Grand Saga re-erects barricade and residents demolish it again. Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim says a meeting would be sought with the Federal Government to put an end to the issue.

May 21, 2008: Court hearing for lawsuit filed by Narajaya.

Chronology of events of BMC taken from The Star Online..

So, the story is unveiled..The residents and current state government, Pakatan Rakyat, has the full right to object Grand Saga from barricading that route..

But, without lending any help or whatsoever, the Federal Government sent Federal Reserve Unit (FRU) to where the protest were being taken place..

Worst of all, the Federal Government IS illegally helping Grand Saga on their works because Grand Saga IS illegally using the state government’s land..

While that land is claimed to be the state government’s, former Works Minister Semi-Value insisted to put up a toll booth at that access road..

So, isn’t this doing IS illegal? It seemed that Semi-Value is trying to pocket some fortune by using the state government’s land..

Should I conclude that the former Selangor state government, BN was just bullshitting and cheating the Rakyat’s money and all?

Zakaria got to build a mansion on a state government’s land and escaped any law and order without worries at all..

Now that Zakaria has died, I’m glad that there’s still justice from the God, although I’m a free-thinker..Yeah, call me hypocrite if you like..

Although news claimed he died due to heart failure or something, some insider news said he committed suicide..

I definitely BUY that thought..Why? Because Selangor has fallen into the hands of Pakatan Rakyat..He’ll be in deep trouble if the state government check his accounts and all..

Now back to BMC issue..See this image below taken from Malaysiakini..

Can you see the hassle and trouble the residents of BMC had to deal with all these years, just because of a fucking toll plaza and a barricade..

Not to mention the toll plaza, the uprising petrol price is a serious issue to Malaysians..

Now we can see the way the Federal Government is helping us to cope with inflation, recession, and confusion..

Now, how shitty a government can be? Helping Grand Saga to commit vandalism on the state government’s land?

Arresting people for voicing out their rights on that land to get to their home?

Beating an MP and in the end claimed know nothing about the beating where everything was caught on camera?

Hence, the birth of these 2 videos from Malaysiakini on that very day, 7th May 2008..

*This is happening in the afternoon*

*This is at night* 

Well, I don’t know how BN is going to retain their status as the ruling government in the next term, or maybe even faster, in the coming UMNO Election..

I LOVE MALAYSIA…….only if Pakatan Rakyat were to govern the country..

This question has been boggling my mind ever since the death of my mom in 2006..

In conjunction with Qing Ming Festival, I went to Kwong Tung Yi San Temple to visit my mom on Sunday..

No, I have nothing against Qing Ming nor Buddhism nor Taoism nor Hokkienism nor Hakkaism, nor Teochewism..

It’s all based on my thoughts and nothing but a discussion of a Free-Thinker..

Yes, I’m a Free-Thinker myself..I have no religious belief nor any cult belief nor anything..

I just believed in what I do and everything that I do are of the best and not doing any bad things which I think are bad, and do the good deeds that I think are good..

Well, my discussion is, like this..

From what I’ve learnt about Qing Ming Wikipedia-style, Qing Ming is otherwise called Tomb Sweeping Day or Clear Brightness Festival..

It’s a directly translation that Qing is clear, and Ming is brightness..It’s somewhat like a cleaning day for their house tomb..

So other than cleaning, it’s a norm for the living family of the deceased to offer the dead some food such as cupcakes guai fah kou, fruits, and drinks..

Burning joss sticks to the dead is also another form of offering food to the dead or god..

I don’t really mind if the smokes are smelly or whatsoever as it’s always as smelly as in the clubs, but the smokes sting the eyes and it’s very hurtful..

Not to mention all the crowd pushing here and there..

The thing I don’t understand i, is this whole thing a compulsory for every Chinese?

I don’t think Qing Ming is applied to Chinese Christians right? Or mayb Chinese Muslims..Muslims have their own way of prayers or whatsoever..

So I don’t really think that I, as a Free-Thinker, am obliged to follow the customs or culture and everything to suffer myself, although I’m a pure Chinese..

Yes yes I know..Some argued that it’s a way to show your respect to the dead and do the best for the dead to compensate what you didn’t get to do when they are still alive..

But, what has been done, it’s done..

I’ve discussed something related to this, the “Chiu Dou” event, click HERE..

I don’t think there’s any need to repeat the same over and over again every year after one dies..

You have sent the soul to the netherworld, that’s it..Why keep on sending over and over again?

I thought Buddhism believed in reincarnation? Even if the dead doesn’t reincarnated is because they have reached Nirvana or whatsoever..

Even so, reaching Nirvana means they are at the peak of bliss and happiness..I don’t think they’ll be coming back to let us send them back to ‘the’ world again..

As for Qing Ming, you clean the tomb or the decks or urns placings, you offer food and drinks, that’s all..

I don’t see there’s any need for me to do all the things that OTHER people do during Qing Ming or Chiu Dou..

Furthermore, neither my family nor I know anything about the custom and rules and what to do during the whole commotion..

Doing it wrongly might even resulted in getting jeered, or perhaps they are good enough, you’ll get advice from them..

Also, different people from different family background is doing it differently..

Hokkien people have their own ritual..Hakka people have their own ritual..Teochew people have their own ritual..

So for me as a Free-Thinker Cantonese, which way should I follow if I were to do it?

I don’t think there’s any answer to my question..The ONLY answer is, do what you think is the best for the dead ones..

So what I think is the best is, clean up the place, place offerings, pray with several joss sticks, voila..I’m done..

Okay, no offence to any Buddhist or Taoist out there..It’s just another discussion in this world, ain’t it?

What say you? What’s your experience and what’s your argument?