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In 1993 … February 13, 2009

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Democracy, Human Rights, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics.
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Penyampai : DATO’ SERI DR. MAHATHIR BIN MOHAMAD
Tajuk : SEMASA MEMBENTANGKAN RANG UNDANG-UNDANG AKTA PERLEMBAGAAN (PINDAAN) 1993
Lokasi : DEWAN RAKYAT, KUALA LUMPUR
Tarikh : 18-01-1993
 

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Saya mohon mencadangkan iaitu Rang Undang-Undang bernama Suatu Akta untuk meminda Perlembagaan dibacakan kali yang kedua sekarang.Tuan Yang di-Pertua, Izinkan saya memperkenal dan mengulas Akta yang telah saya sebutkan tadi.

2. Ketika negara menuntut kemerdekaan, pemimpin-pemimpin negara yang telah mendapat kemenangan besar dan sokongan padu dalam Pilihanraya Umum tahun 1955 telah membuat pilihan supaya sistem pemerintahan di negara ini ialah sistem Demokrasi Berparlimen atau `Parliamentary Democracy` dan Raja Berperlembagaan atau `Constitutional Monarchy`.

3. Sistem ini dipilih kerana semasa negeri-negeri Melayu diperintah melalui sistem feudal dengan kuasa di tangan Raja, negeri-negeri Melayu adalah begitu lemah dan pentadbirannya berada dalam keadaan kucar-kacir. Negeri- negeri ini tidak dapat menentukan keamanan dan menguatkuasakan undang-undang. Akibatnya negeri-negeri ini terpaksa meletakkan diri di bawah naungan kuasa-kuasa asing seperti Cina, Siam dan Barat. Akhirnya semua negeri Melayu ditakluki oleh British dan diperintah sebagai tanah jajahan British melalui perjanjian di antara Raja-Raja yang memerintah dengan pihak Kerajaan British.

4. Selepas Perang Dunia Kedua, Raja-Raja Melayu berharap apabila British mentadbir semula kedudukan mereka sebagai Raja yang berada di bawah nasihat pegawai-pegawai British akan dikembalikan. Negeri-negeri Melayu akan sekali lagi diperintah oleh British walaupun tidak seperti Singapura, Pulau Pinang dan Melaka, di mana British berkuasa penuh.

5. Bagi majoriti rakyat Melayu negeri-negeri Semenanjung, mereka juga bersedia menerima pemerintahan di mana keMelayuan negeri-negeri Melayu diakui oleh British, walaupun pentadbiran dikuasai hampir sepenuhnya oleh British. Namun ada pendapat di kalangan sebilangan orang Melayu bahawa negeri-negeri Melayu sepatutnya dibebaskan daripada pemerintahan kolonial British sama sekali.

6. Orang Melayu hanya sedar akan kemungkinan mereka diketepikan dan menjadi pengemis di negeri mereka sendiri apabila Raja-Raja Melayu tunduk kepada ugutan MacMichael dan menandatangani perjanjian baru dengan British yang menyerahkan negeri-negeri Melayu terus kepada British untuk diperintah sebagai tanah jajahan takluk British sama seperti Singapura, Pulau Pinang dan Melaka.

7. Oleh kerana begitu mudah Raja-Raja menyerahkan Singapura, Pulau Pinang dan Pangkor kepada penjajah dan kemudiannya menyerah pula negeri-negeri Melayu, maka rakyat tidak lagi boleh menerima sistem yang memberi kuasa hanya kepada Raja dan rakyat tidak diberi peranan apa-apa dalam politik negara. Lagi pun selepas Perang Dunia Kedua, Sistem Raja berkuasa penuh sudah menjadi lapok di seluruh dunia. Di merata-rata tempat Sistem Beraja ditamatkan terus. Di mana ia dikekalkan, kuasa Raja dihadkan oleh Perlembagaan atau undang-undang asas negara. Justeru itu, semasa Persekutuan Tanah Melayu menuntut kemerdekaan, pemimpin- pemimpin rakyat telah mengkaji sistem-sistem pemerintahan dengan mengambilkira sejarah negeri-negeri Melayu dan sistem-sistem pemerintahan lain.

Tuan Yang di-Pertua, (more…)

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By-elections in Perak February 1, 2009

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Democracy, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics.
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The Speaker of the Perak state assembly has announced that the two assemblymen / Exco members have tendered their resignation, thus vacating their seats.

Two of them remain missing and incommunicado.

One of them Capt Osman (rtd), is my colleague i.e. Exco for Tourism. In fact, he is quite a easy-going, delightful chap, and loyal to the core to Anwar Ibrahim and KeADILan. I shall miss him during our Pakatan (Tourism) caucus.

Personally, I find it hard to believe that he would switch camps. I suspect foul-play. It was this Monday, day 2 of Chinese New Year that I spoke at length with his lawyer, Capt Yunus about Capt Osman’s court case due on 10th Feb. Yunus was very excited and confident about the trial, and I told him that I would try to make it too. Then mid-week, I received a message from his legal partner and my old schoolmate, Wende, who caught a whiff of the rumour. I was surprised and told her to ignore the rumours.

I then tried to call and message him later this week, without success. The last time I saw Capt Osman was in Alor Setar for our Pakatan Rakyat’s MB Council meeting.

I hope he is well, wherever he is, that he is unharmed and I pray for his safe return.

Dengue Hotspots in Selangor January 30, 2009

Posted by elizabethwong in "We can do better", Note2Self.
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(According to districts)

Petaling (Flat A and Flat C Section 7, Terrace A Section 7, Terrace A and Terrace B Section 18, Section U3 Subang Perdana and Section U10 Puncak Perdana);

Kajang (Taman Kajang Perdana, Taman Semenyih Indah, Taman Koperasi Cuepacs Batu 12, Taman Cheras Jaya, Taman Industri Mega, Taman Sri Jelok, Taman Zamrud, Taman Kajang Baru, Taman Kajang Jaya, Section 2 Bandar Sri Putra, Section 2 Bandar Rinching, Zone 1 Taman Sepakat Indah, Zone 1 Section 8 Bandar Baru Bangi, Zon 3 Section 16 Bandar Baru Bangi, Zone 5 Section 16 Bandar Baru Bangi and Zone 4 Taman Bukit Mewah);

Shah Alam (Perdana Apartments Section 13, Flat 18/3 (Eps 2), PKNS Flats Section 20, Section 6 flats, Padang Jawa B, Padang Jawa C, Pangsapuri Anggerik Section 16, Section 10, Section 11, Taman Alam Indah Section 33, Terrace A Section 25, Terrace C Section 27, Terrace A Section 25 and Terrace A Section 8);

Gombak (Bandar Baru Selayang F2, Kampung Laksamana, Taman Pinggiran Batu Caves Z2, Taman Samudera Timur and Taman Sri Gombak Zone 3);

Subang Jaya (Taman Puchong Perdana and Taman Serdang Perdana);

Hulu Selangor (Bandar Baru Batang Kali);

Hulu Langat (Kampung Sg Kantan Kajang and Kajang Prison quarters); and

Sepang (Taman Seroja Zone A).

The overall number of dengue cases recorded from 1 to 25 Jan: 4,521 cases and 13 deaths.

Socrates, Le Guin on writing and words October 17, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics, Race Relations.
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Ursula Le Guin

To misuse language is to use it the way politicians and advertisers do, for profit, without taking responsibility for what the words mean. Language used as a means to get power or make money goes wrong: it lies. Language used as an end in itself, to sing a poem or tell a story, goes right, goes towards the truth.

A writer is a person who cares what words mean, what they say, how they say it. Writers know words are their way towards truth and freedom, and so they use them with care, with thought, with fear, with delight. (…) (A Few Words to a Young Writer)

Socrates

The misuse of language induces evil in the soul

Chamil and Ibrahim still have far to go before reaching the realm of literature.

On the Sri Maha Kaliamman shrine September 30, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Human Rights, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics, Race Relations.
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We have seen and felt the anguish of those who were forced to defend their temples and even suraus in past years, usually due to a parcel of land being subjected to development. I have seen my friend Uthayakumar beaten and arrested defending century-old temples and shrines – and now he has been detained without trial under the ISA for a year.

So when the rakyat gave us an opportunity to govern Selangor on 8 March, this means we have to try to do things differently, and attempt to rectify the mistakes of the past as far as possible. In fact, I touched on this issue in my speeches during the election campaign earlier this year.

The Pakatan Rakyat Selangor state government policy is clear:- That no place of worship (whether surau, tokong, kuil, church etc.) built prior to 8 March 2008 is to be demolished, unless and until a suitable site has been identified for relocation.

So, imagine our horror when we found out a Hindu shrine was demolished recently. No doubt it might have been built in a forest reserve or wherever for that matter, but the policy still stands regardless; we begin with the premise that most of these places of worship were forced over the years into this grey zone, and neglected until recently.

(more…)

TQ all for the ‘million’ … :D September 23, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Event, Note2Self, Writings.
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7 comments

My left eye narrowed to relook at the numbers.

Yikes.

It was only this afternon that I realised I’d passed the ‘million’ benchmark (probably over the weekend) and had completely missed out celebrating the occasion 😀 

Admittedly this blog has been a little slow (and rather restrained) in the past months, but here’s hoping things will pick up before the end of the year.

Thank you everyone for dropping by! 

PS. Rockybru is 7 million (plus plus) this week!

Pics from Protes July 8, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Democracy, Event, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics.
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Photo credit: C Nicholas

Carburetor! July 7, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Event, Malaysia, Note2Self.
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I had stepped out to escape the blazing sun on the stage of the Kelana Jaya Stadium and was trying to cool off with some icy drink when I heard some folksy tunes which was rather pleasant, to which I thought to myself, “Ahhh… finally some decent music during a rally…”. I only sat up when more excellent hardcore riffs drifted near the lake, to which i thought to myself,”Yeah!”

It was only much later I found out the godfather of Malaysian underground music, Joe Kidd, Bullet and the rest of Carburetor Dung graced our protest (and this time, not as protestors) and are now subjects of a media witch-hunt in light of having nothing better to report on. Let it rest, guys. It was a misunderstanding.

For the record, back in 2004 I was very honoured to have played with Joe and Bullet in a one-off experimental set, even sang and massacred a song with my non-existent vocal abilities – I think Joe forgot the lyrics or something so I had make up for the grinding and screeching. I recall the audience being stunned to silence. Then again, how many people in Malaysia can claim that they had shared a stage with members of CD? 😀

So after a couple of media calls this morning, I decided to state some of my thoughts on this whole issue so that I don’t have to repeat them:- (more…)

Why Najib should sue Bala July 4, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics.
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33 comments

If Bala had erred in his statutory declaration, Najib Razak should have instructed his lawyers to sue him, instead of getting him to take out all references pertaining to the latter.

Or maybe it was just easier, since Bala was summoned to the Brickfields Police Station right after his press conference, that a phone call between friends can kow-tim without parting with hard-earned commissions to lawyers?

This is better than kancheong kitchen!

* The Protest Against Fuel Price Hike on Sunday has moved to Kelana Jaya Stadium. Specially for those weak-kneed-at-sight-of-boys-in-blue-n-fatigues liberals who can now rally in style and under shade. No A&W snacks though.

Go ahead and JUMP! June 8, 2008

Posted by elizabethwong in Current Affairs, Economy, Malaysia, Note2Self, Politics.
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38 comments

Since Thursday, I’ve had a maddening Van Halen song playing in my head, thanks to all who had SMSed and called with one and only one message:-

“Petrol price will kill us … Cannot tahan til Sept 16! Do it NOW!”

Even my normally cool capitalist bro freaked and scheduled an emergency family meeting to go through our family finances together.

Last night at Machap Baru, Melaka, during a ceramah which i shared the podium with Chegubard, Mike (Kapar MP) and Mr. Tai (Perak Exco).

Mr. Tai, towards the end of his speech which centred on the fuel price hike, told the audience to get their pens ready as he was going to give them a very very important telephone.

We held our breaths.
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