The Best 50 of Murphy's Law

You can never tell which way the train went by looking at the track.

Logic is a systematic method of coming to the wrong conclusion with confidence.

Whenever a system becomes completely defined, some damn fool discovers something which either abolishes the system or expands it beyond recognition.


Technology is dominated by those who manage what they do not understand.

If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

The opulence of the front office decor varies inversely with the fundamental solvency of the firm.

The attention span of a computer is only as long as it electrical cord.

An expert is one who knows more and more about less and less until he knows absolutely everything about nothing.

Tell a man there are 300 billion stars in the universe and he'll believe you. Tell him a bench has wet paint on it and he'll have to touch to be sure.

All great discoveries are made by mistake.

Always draw your curves, then plot your reading.

Nothing ever gets built on schedule or within budget.

All's well that ends.

A meeting is an event at which the minutes are kept and the hours are lost.

The first myth of management is that it exists.

A failure will not appear till a unit has passed final inspection.

New systems generate new problems.

To err is human, but to really foul things up requires a computer.

We don't know one millionth of one percent about anything.

Any given program, when running, is obsolete.

Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.

A computer makes as many mistakes in two seconds as 20 men working 20 years make.

The faster a computer is, the faster it will reach a crashed state.

Nothing motivates a man more than to see his boss putting in an honest day's work.

Some people manage by the book, even though they don't know who wrote the book or even what book.

The primary function of the design engineer is to make things difficult for the fabricator and impossible for the serviceman.

To spot the expert, pick the one who predicts the job will take the longest and cost the most.

After all is said and done, a hell of a lot more is said than done.

Any circuit design must contain at least one part which is obsolete, two parts which are unobtainable and three parts which are still under development.

A complex system that works is invariably found to have evolved from a simple system that works.

If mathematically you end up with the incorrect answer, try multiplying by the page number.

Computers are unreliable, but humans are even more unreliable. Any system which depends on human reliability is unreliable.

Give all orders verbally. Never write anything down that might go into a "Pearl Harbor File."

Under the most rigorously controlled conditions of pressure, temperature, volume, humidity, and other variables the organism will do as it damn well pleases.

If you can't understand it, it is intuitively obvious.

The more cordial the buyer's secretary, the greater the odds that the competition already has the order.

In designing any type of construction, no overall dimension can be totalled correctly after 4:30 p.m. On Friday. The correct total will become self-evident at 8:15 a.m. On Monday.

Fill what's empty. Empty what's full. And scratch where it itches.

All things are possible except skiing through a revolving door.

The only perfect science is hind-sight

Work smarder and not harder and be careful of yor speling

If it's not in the computer, it doesn't exist.

If an experiment works, something has gone wrong.

When all else fails, read the instructions.

If there is a possibility of several things going wrong the one that will cause the most damage will be the one to go wrong.

Everything that goes up must come down.

Any instrument when dropped will roll into the least accessible corner.

Any simple theory will be worded in the most complicated way.

Build a system that even a fool can use and only a fool will want to use it.

The degree of technical competence is inversely proportional to the level of management.

Any attempt to print Murphy's laws will jam the printer.

e=mc2: 103 years later, Einstein's proven right

PARIS (AFP) – It's taken more than a century, but Einstein's celebrated formula e=mc2 has finally been corroborated, thanks to a heroic computational effort by French, German and Hungarian physicists.

A brainpower consortium led by Laurent Lellouch of France's Centre for Theoretical Physics, using some of the world's mightiest supercomputers, have set down the calculations for estimating the mass of protons and neutrons, the particles at the nucleus of atoms.

According to the conventional model of particle physics, protons and neutrons comprise smaller particles known as quarks, which in turn are bound by gluons.

The odd thing is this: the mass of gluons is zero and the mass of quarks is only five percent. Where, therefore, is the missing 95 percent?

The answer, according to the study published in the US journal Science on Thursday, comes from the energy from the movements and interactions of quarks and gluons.

In other words, energy and mass are equivalent, as Einstein proposed in his Special Theory of Relativity in 1905.

The e=mc2 formula shows that mass can be converted into energy, and energy can be converted into mass.

By showing how much energy would be released if a certain amount of mass were to be converted into energy, the equation has been used many times, most famously as the inspirational basis for building atomic weapons.

But resolving e=mc2 at the scale of sub-atomic particles -- in equations called quantum chromodynamics -- has been fiendishly difficult.

"Until now, this has been a hypothesis," France's National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) said proudly in a press release.

"It has now been corroborated for the first time."

For those keen to know more: the computations involve "envisioning space and time as part of a four-dimensional crystal lattice, with discrete points spaced along columns and rows."

RPK lodges police report against the people/entity that prosecute him in the 1st plac

by: nobi5

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia Today news portal editor Raja Petra Kamarudin has lodged a police report against the Department of Islamic Development (Jakim) for insulting other religions.

He also lodged a report against Kamunting detention centre officers, alleging that they did not allow him to perform Friday prayers.

Raja Petra lodged the report after declining to give another statement to Sentul police regarding a Jakim allegation that he had insulted Malays, Muslims and Islam in his blog on Malaysia Today.

“They are trying to punish me twice for the same crime,” he said, adding that he was detained under the ISA following Jakim’s allegation on Sept 12. The star 19 Nov 2008

Malaysia Waves: RPK Should Stop Lying About Islam.

Malaysia Waves: RPK Should Stop Lying About Islam.

Like a coin, both side are legal, only views are different but still, false coin look legal too. Where is the fine line?

Theology Versus Secularism

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

It appears like the Turkish Prime Minister is in trouble with Turkey’s court. They have accused him of being anti-secular, which is a crime in Turkey. They say the Prime Minister want to abolish or remove the anti-tudung law, which means Turkey’s citizens will no longer be forced NOT to wear the tudung. If you remember, recently, a Turkish lady Member of Parliament was evicted from parliament for insisting that she wear her tudung in the building. University student too must remove their tudung before they enter the university gate.

Turkey is on the other extreme of Afghanistan where the “religious police” would throw acid on faces of women who do not wear the tudung.

Malaysia of 2008 is a far cry from Malaysia of 1958, the first Anniversary of Merdeka. Then, skirts and bare-backs were the order of the day and the tudung was a rare thing at best, the more “decent” Malay women would wear a selendang wit the front hair revealed. Today, women who wear bare-back clothes are arrested.

What happened over those 50 years? Have Malays become more religious and more conscious of their Islamic duties? Over the last month, three women have been charged for corruption and fraud. All are pretty senior Malay government officers. And all wear the tudung. So, the wearing of the tudung can’t be equated with being more religious or being a better Muslim. If not, they would not accept bribes or cheat. Wearing the tudung is merely a symbol. It is a symbol that you are very Islamic. But this does not mean you really are.

Malays, today, talk about restoring the Caliphate and implementing Islamic laws. In short, rejecting a Secular State in favour of a Theology State – meaning an Islamic State of course. But do these some people know what an Islamic State is? And do these people also know how the many experiments of Islamic States have gone horribly wrong and the new “Islamic” government was worse than the old government it replaced?

In a nutshell a Secular State or Theology State is just a name. Names are not crucial. What is would be the function rather than form. Form must follow functions, and not the other way round.

Let us examine some of the failed experiments. Some predominantly Muslim countries have flirted with the idea of changing their government and have discovered that the newly installed Muslim leaders were no better, or worse, that the “kafir” leaders. Millions have died because of this, Muslims killed at the hand of Muslims.

Kurdistan, Afghanistan, Armenia, Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, Morocco, Sudan, Pakistan, Serbia, Gratis, Syria, Bosnia – just think of any country where either Muslims, Christians or Jews make up the majority population and I will show you a tragedy. No, theology is not the answer. We can’t solve problems by replacing a Secular State with a Theology State. History has shown us that, in fact, more damage is caused. The system is not the solution. It is those behind the system that matter.

A year after the end of the Second World War the Algerians wanted the French Colonialists out of their country. The eight-year war led to the loss of more than a million lives. Both sides wee equally guilty of the barbaric killings where old folks, babies and women were not spared. Finally, in 1962, the French decided to go home. But until today the killings continue; except now it is not Muslims killing Christians but Islamists killing Secularists – and vice versa.

The Turks too wanted the kafir out, so millions of Armenians were massacred. The Kurds were the willing servants to rape and murder the Armenians. This was ethic cleansing of the kind perpetuated by the Germans during World War 2; though maybe only a quarter in number died compared to the Jews.

Later the Kurds were themselves exterminated by the Iraqis and Turks. And the same went for the Afghans where they first killed each other to establish an Islamic State and then the Islamic State killed off as many as the previous “kafir” state did. In Iran, too, more died in the new Islamic State than in the Shah’s “kafir” state.

An Islamic State is no guarantee that you would get a good government. Neither would a Secular State. So it is best that the rhetoric and setting up an Islamic State be discarded and instead we focus on the issue of the setting up of a just state of whatever kind.

We have seen too many deaths over the last 60 years, people killed in the name of Islam. Tens of millions have been killed. Two million in Afghanistan. One million in Iran. One million in Iraq. One million in Turkey. More than one million in Algeria. Many more millions in other Muslim countries. The list goes on.

The Iranians say: those Iranians who died fighting Iraqis are going to heaven as the Iraqis are “kafir”. The Iraqis say: those Iraqis who died fighting Iranians are going to heaven as the Iranians are “kafir”. So, both Iranians and Iraqis are “kafir”. Or is it both Iranians and Iraqis who kill each other are going to heaven since both kill and die in the name of Islam?

With all this killing and the tens of millions of deaths over the last 60 years, all the so-called “Islamic States” are nothing short of failed states whereas “God-less” states like Sweden are heaven on earth.

Maybe you need to choose an Islamic State to go to heaven. But thus far all the Islamic States have proven to be hell. Maybe this is because they talk more about life after death rather than about life itself.

By Selcuk Gokoluk and Ibon Villelabeitia

ANKARA (Reuters) - Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan was involved in anti-secular activities, a top court said on Friday, explaining a decision to fine his AK Party that could reignite political tensions in the EU applicant country.

The constitutional court's legal reasoning marks the first time a sitting prime minister in predominantly Muslim Turkey has been blamed by the court for undermining the country's secular principles.

The ruling could put pressure on Erdogan to sack some members of his cabinet in an expected reshuffle.

The court, the highest judicial body in Turkey, decided in a close vote in July to fine the Islamist-rooted AK Party for Islamist activities, but dismissed a prosecutor's case to have it closed down and Erdogan and other leading members barred from politics for five years.

"It was found that the head of the party Recep Tayyip Erdogan, member of the party and former parliament speaker Bulent Arinc, Education Minister Huseyin Celik...were involved in determined and intense activities which were against article 68 of the constitution," it said.

In a 370-page legal explanation, the court singled out Erdogan and other senior members of the AK Party for attempts to lift a ban on the Muslim headscarf at university and efforts to lower the age at which students can attend Koran classes.

It also mentioned statements made by Erdogan in the past, including one in which he said "religion is the cement of Turkish society" and an interview to a Malaysian newspaper in which he described Turkey as a "modern Islamic state."

"Erdogan made it clear that his opinions on freedom of belief were aimed at creating an unlimited freedom for political Islam. This point of view was reflected in Erdogan's and other prominent party members' words and activities. There was an attempt to transform and restructure the state within the framework of the rules of a certain religion," it said.

The court, however, said it voted against banning the AK Party because it had not incited violence and because of its EU reforms, including giving more rights to minorities and to women.

Turkish markets are largely focussed on the global economic crisis and shrugged off the court's legal reasoning.

WARNING

Analysts said the court's ruling was a further warning to Erdogan, whose party is locked in a power struggle with the powerful secularist establishment, including judges and the military.

Secularists say the party is seeking to bring back religion to public life. The AK Party, which has its roots in political Islam, denies the charges and points to its liberal record since it first came to power in 2002.

"This shows the AK Party escaped closure very narrowly. The court is telling the party it must regulate itself and stay away from provocative policies such as the headscarf," said Yusuf Kanli, a veteran Turkish columnist.

"It is also telling the party that the court might be compelled to ban it if it continues with its present trend," he said.

Erdogan said on Thursday he might seek to trim the powers of the court after a ruling in June overturned an amendment to lift the restriction on wearing headscarves at university.

The AK Party, which includes former Islamists, conservatives and pro-business liberals, won a sweeping re-election last year. (Editing by Diana Abdallah)

Changing road names doesn’t make sense

NOWADAYS, our politicians seem to have nothing better to do than to wage wars on renaming roads and streets and also making a big fuss on additional languages on signboards.

The latest fiasco is focussed on renaming Jalan Silibin in Ipoh to Jalan P. Patto.

While I fully appreciate the Pakatan Rakyat in recognising the vast contributions of the late Patto, I don’t see why they should choose Jalan Silibin which has been in existence for more than five decades.

The people around that area are so used to the road and people from outside Ipoh can easily identify themselves with Silibin Road.

I do not see any rationale on the part of the Perak government in causing inconvienience to the residents of Jalan Silibin, especially to those in the business fraternity.

And how about the ordinary folk? They have to change their addresses on their MyKad, driving licences and other important documents although it can be argued these things are quite minor and can be overcome with time.

To create a win-win situation and to recognise the sacrifices and contributions of the late Patto, I suggest the Perak government name a new housing scheme after the DAP stalwart and they can have so many Jalan Pattos in the whole ‘taman’.

If this is not feasible, when a new recreational park or centre is created, name it after him. By doing this, nobody will be inconvenienced and I am sure everybody will accept it gracefully.

If we keep changing existing names, there will be no end to it. A policy must be formulated to protect names of roads and other places so that it would not encourage further name changes when a new government takes over.

JAYARAJ KGS,
Sitiawan, Perak.

Umno / Muslim NGO lodges police report

Posted by: super_structure

I think these people don’t have anything better to do but to waste their time and seek popularity by lodging reports continuously and in return they are more or less like clowns.

Tennis event – It’s a matter between the organizers and the state government and why Umnoputras has to jump??? There has been so many failed project done by the BN government but no actions taken so far. I wish the state government will get rid of all these people out of the island for the betterment of the people in Penang

Deputy CM Ramsamy – He merely provided the numbers and his statement is pure facts on why non-Malays are not being employed in government jobs. Everyone knows that these are the brainchild of UMNO to limit the access of the non-Malays into these jobs via their discriminative policies. Often the Malays claim that its their people who is willing to sacrifice and die for the nation as majority of them are employed in the forces. My question is, when was the last time a non-Malay was appointed to high rank in these forces??? Rear Admiral (Rtd) Datuk K. Thanabalasingam is the first Malaysian chief of the Royal Malaysian Navy and any other non-malay after him??

Everyone wants to seek excellence in their career but what’s the point if the promotions are given based on race and religion and these are some of the reasons on why the non-Malays doesn’t want to join the forces. This is just the tip, but as we go in detail and also the experience of others we might even have astonishing stories on what has happened to non-Malay candidates applying for government jobs. The Muslim NGOs and UMNOputras should not get too excited when the truth is revealed as I believe ISLAM teaches fair and equality, not NEP and race supremacy!

Malaysia considers dumping petrol subsidy scheme

Malaysia is not currently subsiding petrol and may dump its subsidy scheme altogether, despite major protests earlier this year over spiralling pump prices, a minister said Tuesday.

The government on Tuesday cut pump prices by seven percent to 2.00 ringgit (0.56 dollars) per litre as global crude prices continued to ease. The price of diesel was also reduced by 15 sen to 1.90 ringgit per litre.

"We have stopped subsidising petrol from the time when the pump prices were cut to 2.00 ringgit per litre," Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Shahrir Samad told AFP.

He said that at current prices, the government is making about 30 sen per litre.

"At about 60 dollars per barrel we are already making money," he said.

Shahrir said the government was still handing out direct subsidies in the form of cash rebates for motorists of 625 ringgit per year and that diesel and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were still being subsidised.

"The rebate system is still being enforced... but it will runs its course until March next year before we either stop it or implement a new system," he said.

Tuesday's cut was the fifth the government has announced since a 41 percent hike in June as the price of crude soared, sparking angry street protests and calls for Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to resign.

Shahrir said the government will decide by the end of the month if subsidies will be reinstated if crude oil prices go up again. It will consider setting a floor price of 1.92 ringgit per litre.

"I would be happy to have a floor price of 1.92 ringgit. This would allow the government to earn some revenue and it is also easier to manage the price," he said.

"It is also a better option because we can use the savings for development or to reduce the deficit."

The government earlier this month announced a 7.0 billion ringgit (2.0 billion dollar) stimulus programme -- reaped from savings on reduced oil subsidies -- to boost the economy amid the global slowdown.

But the additional spending saw the government widen its budget deficit forecast for 2009 to 4.8 percent, from 3.6 percent predicted in August.

Drama on the high seas - The Somalian Pirates

Pirates in Somalia are at it again. Over the weekend they claimed their biggest prize to date: a Saudi oil tanker the size of three football fields, laden with $100 million in crude oil.

Before you summon romantic images of rum-soaked swashbucklers gallivanting "Pirates of the Caribbean"-style, consider this: The sophistication of the most recent attack has the attention of U.S. Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

On Monday Mullen said he's "stunned" at the pirates' ability to hijack a vessel in the open ocean so far from the coast (though most attacks occur closer to the Gulf of Aden, this one took place 450 miles off the coast of Kenya).

"[The pirates are] very well armed. Tactically, they are very good," Mullen said.

Indeed, the seizure of the Saudi tanker is the latest in a series of high-stakes incidents in recent months. Piracy has long plagued the waters off the Horn of Africa, but attacks this year have spiked 75 percent, according to this video from AP.

Just last week, the British Royal Navy got into a firefight with Somali pirates attempting to hijack a Danish cargo vessel. As the Times of London recounts:

Pirates caught redhanded by one of Her Majesty’s warships after trying to hijack a cargo ship off Somalia made the grave mistake of opening fire on two Royal Navy assault craft packed with commandos armed with machineguns and SA80 rifles.

In the ensuing gunfight, two Somali pirates in a Yemeni-registered fishing dhow were killed, and a third pirate, believed to be a Yemeni, suffered injuries and subsequently died. It was the first time the Royal Navy had been engaged in a fatal shoot-out on the high seas in living memory.

But the mother of all Somali pirate attacks this year has to be the seizure in September of a Ukranian ship carrying, of all things, weapons -- $30 million worth. And as Wired summed up, we're not talking small arms here, but tanks and anti-aircraft guns. American and Russian warships raced to surround the hijacked vessel, but nearly two months later, the standoff is ongoing.

That brings us to the key question: What happens after the pirates seize a ship? As many have pointed out, it's not as if they have the means to easily offload crates of Soviet-era weaponry or thousands of barrels of Saudi oil. To find out, the New York Times' Jeffrey Gettleman went straight to the source, interviewing a spokesman for the pirates aboard the hijacked Ukranian vessel, who said, "We just want the money":

"We don’t want these weapons to go to anyone in Somalia. Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons. We don’t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money."

And many pirates do, in fact, get ransom money. The Christian Science Monitor reports:

Ransoms that used to be in the tens of thousands of dollars a few years ago can now be a few million dollars. And this has been a good year for pirates: Total ransom payments for 2008 could top $30 million....

Q. & A. With a Pirate: “We Just Want the Money”

By Jeffrey Gettleman

Somali pirates in small boats hijacked the Faina, a Belize-flagged cargo ship owned and operated by Kaalbye Shipping Ukraine, on Sept. 25.

Sugule Ali, the spokesman for the Somali pirates holding hostage the Faina, a Ukrainian freighter loaded with weapons, spoke to me by satellite telephone today from the bridge of the seized ship. In the holds of the Faina, which the pirates seized on Thursday, are 33 Russian-built battle tanks and crates of grenade launchers, anti-aircraft guns, ammunition and other explosives. American officials fear that the weapons could fall into the hands of radical Islamist insurgents who are battling Somalia’s weak government. My questions were translated into Somali, and Mr. Ali’s responses into English, by a translator employed by The New York Times.

Q. Tell us how you discovered the weapons on board.
A. As soon as we get on a ship, we normally do what is called a control. We search everything. That’s how we found the weapons. Tanks, anti-aircraft, artillery. That’s all we will say right now.

Q. Were you surprised?
A. No, we weren’t surprised. We know everything goes through the sea. We see people who dump waste in our waters. We see people who illegally fish in our waters. We see people doing all sorts of things in our waters.

Q. Are you going to sell the weapons to insurgents?
A. No. We don’t want these weapons to go to anyone in Somalia. Somalia has suffered from many years of destruction because of all these weapons. We don’t want that suffering and chaos to continue. We are not going to offload the weapons. We just want the money.

Q. How much?
A. $20 million, in cash. We don’t use any other system than cash.

Q. Will you negotiate?
A. That’s deal making. Common sense says human beings can make deals.

Q. Right now, the American Navy has you surrounded. Are you scared?
A. No, we’re not scared. We are prepared. We are not afraid because we know you only die once.

Q. Will you kill the hostages if attacked?
A. Killing is not in our plans. We don’t want to do anything more than the hijacking.

Q. What will you do with the money?
A. We will protect ourselves from hunger.

Q. That’s a lot of money to protect yourselves from hunger.
A. Yes, because we have a lot of men and it will be divided amongst all of us.

Q. [There are 20 crew members, most of them Ukrainian, being held hostage.] How are you interacting with the hostages? Eating with them? Playing cards?
A. We interact with each other in an honorable manner. We are all human beings. We talk to one another, and because we are in the same place, we eat together.

Q. What if you were told you could leave peacefully, without arrest, though without any ransom money. Would you do it?
A. [With a laugh] We’re not afraid of arrest or death or any of these things. For us, hunger is our enemy.

Q. Have the pirates been misunderstood?
A. We don’t consider ourselves sea bandits [”sea bandit” is one way Somalis translate the English word pirate]. We consider sea bandits those who illegally fish in our seas and dump waste in our seas and carry weapons in our seas. We are simply patrolling our seas. Think of us like a coast guard.

Q. Why did you want to become a pirate?
A. We are patrolling our seas. This is a normal thing for people to do in their regions.

Q. Isn’t what you are doing a crime? Holding people at gunpoint?
A. If you hold hostage innocent people, that’s a crime. If you hold hostage people who are doing illegal activities, like waste dumping or fishing, that is not a crime.

Q. What has this Ukrainian ship done that was a crime?
A. To go through our waters carrying all these weapons without permission.

Q. What is the name of your group? How many ships have you hijacked before?
A. I won’t say how many ships we have hijacked. I won’t talk about that. Our name is the Central Region Coast Guard.

When a Malay disagrees with the Ketuanan Melayu...

KOTA BARU: Kelantan Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat said he disagreed with the notion of Ketuanan Melayu (Malay Supremacy) because there are no race considerations in Islam. [The Star, 17/11/08]

The Chief Minister of Kelantan and PAS spiritual leader, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat (image) was referring to the Ketuanan Melayu - an ideology proposed by UMNO that held the racist belief of Malay supremacy among the other races in the country.

The widely revered Chief Minister said the whole concept of the Ketuanan Melayu is racist in the eyes of Islam and labelled Muslims who placed nationalism and race ahead of religion as 'disillusioned followers'. After all, the religion of Islam in this country is not restricted only to the Malays but there are also Chinese and Indian Muslims in Malaysia.

Click here for the write-up on UMNO's ideology of Ketuanan Melayu.

“It is a religion above race. We cannot quantify race with Islam, such as Malays with Islam. There are also Chinese and Indian Muslims,” said the PAS spiritual adviser. Those who place race above religion are being brainwashed by western culture,” Datuk Nik Aziz said. [The Star, 17/11/08]

The term Ketuanan Melayu was never mentioned in the Federal Constitution. However, Article 153 is a provision in the Constitution that guarantees and protects the special position of the Malays and the Orang Asli (indigenious people). UMNO have exploited the lack of definition on the term of 'special position of the Malays' and have clearly twisted the meaning to serve its own interests.

The non-Malays do not reject Article 153; they respect and embrace the fact that the Malays and the Orang Asli are the natives of the land. However, Article 153, as many Malaysians believe, should not be manipulated by any party for its racial agenda and in turn, using it to discriminate other ethnic communities in the country.

What then? Can the special position of the Malays be preserved without discriminating the other races? The answer is yes. An amicable solution can definitely be achieved if and only if multi-lateral dialogues are allowed to take place without any racist intentions between the Malay and non-Malay communities. Therefore, UMNO's Ketuanan Melayu ideology is not only unconstitutional but also a delusive racist belief that contradicts the spirit of Malaysia.

In fact, UMNO was embarrassed when one of their own, Zaid Ibrahim went public to criticise the Ketuanan Melayu belief; calling it a failure. The former Law Minister also blamed the racist ideology for poor ethnic relations in this country. Read "Zaid Ibrahim called a traitor for criticizing UMNO" for more details.

It is legally dangerous for a non-Malay to speak out against the Ketuanan Melayu for the risk of it being seen as a direct challenge to Article 153 in the Federal Constitution. But when Malays like Datuk Nik Aziz and Zaid Ibrahim publically disagree with the total fallacy of the Ketuanan Melayu, UMNO now has no excuse to threaten anyone with 'another May 13'.

The biggest obstacle to Malay progress ...

I am a Chinese Malaysian male with diverse groups of friends - Tamils, Malayalees, Sikhs, Jaffna Tamils, whites, Eurasians, and Babas and Nyonyas. The problem is I have very few Malay friends.

Umno tells them I am a threat to them.

Umno tells them I am undeserving of equal rights. They might even believe it, and since I don't want to think any less of them, I prefer to keep my own counsel.

Generally I don't talk much about anything important with Malays, and certainly not about politics. I think meaningful friendships between Malays and non-Malays are becoming rare in Malaysian society.

There is not enough dialogue between Malays and non-Malays at the ground level. Umno speaks from both sides of its mouth - telling the Malays the non-Malays are a threat to them, and then turning round to tell the non-Malays that their rights will be protected.

At other times it may say the reverse, the key denominator being what it needs to say to win votes at the time, and the ethnic composition of the audience. After 51 years of Umno's divide and rule, it is no wonder that race relations are a joke.

With Biro Tata Negara, Khir Toyo and Ahmad Ismail to lead the way, only a fool will think Umno wants good race relations. Umno leaders wants good race relations only when it will keep them in power. Power and money are the real motivations for Umno's political leaders.The same can be said about the MCA and MIC leaders as well - serving their UMNO masters have been proven to be highly beneficial in the occassional contract or two to make this much money or that. (Who cannot remember the old joke about Samy Vellu pointing to a highway when asked how he makes a living those days when we did not know Ministers were getting paid so high?)

After the twisted judicial treatments and twisted sentences meted out to the likes of Lim Guan Eng, Anwar Ibrahim, Teresa Kok and Raja Petra Kamaruddin, I think we can safely rule out any semblance of a sense of right and wrong and common decency as a meaningful guide to Umno's decisions.

There are a number of things I want to put across to my imaginary Malay audience in cyberspace - you - particularly if you believe every racist, inflammatory, bigoted, and demonised stereotype, opinion piece and fabricated news that Ahmad Ismail, Khir toyo, Utusan Melayu, and Biro Tata Negara tells you about me.

If I were a Malay leader, this is what I would say. The Malays totally dominate the aristocracy, cabinet, parliament, judiciary, police, military, and huge government bureaucracy. The Malays have the highest birth rates.

You have benefitted from the racial quotas in education, commerce, licenses, contracts, jobs and promotions - funded by non-Malays. Therefore if you are feeling aggrieved, if you are feeling angry, and if you are feeling insecure, you need to ask yourself why.

If Umno tells you that your culture, language, race and religion is threatened by non-Malays and non-Muslims, i would suggest you think critically before you act.

Consider that all the quotas that you have had has not helped you, even after twenty over years, to reach an equibilirium point with other races in the country; then you might see that it is those same quotas which have done you in.

For one, Umno has destroyed any hope of English literacy amongst the Malay masses.Without English literacy the 'really successful' professions are out of the question for you. High-paying jobs will be hard to find. You will be handicapped in your career and business. But what does Umno tell you? Umno tells you that the non- Malays have advanced economically at your expense.

Umno loves to say that the non Malays have used unfair means to advance by cheating you. The truth is Umno leadership has advanced economically and socially at your expense by destroying your competitiveness but to cap it all, they have succeeded in making you blame the non-Malays for their mistakes. The ironic part of this is how Umno uses the non-Malays to come up as well.

Umno makes you think that the way for you to reach global competitiveness would be to oppress and hamstring the non-Malays with steep racial quotas for jobs, licenses, and university places.

The truth is that it is the competitiveness and grit of successful Malays and non-Malays who compete in the open market in open competition that acts to provide every Malaysian - you and I - with the best goods at the cheapest prices.

You could buy a good quality, long lasting, reliable Japanese car in any other country for what you pay for a crappy Proton in Malaysia. Meanwhile, the AP scam that gives select Malays a license to smuggle in thousands of cars without paying duty will never be awarded to anyone other than the most overly privileged, wealthy and connected Umno elite insider - and definitely not to you if you are an ordinary decent Malay.

With Umno's wholesale corruption, and racist propaganda that scapegoats and demonises the non-Malays to play on your fears and anxieties, our beloved country will come to resemble the uneducated, unproductive, expensive, impoverished countries like Burma, Indonesia, Bangladesh and Zimbabwe.

Umno leaders will do anything to stay in power and wealth, and that includes to divide and rule with lies, judicial abuse, and more. In the beginning the NEP picked the low-hanging fruit so there was an easy prosperity for everyone but now the signs of terminal decay are everywhere.

Economic and political reality has come back to roost, and if you are still poor, you need to ask why filthy rich Umno leaders are telling you that the non-Malays continue to cheat you of your rights and prosperity. The truth is that the success of any Malaysian in the open market that is subject to open competition will benefit all Malaysians.

Businesses, academics and professionals who have succeeded because of their competitiveness, innovation, hard work and determination bring prosperity to all Malaysians. Non-Malays and Malays who compete in the open market, if they succeed, it is because they offer everyone - you and I - a better product at a lower price.

Businesses and businesspersons who have succeeded because of a government-sanctioned cartel or monopoly that denies others the chance to compete will make all Malaysians poorer - that is, except the lucky filthy rich Umno-BN leaders who gave themselves or family or cronies the cartel or monopoly - APs, Proton, UEM, Renong, Bank Bumi - in the first place. Even these people aren't usually rich for long, or if they are, drain the economy as a whole as they keep spending money as per the desires of the political leaders, and not to encourage growth within the economy in any way.

If you are reading this letter, I can presume that just like me, you did not get the exclusive contract, license, cartel or monopoly either. The truth is you and I and everyone else have been made poorer by the system that Umno has created. Even those who still believe they have benefited from the NEP - You haven't. Think about it for one brief minute. Who you are, and how far you've come from wherever you came from could also have come from an economic policy that helped all Malaysians equally as well, with an added strength: your competitiveness would have been sharpened, making you an even more bankable asset to the nation and the economy.

If the economy is heading for a downturn, and if the financial crisis affected your business, and you are wondering why people in other countries don't work as hard as you, and still earn much more money, then you will begin to understand that they live in a superior system.

Their leaders do not rob and abuse their citizens as much as in Malaysia. If you drive a Proton and they drive a Japanese car for the same price, then you are never going to be as well off as them.

Advanced progressive modern countries have achievement-based values, equal rights, open competition, meritocracy, and legislate against racism.

Such countries will have wealthier and healthier citizens who are not any smarter than you, and who will not be working harder than you, but they will be better informed than you, their kids will receive a better education than yours, and they will be earning lots more money than either you or me.

Umno will tell you that advanced countries like Singapore have prospered at your expense. The truth is that Umno will never give you a superior system. It cannot reform because it has an addiction problem. Umno leaders are addicted to huge amounts of easy money - your money!

Umno will tell you that their addiction to your money is in your best interests. Umno will say they only take money from non-Malays. Umno will say it is your fault if you are addicted to Umno's Ketuanan Melayu policies and bumiputera privileges..

The truth is that Umno is addicted to your tax money, and Umno will try to weaken your will to succeed on your own by getting you mentally addicted to their falsehoods. Unless Umno can make you feel addicted to your privileges, and make you feel unable to compete, and frightens you with the non-Malay bogeyman (or bogeywoman like Teresa Kok), and that he or she is a threat to your safety, finances, future, race, language, culture and religion, then Umno knows it will lose your vote in open competition to PKR and PAS.

The biggest obstacles to Malay progress are low standards and low expectations. Umno tells you that you cannot compete with the non-Malays. You are still in desperate need for help, even though there are hundreds of other fellow Malaysians in the same boat as you; yet there are so many parameters to what is better or not that it is impossible to measure them all. It is illogical to think that someone else is better than you, especially when you see that your friends who were in equally bad shape as you years ago are now doing so much better in life elsewhere because they learnt early on that being non-Malay, no one was going to help them, or, in this case, stop them from succeeding in life.

To believe that you cannot compete is a very low expectation that guarantees very low standards, and it is the last thing you would ever want to leave to your children. The solution requires guts and faith - in you. You must insist on open competition, meritocracy, equal rights, and an end to all forms of racism.

You are not inferior, you can compete, and you control your own destiny. If you allow Umno to brainwash you, and your children, then low standards and low expectations become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

The NEP has inevitably deteriorated to become a scam whereby Umnoputras will get all the benefits and be laughing all the way to the bank and everyone else gets poorer funding their excesses - mansions, wives, fat bank accounts, licenses, contracts, monopolies, APs. You get nothing, and I get even less than nothing - blamed for being the pendatang. Even though you and I were both born here, in Malaysia, and have seen, heard, touched, smelt, tasted and felt that Malaysia as our home, no matter wherever else we may go in the world.

PAS and PKR want to change the NEP so that it will help the poor of all races but since the Malays form the bulk of the poor, then the Malays will automatically benefit exceedingly, and no one will feel left out or despised. Simple maths, logic, and jaga hati all around.

We must create a superior system of government that will be efficient, productive, progressive, competitive, and meritocractic - one that can hope to outperform Singapore - if we are to hold our heads up high, in open competition, and without prejudice.

The Malays will still totally dominate the aristocracy, cabinet, parliament, police, judiciary, military and government but in a country that is progressive, meritocractic, educated, progressive, prosperous and respects equal rights, human rights and freedoms.

This would be real legacy worth leaving to your children. Choose wisely.

KL Johnny

Malay Rights Redux

UMNO warns about losing "Malay Rights". UMNO warns about PR taking it away.

But what exactly is PR removing?

I'll skip all the technicalities so that the average person can understand. Let us just examine the facts. And I'll just start by asking you a few simply questions:

a) What exactly is "Malay Rights"?

b) Who has ever received one cent of this "Peruntukan Melayu" since 1957?

c) Why is your application turned down, or rejected every single year without fail?

d) Compare your house, with that of the Minister. Which is nicer?

e) Compare the Minister's house when he first joined Politics, and today.

f) How much longer will you continue to be used as a statistic for even more "Peruntukan Melayu" dollars to be put into UMNO's own pockets?

A quick viewing of Ronnie Liu's Website will start giving you an idea of the enormity of the Corruption, and such practises going on in this country today. All in the name of "Malay Rights". They're not even "Melayu". And neither are you. You are Javanese, Minang, Cham, Patanni, Bugis, Achenese, Ambon, and so on. You want to see "Melayu"? Go to Pulau Bintan, Pulau Batam, Jambi, Brunei. Those are Melayu. Not you. And you all know it. UMNO is lying to you.

These lies, are simply the excuse for UMNO to line their own pockets. Do you seriously believe that UMNO made the "honest" purchase of RM5,000 per Stanley Screwdriver which we can buy at Tesco for RM15? Were they really corrupt, or just un-informed? Either way, do you want these robbers to be your Country Leaders?

Dear Malaysia. This is blatant Corruption. And UMNO deliberately keeps the Police salary poor, so that they are "forced" to be corrupt too. This is to ensure that the lower ranks will shut up when their Big Bosses are taking Bribes. And their Bosses' bosses are equally corrupt too !!

And you, the Rakyat, just let them do this to you. You are so concerned about your pitiful "ricebowl" that you assume that it is alright for them to continue to Rape and Plunder the country. Malaysia is not hungry enough for a change of Government. And you will continue to "Fret and Strut upon the Stage, and then is heard no more.." like Shakespeare says, and still allow UMNO to rule the day. Let not our dear RPK suffer in vain. He has always been, and is fighting for Malaysia. And his efforts will come to waste if you, the people sit down on your sorry asses hoping that someone else will do it for you. Tun RPK is but one man. You are 28million strong. Without your help, RPK is wasting his time.

"Malay Rights" should be read , and understood as "UMNO Rights". And "Peruntukan UMNO", instead of "Peruntukan Melayu". The Malays were never part of the receiving end. They were, and are still to be used as mere statistics. And that's why they continue to ask the Malays to breed like JackRabbits. They need your Babies for a "Head-count". And then, you'll need to figure out how to feed them yourselves, furthering your financial misery. You'll need to figure out how to feed them, school them, and turn them into responsible adults. UMNO doesn't care if your children are Drug Addicts. They don't care if your children become rapists, or murderers, or killers. They just simply need the Head-count. So that their own wallets are fat and thick.

So go ahead, and light another candle. Go ahead and sing the Negaraku while the FRU beat you with their batons. It means nothing if Malaysia is not prepared to Kill the Evil UMNO Regime today. What are you afraid of when PR talks about removing the "Peruntukan UMNO"? What are you afraid of when PR insists on removing "UMNO Rights"? They were never meant for you anyway.....

Prepared by Michael Chick

Does Umno have the political will to correct the education system they ruined ?

Our Prime Minister-in-waiting Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak studied at St Johns and his wife Datin Seri Rosmah studied at Tunku Kushiah College.

Both benefited from English schools and understand the commercial and intellectual values of a solid English education.

In this country, the real power resides in Umno delegates.

Only Umno delegates can give political will to the Education Minister to make drastic changes in the education system.

All they have to do is to pass a resolution calling on the Government to reintroduce English medium schools.

With consensus, the resolution will then be tabled at the Umno Supreme Council which will endorse it for recommendation to the Government.

And who is the Government? It is the same people in Umno who hold government posts.

It will be debated in Parliament where getting it through will not be a problem except for objection by a few opportunists.

The majority of us want the Government to reintroduce English medium schools while retaining vernacular schools.

It is the duty of any government to give the option to the majority and not the minority.

If the the minority want their children to study in vernacular schools, then they should not deny others from studying in English medium schools.

Chun Wai mention 60,000 unemployed graduates because “…many are unable to express themselves, because of poor communications skills (in English) thus limiting their job options…”.

I agree. Look at those Indian-subcontinent graduates who have no problem getting jobs at the United Nations or any UN agencies or in other English speaking countries because they come from an English medium education system.

Let’s face reality. Bahasa Malaysia cannot help our students to be competitive in the job market either locally or otherwise.

The fact that they are handicapped in English contribute to their low self-esteem and misery.

And when they work they have a tough time polishing their English so as not to look like fools in the eyes of their bosses, colleagues and foreign executives.

The syllabus of an International School covers world history, geography and English literature.

Their approach is one of acquiring knowledge and creativity whereas our Sekolah Kebangsaan is one of spoon-feeding, rote learning and getting a string of A’s but not knowledge.

It is a pity. Once upon a time the poor could study at government English schools.

Today only the rich can send their children to International Schools.

HASSAN TALIB,

Gombak, Selangor.

QUESTION: Who chopped the cherry tree?

Legend has it that George Washington, America’s first president, chopped down a cherry tree in his youth. George
gives the tree a good swing and chops it down with an axe. His father sees the damaged tree and asks his son if he
knows who did the deed. George is quoted bravely admitting the truth :- “I can’t tell a lie, Pa; you know I can’t
tell a lie. I did cut it with my axe.”

How are you going to answer if you are the one? Here some tips, based on answers by our politicians :-

PM Badawi - I did not cut down the tree, I was just taking a nap underneath it.

DPM Najib Abdul Razak - I swear that I have never MET that tree.

Hishammuddin Hussein - … but I only own a keris, not axe, how to cut down the tree.

Dr. Mahathir - Apa nama cherry tree, I chopped it down because, I don’t like the idea of Pak Lah sleeping under it.

Chua Soi Lek - Yes, it was me, I resign as caretaker of this orchard.

VK Lingam - It could be me, it might have been me but I don’t think it’s me.

Anwar Ibrahim - I DID NOT do it, and I am not giving any DNA samples for you to plant on the axe handle.

Khir Toyo - the new state government should just trim the grass and not waste time asking who cut the tree.

Ahmad Said (Terrenganu MB) - I chopped it because cherry trees are more expensive to maintain than durian trees.

Azalina Othman - The cherry tree is not included under my tourism MOU so I cut it down. Besides there were
unauthorized signboards put up around the tree.

Shabery Cheek - I challenge you to a debate on tree cutting.

Samy Vellu - I chopped it because Hindraf members were using it as a meeting point

Wira Ali Rustam - We have planted durian trees for 50 years and we will plant them for another 50 years, we do
not need cheery trees, apple trees, pear trees and all these other foreign trees.

Rais Yatim - You must see the bigger picture, Ahmad said cherry trees are expensive to maintain, Ali Rustam said
that are against our national identity and I needed to test my new axe, so you see, its a WIN-WIN situation all around.

Shahrir Samad - I cut the tree because we could no longer afford to subsidise it.

Karpal Singh - The bigfoot creature did it.

Bung Mokhtar - The big monkey did it

Pandikar Amin Mulia - There is nothing in the standing orders against chopping cherry trees. Kinabatangan duduk,
Bukit Gelugor duduk. Sit down.

Khairy Jamaluddin - I did not do it, neither did the Mat Rempits. By the way, what’s a cherry tree?

Lim Kit Siang - (In response to Khairy) Cherry tree also you don’t know, you are an insult to Oxford!

Nazri Aziz - Racist, racist, racist, when we cut down durian trees nobody made a fuss.

Malaysian Citizens - Oh for heavens sake! Somebody plant something before we all starve to death.

And this is how newspapers/websites in Malaysia will report this in their front page headlines.

The Star - Cherry Tree cut down, BN Govt defends action, blames Opposition “hidden” agenda.

The NST - PM and DPM believes Cherry Tree Massacre meant to cause racial disharmony

Utusan Malaysia - Kerajaan memberi amaran kepada pembangkang “Jangan menyentuh hak istimewa pokok ceri
yang tumbang.”

Berita Harian - Pokok Ceri tumbang - Angkara Anwar dan PR?

The Sun - Cherry Tree dismemberment root cause of political unrest in Malaysia

Malaysiakini - BN in disarray - admits tree cutting incident

Malaysian Insider - Leslie Lau - The tree that chopped a nation

Malaysia-Today - No Holds Barred - Let’s send the Cherry Tree choppers to HELL!

Susan Loone - RPK says lets send the Cherry Tree choppers to HELL! Let’s do it!

Rocky’s bru - I’m so disgusted with the chopping i think im going on strike

People’s Parliament - Its time to take back our trees with a petition to the King!

jelas.info - Cherry tree incident - why we still fail to understand one another

niamah (Patrick Teoh’s blog) - haiyah, which fler cut down our tree ah?

zorro- unmasked - the cherry tree cutter deserves the fart chambers!

whatalulu- lulu wonders what will happen to the poor cherry tree

kickdefella - Forum potong pokok - Angkara Abdullah

and finally!!!

politikus - cherry tree? what cherry tree? I was busy doing restaurant reviews lahhh