CORRUPTION

From http://razaleigh.com/

The word “corruption” comes from a Latin word meaning “to break” or “to destroy”. Corruption is a cancer that steals from the poor, eats away at governance and moral fibre, and destroys trust. Although corruption exists in both the private and public sector, the corruption of the public sector is a more fundamental evil. This is because the public sector is the enforcer and arbiter of the rules that hold us together, the custodians of our common resources.

Corruption is the abuse of public office for personal gain.

• Corruption exacts a huge toll on our economy

o In a survey of more than 150 high ranking public officials and top citizens from over 60 developing nations, these officials ranked corruption as the biggest obstacle to development and growth in their countries.

o Corruption empties out the public purse, causes massive misallocation of resources, dampens trade and scares away investors

o The World Bank estimates that corruption can reduce a country’s growth rate by 0.5 to 1 percentage points per year. Where there is a lack of transparency and a weak court system, investors stay away.

o Corruption is a form of theft. But it is a form of theft that also damages what is not stolen. This is because corruption involves the capture of decisions involving public funds. Corrupt decisions mis-allocate public resources and cause tremendous waste in the expenditure of public money. Public money is poured down the drain when projects are selected not because of the value they deliver to the public but because of what can be skimmed from them.

• But corruption is more than an economic cost. It is a curse that attacks the root of the tree. Corruption destroys trust, which is nothing less than the glue holding a society and its institutions together. When it becomes rampant and is conducted with impunity, it also demoralizes even those public servants not involved in it. The common people’s experience with government breeds the expectation that they need to pay before things will move. Small businesses suffer as city hall officials come on their rounds to collect mandatory “donations.”

It is time we recognized corruption as the single biggest threat to our nation. In our economy, corruption is the root of our inability to to make the economic leap that we know we are capable of. There is no other reason why a country so blessed with natural resources, a favourable climate and such immense talent should not have done a lot better than we have.

In our political system, corruption is the real reason why our political parties refuse to reform. In the party I belong to it has debased a once noble nationalism and a concern with the welfare of marginalised people into a rush for the gravy train. The economic development we must bring our people is reduced to nothing more than patronage, and patronage is inflated into a right.

The root cause is in our political parties. It is an open secret that tender inflation is standard operating procedure. Within the parties and among politicians, it is already an understood matter that party followers must be ‘fed’. Politics is an expensive business, after all. Where else are we to get the funds? Thus theft of public goods is normalised and socialised among an entire community, and what we had planned to attain by capability is seen by some as something to be attained through politics.

Politicians are the villains in this piece, but they themselves the villains but they themselves are also trapped. The leadership is trapped because they are beholden to political followers who demand that they are looked after. They demand patronage, and the turn the party’s struggle for the welfare of a community into their sense of entitlement to that patronage. So they take their slice of the project. By the time they they and each person down the line all the way down to the contractor takes a lot and there is not enough left to do a decent job, bridges collapse, highways crack, stadiums collapse, hospitals run out of medicine, schoolchildren are cheated in their textbooks. Corruption may look to its perpetrators like a crime without victims, but it leaves a trail of destruction.

No domain seems safe. The humble school canteen is the domain of Umno branch chiefs. The golf course become a favoured way to pass the cash over. We can place bets for RM5000 a hole. For some reason one party keeps losing. And there are 18 holes. Money thus obtained is legal. It can be banked.

We spend billions on the refurbishment of defence equipment; on fighter jets, frigates and submarines. Whe a supplier lays on an exorbitant commission to some shadowy middleman, that commision is built into the price the government pays. That money comes from the ordinary Malaysian.

Military toys are very expensive. I remember from my time in the Ministry of Finance. Even then, patrol craft cost about RM280mil each.

We loved Exocet missiles. As Minister, I had to sign each time the military fired an Exocet missile for testing. Every time we test fired one of them, RM2mil literally went out with a bang. When the UK went to war against Argentina, the UK Government came back to borrow them from us because outside of the UK we had the most of them in the world. We must have been under some extraordinary military threat which I did not understand.

The list is long: procurement of food and clothing for the military, medicine for hospitals and so on. In all these things the Government has been extraordinarily generous. And paid extraordinarily high prices.

Government servants have to face pressure from politicians who expect to be given these contracts because they need money for politics. This corruption is justified because the party’s struggle is sacred. The civil servants can either join the game or be bypassed.

For every government job big or small that goes down, someone feels entitled to a slice of the pie, not because they can do the job, not because they have some special talent or service to offer, but because it is their right. They do not realise that what they demand is the abuse of power for the sake of personal gain, or party gain. They elect those leaders among themselves who are most capable of playing this game. So we get as our leaders people who have distinguished themselves not by their ability to serve the public but at their long proven ability to be party warlords, which is to say, distributors of patronage. And that is a euphemistic way of saying that because of corruption the old, stupid and the criminal are elevated to positions of power while young, talented and honest individuals are frozen out. Corruption destroys national wealth, erodes institutions and undermines character. And it also destroys the process by which a community finds its leaders.

The consequence of this is that the majority are marginalized. Government contracts circulate among a small group of people. Despite all attempts at control and brainwashing, the majority soon catch up to the game.

This game cannot last forever. The longer it is played the more people hate the government and the governing class. They vote against the government, not for the Opposition. They resent the government of the day. In 2008 we saw how the Malaysian people feel about the abuse of power and incompetence caused by corruption.

Since party funding has become the excuse and the vehicle for wholesale corruption, any measure we take to fight it must include the reform of political funding.

It is time we enact a law regulating donations to political parties. Donations must be capped. No donor is to give more than a specified limit, on pain of prosecution. This it to try to prevent special interests from dominating parties. Such money is source of corruption.

Let us limit political donations by law. On top that let the government set up a fund to provide funding to registered political party for their legitimate operational needs. This money can be distributed based on objective criteria and governed by an independent panel. This would close off the excuse that the parties need to raise political funding through government contracts.

Another idea is that we should freeze the bank accounts of people who are being investigated for corruption. Public servants and politicians are by law required to be able to demonstrate the sources of their assets. Those with suspiciously ample asssets should have these assets frozen until they can come up with evidence that they have accumulated them by political means.

This may sound harsh, but only because we live in a country in which almost no one ever gets nabbed for corruption. In China, those found guilty are shot.

In Malaysia we read about MACC investigating this and that but there are no convictions. No one has been punished. We are the nation with no consequences. The MACC finds no fault. The courts do not convict. And our newspapers do not have the independence and vigour to follow up.

We have an MACC with no results. It was a good idea to model our anti-corruption agency after one of the most successful in the world, Hong Kong’s ICAC. However we have taken just bits and pieces of that model. So really this will be no more than PR exercise unless we adopt the model wholesale.

We should repeal the OSA so that people can go to the MACC and the authorities with documentary information on corrupt practice. As things stand, any document which might be incriminating to corrupt public officials is stamped an Offical Secret. A whistleblower risks 7 yrs jail for being in possession of such documents.

We need to identify rot eating through our roots as a nation. It is corruption. We cannot expect the corrupt to embrace reform. It is time for our citizens to stand up and call corruption by its name, and demand reform.

Tengku Razaleigh

—

Speech at the launching of the book The Shafee Yahaya Story – Estate Boy to ACA Chief by Datin Kalsom Taib

Saturday, 19.6.2010

Kelab Golf Perkhidmatan Awam Malaysia, Bukit Kiara, Kala Lumpur

Cabinet Reshuffle Imminent?

From http://syedsoutsidethebox.blogspot.com/

By Syed Akbar Ali

Well thats what Blogs are for too. Just heard from an informed friend that a Cabinet reshuffle is imminent. Nothing to shout about though. Rais Yatim may be replacing Anifah Aman (who has been indisposed) at Wisma Putra. Ahmad Maslan may be replacing Rais Yatim as Minister of Information.

G Palanivel who lost Ulu Selangor will be getting into Cabinet while P Kamalanathan who won back Ulu Selangor will not be getting anything.

Slumberjack's SIL wont be making it into the Cabinet - thus staying any revolt in UMNO (for the time being).

What the Prime Minister must have full confidence in is that he is now in a very strong position vis a vis nearly all the components of the BN, including UMNO. This is a window that is still open to him. He can hire and fire almost at will. No one is now strong enough to do any damage or lead any serious revolt if for example they are left out of the Cabinet. Or if they are dropped from the Cabinet.

Firstly since P Kamalanathan has won, it would be nice to see a fresh new face in Cabinet. It will be a harbinger of change not just in the MIC but in the other components of the BN.

The coming Cabinet reshuffle (I really hope its really coming really this time) must not only see a breath of fresh air blowing in but much more importantly it must see the exit of dinosaurs and fossils from not just the Cabinet but from our political landscape.

Lets start with the other components of the BN. The Samys, Palanis etc have to go - permanently. Lets move on in life. Lets get new faces and new blood into Cabinet. Those who suffer constipation, adult pampers, hair implants etc please make way lah.

The same with MCA and Gerakan. It is getting really, really boring to hear the same Tsus the Chuas, Choys, Ongs and whoever else (for the past 20 years). Let us move on. We are really getting tired. Takde orang lain ke?

Coming to UMNO a simple rule would be, if you have been in Cabinet or in power since the 80s and you are over 60 (65 pun boleh) then adios. Thank you for the long years of service but it is time to go. Lets get more new faces.

Personally I feel that Tun Dr Mahathir can be our PM anytime. He is good for many more years. But it just wouldnt be right. A country needs to move on. We need new blood. Dr Mahathir knew it too. He retired gracefully, seven years now. But most of his sebaya are still hanging on.

That man in Sarawak has to go. He is opting for the biological functions approach. As long as I am biologically functioning, I shall remain. Tak boleh. We really need change. And there are good people who are also popular - including in Sarawak.

So this Cabinet reshuffle must be exemplary not just in who gets into Cabinet but who gets left out. The PM must really use a strong butcher's knife to chop off the fat.

Then there is also another category - the non performers, the underperformers, the corrupt, the tainted and the clowns. These too have to be removed and this includes even some younger Ministers, especially those who were appointed during the time of Slumberjack. Let us be rid of them. This especially applies to the tainted Ministers.

I see at least half the Cabinet needing to be dropped. How to replace them? We can get really creative. Many of the Bloggers have their own lists.

The ball is really at the PM's feet. He is in a very strong position now vis a vis his Cabinet colleagues. He must be decisive now. But the PM must realise that his strength is derived from the people. This is a fact of life for any PM. The last PM just slept through this tiny little detail.

We really, really need change. Waking up to see the same old fossils on the TV screens and on our front pages of the morning newspapers even for another day is quite unpalatable. Its getting really nauseous.

It is not any consolation at all but on the other side, the fossils are even more ridiculously 'extinct dinosaurs' like Lim Kit Siang (43 years in power now? Longer than Mao Tse Tung), Karpal Singh, Nik Aziz, Hadi Awang, Anwar Ibrahim and a few more.

As the young man said, when they fill petrol in their tanks, the petrol probably comes from their own pet dinosaurs.

From http://merdekareview.com/bm/news.php?n=10734

Mabuk kuasa di Hulu Selangor
Mustafa K Anuar



Kisah calon pilihanraya kecil Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) Zaid Ibrahim minum arak di masa beliau muda telah dijadikan isu hangat masa kini. Isu ini dilaporkan digembar-gembur oleh parti lawan, iaitu UMNO Baru/BN, yang bertujuan untuk meraih undi Melayu-Muslim di Hulu Selangor dengan harapan mereka akan merasa "mual" dengan perbuatan Zaid yang lalu itu.

Memanglah minum arak adalah satu perbuatan yang tidak direstui oleh agama Islam, dan sudah tentunya boleh "mencuit hati" orang ramai khususnya yang beragama Islam. Sesungguhnya, minum arak adalah antara "dosa" yang harus dielakkan oleh orang Islam sepertimana mereka perlu jauhkan diri dari perbuatan rasuah, menipu, menindas, membunuh dan memberi layanan berat sebelah (favouritism), antara lain, yang boleh menghasilkan sebuah masyarakat yang tidak adil dan porak peranda.

Tetapi Zaid telah bertaubat, dan mengungkit-ungkit amalan masa lampau beliau adalah sesuatu yang boleh diinterpretasikan, sepertimana yang telah dilakukan oleh beberapa pemerhati politik dan tokoh politik seperti Presiden Pas Hadi Awang, sebagai usaha untuk sengaja mengaibkan beliau di khalayak ramai amnya dan pengundi Hulu Selangor khususnya.

Lagipun, Zaid telahpun mengaku akan perbuatannya masa lalu itu, dan telah bersikap insaf.

Bukan itu sahaja, beliau tidak mahu "melancarkan" serangan peribadi sebagai satu respons terhadap ahli politik UMNO Baru khususnya walaupun beliau tahu siapa dalam UMNO Baru yang "berkecimpung" dalam "alam arak dan judi". Ini adalah satu pendekatan gentleman yang diambil oleh Zaid, dan harus dihargai.

Namun, nampaknya ini tidak melemahkan semangat pihak lawan untuk terus melekatkan label "peminum arak tegar" kepada Zaid. Perbuatan seperti ini hanya menebalkan lagi syak wasangka umum bahawa pihak lawan begitu terdesak (desperate) dan mabuk kuasa hingga sanggup berbuat sesuatu yang melampaui batas.

Harus juga disentuh di sini, iaitu perbuatan sebilangan penyokong PKR, kalaupun tidak Pakatan Rakyat, melawan balik "serangan peribadi" ini dengan kaedah yang sama adalah sesuatu yang bercanggahan dengan ketertiban politik Zaid. Lagipun, tidak perlu bagi mereka terjerumus dalam lembah politik murahan dengan pihak lawan.

Ini kerana perbuatan aib-mengaib ini mempunyai implikasi, antara lain, mengalihkan isu besar dan penting dari pandangan umum di Hulu Selangor khususnya. Seperkara lagi, perbuatan ini juga meletakkan mainan politik Malaysia di takuk yang lama, iaitu bercorak peribadi, remeh temeh dan primitif - dalam era globalisasi dan kemajuan teknologi maklumat dan komunikasi.

Kempen pilihanraya di Hulu Selangor ini seharusnya memperkatakan isu-isu yang harus diketengahkan dan ketahui umum. Misalnya, isu tempatan seperti tanah rizab untuk Orang Asli di kawasan Hulu Selangor, lebih-lebih lagi bagi mereka yang terpaksa berpindah dari tempat asal usul mereka disebabkan "projek pembangunan" tertentu. Bukan itu sahaja, perihal keperluan asas untuk mereka, seperti kemudahan perubatan, persekolahan dsb.

Selain dari itu, calon parti yang berkenaan perlu juga membincangkan hal pembangunan bagi orang Hulu Selangor secara komprehensif. Ini bukan sekadar memberi basikal atau mendirikan jalan bertar pada kadar sekelip mata sebelum berakhirnya proses pilihanraya kecil ini.

Ataupun, hal pembangunan yang seharusnya dilaksanakan di merata-rata tempat selagi ada penduduk yang memerlukannya tanpa mengira bulu, iaitu Pakatan Rakyat atau Barisan Nasional, dan tidak kira Cina, Melayu dan India, dan di Sabah dan Sarawak, Iban, Melanau ataupun Kadazandusun, antara lain.

Dalam konteks inilah seharusnya ditekankan betapa pentingnya keadilan bagi semua orang yang bermastautin di negara ini. Di sini juga boleh diselitkan isu amalan politik perkauman yang patut dikecam oleh umum kerana ketidakadilan lebih-lebih lagi dalam hal pembangunan negara yang berpaksikan etnisiti (atau kaum) boleh menimbulkan suasana dan corak kehidupan yang mengaibkan bagi sesetengah kelompok manusia.

Isu pertanggungjawapan atau accountability dalam kalangan ahli politik dan pemimpin politik juga perlu diketengahkan kerana tanpa prinsip ini, banyak salah laku seperti rasuah dan ketidakadilan oleh ahli politik akan masih berleluasa. Harus ditekankan di sini bahawa rasuah (yang lazimnya dilakukan oleh orang Islam-Melayu) melibatkan wang rakyat yang dibazirkan demi kesejahteraan beberapa kerat kelompok politikus, wang yang seharusnya digunakan untuk kebahagiaan rakyat jelata.

Tidak juga kurang pentingnya ialah isu kebebasan bersuara dan media, kerana tanpa kebebasan ini rakyat tidak akan dapat ketahui dengan lebih rapi bagaimana wang mereka dipergunakan oleh orang yang dipertanggungjawabkan untuk memerintah dan membangunkan negara ini. Lagipun, rasuah akan masih berleluasa selagi media tidak bebas untuk menjalankan kewartawanan siasatan dan membuat pemimpin politik bertanggungjawab terhadap tindakan dan dasarnya.

Isu-isu seperti apa yang dibentangkan di atas seharusnya tidak ditenggelami oleh arus kemabukan politik dan kuasa yang telah melanda masyarakat kita masa kini. Apakah mereka yang masih kemabukan kuasa dengan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) layak untuk mengkritik Zaid Ibrahim, yang telah menjauhkan diri daripada "dosa ini" sejak September 2008?

*Mustafa K Anuar ialah seorang pemerhati budaya, masyarakat dan slogan.

Hulu Selangor Zaid & 1Malaysia From http://www.malaysia-today.net/

Did it matter to the Malays in Kampong Raja Uda that Charles Santiago is Indian? Should it matter to the Indians of Hulu Selangor that Zaid is Malay? Or are the Malays more matured than the Indians?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

My comrade-in-exile, private investigator P. Balasubramaniam, has bet that Datuk Zaid Ibrahim will win the Hulu Selangor by-election with a majority of 5,000 to 6,000 votes. I, in turn, have bet that Zaid’s majority will be between 3,000 to 5,000 votes. I will not reveal what the bet is but it looks like we both agree that Zaid’s majority will be around 5,000 votes, plus-minus.

Looking at the smear campaign that Barisan Nasional is embarking upon it appears that they have really nothing much to throw at Zaid. He has deep pockets. He has baggage. He is an outsider and a ‘parachute’ candidate. Why a Malay and not an Indian candidate? And all such trivia and petty issues.

So what if Zaid has deep pockets? Does this not prove that he is a self-made man? How many road or construction projects did the government give him? How many APs or permits did he get? How much sand or timber concessions was Zaid awarded?

Zaid used to head the largest law firm in Malaysia. So that made him rich. Is that not good? Should Perkasa and Umno not sing his praises and stand tall and be proud that there are at least some Malays who can make it on the ‘open market’?

So it looks like not all Malays need crutches if you go by Zaid’s success and track record. Does not Umno want more Malays like these, Malays who can succeed even when faced with stiff competition?

Earlier today, in a keynote speech to commemorate the 44th anniversary of Mara, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the Malays must not be proud of always getting aid from the government. “Aid is like a crutch... to be given when we are weak. It is better if we can stand firmly on our own feet. Do not be proud with such aid. In truth, we are not masters because of aid,” said Dr Mahathir as he lamented the attitude of the Malay community who always looked for the easiest way of getting rich.

Even Dr Mahathir, the man who supports Perkasa, said that the Malays should not be proud of their crutches. This can be rephrased to mean we should be ashamed. Should this not also mean we should be proud of Malays who can make it without crutches? And in that case, going by this argument, should we not be proud of Zaid who made it without crutches?

So why are they whacking Zaid for having deep pockets? Why are they not singing his praises instead? Zaid did not rob the rakyat? Zaid did not pilfer the government’s coffers. Zaid did not steal the taxpayers’ money. Zaid worked hard to put bread on the table. And that is a crime?

Hundreds of other Malays have also become successful lawyers. I can name dozens whom I personally know and who are now very rich. I know many more Chinese and Indians who are now rich because of their successful law practice. And this is supposed to be a bad thing?

When Malays get rich the wrong way we lament and sigh. But when they get rich the right way we whack them. So what is it that we want? Ini pun salah. Itu pun salah. Tak pahamlah minda Melayu.

Actually, Malays are like crabs. They can’t walk straight and they are trying to teach others how to walk straight. Then, when you place crabs in a basket, they will bring down those who try to climb out. So, in the end, not one crab gets to climb out of the basket because they would pull each other down every time someone tries to climb out. I suppose this is why most Malays are basket cases.

And this is the real issue here. Malays just can't bear to see other Malays become successful. PHD: perangai hasat dengki.

So Zaid is Kelantanese. So what? Why can’t a Kelantanese stand for elections in Selangor? Terengganu once had a Kelantanese as the Menteri Besar. When it comes to Malays we worry about which state or which town they come from. Were Lim Guan Eng, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Gobind Singh, and whatnot all born in the town they contested in?

Mat Sabu of PAS has contested in Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Terengganu and all over the place and won most times. No one asked him where he was born or accused him of being a parachute candidate. If I wanted to contest the general election then where would I contest? I was born in Surrey, England. Does this mean there is no seat for me anywhere in Malaysia?

Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail was not born in Permatang Pauh. Yet she not only won that seat but became the Opposition Leader in Parliament as well.

We need to break away from this old pre-Merdeka culture where you must be born in that town to be able to contest a seat in that town.

In the old days it took five days and four nights to travel from the tip of the East Coast to Kuala Lumpur. Today, it takes only an hour. In the old days it look a week for a letter to arrive. Today, we can communicate in real time.

Times have changed. We now live in a global village and a borderless world. You can be born in the UK, like me, and still contest in Hulu Selangor, Ulu Kelantan, Ulu Terengganu, Kuala Kedah, or wherever. It does not matter. What matters is that you can serve your constituents.

And I believe Zaid Ibrahim can.

Zaid is not concerned about race. He is concerned about human rights and justice. He worries about the underdog.

In short, Zaid is colour-blind. And that is what matters. That is what we want the New Malaysia to be about.

For more than half a century since Merdeka the Malays in Kampong Raja Uda in Kelang, Selangor, voted ruling party. They never once voted opposition. For the first time in history, on 8 March 2008, the Malays of Kampong Raja Uda voted for Charles Santiago as their Member of Parliament.

Today, Charles Santiago is a Member of Parliament.

Did it matter to the Malays in Kampong Raja Uda that Charles Santiago is Indian? Should it matter to the Indians of Hulu Selangor that Zaid is Malay? Or are the Malays more matured than the Indians?

Yes, Zaid will help the Indians. But he will help deserving Indians and not Ananda Krishnan. Yes, Zaid will help the Chinese. But he will help deserving Chinese and not Francis Yeoh. And Zaid will also help the Malays in the Felda settlements and the Orang Asli in their reservations.

Maybe it is good that PKR finally fields a candidate with deep pockets. Then Umno can’t pay him RM2 million to cross over. Maybe that should be the criteria in future. Make sure that the candidate is not bangsat and therefore can be easily bought.

Zaid should be the new benchmark that the opposition uses in what the candidates should look like. That would ensure we will not see ‘cheap sales’ every month of the year.

Hulu Selangor 1Malaysia From http://www.malaysia-today.net/

Can the three of you work for all Malaysians and set your fight for Article 8 for Indian-only mentality aside? There are many of my Malay and Chinese friends who share the same struggle. But when people like you fight for a single race cause, they too will fight for theirs.

By Babulal

Dear Naragan, Shan, N. Ganesan and Frens,

I would like to take a moment of your precious time to hear what some of the more broadminded Indians' opinions are of the rebuttal of your response to RPK's article "I am part Orang Asli and Proud of It". In a way, I am fully in agreement with RPK's statements - and if you look at it from a wide spectrum, I hope you would agree with me as well.

No doubt I could feel the emotion in your articles and press statement, but it lacks any substance to resolve a national issue of this magnitude. Probably RPK's statements would provide a speed breaker to some emails we Indians have been receiving which were too race-centered and too narrow minded, esspecially echoing the call by Samy to please select another Indian representative to make it 4 representatives in Parliament - frankly it sounded more like him begging - utter shameless individual.

This is the very person who is the architect of the Malaysian Indians' blurred and uncertain future in this country and yet he could face the people and request his appointed representative be elected. What a mockery. And it is a strategy of Samy leveraging on the Malaysian Mudah Lupa attitude.

Another individual who has no backbone is Subra, who does not have a stance or any calibre to lead. Samy has promised change after 0308, but yet in the last MIC election, the results were "democratically" fixed - where the President lobbies for his "dream team" who are a bunch of maggots who can hardly speak proper Bahasa Malaysia and with any leadership skills.

With almost 30 years in the Malaysian mainstream politics, their President is yet to speak fluent Bahasa - what a shame. Will he be less Indian by speaking better Bahasa Malaysia? Malaysians need to wake up from BN's political game. MIC has failed Hulu Selangor, and they have failed miserably. Our marble playing Palani has had his opportunity for 4 terms and we need a change.

May I ask, why do you want another Indian rep? To sell we Indians all over again? I declare this, me Babulal, a Malaysian First, votes for Zaid Ibrahim and I am sure he will walk the talk and I don't care if his ethnicity is not the same as mine.

The facts and contents of RPK's statements have been twisted to suit the narrow objectives of the trio's self-centred ideology - let me tell you guys this, you do not represent the majority of Indians who want change in the system, nor do you represent the vast sidelined and discriminated people of Malaysia. Just like RPK said, I am also too fed-up of these racist Indians, fed-up of racist Malays like in Perkasa, fed-up of racist Chinese...... I want Pure Malaysians and will it be Zaid Ibrahim to lead us, would it be Zaid Ibrahim to be the first elected representative to denounce I am my race first, by declaring I am Malaysian First? I have full faith that he will. All kudos to DSAI for his selection.

I am beginning to wonder if the three of you are on the payroll of UMNO and MIC. You have swayed from the original fight of liberation from the discriminatory system. But this seem to have been set aside - in-fighting for power and control seem to be prioritised. Your splinter, MMSP launched by the PM, and don't you think we the Malaysian Gen-X and Gen-Y know what the PM and his wife are up to?

Can the three of you work for all Malaysians and set your fight for Article 8 for Indian-only mentality aside? There are many of my Malay and Chinese friends who share the same struggle. But when people like you fight for a single race cause, they too will fight for theirs. This is a simple survival quest - and you should understand that. This would, of course, fall on deaf ears if you have already been promised some huge payouts just to break up the struggle from within and sway the entire projection to racial issues - it is typical BN methodology.

About the case of the two suspected Indian criminal youths being shot dead recently whose father is an MIC branch Chairman. Ain't it a bit ironic when even MIC did not make much complaints about two of their own who were gunned down and yet you wanted RPK to make some statements?? Are you for real or just trying to stir up racial emotions? What is your struggle? To fight equality based on Article 8 or fight justice for repeat offenders/criminals with not only 1 previous convictions but multiple - they were collecting the number of convictions like some trophies - and you have brought this pure struggle of equality to fight for these "champions".

Why don't you request RPK or PR to build a monument for them? Would that now be appropriate? Don't they gun down criminals in India or anywhere else in this world? What is so special about Indian criminals in Malaysia? I have read on many occasions that even suspected Malay and Chinese criminals had been shot dead previously. I am aware that one is innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, but with MIC backing, it won't be long before they are back on the streets taunting innocent victims again. Face it, they are not going to be missed by peace loving Malaysians.

Lastly, I wish for the HINDRAF bickering to stop and the call to elect representatives of a particular race to end. I am fed up of racism and discrimination policies and yet some fools are sending emails requesting to choose a candidate from a particular race. Wake up and see the world.

HINDRAF stands for Hindu Rights Action Force but it does not stand nor preach the Hindu belief - in Bhagavad Gita (the spiritual scripture) - Lord Krsna says to Arjuna "that I am not this body, I am soul. Everyone is not this body. He's soul. So on the annihilation of this body...on the annihilation of the body the soul will exist". If you understand this that I am not this body but the soul, then you would see that everyone is equal, not the colour, creed, race and religion of a person - judge them by their stance. So I urge you to stop the propagation of disunity and racial intolerance but to act and fight as one - you stop, they will too.

I have questions for Samy & Gang. Answer all the scandals in MAIKA, AIMST, MIED .... I can go on and on and on .... I am sure that the MIC representative will lose on a bigger majority this time, and this person will be the scapegoat or the President's fall guy. This old man looks so haggard and yet he is so power crazy to stay on. He is flanked by thugs all the time, especially those driving around with 1818 number plates. All those with this number are of his clan and the lavish cars are the symbol of their ill-gotten gains. Just check them out in the election campaign trail and you will see it for yourself.

In my next article I will be talking about a maggot called Nallakarupan - another self-centred Indian who went on to form a party and is just too syok sendiri that he can be President. Does he have the calibre to lead? He speaks worse than my patti (grandmother) and from it we know his intellectual level - a champion of the Indian cause and he wants to save us from DSAI - I nicknamed him karuppu pandi - black pig.

Babulal
I am Not This Body, I am The Soul