In Malaysia, this is how Opposition voices are gagged.

Jun 28:

Private television station ntv7 has denied claims made by the DAP of a directive to censor comments from the opposition parties in its news broadcasts.

"I can tell you, there is no such directive," a top network source told malaysiakini when contacted. [Malaysiakini]

Jun 29:

"The government has noted that several private TV and radio stations have been airing speeches by opposition party leaders," wrote MCMC chairman Halim Shafie in the June 7 letter.

"Your station is requested not to broadcast such speeches in future." [Malaysiakini]

(SOURCE: Malaysiakini, 29 Jun 2007)

Meanwhile, why not spend more time to clear your backlog, Mr. MCMC?

Any news that are being left out (be it intentionally or unintentionally) by mainstream medias, we’re lucky to have alternative online media like Malaysiakini to report the unreported.

The latest? A Mongolian witness in court today when she revealed that murdered Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu had been photographed having a meal with a Malaysian government official named Najib Razak.

Burmaa Oyunchimeg, also known as Amy, told the Shah Alam High Court that Altantuya had shown her the photo in Hong Kong when she returned from a trip to France.

It is believed that the government official in the photograph is Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, who has close ties with political analyst Abdul Razak Baginda.

Coincidentally, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in his speech at Mass Media Conference 2007 reminded how an ideal media practitioner should work.

In this respect, the media practitioners need to have guidelines on what is to appear of the frontpage of their newspapers, or whether a story should be downplayed or given prominence.

This requires understanding from reporters, editors, editor-in-chief and newspaper owners especially when a news story involves certain people or a particular race. [...]

Here in this country, nothing is impossible.

Meanwhile, the question remains: Who is Najib Razak?

Yesterday, Petronas reported a record annual profit, with revenue rose 10 percent to RM184.1 billion (US$52.6 billion) and its net profit rose 7.7 percent to RM46.4 billion (US$13.3 billion) in the financial year ended March 31.

Petronas earnings help boost government coffers, with 48.3 billion ringgit (US$13.8 billion) in taxes, royalties, dividends and export duty.

Meanwhile, Petronas president Hassan Marican warned that if demand in Malaysia continues to grow 4 percent annually, the country will be a net importer of crude oil by 2010.

Currently, with Petronas as the landing cushion, this country still can afford to talk c**k like sing songs. A few more years down the road, when the Government coffers is out of supply, that’s when the real impact kicks in.

Merely by thinking about it, frankly speaking, I’m quite afraid that one day, the dagger will land on me.

Before ex-Umno VP Mohd Isa Samad disappeared long enough to be forgotten, there is a speculation that he is making a comeback into Umno soon, supported by both PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and DPM Najib Tun Razak?

Click here to read what blogger Ruhanie Ahmad has to say on this.

Ruhanie is the former BN Backbencher’s Club chairman and former political secretary to the ex-DPM Tun Musa Hitam.

When the Malaysia Trades Union Congress (MTUC) decided to go ahead with nationwide picket on Monday to demand for a RM900 minimum wage and a cost-of-living allowance of RM300 for private sector workers, the biggest was held outside the EPF headquarters in Jalan Raja Laut in Kuala Lumpur in which some 1,000 workers participated.

"We find it difficult to make ends meet on wages of between RM400-RM500 a month with the cost of living ever on the increase," MTUC deputy president Abdullah Sani Abdul Majid said.

Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who was at Italy during the picket, in his remote statement advised the MTUC to resolve its issues of a minimum wage and higher allowance through negotiation and not by any action that could be damaging to workers.

However, Malaysiakini quoted Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang as saying that MTUC had presented a seven-page memorandum to PM a week before the union carried out a nationwide picket on Monday, but the memorandum did not elicit any appropriate response from PM. Worse, Abdullah has not held a single meeting with leaders of MTUC since he became the PM?

PM also said employers were now concerned about the high cost of manpower and could use that excuse to relocate their business to other countries.

"Investors intending to come to Malaysia may think twice about the cost of manpower (if that cost is high in Malaysia)."

Meanwhile, blogger Khoo Kay Peng supports minimum wage for workers, citing the pro-business and pro-investors policy over the years have neglected the needs and interests of workers in view of rising living cost.

Over the years, the government is undeniably too pro-business and pro-investors. Policy makers have neglected the needs and interests of the workers. In many industries, especially hospitality, basic wages are far too low. As a result, many of the workers have to depend on OT to survive.

With rising cost of living, the government had increased the salary and COLA of public sector workers. It has to be consistent in supporting a similar increase in the private sector. A total of 10.8 million workers deserved to be better remunerated.

Malaysia has a per capita income of RM40,000 per annum but lower-end workers can hardly expect a quarter of this amount.

40% of the 10 million workforce in the private sector were earning salaries below the poverty income level of RM691 per month and that it was timely for their request to be fulfilled now that the civil service had been given a pay rise and increased cola.

A minimum wage is a worker’s basic right and not a privilege.

Let’s do the right thing, Pak Lah.

When Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang put up the above header, he knew he has broken a rule of his blog.

But why? Click here to find out more.

It’s now confirmed that the largest phone company in Saudi Arabia Saudi Telecom Co. bought a 25 percent stake in Maxis Communications Bhd. for US$3.05 billion (RM11 billion), which is one of the most significant Middle Eastern investments in the region.

The Saudi operator would consider increasing its stake in Maxis to a maximum 30 percent allowed in Malaysia. Under the agreement, Saudi Telecom will also acquire 51 percent stake in PT Natrindo Telepon Selular (NTS), Maxis’s subsidiary in Indonesia.

The purpose of the buyout is significant, which is to tap into lucrative markets like Indonesia and India as the world’s largest fastest-growing mobile market, adding close to five million new mobile user a month, with mobile penetration stood at a low 14.7 percent, hence significant growth potential for the coming years.

As for Indonesia, the country has a mobile penetration rate of 19.1 percent as of statistic provided in January 2006. Apparently, it’s the growth potential in oversea markets which Saudi Telecom is eyeing.

However, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi described the acquisition as a sign of the Saudi’s government’s confidence in Malaysia’s economy.

"It’s a reflection of the confidence of their government in our economy, in the direction that we are taking in the world." [...]

"It’s something that we can be very happy about, it’s not easy to invest a huge sum of money. That’s a lot of money."

Our PM who is also the Finance Minister happily cash in by boosting the unfounded confidence level shown by Saudi government.

Otherwise, he was telling us the significance like huge sum of money is involved and it’s not easy to invest a huge sum of money.

Thank you Prime Minister a.k.a Finance Minister, we know about that too and unfortunately, it’s unconvincing and we expect more of quality statements from you, especially when you’re sitting on a few portfolios in this context.

Being a Malaysian, I’m always proud to fly with Malaysia Airlines, especially the stylish moon kite logo, which is one of the country’s national symbol.

Besides, it’s one of only five airlines in the world to have been awarded a 5-star rating by Skytrax, a United Kingdom-based consultancy, part of Inflight Research Services.

Most of the time, I prefer to fly with MAS due to its convenience, direct flight to-and-from KLIA, no hassle in transiting flights, hence void of waiting time and unnecessary multiple security checks as well as the exhaustion.

For that, I try to make a point and fly with MAS as I believe we should have supported local brand instead of the famous Singapore Airlines (SIA).

However lately, MAS continues to test my loyalty and that’s really frustrating, provided that I’ve been constantly flying with them for the past few years.

First of all, the reservation system is an initial blow to the customer experience. As far as I’m concern, each travel agent is allocated seats quota for certain popular destinations, therefore even though seats are available through online reservation, sometimes you’ll still find yourself on waiting list at the travel agent screen. That didn’t happen once, but a few times indeed.

However, upon check-in and flight status enquiry with the officer, I found out the flight wasn’t really that full actually. Vacant seats were significantly available on board. MAS should have at least optimize the reservation system to maximize the much needed load factor and increases the yield, which might have contributed to a better bottom line and enhances customer booking experience for sure.

Second, like it or not, in this ever competitive and liberalised era of aviation industry and open-sky policy together with the now everyone can fly low-cost carrier as in AirAsia, MAS as a full-fledged carrier should lived up to its expectation by providing excellent customer service too, especially when MAS is frequently being compared to SIA, which performs well when comes to servicing their passengers.

I’ve lost count on numerous occasions where I’ve seen simple request like a glass of water and blanket weren’t being entertained. Worse, some were being made to wait and only received what they asked for after a few rounds of request. (begging, maybe?)

There were also cases where passengers are being left without any food selection and didn’t get what they’ve requested earlier (for whatever reason!). Some might make a big hoo haa with the usual resolution like the team leader showing sincere apologize with some gifts as a show of appreciation towards their understanding, in which I think merely to shut them up for good. As for the rest, they’d prefer to remain silent. Who knows MAS might have lost another loyal customer in the long run, where customer retention should be given more emphasize rather than customer acquisition?

Now comes to the part that I’m really disappointed with, which is the MAS’s loyalty program - Enrich. The brand sounds great, but the experience tells me otherwise, compare to other loyalty programs.

Each time during the check-in, the enrich card must be presented, just to make sure the check-in system holds the membership number too. Subsequently, usually I’d confirm with the staff that my membership number has been captured.

Unfortunately, having done that too doesn’t guarantee your flying miles will be captured accordingly, either system glitch or human error, I have no idea, seriously.

Initially, I’m not that concern until it turns into a habit by MAS for not putting in the miles. Feeling discontent, I called up and lodged a complaint. Daily follow-up was made to coax them into action and finally the miles were updated, but not before unfriendly arguments were exchanged or otherwise, I need to fill missing miles claim form and expect at least 6 to 8 weeks for the miles to be credited to the account (including the original boarding pass and a copy of the ticket).

Since then, everything is doing fine with points are updated on time, at most 2-3 days after the traveling date. It’s only  recently when I face the similar problem and still thinking on the next best action to solve this once and for all. It’s not about the miles really, but it’s about doing the right thing. Other members might face the similar problem too and MAS should be made known of this as soon as possible so that they can find possible remedies, in which I believe they will.

Time to change? I do not know but most of my friends were telling me that were they given a choice, SIA is the one to go, doesn’t matter the hassle. Spacious seats, better food served, excellent in-flight entertainment, free poker playing cards and good looking stewardess (for guys) are among the typical reasons given.

But to me, as of now, I’d stick with MAS for destinations within Asia Pacific (AP), unless if there is no available seat on MAS, afterall, it’s either between I read or I sleep on board.

The food? As long as it’s good enough to fill my stomach, how good the food served on plane can be?

The excellent in-flight entertainment? Not enough of Astro or pirated DVDs at home?

Free poker playing cards? As if you can bet openly in Malaysia.

The lady? As if they’d fall in love with you.

Etc. etc.

In the end of the day, I’m taking this as an opportunity to show my patriotism towards the going-to-be 50 years old Malaysia. :-)

Last week, EU’s Ambassador to Malaysia Thierry Rommel openly criticized the New Economic Policy (NEP) in which he described the NEP as discriminatory and amounts to protectionism.

Rommel said the government is using the NEP as an excuse to practice "significant protectionism of its own market," including the automotive sector, steel, consumer goods, agricultural products, services and government contracts.

Malaysia claims these are "infant" industries that need to be protected but "in reality .. it is the Malay-centered Bumiputra policy that drives protectionist policies," Rommel said.

"We cannot be as flexible as we want to be and chances that corruption comes into play is higher. It is an interruption to the free market."

Then what? Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak expressed his regret. Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar said the comments were tantamount to meddling in the country’s internal affairs and policies. Education Minister Hishamuddin Hussein described the remark as arrogant and excessive. Expect more echo chambers to create more havoc soon.

Meanwhile, Screenshots’s Jeff Ooi has an indepth analysis of the statement from his economic point of view, where Malaysia records a regular trade surplus with the EU, in favor of Malaysia.

I wonder the goons have read the original AP story, but one after another have jumped on the Rommel-bashing bandwagon to drown the core issue that the EU raised — the menace of the NEP from the global perspective. [...]

There is a fundamental difference in adjusting an archaic economic policy and safeguarding sovereignty in an ever changing global economy environment. Ignore it at your own peril as ASEAN’s Vietnam and Indonesia — who generate similar product clusters as Malaysia’s with improving quality at relatively lower cost — may one day eat your lunch.

That’s my advice to the Syed Hamid and Hisham wannabes out there.

While some may argue that the reason Rommel saying that is to cover his own ass with some jumping on him with the racial factor rather than looking into the economic perspective, let’s not even dream about globalization and get ready to starve few years down the road.

Some say seeing is believing. I witnessed some of them and read about the rest. Well, it’s your call before it’s late.

2 months down the road, we’re going to celebrate 50 years of nationhood with Deputy Information Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi heading the roadshow and publicity committee.

As a start, the Government through the Prime Minister’s Department would distribute more than one million flags where the deputy minister was quoted as saying the Government has decided that all private homes and buildings located close to roads fly the "Jalur Gemilang" national flag from July 17.

"The people should also play their part by flying the Jalur Gemilang to display their patriotism and affection to this blessed nation," he said.

A few hours afterwards, he was quoted by Bernama with an almost similar statement, albeit with a different tone.

"We hope the people will translate their loyalty by raising flags at home and at business premises," he said.

But really, as much as I’d fly the jalur gemilang at my residence and vehicle before and after the national day, I don’t believe that would make me look like more of a patriotic Malaysian. On other hand, even if the majority does not  heed the flying instruction, that doesn’t make the majority of Malaysians less Malaysian either.

In fact, to say that raising flags at home or at business premises as an act of patriotism towards this country or even a more serious note, as an act of translating the loyalty towards this country into action is an overstatement.

Now, let’s take a look into the keyword here, which is patriotism. According to the definition at dictionary.com, patriotism is about devoted love, support, and defense of one’s country; national loyalty.

While displaying jalur gemilang is merely a symbolic way of showing patriotism and loyalty towards this country, the more practical ways of showing patriotism is to exercise your voting rights, becoming active in the political process of this country, continue to work with Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (but don’t work for him), cakap serupa bikin like our Prime Minister, speak more of Bahasa Malaysia (not Bahasa Melayu), avoid driving like Mat Cemerlang, not to indulge in corruption, not to blame million of external factors when your work is semi-completed with semi-quality, not to condemn others as stupid when you’re nowhere better than an idiot and etc.

But really, besides displaying the jalur gemilang, there are so many ways for us to show patriotism towards Malaysia.

Happy 50th birthday in advance, Malaysia!