… with the best joke.

"Global changes in the weather pattern that resulted in heavier rain is to be blamed for the recent leaks at the Parliament building."

Works Minister S Samy Vellu when asked to comment on an incident where DPM Najib Tun Razak was greeted with a leak as he stepped out of Dewan Negara.

Go to hell, really.

After you read The Associated Press, read former prime minister Dr. Mahathir Mohamad.

"Yes there is an attempt. But you cannot stop people from using the Internet." […]

Mahathir said in the past, his administration would have liked to ban Internet pornography but it was "impossible" because, among others, the content was based overseas.

"Same with bloggers. You can’t stop them," he stressed. [Malaysiakini]

It’s even more amusing when Raja Petra Kamarudin said he didn’t write any article that insults the King, degrades Islam and incites racial hatred on the date in question, which is July 11 as per report lodged by Umno Information Chief Muhammad Muhd Taib.

"I didn’t write anything on July 11, so I want to know, which article are they talking about?" said RPK.

The headline on The Associated Press.

(SOURCE: IHT, 23 July 2007)

Read between the line, word by word on how international press is going to portray this country when Malaysians wake up later.

Raja Petra Kamarudin, who initially refused to comment on the report when contacted by Malaysiakini, said he will fight back on the internet and has since fired another salvo to the Mat Tyson in his latest entry.

Meanwhile, DPM Najib Tun Razak said today the government is not on a witch hunt for bloggers.

"No, we are not going after bloggers. However, everyone must be aware that there are laws in this country," he said.

[UPDATED VERSION] The Star SMS alert at 3:28pm

Umno lodges police report against Malaysia Today blog for July 11 post that it says insults the King, degrades Islam and incites racial hatred.

[ORIGINAL VERSION] The trend is here to stay.

Umno today filed a police report against popular political website Malaysia Today.

It is believed that the report filed at the Dang Wangi police station accused the website of featuring articles that insulted Islam. [Malaysiakini]

Malaysia Today’s Raja Petra Kamarudin in his latest posting said it’s Umno’s Information Chief Muhammad Muhd Taib who lodged the report.

The better question to ask now, who’s next?

DPM Najib Tun Razak proclaimed on 16th July that "We have never, never been secular… we are an Islamic state".

Subsequently, as reported in Malaysiakini, the Internal Security Ministry has confirmed that they have given a directive to all mainstream media not to publish any news on the issue of Malaysia being an Islamic state.

Publications Control & Al-Quran Texts Unit senior officer Che Din Yusof said, “Yes, we have given the directive to all mainstream newspapers. Islam is a sensitive issue. They cannot publish any news on whether the country is secular or Islam.”

However, he said newpapers can still publish statements from Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy Najib Abdul Razak on the country being an Islamic state.

“Reaction from political parties and the public cannot be published especially the negative reactions,” he said.

In light of the seriousness of the above two major development on a ‘democratic’, multi-racial and multi-cultural Malaysia, and the reluctance of other BN component parties to pick up the gauntlet, the DAP is organising a public forum to discuss the above issues:

Panel of Distinguished Speakers

Lim Kit Siang, Parliamentary Opposition Leader
Ambiga Sreenevasan, Malaysia Bar Council President
Malik Imtiaz, Human Rights Lawyer
Khalid Ibrahim, PKR Treasurer
Rev Dr Hermen Shastri, General Secretary, Council of Churches*
Lim Guan Eng, Secretary-General to DAP

* To be confirmed

Venue: KL & Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall
Date: 25th July 2007 (Wednesday)
Time: 7.30 pm

If you feel strongly about the above issues, please bring friends and turn up in full force! Please forward this post to all concerned parties.

It’s a doubly joy!

Remarkable win by both Lee Chong Wei and Koo Kian Keat-Tan Boon Heong in the Philippine Open 2007.

It has been a while since both of the podium is well represented by Malaysia’s players.

More importantly, it’s a heavy boost which put them back on the saddle, right on time before the World Championship 2007 scheduled next month at our own turf.

Congratulations folks!

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s welcome the latest initiative by no-other than Malaysians who love this country - Citizen Think T@nk.

(SOURCE: Citizen Think T@nk)

The Neutrality of Citizen Think T@nk

CTT is a neutral group consisting of individuals who have the aspiration to turn Malaysia into a country where there is freedom of speech, high participation and transparency regardless of their political affiliations. Even though you are from the Barisan or the Opposition, we hope you will show your strongest support to this citizen-centric initiative.

The Mission of Citizen Think Tank

An internet-based strategy to achieve the Vision of Knowledge Democracy through the following missions:

1. Ordinary citizens will be able to rate and review the performance of their elected representatives, so that  transparency and accountability of politicians in Malaysia can be significantly increased

2. Ordinary citizens will be able to voice their opinion or post ideas for public policy development, so that only policies that are fully deliberated, discussed and endorsed by the community will be implemented by the government

3. Ordinary citizens who have contributed significantly to the society have a chance to stand for the general election, which is currently dominated by mainstream political parties.

How does CTT Work?

The Citizen Think Tank consists of 2 major citizen-centric systems, the Politician Watchdog System and the Citizen Voice System. Both system compliment each other as at the end of the day, the outcomes of the Citizen Voice will be used as part of the basis for our politician rating.

Now, let’s get the balls rolling.

It’s not me who did the calling, nevertheless, it’s originated from no other than the man who did the the keris weilding - Umno Youth Chief Hishamuddin Hussein.

"Saya beri amaran kepada pemimpin MCA supaya berhenti membuat kenyataan sedemikian. Ingin saya tegaskan, saya bukan pemimpin naif yang akan membenarkan perkara ini berterusan. Amaran saya ialah berhenti membuat kenyataan." [Berita Harian]

On Monday, DPM Najib Tun Razak said that Malaysia has never been a secular nation as the government has always been driven by the fundamentals of Islam.

Subsequently, MCA Secretary General Ong Ka Chuan said that all historical documents pertaining to the formulation of the federal constitution and the formation of an independent state indicated that Malaysia was a secular state.

That’s a stark reality on how the Barisan Nasional ruling coalition practicing the concept of cooperation and sharing-power.

Via Bloomberg:

Ethnic Malays have blown the opportunities given to them under the country’s 36-year-old affirmative action policy and still need preferential treatment.

"The Malays have not responded to the efforts made by the government and because of that, the disparity remains,” said Mahathir. […]

When you’re coming up from behind to catch up, you have to run faster, you have to make more effort.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fresh directive from the Internal Security Ministry and this is ridiculous, really ridiculous.

It’s OK for newspapers to publish statements from PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and DPM Najib Tun Razak on Malaysia being an Islamic state.

It’s NOT OK for newspapers to publish any news or discuss on whether Malaysia is secular or Islam as Islam is a sensitive issue and allowing such discussions would cause "tension".

Besides pondering the fact that Islam encompasses other religions in this multi-religious and multi-racial country, there was never a thought from this blogger that Islam is a sensitive issue.

No thanks to Internal Security Ministry’s Publications Control and Al-Quran Texts Unit senior officer Che Din Yusof, it’s shameful that the beauty of Islam is tainted by an individual who doesn’t really understand the real context of Islam.