DANG! I had a most wonderful weekend at the foothills of Gunong Ledang thanks to the Fernendez brothers, Jerry and Colin who played host to a truly Malaysian mix, Boom & Rodi, Karen and I. We came back to KL, to quote Rodi, truly oxygenated!
+++++
PLEASE HEED THE ABOVE WARNING!
IF YOU STILL BELIEVE GOING TO HEAVEN IS MORE IMPORTANT
BUT JUST CAN'T RESIST THE TEMPTATION
YOU DON'T DESERVE HEAVEN!
FOR THE REST OF YOU
WHO JUST WANT TO LIVE IN PEACE
TOGETHER
HAVE A GOOD START TO FEBRUARY!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY SIS LUCY
BT, THANKS FOR THE CLIP.
CHEGU NAZIR, I'LL BE WITH YOU IN SPIRIT AT 11:55AM
Last week Rais Yatim said that: " Malays using Twitter to run down the government are going against Malay tradition."
Now after a hiding from the rakyat he tells Bernama this:
(Bernama) - Readers will most likely shift to the Internet for news, if the traditional media continue with their old style of presenting news based on what the editors feel that people should read or use the media as a propaganda tool.
Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim said this was because the Internet allowed the people to read what they wanted to read. (Because the MSM will not dispense truth!)
"The Internet has created a new phenomenon of change all over the world," he said at the opening the International Conference on Free and Responsible Journalism, here, today. (At International conferences, he goes saintly, this devil.)
The text of his speech (by APCO?)was read by the ministry's deputy secretary-general (Information), Datuk Azmi Ali. (Was Rais told to be conveniently absent?)
Rais, however, said the role of responsible journalism was still relevant to the development of a nation.
"Journalists need to be free and self-governing to fulfill their duty of providing information to the people with a simple guideline, such as their first obligation is to truth, their loyalty is to the citizens, the essence is discipline of verification, and maintaining independence from those they cover." (What a mouthful of drivel!)
"Journalists face daily risks posed by tight media laws and the threats against them include non-renewal of the printing license for their publication, lawsuits, jail or fine, and harassment in the form of newsroom interference by the government." (And who made these rules?)
He said in countries without freedom of the press, the majority of people who reported the news might not follow the subscribed standard of journalism. (What is the subscribed standard of journalism. What manner of animal is that? I thought it was to tell it as it is.)
contributed by MOB1900
NOW READ WHAT MY FRIAY GUEST BLOGGER “UPPERCISE” WROTE SOME TIME LAST YEAR:
CUTTING through the bilious fog of chatter about who’s in and who’s out, there remains the age-old dilemma that the Nasty Times has lived with since Tengku Razaleigh engineered the takeover of the Malaysian half of The Straits Times in the early 1970s.
That is, whether to be a professional purveyor of objective news and balanced opinion, or merely be a selfserving mouthpiece of the political and commercial interests of those in power, and survive on their handouts.
After the takeover an early portent of the skirmishes to come arose with the newly-appointed Marketing Director, of whom (the late)Pak Samad cuttingly observed that producing a newspaper was not like selling soap (as the man used to do at the factory next door, which spilled out a cloud of noxious orange fumes all day). And as (also the late)David Tambyah later remarked, “We’re being screwed between the bookkeepers upstairs and the timekeepers downstairs.”
There’s not much difference today. Only in who’s calling the shots, and which floor they occupy. And these days, the noxious fumes are totally produced in-house.
Those were relatively easy times for the then not-so-Nasty Times: secure in its near-monopoly, having seen off the Eastern Sun, and with only a moribund Straits Echo and a fledging and struggling Star nipping ineffectually at its heels, secure in its political backing, enhanced by a cosy relationship with an establishment then still imbued with self-belief and principle.
The NaSTy Times was able to pull off the occasional challenge to authority, one of the more memorable occasions being when the Bar rose as one against the monstrous challenge to individual liberty engineered by King Ghaz, among others, who proposed hooded anonymous witnesses testifying from behind a screen in security cases under Emergency powers. The NST’s extensive coverage of the response of an aghast establishment, with a long front-page lead on the debate at the Bar EGM, led to the proposal being watered down. Can anyone imagine the NST carrying out anything like it today? (fat chance!)
The Nasty Empire’s dilemma has been a constant no matter whose hands were at the controls. In any case control is only nominally in the hands of those appointed to high position. The real power lies in the prime minister’s department, the Umno president’s aides, Umno’s media control committee, the faceless Umno-controlled bureaucrats of KDN, especially the publications unit, and with the in-house stooges of Special Branch, the military, and foreign intelligence trying to pull off their little escapades in the background.
Against all this, what’s a professional journalist to do? And with the political pap put out at the behest of those concerned mainly with political survival, what’s a Circulation manager to do?
Salesman: NST, NST, hot news today, good news today, get your NST! Customer: NST-ah? How much? One riggit ah? What inside? Salesman: Plenty of news, sir. Everything you need to know. Customer: But this one all is Barisan propoganda. Saleman: No sir, it’s all good news, it’s the true story sir. Look, look see this one, you know the real story about the Perak MB. Here look this one you see how great our police people, what a good job they are doing, here this one look all about this Minister, he is so great or not. So many things here la. This one here look about Iskandar is so great. Customer: Ai yah don’t bullshit lah. You think I want to give you money and then you give me bullshit. (Salesman thinks: Yes, yes, that’s right, that’s what we want) You mad ah. You must pay me mah. Salesman: Pay you? But you’re wearing a Chelsea shirt. You paid for this shirt and you advertise Chelsea. Customer: I supporter mah. Some more can make money from betting. Can make money from NST or not? Salesman: You can learn good English. We have very good English. (URGGG)Look, see, so many big words, you know or not? You learn to talk big talk, you can get big job, get good money what. How about that? Customer: Aiyah only for school children lah. Maybe good for teacher lah. We all working people lah. What for we talk big talk like Mat Salleh or what. You gila kah. Some more all your big words also all Barisan bullshit.(preferably cow-dung, to be politically correct gender-wise.) Where got news? Hah, pay money for your news ah! Hah! You better pay me to read lah. End of story.
Fanciful or not it’s not too far from the truth. Circulation figures tell the story. From its heyday of near 200,000 copies — until The Star caught up and overtook the NST in 1987, at which point it was promptly shut down and told to shut up and sell out — to its current 100,000 or so, the NST has led a path of inexorable decline. (I’m relying on memory here, without access to figures.) Even without having one hand and a leg tied behind our backs, what can be done in purely professional terms?
First, there’s self-serving p0litical crap.
Follow the PM’s line. Make this Minister look good. That Umno warlord is my friend, play him up. The IGP’s my friend (actually I’m scared of them, they have dirt on me) make sure the police look good. [Dr Mahathir himself recently said, when you're dealing with people who have guns, you have to be very careful. Just as in 1987 he carefully pointed out that the swoop on dissenting voices in Operation Lallang was actually just a police action.]
Then there’s the self-serving Malay agenda crap.
Play up the Malay feller’s deeds (world-shattering invention, world-shattering explorations, world-shattering expeditions). Play down the other feller.(champion Zul Nordin you must!) Oh wait, no no that’s wrong, now it’s all this unity crap. Okay play up the everybody-together crap. Plenty of feel-good stories and pictures, Malay feller, Chinese feller, Indian feller all doing good things together, eating together (no no cannot say sleeping together), but put the Malay feller in front, okay? Or something like that.
Then there’s the self-serving commercial crap.
Okay Astro is a big advertiser, give Astro programmes lots of play. But don’t forget we own all those stations too. Play up our side. Run all their press releases. It’s clean, no need to worry just cut and paste. After all who knows? Easy work. And our friends and ex-colleagues working the other side of the fence can do us some favours some time. Freebies, free trips, free tickets, that sort of thing.
Oh yeah, Telekom also advertise big. Okay big play for Telekom stories. Celcom also? (Yes, yes, they together with 200 Indian nationals will mess up the Barisan Rakyat Bloggers’ sites.) Okay same shit. Hey come on how about Digi, (despite their sponsoring Selangor Government stage for Thaipusam) our friends are there. Okay run any old press release they send.
What gives in the corridors of economic power also determines what gives in the NST. Agriculture the big thing? Play up mangoes and apples. Environment very big? Also very safe. Okay play up Yangtze turtle. Never mind dead leatherback. (Poor Dr Chan, screwed again.)
It’s good to be a press agent these days. There’s a very good chance almost any old press release will make it verbatim. It’s clean, what. Why bother to rewrite? You think you get a promotion for this? Hey, take it easy, why you want to work so hard. A very senior editor told me one day last year in the midst of my struggling to sort out some crap, “Come on lah, all your trying to maintain standards, what’s the point? What’s it going to get you?”
Hmm. What’s it going to get you…
So true. That’s what the Nasty Times is about, at all levels corporate or editorial. Can Johan, Mat Talib and friends change any of that?
GLOSSARY:
Pak Samad: my old boss A Samad Ismail, then deputy group editor, later distinguished alumnus of Gulag Kamunting, and literature laureate
David Tambyah: deputy managing editor, later production editor, and lifelong stamp collector. Whatever did Ruby do with them? (I am in touch with not-so-well but still gutsy Ruby. Stamps still with her. She might probably will these to her nephews….if they behave.)
King Ghaz: Ghazali Shafie, the vain, flamboyant and irrepressible foreign service czar turned Home Minister and later implicated in an arms deal in Papua New Guinea. (RIP. Didn’t he send Pak Samad and Abdullah Ahmad to Kem Kamunting?)
Tengku Razaleigh: Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, Umno whizzkid handpicked by Tun Razak who later engineered the takeover of Guthrie and eventually Sime Darby among other things. That Far Eastern Economic Review cover remains an all-time classic in my mind. Now a hermit-like Yoda of Umno, sometimes referred to as Umno’s last hope. His detractors say, fat hope. (Someone whom UMNO dared not touch and yesterday demanded to give PAS Kelantan what is their right in oil royalties.)
(* Amended 29 May 2009: changed prime minister’s office to prime minister’s department )
Received this in the email from an anonymous source. Even if it is true I just wish them good luck. The authorities still fail to see the honor in a fair fight. Never mind, bring in your imported cyber-troopers and thereby insulting your local-bred troopers who you have already by this action, labeled as impotent! Not nice lah to call your people useless, innit?
The email:
I have reliable information that the recent visit to INDIA by Najib and delegates (UMNO/BN) is mainly to recruit IT professionals and hackers from India for a 3 year contract. It's estimated that more than 200 will be recruited at MYR300 million per annum.(Prposterous sum, but that is the price you pay when you sell your SOUL and your people)
Their only task is to jeopardize, intercept and disrupt blog sites and bloggers who are not government-friendly. Since they have a strong stranglehold on mass media whereas Internet and local blog media are out of government control, UMNO/BN out of desperation are going all out to weaken local anti-government blogs and bloggers by having these IT pros and hackers to infect viruses and trojans into individual IP addresses through TMnet and Celcom Internet service providers. Najib, Hishamuddin and Rais Yatim, along with a few UMNO/BN cabinet ministers had a closed door meeting with Telekom and Celcom top guns to discuss these matters before Najib left for India.
This is planned to affect login passwords, local publication access, slow down systems, and even to the extent of destroying data in hard disks if anyone accesses any anti-government blog sites and to prevent these from posting anti-government news.
This will not affect proUMNO blog sites due to the fact that the interception is based on IP and POP proxy addresses of individual sites and individual access. So, if you access pro-government blog websites, you won't be affected. Out of desperation, UMNO/ BN will ensure that Malaysians won't be able to access news from any anti-government blog portals and these websites won't be able to publish the truth of their corrupt activities and strategies to topple the PR government in the Internet local access.
So will there be two standards on hacking - I alwasys thought hacking was a felony. no?And didn't my NIAMAH friend ALERT us to this HERE?
HANTU 2 sent me this with a note: "Fret not.....at least we know who are weak." His PS read: A reading done by my friend vonCube a few nights ago.
Weak Emperors: A Study in Mediocrity
Genghis Khan, Catherine the Great, Basil Bulgaroctonus, the Kangsi Emperor These are just a few of the illustrious names which bored history students are forced to memorize and regurgitate in exams. Great kings and emperors, and their victories, great public works, and state reorganizations, come down to us through history, and provide vivid examples of achievement and skill from any era, any culture, and occasionally serve as inspiration for young ne'er do-wells in today's world. Their deeds have been immortalized in words, art, and film, and with each utterance of their exalted name they achieve a small measure more of immortality.
But for every Great Emperor, the scrap heap of history is positively filled with mediocrities, failures, and sometimes evil leaders, who for one reason or another are relegated, at best, to mere footnotes in the great histories, and at worst are doomed to almost total obscurity. They, too, donned the Imperial insignia, royal seal, and sacred jewels of their more famous counterparts; yet for one reason or another, they have been shrouded by the mists of time, and quickly forgotten about. I've always found myself drawn more to these obscure characters, for whatever reason; maybe I can draw more parallels to my own life with their struggles, failures and misdeeds, than I can to some snotty overachiever like Frederick the Great.
Keep in mind that this is not necessarily limited to successful leaders. Catastrophically bad ones, like Commodus and Nicholas II, earn their own little slice of history by virtue of their incompetence. No, I'm talking about those who tried, maybe not as hard as they could have, and achieved little, if anything.
But what makes a mediocre Emperor such? Is is personal failings? Born into the wrong circumstances? One or two really bad decisions?
Over history, there seems to be five distinct factors which make up a failed leadership, all of which were touched on by the leaders I've chosen. They are, in no particular order:
Internecine Strife: Fighting amongst one's own family for control at the expense of one's own nation almost invariably leads to ignominy and failure. Unless, of course, you're not a failure.
Tactical vs. Strategic thinking: Trying to figure out what will keep you in power next year, as opposed to what will keep your nation prominent in the next century, is a recipe for disaster. Just ask Sten Sture.
Short Reigns Sometimes, a leader with so much promise shuffles off this mortal coil just a little too soon before they can effect real change. John Thompson and Murad IV of the Ottomans would fall under this category; a case could also be made for Joseph II of Austria. In other news, I believe this is the first time in human history all three of those names have been uttered in the same sentence. Anyways,
Personal Defects: What a massive, widely ranged category this is. Sometimes, personal defects can lead a leader to glory, such as the blood lust of Ivan the Terrible and Mao Zedong. More often though, the reverse is true, whether it's Ibrahim I's obsession with finding, and bedding, the fattest woman in his empire; or Maximilian I's belief that the people of Mexico would truly come to love, and accept him. Sorry, Max.
Wrong choices, are bound for greatness; for the vast remainder, there is only ignominy, obscurity, and if they're lucky, a relatively complete Wikipedia entry.
another MOB1900 creation
Wrong place, wrong time: Sometimes, you're just a day late and a dollar short; that's not your fault, really. Fuckin' way she goes, as they say in these parts. Unfortunately, luck of the draw does seem to be a major determining factor in greatness; Abraham Lincoln, born fifteen years later, might have been a Tammany Hall hack, and if the Hongwu emperor decides not to join a Buddhist monastery, he never would have found the Ming Dynasty.
In any case, I hope you found this writeup informative, and if not that, then mildly entertaining. I might add another emperor or two as time passes, but for the time being, I'm satisfied. But just remember: should you find yourself in a leadership position over a small-medium-large-sized empire, learn to read, kick some strategic ass, and be born +/- 50 years, as needed. I will node you then.
Me, I am off to join Queenie and the mob for some Hong Kong lethrinus haematopterus (Emperor Fish) at Jl Robson.
YES, Pete really is, so he told a visiting friend of my Mum. He is in stitches about being flown to the moon when in reality he is on a Mediterranean Cruise with a stopover at the Isle of Capri before he heads toward San Juan to catch the swallows of Capistrano on March 19 HERE. Whilst he is thoroughly tickled over his "catch me if you can" capers, I am reliably informed by a sponsor, that he feels irresponsible for having embarrassedd the Police Inspector General in this wild angsa chase! This is his way of saying "Sorry lah, stupid!"
OF course if you have the expertise and that attendant deviousness, everything can be staged. You just need some planning of course. But crucial to a successful staging of an event would be the purchase of a certain breed of accomplices who would for a price, sell their souls to the devil. NO, I got this wrong here…..selling your soul to the devil is just a figure of speech! The devil is not that cheap, and moreover what the hell does the devil in Hell needs money. Hell, combustion is free and eternal, so we are told, yes?
It is the devil incarnate, who walks amongst us…..the ones who will sell their father, mother, wives, sons and daughters and if the price is good, even their brothers an sisters for transitory gains equivalent to, I am told, a ponderous bout of ejaculation experienced after a period of forced abstinence. These would be the actors, stagehands easily available for a price to stage what the master-stager directs! And the master-stager has basketful of these willing accomplices amongst the fleas and lice that infest our police force, judiciary, election commission, macc, air force, even the registra of societies now, and of course the customs and immigration departments. Dang! Which government agencies can say that they have not participated in productions directed by the powers that be.
Here are some of our major mega productions:
Wasn’t Sodomy 1 an international box-office hit? (The “irrelevant” judge was not able to receive his Oscar. No! His demise was not staged. His shelf-life just expired.) Of course DSAI staged his own black eyes, what!
Wasn’t the expulsion of the Lord President stage managed?
Isn’t the Bench from Court of Appeals up, judiciously staged and manipulated?
Nominated for Oscar would be the staged takeover of Perak – for the first time two awards for Best DirectorS. And the winners are…….
Was the death of Teoh Beng Hock also staged? A Bolehwood extravaganza?
Being edited currently would be another mega (3D?) hit – Sodomy II. Stagehand and scholarship-seeking SAI-ful (excuse my use of Hokkien....it seems so shittily appropriate!) suddenly took centre-stage. It is rumoured that he defied medical records by fingering himself and yet left no fingerprints in his you-know-where. Even some uncle’s tongue-job left no tongue prints! However DNA is in the manufacturing stage in this country, the word is going around.
Wasn’t the execution of Altantuya staged. She never entered this country, so says Botak Hamid’s border guards and yet two hooded murderers were sentenced to death. Their hanging would be stage-managed for sure.This would be the mother of all mega productions if only Cameron can get the go-ahead if the price is not too exorbitant.
NYET! Kugan’s death was not staged. It was plain brutality with intent to stage an accident. However the sequel is expertly staged. One suspect out of the 11 was fingered.
Was the loss of our jet engines also staged?
Dang, you people out there, tell me what else is not staged!
My first meeting with Dr Dzul was when he came to the civic centre to lend support to our NO TO ISA candlelight vigil. He spoke at the vigil. His English was impeccable, his delivery flawless and the message impactful. Subsequently I met him at all the by elections and he was instrumental in recognising the little we bloggers could contribute to Pakatan Rakyats efforts. Ilast met him at the Pakatan Rakyat Convention late last year.
His insights into the latest controversy is a must read.
Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad, Member of the Central Working Committee of PAS.
I have been asked to explain and rationalise, why there are 2 seemingly opposing positions or 2 schools of thought, taken by PAS’ top ulama leaders. It is no small feat and I have never been more uncomfortable.
Tok Guru Dato’ Nik Aziz (TGNA) the Mursyidul Am of PAS and the President of PAS DS Hj Abdul Hadi Awang (DSHA) present the proponent for ‘permssibility’ of the usage of the name of Allah by adherents of other faiths namely the Abrahamic religions (Chriatianity and Judaism), while Dato Dr Harun Din (DDHD), as the Deputy Mursyidul Am of the Majlis Syura Ulama ( and incidentally a number of Muslim NGOs and some academics), taking an opposite stance ie making it not permissible to be used by others.
My position on this issue remains as briefly expressed in recent articles that I’ve written, one in BM entitled “Allah Untuk Semua” and the other “Can PAS remain steadfast?” My latest is an Open letter to the “Mr 1-Malaysia-Prime Minister” venting my frustration to the many unending crises of the nation. They are all in my weblog (drdzul.wordpress.com) and elsewhere in cyber and print media.
I wanted to write this piece earlier but was willing to wait and read from others especially those religiously-trained ulama. As it is not so forthcoming, I now grudgingly pen this piece, after being requested to do so.
Continue to read his dissertation HERE
VISITING D'nightcaller is a daily must. He came into my blog during the Kuala Terengganu by-elections. We met briefly after the KT victory. We met again when we met up with Datuk Sak (SakmongkolAK47) at Lotus. The last time I met D'Nightcaller was when I was called in for questioning at the Commercial Crime Department. He and Fis-ha were amongst the many who came to give me support.
Tonight, I learnt that his wife needs our prayers (HERE)
PLEASE JOIN ME AND MY FAMILY AND BLOGGER FRIENDS TO STORM HEAVEN
We are quite used to the shenanigans orchestrated by the MACC, but this one really takes the cake. But you have to excuse MACC. They are unable to see big things like Bali Mansions and smuggling of millions out of the country. It is typical of rats whose peripheric vision is near to pur-blind. I do not wish to offend any rat-lovers but can't we all smell a "rat" in MACC's latest "inquest" into the cake for Tok Guru. Little things delights little minds.
I always believe in RECOGNITION, i.e. recognising the services of my 4 Hantus. My daughter Patrina sent me a birthday angpow and what better way than to invite my 4 mates for a retreat of sorts. We chose Cerating it being off-season now. We spent the days brain-wracking and at night we drank enough beers - the collection of beer cans sufficient to float a sunken frigate. One of the topics that got everyone excited was "How can UMNO take back Selangor?" You would be surprised how easy it will be to lose Selangor. Here is one teaser.....and it has got to do with a community-funded Recreation Club.
UKRC, the Ulu Klang Recreation Club was nearly snatched by some greedy MCA thieves with the help of Khir Toyo of course. That piece of land could make millions for some fat-cat MCA and probably contribute another wing to Toyo's mansion. However, the community fought back with the help of the Malay Mail then and prevented the raid. The new Selangor Pakatan Rakyat Government dilly-dallied in getting the land officially gazetted after promises on promises. The MP Azmin made countless promises, the adun Saari Sanguib made similar promises. Promises only! Empty promises, that is.
The community played a significant role in the last GE. Period.
They were the only "club" to come together to say NO TO ISA (see their Gallery tab)
They gave power to the PR Government. They can take back that power.
WATCH IT SELANGOR.......The power is always with the PEOPLE.
FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THIS EXTRAORDINARY COMMUNITY CLUB
Whilst I was doing my darndest trying to sell fish for Haris, he threw a bait at the Champion Utusan Malaysia columnist Ridhuan Tee Abdullah to debate with popular blogger the Articulate One. I gathered that Art without blinking said, "Bring him on?" No sound from the YELLOW corner. Do you think he is waiting for some pecuniary arrangements or is he waiting for the nod from his handlers. I think both. Somebody whispered to me at Sid's Place that he wanted Rear Admiral Kevin Morais as his back-up butt but his handlers objected as the Rear Admiral of the Winward Passage has lost a lot of wind in court of late....and of course hot air isn't as good a wind as a blow job to steer you out of stormy murky waters. May I suggest Zul Nordin or Hassan Ali? Word has it that Ibrahim Ali can't stand Tee Abdullah and spurned the offer. Anyway, if Tee is so good at teeing-off on his favorite subject why does he need a second in his corner.....to throw in the towel before the bout can begin? I know he has yellow streak.....not an eye-ball-to-eyeball communicator.
To be fair, I think he will consider if there is an unbiased moderator. I wanted to suggest RPK but our friend is in Finland for the Miss Finland contest. (Aside: yes Marina is following as chaperon by popular consensus of the kids!). Possible moderators could be my favorite professor Azmi Sharom,or She-frog Hee. But my choice would invariably be Isa Samad. Despite everything against him he WON a by-election, no? That is something, yes? If Isa is picked his two datuks and one tan sri could provide the fees if Tee wants to be paid to voice his convictions. Yes, why not any board member of the Muslim Professionals Forum?
You started this Haris, you better see it through. Meanwhile I am in contact with Hell's Kitchen (Astro 703) to sell your fish for February - Fish Month. You concentrate on this debate, I will sell ikan for you.....for every 100 kilos one night of flavored Guiness at Sid's. Deal? One of RPK's sponsors has promised similar treat if Tee throws in all his towels from his Yellow Corner. I am off to do sales for you now after this posting!
YESTERDAY, as I was on my way home I was alerted by SMS that Tok Guru was visiting St. Francis Xavier Church at Jaan Gasing at 5:00pm. This was a magnanimous gesture, and I was not going to miss this. When I arrived at the Church the media was already there and parishioners were unaware of why the media was present. The evening service was to commence at 5:30pm. Heavy traffic on a Sunday caused by a heavy shower delayed Tok Guru's arrival until 5:35pm. Whilst the service was on Fr. Simon was on hand to receive Tok Guru.
I am sure the congregation would have loved to greet and hear this revered personage, but it was not to be. I was hoping that could happen but it did not.
However, Tok Guru said that he wanted to visit the Church which was torched. A police officer volunteered to escort Tok Guru to the Assumption Church. When Tok Guru arrived the service had begun ahead of the 6:00pm service as it was the Harvest Festival and a Tamil service had already begun. Tok Guru met with the Parish Priest Fr. Philip Muthu but I could not catch the conversation. But you and I can imagine what transpired.
In mid-morning whilst I was at the PJ Sessions court witnessing the case of our 22 arrested friends during the eve of Bursih candlelight vigil, I received an SMS alert about a proposed demonstration organised at the Assumption Church for sometime this week. I immediately called Fr Philip Muthu to confirm this message I received. Earlier I had read that Selangor CPO warned about any demonstration by the Church.
Fr. Philip is aware of this SMS and he catergorically denied this and asked me to pan it down to readers that this was a mischievous rumour. Fr Muthu told me that he had informed Malaysiakini about this HERE.
So people, be wary of this mischief that will still prevail.
In a recent promotion tour of Poland, the organisers of Miss Finland chanced upon Pete and asked him to pose with the 10 Finalists. Word has it that his charm overwhelmed all ten finalists and they put in a proposal that they want Raja Petra Kamarudin to be on the Panel Of Judges. The organisers readily agreed as this would be the first time that a Malaysian wil grace the Panel.
pic courtesy of Hantu2
click on any finalist to get enhanced image
I am aware of Pete's inherent expertise in judging people, but he must have endeared himself somewhat with his Welsh charisma. So be it Pete! But as a friend just be careful during your short furlough in Finland. When you are finished with the judging go back straight to Solidarity Land, or Marina will FINNISH you off! Just don't play play with these Chinese Muslim women. However, give a good warm hugs to all ten for me!
