Nation's Progress Report

Hey guys, seeing that the political status in our country is ticking off again, I would like to poke some fun at ourselves. Mind you, no offense intended here. I decided to write this now, especially when trivial [not to mention controversial] issues are appearing on the front cover almost everyday for the past few weeks.

Let's start all the way from the beginning, shall we?

In the threshold of year 2008, the nation has seen many little kids gone missing. Up till now, none of them [or their bodies, say, they're dead....] have been recovered. Even the case is long forgotten. Professional police / bar council? Bah!! It seems that children went missing to welcome the general elections.

March 8 2008
An epoch-making day. This was the day that the power of democracy exceeded the corrupted government's expectations. 5 states were won over by the opposition and the dominating government which stood tall and menacing for the past 50 years lost their 2/3 majority (such was the cowardice of citizens last time). Selangor, Perak, Kedah, Kelantan and Penang were the 5 lucky states whose people stood united against the current government. Unfortunately thought, Barisan National still became the Federal Government due to unfortunate blinded people who failed to link them with corruption. The new state governments for the 5 lucky stars have implicated good measures to revert Malaysia to a more peaceful place without racial tensions.

Thank goodness there wasn't a recurrence of May 13 (1969). This was the day that mass killing was done right here. Malaysians against their own kin (*tsk tsk*).

In the second half of the year, things started going wild. At that time, PKR's (a political party in the Opposition) leader has decided to vacate her seat for her husband, Anwar Ibrahim, who was wrongfully "exiled" from politics exactly 10 years ago.

Apparently, Dr M[ahathir] was alleged to have a conspiracy with his sycophantic minions and framed his then Deputy Prime Minister (Mr Anwar Ibrahim) for sodomy. Of course the court didn't do any proper investigations nor did they do anything to Dr M. Plus, our ACA (supposedly standing for Anti-Corruption Agency) didn't do anything. It was said that Dr M controlled that body AND the judicial council.

And this year, he has made a comeback to politics. At that time, everyone was so excited with his comeback as many promises were made. Because his wife vacated her [Parliamentary] seat, a by-election was done. In that by-election, he won without a doubt, reaching about 17,000 majority (if I'm not wrong). Then, he was made Opposition Leader instead of Lim Kit Siang from DAP (another political party within Opposition).

After that, the public was allowed to view Parliamentary debates casted on the media. Indeed, this was enough entertainment for the public. Now, this is a political joke as funny questions, insults, sleeping leaders and walkouts were part of the show. This is what was displayed on the television screen.

Midway, political leaders again try their luck with the same tactic as was used a decade ago. Anwar Ibrahim was again alleged of sodomy. This was when everyone got annoyed. His DNA sample was tried to be taken from him [according to rumours, it's so that it can be planted on the so-called "victim"]. Man, don't these leaders have better ideas? When you're trying to frame someone, do it creatively!

And let's not forget the day when many (if not all) Malaysians were enraged (12 September). This needs a whole lot of elaboration on behalf of normal citizens. 3 innocent Malaysians were detained under the Internal Security Act due to mentally challenged circumstances. There was a highly-regarded blogger, an award-winning journalist and an influential politician. By right, the ISA was only used to detain TERRORISTS. Apparently, the government thinks they're terrorists. If these respected people are terrorists, that would explain our current ban from certain sophisticated places of the world like England.

The stupidest detention in all history of mankind was the detainment of award-winning journalist Tan Hoon Cheng from Penang. She was the journalist who reported the racial statements made by Ahmad Ismail, who stated that the Chinese didn't belong here in a public statement. Now, instead of the wrongdoer, the one who REPORTED the incident was detained. This was something that occurred long long time ago (Operasi Lalang).

Useful Information:
Operation Lalang (Weeding Operation; also referred to as Ops Lalang) was carried out on October 27, 1987 by the Malaysian police to crack down on opposition leaders and social activists. The operation saw the infamous arrest of 106 persons under the Internal Security Act (ISA) and the revoking of the publishing licenses of two dailies, The Star and the Sin Chew Jit Poh and two weeklies, The Sunday Star and Watan. [...read more...]

Luckily, Miss Hoon Cheng was released one day after her detention. The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, gave an idiotic and irrelevant answer as to why she was detained.

"Her safety was threatened".

This sparked anger among many Malaysians irregardless of race and age. How dumb could this explanation get!!?!?!?!

Teresa Kok, a politician who won a landslide victory in Seputeh, Shah Alam, during the March elections was detained for no apparent reason either. No doubt she is highly respectable since her victory was, by right, the largest in the country with a 31,000 majority. Initially, she was alleged to have taken part in a petition to lower the speakers of 2 mosques during their prayer time. BOTH mosques, however, said that she DIDN'T. It was even stated in the newspaper. However, she was only released a week later and no one could explain why she was detained. It could be to scare off the Opposition party.

Then, there was everyone's favourite : Raja Petra Kamaruddin, a renowned blogger. This was the most controversial case ever. He wrote a post which stated that the current Deputy Prime Minister was involved in the murder of Mongolian Altantuyaa. He even made a statutory declaration, which meant that he was very very sure of this. God bless him for his courage. And now, many citizens know what he wants and why he was detained. According to Malaysian laws, there ARE laws for these "seditious comments" on the net. However, RPK was still detained. Why? If he were to be charged in court, the DPM (Deputy PM) HAS to be there too. And obviously, this is not the option he chooses. That's why RPK was detained. And we have yet to hear a reasonable explanation from our Home Minister. And now, let's hear it from the once Opposition Leader, Lim Kit Siang!!

Ahh, not to forget September the 16th. This is the day Malaysia changed--its expectations. This not-anymore prestigious day WAS supposed to be the day Opposition took over the Federal Government. It was so realistically declared that even the Federal Government itself was so afraid. So, all the Parliament Members were sent of to Taiwan in order to foil the Opposition's plans to take over the government. This added to the nation's anticipation. If the Federal Government was afraid, it's real. Unfortunately, the Malaysian mindset proves us wrong once again. How very disappointing. After that, many dates were set to take over the government. We now believe that there's nothing to hope for after all--until the next general elections!!

And what do you know?!? On his last day as MCA leader, Ong Ka Ting has made history by speaking out against BN, the dominating party. All hail Ong Ka Ting for this, who has also limited the party president's term to 9 years of service. After that, bye-bye and no more Part President for you. That was one of the other memorable things he did against power-driven people who cling on to posts. Read his whole speech here.

"Datuk" is the title awarded to special people in the King's / Sultan's honour. Common sense tells us that if a King were to give this title out, it should be given to their own citizens. Malaysians, in this case. However, lately, the Malaccan King has stated that he wanted to award Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan the Malaysian title. This was very unthoughtful indeed and has sparked off many sarcastic remarks. "Hey, I'm smart and I've contributed to society with my smartness. Why don't you give me that title?". Smart indeed they are.

Malaysia is the only country that includes Fatwa (Edict) in the law, if consensus is achieved in all states. Recently, there has been this long controversy of whether yoga should be banned among Muslims. The body responsible for issuing the edict came to a conclusion just like that. And because of that, almost all the states and citizens were thrown into confusion. All the states have immediately "given full support" by saying that it would be implemented in their system. By then, the only pending answer was from Selangor. And yes, Selangor declined the edict. So, there was no consensus unlike as was stated at first. And there was this Muslim lady who conducted yoga classes and questioned them for saying that Muslims would deviate from their religion when practising yoga, which originated from Hindus. She said something very practical, which I think the leaders should think about : "Did they go around to see us practise yoga (in the modern world) or did they visit the Hindu temple?". That rings true. Implementing the ban, eventhough it is only meant for Muslims is like saying Buddhists or Christians who practice yoga deviate from their religion too. My mum practices yoga, but I've NEVER seen her chanting when practicing it. I mean, the whole world knows that yoga without the chanting doesn't diminish the faith you have in your religion. In fact, it is even recommended by scientists since it is beneficial for health.

Then the year ended with the PKR MP who wants to quit on New Year's Day due to odd reasons.

Through the nation's eyes, there have been many unsolved crimes this year. The highest-profile crime caused the biggest stir, with RPK of Malaysia Today alleging that the DPM was involved in it. Natural Disasters have also hit the nation, ending with the landslide in Bukit Antarabangsa (when we were in Changsha).

Conclusion :
Malaysia is regressing in social terms. In the long run, we might progress again, depending on the next election, or, if God will, the next takeover plan. =D

Aloha 2009!!

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School Report 2008

This has been, I might say, one of the most progressive years in my life. Although there were some major disappointments, there were also some things that I never would have done if I didn't come to DJ, not to mention some things that would never have happened if I were not placed in 2 Batai.

Since the beginning of the year, I always had the strong perception that my class had the highest level of English prowess in the whole form. Boy, was I right!! When we were asked on who wants to represent the class in debating, more than half the class raised their hands, unlike the other classes, who had to be handpicked. Apart from that, our class's competitiveness was crazy. Everyone's percentage was so close it was hard to fathom what position one might be getting.

Then, there were 3 Bataians out of 4 Scrabblers who were chosen to represent the school for the inter-school competition (State level). Being one of the Scrabblers, the experience has really made me aware of the capabilities of others. And that was just the beginning of the road.

There was another competition I was supposed to join anyway, but it was canceled because the morning session teachers objected the participation due to odd reasons.

And there was the G-Maths competition too. It was a new game only up to form 2s and was just introduced this year. Our team, which lacked practice, surprisingly did quite alright. I was the most shocked though. We didn't even practice and I won in my game, beating Kelana Jaya, DU and Catholic High School. I also met several old school friends from Taman Sea, who did quite well in the competition as well.

Also, not forgetting New South Wales.....I sat for the Science and English papers. Both passed with a Distinction (FREAK, NOOO !!).

Okay, honestly, this whole year wasn't made for competitions only. Some major setbacks included the infamous Scrabble Case and my notoriety for missing a few prefect meetings. This had NOTHING whatsoever to do with leadership. Blast those conservative mindsets!!

Plus, I have broken a loooong record of straight As starting from 2006.

Geography: 78

Ta-da!! One of my favourite subjects stabbed my back!! I can't believe my History actually got higher than my geography!!!!

And so, this year ends withOUT a jackpot position: 2|2|4

Friends : They are those people who sit with you in class and talk non-stop until the teacher accuses you of being "a bad student" and blacklists you. (Right....so it doesn't go THAT far...)

A great example of the definition on top, albeit being exaggerated, is Sha Lynn. She sat with me since the beginning of mid-term and have been a constant entertainment to the likes of my similar mind. Both of us have been constantly laughing about Mr Rosdi's funny accent and fooling around during his lessons (he didn't see, of course).

A more suitable and less exaggerated example would be Chi Han, who loves to criticise the teachers' rash behaviours as much as I do. And of course, there's Cassandra and Ghee Ken, who, when talking about random stuffs, go on to the extent of screaming at each other. Yes, it's a class specialty, especially when nearby prefects like Ishwin and I barge in for fun and control it (this is where shouting goes out of control and prefects become the target), but it also provides solid evidence that librarians, regardless of ranks, are plain nuts.

Then, there are my vertebrae in school. My friends who have helped me through those hard times when I felt like throwing a pie at the teachers' faces. They gave me strength and at the very most, gave me the confidence I needed when things went topsy-turvy (especially during July!).

Among those I'd like to thank personally are Cassandra, Joseph, Chi Han and Caryn.

But don't freak out and think you're not helpful just because your name isn't there in the list. These are just the names of people who got tangled in my web of trouble. And by that, I mean that they are those who shared my troubles and went through a lot to get us out of it. Moral support goes to Chi Han and Caryn, who have definitely had a patient heart to bear with my moping.

Then, I'd have to thank Ghee Ken too since he gave me the competitive drive. That guy is just so kiasu. Explains why he got top 1% in the country for NSW English paper. Drats. Thanks anyway. If I didn't know you, I wouldn't be a Scrabblemanic now! Oh, and not to mention the Scrabble crew. Okay fine...so I don't know all of them that well. But they certainly gave the little competitive boost I needed to get up there.

Ah, not to forget, all those times our class experienced together : The time Encik Rosdi, my BM teacher, came to school with his disco shirt, the time our class monitor was caught for stealing a teacher's handphone, those hardships we faced as one.....Yeap, all those nostalgic times that could only happen in 2 Batai 2008. Refreshing.

Overall, coming through this year has made me a stronger person in terms of mentality and confidence. Maybe it was the new people I have met that opened my eyes and mind to the world. Thank you, everyone whose life crossed paths with mine this year.

Thank you so much.

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