What Happens When You Try to Kill All the Lawyers

The impossible has happened - the BN has lost its two-thirds majority for the first time since 1969, and the Opposition controls 5 states and all Parliamentary seats for the Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur (which is not a State).

The DAP, PAS and Keadilan will, operating as a loose coalition, form the State Governments of Penang, Kedah, Perak, and Selangor. In addition, PAS will rule Kelantan with a much stronger majority than it obtained in the last election in 2004.

As President Musharraf discovered much to his dismay when he decided to Kill All the Lawyers - figuratively speaking - Abdullah Badawi's BN has realised, too late, what happens in any functioning society which wants to maintain at least a semblance of democracy: when you find yourself trying to put down (well, at least ignore or denigrate) street protests mounted by lawyers, you are at the deep end of the pool and will drown in the next election.

A tip for politicians in future elections: be careful how you treat the professional class. You start dumping them in jail, it's a good leading indicator that you will fare poorly at the next (honest) polls.

For a better idea of what I'm talking about, go here and here.

And of course, Mr Shakespeare's famous line about Killing All the Lawyers, which when read in context was actually a Major Compliment to the Legal Profession, can be found here (Act IV, Scene 2, Henry VI Part 2).

One compliment to the ruling party though; the Malaysian elections were by and large, free and fair, and allegations and fears of rigging were basically unfounded, going by all currently available evidence.

Unfortunately, as Musharraf discovered in Pakistan, if you rig the vote you lose the elections no matter what the official outcome may be, and if you don't rig the vote then you lose the elections fair and square - either way, you lose.

Like I said, don't put the lawyers down, or you are looking at losing the next polls.

Now, some will say the BN hasn't actually lost the polls, at least not in the way that Musharraf was wiped out in Pakistan. Musharraf wasn't actually up for election; his party lost big and lost all control of Pakistan whereas Badawi WAS up for election, and the BN managed to retain all of East Malaysia and the southern and eastern regions of Peninsular Malaysia. But I say the BN very obviously lost in the sense that despite having gerrymandered election seats over many years in its favour, lopsided media coverage, the devotion of massive resources to a PR campaign, and the detention without trial of its most extreme recent critics (Manoharan & company, of HINDRAF), the BN received an absolute whopping in states it had considered reasonably safe - Selangor, Perak, Kedah - and in the capital, Kuala Lumpur, previously divided between Opposition and BN but as of yesterday TOTALLY Opposition (bar 1 seat). AND the BN lost Penang, was wiped out in Kelantan, AND lost its 2/3 majority - the holy grail of Opposition politicians. The Barisan Nasional has NEVER been beaten so badly since Independence. In Malaysian terms, it counts as a certain defeat.

For the first time in all recorded history, we have 5 Opposition Menteris Besar - one each from Keadilan and the DAP, and 3 from PAS. My congratulations to them all. I just hope they don't waste the chance to Just Change It!



and, for good measure: MAKKAL SHAKTI!!!

- Lawman -

A Problem-Free Formula for Abuse of Power and Corruption in A Certain Country, 101

Hello dear reader, and welcome to this introductory course, entitled as above.

The formula is very simple indeed, and may be stated as follows:-

1. Find a highly-placed friend or two in Government. But note: "Kulit" mesti "sama". Jika Kulit "tak sama", Lain Akibatnya.
2. The "A Certain Country" Government possesses a very strong propensity to engage in Muslim-centric, Keynesian, fiscal-policy, multiplier-effect, demand-side-economics expenditure. Often married to non-existent or perfunctory planning. Use this to your advantage.
3. Obtain a Government contract without open tender. In fact, do it without any track record, capital backing, relevant human resources, or objective evaluation of your ability to complete the project at all.
4. Ensure that the said contract consists of a long-term concession (at least 30 years) which confers upon you a monopoly on an area of economic activity which is essential to national productivity.
5. Can't find an area of economic activity which is essential to national productivity? Just create one, ask your friend to procure his friends in the rubberstamp Parliament of A Certain Country Government to legislate so as to create a monopoly, and have those friends grant the monopoly to you. For example, "all men are to shave and keep their heads bald by regular visits to any licensed barber shop in [ name your location ]. Penalty on default: 10 years jail - without any haircuts." This should be followed by the grant of one (1) licence only, for a barber shop in the said location, to you. All other barbers' licences are to be revoked immediately and without prior notice or explanation, whatsoever.
6. Next, ensure that the concession is bulletproofed against economic loss. You do this by persuading the Government to agree to guarantee your profits every year. For the entire period of the concession - say, at least 30 years.
7. Further, ensure that the tariffs charged to members of the public for the use of your services pursuant to the concession increase in accordance with a fixed formula every few years irrespective of actual surrounding economic and other conditions. In our example, have the barber fees start cheap, then rise sharply every few years for the entire duration of 30 years, so as to make you a billionaire many times over by the end of your concession.
8. Finally, continuing on with our example, find a genuine trained barber, wherever possible one of the "kulit tak sama" type, to actually perform the haircuts. That's because, of course, they actually know how to do the work, they just don't know how to make the money. At least not in A Certain Country. It's a consequence of Being Born Different. Pay him a tuppence, and keep the vast majority of the revenue from the haircut services for yourself as a reward for your brilliant "business" acumen. Oh, and by the way, said "kulit tak sama" barber should bear all startup and operating costs of the business, including all costs of the foregoing steps and your ongoing luxury car and extended overseas "business" trips costs.
9. If you should for any reason come under attack from journalists or sensible, ethical politicians for adopting the above business model, respond by saying that all "kulit sama" types must unite and face the world together, or the "kulit tak sama" types will "take advantage" of the situation to return all "kulit sama" types to the world they were in "before independence from 400 years of colonial domination" - or words to that effect.
10. Alternatively, threaten to shut down all "Kulit Tak Sama" businesses for the merest, most minor transgressions of the law in the name of "equal treatment for all law-breakers". Do so in a very implicit way, by means of quiet, brooding comments to the popular press.
11. As a last resort, announce that the concession agreements are strictly confidential and that their terms are not open to any question on any ground whatsoever, and have your friends arrest all who dare comment on such terms.
12. Repeat the above until you are sick of being insanely rich. Then retire and go into space on the back of a Russian rocket to test the dynamics of creating a proper good-tasting traditional Teh Tarik in a zero gravity environment.

LMT

PAC: Get rid of 'agents' for NS transport service

http://www.sun2surf.com/article.cfm?id=16595

This is an example of what goes wrong when you allow a massive Ali Baba mentality to take root. It's been a real disease for decades in Malaysia - the government does not do the simplest thing by open tender, but instead hands all contracts out to people whose kulit is of a particular colour, and whose religion is of a certain type, and then those with the right kulit subcontract down the line to others with the right kulit , with the final subcontractor (the one who actually does the work) being not only of the wrong kulit but also the wrong religion, language and culture. For instance, that last subcontractor will actually know what he's doing, and be a hardworking fella who understands that you actually require technical skills and cost-control savvy to survive in a hard business world, whereas all the others above him have become experts at taking commissions and calling themselves great businessmen.

So now it has come down to bus services getting all mucked up because - basically - some commissions got stuck somewhere - or the commission-getters took the payments and forgot to actually get the bus drivers. O man, this is rich. Malaysia Boleh - semua pun boleh.

LMT

Chinese NOT marginalized in Malaysia: and here's the proof

Look carefully at the text in bold: So, err, when exactly is he coming back to Malaysia? Again?

The Star Online: Print Edition < Previous | Home | Print Edition | Next > Monday November 6, 2006 Malaysian wins Rhodes Scholarship MELBOURNE: A Malaysian student who teaches debating at an Islamic college here and performs stand-up comedy in his spare time, has won the prestigious Rhodes Scholarship. Lee Hann Leng, a final year student at University of Melbourne who is pursuing double degrees in law and commerce, will go to Britain next year to start his PhD programme in Economic Geography at Oxford University. An outstanding student, keen sportsman and community volunteer, Lee, 25, was also a runner-up in the 2006 Campus Comedy State Final. At Oxford, the Malacca-born Lee will research geographical patterns of economic growth in China and the Asia-Pacific region. “China is very important to Australia and the Asia-Pacific region in general, so a greater understanding of economic changes and outlook in that country are really important. “On returning to Australia, I would like to work in foreign policy or maybe in politics. I'm hoping a few jokes along the way will help,” he quipped. On his off-campus work, Lee said: “I provide drama lessons and homework support for young people within the YMCA (Young Men’s Christian Association). “A lot of our students are recent migrants from the Horn of Africa. Their English skills are limited, so I think it is especially important that the system caters for their needs.” He also coaches students in debating at the East Preston Islamic College where there are many Malaysian students. Lee said he owed a lot to his parents Lee Song Wa and Lan Fong who were a great source of inspiration. The two-year Rhodes Scholarship is one of the most prestigious awards offered to students and selection is based on excellent academic, sporting and community service records. Past Australian Rhodes scholars include former prime minister Bob Hawke, former governor-general Sir Zelman Cowen and current Opposition Leader Kim Beazley. – Bernama < Previous | Home | Print Edition | Next > Copyright 1995-2006 Star Publications (Malaysia) Bhd

Victor Davis Hanson, and veiled Muslim women in Britain

http://www.victorhanson.com/

Readers should go to the above.

The book is Culture and Carnage by Victor Davis Hanson. Let's just say it is not politically correct. But brutally honest. Moderate, rational Muslims should take a look. And those of us who are thinking of giving the radical Muslim an even break should seriously consider breaking a few radical Muslim bones in defence of the freedoms all of us including moderate Muslims seem to take for granted.

Veiled Muslim Women in Britain.

I could not believe the recent controversy in the British media over veiled Muslim women. The short of it is, if you want to wear the veil, in all locations at all times and under all circumstances, go back to wherever obviously and radically less enlightened place it is you came from. Wearing the veil gives you a psychological advantage; you can see me, all of me, my body language and facial expressions all in, whereas depending on the precise shape or form of your full-length clothing I will have difficulty deciphering your body language and it will be impossible to decipher your face (it will be covered). Religion is irrelevant here. You are gaining an advantage that could be critical in some situations of social interaction. To deny it is to deny plain and simple, observable fact.

Does the average veiled Muslim woman in Europe, railing against various European politicians' recent pronouncements on the issue, realise that the Malaysian civil service absolutely bans its civil servants from wearing veils in the performance of duties? And that all Malaysians, good Muslim women included, carry identity cards that - in the case of Muslim women - contain the photograph unveiled of the woman whose identity is stated on the card?

It is a silly argument to use labels such as insensitive, racist or over-simplification. **Totally** stupid if you ask me. Time to wake up to reality. You are living in Britain. One of the world's greatest countries. You could be living in Somalia. Count your blessings.

LMT

What Goh Chok Tong said in response to Mahathir

For those who may be wondering what it was Goh said exactly (I referred to it in my last post):-

South China Morning Post
January 26, 2001
IAN STEWART in Kuala Lumpur

RELATED:
Meritocracy comes under attack
Book fuels mistrust of meritocracy

A NEW row between Malaysia and Singapore has underscored the racial tensions that have adversely affected relations between the Chinese-run island republic and its predominantly Malay neighbour since they became independent.

Singapore's Prime Minister, Goh Chok Tong, has angered Malaysian leaders by saying that Malays in his country do better educationally on a percentage basis than Malays in Malaysia, where they are aided by affirmative action programmes.

He also said a higher percentage of Singapore Malays held administrative and managerial positions, although Malaysia proportionately had more Malay doctors, lawyers and millionaires.

Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, head of the youth wing of the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), the dominant government party, accused the Singapore leader of "undermining, intentionally or otherwise" the achievements of Malays in Malaysia.

Other Umno officials said it was unfair to compare Malays in Singapore with Malaysian Malays because the island republic was small and had a higher per capita income than Malaysia.

Mr Goh's assertion, which was based on a government survey, goes to the heart of the different political ideologies of Singapore, which espouses meritocracy, and Malaysia, which rejects it.

He was responding to charges by Malays in both countries that their race was marginalised in Singapore.

Mr Goh said a book on the subject by a Singapore Malay writer "provided the excuse for Malaysian media interest in the fate of Malay Singaporeans".

Malaysian commentators said the book, Singapore Dilemma, by Lily Zubaidah Rahim, shattered the myth of meritocracy and vindicated Kuala Lumpur's policy of giving special privileges to Malays.

Mr Goh said that in Singapore, where admission into universities and polytechnics was on the basis of merit, the Malay community had made significant improvements in the number of passes at all levels.

He said that last year, 25 per cent of the Singapore Malay workforce had upper secondary or higher qualifications. In 1998, the latest year for which Malaysian statistics were available, the equivalent figure for Malaysian Malays was 14 per cent. The figures for Malays holding administrative and managerial or professional and technical positions in Singapore and Malaysia were 23 per cent and 16 per cent.

The affirmative action issue has recently been a hot topic in Malaysia, with the Prime Minister, Dr Mahathir Mohamad, blasting members of a Chinese community group as "extremists" for suggesting Malay privileges be abolished. But he also has scolded Malays for not doing as well as Chinese in schools and universities.