Serious Water Woahs

Probably no one is surprised with the whole “No Way, Jose” stance by the Serious Water Cabinet Committee on Selangor's serious (treated) water conflict.

Decision No 1: Push the "Take Over Syabas" application to the AG on “substantive and procedural” concerns

Decision No 2: Push ahead the billion Ringgit Langat 2 treatment plant.

Decision No 3: There’ll be no water rationing and Syabas has to ensure waters supplies are a-flowing

Note also all these decisions are made unilaterally and came mere days after the Serious Water Conflict Cabinet Committee was formed.

Apparently, the seriousness level of the serious conflict was not THAT serious to warrant a lengthy drawn out, candle burning, coffee cups re-brewing, inter-missive home calling: “No dear…Still nothing” “Don’t wait up” marathon sessions.

Nope. Nothing of that sort. One meeting was all it took.

Urmm… If things were that bloody simple, why the Sam Hill was there a need to form such a seriously manned, and helmed Cabinet Committee? Collective responsibility? Safety in numbers? Bullying capacity?

Mind also that the water crisis situation is current while the so-needed Langat 2 water treatment plant is said to tackle future ones.

Huh? Aren’t we supposed to be in a serious situation NOW? So, what about the NOW?

Syabas is supposed to ensure free flowing water taps from where? The supposed over utilized current treatment plants?

Anyway: do read up also RPK’s take on the whole Selangor (and elsewhere) water situation and yes, in a way, I do agree with him.

We shouldn’t have gone the way of privatization of such a basic need of the Rakyat in the first place.

After all, it might just (might, mind you) open the Pandora box to a possible milking of serious water crisis situations to milk the state / federal coffer for money to “solve” the crisis.

Again I repeat: might, not would, not could, but might.

Nah. Probably not. We are in good hands of corporates who are all “People first, profits second.”

Simply Toxic

When I quit the NST in March 2008, there was already some considerable clash of ideals within me.

Just as the nation was hit with the so-called 2008 Electoral Tsunami, so too was our motley group of media practitioners (chewah!) in Ipoh similarly affected.

I guess I just got fed up with having to toe the political line in having to cover the functions and events of the-then sore losers of Perak Barisan.

On hindsight, I am sure glad I am out of the journalistic loop vis-à-vis the current scenario of heavily politicized and overly partisan “news” coverage.

So much so that integrity is being given a quick and painful kick in the butt. Just like this alleged replacing of the word “Scientology” with “Islam” of a supposed speech by Australian Senator Nick Xenophon as per the following excerpt:

“What we are seeing is a worldwide pattern of abuse and criminality. On the body of evidence, this is not happening by accident; it is happening by design. Islam is not a religious organisation. It is a criminal organisation that hides behind its so-called religious beliefs.”

Were the words uttered by a Malaysian, surely there’ll be groups calling for his or her head by now.

It is a silly act, though, as such copy pasting could be - and in fact was - easily discovered.

But then again, I remembered having to tweak an article on the political sentiments of the Kinta Valley Chinese community as to favor the Barisan Nasional pre-2008 General Elections.

My colleagues from the other Press had a good laugh at my expense when the byline-less observations - written under protest - saw light.

I read also today of journalists donning black in protest of violence against media personnel especially during Saturday’s monumental Bersih 3.0 rally which turned quite ugly.

The Chinese papers reportedly came out with Black front pages in solidarity to this cause.

Over at the other main stream newspapers, though, things seemed pretty much status quo.

Saw BH front paging “news” of some horse-ying involving opposition MPs Anwar and Kit Siang and I couldn’t care less what Utusan, Kosmo and Metro had on theirs.

Fair to say that these papers pretty much crossed the Rubicon of impartiality for a while now.

What’s scary is that they continue to be the main source of “news” for a good majority in the community.

Toxic nation building. In walloping dollops.

Viciousness Escalated

Bersih 3.0 came and went; and yet the slanging match continues unabated.

The event unfolded quite dramatically over the social networks last Saturday.

Quite a few of my friends who was at the Sit Down and Protest provided minute to minute or so updates through their FB account.

Unfortunately, these same postings were sometime subjected to vile replies which grew vicious.

While many from both faction exercised restrain at what proved to be a highly charged event, others where callous.


One so-called former press-compatriot “friend” posted that the police should have used LIVE BULLETS instead of rubber bullets against the protestors.

Sick.

Dude, there are friends of ours in the crowd who are only voicing out their dismay over the slacks in our electoral system.

And you want them dead? WTF?!!!

Remember those much hated Yahudis who posted downright demeaning remarks on the death of Palestinians children during a bus accident?

Not much different aren’t we?

The words babi, bodoh, yahudi etc were flying around the FB (and Twitter) postings like nobody’s business.

Agreeing to disagree is really an alien concept it seems for many on May 28.

More importantly, what now?

Brick bats, videos (edited and unedited) exchanged, threats, statements and hospital visitations notwithstanding, what about the crux of why people took to the street last Saturday: the electoral system?

In an age where data can travel across continents in less than a blink, it is downright funny ha ha that we can’t clean up our electoral roll, cannot make adjustments to our Parliamentary demarcation boundaries so that 1 vote here is approximately 1 vote everywhere, cannot make automatic voter registration when they reached voting age, cannot update people who is obviously lived beyond what is considered manically platinum age, cannot distinguish non citizens from citizens so on so forth.

Let’s see f anything changes in the next few weeks.

Won’t bet on it, though.

PS: The proliferation of videos mostly unedited via the FB gave some good overall picture of what happened so that bullshits from either side could be minimized.

God knows there’s too much being thrown about.

Clearly Loud

Electoral Fairness and Impartiality.

One Person One Vote.

Or is a proportional system the answer?

Any which, surely they can hear the LOUD voice for changes.

But listening?

Pawns, Surely

His muscles strained but move he dared not
Propping a hefty wall crumbling on shoulders ached
A mixture of caked blood and stinky sweat so hot
Legs ramrod in vain support of knees gone brittle

Just beyond an earshot he hears the stammer of people yakking
Of taking steps, on sparking initiatives, in writing hurtful missive
He would love to pry this man of desperate positioning
If only he could, a hiatus from a violent act so aggressive

He grimaced in pain as his aggressor stomped harder
Each jump on the boulder accompanied by a guttural laughter
Uncaring that there is a person beneath of similar feature
Much less important that he is no more a distant brother

His tears no longer flow this man tortured
As he eyed figures, small, huddled together
One male, the other female, siblings that much clear
Their mom, nowhere seen, having been torn asunder

He holds on still, accepting an ending fated so sure
While neighbors oblivious to all but their interests continues their chatter

The wall shudders
As mortar crumbles...

Gleeful Convictions

Its midday and at lunch, someone stifled a chuckle
Trembling bright pink lips which end forms a crinkle
Staring at her Tablet whilst waiting for her burger with pickles
Reading something with a rumbumptious sparkle

A stranger curious sneaked a peek at what she’s read
Must have spied something as forehead he slapped
Off he sidled joining his friends, his chaps
Questioning looks, worrying of inanity relapse

From the corner a guffaw boomed
Next to the door that leads to the restroom
A young couple waiting to be bride and groom
In a world increasingly growing in gloom and doom

Table after table the laughter spreads
A news flash seriously solemnly read
Some straining so hard their faces turned red
Tickled silly everyone looking like boneheads

It’s not only here the laughing rang loud
Everywhere it seems, wherever there is a crowd
Watching, listening or something thereabouts
Whatever joke played, it was a total knockout

Heard the word revolutionary, freedom and assembly
A jumble of phrases spoken with great conviction and dignity
Oxymoron stuff so funny so jokey and gaiety aplenty
Alas the man is serious and not talking cockamamie

He is serious and not talking cockamamie
And once the laughter dies, thus we’ll see
Whatever reform has been decreed
Strings all attached, nothing’s free

Nothing comes free…