Stenched Rotten

“There is also a failure of leadership over the whole NFC debacle. Najib should have taken decisive action when it first erupted, and demanded Shahrizat’s resignation.”

“Not doing so would mean that he condoned what she did, no?”

Farah Fahmy asked a very pertinent question in her column , and I am pretty sure that many of us will say “Yes” to that.

At least I hope so.

There seems to be an information explosion on previously hush hushed public funds' misfeasance and utter corrupt acts that is as if a floodgate had opened from way too much accumulated crap and sludge that the silent walls just gave way.

Not a week passes these days without us discovering of yet another pillaging act, another act of abhorrence by the very people entrusted with managing our national wealth.

Everything is/was out in the open but the perpetrators – alleged or otherwise – seemed to be utterly shameless of their greed in (Still alleged? After all the expose?) siphoning the nation’s wealth into their and their likes own pockets.

Much has been written on this by more astute bloggers, including SakMongkolAK47 , Aspian Alias and others that about sums the utter disgust we should be feeling towards these modern day pirates garbed in an elitist, executive cloak that hides little of the stench emanating from within them.

They see nothing wrong in all the wrong things that they are doing.

Some are beyond saving, methinks but then....

Should the General Election be called soon while NOTHING is done and the same bunch are again propped up smirking on the political stage – this seems to be where the god awful rot starts – what does that say about us in the society?

That we are blind? That we are deaf? That we CONDONED their cheating and pillaging ways? That we find NOTHING wrong with such acts?

Or that we couldn’t care less so long as we get our teh tarik-roti canai / nasi lemak-kopi O / Jom Hebohing and EPL games weekend etc etc etc combo?

Gerrymandering can only do so much without voters who put a cross, a tick on the piece of ballot paper come Election Day on the very same Suspect Yahoos.

Ghost (and alleged-hastily created instant citizen) voters shouldn’t overwhelmed the millions of – dare I say – God fearing ordinary folks who should know what is right and what is not?

So what kind of a society are we if we allow these same swindlers to cheat us again and again and again?

Rather disturbing, isn’t it?

Shaded Eaves

An orchard that’s hectares big
Its aft runs a - unsullied water - creek
Carpeted green hued grass that is inches thick
A horizon that shows just a glimpse of a snowy peak

The plot once barren is shared by brothers three
Plough, trough, shovel in hands, they were pretty carefree
Working the land, down in the dirt, their palms all sweaty
Dreaming of a day they could live a life free and easy

Three men, a trio of family, a single bungalow
Two stories tall, a huge balcony for moments to mellow
In times past, long days of working until the sun casts shadows
Building a life, a future but looking no further than tomorrow

Romantic endings are really bollocks in the realm of reality
So arguments, tensions and a locking of horns were quite plenty
Didn’t get in the way though of their focus on ideals so lofty
Of living a life together blessed by the God Almighty

Generations past the golden aims are starting to fray
Utopian objectives mostly unachievable could no longer hold sway
Divergent interest, selfish inclinations putting long held visions at bay
All eyeing for a bigger bite, a larger share, the proverbial payday

Now the graying grand bungalow is all crumbly and rickety
Its occupants too busy, too engrossed in the parlay
The plumbing clogged, cracks unplastered, basement unattended and dusty
Do they not notice, don’t they care, or just wishing these away

Then one day
When emotions were in play
A tweaking of notions
The setting of motions
A casting of doubts
The severing of already weakened clouts
A bullying an ousting
Of persistent mongering
Insults whispered aloud
Insolence mucked so proud
A cocktail of fear and hatred so blunt
A once brother thus shunned

I too have a say, he says
In this house to live, to play, to stay
You’re too much, the other two though countered
Taking everything and leaving nothing, they thundered
Amidst the rising litany of shouts, the eaves do tremble
Symbolic shame of blood relations once so humble?

Outside the creaking bungalow the wind rustles
Blowing fallen leaves tempering dusty panes and musty spaces
Forgotten plough, trough, shovel, rusting in shades
A bungalow, an orchard, a dream soon fades

Lordy Wannabe

Morning drives have become more pleasurable of late thanks to newcomer BFM radio station.

Anyone fed up as I am with the never ending Man from Mars Women from Venus slant of certain stations can tune to the business talk by the BFM trio.

No more gossips, no “he doesn’t understand me”, or “she talks and never listens”, just pure business.

Great music too. Sometimes.

The BFM trio was running through the headlines when Malaysia’s foray into F1 came up, and they began to chat about the cost of running a team.

Someone bandied RM1 billion as possible figure; and afterwards they joked on the “Malaysian made, Malaysian build” aspect, hoping that it don’t go the much talked of Proton’s power window way.

To many, RM1 billion (nine zeroes) is A LOT of money, but going by the current standard, it’s hefty but not that much.

Maybank recorded a RM1.97 billion in loss and no one bats an eyelash.

Tenaga’s RM944 million loss is not yet a billion.

PKFZ cost is bandied as going upwards from between RM4.6 billion to RM12.5 billion, and while there is much furore there, the pace of stopping this leakage is quite miserly.

Malacca is looking at a RM40 billion bridge to Sumatra to bring in the tourists.

(What were they thinking?)

Really, RM1 billion spread to a year is thus no big a deal.

Just recently a former MB was quoted as stating a RM3.5 million price tag for a property as “cheap”.

Yup. It’s cheap all right.

Going by the good politician’s standards, the Ipoh house we are trying to sell would be like super duper, downright criminally, dirt cheap.

Sigh…

My buyers have had to apply for personal loans to pay the deposit and one just sneaked ahead of the other by placing a token payment whilst waiting for his to be approved.

I wonder thus how many Malaysians fall into the “RM3.5 million is cheap” category.

A huge income disparity is, after all, never good for any country.

Then you would have something medieval a society in the have not (comprising the have only a bit, have just enough and have a bit more) and the really have.

When I use to stay overnight at a friend’s condo in Bangsar all those years ago, we have this habit of watching office goers scurrying to work from the balcony.

We’d imagined ourselves as Castle lords looking down on the ordinary folk trying to eke a living.

Only the truly rich can do this, we’d say often with a make-believe rich folk laughter.

How stereotypical, eh?

Is it far from the truth, though?

Whispered Shout

Is that a cry I hear?
Barely a whisper, nestled in the breeze,
A solitary note, a whimper of a shout,
Far too timid,
Or is it cowed?
Crowded out in a mass of unblinking chatter
Black doves and white ravens
Highbrow lummox and bourgeois pariah
Lustful clerics and frigid harlots
Each in vapid cognizance of listless living
Some craving solace
Many seeking serenity
And finding none in a world without patience for the lethargic
Without forgiveness for the miscreant
Tired of repeat showings
Of countless rebirth
In false Messiah
In suicidal dullards
Seeking the pinprick of a black hole
An eyelet to swallow it whole
To a cherished blankness
Is that her cry,
I hear?

Mother earth?

Blasphemous Oxymorons

I’m a fairly recent convert to green tea courtesy of a fine sampling during a trip to Japan sometime ago.

Not really a connoisseur, I don’t brew my own tea leaves etc and depends mostly on generic offerings of the main tea producers.

Normally, I would go for “plain” type but a last shopping trip saw me pick up a “jasmine” variation, and sure enough: it simply doesn’t work for my taste buds.

The best thing about green tea is that it would never taste bitter no matter how long you have it in the cup or mug, which was not – disappointingly - so with the jasmine green tea I bought.

As such I’ve had to time how long the tea sachets stays in my Friends’, “Rachel” sized cup.

Supposedly green tea helps to detoxify your system, but this I wouldn’t really know or care enough to look into, as I just like its natural scent and taste.

Detoxification refers to the process of removing toxins from the body, although I believe its more of a mind thing where you just believe in the need for an external element when the body has already in-built biological system to deal with it.

Perhaps its just a sign of times and the realisation of how much alien ingredient we are pumping into ourselves helping to popularise this concept.

We now want to know what these items are and where they are from. Ie. its very source.

In Islam, the question on "source" is very important, hence the existence of the Quran and hadiths in providing guidance even as cleric hold discourses on items – new and old – that concerns the Ummah at large.

As such, Halal (permissible) is a concept that applies not only to the food and drinks we consume but also the resources used to get these items in the first place.

It’s certainly a huge issue that confronts modern muslims and hence the somewhat vapid attention to ingredients in items consumed, for example, and the firm adherence to earning an honest living.

Rezeki yang halal, as the saying goes. Quantum hardly matters really.

(And since we couldn’t really be 100 percent sure, we seek forgiveness for any slipups in our prayers. But, of course, there must be ample effort on our part, too.)

Could this be all that is wrong and besetting the biggest party in the country; aka the so-called money politics?

Could it be that the body (the party) is too pumped up with all that is not-so-halal there is simply no detoxifying it anymore?

All those years of handing out small and big tokens – mostly in the form of “duit kopi” or “beda isi minyak” - for support etc are now sedimentation no longer flushable.

Star columnist Azmi Sharom wrote: “It’s the kind of thinking that creates some horrible everyday blasphemies like people muttering “halal, ya?” after they accept a bribe.”

Azmi is probably writing from personal experience.

To ordinary Malay Muslims, the "halal, ya?” (or “mintak halal”) are often requests to set aside lack of small change in money, or uninformed consumption of a host’s food items.

Things like that.

“Halal, ya?” for bribes is just as oxymoronic as "Halal Pork".

You’d need a lot more than just green tea to detox such blasphemy.

Bribery - Lawson Wood (1878 - 1957)

Meaty Discourse

My wife and her secretary joined an after office hour Yoga class sessions sometime back.

They went for a whole stretch of days and were quite pleased with the progress made in terms of their fitness levels, and the ability to fit into blue jeans again.

And then it got to the stage of mind over matter. Or something. Oneness, and what not.

I wouldn’t know as I wasn’t there but both decided that it was not something they’d want to venture in.

Did I mention that my wife’s secretary is a devout Christian?

Being stuck in routine 8am to 6pm job, my wife found the idea of social exercise club heaven sent, and yoga – early on – seemed a good idea with an all-female membership, close vicinity to her workplace and a structured fitness system.

She didn’t fancy hitting the gym or swimming, and walks in the park are basically a weekend thing so Yoga was it.

The National Fatwa Council’s recent decree on Yoga just affirms what both she and her secretary felt at odd with.

(My wife is now eyeing Pilates as her fitness regime and learning the ropes via the idiot box and a VCD. Her secretary meanwhile practices "speed marketing" in Singapore.)

Couldn’t have the Council be a bit more proactive over such matters? Nip whatever “kesangsian” there is at the bud, so as to speak.

Yoga has been around for a long, long time and is not even a recent phenomenon in the country.

There are things that are more current and shimmering which the Council should look at in earnest; issues that have more meat for discourses such as the right to practice religions, the amalgamation of Civil and Syariah laws, or the controversial ISA, for a few examples.

What of the study by Suhakam for children attaining the age of majority to be given the right to choose their religions ?

These are some of the worthy issues the Council should discuss and reveal their thoughts on.

Things like chants and mantras accompanying Yoga moves or any other activities - Silat, for example - most Muslims know and accept as wrong anyway.

Hence the oft-quoted defense of only practicing the moves from their practitioners.

Being dismissive of an issue's seriousness would only lead ignorance to rule public discourse over such matters and half measured efforts are equally damaging.

During an assignment of covering a Malaysian Nature Society’s function in an Orang Asli’s village in Gopeng, I walked upon a group of women cooking curry in a huge pot, supposedly for lunch.

Their answer when I queried what dish it was: “Babi hutan. Boleh makan sebab dah sembelih. (Roughly translated: Wild boar. Can be eaten as it’s been slaughtered.)

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Ignore the practitioner and enjoy the scene.

Immoral Intentions

“Don’t look now but someone is checking you out.”

Being a typical nondescript male specimen, I hardly get second glances with the female crowd so my wife’s comment perked my ego up a bit until I managed a glance at the so-called “checker”.

I saw a thin, slightly effeminate bloke who was chatting away with another man – beefy, middle age perhaps - who had his arms wrapped around the former's shoulders.

There was no denying the highly visible intimacy the duo exuded.

Initially I thought it was the bigger man my wife had referred to, but it turned out that the one eyeing me out was the smaller guy.

I’m used to the cross dressing community in public, and while last night’s incidence was only the second such over the last few months, what concerns me was the totally pompous manner in which the couple exhibited their “relationship” to others.

A sort of “Up yours!” statement to those who disapprove of such behaviour.

In Spain, feathers are being ruffled with the conservative views of their Queen Sofia when it comes to homosexuality and gay marriages.

The book “The Queen Up Close” has Queen Sofia saying that she did understand why "they should feel proud to be gay."

"That they get up on floats and parade in the streets? If all of us who are not gay were to parade in the streets, we'd halt the traffic in every city”

My first encounter with the gay couple phenomenon here was decades ago during a Merdeka celebrations in the city when my friends and I chanced upon two men smooching away right in public’s eye in Jalan Bukit Bintang after the parade.

Being the hot-blooded young men that we were, we expressed our disgust – which the couple just laughed off - and went off to see if we could discovery some female coupling instead!

We went home disappointed in that respect.

I was once “propositioned” by a man who sat next to me in one of the now- no-longer around Bas Mini Wilayah.

He started out with small talks and then remarked that he likes boys in uniform and that I would look great in one.

Ouch! I left it at that and exited the bus as soon as I could.
The surge in liberalism of late in this country especially in this respect is at odds with its overall conservatism especially as Islam is the official religion, and all the other religions practiced freely.

Homosexuality is something that can be said to be man made with the basis for its acceptance stemming from the human rights domain where morality has no stand in its jurisprudence.

The gay community here is simmering just below the surface with everyone knowing of, and recognizing their very existence but ignoring the issue or closing one (both?) eyes to it.

It’s a phenomena that points to a breakdown in the institution of family that is the hallmark of society’s growth. Where do we get the next generation if every couple is of the same gender?

Cloning? Stem cells? More morality conundrum there, I’m afraid.

With the exception of religions, policing morality is really a tough call for any authority as they call for a most subjective judgment as to what should be and what is wrong where the laws are concern.

I wonder if we are now ready to accept public gay couples? Looking at the way things are, it would seem that the answer is yes.

Could it be that more of us no longer cares about morality?

Where we stand statistically

Figures quoted to the Parliament by a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department on the Malaysians’ household monthly income:

Below RM1,000 (Total of 495,500 households)
Malays: 301,000 (60.8%), Chinese: 50,900 (10.3%), Indians: 29,000 (5.8%),
Kadazan: 29,300 (5.9%), Orang Asli: 7,500 (1.5%) and others: 78,800 (15.9%)

~ RM1,001 and RM2,000 (Total of 1,695,900)
Malays: 976,500 (57.6%), Chinese: 338,300 (20%), Indians: 125,300 (7.4%),
Kadazans: 38,800 (2.3%), Orang Asli: 9,800 (0.6%) and others: 207,200 (12.2%)

~ RM2,001 and RM3,000 (Total of 1,144,700)
Malays: 614,700 (53.7%), Chinese: 300,800 (26.3%), Indians: 121,500 (10.6%),
Kadazans: 15,300 (1.3%), Orang Asli: 2,500 (0.2%) and others: 89,900 (7.8%)

~ RM3,001 and RM4,000 (Total of 743,000)
Malays: 380,500 (51.2%), Chinese: 234,700 (31.6%), Indians: 73,300 (9.9%),
Kadazans: 8,900 (1.2%), Orang Asli: 1,000 (0.1%) and others: 44,600 (6%).

~ RM4,001 to RM5,000 (Total of 497,800)
Malays: 254,700 (51.2%), Chinese: 166,600 (31.6%), Indians: 44,800 (9%),
Kadazans: 6,900 (1.4%), Orang Asli: 200 (0.04%), and others: 24,600 (4.9%).

~ RM5,001 to RM10,000 (Total of 914,200 )
Malays: 419,200 (45.8), Chinese: 368,400 (40.3%), Indians: 76,800 (8.4%),
Kadazans: 13,400 (1.5%) and others: 36,500 (4%).

~ RM10,001 to RM20,000 (Total of 235,300)
Malays: 85,700 (36.4%), Chinese: 118,700 (50.4%), Indians: 23,400 (9.9%),
Kadazans: 800 (0.3%) and others: 6,700 (2.8%).

~ More than RM20,000 (Total of 49,500)
Malays: 16,500 (3.3%), Chinese: 27,900 (56.4%), Indians: 3,600 (7.3%) and others: 1,500 (3%).

Grand total in number of households is 5,775,400.

Do note that the percentage will not tally due to a rounding up exercise.

Isn’t statistic wonderful in that it tells you everything and yet nothing at the same time?

PS: Thought of coming up with a swanky chart, but the results are, as you can see below, utterly pathetic.

Bogeyman Boogies

Anyone who is a fan of oldies Filem Malaya will recognise this particular line:

“Kajang Pak Malau kajang berlipat, kajang saya mengkuang layu, dagang Pak Malau dagang bertempat, dagang saya musafir lalu."

I have never understood its exact meaning but it was a poetry in motion, voiced immaculately and with much gusto by the late Nordin Ahmad (1932 - 1971) in Salleh Ghani’s Seri Mersing (1961).

Nordin Ahmad played Damak, a migrant who espouses the core values of integrity, honesty and sincerity (quoting from Filemkita.com).

Classical Malay films are pretty much white and black in its moral and etchical discourse, and for most of the time, it is relatively easy to spot to bad and the crooked guys who should get what’s due to them.


One film which probably detracted from this cut and dried ruling might be P. Ramlee’s excellent Semerah Padi (1956) which incidentally, also star Nordin Ahmad as the other main character in the tale of tragic love triangle.

Back to Seri Mersing.

Damak in the undated tale of the Malay heartland of old was a bogeyman of sort for the relatively close knit, know everyone community as here he was; a migrant looking to settle down in a place he desperately wants to call his own.

His hardworking, honest (and heroic) demeanour wins the love of the local beauty (played by Rosnani?) and, of course, the local lads take offence of.

A concerted effort was then made to disparage this outsider, forcing Damak and his whole family to leave and only then was his innocence surfaced.

Thus the classic line was quipped by a man who must have felt a great dissappointment that positive virtues came to naught for the sole reason of him being outside of the clique.

Sounds familiar?

Another film which tackled issue of preserving the status quo is the 1992 classic “Strictly Ballroom” starring Paul Mercurio and Tara Morice.


The comedic Australian offering saw Mercurio taking on the role as Ballroom dancer Scott Hasting who was chastised by his ballroom peers when he dared to veer from the accepted dance steps.

He later found solace, love, companionship and redemption with the off beat Paso Doble (Spanish for double step) routine.

The movie mocked every known cliché there was to mock on the issue of status quo, but did it charmingly without, I believe, insulting anyone in particular.

Here the bogeyman (so as to speak) was change from the acceptable norm, a fear that these changes would render the conservative elders moot and redundant.


This country has had its fair share of bogeyman.

The latest seems to be Mahathirism, the sanctity of the social contract agreed by our Statesmen of old and the special rights of the indigenous Bumiputra.
Much have been said and written on these matters, but a recent most refreshing look must be that of Ikim’s “Overcoming Religious Sensitivity”.

It’s a good read but I wonder if the author would ever reach his intended audience.

Economic Apartheid

One of my favorite Bruce Lee film is the “Fist of Fury” aka “Chinese Connection” aka “Jing Wu Men”.

There were far too many memorable scenes in the film to really highlight, but one that would really stand out in an age of being politically-correct and what not must be the famous “No Dogs and Chinese Allowed” (highly offensive!) signage scene.


On reflection, the scene was quite contrived as there was no real flow in its inclusion with the movie except to amplify the socio-situation during the era the movie was supposed to portray.

For those who has never seen the film, the scene sees the late Bruce Lee (taking on the role of hothead Kung Fu exponent Chen Zhen of Chin Woo) being denied entry into a park with the said sign only for a turban wearing Sikh guard allowing access to a foreigner with a dog.

A man (presumably Japanese) approached Chen Zhen and made a disparaging remark that he would take Chen Zhen in provided he (CZ) pretends to be a dog.

The guy gets what due with kicks and punches and the infuriated Chen Zen then shatters the offending sign with a jumping kick.

(Note: A more politically correct and, some say, with a more balanced view of the era is the more recent "Fist of Legend" , but the latter - true to its title - cops out on the core "fury" portion of Bruce's version. Both are still highly enjoyable.)

The offending signage scene gets an impromptu replay in my thoughts when I came across this Reuters article on the Emporio Mall in New Delhi and so soon after I read the International Herald Tribune's article on Hinduism versus Christianity .

Both articles – which tell of a deepening socio-economic crisis in one of Asia’s rising economic giants - disturbed me as it portays something out of a bygone age and complety at odds with the progress the world had supposedly made.

The first writer spoke of economic apartheid, of the “haves” and the “have nots”.

For a country that prides itself of one of the premier democracy Asian country, the much lauded system had unfortunately failed its masses.

Perhaps the faults lie with the populace who did not take the opportunities presented, perhaps its India’s long standing caste system that perpetrates this vast chasm of the wealthy and the poor, the strong and the meek, the pariah and the brahmins.

I neither know nor wished to speculate on the possible reasons.

My prayer is that we do not go the same way as did India.

God knows there are warning signs of similar inclinations here.

Democracy means a number of things and it must surely include economic consideration where the majority – never the minority - benefits, in one way or another.

Our People, Our Shame.

A beautiful chicken coop from www.gardencluboftaos.com

Stories like these sure perks you up, don't they?

Just when you thought our newspapers cannot top "The Abandoned Toilet Couple" , along comes "A Spinster Living in a Chicken Coop" .

Both articles are very surreal; akin to fairy tales gone bizzare.

Perhaps it's just the reporters' doing: sensationalizing a nondescript piece of story just to get some column space (No offence, Hamzah :) ).

People living in a chicken coop is really a first for me.

I was born in a mixed Malay, Chinese, Sikh, Indian village in Alor Setar and my childhood is fill with adventures vis-a-vis the ubiquitous chicken coop. You have these cutesy little chicks which warms the heart everything they start chirping away while following their mother hen around.

We were relatively poor and rearing chicken is one way to cater for meals on the table in a few months time with both eggs and meat. Every family does it, so there was no big deal about having chickens in your backyard.

But what kind of a society allows someone to live in a chicken coop complete with a monthly rental to boot for the courtesy of such luxurious abode?

Wow. Living in a chicken coop.

That really puts some clear meaning to the Malay saying of "Kais Pagi Makan Pagi".

We've had people living in a toilet; now a chicken coop. Shall we bet of being able to top these in a few months time?