Dismally Diss-full Disdain

I had wondered about this weird maths that is the 1MDB debt and liabilities when the RM42b (At least? At most? Nobody knows?) was being bandied about.

By blogging about it, Che Det has sort of enabled the mainstream whatever to tap onto his comments and pursue this same line of enquiry.

Really, what were the billions used for and how did it grow that large?

On a micro economic level, people (you, me and everyone else who still cringe when they see the GST word on the receipt) largely knows how one’s debt grows: your unfettered credit-fueled spending like its nobody-else’s business.

Usually, it is none of anyone’s bleeping concern, except for those directly impacted by your orgy in maxing-up credit lines.

Could the same analogy be drawn when we talk about 1MDB?

BNM has pointed out that runs on the 1MDB debt liabilities would not cause a systemic risk to the local banking system.

Maybe, maybe not. At most some people would be getting less in their bonus payment, perhaps.

So what is it about 1MDB debts and liabilities that so rile us (meaning those who cares enough to follow the tech-filled saga closely) up?

Could it be the dismal adherence to governance aka “ikut suka aku, aku punya pasal la” stance to public scrutiny?

What the Sam Hill?!

Morality policing in Malaysia has certainly gone lopsidedly loony.

Who would have imagined a mere staff of Borders charged before the Syariah High Court for “distributing by way of selling the book entitled, Allah, Liberty and Love (The Courage to Reconcile Faith and Freedom”).

WTH???!

Technically, the charge could well be valid since Nik Raina Nik Abdul Aziz was the Mid Valley outlet’s store manager, but logically, neither the books by Irshad Manji nor the outlet, Borders, are hers to start with.

Nik Raina faces a RM3,000 fine or a maximum of two years' jail or both under Section 13(1) of the Syariah Criminal Offences Act (Federal Territories) 1997, if convicted.

Am really not sure how the charge is worded but going by the Star’s phrasing of “distributing by way of selling”; it seems to be one of strict liability. Legal eagles would definitely be able to explain this to all us layman.

A store manager, huh?

Didn’t have the balls to go after the real owner, is it? Borders, according to the Star, belong to Berjaya Books Sdn Bhd.

Look at the penalty for God’s sake and tell me if it’s just?

A bookstore staff…

Did she have like total control over the outlet? Over the procurement of all books?

How many books do Borders have in stock?

The one at the Curve in Damansara seems to have like a billion books from the most innocent My First ABC to the horrendously explicit Brian Azzarello’s 100 Bullets series (to cite an example).

But of course, the latter isn’t something that is "deemed to be against the Islamic Law (Hukum Syarak)" even if it does feature gratuitous sex and violence every other issue.

Is Nik Raina’s charging to set an example? Couldn’t she be just slapped with a mere warning to take the books out within a certain period - her convictions on the book’s contents and the banning act notwithstanding?

How in heaven’s name are Muslims supposed to show that Islam is the perfect Addin when you have something so logically, chronically unjust?

What others see is the authorities picking on the easiest of targets to make an example of.

Someone like Nik Raina. 

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?

Uphill Gostanning

"The officers' misconduct violated regulations, so we're in the process of asking them to explain the allegations against them," said MACC chief commissioner Datuk Seri Abu Kassim Mohamed, according to Bernama.

Is “in the process of” the formalspeak of the more familiar “on the way” informalspeak?

“On the way”, by the way, is a way overused phrased which does not specify the when-about, the how-about or the where-abouts of its utterer to, usually, the question of: “Where are you?”

The officers’ in the above statement, of course, refers to the trio found by a Royal Commission Inquiry as having “driven to commit suicide by the aggressive and relentless interrogation” one Teoh Beng Hock (RIP), the former political aide to Selangor Exco, Ean Yong Hian Wah.

That was nearly three years ago (minus three months or so) on July 16, 2009 when the late Teoh was found dead at Plaza Masalam in Shah Alam.

Three years after the tragic incident and they are still “in the process”.

The RCI perhaps? Ah yes, the RCI.

But shouldn’t there be an internal procedure dealing with cases of death - especially one so suspicious – of accused (more so when involving a mere witness) in custody? Isn’t this supposed to be an automatic trigger for ALL legitimate enforcement bodies throughout the world?

They were suspended: Yep. So, weren’t there any “explanation” made then?

Really can’t recall if all three officers had their say during the RCI. If they had, then having another round of explaining is surely an exercise of repetitively recurring redundancy.

And, if they were suspended pre-RCI finding, what other “disciplinary actions” can be taken against the trio based on their explanations, which I supposed would be “on the way”?

By the way, according to Bernama, all three officers’ suspension has since been lifted and they are no longer with the Selangor office.

The wheels of justice are really “in the process” of turning in this one.