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.

Rainsunshiny Scrooge

“…the first batch of 7,000 people who qualify for the loans would receive the offer letters next month…”

Care to tell us who these people are, RNC?

That’s a big group of people who, for some reason or another, couldn’t qualify for loans from financial institutions who will now be getting one from the our pension fund, the EPF.

By any chance are they folks in Lembah Pantai or there abouts?

So, how much is going to be the first drawdown from our retirement fund? RM315 million, is it, @ RM45,000 x 7,000?

June, July disbursement, eh?

Wait, isn’t everyone who’s no one saying that’s when the General Election's going to be held?

If it is, talk about coincidence and the impact of 7,000 “grateful” people waiting for their “housing loan” to come through, eh..

Of course, this is purely a hypothetical, far-fetched and way subversive an idea.

Nah… Perish the thought! It’s just not ethical to be dipping into public fund as to further one’s political future.

The “sangka baik” thing would be that it’s all for the rakyat, even if a portion of the very same rakyat – say a few EPF contributors - are crying out against the scheme’s use of their hard earned money.

What do they know, right?

Am curious, though, as I didn’t read anywhere about the setting up of the SPV handling the same scheme.

Wasn’t it reported some time ago that the vetting of those applying for the funds will be done by this particular outfit?

I must have missed out on that news item then, and must commend it's staff on the efficiency of their work to be able to clear 7,000 (must be more, right? Can't be 100% approvals or can it?) applications in such quick time.

Work, work, work, come rain or shine kind of work ethic. Very commendable.

Let’s do some maths, shall we: an hour per application @ 8 hour per day equals 40 per workweek or 160 per month per vetting staff.

So it takes around 44 staff working at such breakneck speed to do 7,000 within a month.

Was it a month since the SPV was set up?

Like I said, I missed out on all the excitement.

Worrying about people dipping into my retirement fund to do God-knows-what does that to you.

In the meantime, congratulations to the 7,000 formerly-cannot-qualify-for-loans-but-now-is soon to be proud house owners.

Hope you remember whose money it is you are using.

Deathly Halo

We read the news, hear the reports, watch the footages, but truthfully, Japan is a land far, far way, isn’t she?

The devastation, the misery is surreal.

Perhaps I am generalizing far too much so let this be in the first person: let me thus replace We with I instead.

I am stunned by my lack of empathy to the unfolding tragedy in the land of the rising sun. It was as if I am merely watching one of the many – far too many, to me – disaster movie, driven by over the top CGI where the heroes and heroines win and hopes restored.

In my mind, I see a man munching away at potato chips, bits falling onto a semi plush carpet, while in the idiotbox, a news caster pays homage to growingly bigger death count (somewhere, the man thinks, not here); the children bickering just earshot away.

It's a cold image.

Maybe it’s just me; but even as I type this, colleagues around me are doing what they (we, really) usually do on any typical working day: fun and frolic, worries kept until towards the month’s ending when the wallet thins.

Japan: too far, nobody we know. We feel pity, but hey, life goes on.

The heart is a cold, cruel world.

When did compassion die, I wonder?