Those who don't share my opinion are all idiots

A student at a university in Malaysia brought down a picture of the Prime Minister.
A fat dude and his friends gets angry.
"Ptui! Ptui!" he said.


He, and a few other people who shared his opinion said that students should just study.  "You don't have enough brains so stay away form politics and read your books!"


Wait....


So.... a student is not entitled to an opinion?  


Hmmmm.....


Or is it because he doesn't have a degree, he is not entitled to an opinion?


If it's the second one then I really should stop writing.  (Because my only paper qualification is my SPM! That's equivalent to 'O' levels for those non-Malaysian educated)


Or maybe young people shouldn't have opinions.  Only when they have 'eaten enough salt' can they have enough intelligence to have an opinion.  (That's a Malay proverb, by the way).
Which means anyone older than you, by default, is smarter than you.  Because, somehow for Malays, salt makes you smart.  (Which may explain why Malays have a high incidence of hypertension)


Or maybe..... those who don't share my opinion are all idiots.  "Either you are with us or you are all idiots" or something like that, a US President once said.


Come on lah!   (ooops.  The Malaysian in me slipped!)
Why you so like daaaat???  (another ooops.  This time the Singaporean in me slipped!)


So you think if someone disagrees with you he must be wrong, huh?  Has to be right!  If not why would you believe in one thing and another person believes in the opposite?  


"How can he be so stupid that he cannot see what I see?"


"He must be so blind that he can't even see what I see!"


Hmmmm......


Ever thought that the guy who disagrees with you can say the exact same thing about you?


Hmmmm......






And just for your entertainment:

Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Yang ke-54

Selamat Hari Merdeka to all Malaysians!

Now that we've marked over 50 years of independence and freedom, we should ask ourselves what it actually means.  We should also ask ourselves how we can be 'merdeka' from our own chains.  Chains that are holding us back to be a good citizen of this world and servant of Allah.

Malaysia has developed, so we should too.

Let's free our minds from the old ways.

Let's move on from seeing others differently from ourselves.  Just accept that every single person born in this world is different.  Every single person is an individual.

Let's move on from judging people because they are different.

We are not better because we are different.

We are not better because of our skin colour.

We don't belong here more because more of our ancestors are born here.  Where and when we were born was not even a choice that we made.  So why make it an issue?

Racism is never the answer.

So let's celebrate our freedom and independence by freeing ourselves from a mindset that is old and outdated.  The world will leave you behind if you don't.

Selamat Hari Kemerdekaan Yang ke-54!

Why I still won't vote for you

Here's a list of why I still won't vote for you in the next election:

• You treat us like idiots.
• You tell us all these lies that you expect us to believe.  Have you ever heard of the internet?  YouTube?  FaceBook?  Anyone?
• You make all these stupid decisions and tell us that it's for our own good.
• When you don't have anymore good arguments for your case you tell us that "we know more than you do.  So shut up and just take it."
• You use all our resources for your own good i.e. the police, the judiciary, the Election Commission, the Constitution etc.
• You are elitist S.O.Bs.  Anyone not in your elite clan are scum.  You treat us like scum and you let us know we are scum.
• You don't get your priorities right.  Instead of using the taxpayers money to pay the police officers, teachers and government servants better salary, you fund stupid projects that have not been fully thought out.
• You hand-pick a few people to become filthy rich and then show everyone else that the "dream" can be achieved.  But you failed to mention that in order to get to that dream we have to line your pockets first.  And those who are not picked continue to stroll along without even a minimum wage against an ever increasing cost of living.
• Projects and tenders cost double because somebody needs a 'commission'.
• Once in a while, you build a shiny new __________ (insert appropriate building or structure eg. mosque, bridge, road) and tell them you did it all for us.  The 'setinggan' behind that __________ (insert the same building or structure eg. mosque, bridge, road) is conveniently covered up when the PM (Prime Minister or Pak Menteri) comes for the inauguration.  2 years later the  __________ (insert the same building or structure eg. mosque, bridge, road) breaks down and nobody can use it.
• You tell Malaysians whose parents and ancestors were born in the country that they don't have full rights to your country. But you still want their vote.
• You say you defend the religion but in your actions you show no fear of God.
• If your gangsta son assaults someone the cops won't even bother to investigate and will even come out to say "believe me, there's nothing to it."
• I struggle with my business because I can't get a loan from a local bank but you give the cows money to buy a few condos.
• You keep telling us to be thankful to you for providing us with a safe country but I have to lug around my laptop every time I park my car.  If I don't, someone will smash the windows of my car to nick it!
• You tell us to be grateful because you've done so much for us when even a monkey could do a better job than you ever will.
• You're effing corrupt!
• Corruption has become so ingrained in our culture that nobody bats an eyelid when it is mentioned.  Of course, it's not usually called that way lah...  we can always call it 'entertainment' at that Karaoke place and get the GRO to 'keep you company.'
• You give ICs (MyKad) to illegal immigrants and get them to 'angkat sumpah' that they will vote for the dacing. 
• You brainwash all those innocent civil servants and tell them those 'dirty little secrets' so that they feel privileged and indebted to you.  And when these government servants tell us how they know all this so-called secrets (when they are actually lies, propaganda or whatever you want to call it) they say "cannot, it's a secret.  But if you know what I know you won't vote for that opposition guy!"
• Oh... you keep forgetting that you are actually civil servants... you serve us!

p.s. There's still more so I will add to the list when the time comes.
p.p.s Edited 11 Apr 2012
p.p.p.s Edited 16 Apr 2013

Don't you get it yet?

Before I start ranting, I want to make it clear that there will be no links to videos or articles as I think you should be able to do that on your own.  There are literally thousands of those links so go ahead, knock yourself out.


There will be 'evidence' both to confirm or counter my viewpoints here but this is my blog.  And I can say whatever I want.


So what is it all about then?
Thousands of people (the IGP says 6,000, the alternative and international media says 60,000) descending on downtown KL, walking their way almost randomly and finally finding a group big enough to call themselves a rally.  
So what is it all about?  Seriously.  You must keep asking yourself that.  If you don't know what it is all about, you don't know nuts!  This principal should apply in ALL aspects of your life.  Really.


So what are the 8 demands?

1. Clean the electoral role
2. Reform postal ballot
3. Use of indelible ink
4. Minimum 21 days campaign period
5. Free and fair access to media
6. Stop corruption
7. Stop dirty politics

So tell me.  Which one don't you like then?  Which of the 8 don't you like?  If you can tell me a good reason why you don't like a single one of these demands, you must tell me.  Then I can tell the world.

Moving on.  I hear some of you say that a rally is really not the way to do this.  We already have elections for every Malaysian over 21 years of age to tell the government what we like.
Errr.... isnt that the whole point?  We're saying that the electoral system itself is flawed lah!  Don't you get it?


And then when we finally got to see the King he said, "go do it in the stadium lah.  Najib also said so."  So we asked for the permit.  Guess what?  The police don't want to give one.  Uh oh.  So now the rally is illegal.  So whoever comes down, knowing full well that there is no permit, shall be gassed.
Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!  Hang on a minute!  What about the constitution?  What about article 10 in OUR constitution that guarantees all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms.
Hmmm....


I just saw a YouTube video of this dude (he was wearing a kopiah, quite possibly he may be an ustaz!) saying that the likelihood of the rally becoming violent is 99.9%.  Guess what?  He was right. Although he failed to predict that the violence was by the police.  


Gassed!  


Screamed at like a little child!  


Whacked at by a baton!  


Sprayed by water cannons!


The people didn't even fight back!  They just ran!  Some sat defiantly but got kicked by some Beckham wannabe.


Now I'm reading stories of people queuing to buy water at 7-Eleven and McDonalds.  There has been no police reports of looting, public property damage or cars being torched.  And of course there's the video of another dude picking up trash after it was all over.




And then there's the personal attacks against Ambiga.
First of all, that's DATUK Ambiga to you.  She was the president of the bar council.  Not quite a small fry.  
"A non-muslim woman as our leader?  No way!  We can't follow a non-muslim down this road!  She's going to take all of our bumiputra rights away!" I hear some Malays say.
First of all, don't be racist.  And don't be a bigot.
Secondly, if the cause is righteous, there really is no problem in following an "infidel bitch" (not my words, really!).  Go ask an ulama'.
Thirdly, IFC.  Remember that?  All those demands? "Ooooooh.  I gotcha now!" I hear you say.  So let me ask you this question... Do you see those demands in the list of eight?  You don't?  I wonder why?  Well, I'll tell you why.  It's because this is a totally different issue LAH!  And! And!  I can't find any of the demands of Datuk Ambiga within IFC!  Please, if you have any, let me know! But don't point me to any of these pro-UMNO blogs as your sources, ok?


Next, the personal attacks against Anwar Ibrahim.  (by the way, that's DATUK SERI Anwar Ibrahim to you, ok?).
What can I say.  He has this persona... you either like him or loathe him.  I like him.  He's looking less likely to be the next Prime Minister but hey, who in Pakatan can really be a PM?


And of course, BERSIH is much bigger than these two people.  It's about every single person who came down to KL that day, gassed or not.


BERSIH is not about any political party or a single person.


BERSIH is about a level playing field.  If Malaysians can truly voice out what we want from whom without being locked up, then we would certainly become a better country.
That's is what the Malaysian government is afraid of.  If it's a level playing field, they'll be voted out.  We have shown it in five states in the last election.  Our voice was so loud that they couldn't drown it.


BERSIH is about all the people who are sick with all the lies.




So what do we do now?


Keep wearing yellow.  It's still not against the law.

Work Work Work

The only constant is change.

I always believe in that saying.
But what I never believed was what I am now. I never thought I would be this way.

I never thought that I would be a workaholic.

Yes, it is different when the motivations are different. It is different when it's close to the heart. It is different when there's so much at stake.

I haven't had a proper day off since..... I don't know!
My last day off, 6 days ago, was on an airplane travelling from Dubai to KL. Thank God it was in first class. So it was actually a nice relaxing day.
Tonight I'm doing it again. Another day off in an airplane. First class, I hope.

Then it's back in an airplane to San Francisco on Tuesday morning which means I will get 24 hours at home with my wife and kids.

My time of leisure is all gone. I haven't watched TV in months. Worse, I haven't had time to do anything with my family!

So why am I doing two jobs in two different countries again? Apparently it's for their future. Same excuse as every Ahmad, Ah Chong and Ramasami (Malaysia's version of Tom, Dick & Harry).

So in the end will I wish that I had worked more? Or would I wish that I spent more time with my family?