Kana-Psy, Shit happens

And so yesterday I went to Han Chiang to attend the hotly discussed BN CNY open house. Originally I had planned to the bus, but since I was having breakfast with wifey, she dropped me off at the state mosque at 930am.

Traffic was already quite bad by then

Some Ani-Lynas Penangites, I presumed

Some stalls selling PSY, BN merchandise were set up along the small lane to Han Chiang

I'm quite sure they are not official merchandise

When I reached the entrance of Han Chiang, I was surprised to see that the place was so crowded. The last time I saw such a huge crowd was back in April 2012's Bersih 3.0 in KL.

I was waiting for Willie, Terry & Wann King to join me, so I stood and waited at the school building, away from the heat and the huge stage which was set up at the end of the field. On stage, there were some drums and dance performances but the crowd around me were not paying attention the to TV screens set up around the place.

A die-hard BN supporter waiting the shit to start

The guys reached Han Chiang around 10.15am and we tried to move closer to the stage so that we can see Psy closer. In between some singers from some Astro competitions were performing but we didn't really pay much attention. Nothing impressive - some were a bit pitchy here and there.

The MCs were not that great as well. The female MC who spoke in Bahasa Melayu was super annoying. It sounded as if she was shouting into the microphone all the time and she kept shouting "Satu!!!" for the crowd to respond with "Malaysia" and "We Love!" for "BN!". She was more successful with "Satu Malaysia" then "I Love BN" but either response was really nothing to shout(no pun instead) about, considering there were thousands of people there.

Things got more exciting when Shila Amzah's turn came to entertain the crowd. She sang 4 song; 1st song was the famous "Zheng Fu", 2nd was Adele's "Fire to the Rain", 3rd was a Malay song and she ended with another mandarin number. She was really good.

Willie, Wann King & Terry, adhering to the CM's advice on dress code

Food wise, I was expecting a buffet style lunch, but I was sort of disappointed to find that people were lining up for food on a paper plate or put in a paper box. Looking around the stations, I think the main dishes were fried rice, fried mee & fried bee hoon.

Crowd watching the side shows from afar

I got a bee hoon box

I woke up early for this shit

One of the stations serving boxed food

the child in the pic is holding the paper box for food

The BN leaders came around 11 plus with the PM and his wife in front of course. Couldn't really see them walking to their VVIP table but the MCs mentioned that former PM Tun Abdullah and some component parties leaders were there with the PM. Throughout the walk-in, the annoying MC was still shouting "Satu Malaysia" "We Love BN!" until they sat down. She asked us to welcome the leaders but the claps from the crowd, at best, was just half hearted, The claps went up a little bit when the MC incorrectly mentioned that the CM & his wife were in the group.(Turns out, the CM couldn't make it because he had to go to the airport to receive the real First Lady of Malaysia.)

Before the real Psy came on stage, some sais had to make some speeches. First it was the Pg State BN head Teng Chang Yeow, who came up and mentioned something about how BN will continue to bring the best to Penang, and will give the best to Penang, etc. Not buying the crap.

Then the PM came up with his son and made one of the funniest moments at the open house. His son said something in Mandarin which doesn't have anything to do with CNY. He then wished us happy CNY and passed the rostrum to his father. Najib reiterated Teng's claim that BN will bring the best to Penang. He promised that he would solve Penang's 2 main issues: housing & transportation. I could hear some murmuring among the crowd around me when he mentioned "monorail". Willie mentioned, "Why now? Monorail was promised before the 12th election and nothing happened after that"

The PM also said that he was considering Han Chiang's application to become a university college. Unfortunately, he got Han Chiang's name wrong and numerous time referred to it as "Han Yang". Then Teng, who was still on stage behind him, walked to his side and whispered the right name into his ear. Embarrassing that you don't even know the name of the venue host.

Towards the end of his speech, he said that he was sure everyone was excited about what is about to happen next. So he made the BIG mistake of asking the now-famous questions. I shall not elaborate. Please see  the video below:

I couldn't believe that he asked it thrice, and the response of "NO!" got louder each time. The people beside me were quick to response to his questions.  After his speech was over, the MC announced that before Psy was to perform, the PMs wife was going to sing us CNY songs. Again the crowd went "NO!!!!!"

Unfortunately, we had to bear with bad singing:

After 2 songs, I thought it was time for Psy but instead it was the lou sang session which turned out into the most confusing moment for the people and embarrassing moment for BN. The annoying MC announced that Psy would be tossing with the BN leaders and of course the crowd went nuts(in a good way). After numerous annoucement, Psy didn't appear and the BN leaders toss the food themselves and the crowd went nuts(in a bad way). Then the leaders waited on stage for a while, hoping for Psy to come out I suppose. Eventually, sheepishly one by one left the stage when it was obvious he wasn't coming out.

Not sure what happened, but there are 2 possibilities:

A) Psy was not told of the lou sang and was not ready to join the leaders.

B) Psy wanted to stay apolitical and not to be seen with the political leaders.

After waiting for another 5-10 minutes, finally Psy appeared with his dancers and did his famous song. Of course everyone cheered and the noise level was definitely higher than the cheers for any of the performers or politicians. After one song, he left the stage and the crowd was asking for more. After numerous "Encore" cheers, he came back and repeated "Oppa Gangnam Style" to everyone's delight.

Once Psy finished his performance, almost 90% of the crowd headed for the exit, even though there were still some other performances.

Just one small exit for 50k ppl

suddenly so many empty seats.

Overall, I think in terms of numbers, BN successfully got the number they wanted. People from all walks of life came for the open house. However, I seriously doubt that they would be pleased with the reaction after Psy's performance. The MCs didn't say that the event was over but people just left like that. And with the videos of people saying "NO" to Najib's questions, BN would need re-examine their chances to win back Penang.

Mandela, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr... and Zambry?

Have you read Zambry's latest blog entry?

Menegakkan kebenaran bukanlah satu tanggungjawab yang mudah. Ia memerlukan pengorbanan dan kegigihan.

Nelson Mandela misalnya mengorbankan kebebasannya selama 27 tahun demi membebaskan rakyat Afrika Selatan dari cengkaman “apartheid”.

Mahatma Ghandi pula mengorbankan nyawanya untuk memastikan kemerdekaan India serta rakyatnya dapat hidup aman tanpa sempadan kasta dan agama. Perjuangan menegakkan keberanian ini memerlukan “keberanian”.

Mandela pernah berkata : “Saya mempelajari bahawa keberanian bukanlah bermakna tidak punya perasaan takut, tetapi Berjaya mengatasinya. Mereka yang berani bukanlah mereka yang tidak punya perasaan takut tetapi mereka yang mampu menakluki rasa takut itu. (I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear. )....

....Memetik kata Martin Luther King Jr, kegelapan tidak akan mengatasi kegelapan. Kebencian tidak akan menghapuskan kebencian, hanya kasih sayang mampu mengubahnya. (Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.)

OK, so the guy's identifying with Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr.

Let's see what these guys' struggles were, according to Wikipedia:


-a former President of South Africa, the first to be elected in a fully representative democratic election, who held office from 1994–99.

-an anti-apartheid activist, and the leader of the African National Congress's armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe.

-convicted of sabotage, as well as other crimes committed and spent 27 years in prison.

-a celebrated elder statesman who continues to voice his opinion on topical issues.

-1993 Nobel Peace Prize winner.

- pre-eminent political and spiritual leader of India and the Indian independence movement.

- pioneer of satyagraha—resistance to tyranny through mass civil disobedience, firmly founded upon ahimsa or total non-violence—which led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world.

- Honoured in India as the Father of the Nation

- Birthday on 2 October, is commemorated worldwide as the International Day of Non-Violence.

- led Indians in the Non-cooperation movement in 1922 and in protesting the British-imposed salt tax with the 400 km (249 mi) Dandi Salt March in 1930,

- imprisoned for many years, on numerous occasions, in both South Africa and India.

- sworn to speak the truth, and advocated that others do the same.

- killed on 30 January 1948 while having his nightly public walk on the grounds of the Birla Bhavan(Birla House) in New Delhi.



- an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement.

- led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its first president.

- famous "I Have a Dream" speech raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement.

- 1964 Nobel Peace Prize winner for work to end racial segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

- assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Very impressive achievements and legacies. Now, let's look at our boy's struggle:


- Did not follow proper procedure to be appointed Menteri Besar of Perak on 6 Feb 2009.

- Caused constitutional crisis in Perak.

- Giving BN a public relations nightmare to clean up BN's battered image.

- Desperately tries to stay in power in Perak by all means neccessary, except through a snap election.

- Dare not face the people of Perak in a snap election to obtain the mandate to lead a new government.

Somehow I don't see any similarity between him and any of the three people he mentioned.

Which leads to my question....

"What have you been smoking, Zambry?"

Dedicated to Dr Zambry and his illegitmate excos...

Everybody sing now!!!!



OK, please pack your things and leave the office for the legitimate Menteri Besar, Thank you!

Is this necessary?

How the West was won... the BN way

Fast forward to 5:00 to view how the Speaker was "gently" removed from the assembly.

1BlackMalaysia: Democracy First, By-election Now

Apparently tomorrow 7 May 2009 is a good day to wear black. Why? Coz it's a sad day for Malaysian democracy.

If you have't figured out, I played a part in knocking BN out of the Penang government last year. So far, based on what I've read and seen in Penang, I think I made the right choice. Besides, no matter how bad the current Pg government is, it can never be as bad as the one before:)

However, that doesn't mean I will always agree with whatever the PR coalition. For example, I am against the idea of assemblyman resigning to force a by-election. I am against the idea of frogs jumping to PR to force a change of federal government.

Which is why, I am not that happy with the situation in Perak.


Over the last few months since becoming the "2nd Mentri Besar of Perak", Dr Zambry is trying very hard to convince the Perakians that he is their legitimate Mentri Besar and not Datuk Nizar. If I were a reporter interviweing him, this will be my first question, "Legally, it is possible that your appointment is valid- we will leave it to the high court to decide but the more important question is...Morally, do you think what you are doing is right?"

My next question:

"Do you think the people in the state of Perak will respect you for the manner you seize control?"

To certain extent, can't really fault him for the mess in Perak. After all, he answers to a "higher authority". Had that person been smarter, the person should have been more patient. Show some work and serve the people of Perak well, even as the opposition party. Earn back the trust of the people and maybe in the next election, BN could win back the state. After all, they lost only by 3 seats last year.

But not, that person is so eager to start the year with a bang, to show how brilliant he is.

Can you trust a person like this to lead your country? Cakap tak serupa bikin. Kononnya "People First, Performance Now", tapi buat hal-hal yang mengelirukan. You want to take back Perak now, then let the PEOPLE decide.

As for me, I'm gonna wear black tomorrow to teach my classes for 1BlackMalaysia: Democracy First, By-election Now.

For your viewing pleasure...

I'm not a squatter

See?

Last night's debate

Didn't see the debate live but managed to get the video from Youtube. Also looked at some comments in other blogs and generally I agree with their reviews, that Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim did a better job presenting his views on the petrol subsidies while Information Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek is still repeating the same reasons that has been reported by the media.

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim also seem more interested in the debate than the Information Minister who went on a couple of personal attacks while failing to answer the question from the panel about public transporation. Instead of talking about the petrol price and subsidies, Datuk Ahmad Shabery presented his "HARI INI DALAM SEJARAH" about Anwar's role as a student leader back in the 1970s.

Even when he managed to talk about the petrol subsidies, he made a couple of errors:

1) By comparing Malaysia with Norway and Finland, how the countries do well economically despite not giving subsidies. It was shot down by Anwar - Norway has a per capita income 10-folds that of Malaysians and this was not a basis for comparison.

2) Mentioning that countries like Venezuela which has cheap petrol with high inflation. Later on, he mentioned that we should not compare with them. (Wonder why he has a sudden interest in Venezuela... perhaps he watched the Miss Universe Pageant in the morning.)

I find that the government has sent the wrong person to debate with Anwar. I think they could have gotten someone who's more prepared to take on the PKR advisor and make it a real debate. This looks more like the government taking the opportunities to discredit Anwar as a person and not his arguements.

If you missed the debate, you can search for it on Youtube. Just type "Fuel Price Debate". Otherwise, you can also read the minuteby-minute summary here.

If you have watched the debate, then try look up today's New Straits Times on the debate.

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Wednesday/National/2295015/Article/index_html

The NST report seems to be telling a different story of how the debate went. If I had not watched the debate on Youtube, I would've thought that Anwar was grilled by Shabery. The Star did no better but at least it did not portray Shabery having the upper hand in the debate.

If Pak Lah says that we should not believe what is written on the blogs and internet, then please let the printed media be more neutral in their reportings.

I will be a responsible citizen this weekend

I'm taking the Fri morning bus with OCD, going back to Penang for the election. Looking forward to the opportunity to cast my vote for the 2nd time.

Who will I vote for AGAIN?


or



Not telling!!

However, I can tell you that I'll keep my Penang voting rights even after I get a permanent home in KL/PJ. Why? Coz it's more fun to vote in Penang... You know for sure in KL/PJ, it is kinda predictable how the election would go. But in Penang, anything can and will happen!!!

For example, 1990 Lim Kit Siang knocked Tun Lim Chong Eu out and DAP almost gained control of the Penang State Assembly. The following election, Lim Kit Siang came up with his ROBOCOP election campaign symbol which backfired and the votes shifted to the BN. 1999 was bad election for DAP again after Penangites punished DAP for working with PAS. In 2004, DAP sort of did a lot better in spite of the overwhelming support for the then new PM Pak Lah.

What's gonna happen this time round?

Politics and Pondans...

It's not that often politics and pondans can be found together....

Let's get physical political

Haven't touched on political stuff in my blog for a while now. Anyhow, for those of you who are not familiar with the political news on the blogsphere, the hottest new a couple of weeks back was that heavyweight blogger Jeff Ooi has joined DAP and could well be on his way to Parliament.

Trust good ol' Kenny Sia to extend his support by helping Jeff with his campaign video.

Have fun!



Somehow, "Girlfriend" will never ever be the same again...

Ai yo yo Samy!

Yesterday I was watching the 8am Mandarin news and there was a report on the SMART toll collection. Then they showed a video of our beloved Works Minister saying something stupid on the toll rate:

"I cannot guarantee that the toll will be REASONABLE...."




Excuse me, YB... so you mean that it is possible that the rate will be UNREASONABLE? Well, I could've misheard what he said, so I checked the newspapers this morning. Confirmed that he actually used the word "REASONABLE"...

YB, I think the pharse you should've used was " NOT CHEAP". We understand a lot of money was spent on building the SILLY SMART tunnels so the toll will probably be not cheap but it should be reasonable. If the toll is not reasonable, who, in his/her right mind, is gonna use it?

YB, I believe that if you didn't make it as a politician, you could've been a very successful stand-up comedian....

Hisham: It's just a symbol

Apparently Pemuda UMNO chief Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein told The Sun that him wielding the movement's official keris- Panca Wawasan -was just symbolic, and not to intimidate any quarter. What do you think of this picture?


"IT'S ONLY A SYMBOL!!!"

Looks quite intimidating to me.

OK, let's say he really meant it to be a symbol... what symbol then? What message is he conveying? I see a few possibilities from the picture:

Maybe he's trying to work the crowd by emulating his favourite WWE superstar?

Perhaps he's trying to keep the delegates awake?



At the end of the day, maybe he just wanted some attention.



Whatever it is, no one should ever under-estimate this PM in the making.

Introducing our future prime minister

Datuk Hishammuddin Hussein, the Education Minister and UMNO Youth Chief, is said to be a prime minister in the making. Yet, what he said recently really scares me.

You can't blame David Teoh for lambasting him because of this:

"The NEP definition itself should be reapplied as part of the national development policy, so that the Malays would be empowered and not sidelined from now till the year 2020."

Aizuddin has listed them out the points in his speech:

- to allocate 30 per cent equity to Bumiputeras;

- to ensure that Bumiputeras dominate in the bio-technology, farming, aero-space, defence, information technology, halal food manufacturing, petroleum and gas, finance, automotive, services and tourism sectors;

- for the Entrepreneur and Co-operatives Development Ministry to redouble its efforts to create capable Bumiputera entrepreneurs;

- to increase allocation for rural infrastructure development;

- for the performance of government-linked companies to be judged on their contribution towards the Malay agenda;

- for civil servants to fully understand the importance of the Malay agenda when awarding contracts or tenders; and

- to monitor the implementation of the NEP.

Where in the world did he get this idea from? When were the Malays ever sidelined?

How much longer must the Malays continue to be hide under the (over)protection of the government? NEP was formulated to help the Malays to stand on their own, not to be pushed around in wheelchairs for the rest of their lives!

How can one be successful without hard work? How are we going to get quality graduates and corporate people without, first, filtering out the idiots mediocres? Does the government want to see more brain drain?

Taking a step back to the NEP is a blatant insult to the Malays- you're simply saying:
1) the Malays are not good enough for an equal playing field; and
2) the Malays who worked hard and succeeded, cannot make it on their own;

Like spoilt children, some Malays are taking the government assistance for granted- it is as though their God-given right to be spoon-fed till the day they pulang ke Ramatullah... while non-Malays struggle and work hard for everything in life. This reminds me of my cats in Penang.

I have 2 cats- 1 is about 2 years old while the other is 1 year old. They both stay outside the house; the older one goes out a lot while the younger one is always around the garden. Because of being out in the world, the older one has collected quite a lot of scars from his encounters with his feline friends. The younger one looks nice and fluffy most of the time.

Sometimes when my nephew/mom forgets to feed them, the older ones can always go out and find his own food... but the younger one just hangs around the house UNTIL someone feeds him. Granted, the older ones is scarred here and there, but should anything happen, he can always fend for himself and survive- not so the younger one. HE'S SO USED TO BEING TAKEN CARE OF THAT HE'S LOST HIS COMPETITIVE EDGE.

On the other hand, Chua Jui Meng pointed out a very serious issue that is happening in the current political/social/economical scene. Chinese parents who sent their children overseas to study nowadays don't expect their children to come back. There are also those who took their families abroad completely because they no longer believe their future lies with tanah tumpahnya darahku.

I remember years ago, the then-DPM Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim wrote in chinese "wor men dou shi yi jia ren"(we are all one family)... since when a true family discriminate one child from another?

Hisham O Hisham! There are poor Malays, poor Chinese AND poor Indians everywhere. Please open your eyes and see them... Don't just talk like a Malay- TALK LIKE A MALAYSIAN.

Please support me in silence!

Finally Datuk Chua Jui Meng has come out with his manifesto, his vision for MCA should he win the presidency. Apparently during the press conference, he asked his supporters to support him "quietly"... no need to make public stand wor. Sounds like a very confident man.

Although I'm a MCA member(surprise!), I'm not actively involved because of my work(my membership is from Penang). Personally, I never like the idea of Chua serving as the health minister back then. Not that he's lousy or something, but he's a LAWYER by profession. It's like asking a carpenter to be the head chef for your restaurant- how can like dat?

However, I do like the way the former health minister carry himself- gaya, mutu, keunggulan. He's got it all compare to a lot of other chinese politicians. Even though I don't speak bahasa well, I always like my non-Malay politicians to sound good in bahasa. The former deputy president of MCA Dato' Lim Ah Lek is superb in this department while Tun Ling Liong Sik is not bad as well. As for the current batch, Chua is among the rare breed who are good at it. Datuk Seri Ong Ka Ting and Datuk Seri Chan kong Choy still speak with the usual "cina pek" slang.

The biggest jokers in terms of their command of bahasa have to be Datuk Seri Lim Keng Yaik and Dato' Seri S. Samy Vellu. Not that I want to make fun of their accent, but being politicians for such a long time, would it hurt to take up some bahasa lisan lessons? Tan Sri Dr. Ting Chew Peh, on the other hand, has a relatively good command of the national language... unfortunately his voice reminds me too much of Kermit the Frog.



Ok, back to Datuk Chua. From the way the state MCA leaders are responding, it doesn't look quite promising for the 61-yr-old man to make it to the top. I do hope he succeeds and fulfills at least 50% of what he promised in his manifesto.