Bring back the glory

31 Oct 2007 4 Comments

by Dr Hsu in corruption, culture, government, Malaysia, politics, social economic

My adrenalin surged yesterday after reading, first in Malaysiakini , then the news release by AP, about the speech given by the Sultan of Perak Sultan Azlan Shah at the 14th Malaysian Law Conference. His speech was also reported in NST today . The learned Sultan, who was formerly a very well regarded Lord President, called for a judicial reform.   

  He said it was time for the judiciary to regain the public’s confidence and bring back the glorious years. For this, he added, mere cosmetic changes were not enough.                      
          
He said there was no reason why judges, with the security of tenure they enjoyed under the Constitution, could not discharge their duties impartially, confidently and competently.            

                                                                                                                             
“Nothing destroys more the confidence the general public, or the business community has in the judiciary than the belief that the judge was biased when he decided a case, or that the judge would not be independent where powerful individuals or corporations are the litigants before him,” he said.                    

Delayed judgments and backlog of cases are signs of incompetence in judiciary, he said.These are words of wisdom and coming from no less than a person who is a ruler and a former great judge.

As I see it, the problems in the judiciary is part of a loss of excellence in our society, which has first started in political arena, spread to civil service, police, education, sports and finally the courts.                     

Why is there such incompetence and loss of excellence?        

          
Loss of excellence, in fact, is what prompted me to write and write regularly. Please read one of my very first articles to Malaysiakini about a year back:  Excellence, have we lost the urge? To paraphrase a few lines from that article:

We have perhaps lost the urge to strive for excellence. In the 60s and 70s, Malaysia was not only strong in football, but also in hockey and badminton. We also excelled in our studies. Malaysian students who studied overseas regularly topped their classes in universities and colleges. Even our local universities such as MU and USM had very high academic standings in the world.

What has happened to us? We need to gain back the urge to do well, to strive for excellence in all our endeavors, not only in sports and in our studies, but also in our courts, our police force, our industries and our businesses.

Why is there such a culture of incompetence? Why has incompetence been so pervasive, from politics, schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, police and almost all aspects of our lives now?          

I did a lot of soul searching on this. My conclusion: the politicians over the last 2-3 decades have to bear the main responsibilities on this.

The rot first started in our political culture. In the 60s, most politicians were clean and competent. Some of them might not have achieved very high academic standard, but they still performed well. There were also many leaders of high integrity. They did not use government funds for their private functions. Many travelled by trains and buses to attend meeting. Many of them, including UMNO delegates, squatted with their friends when they came down to attend party meetings. Some of the politicians sold their houses to fund their political activity for the betterment of community; and politics then were equated with self sacrifice to put nation and society’s interest first.                           

   
Alas! Slowly the fight for power and position  replaced the urge to fight for the interest of the nations. Power, as we all know, will corrupt a person. Because of this wish to fight their way up to be the top leaders, loyalty more than anything else matters when they promote people to positions under them.. Even crooked and corrupted individuals were used as long as they were aligned to the leaders and had absolute obedience.  

Very slowly, culture changed. When before, only the best and most competent got promoted, elected and appointed to certain positions, slowly a culture of patronage started to appear. Only those who were perceived to be loyal, and those who were perceived to be obedient were given positions and nominated to stand for elections.  Competency and integrity were never criteria for appointments.

Had there been a culture of meritocracy, this culture of patronage might not have taken roots. Unfortunately, after the watershed incident in May 1969, a policy, the NEP, which was meant to eradicate poverty irrespective of ethnic groups ,was hijacked and transformed into a policy of creating an unfair playing grounds.                  

        
To buy loyalty, the leaders need to play money politics and which means that they would resort to whatever means they can to get funds, even to the extent of abusing their positions and employing corrupt practices. In the name of restructuring of society, cronies were given contracts and projects in order to get funding for the political masters to fight their way up. From a culture pf patronage, it evolved to become a culture of cronyism and nepotism. Corruption also rears its ugly head. It does not matter when a supporter becomes corrupt as long as he continues to be loyal and continues to provide funding.                                                        
          
Nation’s interests were now secondary to personal interest.   

The politicians make use of this policy to masquerade their culture of favouritism, patronage, nepotism and cronyism. If you are not one of the group, no matter how good you are, you will be sidelined, and every obstacle placed in your path to prevent your ascendancy. This culture becomes pervasive and ultimately , it is not what you know but who you know that decides a person’s rise in the political ladder and structure.      

The civil service copied and followed the examples of their political masters. When promotion in the service is not based on meritocracy, incompetence  creeps in. When the whole structure is controlled by flock of the same feather, it becomes an entrenched culture and anyone wishing to change this culture would face a Herculean task.                   
  
With corruption and incompetence, cover-ups and a lack of transparency become a necessity. The corrupt and incompetent would promote people of the same feather , and the corrupt and incompetent would cover each other’s back so well that it becomes a case of ” You scratch my back, I scratch your back.”                    

If only civil servants and politicians are involved, there is still the legal revenue to right any wrong. It is for this reason that judiciary is often regarded as the most important of the three branches of government in a democracy.                       
  
So it would be in the interest of the political masters, even though it is not in the interest of the people and the nation, to introduce this culture of patronage to judiciary. Once promotion is based on who you know and not what you know, the rot starts. We all knew what happened.                         

We therefore need to heed the call by the Sultan of Perak to reform the judiciary . A truly independent judiciary will be able to bring back the glory and the confidence of the people as well as investors. It will also be the ultimate protector of freedom, equality, human universal rights as enshrined in the Constitution. It will also effectively check any abuse of power on the part of the executive.                                    

     
It is therefore in the interest of the nation to have a Royal Commission to review and reform the whole judiciary. We need to have a judiciary that is impartial, competence and occupied by people of high integrity…    

It is also in the interest of the country to fully practice a system of meritocracy, in politics, civil service, sports, judiciary, schools and universities.       
       
These will be the very first steps to counter the culture of rot that has reached an alarming state in the past few years.

Pls also read this post:

The spirit of ’57

IPCMC will lessen risks of police being killed

29 Oct 2007 5 Comments

by Dr Hsu in corruption, government, social economic

The recent incident in which 2 policemen were killed and 2 others seriously injured, as reported in Malaysiakini , is a very serious matter and left many questions unanswered.

My condolences to the families of the dead policemen and it is indeed sad for them to have lost their loved ones in such a gruesome manner.

Many wish is also to see a speedy recovery of the 2 injured police still inICu of hospitals. They will certainly be able to shed more lights on this case and help to bring those heartless criminals to face justice.

This incident has glaringly  exposed that crime situation in the country  is gettin from bad to serious, from serious to very serious.

This blog has written many times about this issue and has also maintained that an efficient and professional force is one of the most important things in a democratic country.

I have also advocated that because of the dangers they face, police should be given a higher pay , and so far, I am glad that some adjustment have been made in July this year.

But to improve their efficiency and professionalism, there is no other way but a total overhaul of the whole force, which I am sure will come about if the proposed IPCMC can take off.

This IPCMC will , in the long run, bring back glory  to the police and will certainly improve the crime situation in the country. When the crime situation improves, the police will have lesser risks of being gunned down. This is  like a cycle. If one part of the cycle is improved, the other parts will benefit.

On the other hand, if the crime situation gets worse, it will encourage more people to resort to crime and more hard core criminals will be produced, and more risks the average police officer will face – another  vicious cycle .

SO I hope the government will immediately start implementing the IPCMC, and give us back the efficient and glorious force that we once have. Improve crime situation, and the police work will become safer and people will respect police more.

So, ironically,  the police must understand that IPCMC is actually not against them, but rather will help them to improve their efficiency, help to make their work easier, help to lock up more criminals, help to deter more people to resort to crime and make their work safer.  With better efficiency, then we the Rakyat can fight harder for them to raise their pay higher!

Only those who are not professional enough will be scared of the setting up of this Commission.

2 questions I wish to ask about this case,:

!.  Why is there an ambush party waiting for the police?  Who tipped them off?

2. WHy  the 4 of them went to the house without informing their superiors? Why aren’t procedures followed?

This reminds me of the show, Infernal Affairs, from Hong Kong. Those who have not seen the show, it is worth buying a DVD to see this show (actually a series of 3 movies.)

No other way but a Royal Commission

26 Oct 2007 7 Comments

by Dr Hsu in corruption, government, Malaysia, politics, social economic

One of the more reformed minded politicians in UMNO, Zaid Ibrahim, was qouted by malaysiakini this morning as saying that a Royal commission should be set up to investigate the Lingam tapes.

I welcome his statement and hope that more BN politicians would come out to voice support for such as move. Earlier this month, Parti Gerakan has called for a Royal commission.

This shows that the call for a Royal commission transcends political divide ; it is for the greater good of the country that the people as well as  organisations such as the Bar Council are asking for a thorough investigation into this. In order to get to the bottom of this case, it is imperative that a Royal commission be set up.

this is the wish of the people, and as a government of the people, it is time that such a commission be set up. The 3 man panel. as predicited, could not proceed any further as it has very limited power.

Zaid was quoted to say:

“This goes to show that the panel is powerless to do anything. I don’t understand. Why didn’t they just form a royal commission of inquiry into the tape?” asked Zaid, adding that the government should have formed the commission if it was serious in a quick resolution to the matter.

“This is not just any allegation, it is a serious allegation. In the 90s, we had a scandal involving the then chief justice, and now we have this.”

“I was made to understand that the prime minister (Abdullah Ahmad Badawai) wanted a royal commission of inquiry set up to investigate the tape but some people in the government do not want the commission”.

 Zaid said that the government should not have given the same task to two different parties and he urged the government not to do something that is “neither here nor there”.

“If the government wanted a panel to investigate the matter, leave it to the panel alone. Or if it wanted an investigation by the ACA, it should have just leave it to the ACA,” said Zaid.

He also urged the ACA not to go after the messenger but to look into the message itself.

If PM wanted a royal commissiom, I wonder who these “some people ” are that do not want it. Who are these people that are so powerful? Perhaps Zaid should reveal to us.

It is time for PM to exert his authority. If he is in the right, he can expect the people to be behind him all the way. Seize this opportunity to review the whole judiciary and establish again the seperation of powers that is so basic in any democracy.

recommended readings:

Call for a thorough investigation

golden opportunity to right the wrong

Climb the mountain, light the candle

mouse of a different kind

Heart risk lessens with more exercise

26 Oct 2007 9 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Health, humanity

Human beings are difficult to understand, that’s for sure!

He or she knows that smoking is bad and may cut life short, but still continues to puff away! One of the most difficult tasks of any doctors is to ask their patients to stop smoking. It is easier to move a small hill than to make sure a patient continuing a regime of no smoke no drink!.

He or she  may spend hours  watering plants, washing cars, grooming pets, and when it comes to his  own body, there is only one word to describe “neglect”.

All of us know that exercise is good for body, but how often do we go for exercise?

 Modern lifestyle is such that we seldom walk far; even when we go to the neighbourhood grocery, we make sure  our car is parked right in front of the store! We complain when we have to park a few shoplots away to get to our destination!

So, the result: obesity, diabetes, heart disease, cardiovascular disorders such as strokes, etc etc etc.

 exercise-cartoon.jpg(from Rotary Club Of NorthRaleigh)

The latest research about exercise has just been published in Circulation,and it involves a group of 27000 people, considered a fairly big research project. It has confirmed the benefits of exercise in reducing heart disease.

For those who love their pets , their cars, I have one advise: read the report below, and start exercising, because you owe it to yourself to love your own body. If you love your body, you should take good care of it, just like looking after your car.

Many of us will give NET as an excuse. By the way, NET means Not enough Time. That is just an excuse. We can always find time for walking; walking to your office,; walking to the markets; talking a stroll after lunch and dinner. The best form of exercise is walk and walk more. Park your car a few blocks away and walk! Take a stroll after dinner instead of parking in front of your TVs. Have a long walk in the park during weekend.

That will do wonders to your body and help your pocket ,too – you will be seeing less of my kind!

This report from UPI is as followed:

Heart risk lessens with more exercise

BOSTON, Oct. 23 (UPI) — In a study of more than 27,000 U.S. women, the risk of cardiovascular disease events decreased with higher levels of physical activity.

The women, part of the Women’s Health Study, ranged in age from 45 to 90 were assessed for a risk factors and different levels of exercise.

Lead author Dr. Samia Mora of the Harvard Medical School said there was a 40 percent reduction in heart attack and stroke between the highest and lowest exercise groups.

The study, published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association, found the risk of cardiovascular disease events decreased with higher levels of physical activity compared to the control group.

The long-term benefits of exercise start at a relatively low level — equivalent to about two hours of physical activity per week — but those who exercised the most — greater than five hours of moderately intense physical activity such as brisk walking per week — reduced their their heart risk the most .

Harder times ahead

24 Oct 2007 2 Comments

by Dr Hsu in business, economy, government, Malaysia, social economic

Oil prices have gone up to almost US$90/= per barrel. Wheat price has gone up almost 80% .As with other times, fear of inflation has caused gold prices to shoot up too.

There is a very good write up In Malaysiakini  “Brace yourself”which forecasts that after March 2008, inflation will rear its ugly head in Malaysia.

I agree with the writer, MOAZ YUSUF AHMAD, that harder times is ahead.

As I see it, next year we will probably have an increase in pump petrol prices, and electricity rate will also go up; it is inevitable and we cannot expect the government will keep on subsidising for petrol. If petrol and electricity rate go up, everything in the market will go up! except maybe the wages in the urban areas. The increase in wheat prices will affect prices of noodles and bread, and you can expect hawkers to raise their prices, not to mention the coffee shop owners who will raise the price of every cup of coffee sold, at every opportunity they can get.

The rural areas will do relatively well because of the high palm oil prices. It is the city folks like you and me that will be hard hit.

The economy is not doing particularly well, apart from good prices for petroleum and palm oil. The GDP will probably grow about 5.6% this year. Next year, it will be around 5%-5.4%, slower because of the global conditions..

The official inflation rate is 2% at the moment, but this include a lot of basic foodstuff that is under price control and thus is not a good indicator for real inflation.

Most people will agree that real inflation is higher, probably around4%, which means that the money you put in bank is actually shrinking. And real growth after deducting inflation is a mere 1.6% this year.

For next year, real inflation will be much higher and if it touches 5% and above, real growth will be zero if our growth rate next year is around 5%. Real growth may even go into negative territory.

This means that while we are spending more on stuff, we cannot expect any increase in our disposable income, which would most probably be shrinking.

What this means in political terms is that BN will have to call an election before next March. It can even be as early as this year end. Or it can be after the Chinese New Year.

We need to conserve energy. Use alternative energy for generating electricity. Petroleum prices will only go up since it is a diminishing commodity. Any expectation that it will go down to the levels of the 80s is not realistic.

We need to improve public transport. What have we done to improve it? I don’t see much improvement, if any.

The government as well as the people must be more stringent in spending; there is a real need to cut down wastage and corruption, improve efficiency and productivity.

We need to have a better growth rate so that our income growth will be faster than the rise in inflation.  To do so we need to really buck up and adopt a more open economic policy, do away with restrictive policies like the NEP, and attract new investments , create more knowledge-based jobs which will provide higher wages.

Otherwise, we will have to brace ourselves for a harder time ahead!

Bull ‘s Eye

23 Oct 2007 6 Comments

by Dr Hsu in corruption, culture, government, Malaysia, social economic

Bull’s eye. Right on target.

I refer to the article by Tunku Abdul Aziz in NSt on SUnday  titled “Shape up, scapegoats won’t do”.I think he is right on target in several things he referred to in his essay.

Tunku Abdul Aziz was a former president of Transparency International Malaysian chapter, and according to a Malaysiakini report, he was one of earliest heavy weights in the country to ask for a Royal Commission to investigate the Lingam gate. I have formerly written an article quoting him saying that “”Malaysia is no more Bumiputra than it is Chinese and Indian”.

This time , he said in his Sunday article:

WE are, as a nation, being let down on an almost daily basis by those entrusted to look after our security, safety and general well-being and to protect our country’s reputation because of serious dereliction of duty, bordering on the criminal.

Malaysia is blessed in that there is a law for every situation; you name it and we have it all.

Tragically, the mountains of statutes have done nothing more than to earn for us a reputation of being an over-regulated and an under-enforced country, with the usual, predictable consequences.

In short, we have already become a first-rate country run, generally speaking, by third-rate bureaucrats who make it impossible for Malaysia to be taken seriously.

Bravo! He is right on target.

Next he said, referring to the various tragedies that took place year in year out, that:

We have, at the same time, become a reactive, finger-pointing society whenever the inevitable happens. Both on a personal as well as institutional level we have developed our propensity for “blame thy neighbour” into a fine art form.

Isn’t he right again? When some mishap occurs, we are quick to find scapegoats and point fingers. But we do not practice a system of shared  responsibility. In the Mersing tragedy, the whole Transport Ministry should take responsibility as in the case of the bus tragedy not too long ago. This is a case where there is clearly a failure of leadership, a failure of ensuring a good system of monitoring , surveillance, accountability and good work ethics.

We cannot keep on practising knee jerk reaction whenever something happens. It is not unlike someone sleeping most of the time and only wakes up  when some disaster occurs.

When we make law, we must ensure that the law is enforced properly. Otherwise, it is going to be a farce. We need a good system of monitoring and surveillance, not just building or starting something, only to leave it to rot!

Tunku Abdul Aziz also asked the whole transport Ministry to undergo an overhaul:

The performance of the ministry to date all points to a failure of leadership at all levels.

I am prepared to put my reputation on the line and repeat that the systems in place within the ministry have become dysfunctional and need a thorough going-over, and the ministry a complete shake-up.

The quality of leadership must be improved through an ethics-centred selection process, quite apart from considering a person’s paper qualifications and experience.

In public service, which is so prone to abuse of power, there is really no substitute for high standards of personal ethical behaviour.

I am prepared to put my reputation on the line and repeat that the systems in place within the ministry have become dysfunctional and need a thorough going-over, and the ministry a complete shake-up.

The quality of leadership must be improved through an ethics-centred selection process, quite apart from considering a person’s paper qualifications and experience

 We do not really need to know how many ferries and express coaches are operating on our roads and on the seas without a licence and a certificate of fitness.

This is the sort of useless “information” diet that the long-suffering members of the public are fed on whenever there is a major tragedy.

What is relevant to us is why the ministry has allowed this totally unacceptable state of affairs to become its management centrepiece.

This failure of leadership reveals a deep malaise in our governing system, and the Tunku is right on target again when he said:

The implications of this public display of institutional paralysis and incompetence for the nation’s credibility are a great deal more serious than we can imagine, quite apart from the more immediate negative impact on the tourism-related earnings.

He ventured to give a reason for all these ills:

Dare we hope that operational weaknesses are addressed immediately before more lives are lost, and management structures, legal framework, rules and procedures are revamped in keeping with our aspirations to First World status?

While we are about it, do remember that corruption could well be behind many of our tragedies.

I have repeated written in this blog that corruption i the mother of all evils. It is unfortunate that corruption is perceived to be worse than before.

We need not only an IPCMC, but an ICAC (Independent Commission for Corrupt Practices) for not only all civil services but private sector as well.

If nothing is done, I am afraid we are going to descend from a nation of excellence to a nation of mediocrity.

Recommended readings:

Set up an Independent Commission against Corruption

Corruption – Is it Worse?

Do we have the will?

People ‘ s interest more important than seats !

22 Oct 2007 3 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Malaysia, politics, social economic

Recently, Malaysiakini has highlighted the desperation of one minor component party in the ruling coalition asking for more seats in the next general election.

According to Malaysiakini reports, the president as well as some of his “kaki”s have been openly asking for the same number of seats that were won by this party when it was in Opposition many many years back. The latest was in the presence of the Prime Minister during a party convention.

In the reality of Malaysian politics, this seems to be a hopeless situation, but this party has continued its antics.   At one stage, it has even  threathened to pull out of the coalition and be independent again.

I read with amusement today’s report in Malaysiakini. Its president was quoted to say this:

the coalition should fulfill its obligation to  the 58-year-old party, which had switched from the opposition in 1972 on the condition it is allowed to contest in four parliamentary seats and eight state seats.

“The goal of any political party is to nominate and elect its candidates and be represented by the people.”

I have always thought that a political party’s position and goals should be based on the party’s ideology, which in turn should be based on the belief of its leaders and members, which in turn should be based on its perception on how best it can advance and protect the citizenry’s interest.

After May 13 1969, many of the political stalwarts in the opposition camp in the country believed that in the best of the nation’s interest, perhaps racial politics should be minimised.  The best way to do so, some of them proposed,  was to form a new coalition , which was later named Barisan National. One of those who mooted the idea was Dr Lim Chong Eu. This idea was also accepted by the remaining Seenivasagam brother , D.R. Seenivasagam**    S.P. Seenivasagam.

Thus a new front was formed and was named Barisan Nasional, the National Front and it consisted of the original three from Parti Alliance (the Sailing Boat), PArti Gerakan, PPP and parties from East Malaysia.

It was unfortunate that racial politics was not minimised and instead, the perception was that racial politics is even worse than before.

So to say that this particular party joined the coalition mainly because of seats arrangement  is to belittle the wits and foresight of its earlier leaders. They took the party into BN more for the interests of the people. It was unfortunate that after the demise of its great leader D. R. S., the party lost its appeal to the electorate (especially after it had crossed over to bn) and lost most of the seats allocated to it in subsequently General elections. So their demise is more due to lack of leadership and a rejection of voters in their traditional strongholds who disagreed with the change of the party’s stand in joining the ruling coalition.

So to ask openly back its seats is  not only naive but also gives a perception that all this party cares is seats. There are so many pressing problems facing the country and instead of airing these problems in the presence of the PM, it chose to ask for seats, which will only benefit a few selected leaders.

One of the central political views in Confucianism is that the ones who win heart of the people will rule the country. I would suggest the leaders of this party ponder carefully and ask themselves what they have done for the people, besides making up the numbers in political gatherings.

 If they have really fight for the people and work fo the people, their popularity alone would have forced the Coalition heads to consider giving them more seats automatically, without asking openly .

So, I would advise them to stop asking for seats. Instead, channel their energy to national issues, speak out on unfair policies, poor enforcement, corruption, abuse of power, education and economic issues.

I would quote John F Kennedy : Ask not what your country can do for you; Ask what you can do for the country. That should be the motto and guiding principles for all politicians including this particular political party.

Otherwise, it would be futile for them to remain in BN or even join the opposition rank, because the people would never support a party which places more importance on seats than the people’s interests.

The only other way is to dissolve the party!

(**A footnote: The initial assertion that DR Seenivasagam agreed to join BN was wrong since D R died before the 1969 election. I have made an amendment by striking out D R’s name above. I have great respect for D R Seenivasagam, as he was one of the great leaders in the early history of our country. The mistake was pointed out to me by a reader David Chew (pls read the comments below) and I sincerely thank Chew for kindly pointed out the mistake to me.)

recommended readings:

This is how politics should be played

A very unequal world

21 Oct 2007 2 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

You may already know that this is an unequal world. There are many very rich people around, as there are many very poor people.

But I am sure you will still be shocked to find out  how unequal this world actually is :

Just some statistics:

Businessweek estimated that in 2006, there are 9.6 million household with net worth more than US $1 million dollars. Together , they control about one third of the world’s total wealth.

4.6 million of them are in United States. 2,300 out of this 4.6 million are worth more than 100 US million each.

Japan, Britain, Germany and China made up of the other top 4 nations in the world with the most millionaires. China has the fastest rate of increase for millionaires at 39 % per year .

On the other extreme, 1.1 billion population live under absolute poverty, meaning that they live with less than US$1 a day. Another 2.7 billion live in relative poverty, meaning that they earn less than US$2 a day.

How to have a more equitable world? Perhaps there should be more Warren Buffet, the investment guru and the second richest man after Bill Gates, who donated most of his wealth to charity to help those in poverty.

More than anyone else, he really deserves a Nobel peace prize.

Susan Loone is back

20 Oct 2007 2 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

susan-loone.gif Susan’s mascot

A piece of good news. Susan Loone, one of Malaysia’s top bloggers, is back!! 🙂

She wrote a comment on my blog just now and it reads:

Hi, everyone. No worries. I am back on the radar again. Truth is, I no longer have a lap top and posts will be scarce.

Thanks for all the concern. )

I am very glad that nothing untowards has happened to her. Her link is listed in Malaysiakini as Malaysiakini ‘s top bloggers.

So Happy blogging again, Susan, we all look forward to read your posts again.

Link: http://sloone.wordpress.com/

The Burmese Way to Fascism

19 Oct 2007 5 Comments

by Dr Hsu in freedom, The other side of the world

The recent crackdown on democracy in Burma, including shooting of monks who took to the streets, has shocked the world , and there are many write ups on this in Malaysian media including Malaysiakini .

Many of us have wondered why no conscientious factions in the army have come forward to  attempt to overthrow the military junta. They are killing innocent Burmese, who are their brothers and sisters, and the revered monks, who are their spiritual teachers and guides.

Far eastern Economic Review has a very good write up on this . I will quote excerpts of it here. For the full article , please click this link.

The Burmese Way to Fascism

The survival of successive military regimes in Burma is one of the enigmas of Southeast Asian politics. The key to this puzzle is understanding that Rangoon is no “ordinary” military dictatorship, and it cannot be compared with Thailand, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Pakistan or other countries in the region which also have had spells of military rule.

When the army first seized power in Burma in 1962, it not only took control over the government, but also assumed economic power.

Branded the “Burmese Way to Socialism,” this meant that almost all private property was confiscated and handed over to a number of military-run state corporations. The old mercantile elite, which to a large extent was of ethnic Indian and Chinese origin, left the country, and so did many of Burma’s intellectuals. Prior to the 1962 coup, Burma had had one of the highest living standards in Southeast Asia, and a fairly well-educated population. But thereafter the military became the only elite.

The Burmese military establishment also developed into a state-within-a-state, a society where army personnel, their families and dependents enjoy a position far more privileged than their counterparts ever had in, for instance, Thailand and Indonesia. In both those countries, some degree of pluralism was always accepted even during the darkest years of military dictatorship.

After the last uprising in 1988, the Burmese Way to Socialism was abolished after the 1988 uprising, perhaps in an attempt to appease the international community, which had condemned the carnage in Rangoon, but also because the military had realized that they could make more money in a free-market economy. Private enterprise and foreign investment were permitted after the bloody events of 1988, when at least 3,000 protesters were gunned down, but, in essence, the Burmese Way to Capitalism is also a military-dominated economy.

There are few major enterprises which are not directly or indirectly controlled by the military, or by businessmen affiliated with the military, like the powerful, 43-year-old tycoon Tay Za, who is close to junta leader Gen. Than Shwe and his family. His Htoo Trading Company was one of two main contractors that built Burma’s new administrative capital, Naypyidaw. The other was the Asia World Group, which is headed by Tun Myint Naing, or Steven Law, the son of Lo Hsing-han, who in the 1970s was branded by U.S. authorities as the king of opium in Burma’s sector of the Golden Triangle.

monk.jpgmonk from FEER

In Burma, there are special schools and hospitals for the military and their dependents. They live in secluded, subsidized housing and shop for goods that are not available in ordinary stores. An army pass assures the holder of a seat on a train or an airplane, and a policeman would never dare to report him or her for violating traffic rules. The military’s only civilian support base is the Union Solidarity and Development Association, USDA, which was formed in 1992. It claims to have 21 million members, but that is mainly because membership is compulsory for civil servants and ordinary citizens are forced to join. Like the Burma Socialist Program Party, BSPP, which ruled Burma until the 1988 uprising, it is a colossus on feet of clay, which, in the wake of current events, is likely to collapse, as the BSPP did 19 years ago.

 The rise of military power in Burma began shortly after independence from Britain on Jan. 4, 1948. Communist as well as ethnic rebel armies rose in rebellion against Rangoon, and, in the northeast, remnants of Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist Chinese forces retreated across the border after being defeated by Mao Zedong’s communists. At independence, the Burmese army was only 15,000 strong, plus militias. But by 1955, because of the civil war, the ranks of the army had increased to 40,000, and it was already involved in businesses such as shipping, banking and publishing. When the emerging state-within-a-state gobbled up the state in 1962, there were 104,200 men in all three services. That rose to 140,000 in 1976, 160,000 in 1985, and, at the time of the 1988 uprising, 180,000 in the army and nearly 200,000 in all three services.

Today, the strength of the three services is estimated at 400,000, and they are much better equipped than at any time in Burma’s modern history, mainly due to massive procurement of arms from China. The latest expansion comes at a time when the ruling military has managed to strike cease-fire agreements with most of the country’s rebel groups, so, during the past decade, there has been very little fighting in Burma’s traditionally volatile frontier areas. The enemy now is the population at large.

China’s support is a key factor in the junta’s staying power, and Beijing wants “stability,” not a regime change. In January this year, China-along with Russia-used its veto power to block a U.S. and U.K.- sponsored resolution in the U.N. Security Council, although a majority of U.N. members had voted in favor. The Chinese insisted that the Burmese regime did not a pose a threat to regional security and, therefore, the Security Council was not the right forum to pass resolutions on political repression in Burma. Not even appeals by activists for a boycott of the 2008 Beijing Olympics seem to have swayed China into being more critical of the Burmese regime. China has not reacted to pictures from the carnage in Rangoon showing Burmese soldiers carrying Chinese-made T-56 automatic assault rifles

Meanwhile, the National League for Democracy, formed shortly after the 1988 uprising, has been decimated. Its main leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, has charisma but she remains under house arrest, and nearly the entire, original leadership of the NLD is either dead, in prison or has simply given up all political activity. Most young NLD activists have been imprisoned, cowed into submission, or have fled the country. Only a handful of elderly spokespersons remain, and none of them has the strength and charisma to carry the party forward. That serves the interests of the junta, since the new-look NLD would appear to the outside world not to be a viable alternative.

Nor have external forces had much influence over Burma’s ruling generals. Western sanctions have had minimal effect, as the country’s neighbors-China, India and Asean-continue to trade and invest in the country, allowing the generals to use their ample natural resources and strategic geographical position to survive. China was the first major country to show interest in Burma’s riches, even before the events of 1988. Pan Qi, former vice minister of communications, wrote an article in the Sept. 2, 1985 Beijing Review entitled “Opening to the Southwest: An Expert Opinion,” outlining the possibility of finding an outlet through Burma to the Indian Ocean for trade from China’s landlocked provinces of Yunnan and Sichuan. He mentioned the Burmese railheads of Myitkyina and Lashio in the northeast, and the Irrawaddy River, as possible conduits for the export of Chinese goods.

Burma’s generals are, therefore, firmly entrenched in power, and not overly worried about condemnation by the West. That doesn’t mean that their position is entirely secure. They remain profoundly despised by the population at large and, last year, an entirely new movement began to take shape. It consisted of veterans of the 1988 uprising, the most prominent among them being Min Ko Naing, a student leader who was arrested in March 1989-and released only in November 2005, after nearly 16 years in solitary confinement. In 1988 he was a 26-year-old zoology student addressing crowds of tens of thousands in Rangoon. When he was released he was 42, and his years in prison had left their mark on his face and body. In 2005, he looked old and haggard-but his fighting spirit had not been quelled. “The people of Burma must have the courage to say ‘no’ to injustice and ‘yes’ to truth,” he said at a meeting of the newly formed “88-Generation Students’ Group” in Rangoon in August 2006.

Min Ko Naing’s group played an important role in organizing the first protests in August, shortly after the authorities had increased the price of petrol and fuel, causing further hardships for a population that was already suffering from rising living costs. But the entire leadership of the group was arrested immediately, depriving the movement of direction. The monks, who took the initiative in the street marches which led to a renewed mass movement, can only mobilize people and take the moral high ground; as monks, they cannot be political leaders. Thus, unlike in 1988 when a number of political leaders emerged, among them Aung San Suu Kyi, the current movement is leaderless and rudderless.

The bitter reality is that nothing is going to change as long as the military remains united and willing to gun down its own people. A younger generation of army officers, who see the need to negotiate with the pro-democracy movement, is probably the only hope. But for now, no one is aware of any “young Turks” lurking in the wings, and there are no signs of serious cracks within the ranks. But if change does come to Burma, it will in any event be because of action taken by such younger army officers, not demonstrations led by monks. The protests can, at the most, influence sections of the army to realize that there is no future in supporting the present regime. But only time will tell if that is going to happen.

Hear the truth ? We need a freer press

18 Oct 2007 3 Comments

by Dr Hsu in freedom, government, Malaysia, politics, social economic

A few months ago, I have written an article in Malaysiakini about the Nilai monument and anti-Japanese heroes.

I wrote :

One of ancient Rome’s greatest orators and statesmen, Marcus Cicero, described history as ‘The witness of the times, the light of truth’. A 19th century Irish historian, JB Bury spoke of ‘History is a science , no less and no more’.

History is a record of past happenings and should be as truthful and precise as possible. History teaches us the experience of the past. By acquiring this experience, we hope not to repeat the mistake of the past, so that we can build a better future.

One of the things that we can learn from history is the fall of Kuomintang in China after World War 2. Kuomintang’s China emerged from World War 2 as one of the victors and one of the main players in the newly formed United Nations. Generalissimo Chiang Kai Shek was thus hailed as one of he world great leaders for his 8 years of resistance to the invading Japanese army.

Mao’s communist army was not too strong at the end of the WW2, and most part of China was under the rule by Chiang, unlike before WW2, when China was fragmented into many areas under the influence of the various war lords.

It was a golden opportunity for Kuomintang to build  a modern China, but within 4 years, it lost the whole China to Mao’s Communist army. WHy?

Corruptions were rampant. Abuses of power by the police and civil servants were common. Nepotism and cronyism were the means to advance one’s career and conduct business instead of meritocracy. Chiang was supposedly to be quite clean, but he was surrounded by 2 powerful families, the Soongs and the Koongs. Apparently those surrounding Chiang was so corrupted that everything in China then could be bought. Chiang wanted to hear “the truth” but what reached his ears were often slanted news that everything was rosy in China. When he realised something was very wrong, it was too late to reverse the worsening situation in China then.

Corruption led to poor government which led to run away inflation. At the end of its rule, currency was almost worthless because inflation was so high that the money had lost most of its buying power overnight. People suffered so much that change became inevitable. Many people in China actually feared the communists , but these people eventually abandoned the Kuomingtang because communists were seen as the lesser of the 2 evils.

The rest was history. Chiang with his US equipped army lost a few major battles to Mao’s army. Then desertion started and very quickly most of Chiang’s army either fled or surrendered. China became Communist until now.

Chiang fled to Taiwan where he eventually built up an economy that would be the envy of the world.

There is a lot to be learnt from this history of the last few years of Chiang’s rule in Mainland China.

Our country is at a crossroad. It is now facing many critical issues which if not dealt with properly, may retard our vision of achieving a developed status by 2020. Now is the time for PM to act and act decisively,and I believe he will  if he can be given proper and truthful information.

Our PM wanted to hear the truth, and I believe he is sincere. However, according to Malaysiakini report, a minister had said a few days ago that hearing the truth does not apply to the media and that the media should not play up negative news.

How in the world can the PM hear the truth if only those around him have the monopoly to tell him the truth? It would be like Chiang and the cronies around him who fed him wrong and rosy info.

The media must be allowed to speak the truth as that is the only way for the PM to really assess the feelings of the people on the ground. It is no accident that most of the developed economies are the ones with the most open press.

In Asia, Japan, Taiwan and Korea ranked high in the Press Freedom index and  these are the very countries that enjoy good growth and high standard of living.

The press is the one of the few avenue for people on the street to air their feelings to the PM and the top leaders. It must be allowed to reflect the thinking and feelings of the people.  A freer press should be viewed as a media for accurate feedback instead of viewing it as a threat.

It would be futile for the PM just to rely on the people around him or the top civil servants to supply him the truth, because usually these people would not want to give negative news for the PM.

Let the press be freer – that is the only way for the Prime Minister to hear the truth – there is no other way!!

Related post:

world Press freedom Index 2007  

Back in control of my yahoo email account

18 Oct 2007 2 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

After 24 hours of heartache, informing friends and contact about the fraudulent emails from my own email accounts which were hacked into, yahoo has acted quickly and given me a new password to access my own email account again. I have done so and immediately changed my password and so I am back in control of my yahoo account again. (please refer to my post : Urgent! My email accounts have been compromised”  )

Gmail however has not replied. So I have given this blog a new email account for readers to email me if they want to keep their comments and identities private.(The email for this blog was formerly a gmail account which was first broken into and which subsequently affected my yahoo account as both use similar pasword)

One of the contacts whom I informed yesterday, fellow blogger Scott Thong, informed me that he uses different passwords for different accounts.

There is always something to learn from a mishap, if you can call this a mishap. The moral of this story is ‘if you have more than one email accounts which link to each other, it is better to use different passwords’. I will do that in future and make sure that I use a password which will be difficult to crack. Another thing to learn is always sign out of your account after accessing it, especially when using computers that do not belong to ourselves.

I have changed my facebook, friendster passwords immediately after the scam was noted, but I was unable to access my flickr account yesterday which was based on the compromised yahoo account. Now that everything is back to normal, I am able to go into my flickr account – what a big relief.

Now ,if  only gmail can be as efficient as yahoo!! Still waiting for their reply!

World Press freedom Index 2007

17 Oct 2007 1 Comment

by Dr Hsu in competitiveness, Malaysia, social economic

“Reporters without borders ” came out with the latest WOrld press freedom Index. Malaysiakini carried the news today.

Guess where is our country Malaysia? Not even within the top 100. Worse than Cambodia, Congo, Mongolia, Fiji, Tonga, India and so on.

Malaysia is ranked 124 this year. Last year, it was No. 92. At the rate it is going, we may very soon be at the very bottom of the index.

One consolation for those who like to compare with our southern neighbour. Singapore is ranked No.141 .

Press freedom is the hallmark of a civilised and liberal society. If we aspire to be a fully developed country, we will have to have a much freer press as press freedom is an important element in any developed society. Press is often refered to as the fourth pillar of the government in a democracy, and plays an important role as a watchdog as well as providing valuable feedback to the ruling elites. When press freedom is compromised as in our case, how are the leaders going to hear the “truth”?

I can only say with a heavy heart ” Buck up, Malaysia!!” Give a little more space for us. The people are much better educated than before and they want to read the truth.

I will post the ranking of some of the Asian countries here and then Malaysia’s ranking. For the Full list, you can access the link here.

The ranking

Rank     Country             Note

32     Taiwan                         10.0

37     Japan                           11.75

39    South korea                13.12

61   Hong Kong                    20.0

74     Mongolia                     23.40

80     Congo                          24.50

85     Cambodia                   25.33 

100    Indonesia                 30.50

124    Malaysia                    41.00

141    Singapore                  56.0

Urgent! My email account has been compromised

17 Oct 2007 8 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

This morning, when i accessed the net I got a shock! I received an email from fellow blogger Lucia informing me that she received an email supposedly sent out from my gmail account asking for money.(which is the account for this blog). I tried to access the same gmail account but could not as someone has hacked into my email account, changed the password, and from there send out emails to all my contacts asking for money.

Many Thanks to Lucia for alerting me!

 My secondary account in yahoo.com is also compromised as the account has similar password.

Please disregard any email from me asking for money. I believe this is the work of the nigerian  scam.

the text of fraud email as provided by a friend is as followed:

—– Original Message —–

From: HsuDarRen

To: hsudarren@gmail.com

Sent: Tuesday, October 16, 2007 8:19 AM

Subject: VERY UGENT!!! (PLEASE EMAIL ME BACK)

Hello,
I am sorry I din’t  email you about my  traveling to Africa  for a program that is taking place in three major countries in Africa.  Ghana, South Africa and Nigeria .It as been a very sad news and bad moment for me, the present condition  that I found myself is very hard for me to explain.I am really stranded in Nigeria because I forgot my little bag in a Taxi where my money and passport documents were kept on my way to a Hotel that am staying, I have no  more money left with me. I am now owning a hotel bill of $1400 and they wanted me to  pay the bills soon else they will have to seize my bag and hand me over to  the Hotel Management,please I need some help from you urgently to help me  back home,and I need you to help me with the hotel bill and i will also  need $1200 to feed and help myself back home so please can you help me  with a sum of $2600 ? to sort out this problems here I need this help so much  and on time because i am in a terrible and tight situation here,please understand how urgent i need your help.
       
I am sending you this e-mail from the city of lagos. I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now  and I promise to pay back your money as soon as i return home, you need to  transfer the money through Western Union.

Thanks

Darren  Hsu  (Someone signing off as me)

We could have been better

16 Oct 2007 9 Comments

by Dr Hsu in competitiveness, culture, Malaysia, politics, social economic

A young man studying overseas emailed me recently. He is a subscriber to Malaysiakini and has read some of my articles published there as well as my blog.

He asked me if there is any way to overcome the polarisation of the races. I replied that the worsening ethnic relations is in no small part due to the divisive policies that have been in place since the watershed event in May 1969. Divisive policies make racial politics inevitable, and racial politics in turn result in even more drastic divisive policies. It has become a self perpetuating vicious cycle.

Our economic growth could have been even more impressive if there is equal opportunities for everyone. We could have even more Foreign investments. The people could have  become even more industrious. Our universities and education system could have produced better graduates , who would be better equipped to exploit all the opportunities in this globalised and flattening world. Our country could have become richer by a few times, maybe as rich as South Korea which has started behind us and has since overtaken us by leaps and bounds. Our per capita income could be higher than now, and everyone , irrespective of his or her ethnic group, could have enjoyed a higher standard of living. All of us could have a better life, if only we have been more broad-minded.

BUt instead, we are just doing OK, and many of the pampered new generations have the ‘tidak apa’  (couldn’t care less) attitude because life has been made so much easy for them that they have lost the competitive spirits and edge. As a result, we have lost our excellence in so many areas.

What we can do to improve ethnic realtions is firstly  do away with divisive policies and base all affirmative action on social strata. Policies should be based on universal values. Do away with the ‘race’ column in all government forms. Do away with racial politics with the disbanding of all race and religion-based party.

It really pains my heart to see almost everything in Malaysia would inevitably be turned into racial issues even after 50 years of independence.

Perhaps it is time that we read again a story from my dad which I have posted many months ago:

My late father told me a story when I was in my teen. This story may have happened long long time ago.

There was once 2 families living side by side in a village. One , family A, was richer by rural village standard. They have one son, let’s called him Aa.

Next to family A stayed a family B. They were not as rich but was OK by village standard. They had a son too , and lets called him Bb.

Father A loved his sonAa and indulged him with all sorts of gifts. Whatever he wanted, the father would get for him. Aa also never had to do any work. Everything was taken care of.

Father B was a wise man. Although he also loved his son very much and was fatherly to his son Bb, he never failed to teach him the facts of life. He made Bb do housework, taught him how to fish and how to plough a field , how to do business and above all how to save up for the rainy days.

Years later, both parents had passed away. Aa and Bb was on their own now. Within a few years, Aa had spent everything his parents left him. Bb kept the money, worked hard and saved some more. Aa did not know how to work and how to make money. He became very poor and had to live on whatever other villagers gave him.

Bb although was poorer in the beginning , became richer and richer and lived a very good life later on.

The moral of the story is that we cannot indulge our children too much. Similarly, the moral of the story can be applied to society at large.

Many great men, many entrepreneurs and many local tycoons went through very tough conditions in the early parts of their lives. In early greek history, Spartan soldiers were the best in Greece because they toughened thier babies in early lives by bathing them in ice cold water. On the other hand, many very rich families went broke after 3 generations because their descendents were too pampered and did not know how to manage wealth. All these examples are too common and I am sure all of you can name someone belonging to either category. As a race, Japanese and Korean are the examples of how tough surroundings have helped make them successful.

Perhaps, after this story, all of us can reflect on certain of our policies. Perhaps, we can ask ourselves honestly whether the NEP has become the indulgent father of family A?

Perhaps you ask yourself honestly and come up with your own answer. It doesn’t matter which ethnic group you belong to because the moral of the story applies to everyone of us.

A good government tolerates dissent

15 Oct 2007 5 Comments

by Dr Hsu in corruption, government, Malaysia, politics, social economic

Malaysiakini reported yesterday that our de facto Law minister has labelled all those lawyers who participated in the Walk for Justice as ‘crazy’.

As a medical person, my understanding is that  ‘being crazy ‘ denotes derangement of the minds, which means that a crazy person is no longer able to think rationally and behave rationally.Are those lawyers crazy? I do not think so. If they are crazy, they would not have objected so vehemently to the Lingam videos, which if proven to be authentic, would have meant that our judiciary has been compromised. That is why they ask for a thorough investigation to be carried out.

These sorts of behaviour is highly rational and in fact show the conscience of the lawyers as a profession.

In a family, when a spouse suspects that there is something wrong in the relationship, it is better for he or she to vioce out, before things get to the stage of no return. By voicing out to the the other half  his or her concern about their relationship, they are in fact taking responsibility to save the marriage and the family, which includes their children. On the other hand, a spouse that does not voice out when something is wrong will often find that the marriage will reach a stage of no return later on, resulting in the breakup of the family. Who suffers? Not only the husband and wife, but the children too will suffer emotionally and psychologically.

If there is a perception that something is wrong in the judiciary and yet the lawyers, who are the officers of Law, do not voice out, the whole justice system will eventually crumple. In the end, not only the lawyers themselves suffer, but also the public and by extension the whole nation – there will be no more recourse to justice. It is exactly because they love the judiciary and the country that these lawyers speak out.

All men are fallible; therefore, a government will inevitably make mistakes, because government institutions are managed by human. The important thing is to recognise a mistake once a mistake is done. To insist that the government is always right — that is the perception I get from the way that  paricular minister  reacts to dissent and issues — cannot be logical.

Therefore, the hallmark of a good government is not that it will not make mistakes but rather it recognises its mistakes (once they are pointed out-that is why feedbacks are important) and takes corrective steps to overcome the mistake. The Hallmark of a good government is therefore tolerance of dissent. By extension, a good minister will be one who listens to feedback, tolerates dissent, recognises mistakes and willing to take corrective steps to right the wrongs.

By this argument, I would like to call upon the Minister concerned to listen to the ground, think logically and put himself in the shoes of the people. If he is a normal citizen, what would he do? Don’t let the trappings of power and position blinds his own thought and conscience.

If he does so, I am confident that he will not view lawyers as crazy anymore. Rather, he will treat them as saviours of the judiciary and our beloved country.

Not another Malaysian in space,please!

14 Oct 2007 7 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Malaysia, social economic

Well, we have sent a man into space, or have we?

Did we send him by our own technology and scientific research? or did we just pay for the fare of his tour in space?

Would our country benefit more by investing the huge amount of money ( spent in getting a man up in space) in our research and sciences, in our schools or health clinics ?

What have we really achieved apart from making news headlines for maybe a couple of days in local media, and an entry in overseas media?

These are questions we have to ask ourselves rationally . These are public funds which belong to the people.

 The late Tun Razak declined to have a swimming pool built in his compound while he was the Prime MInister when he learnt that the pool would cost about RM60,000 which in those days could have been enough to build 2 rural clinics. He eventually asked the relevant authority to use the money to build the health clinics.

We could learn a lot from this story about Tun Razak.

What has been done cannot be undone. So after asking ourselves the above questions , and taking the example of Tun Razak into consideration, I would urge the authority to think very carefully about their declared intention of sending another Malaysian into space, again hitching an expensive ride in another Russian spacecraft.

A better and more equal world

13 Oct 2007 3 Comments

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

Today is the first day of the second year of my blogging. Time really flies. Exactly one year ago, I have started blogging and tried to do something to the deteriorating political culture in our country, which can be best summed up by all the ‘E’ s – deteriorating Ethnic relations, worsening Ethical behaviours of the politicians  and civil servants (including corruptions, abuse of power, cronyism and nepotism), sluggish Economic situation, deterioarting Education standards, Environmental problems and loss of Excellence in whatever we do.

The ‘E’ s has pretty much remained the same – not much has changed in the course of a year. This is expected because you cannot change an entrenched culture overnight or even in a year. The road to bring forth a new culture is tedious and long, just like climbing up a mountain, but if we don’t try, we can never reach the top of the mountain and view the beautiful scenery at the back of the mountain. If we don’t try, we are not going to get a fair and equitable society. At least, I tell myself with a little pride, I have tried.

In the course of the past one year, I notice that  many new blogs have been created in our country. This is a good sign , especially many of these blogs are started by young people, who are the hope of our future. They are like candles; individually, they may not be bright, but together, they constitute a formidable force and a source of light that can no longer be ignored by those in power.

I am especially glad that even the lawyers , who are the officers of the courts and the elite of the society, have come out in force to demand an overhaul of the whole judicial system. This is a good sign for the country, and I hope other professionals should emulate the lawyers and come forward to demand more liberty,  transparency and accountability.

In this globalised world, it is no longer possible to sweep everything under the  carpets and still hope that no one notices the dirt and rubbish underneath. Communication advances, like never before, have enabled everyone to be a writer , publisher. News spread at a speed almost as fast as those of light. Internet has enabled every household to have a virtual library; almost everything can be learned and uncovered via the web and the links. You can be physically remote yet in contact with all parts of the world.

Leaders, civil servants and even private businesses have come under scrutiny like never before. It is as if all of us now is staying in glass houses. All of us have to behave in proper manner, and this is espescially true for those in power.

The people are much better educated and have a broader perspective than before. Many life experiences which they have not gone through personally can still be experienced through seeing the stories of others on televisions or movies. Even the less educated ones are not as ignorant as before. With better education and broader perspective, people have come to expect more of their leaders, their governments. They are no longer contented with being governed; they want to be part of the governing process.

So it would be wise for a government to be transparent, forthright, liberal, accountable and clean. Confucius has said many hundred  years ago: those who win the heart of the people will get to rule the country. This principle is  still very true.

This is also the era of the flat world where hierachy in society is fast being flattend. Every individual is as important as the other individual. People have individuals rights which their fathers have never experienced nor dreamed before. This has given me hope that a day will come when everyone in this planet will be treated as an equal, irrespective of race, creed or religion..

 BAck to this blog. I am very honoured that Blogwatch, a European site, has singled this blog out for mention and has wirtten a very encouraging discourse on this blog. For those who wish to read this discourse, please go to this link: www.blogwatch.eu. I think this is perhaps the best anniversary present for this blog and certainly I will tried my best to live up to what the author has said.

I will continue my style of non confrontational approach to issues, both national and global, using examples, stories, facts and figures to present my viewpoints . I hope that more people will come and join my small little voice to  make this a better world for all of us.

Please read this post:

Climb the mountain, Light the candle

Selamat Hari Raya

13 Oct 2007 Leave a comment

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

This blog wishes to say “Selamat Hari Raya” to all its Muslim friends and readers.

Mouse of a different kind

11 Oct 2007 1 Comment

by Dr Hsu in Uncategorized

After talking about cars (Proton and Skoda,VW ) in a posting which was listed in Malaysiakini blog corner yesterday, I would like to talk about an animal today. The mouse.

A clarification first. I am not talking about people born in the years of Rats: those are good and intelligent people, like my own father and my daughter. Remember Ratatouille, the mouse turned fabulous cook in the Disney movie? For those who have not seen the show, it is a must – the best animated movie ever so far – in this blogger’s humble opinion.

ratatuoille.jpgratatuoille is a good rat

I want to talk about those mice that usually hide in dark places, corners and under the table and eats almost anything under the sun (or more correctly, under the moon usually). These are nuissance, because they destroy the resources of the people. They normally steal and eat stealthily under the table.

Of late, in the past few years, these mice have become very bold since many of the good cats have migrated to other places,  and have come up onto the table and into the open. They no longer take small bites, but gulp down anything they can find on the table, even in bright day light. SOmetimes, they will even stare at the people and dare the people  to catch them. Unfortunately, those who blow whistle to call for cats will find that few cats will come to help them, for a reason that will be discussed below.

The ones that climb to the higher places have even bigger appetite and stomach. They just swallow anything they can get their paws on.

Precious resources are lost because of these mice. You may ask, where are the cats?

 Looking carefully around, some of the cats that remained in this place look very different from normal cats – they are also mice in disguise, only thing they are bigger mice and have huge appetite, and wear a cat’s coat. these mice disguised as cats will also steal and eat, but because they are cats in appearance, other cats dare not touch them.

The mice are now almost everywhere, inside almost every  building in town.

The most shocking news, which I have yet to verify, is that recently there are some reported sighting of mice inside the Court houses, which is supposed to be the place that should be free of mice. Well, this is really worrying, because we cannot allow presence of any mouse in a solemn and clean area like a court house.

What can we do? We have to catch and exterminate these mice, otherwise all the resources will be gone. We have to form a very high level Commisssion, protected under the law, to look for evidence whether there are mice in the court houses. If so, we must train a team of cats with the following attributes to catch these mice: intelligent, clean, not eating more than what they are given, upright,  agile and totally independent – meaning that they can catch mice in anyway as long as they catch them. we need this fast because mice population multiplies very fast.

Don’t bother about the colour of the cats. Black, white or brown, any cat that catches mice is a good cat – Deng Xiao Ping”s first  Law of nature.

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