Yesterday marks another dark day for Malaysia. They finally nabbed saudara Anwar soon after he arrived home after having his statement recorded at ACA. The night before, we see She-biri-biri got grilled by Anwar live on TV. How fast things can turn around.

To the 30 plus so called Barisan MPs, where art thou? The rakyat is depending on you to jump to Pakatan Rakyat. This is the only way to strip power from the recalcitrant Umno goons. Their fear of losing power must be at its maximum, when they decided to repeat 1998. Ignoring the fact that majority of Malaysians does not believe Anwar to be a sodomizer, Umno couldn't go any lower.

Najib, gani and musa must've been able to sleep peacefully last night. Their #1 nemesis is now under police custody, and will soon be charged for sodomy. Thats 20 years maximum jail time for Anwar. Raja Petra, nemesis #2 will be summoned to Police HQ today for the "seditious" post he made on MT regarding Rosmah's involvement in Alatantuya murder. And Umno probably has plans to put him away too.

Anyway, Anwar had previously said that he has the alibi and proof of his innocence. Lets hope that is true. Same goes to you RPK and your trusted source. Our doa goes to both of you.

To saiful #$%@$&^%, I'm certain you will be punished if not now, in the afterlife. With 10 million rakyat cursing you to rot in hell, I'll be suprised if you didn't.

Again, to the BN MPs who are having 2nd thought about Umno, jump now and save Malaysia. We can't afford to wait another 5 years.

Fuel dilemma and wealth creation

Great debate tonight between DS Anwar Ibrahim and Shabery Cheek. Although to me, it looks more like an experienced debater who knows macro economy against a layman, who resorts to firing cheap shots when he couldn't hack it. Well at least Shabery has the guts to face DSAI on live television. If it were Pak Lah, its guaranteed to be one hell of a disaster of Umno. Will be eaten alive and spit out by DSAI like nobody's business.

So now we have heard DSAI's approach to reduce petrol price if PR succeed in taking over the government. What I wonder, and was mentioned by Shabery, is how long can the subsidy last? As long as Malaysia is a net exporter, we should be profiting from the oil price increase, but sooner or later, the well will dry up. Maybe not in my lifetime, but during our children's generation. Should that day come, are we going to see a sharp increase in oil prices when government can no longer subsidize our fuel?

The point I'm getting at is, the government in power should focus on wealth creation. Increasing FDI will create wealth. Exporting more than importing will create wealth. Basically, we need surplus of foreign cashflow coming into the country. That is how we can expand the cake for every Malaysians to share. At the moment, the government is only distributing the cake, but no one is putting new cakes into the oven.

But how do we create wealth? The same way how Koreans, Americans, Britain, Japanese, French or any developed nation did it. Invest in R&D and create new products that we can EXPORT. Innovate on the current ones and EXPORT them as well. That is one way how wealth is created. From passenger cars to handphones to LCD tvs, the Koreans have them all. And exporting creates wealth for their country.

Same goes for Singapore. With no natural resources, they focus on other areas for wealth creation: Services sector such as banking, high finance and insurance sector. With clients from all over the world, wealth is certainly pouring into Singapore.

When Malaysia has mastered the art of wealth creation, our Ringgit would surely appreciate, and so will our buying power. That time, maybe we will not be too burdened by the fuel prices since most of us would be able to afford it, even without subsidy. Only then, can we truly be called a developed nation.

On Kevin Rudd's comment about Malaysian democracy

PUTRAJAYA 10 Julai - Perdana Menteri Australia, Kevin Rudd menyifatkan sistem demokrasi dan hak asasi di Malaysia sungguh segar dan hidup.

Beliau berkata demikian ketika ditanya pandangannya oleh seorang wartawan dari Australia mengenai perkembangan hak asasi manusia di negara ini.

"Ia bukan sahaja hidup tetapi tumbuh segar,“ kata Rudd yang dipercayai merujuk kepada soalan yang ada kaitan dengan kenyataan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim yang mengkritik Rudd sebagai tidak mempedulikan hak asasi di Malaysia.

Rudd dan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mengadakan sidang akhbar bersama selepas mesyuarat dua hala sempena lawatan kerja Perdana Menteri Australia itu di sini hari ini. - Utusan

Muahahaha tergelak besar saya apabila membaca berita dari Utusan Meloya ni. Bukan sekadar "hidup" tapi "tumbuh segar lagik", bak kata Kevin Rudd.

We visit someone's home for dinner, do we complain that the dishes are too salty, the rice has 'jelantah' etc? Its called manners. Regardless what the truth is, we always say everything is nice and good. Since Kevin Rudd is visiting Malaysia, you wouldn't expect him to critisize our democracy now would you? He was cornered with a leading question, it was expected for him to say "Ia bukan sahaja hidup tetapi tumbuh segar“.

I'm sure majority of urbanites would find this hillarious. Pity the kampung folks who actually believe what Utusan wrote.

Anyway, back to work...

Pak Lah finally announces his retirement

Pak Lah is stepping down come June 2010. Hallelujah? Well, it depends. On the one hand, we're going to have a new Prime Minister who isn't a sleepwalker. On the other hand, this same guy is notoriously given the nickname C4 by bloggers, allegedly involved in a Mongolian murder, and was once critisized when he vowed to bath the keris with Chinese blood.

In my opinion, compared to Abdullah, Najib has got more brutal baggage. And not to mention, his pear-shaped S.O. Just looking at her give me the creeps. Imagining her becoming 2nd lady (1st lady is Her Majesty Tuanku Nur Zahirah) is simply too much.

Abdullah announcing his retreat and make way for a new PM, to me is the right move. He finally gets the strong message post March 8, that the rakyat has lost confidence in his leadership. From a 90% landslide victory back in 2004 and it finally came to this, who would've imagine.

What I wonder is, why wait for another 2 years? Why not now? In this upcoming Umno General Election in December 2008, Pak Lah could easily take the back seat, and let Najib fight amongst the likes of Muhyiddin Yassin, Tengku Razaleigh or Ali Rustam for the President's chair. I mean, 2 years is a long time, anything could happen. Hell, we are only 4 months past the GE, and quite an eventful 4 months it has been. And with Pakatan Rakyat's promise of taking over the Federal government this September, Najib's day of becoming PM in 2010 may not materialize.

Could it be that Pak Lah isn't really keen on making Najib his successor, thus giving a 2-year period just to buy time, and hoping that something would happen within these 2 years that will prevent Najib from becoming PM? Who knows, Pak Lah may have his own choice for the next Prime Minister. Remember Team A, Team B anyone?

On the flip side, with the current catfight going on between Najib an DSAI, maybe now is not the best time for Pak Lah to let go his seat to Najib. Not to mention the scandals upon scandals which keeps turning up these past few weeks. For sure, Najib's popularity among Malaysians, and among Umno members in particular, have deteriorated these days.

So the best move is to delay the transfer of power to June 2010, when most Malaysian have already forgot what happened in 2008. Melayu kan mudah lupa?

Whatever the reason, I hope this day will never happen. Who would want a guy nicknamed C4 for Prime Minister? And may I remind you, this is not C4 the Citroen model. I'll take that C4 anyday...

Commments by flip flop and si botak

Pak Lah's comment in the Star today.

You think we are doing this for fun? You think we wake up and just decided to bust your chops?

Think again.

We are not disregarding the law as you proclaimed. There is no law. Period. Well, at least for the people walking in the corridors of power, as RPK aptly put it.

Syed Hamid comment in the Star today.

How else do you think the rakyat can voice their concern over the issues affecting their daily lives? We're not special like Saiful, who can simply walk into the office of Najib claiming he got dicked in the ass.

Thats why people took it to the streets, because thats the only way we can convey to the government how angry we are.

Instead of splashing news on the sodomy case all over the MSM, why not focus on issues that are more improtant, i.e ways to curb inflation which is predicted to hit between 6-7 percent after the petrol and diesel price hike, or how social problems with our teenagers are getting more out of hand, or at least tell us where did the RM 330 billion tax paid to the government by Petronas since the 80's went.

On the protection offered by the Home Ministry to Balasubramaniam from whoever he's running away from, HELLLLLOOOOOO baldy! I think Bala is hiding from you guys, not the other way around. So stop creating bullshit stories saying someone from PR side is trying to get to him.

When will amenor learn that Malaysians are not as stupid as they think? Please stop trying to bring us down with this bullshit.

Cerita lepak kedai mamak

Semalam saya dan isteri pergi minum petang di kedai mamak. Bila mamak ambik order sampai, isteri saya terus order nasik putih dan daging merah. "Berat jugak tu", kata saya. "Tengahari tadi I tak sempat makan, so lapar sangat" balas isteri.

Memandangkan jam masa tu pun dah dekat pukul 7 malam, ingatkan minum petang merangkap makan malam sekalilah. So saya tanya isteri saya "Malam nanti you masak ke?". Dia jawab "malam nanti I masak".

Bila tiba giliran saya untuk order, saya pun order bihun goreng, ringan-ringan ajelah, sebab isteri saya akan masak untuk makan malam. Mamak pun tulis la dalam kertas bihun goreng yang saya order, lepas tu terus beredar.

Saya panggilla mamak tu balik "Mamak air tak order lagi la". "La, tadi kan sudah order air masak", balas mamak dengan loghat Indianya. Hmm, pelik juga perangai mamak ni, bila masa pulak kami order air masak. Malas nak panjangkan cerita, saya pun kata "OK lah, air masak kasi 2", lalu mamak itu beredar ke dalam kedai.

Dalam masa 10 minit, order pun sampai. Sambil makan saya dan isteri berbual2 tentang hal anak-anak, hal politik, perang di Iraq, afganistan, berita saham, mengumpat pasal pekerja jusco yang dok kat meja sebelah dan hal-hal lain. Tiba-tiba, isteri saya berkata "I tau kenapa mamak tu ingat kita order I masak". Saya bertanya "Ha apasal?". Jawab isteri "Masa you tanya tadi malam ni I masak tak, I jawab I masak. Mamak tu ingatkan kita nak order air masak kot..." Tergelak besar saya, patutla mamak tu confident je kata kami dah order air. Salah faham rupanya.

"Boleh masuk cerita lawak antarabangsa ni", ujar saya sambil isteri tersenyum..

Imelda's birthday party

On Saturday night, we had a birthday party for Imelda. She turned 4th last month, so it was 1 month belated. For the past 3 years, we never missed having a birthday bash for her since she was the only one. This year though, we celebrated her 4th on a small scale, invited only our parents and siblings. We're reserving the bigger birthday party for Ashman, when he turns 1 this September.

Nevertheless, last Saturday turned out to be a blast. The main menu was barbeque steaks and lasagna. All home-made. And garden salad to complement the proteins, fats and carbohydrates. I became the grill-man, making sure the chicken, beef and kambing are bbq-ed to perfection. The first batches of beef and kambing turned out overcooked on one side, and totally carbon-black on the other. Upon discussion of bbq re-strategy with my assistant Syed (sister in law's hubby) we improved our bbq skills and taking better care of the flame. Soon after, all the chicken, beef and kambing looked like they came from San Fransisco Steakhouse (just kidding). OK, they were all edible, and taste good too.

Everyone praised the lasagna, which my wife made. She really put in the effort to prepare them, using the finest ingredients: minced-beef, mozarella cheese, fresh milk, oregano, rosemary and bay leafs. Plenty of left-over that everyone got to tapau for breakfast.

We had the baskin robbins icecream cake that everyone enjoyed and 100% cleared within 10 minutes after blowing the candles. Delicious Big Apple donuts and pastries, compliments from my sisters (thank you Ina and Suzy) and mother-in-law's home-made curry puffs made sure everybody was stuffed.

For dessert, we had fresh fruits aplenty, and finally teh tarik for after-eating gossip and political discussion. With whats currently going on in Malaysia, literally there's not enough teh tarik to go around, and so we had to serve coffee afterwards.

But hey, something is missing...oh yeah, where is Imelda the birthday girl? She was upstairs in her room, playing with the cousins and opening presents. Ah never mind, as long as she's having a good time.

By the time the last guest left, it was almost 11.30. The clock showed 1 am by the time I went to bed. A long day, but very worthwhile. Even Imelda who went to bed that night starving had fun. I noticed she did'n eat anything except some icecream cake. We all look forward to breakfast and lunch tomorrow, where the menu is bbq chicken and kambing. Also, the next birthday party for Ashman.