Thursday, June 26, 2008

Ezam, look within UMNO First!

Ezam, stop pointing fingers at PKR, Pakatan and look inward.For starters..

-Putrajaya , a brand new capital city built with oil money
-Maika shares scandal
-Tekelom shares scandal
-5 million lesap from Balkis account
-Oil for food Program and its connection to KJ
-PKFZ
-Matrade Building

many many many more.

So...when u point fingers at others, remember, 4 points back at you.

My first post on DAPSY Klang's Website

Malaysia is a country frought in imperfection.Wastage.Cronyism.Dirty politics.Corrupt officials.Lopsided policies.Biased government agencies.A public policy that does not favour the public.We are far from perfect.Really,really far.In the face of adversity , one has many options.When you place a hard carrot in boiling water, the carrot becomes soft.When you place a fragile egg into boiling water, it becomes hard.But when you place coffee seeds into boiling water, the water becomes coffee.In the first two instances, the situation changes the object.In the third, the object changes the situation.
That, my friends is our struggle.
We can opt, in the face of injustice and difficulty, to weaken, become soft and give up.Or we can harden our hearts and leave this country, or go against the odds and succeed.Or we can change this country.Forum by forum.Protest by protest.Heart by heart, slowly and surely.
We have enough politicians in this country.We have enough noisemakers.We have enough fiery speeches coupled with hollow bravado and strong language.What we do not have enough of, in this country, is heart.
In solidarity with each other, may we discover this heart, this humanity so that our very weakness, our humanity, can be turned into our strongest strength.May we live to see the day, that people turn to us for inspiration, for guidance and above all, for heart.
To borrow a quote from my good friend Shen, may we create history, build legacies and make a difference.
Let’s make every second count.Today.Tommorow.And always.
Here’s to heart, my friends.

Thursday, June 19, 2008

The Malaysian Oil Dilemma

Output rate. Rising global oil demand. Market forces. Economic instability. Price volatility. Big words meted out effortlessly by the small-minded Malaysian government daily in an attempt to appease an increasingly angry public. The public knows not economic theories put forth by Adam Smith or Thomas Malcus or John Keynes or the complicated formulae used in determining the price per liter of oil that they end up forking out for. Or how OPEC determines how much oil to produce per day. The public knows not these things. The public cares not on these things. Nor should they.

The public is made of Malaysian citizens. All these Malaysians want to know is why the accounts of Petronas, a Malaysian government owned body that digs out oil from Malaysian soil is not made public. They also question why, Malaysia as a net producer of oil (high quality, sulphur free oil to boot) cannot afford to subsidize her own citizens while ALL other oil producing countries seem to be doing it, with lesser problems, with at least one selling oil for as low as 16 sen per liter. They cannot comprehend why we keep comparing ourselves with countries that do not have this God given natural resource, and why, alongside high fuel, we also pay high road tax, and import duties sometimes up to 300% the value of the vehicle, and a high price for toll.

The public cannot accept, that while we are told to tighten our belts, the yearly excise and import duties collected by Customs goes up, Petronas profits are higher than ever and the toll concessionaires are raking in billions in profit.

While Petronas is a Fortune 500 company, and the Financial Times British business newspaper calls Petronas one of the new ‘Seven Sister Companies’ i.e. the most powerful oil companies in the world, rich enough to sponsor, among others, the once tallest building in the world, an F1 team, an international philharmonic orchestra, a full fledged university, but alas, according to the government it is too poor to help out with the suffering of Malaysians who pay high prices for fuel. Also according to the government, we are fast running out of oil, and soon we’ll become a net oil importer. We are also told we produce higher grade oil. Basically, in simple terms we sell gold, and buy silver. But the government tells us, when the gold runs out, we’re in trouble. The public wonders what happened to some 900 billion gained so far. The complicated, confusing answers given by the government using big terms and long accounts are beyond the public’s comprehension. It all sounds wrong.

The public cannot understand these things. Nor can it accept it. Nor should they. The problem, as they say, is the government’s. And maybe, in this case, the problem is the government.

Sunday, June 08, 2008

Fuel Increase Demo


Later this morning , DAP will be having a short ceremony/protest at Pandamaran Stadium, 11am, Sunday. We will submit a memorandum to YB Charles Santiago then.The memo is as above, with a Pakatan letterhead and followed with whatever signatures we can garner.Do come if you can make it.


Thursday, June 05, 2008

Complaint to PM



I sent two complaints to the PM's Office today, one through Warkah Untuk PM (part of the failed BN Internet campaign during the GE) and directly to his official email.






Subject: Re: Petrol Price


From: ppm@pmo.gov.my
To: emmanuel_83@hotmail.com
Date: Thu, 5 Jun 2008 09:08:18 +0800

Sukacita dimaklumkan emel tuan/puan telah selamat diterima di Pejabat Perdana Menteri Malaysia.
Sekian, terima kasih.




Doubt it will do any good, but hey, its our job right as Opposition.




Ooops He did it again

Yep.They did it again.78 freaking sen this time, with a further 1.30 increase slated for August.WTF?????

Brings to mind the Pete Seeger song-"When will they ever learn, oh when will they...ever learn?"

Lost 5 states.Lost 2/3.Still making stupid decisions.This is only going to serve, if anything, to make Anwar even stronger than he is now, as he has promised to bring fuel prices down to RM1.42. Dear PM, let me help you do the math.If I were using 40 liters of fuel per week, I would now be paying 78sen x 40 x 4 = 124.80 extra. You are giving back RM 625, which will equate to 625/12 = RM52.08 which means I spend Rm124.80-RM52.08 = RM72.72 extra.How the hell is this supposed NOT to affect me?Mind you, I am using a bloody Kancil.What about those with higher cc cars?And you also conveniently increased the electricity tariff by 20%.Not to mention the amazing domino effect this is going to have, because EVERY SINGLE FIELD; manufacturing, service, medical, they ALL use the above two.So congratulations, sir, you just burdered your people further.

My heart goes out to the labourer on the road who earns RM 700 per month and will try to feed his three hungry kids after this.

My heart goes out to the orphanages, old folks homes, homes for the disabled that are already having a hell of a time to making ends meet.

My heart goes out to the fisherman, the paddy field worker, the rubber tapper and the palm oil plantation worker.

A protest is being held at Jalan Pasar, opposite RHB Bank and AmBank.If you can make it, please do support.