Don’t ‘sell out’ your soul to corporate greed
Kee Thuan Chye and Lim Teik Leong as the overbearing bosses of FONY Corp in the movie ‘Sell Out!’
‘Sell Out!’ is a movie you might want to check out before it runs its course in local cinemas. It’s a satire about corporate greed and the choices many of us have to make – whether to live out our dreams and ideals or to succumb to the stifling dictates of the corporate value system. It is a movie rich in metaphor with some funny digs at Malaysian life thrown in.
Support Malaysian indie films. Go here for movie times. Check out a few reviews here.
Canopies mushroom around Penanti
Another by-election, another canopy settlement – for security personnel presumably – Photo courtesy of Wartawan Rasmi Laman Reformasi
These canopies have now become a regular feature in by-elections.
Appeals Court to hear Nizar on 18 May
The Perak drama shifts to the Court of Appeal.
Nizar’s case will be heard on 18 May. He has to wait five days.
Meanwhile, The Star carries a Bernama report saying that the Sultan of Perak, Sultan Azlan Shah, was among those who turned up in Taman Canning, Ipoh, to pay their last respects following the passing of his elder brother this morning.
Penang’s highway to nowhere
Citizen journalist Jimmy Leow reports on an abandoned highway project in Balik Pulau (from Teluk Kumbar to Pekan Genting) which many of us may not even be aware of.
The signboard clearly says it is a “Projek Kerajaan Barisan Nasional” undertaken for the Works Ministry, directed by the JKR, contracted out to a private firm. It was supposed to have been completed by September 2008.
Blog reader mamu_tanjung reports:
The project has been abandoned for more than two years. I know – I live close by and travel to Balik Pulau almost every Saturday morning for my regular Kari Kepala Ikan at the Restoran Peladang. The last I heard this federally-funded project has gone “bankrupt”.
ALERT: Stray dogs being shot in Tanjung Bunga
At around 10.00am today, I received a message from a distraught Tanjung Bunga resident informing me that stray dogs were being openly shot in the Persiaran Tanjung Bunga area near Ratu Mutiara.
Five shots rang out.
Many other dogs belonging to residents in nearby apartments began barking furiously.
Prime Ministerial slogans
In the light of yesterday’s events, I couldn’t help recalling all the slogans we have had over the years whenever a new prime minister took office.
Under Mahathir, it was “Bersih, cekap, amanah” (Clean, efficient, trustworthy), “Malaysia Boleh!” (Malaysia Can!) and “Keranamu Malaysia” (Because of you, Malaysia).
Under Abdullah Badawi, it was “Work with me, not for me” and “Cemerlang, gemilang, terbilang” (Excellence, glory, distinction).
Perak: What now?
What do you think is the most logical solution to the Perak crisis?
[poll id=”37″]
Zambry frustrates Perakians’ hopes for fresh polls
Pakatan leaders at a press conference in the State Government complex around noon – Photo by Kinta Kid (Click to expand)
Back to work: Nizar and his exco team along with Speaker V Sivakumar at the MB’s office this morning
Updates from various contacts and media sources:
1837: Pakatan lawyers are working on trying to set aside the Court of Appeals’ stay decision, which was made by a single judge.
1836: Looking at it from another angle, another KL-based political analyst says events over the last few days have exposed the rot in various institutions. Yesterday’s High Court ruling offered these institutions a chance for them to redeem themselves, but it was an opportunity lost.
1814: “This is a mess of the BN’s own making,” says a veteran KL-based political commentator. “If it continues along this path, the BN government will only lose further legitimacy, which could result in their losing the next general election.”
Perhaps that is why a string of establishment or pro-BN figures such as Tengku Razaleigh and the Suhakam chairman are calling for more rational, sober action. They can see clearly what is coming. Take for instance Gerakan secretary-general Teng Chang Yeow: “While the Barisan Nasional leadership maintains that our focus now is on the economy, how can we do so effectively if the Perak situation keeps on worsening and generating negative perception and reaction from the people?”
Indeed, the BN is likely to pay a heavy electoral price as a result of its actions – and that explains its great reluctance to go for fresh polls.
1725: “People here are just fed up with what’s going on,” says one Ipoh-based journalist. They want a fresh state election, but they are being denied that.
Riot police guard entrance to Perak govt complex
FRU trucks take up position this evening at the entrance to the Perak State Government complex, which also houses the State Assembly building – Photo courtesy of M Kulasegaran’s blog
1920: The Malaysian Bar president Ragunath Kesavan has issued a press statement:
No doubt Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abdul Kadir will now appeal this decision to the Court of Appeal, and further legal arguments will be advanced. Whichever side that loses at the Court of Appeal will then appeal to the Federal Court. The issue will go on and on. Each round of legal battles promises finality but fails to deliver it. Time moves on, and the business of running the State Government continues to be sidelined.
Court declares Nizar rightful MB
The real deal: Perak Mentri Besar Nizar Jamaluddin below the Democracy Tree
So the High Court has ruled that Nizar is the rightful MB and Zambry and his exco members are to vacate their posts with immediate effect.
Justice Abdul Aziz Abd Rahim ruled that a Mentri Besar can only be dismissed by a vote of no confidence.
This is a brave verdict by a courageous judge.
Hmm, Hee now says it was not her pepper spray…
Remember how Hee was quoted in theSun as saying that what she was brandishing was actually a hotel key chain and pen drive?
So what do you make of this? The Star now carries this report of her saying that the device was actually flung at her and she was merely demanding to know whether it was Aulong assembly member Yew Tian Hoe who had thrown it at her.
Police disrupt DAP video screening, PKR celebration
Riot police barging in to the DAP dinner on Saturday night – Photos courtesy of Ngeh Koo Ham’s blog. More pictures here
Police confiscating audio-visual equipment used for the dinner-time video screening of the 7 May Perak State Assembly proceedings
Riot police raided a DAP dinner in Sitiawan on 9 May during the screening of a video on the 7 May Perak State Assembly proceedings, according to Suara Keadilan online.
One person, a video technician, was arrested.
Police confiscated “one DVD player, three projectors, two mobile screens and other equipment at the thousand-people DAP dinner,” wrote Lim Kit Siang in his blog.
Speaker Sivakumar pays tribute to mother, slams Hee
Perak Speaker V Sivakumar receiving a hero’s welcome at a DAP dinner on Saturday night
Perak Speaker V Sivakumar has paid tribute to his mother in a Mother’s Day message. Recalling how they came from humble beginnings, he said his mother was over the moon when he was appointed Speaker a year ago. But her proudest moment came when he was dragged out of the Dewan on 7 May because he was “brave enough to struggle for the people’s rights”.
Menurutnya, kesetiaan saya dalam memperjuangkan keadilan untuk rakyat telah membuat dirinya sebagai seorang ibu yang istemewa. Kata-katanya itu memberi rangsangan dan semangat baru dalam hati naluri saya.Meanwhile, Siva has sharply criticised Hee Yit Foong for usurping his authority and attempting to create a “sub-Dewan” even though he was still presiding.
Eng Kiat’s arrest at the Penang vigil
This was the peaceful candlelight vigil in Penang on 7 May.
When brute force ruled the day – but at what cost to BN?
A phyrric victory for the BN – but at what cost to its credibility?
This is a piece I wrote for Asia Times:
The battle of Malaysia’s ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition to regain control of the second-largest state on the Malaysian Peninsula may have come at a heavy price to its long-term credibility and raises questions about new Prime Minister Razak Najib’s emerging brand of leadership.
When the Deputy Speaker ruled over the Speaker
What is Hee doing here? Speaker Sivakumar alleges that Deputy Speaker Hee Yit Foong used pepper spray to attack Aulong assembly member Yew Tian Hoe. But Hee maintains the device she was holding in her hand was a key chain from her hotel and a pen drive. “I would not give him (Yew) free publicity by pepper spraying him in the House,” she was quoted in theSun as saying.
The Perak State Assembly’s mysterious “officers”
A roll call of “officers” in the Dewan car-park at the end of the day
Who were all those mysterious personnel wearing “pegawai” (officer) tags at the Perak State Assembly on that infamous 7 May?
Several photos made available to me show them during a roll-call in the Dewan’s car park at the end of the day, just before 5.00pm.
A couple of hours earlier, men in neck-ties and long-sleeves shirts, some of them donning black jackets and songkoks, sporting the same blue-and-yellow “pegawai” tags, were seen alongside a couple of uniformed police personnel, inside the Dewan proper.
Vigils: 14 arrests in KL, 10 in Kuching, one in Penang
Police moved in on the vigil in Penang – Photo by Romerz
Fourteen people were arrested in Brickfields tonight at a vigil to express solidarity with activist Wong Chin Huat.
Of the 14, seven of them were from the students’ movement Dema and two from the KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall youth section. They are now at a car-park at the Brickfields police stations, though their statements have not yet been recorded. The arrests today come on the heels of 14 arrests last night (though that batch were later released).
Over in Penang, USM masters student Ng Eng Kiat was detained after a “Democracy First” vigil in Penang attended by between 50 and a hundred people outside the Dewan Sri Pinang tonight. He was the emcee of the event.