A reader says he cannot think of a prime minister sleeping at meetings nor can he believe that he would allow others to make decisions for him.
On 'Pak Lah does not read my letters'
Peter: I have read many adverse comments on Pak Lah on the Internet. He was said to have slept in cabinet meetings. In addition, he was accused of allowing the Fourth Floor in his office complex to run his administration.
All these allegations sound very far-fetched. To me, I cannot think of a prime minister sleeping at meetings nor can I believe that he would allow others to make decisions for him on policies involving the country.
Now that he denied receiving any formal report on Taib Mahmud in the RM32 million timber export scandal despite that Lim Kit Siang had sent him a urgent letter on the matter a week ago, I begin to believe what others had reported of him.
Pak Lah must realise that he is holding an important post. The well-being of the whole nation depends solely on his decisions. Important matters like allegation of corruption on the part of ministers cannot be taken lightly. To dispel the perception of serious corruption in our nation, he has to be decisive and come down really hard on the ministers concerned.
One cannot blame investors for their negative view on corruption here. So far, no action has been taken against those ministers mentioned. When the ministers were accused of wrongdoings on the Internet, the famous excuse was that reports by bloggers or Internet were not reliable and were posted anonymously.
But in this case, the report came from the news media and Lim Kit Siang. Can the same excuse be given too? Even Anwar Ibrahim accused Najib of corruption in an interview with Al- Jazeera was brushed aside with much ado.
On A teacher to lead MIC's charge in Ijok?
KSN: I briefly saw Samy Vellu's press conference on the other MIC man insisting on being chosen as the MIC candidate for the Ijok by-election. Samy, your statements were typical of you - arrogant and unbecoming of a leader of the Indians as you claim to be.
Why don't you give up the seat to Umno as asked by an Umno branch in that area. In fact, why don't you give up all MIC seats to Umno? You see YB Samy, it makes no difference to the Indian community and their pathetic state of affairs whether MIC is around or not, and whether MIC is a partner of BN. By your own admission, BN did nothing for the Indians during the 23 years of Dr M's rule.
The Indians will survive on their own somehow. At least, they will be made aware that they have no Uncle Samy to take care of them the way the Malays are being looked after. I am sure that being a smart man that you are, you get the drift.
On Crime figures - between heaven and earth
YSM: The recent spat between the CID chief and the deputy internal security minister must surely teach the Royal Malaysian Police a lesson. Your job as police is to protect the rights of citizens and the constitution. You are not there to keep a certain political party in power. We must revamp the force to be loyal to Malaysia and not any particular political party.
The leadership, the IGP and the CID chief seem to be a doing a good job with the recent busting of gangs and drug labs, etc. I hope that when it comes to politics, the Mahathir years of political intimidation have come to an end. Such that if and when there is a change in government the Royal Malaysian Police will stand up to defend the constitution and uphold the tenets of democracy, which espouses a smooth transfer of power.
On Abim's poser to Kit Siang: Is IFC the only way?
Billy: Ever since the formation of the IFC and Article 11, members of these two groups have faced nothing but condemnations and possibly physical harm from the likes of PAS, Abim and related religious bodies. All they have so far is to utter that these two groups represent anti-Islamic interests. But the bottom line of these two groups is to actually to promote interfaith harmony since our country is multi-religious nature. Threatening them with physical harm is totally counter-productive.
If these Muslim groups are not happy with the objectives of the IFC and Article 11, then for heaven's sake, why not come out with a counter-proposal that will lead everyone to sit down and talk and hopefully, to eventually bridge the gap.
Long before such a move can be mooted, the Muslim groups are already coming out with negative statements like:
- They are anti-Islam
So, Khairul Arifin Mohd Munir, the ball is now at your feet. Why don't you start it rolling first? I will then have more respect for you than the Muslims who continue to shout from the rooftops with rhetorical religious statements.
For your info, perhaps you may or may not be aware, many non-Muslims (including me) are today living in an air of apprehension and fear following Mahathir's announcement that our country was now an Islamic state. This is further compounded with the number of body, and baby, snatching by the Islamic religious bodies and the demolition of Hindu temples.
Muslims often talk about compassion. For once, show us that you are compassionate, and it would be good if you and Abim could also at least show us some empathy.
On National schools must reflect racial diversity
B Tie: Whenever the issue of national unity is discussed, many people like to point their fingers at the vernacular schools as if these schools are the root cause of national disunity. We must not forget that apart from the vernacular schools, there are lots of other type of schools that only have students that come mainly from one particular race.
Examples are 'agama' schools, science secondary schools, Mara junior and senior science colleges and the Mara University of Technology. We must also remember that majority of the students from the vernacular schools (> 90%) will continue their study in the national secondary schools, therefore they have plenty of opportunity to interact with students from other races. Besides, at the moment there are also plenty of vernacular schools where the student composition is made up of more than one race, especially the vernacular schools in the state of Sabah and Sarawak.
I am more concerned with those bright students from the national schools that are selected to continue their studies in the selected science secondary/Mara science schools. Many of these students will later join the matriculation classes and then further their studies overseas or in Mara University of Technology. As such, throughout their student life, these students have very little opportunity to interact with other races in the country. I am very concerned about this group of students because they are made up of very bright students. Many of them will become successful professionals and be our country's future leaders.
On AirAsia's 'serial delay' strikes at KK
YM Chan: I have read so many bad reports about AirAsia. So I thought it would be a good idea to compare all my experiences with some of the budget airlines. I live in Australia and am quite used to budget airlines. In Australia, Virgin Blue is better than Jetstar as its planes are newer. Jetstar uses all the old planes handed down from Qantas. Jetstar is also not disabled friendly and most of the time, does not use the airport gangways for passenger embarkation and disembarkation. I believe that this is to reduce operating costs. Sometimes, we need to walk as much as 200 metres to climb into their planes. Unless I have to, I always avoid using Jetstar.
Just three weeks ago, I had the opportunity of flying to Krabi by TigerAir. The flights were punctual to and from Krabi. Cabin services were as good as Virgin Blue. Their planes are only two years old and very clean. No one questioned me when I drank my own bottle of water that I brought up the plane. One of my friends told me that AirAsia did not allow even water up their planes. He had to buy it from them. I think, this is really rude.
I will fly Tiger Air anytime ...
