vox populi big thumbnail How they vote on whether they want a royal commission set up on illegals in Sabah will show whose interests they truly have at heart.

On Sabah illegals: Royal commission 'may be necessary'

Eagerly Waiting Sabahan: Sabah BN representatives have time and again voiced out on one of the major issues of the state - illegal immigrants. Pairin Kitingan, Yong Teck Lee, Ghapur Salleh, etc have done their voicing out. Finally, the time has arrived to see whether these leaders actually really care about solving this issue.

MPs will soon cast their vote on whether they support the setting up of a royal commission of inquiry on illegal immigrants in Sabah. It is a simple matter - if the Sabahan MPs vote in favour of setting up of the commission, their sincerity in serving the people of Sabah and Malaysia cannot be questioned.

If, however, they vote against the setting up of the commission, we know they are merely making noise with no intention at all to fix the problem. They are traitors to the Sabahan people and do not deserve to be where you are today. The ball is in their court now.

On Batu Puteh dispute: World Court's decision on Friday

Old Timer: I refer to the above report and the current racial instigation by Mahathir and would think Malaysians and Singaporeans should be on guard against possible outbreak of trouble from Mahathir and his men.

Many signs appear to point to that. It doesn't take much to fathom what he is planning or thinking. As a responsible paper, perhaps Malaysiakini should caution the public. Politics is a dangerous game with people like this.

I hope I am wrong and that notwithstanding that, Pak Lah and his men are ready to head off any trouble to be created by Mahathir and his men.

On Hop out of BN, Mahathir tells MPs

MySecret62: So if I read between the lines correctly, then it is a matter of :

1. Getting important positions in the ‘hopped into party’

2. Be the PM-maker and control the new government.

That's Tun Mahathir's advice to his cronies. Ah so! He has effectively labelled these parliamentarians at one go. I await Anwar Ibrahim’s response to this as Tun has inadvertently thrown the ball to him.

Franklin Morais: Tun M's decision to resign from Umno can be interpreted from several different perspectives. One, his passion for Umno is so strong that he is willing to resign if this resignation would bring about a greater good. From another perspective, this move of Tun M is certainly in keeping with his decisive personality ( Leonard, 2006 ), a trait with great potential for causing a conflict of personality and ensuing relational styles.

From another perspective, Tun M could be just very bitter about everything which has happened since March 8, and wants to just spite the Umno status quo. Whichever a perspective we may choose, Tun M has certainly lived up to his ability to be unpredictable with his actions and comments, and cause much consternation among friends and foe alike.

Kintatt Tan: All Malaysians should rally behind the PM and not let Dr Mahathir undermine the democratic processes and institutions in the country again. Mahathir's move is tantamount to trying to appoint a PM of his own choice only. This is unacceptable. Malaysians should remember the fiasco with regards to the appointment of the country's CJ twenty years ago. It was a disaster which should not be allowed to be repeated. The current PM deserves the full support of all New Malaysians.

P Well: The 12 th general elections has been over for the last 10 weeks. The rakyat have decided. BN lost another four states to the opposition and failed to wrest back Kelantan from PAS. Due to this, it is appropriate that the BN chairperson should be held responsible for the biggest defeat in the 50 years history of BN. If Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is an honourable man, then he should have stepped down after the election results were known. Most politicians in other countries would have vacated their positions because they would hold themselves responsible for the defeat.

Over here, AAB is still clinging on. Made worse by calls from many quarters asking him to step down. I believe this is not good for the country as a whole. As time goes on, there will be more calls for him to step down. When is it going to get into his head that by staying put and being stubborn, he is actually doing more harm than good to the nation? Foreign investment may be affected and ultimately the economy. Please people, ask AAB to step down so that we can move on

On Mukhriz attacks gov't in Parliament

LS Kong: How can Mahathir expects other Umno and BN MPs to follow him if his own son doesn't? Chicken!

Franklin Morais: ‘Mukhriz however was not satisfied with the minister’s reply and argued that he was of the view that no corporation which is involved directly in the US invasion of Iraq be allowed to invest in Malaysia"

I wonder if Mukhriz reflected deeply before he made this statement? Every corporation, and for that matter, every individual who pays taxes to the US government is ‘involved directly’. It is the taxes of individuals and the corporations which are incorporated in the US, which is then used for fiscal expenditure, including the invasion of Iraq.

So what then Mukhriz? Boycott and not allow all US firms, and individuals working in Malaysia, to invest? Get real and stop continuing to make Malaysians disgusted with the shallow mindedness so widely demonstrated by politicians like yourself.

On Don't waste time digging up scandals, S'gor gov't told

Peter Ooi: When a person moves into a house previously occupied by some one, he definitely has to clean up the rubbish left behind. Similarly, when PKR took over the Selangor government from BN, it had a lot of rubbish to clear too. In this case, the rubbish left behind by the previous government was an enormous one and came in the form of corruption, dubious land dealings, abuse of power and lots of scandals.

When Ong Tee Kiat asked the Selangor government not to waste time digging up scandals, it really sent chills down my spine. Coming from a minister, I took it from there it is the policy of the BN to forget about scandals or corruption committed in the past by ministers or officials.

Going by this view, I believe that the Lingam's tape inquiry is just another ‘show’. All those famous six implicated will not be ever brought to face justice since the crime was committed years ago. The Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal, too would be written off.

Ong Tee Keat may be a senior but I believe he is naive or not well-read. Thailand can bring back Thaksin, a highly popular PM , to face justice for alleged crimes committed long ago so why must we cover up scandals of the previous governments? In fact PR should be commended for doing so. The public wanted it and maybe only BN members did not. No wonder as long as BN rules, corruption and scandals are here to stay.

MCA (Most Corrupt Association): It will be very interesting to dig out the real reason why Ong Tee Keat asks the Selangor government not to dig up the past. If his suggestion is followed, then my question is where is his sense of responsibility and accountability? We might as well tell the Attorney-General’s Chambers to close shop so as to not dig up the past. I am disappointed by Ong's remarks.

Mooshie Mooshie: Like many others who are disillusioned by the MCA leadership, we thought Ong Tee Keat will be different. When he took over the ministry of transport, he said he will get to the bottom of the PKFZ scandal. Now this a complete U-turn. For a man who professes to have his own view of many things, to backslide in such a short space in time is shocking. Can MCA really reinvent it self? Big question-mark there.

On a side note, take a walk to Wisma MCA at Jalan Ampang, KL and try to go up to see the president. See how many ‘fortress doors’ one has to get permission first before passing not to mention the electronic barrier one has to go through to see this guy Ong Ka Ting. Don't understand why he is doing all this. Can MCA really reinvent itself with this kind of unfriendly and restrictive barriers? They have lost the elections and may even lose their members and the party altogether.

On Nalla: Anwar lying on crossovers

Aaron Yap: Mr Nalla, I suppose you are a big disgrace to your own Indian community by preaching that you so support the present PM and announcing to the whole world how good he is. Whether Anwar Ibrahim and the crossovers are true or not is still remains to be seen, right? I just have a few words to describe you - you are serving your own personal interests only.

Ensin: With one look, everyone should know what this Nalla is up to. He is hoping for Umno to throw some crumbs at him. Nalla, please don’t waste time bodek . Go and help your community if you are sincere. The Hindraf leaders who highlighted your community’s problems need help to get out of the Umno/BN prison. Do something for your community.

Doraisamy Karuppiah: Firstly, I would like to ask Nalla, what is your real agenda of rubbing shoulders with the prime minister now? Are you taking advantage of the political situation? As we are fully aware and as mentioned by you that you know Anwar for 30 years, what is the point of revealing things at this moment? You are also stabbing him in the back, right? If my gauge is not wrong, you might have asked for one of the highest posts in PKR or could have asked for the Ijok seat.

We Malaysians know about fence-sitting politicians who like to take advantage of the current political turmoil. Do you think that your new party MIUP would do better or will it wind up like the MIC and IPF? Do you think you can champion the Indian community? Pure nonsense. You need to attend some leadership courses with the Hindraf 5 before you can lead us.

Please leave the Indian community alone. We’ve had enough of politician taking advantage of the situation for their own political mileage.

On KTM loses up to RM188 million a year

Retired Soldier: I am not at all surprised at the loss. I have been a frequent traveller from Ipoh to KL and JB and back to Ipoh. I love the trains but on all occasions the trains have been late. No one can tell why and how long the delay at any of the stations or even at KL Sentral will be. The answer is ' Tunggu pengumuman ’. Also the staff in general are not very friendly. Once I called up the Ipoh station and asked them that I needed to travel at night to Segamat urgently and enquired whether there was any tickets available. His answer shocked me,‘ Mana saya tahu, counter belum buka. You mari sini pukul 10 bila counter buka ’. It was shocking. Since I had access to the Internet, I could check the status online and confirm availability. Unfortunately, the train came at 4am instead of 2 pm! When someone asked me why the delay, I told him ‘traffic jam atas landasan’ .

The other thing is KTMB wastes money on everything except advertisements. Whatever the time change in their train shuttles, one will never know unless we go to the station where a piece of paper will be stuck somewhere to inform of the change. When the ‘Express Rakyat’ was re-introduced on Feb 15, I was in Kluang. I went to the Kluang station on Feb 14 and was checking the schedule from Kluang to KL and then to take a connection from KL to Ipoh. Fortunately the counter clerk, a lady, told me that Express Rakyat is starting ‘tomorrow’ and asked me to take it. Why can't KTMB do some adverts on the TV channels so as to inform the public? Without publicity, no business can expand or even stay alive in this competitive world. Believe me, the price of tickets for a comfortable ride is reasonable on our trains, only that the management has to buck up.

The goods coaches are large but the stations will not accept heavy and large items but lorries do! I once took a twin-door fridge to the Kluang station only to be told that they cannot accept it. Time for KTMB to wake up and behave like a corporation instead of still having a government servant attitude. I was a government servant once and I do know the comfort of being one - no one can ‘shake’ you however inefficient you are.

On Islamic group condemns 'sexy' school uniforms

CH Ong: I live close to a secondary co-ed government school. For the past 20 years, I have been taking morning walks around the same time that many students walk to school and I never noticed nor realised how sexy those schoolgirls can look in their white transparent blouses. In fact, I haven't even noticed that their blouses are transparent. Neither have I ever heard from anyone I know, both male and female, that our schoolgirls look sexy and provocative merely because of their school uniforms.

If Munirah Bahari had formed the conclusion that our schoolgirls' uniform are sexy and provocative based on feedback from male members of National Islamic Students Association of Malaysia, then I believe that there are one too many perverts amongst the male members of that association, and the relevant authorities should be alerted to watch out for these perverts.

Jane: Let's see now. Thousands of people are dead or missing from the cyclone in Burma and the earthquake in China. Food prices are soaring. The global economy isn't too hot. The Malaysian government is looking increasingly shaky. And this group is bellyaching about sexy school uniforms? Talk about messed-up priorities.

The worst of it is that the vice-president of the group - a woman - claims that the school blouses ‘become a distraction to men, who are drawn to it, whether or not they like looking at it’ and that schoolgirls use it to lure men. What utter gall. She excuses men who can't control their worst impulses and blames the school kids instead. Her sort are a danger to women. Spare us from sanctimonious people who spew nonsense in the name of religion.

CH Siew: It never fails to amaze me when certain religious sects try to demonstrate their level of spirituality compared to others. In the first place, does trying to be stricter on others’ behaviour constitute to you being more religious?

I am not sure where does this religious group got the fact that standard school uniforms means inviting others to rape them. Is there any statistical proof that of all the women being raped, a higher percentage of them were wearing the school uniform mentioned?

I really haven't noticed how ‘sexy’ the school girls are when they are in uniform until the said group brought up this matter. They are indeed very observant and must have been focusing only on the ‘juicy stuff’. Now, why is it that people from other religions or even other religious sects never even noticed this before? Is it because they are less religious - or is it because they are better trained in their religious values? Has this particular group ever asked themselves, ‘How come I get turned on watching schoolgirls in uniform? What is wrong with me?’ No, they rather blame others.

Bear in mind that most of these girls wearing the school uniforms are below the age of 16 and they are considered as minors. If you find yourselves getting turned on by this, don't tell the girls to wrap themselves up - you need a psychologist. Because it is not the girls or their uniforms, it is you becoming a pedophile.