Whatever Happened to Malaysian Politics?
Politics-Schmolitics
The past few weeks have certainly been quite eventful for a handful of our 'towering individuals'. We should be proud really. For way too long, Hong Kong has boasted about their Heavenly kings (Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok bla bla bla). Now we Malaysians have something to be proud of as well. Presenting *drumroll*... our AP Kings!
Alright, our AP kings might not exactly send the girls into delirious fits of passion, but hey, we gotta start somewhere right? Who knows, in time maybe girls (and even guys...*shudder*) might begin throwing their undergarments at them.
Well, that's only one of the several interesting events which transpired recently. Just think, when was the last time you saw a top minister break-down and began bawling like a baby? And when was the last time you saw the CEO of one of our local car companies get reprimanded for speaking rubbish? Alright, the second one happens pretty often...but hey, it's still good for a few laughs.
And laughing I am...Ha Ha Ha
They Are All So Mean To Me!
As we all know, Rafidah Aziz broke down and cried. She wept. She shed bucket loads of tears. She opened her mouth and verbally cursed her detractor's father, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and the 2nd cousin from the 4th uncle removed.
Ok, the last point is false. But the rest are true, and 3 out of 4 ain't too bad.
Ahhh, but isn't a person allowed to express his or her feelings? Not really. To me, crying in a public meeting is equivalent to shouting, screaming and banging your fists on the table. They are all forms of expression, but a person who has to resort to that just ends up making him/herself look extremely unprofessional and weak.
There are exceptions though. Shedding a few tears is permitted if (a) your country has just suffered the worst terrorist attack in history, resulting in 6,000+ civilian deaths; (b) your country has just been ravaged by a tsunami, leaving 200,000+ of your countrymen dead and millions without a home; and (c) you've just listened to the latest Britney Spears single.
When our dear ol' Rafidah was asked why in the world was she crying, she replied in a hoarse, croaking voice..."Because they accuse me". Oh wow, so you've been accused of being rude to a former prime minister. BIG DEAL!! The worst thing is, The Star stated that Rafidah Aziz is 'now facing the most pressure of her political career'. What in the world?!
So in all the years she has been a minister, she has NEVER EVER faced a greated problem than what she is facing now? Oh my goodness. Imagine if she ever wrote a personal memoir. I am pretty sure chapter 3, page 101 would go like this, "The greatest stress I ever faced in my whole entire life was when I was accused of being rude". How utterly tragic. It really goes to show what uneventful careers a lot of our local politicians lead.
AP Kings = Apple Polishing Kings
Reading the headlines of our local newspaper a few days ago, I was suddenly enlightened. I remember thinking to myself, "So this is what professional butt-kissers look like". Amazing! From their outwardly normal appearance, you would never have suspected a that they possessed such talent and skill!
Jokes aside, am I the only one who feels that it is utterly unreasonable that such a big portion of our country's APs are given to a select, handful of individuals? Have we forgotten why APs were introduced in the first place?
APs were basically implemented in order to increase Bumi involvement in the automotive industry. I fully support that, and I believe that the underlying basis behind the concept of APs is sound. However, somewhere between the concept and the execution, some serious cronyism and corruption took place.
I really do want to see the Bumis get ahead in this world. I want to see them pick up new skills, start new businesses and discover new opportunities. As a nation, we need that. What I dislike seeing however, is a few well-connected Bumis get extremely rich while the majority of the Bumi population is still languishing in rural areas and surviving on below average incomes.
What does Rafidah have to say about all this? Well, nothing substantial really. She was too busy bawling like a baby.
Mr. Proton
Tengku Mahaleel, CEO of Proton also recently got into a bit of hot soup for mouthing off. Basically, he accused the government of being unfair and anti-proton with regards to its policies. He went on to say that other national car makers only need to source 40% of their materials locally, whereas Proton is being held to an unreasonable quota of 80%. He said that because of this quota, Proton is forced to source from crappy local suppliers who provide shoddily built parts at extravagant prices.
Well boo hoo Mr. Tengku Mahaleel. Yes, while it is true that most other national car makers only need to adhere to a 40% local content regulation, most of them don't benefit from 300% protectionist tariffs! What do you think Mr. Tengku Mahaleel? You think that the government is giving you all this protection in order for you to pocket all the profits and live a lavish lifestyle? The reason why the government even instituted a national car program was so that other ancilliary industries (spare parts manufacturers, rubber/plastic moulders etc) could thrive as well.
The reason why the government levies such high tariffs on automobile imports is in the hope that our automobile industry as a whole will benefit from it. Yes, Mr. Tengku Mahaleel, the WHOLE automobile industry. In case you're unclear, the WHOLE automobile industry does not refer solely to Proton. So let me put it straight to you, you dont want to be forced to source from local suppliers? Fine, then be willing to accept a reduction in automobile taxes.
What's that you say, you still want government protection? Then be willing to support the other struggling Bumi businesses out there you ^@%#$@.
Phew, my fingers are beat. I'll continue with my rants and raves about Malaysian Politics/Economy in the next post.
If for some reason my next post never comes, you'll know that I'm most probably locked up in a detention cell somewhere deep in the heart of Proton's headquarters. So please come look for me yah.
The past few weeks have certainly been quite eventful for a handful of our 'towering individuals'. We should be proud really. For way too long, Hong Kong has boasted about their Heavenly kings (Andy Lau, Aaron Kwok bla bla bla). Now we Malaysians have something to be proud of as well. Presenting *drumroll*... our AP Kings!
Alright, our AP kings might not exactly send the girls into delirious fits of passion, but hey, we gotta start somewhere right? Who knows, in time maybe girls (and even guys...*shudder*) might begin throwing their undergarments at them.
Well, that's only one of the several interesting events which transpired recently. Just think, when was the last time you saw a top minister break-down and began bawling like a baby? And when was the last time you saw the CEO of one of our local car companies get reprimanded for speaking rubbish? Alright, the second one happens pretty often...but hey, it's still good for a few laughs.
And laughing I am...Ha Ha Ha
They Are All So Mean To Me!
As we all know, Rafidah Aziz broke down and cried. She wept. She shed bucket loads of tears. She opened her mouth and verbally cursed her detractor's father, grandfathers, great-grandfathers and the 2nd cousin from the 4th uncle removed.
Ok, the last point is false. But the rest are true, and 3 out of 4 ain't too bad.
Ahhh, but isn't a person allowed to express his or her feelings? Not really. To me, crying in a public meeting is equivalent to shouting, screaming and banging your fists on the table. They are all forms of expression, but a person who has to resort to that just ends up making him/herself look extremely unprofessional and weak.
There are exceptions though. Shedding a few tears is permitted if (a) your country has just suffered the worst terrorist attack in history, resulting in 6,000+ civilian deaths; (b) your country has just been ravaged by a tsunami, leaving 200,000+ of your countrymen dead and millions without a home; and (c) you've just listened to the latest Britney Spears single.
When our dear ol' Rafidah was asked why in the world was she crying, she replied in a hoarse, croaking voice..."Because they accuse me". Oh wow, so you've been accused of being rude to a former prime minister. BIG DEAL!! The worst thing is, The Star stated that Rafidah Aziz is 'now facing the most pressure of her political career'. What in the world?!
So in all the years she has been a minister, she has NEVER EVER faced a greated problem than what she is facing now? Oh my goodness. Imagine if she ever wrote a personal memoir. I am pretty sure chapter 3, page 101 would go like this, "The greatest stress I ever faced in my whole entire life was when I was accused of being rude". How utterly tragic. It really goes to show what uneventful careers a lot of our local politicians lead.
AP Kings = Apple Polishing Kings
Reading the headlines of our local newspaper a few days ago, I was suddenly enlightened. I remember thinking to myself, "So this is what professional butt-kissers look like". Amazing! From their outwardly normal appearance, you would never have suspected a that they possessed such talent and skill!
Jokes aside, am I the only one who feels that it is utterly unreasonable that such a big portion of our country's APs are given to a select, handful of individuals? Have we forgotten why APs were introduced in the first place?
APs were basically implemented in order to increase Bumi involvement in the automotive industry. I fully support that, and I believe that the underlying basis behind the concept of APs is sound. However, somewhere between the concept and the execution, some serious cronyism and corruption took place.
I really do want to see the Bumis get ahead in this world. I want to see them pick up new skills, start new businesses and discover new opportunities. As a nation, we need that. What I dislike seeing however, is a few well-connected Bumis get extremely rich while the majority of the Bumi population is still languishing in rural areas and surviving on below average incomes.
What does Rafidah have to say about all this? Well, nothing substantial really. She was too busy bawling like a baby.
Mr. Proton
Tengku Mahaleel, CEO of Proton also recently got into a bit of hot soup for mouthing off. Basically, he accused the government of being unfair and anti-proton with regards to its policies. He went on to say that other national car makers only need to source 40% of their materials locally, whereas Proton is being held to an unreasonable quota of 80%. He said that because of this quota, Proton is forced to source from crappy local suppliers who provide shoddily built parts at extravagant prices.
Well boo hoo Mr. Tengku Mahaleel. Yes, while it is true that most other national car makers only need to adhere to a 40% local content regulation, most of them don't benefit from 300% protectionist tariffs! What do you think Mr. Tengku Mahaleel? You think that the government is giving you all this protection in order for you to pocket all the profits and live a lavish lifestyle? The reason why the government even instituted a national car program was so that other ancilliary industries (spare parts manufacturers, rubber/plastic moulders etc) could thrive as well.
The reason why the government levies such high tariffs on automobile imports is in the hope that our automobile industry as a whole will benefit from it. Yes, Mr. Tengku Mahaleel, the WHOLE automobile industry. In case you're unclear, the WHOLE automobile industry does not refer solely to Proton. So let me put it straight to you, you dont want to be forced to source from local suppliers? Fine, then be willing to accept a reduction in automobile taxes.
What's that you say, you still want government protection? Then be willing to support the other struggling Bumi businesses out there you ^@%#$@.
Phew, my fingers are beat. I'll continue with my rants and raves about Malaysian Politics/Economy in the next post.
If for some reason my next post never comes, you'll know that I'm most probably locked up in a detention cell somewhere deep in the heart of Proton's headquarters. So please come look for me yah.
Labels: Nation/Politics
posted by Bernard Yong at 11:22 AM
4 Comments:
you rawk bro! will standby with TNT, weapons n a heli to bust u outta Tg. Malim, if u r trapped there as a crash test dummy fo their latest "reinvention" ;)
blog on!
Hahah, they will never get me. NEVAHH!!
nice post. agree with ya.
malaysian politics is laughable. is it a wonder why young ppl are not involved in it these days?
somewhere along the way in our oh so short history, i think politicians have lost sight of the fact that they are not supposed to serve themselves, but rather supposed to server the PUBLIC.
and somewhere along the way, the PUBLIC has forgotten that the politicians are not gods, but their servants of law, justice, equality and peace.
too much ass kissing in our politics...but wat to do eh....ISA.
it's all a SANDIWARA! $&%*(#*%&
and the public are just ignorable pawns in this game of politicos. sien sien.
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