Posts Tagged ‘Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’

In the next five months, I will…

Oct 14, 2008 People

I’m turning this into a game of sorts. I was just reading Marina’s blog this morning and she had this post (from which I curi-ed that title). It was in reaction to a report which states that our Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, or Pak Lah, had set his agenda for the next five months (he will not re-contest in the Umno elections) which includes revamping the judiciary and police force, and step up on the fight against graft.

I can only assume Marina was being cynical (or realistic) - as I am, considering the story I just heard from a friend who had to deal with the higher authorities yesterday. How do you change a lifetime of havbit and ego, in five months?

So, Marina listed five things she wanted to do in the next five months. Of course, she also says:

Of course I’ve been saying this for the last five years or so. But guess I’m not the only one who’s berangan-angan…

So here goes:

In the next five months, I will…

1. Pay off my credit card debt.

2. Clean my mess in all the different parts of the house.

3. Run in a half marathon.

4. Start eating healthy.

5. Read all the books laying by the side of my bed.

I’m not tagging anyone, cos it makes people obliged to respond. But feel happy and free to continue this “game” on your blog.

9.59am Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

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Pak Lah to quit in March (was Malaysiakini: Pak Lah to stay put)

Oct 8, 2008 News Breaks

Update (4.57pm)

Whoopsie. Apparently, Datuk Ruhanie Ahmad isn’t so in the know after all. Malaysiakini has reported that Pak Lah announced to the BN Supreme Council that he would not contest the UMNO elections in March. Game on! Now that he’s leaving, what will Pakatan Rakyat do, I wonder since they have been attacking the Prime Minister’s all this while.

It’s less than 2 hours to the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting where Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is due to inform BN component parties about his stand on seeking re-election in the UMNO elections in March.

But Malaysiakini has reported that Pak Lah will be staying put, contrary to public belief (and sentiment) that he will not (which would have led the way for a faster transition of power to DPM Najib Tun Razak).

The article cites Datuk Ruhanie Ahmad’s blog where the UMNO leader says that after a three hour meeting from 11pm last night to 2am this morning, Pak Lah has decided to defend his post as President of UMNO.

Pak Lah himself has not confirmed anything - but we can expect to get some news after the Supreme Council meeting.

The Star reported however that earlier this morning, some supporters of the Prime Minister gathered at his official residence to provide “moral support” for Pak Lah, and asking him not to feel pressured to step down.

If this is indeed true, then the next few weeks will be interesting politically, especially with the Dewan Rakyat reconvening next week and report that Pakatan Rakyat is discussing a possible tabling of a vote of no-confidence for PM.

Guess the political tsunami is going strong. Who is going to win? And when will they get this all over and done with and focus back on the, ahem, rakyat?

1.54pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

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No-confidence for PM Abdullah Ahmad Badawi

Jul 10, 2008 News Breaks

Update (4.30pm):

PKR’s Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail did file an emergency motion of no confidence against PM. The Star reports that there will be no voting involved as PKR is not looking for a no-confidence vote, according to Wan Azizah.

So, er, what is the difference between an emergency motion and a no-confidence vote? And if you don’t want a vote, what is the point of filing? Mengada only isit? Can someone please enlighten me?

Or is this just another stupid political game and we’re just supposed to laugh off like we do everything else that appears to be happening in Parliament? Sigh …

Ohhh, how exciting *cough*

Just received a The Star SMS News Alert which reads:

“Opposition leader Wan Azizah Ismail is expected to file no-confidence vote against the Prime Minister under and emergency motion at 3pm.”

That’s like 20 minutes away! This couldn’t come at a worst time for the Prime Minister, who welcomed Australian Prime Minister Kevin Ruud at Putrajaya this morning during the latter’s first official visit to Malaysia.

This vote also comes a couple of days into SAPP’s “We’ll file, we won’t” ping-pong game. I wonder how the two SAPP MPs will vote later, if Wan Azizah does file the motion. (Oh, an earlier News Alert states that Penang CM Lim Guan Eng announced that Wan Azizah will be conferred DPPN title - Datuk Seri)

I wonder if this has anything to do with the expected announcement from the PM that the top 2 UMNO post will not be contested at the end of this year, as reported by Malaysiakini. My boss also blogged on word on the street that PM will only step down in 2010.

Maybe many feel that it is two years two long (heh heh pun intended).

Watch this space - I’m keeping my ears and eyes perked.

Oh, and apparently there was an argument by Fong Po Kuan and Datuk Ng Yen Yen in parliament today about the length of skirts worn to Parliament. No reports on this yet though…

With all this fighting spirit in Malaysia, no wonder Muay Thai is the talk of the town of late.

2.46pm Malaysian time (+8 GMT)

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Stupid Americans

Jul 2, 2008 Rantings

With due respect to many of my beloved American friends, and the respected citizens of the country.

It’s like 1997-98 all over again. And no, I don’t mean Anwar Ibrahim and the whole sodomy thing. I’m actually referring to spokesman for the US State Department Tom Casey who was quoted in a AFP report “warning” Malaysia against a “politically-motivated” probe against the former Deputy Prime Minister.

The article states:

“The main point for us is that the rule of law needs to stand above politics,” said Tom Casey, spokesman for the US State Department.

“And we would certainly oppose any use of law enforcement or judicial procedures for anything other than legitimate purposes of the law,” he said.

Noting that Anwar had previously faced similar charges and that his conviction was ultimately overturned, Casey said, “So, we would hope that there’s not a pattern here.

“But, certainly, we would be concerned that anything that is done be done in a way that is appropriate, that is a legitimate investigation of charges that might exist under Malaysian law, and would not be anything that was a politically motivated investigation or prosecution,” he said.

Now, this is reminiscent of former US Vice President Al Gore’s comments back in 1998, when while sharing the stage with then-Prime Minister Tun Mahathir (well, he was a Datuk Seri then), essentially called for Reformasi.

Dickhead. And now Tom Casey too.

Look, I’ve said before, I don’t know if this is a conspiracy against Anwar, or if the bloke enjoys his jolly with men but surely, the law has to be allowed to take its course without interference from the outside. And with the 2008 sodomy allegations, only a police report has been lodged, for goodness sake. Anwar hasn’t even been arrested or charged yet!

At least in 1998 (me and Ivy were just talking yesterday about how it all seems so fresh in our minds, but we can’t remember exactly the specifics), there were other charges involved including corruption etc etc etc which “made” Anwar a “threat” to national security - hence the ISA was invoked.

I’m not sure exactly what Tom Casey has heard, or been informed, but surely this American superiority complex have to go. Stick to saving the world in movies, will ya? Leave us alone!

Idiot.

Anyway, that was one of the many The Star News Alerts that came my way yesterday - you would read about everything in the papers today, I suppose - the alerts were never ending (here’s a summary of some of them).

I thought it was a rather interesting day politically (and also a slight indication of what a farcical country we live in).

Rightfully, in my humble opinion, however, was PM Pak Lah’s instructing our Foreign Ministry to send a letter of protest to the US embassy of Tom Casey’s statement.

What is suspect, also in my humble opinion (yes, I’m very humble these days), is Pak Lah “assuring” Anwar of his security. This follows earlier assurances by Deputy PM Najib Tun Razak and Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar. For one, Anwar has not even lodge a police report about any threats he received (although there were so many reports lodged that I’m getting confused). Secondly, if the BN Gov’t is not involved in these claims, and the police are suppose to work independently without political motivation, what can these assurances guarantee anyway?

And speaking of not lodging reports, DPM Najib’s wife Rosmah, who was recently implicated in the Altantuya Shaariibuu (Mongolian model) murder case, has said that she will not address the claims in Malaysia Today editor Raja Petra Kamaruddin’s statutory declaration that Rosmah was present when the body of the Mongolian model was disposed of. The report also stated that when asked if she would sue RPK for the false declaration (she maintains her innocence), she said no and that she has bigger things to worry about.

I mean, it’s her prerogative lah, but if it was me and I was being labeled a murderer, I’d think it would be one of the biggest things to worry about, no?

Speaking of things to worry about - I think our MPs have too much time on their hands. A couple of days ago, Parliament Speaker Pandikar Amin had asked Puchong MP Gobind Singh Deo to leave the House and suspended him for two days for not adhering to the Speaker’s instructions.

Yesterday, I received an alert saying that Gobind would still be showing up in Parliament as he felt he did nothing wrong. Then there was another one that said that he had apologised to Pandikar Amin … only to get one more SMS saying, no, he denies apologising.

Good gracious. I know that this is all politics and all MPs are politicians but come on! For one, I take Gobind to task for getting kicked out anyway - you know the speaker has the power to suspend you, and you know (because Karpal Singh is your father and he has been suspended before) that the Speakers have no qualms suspending MPs.

And all this about apologising (Gobind claims to only have said, ” Sorry to trouble you but when can I come back to Dewan Rakyat), or not apologising, you’ve already been suspended, just sit it out. And why did Pandikar have to inform anyone that Gobind apologised anyway? Was he going to lift the suspension based on the apology?

I seriously can’t keep up with them. Now, I know why the Drama Minggu Ini series was so popular when it was airing on TV.

9.22am Malaysian Times (+8 GMT)

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Fueling the problem - Petrol price might double?

Jun 3, 2008 News Breaks

Not too long ago, I blogged about Tan Sri Vincent Tan joining the Billionairre’s club, and asked our 10 richest Malaysians to help out with the fuel subsidy after the Second Finance Minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop said that the new scheme for subsidised items (where he hinted that lower- and middle-income groups would benefit) - including fuel - will be announced by the Prime Minister Pak Lah.

Today’s headline in The Star:

New fuel subsidy

The article reported that a new fuel subsidy scheme will be announced by the Government tomorrow. I suppose this is part of the scheme that Tan Sri Nor was referring to?

Either way, this is the 11th month I’m paying for my car instalment - my first ever car. Those of you who have followed The Bangsar Boy (my fortnightly column in StarMetro) will know that I had some trouble deciding on what car to get and that was back in November 2006 - how fast time flies!) . Well, let’s just say that with the increase of fuel prices, I’m slightly regretting owning a car (not that I can survive without my car, but still).

Let’s just hope that the subsidies are good, and that fuel prices won’t hike too much. I’m already stretching my salary like crazy.

~ TOOK A BREAK FOR WORK ~

So, I took a break from writing this post ‘cos things got busy at work and now, I have just returned to the office from an outside meeting. On the way there, my car gave me a fuel warning, so I thought I might as well pump full tank in case prices go up tomorrow. It was about 88% empty so it cost me RM90.01.

I come back here and Ivy tells me that Malaysiakini has reported that fuel prices will double. If this is true, and I have no way to verify this at the moment, that means I would have to pay RM220 for a full tank? Good grief. Now I’m depressed.

Foong spoke her mind and she is not happy. But I came by HTNET who thought it would be fun running a competition. It’s called: “HTNet Speculate Guess The New Price Of Malaysian Petrol Contest”

Like any competition, terms and conditions apply - click here for details. It’s not my competition, and seeing as I might need the money, I think I will enter it too.

Incidentally, this post you are currently reading was not originally about how broke I am going to be, but about the front page photo from today’s The Star. You can see it also on the main page of The Star Online but the photo will be removed by tomorrow I think.

Anyway, the caption reads:

Ban comes into effect - A notice at a petrol station near Padang Besar in Perlis informing Thai motorists that they are not allowed to fill petrol as the ban on the sale of fuel to foreign cars in the northern states bordering Thailand took effect yesterday.

The “notice” reads: “Kenderaan Thailand tidak dibernarkan mengisi minyak!!!!”

Translated, that means “Thai vehicles are not allowed to pump fuel!!!!” and yes, there were four exclaimation marks. My question is (and this is genuine, not sarcastic), do the Thai people read Bahasa Malaysia?

6.00pm

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