Malay Rights - Excellent article!

Oct 10th, 2008 :

An interesting article a friend forwarded. Definitely food for thought.



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Subject: Fwd: Malay Rights - Excellent article!

Just want to share this with all of you.....................................
Something interesting, something hopeful!
The writer is a Malay. If only there were more Malays who think and feel like him perhaps there could be a future in this country. Excellent article!
This guy has my respect...

Malay Rights .......... by Shaik Rizal Sulaiman

The Malays are 'technically' in power governing the country but it is also this same controlling group that demands the right to correct economic imbalances and disparities for its own race.What does this say about the 'majority governing' Malay race for the last 50 years?

I dare say that most Malaysians (regardless of race) below the age of 40 would like to see all opportunities be spread amongst those who deserve it on meritocracy. We do not need the keris anymore to tell others to be careful of what they say and do because in the survival of the fittest, the keris is of very little relevance! If we continue to hide under the 'bumiputera' tempurung as most Malays have been in the last 50 years or more, the catch-up game will just get harder and the gap wider. If we continue to expect without earning it, we will never learn how to be a race that succeeds on merit. There is NO substitute for merit.

The Malay politicians continue to shout about Malay rights and bumiputera rights because the very nature of our local politics is sadly racially biased. In this day and age, a great nation is built upon joint success stories, meritocracy and thecombined hard work of its people WITHOUT any fear or favour of racial biased politics governing our daily policies.

Sadly, the Malay politicians have ended up completely corrupt, racialists, twisted religious fanatics. I am below 40 and as much as I love the 'idea' that Malaysia is tanah tumpahnya darah orang Melayu, I can't help but also feel that this country is for ALL Malaysians alike including the Chongs, the Kumars, the Xaviers, the Singhs & Kaurs etc who were born on the same day in the same hospital as me here in Malaysia.

If we feel that WE (the Malays) deserve this country more than THEM , then WE (the Malays) should have shown them a long time ago that we deserve the 'control all' status. We have to earn it. The policies FAILED because the very concept of Malay rights or the NEP/DEB is like a double-edged sword. On one hand, it aims to eradicate wealth disparity but on the other, it has made the Malays oblivious of what reality is. Our (Malays) success is only reflected in the 'perceived' political power which today can collapse in a matter of minutes. I would also
like to see my children succeed in their country, Malaysia, for reasons that true success should be based upon, which are merit and hard work and NOT because they are Malays or bumiputeras.

For as long as the Malays don't see this, there is very little point in fighting for Malay rights. It just makes us look more ridiculous. We have taken this notion of being privileged a bit too literally in that it now simply means we want this country and its fruits all for ourselves without accepting the responsibilities that come with it. I blame the MALAY politicians for this because we want to only fight the cause without strategising for the true substance and need of the cause.

We have been given fish all the while without being taught how to fish. It's funny how two different generations can be so diverse in their thinking and the recent elections proved just that.. We are no longer concerned with racial problems but more so the never-ending Malay agenda issues. The rakyat has spoken and the landscape has drastically changed. Is this change welcomed? Is it good? The answer is 'NO'. Because we,the Malays, have been caught with our pants down - we arenot ready to compete on any level playing field (we can't even compete on advantageous grounds!). Even with three or five more continuing policies for Malay rights or bumiputera privileges over the next 50 years, we will still be in exactly the same position as we are in today. The truth hurts and the truth will always prevail. And the truth of what's to come will NOT go away. I am cynical perhaps because I feel that Malay rights is NOT relevant anymore.The right to be safe, to be treated fairly, to have a world-class healthcare and education, to enjoy equal prosperity, to have good governance, to live in a clean environment and to be war-free is what I want for my Malaysia, NOT for MY race to be artificially powerful.

If we want the Malays to fail, then by all means continue the fight for Malay rights. Go and polish your keris.

p/s : In recent months we have seen the Syariah Courts allowing quite a few Malays to exercise their rights to a third or fourth wife. Fair, the guy may be able to provide for the financial & conjugal needs of his wives. However, question here is when he has a dozen kids, will he be able to provide a decent education and life to his kids or will he demand for his 'Rights' for subsidy and aid and be a burden to the govt and society.

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At the time of this writing, UMNO is having their nominations for various posts for their party election in March, 2009. Current president (PM), Dato' Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had indicated he would not be defending his post ; handing over power to his No.2, Dato' Seri Najib.

We await eagerly, what sort of agenda this "new batch" of leaders (post-Badawi) of UMNO, has for the nation.

My Baby Girl Part 2

Sep 18th, 2008 :

Well, Oct 1oth is fast approaching.

We're getting more & more excited.

Amongst some of the significant events that occured on Oct 10th ... spanning 13 centuries were :

Events :
680 - Battle of Karbala: Shia Imam Husayn bin Ali, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, was decapitated by forces under Caliph Yazid I. This is commemorated by Shi'a Muslims as Aashurah.
732 - Battle of Tours: Near Poitiers, France, leader of the Franks, Charles Martel and his men, defeat a large army of Moors, stopping the Muslims from spreading into Western Europe. The governor of Cordoba, Abdul Rahman Al Ghafiqi, is killed during the battle.
1575 - Battle of Dormans: Roman Catholic forces under Duke Henry of Guise defeated the Protestants, capturing Philippe de Mornay among others.
1911 - Wuchang Uprising (武昌起义) leads to the demise of Qing Dynasty (大清), the last Imperial court in China, and the founding of the Republic of China (中华民国).
1911 - The KCR East Rail commences service between Kowloon (九龙) and Canton (广州).
1913 - U.S. President Woodrow Wilson triggers the explosion of the Gamboa Dike thus ending construction on the Panama Canal.
1919 - Richard Strauss' opera Die Frau ohne Schatten receives its debut performance in Vienna.
1938 - The Munich Agreement cedes the Sudetenland to Nazi Germany.
1942 - Soviet Union establishes diplomatic relations with Australia.
1943 - Double Tenth Incident in Japanese controlled Singapore
1945 - The Chinese Communist Party and the Kuomintang signed a principle agreement in Chongqing about the future of post-war China. Later, the pact is commonly referred to as the Double-Ten Agreement.
1964 - The 1964 Summer Olympics opening ceremony at Tokyo, Japan, with first time of live Olympic telecast program by geostationary communication satellite.
1967 - The Outer Space Treaty, signed on January 27 by more than sixty nations, enters into force.
1970 - Fiji becomes independent.
1971 - Sold, dismantled and moved to the United States, the London Bridge reopens in Lake Havasu City, Arizona.
1986 - An earthquake measuring 7.5 on the Richter Scale strikes San Salvador, El Salvador, killing an estimated 1,500 people.
1995 - South African President Nelson Mandela attends Genadendal.
2005 - Negotiations between the CDU/CSU and SPD in Germany had concluded that both parties would form a grand coaltion with Angela Merkel of the CDU as chancellor after both parties lost seats in the 2005 German federal election. She was subsequently elected in the Bundestag as chancellor on November 22 of the same year.

.... and of course .....

2007 - My little princess was born.

She'll be 1 year old come 10/10/2008

Financial Tsunami Looming ??

Sep 17th, 2008 (0013h)

Folks,

http://m.themalaysianinsider.com/articles.php?id=9014
http://m.themalaysianinsider.com/articles.php?id=8988

The links above tells the stories on the collapse of Lehmans, one of the older & reputable financial institutions. Now, I'm no rocket scientist or economist.

But we're still seeing the effect of the sub-prime crisis in the US.
AIG is also reportedly in some kind of "trouble" .... and we're talking here about giant financial institutions.

On the electronics industry, news is hot that Kemet (US-based), one the leading supplier of capacitors, is also in financial crisis.

It seems like when US sneezes, the rest of the world still catches some cold.
The much talk-about scenario of US de-coupling is in fact, still remains a tall order.
Global markets is slowing down, stock market finally reacted with the key indices showing downtrend 1 to 2 Qtrs after the sub-prime crisis blew up, plus the effects of fuel hike.

On the local front, yup ... KLCI is downtrending, CPO prices going down, inflation going up (of coz, fuel prices went up 41% in July). Though the crude on Nymex has fallen below US$100/barrel currently, that is I believed mainly, a "technical" correction as the USD strengthened against other major currencies (as opposed to the earlier weakening trend).

However, my point here today is not to go into the financial mumbo-jumbo & economic analysis ...... I was trying to do a correlation between economic meltdown AND the political crisis in Malaysia.

So, backtrack ... from the time I understood a little bit about politics & economics ....

1) 1987/88 :

The world & M'sia was in recession (I didn't know what was the reason back then).
Politically, UMNO was also in crisis ... Ku Li-Musa were challenging Mahathir-Ghafar.
As a result, UMNO was declared "illegal", thus the formation of UMNO Baru.
Of coz, we all knew Mahathir's team won & KuLi went on to form the now-defunct Semangat 46.

2) 1997/98 :

East Asia Financial Crisis, triggered by the Thai baht massive devaluation.
Overnight, Thailand's economy collapsed .... followed by the regional economies of Malaysia, Indonesia, Phillipines, South Korea & to a lesser extent, Singapore, HongKong & China.

I still remembered the exch. rate of USD-MYR gyrates from an average of USD1:MYR2.5 to a max of USD1:MYR 4.3 .... finally being pegged at USD 1 : MYR 3.8 **
Bank's interest rates skyrocketed from a steady +/- 6% p.a to as high as 14% p.a
(** the peg was finally lifted in July 2005).

So, what happened on the political front ?? ... I think most of us will remember this.
Yup ... u got it ... has to do with UMNO again.

Anwar Ibrahim was fired as UMNO No. 2 & DPM ; being charged for corruption & sodomy ; put in jail etc. ... this triggered the Reformasi movement ; formation of Parti Keadilan ... and the final effect of this, the 1999 GE saw the Opposition gaining more parliamentary seats, while PAS maintained control over Kelantan (that it captured since 1990).


3) 2008/2009 (?) :

Well, back to present ....

Political crisis ... u got it again ... started with the 3/8 GE, which many called it a "political tsunami" ; but this time, not only UMNO but all the major component parties of BN .. suffered great losses in the 12th GE. To add salt to the injury, BN lost the 2/3 majority for the 1st time & 4 more states to the Opposition (in addition to Kelantan) and with the current state of affairs, the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat is actually posturing to even take over the Federal Government.

It seems like for every 10-year cycle, we will have both economic bust AND a political crisis locally. Hmmm ... is this a coincidence ?

But the "bad" news is ... the severity of the crisis seems to get worse with each cycle.
Just compare the economic crisis between Cycle # 1 & # 2 ... it has gotten worse.
Likewise can be said on the political front.

And, from Cycle # 2 to Cycle # 3 .... no doubt that the political scenario has gotten much uglier.
Hence, the million-$ question is ... will the economic crisis this time be .... the mother of all crisis ?!

So much for a political tsunami ... looks like we have to brace ourselves for a "Financial Tsunami" as well.

I hope my hypothesis is incorrect this time.
God bless.

High Demand for Senior Managers

To my SMST gang,


http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/15/business/2017011&sec=business

Looking at the article ... wow .... unsure if it's really true.
Based on the ranking, no wonder Rocky moves to GZ to "cari makan" ... immediate increase in spending power !!

Roy, when u go to GZ nx week... Rocky can give you a lavish treat (spa & all) ... :-)


Cheers !

1434 - The Year the Chinese Ignited the Renaissance in Italy

Sep 14th, 2008 (2322h) :

Ha ! ... Caught your attention ?

Yup ... the full title of the book is "1434 - The Year A Magnificent Chinese Fleet Sailed to Italy And Ignited The Renaissance"

A bit 'tired' with political topics, so thought of writing about a totally different subject.

The book was written by Gavin Menzies, a retired Officer from the British Royal Navy.

Prior to this, he has written another controversial book, entitled "1421- The Year the Chinese Discovered America"

In the '1421' book, Gavin postulates that it was the Chinese that made the voyage of discoveries in the 15th century (under the patronage of Ming Emperor Zhu Di). The voyages were led by Grand Eunuch Zheng He (郑和) and his compatriots. A total of 7 great voyages were despatched across oceans, all the way to countries in the Indian Ocean, city-states in eastern coast of Africa, rounding the Cape of Good Hope and into the (back then) 'unknown' Atlantic Ocean.

Researching through ancient medieval maps, interviews with authorities of medieval China, museum curators, and rummaging through books/documents in all major libraries around the world, and also visits to sites (which he believed the Chinese discovered) for evidence of Chinese landings ; evidence such as ship wrecks, buildings, Chinese artifacts, folklores of natives etc....

.... Gavin surmised that, as opposed to conventional wisdom/knowledge that Europeans made the voyages of discoveries into Americas, Australia, North & South Poles, the Chinese were in fact, the ones who have achieved that much earlier.

Towards the middle of 15th century (after 1435), due to political changes, Ming China reversed their 'expansionary' policy to that of 'isolation', banning overseas trips. All the knowledges of circumnavigation & discoveries of new lands, gained earlier were 'lost' through time.

As a sequel to his '1421' book, Gavin & his team continue on with further researches, in particular the focus on the effects of Chinese voyages to Europe. In his 2nd book '1434', he argues that in the year 1434, a Chinese fleet (with official ambassadors of the Emperor) arrived at Tuscany, where they were received by Pope Eugenius IV in Florence.

The delegation presented the influential Pope with a wealth of Chinese learning from a diverse range of fields : art, geography (including world maps that were passed on to Christopher Columbus & Ferdinand Magellan), astronomy, mathematics, printing, military weaponry and many more.

This vast trove of knowledge spread across Europe, igniting the legendary inventiveness of the Renaissance, including the works of such geniuses as DaVinci, Copernicus, Galileo and others.

Well, I have read & re-read '1421' and now, I will like to devour the 2nd book '1434' which I just bought today.

I believed both books are fascinating ; Gavin & his team has done extensive research and it's up to you whether to believe what he has written.

If you like to get to know more of Gavin's works, check out his website via this link :

www.1434.tv

Happy Reading !

Cheers.

The Issue of "Pendatang" (Immigrant) - in the context of Malaysia

Sep 14th, 2008 (0122h) :



(Sigh) .... this is a delicate issue.

50 years after Merdeka (Independence) & we still have to be 'bothered' with this topic.

What saddens me is that we still cannot put the issue of "race" aside after half a century of nation building, where all 'races' contributed, and look at ourselves as Malaysian first & ethnicity second.

If it was being discussed or even debated (in a healthy manner) for academic purposes, to get a deeper understanding, that's alright.

But, the manner in which this (what I called) "Ahmad Ismail scandal" has erupted & the consequences thus far ... makes me wonder whether this is a problem of our education system OR they are due to selfish motives of certain individuals (or group of individuals) OR BOTH !!

What sort of examples that our current leaders are showing to the younger generations ?! Didn't I always hear from our leaders that Malaysia's diversity is our strength ? I have always been proud to show/tell my foreign friends & visitors of our uniqueness ... the Malaysia, Truly Asia kind of image.

I have also admired how Americans (USA) has mostly shaked off the yolk of race-bias or gender-bias from their mindset. They have proven that by nominating a black as one of the Presidential candidate & a woman as VP candidate for this year's (2008) Presidential election (both are a firsts in their 230+ years history).

I sincerely hope that Malaysia would not need to be 230 years old before we can have a Prime Minister of a non-Malay ethnicity ... and God only knows how Malaysia is going to be like, 180 years from now.

Anyway ....

Since the topic first surfaced, I have received quite a few emails that explored the origins of several of our key leaders. It seems that their forefathers were also "immigrants" ... I reproduce that one email below (in blue Italics) ... which I think pretty much sums up the overall situation :

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Subject: Kita semua Pendatang - Syed Imran

Syed Imran is an Arab-Malaysian born in Penang, Malaysia, ex-Bernama journalist (1971-1998) and former press secretary to Minister in PM's Department. Syed Imran provides a Bangsa Malaysia voice in the nation-wide furore which had erupted as a result of Ahmad Ismail's irresponsible, opportunist and racist reference of Malaysian Chinese as "pendatang" and "penumpang".

Syed Imran blogged: Monday, September 08, 2008

Pada mulanya saya agak keberatan nak ulas kekecohan yang berpunca ekoran daripada kenyataan ketua UMNO bahagian Bukit Bendera, Pulau Pinang bernama Ahmad bin Ismail. Sama ada benar atau tidak apa yang didakwa dikatakan olehnya mengenai rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina bukan persoalannya kerana isu tersebut sudahpun merebak dan mengapi-apikan keadaan.

Jika tidak ditangani dengan cermat, teliti dan bijak, isu itu boleh ditangguk dalam air yang keruh oleh anasir-anasir yang ingin melihat negara ini hancur serta mengundang campur tangan kuasa asing.

Dalam zaman dunia tanpa sempadan dan liputan meluas dan segera oleh media elektronik antarabangsa, apa yang berlaku di sesebuah negara itu tidak dapat disembunyi atau dinafikan. Isu pokok yang dibangkitkan oleh Ahmad Ismail membabitkan persoalan "menumpang" iaitu rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina adalah penumpang di negara ini. Beliau menjelaskan bahawa ia merujuk kepada zaman pra-Merdeka. Bagaimanapun, sensitiviti rakyat Malaysia keturunan Cina telah terguris.

Saya tidak mengenali secara peribadi Ahmad Ismail, tetapi kenal agak rapat dengan Allahyarham abangnya, Abdul Rahim Ismail, pemilik Syarikat Pembinaan Rahim yang pada satu ketika dahulu agak terkenal sebagai sebuah firma pembinaan Bumiputera yang unggul di Pulau Pinang. Saya tidak tahu apa dah jadi dengan syarikat itu selepas Abdul Rahim meninggal dunia.

Secara peribadi, saya tidak setuju dengan apa yang didakwa dikata oleh Ahmad Ismail atas beberapa sebab. Bagi saya, hampir 90 peratus rakyat Malaysia, khususnya di Semenanjung, adalah pendatang dan kita semua sebenarnya menumpang hidup di bumi Allah. Kita bukan pemilik kekal tetapi hanya menumpang.

Sebagai contoh, saya sendiri adalah keturunan pendatang yang menumpang hidup di bumi bertuah ini. Datuk nenek di sebelah bapa saya berhijrah dari Makkah dan dari Brunei ke sini manakala di sebelah ibu pula dari Hadhramut,Yemen. Kami adalah pendatang dan penumpang sama seperti hampir semua penduduk negara ini khususnya di Pulau Pinang.

Bagi Ahmad Ismail, dia juga datang dari keluarga pendatang dan menumpang hidup di negara ini. Ahmad Ismail tidak boleh menafikan hakikat bahawa datuk neneknya adalah pendatang dari India untuk menerokai penghidupan yang lebih baik dan selesa di bumi bertuah ini.

Perdana Menteri Abdullah bin Ahmad juga tergolong dalam kategori yang sama. Datuknya di sebelah ibu adalah pendatang dari wilayah Guangdong, China. Pendek kata, datuk Pak Lah iaitu bapa Allahyarhamah Kailan bernama Hassan Salleh atau Hah Su Chiang adalah seorang pendatang. Beliau berhijrah ke Tanah Melayu dari wilayah Guangdong (Kwantung) pada pertengahan abad ke-19 dan menetap di Bayan Lepas sebagai pekebun getah, pesawah padi dan kemudian saudagar intan berlian.

Najib Tun Razak, Timbalan PM juga berasal daripada keluarga pendatang iaitu dari Sulawesi, Indonesia atau lebih senang disebut orang Bugis manakala sepupunya Hishamudin Hussein tidak terlepas daripada darah keturunan Turki. Datuk nenek mantan PM Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad juga pendatang dari Kerala, India manakala ibu Almarhum Tunku Abul Rahman berasal dari negeri Siam (Thailand).

Kesultanan Melayu Melaka pun dibuka oleh orang pendatang dari Sumatra bernama Parameswara, seorang anak raja atau bangsawan beragama Hindu. Dalam sejarah kesultanan Melayu, kita dapati ada yang ditubuh oleh pendatang dari Bugis dan ada pula dari Hadhramut selain dari Minangkabau. Hampir semua orang Melayu di sini berasal dari luar Tanah Melayu tetapi diiktiraf sebagai "bangsa Melayu" oleh Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Kita adalah "Melayu mengikut takrifan Perlembagaan" iaitu beragama Islam, mengamalkan adat resam Melayu dan bertutur dalam bahasa Melayu. Malangnya, bahasa Melayu nampaknya dimatikan oleh orang Melayu (UMNO) sendiri apabila dinamakan sebagai bahasa Malaysia.

Oleh itu, orang Arab seperti Syed Hamid Albar dan saya, orang Aceh seperti Sanusi Junid, orang India seperti Kader Sheikh Fadzir dan Nor Mohamed Yakcop, orang Bugis seperti Najib, orang Minang seperti Rais Yatim, orang Jawa seperti Mohamad Rahmat dan yang lain seperti dari Madura, Pulau Boyan, Siam, Burma, Yunnan (China) dan selatan Filipina dengan mudah boleh diiktiraf sebagai "Melayu". Mereka diterima sebagai orang Melayu tidak kira sama ada mereka bertutur bahasa Melayu atau tidak di rumah umpamanya si Arab berbahasa Arab, siJawa berbahasa Jawa dan si Minang berbahasa Minang atupun si Mamak berbahasa Tamil.

Bahasa-bahasa yang disebut itu bukan bahasa Melayu dan jika dilihat dari sudut Perlembagaan Persekutuan, tidak boleh diterima atau diiktiraf sebagai bangsa Melayu. Walau bagaimanapun, atas kepentingan dan faktor politik, semuanya diterima sebagai Melayu dan Bumiputera. Oleh itu, adalah tidak adil untuk menuding jari kepada orang Cina yang juga kaum pendatang sama seperti orang Arab, India, Aceh, Minang, Batak, Mandailing, Jawa, Madura mahupun Bugis, sebagai menumpang di negeri ini.

Kita tidak boleh menafikan bahawa sebilangan besar datuk nenek orang Cina telah berhijrah ke negeri ini semasa Kesultanan Melayu Melaka, bahkan kesultanan-kesultanan terdahulu di Kedah mahupun Terengganu dan Kelantan serta semasa Francis Light berjaya menipu Sultan Kedah untuk menduduki Pulau Pinang pada 1786.

Kita adalah kaum pendatang yang menumpang hidup di negeri ini. Golongan yang boleh diiktiraf sebagai orang asal atau anak bumi tulen adalah mereka yang kita kenali sebagai Negrito, Jakun, Semang, Jahut, Orang Laut, Orang Darat, Senoi dan suku kaum masyarakat Asli lain yang masih menjadi penghuni belantara. Kita tidak harus lupa akan sumbangan dan pengorbanan semua kaum dan suku kaum untuk membangunkan Malaysia sama ada dari sudut ekonomi, kemasyarakatan, keselamatan dan yang paling penting kesepakatan dan perpaduan. Semua orang yang kena dan seharusnya membayar cukai, berbuat demikian tanpa mengira kaum atau asal keturunan, sama ada pendatang atau penumpang.

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This brought to my mind, another article I've read with the title "Contesting Malayness" ... but I couldn't find that article right now. Will go look for it and share with all of you in the next posting.

Penang Food :-)

Sep 13th, 2008 :

Friends from outside Penang ....

Here's a collection of recommendations ... I haven't tried all of them yet ... me being not that so fussy when it comes to eating.

Anyway, hope you all will enjoy them :-)

Cheers !

Documentary of ISA

Sep 13th, 2008 :


ISA ... is it still relevant today ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7jkAmOQt20k

There's always 2 sides to a coin.
I'm still gathering more insights/opinions/data.

Your comments are welcomed.

No need for glasses: Bionic 'super lenses' that correct long AND short-sightedness developed

Sep 13th, 2008 :

Finally, the saviour is here ..... 救星来了 :-)


No need for glasses: Bionic 'super lenses' that correct long AND short-sightedness developed
By Fiona Macrae Last updated at 8:13 AM on 11th September 2008
http://www.dailymail.co.uk


The future: The 'super lens' would be a one off operation, doing away with the need to apply contact lenses daily
Bionic implants that promise to give 45-year-olds the vision of someone 20 years younger could be available in just five years.
The 'super lenses' will correct both long and short-sightedness, allowing patients to throw away their glasses for good.
What is more, those who undergo the half-hour operation will not develop cataracts in old age, the British Association's Festival of Science heard.
Professor James Wolffsohn said: 'Everyone over 45 would benefit because it means they will be able to see distance and near absolutely naturally.
'It is the true definition of a bionic eye. You are replacing something that has aged in the eye with a technological structure.'
The concept is based on existing technology - the tiny plastic lenses that have been implanted into the eye after cataract surgery for decades.
These are stiff, however, and while the operation makes vision clearer, it does nothing to treat short or long-sightedness.
More flexible lenses called accommodating intraocular lenses have recently hit the market but they, like laser surgery, only treat either long or short sight.
Scientists are now trying to create extra-flexible 'super lenses' which could be squeezed by the eye's muscles into the shapes needed to focus on both near and distant objects - and all points in between.
They would be inserted into the eye in a simple operation that replaces the existing lens.

The lenses - which are five to ten years from the market and expected to cost under £2,000 a pair - could be used to replace the clouded natural lenses removed in cataract operations.
But the biggest market is likely to be among those who start to wear reading glasses in middle-age.
Professor-Wolffsohn, an optometrist at Birmingham's Aston University, said: 'When you are young, you can focus right up to the end of your nose.

'As you get older, the lens of your eye hardens and is no longer able to change its shape and focus so you have to hold something further away to read it.
'By 45, you can no longer stretch your arms far enough and you need glasses.'
Operating in middle-age carries fewer risks, as people are generally healthier and better able to cope with anaesthetics.
Professor Wolffsohn said: 'At the moment you do cataract surgery when people are old but arguably you could do this surgery at the age of 45 and stop you ever getting cataracts.
'There will be issues about whether to do this surgery as a preventative or wait until they develop cataracts. With the population living longer, you can guarantee most people will get cataracts.'
Professor Wolffsohn, who is helping several companies develop super-lenses, added: 'This is a one-off lens. Contact lenses are a lot cheaper but you are paying for them for years.'

But (sigh) ... still have to wait for another 5 to 10 years ..... beh tan liao (不能等了).
Staring at the laptops for hours on end each day has really strained my eyes.
Thought of doing LASIK before but probably a bit risky not to mention costly.

Anyway ... let's pray that the technology advances much faster so that I don't have to wait for another 5 years.

Cheers !

My Baby Girl (美欣)

Sep 13th, 2008 :

OK .. OK ... I'm getting excited ... coz my baby girl is gonna be 1 yr old next month.

And since we're gonna get a week off for Hari Raya ... so, planning to go back to KL & Kuantan to see the old folks and of course, for them to see my little girl & our elder boy as well.

Can hardly wait to celebrate her 1st birthday together with her grandparents .....

What !! Teresa Kok, Sin Chew reporter arrested under ISA ?

Sep 13th, 2008 :

My goodness ... just read this article from The Star :

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/9/12/nation/20080912221723&sec=nation

Some more insights in below's link :

http://m.themalaysianinsider.com/articles.php?id=8917-sin-chew-reporter-arrested-under-the-isa


No reasons were given in the article for the ISA arrests of Teresa & Tan HC (the Sin Chew reporter) ....
I guessed it must be related to the "racial remarks - M'sian Chinese are immigrants" issue.

If that's the case, why isn't Ahmad Ismail be arrested too ?
Giving him benefit of the doubt that he really did just states historical facts during the P.Pauh by-election, his statements in later Press Conferences really carries a threat message with a racial tinge.


Man ... talking about transparency ?
Once again, people's perception is further strengthened that the BN government is really desparate to stop
the so-called 9/16 prophecy through whatver means.

My only worry is .... this is a conspiracy / a plot that is being prep'd up, in the event that 9/16 prophecy IS coming true, they will somehow trigger another ala "5/13" event. Then, the BN will declare a state of Emergency, the military will chip in (just like in 1969) and ... I dare not imagine the rests.

Yeah ... yeah .. Army Chief says they won't interfere.
Heck ...... this is Bolehland ..... anything is possible.

Keeping my fingers crossed ......

The Real Story of May 13, 1969 (Part 1)

Sep 13th, 2008 :

Yup ... I copied the title from an article in RPK's Malaysia Today & below I re-paste (in blue & Italics) his entire article (mainly for my reference, and for the younger generation in years to come) :

The REAL story of May 13 (part 1)

NO HOLDS BARRED
Raja Petra Kamarudin

This is Part One of an article I wrote almost nine years ago, which was published in Harakah, the official media organ of the Islamic Party of Malaysia (PAS). History is not something that should remain buried. History is something that should be a lesson to all or us so that we do not repeat the mistakes made by those before us.In 1968, Umno fanned racial sentiments in a bid to 'unite' the Malays under its banner. Umno realised that the Malays were abandoning it in droves and it needed an issue to reunite the Malays. Further to that, the Prime Minister was being blamed for what Umno perceived as a loss of Malay support and the Young Turks in Umno wanted to also use this issue to pressure the Prime Minister into resigning.Twenty years later, in 1988, Umno again went into turmoil with the emergence of Team A and Team B, which eventually split into Umno Baru and Semangat 46. Again, just like twenty years before that, the Malays had become disillusioned with the Umno leadership and there was a danger that Umno would suffer the same fate it did in 1969 if the general election was called.The Umno leadership very cleverly got the Umno Youth and MCA Youth leaders to raise racial issues and bring the country to the brink of another ‘May 13’. This was when that infamous gathering at the TPCA padang in Kampong Baru was held and when Najib Tun Razak, the Umno Youth Leader, raised the keris and threatened to bathe it in Chinese blood.Of course, this second ‘May 13’ never happened. What did happen instead was that Operasi Lalang was launched and more than 100 opposition leaders and activists were detained under the Internal Security Act. Najib and the MCA Youth Leader, Lee Kim Sai, however, were spared detention, although they were the two main players in the whole episode.The ploy did not quite succeed though. In the 1990 general election, half the Malays swung to the opposition and Umno lost most of the Malay heartland to Semangat 46 and PAS.Twenty years on and history is, again, being repeated. It appears like every twenty years Umno takes the country to the brink of a race riot in its effort to 'unite' the Malays and to ensure that it does not lose Malay support. And the 8 March 2008 general election, as well as the recent Permatang Pauh by-election, is proof that Umno has lost Malay support.“The current situation is a repeat of 1969,” said Umno in its brainstorming session held at the Umno headquarters to conduct a post-mortem of the election results. “Therefore, a 1969 ‘solution’ will also be required.”This is very dangerous talk indeed. And Umno has been doing nothing but talking dangerously since March 2008, as evident in the recent episode in Penang. Maybe the culprit has since been punished. Yesterday, Umno’s Supreme Council decided to suspend Ahmad Ismail for a period of three years. But the damage has already been done and the suspension can’t turn back the clock. Racial sentiments have already been fanned and Malaysia, again, is being pushed to the brink of a race riot.Malays, Chinese and Indians need to know how May 13 started. They must be made aware of what May 13 was really all about. They must be made to realise that the current sabre-rattling is nothing but the same ploy that Umno used back in 1968 and 1988 whenever it felt that it was losing Malay support. May 13 was not about race although it is being touted as so. May 13 was about ‘reuniting’ the Malays and about ousting the Prime Minister from office.To forget history would be to repeat its mistakes. Let us not be taken in by Umno’s shadow-play (wayang kulit). They know they are rapidly losing power and they want to retain power through foul means by raising the spectre of May 13. Malaysians need to be matured and clever enough to reject this ploy. Umno can try, but whether it can succeed will all depend on whether we get suckered into this very dangerous race game.Let me take you down memory lane and recap what I wrote nine years ago so that we may learn from this dark history and not repeat what went wrong. As follows is what I wrote in Harakah on 24 September 1999.
*************************************************
A REPORTER’S ACCOUNT OF AN INTERVIEW WITH TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN ON THE 13 MAY INCIDENT
The following statement is a factual account of the above-mentioned event given to me by the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (first Prime Minister of Malaysia) during an interview at his residence in Penang in 1972. I requested to discuss the above incident and was surprised when the appointment was given within three days.His Secretary, a Chinese gentleman, allotted me one hour and advised me not to go into too much detail as this would tire the Tunku unnecessarily. In fact, the interview lasted three and a half hours. Because of the very surprising details provided to me, I think it would be best to report in a first-hand manner based on my notes written immediately after the interview. “It was clear to me as well as the police that in the highly charged political atmosphere after the police were forced to kill a Chinese political party worker on May 4th, 1969, something was bound to happen to threaten law and order because of the resentment towards the Government by the KL Chinese on the eve of the general election. This was confirmed at this man’s funeral on the 9th May when the government faced the most hostile crowd it had ever seen. Therefore, when the opposition parties applied for a police permit for a procession to celebrate their success in the results of the general election, I was adamant against it because the police were convinced that this would lead to trouble. I informed Tun Razak about this and he seemed to agree. Now, without my knowledge and actually “behind my back”, there were certain political leaders in high positions who were working to force me to step down as a PM. I don’t want to go into details but if they had come to me and said so I would gladly have retired gracefully. Unfortunately, they were apparently scheming and trying to decide on the best way to force me to resign. The occasion came when the question of the police permit was to be approved. Tun Razak and Harun Idris, the MB of the state of Selangor, now felt that permission should be given, knowing fully well that there was a likelihood of trouble. I suppose they felt that when this happened they could then demand my resignation. To this day I find it very hard to believe that Razak, whom I had known for so many years, would agree to work against me in this way. Actually he was in my house, as I was preparing to return to Kedah, and I overhead him speaking to Harun over the phone saying that he would be willing to approve the permit when I left. I really could not believe what I was hearing and preferred to think it was about some other permit. In any case, as the Deputy Prime Minister, in my absence from KL, he would be the Acting PM and would override my objection.
Accordingly, when I was in my home in Kedah, I heard over the radio that the permit had been approved. It seems as though the expected trouble was anticipated and planned for by Harun and his UMNO Youth. After the humiliating insults hurled by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese, and after the seeming loss of Malay political power to them, they were clearly ready for some retaliatory action.After meeting in large numbers at Harun’s official residence in Jalan Raja Muda near Kampong Bahru, and hearing inflammatory speeches by Harun and other leaders, they prepared themselves by tying ribbon strips on their foreheads and set out to kill Chinese. The first hapless victims were two of them in a van opposite Harun’s house who were innocently watching the large gathering. Little did they know that they would be killed on the spot. The rest is history. I am sorry but I must end this discussion now because it really pains me as the Father of Merdeka to have to relive those terrible moments. I have often wondered why God made me live long enough to have witnessed my beloved Malays and Chinese citizens killing each other.”This was a conspiracy at the highest level and nothing short of a power struggle, with the ‘Young Turks’ then forming the pressure group. To achieve their ends, they very cleverly used race to make the Malays rise and push the Tengku aside.Today, they are doing it again. This is dangerous politics. It may backfire and, instead, it may make the Malays rise against the non-Malays, like what happened in 1969 -- a fire raging out of control with no fire extinguisher in sight.We must never allow our country to be turned into a racial battlefield again. Let politics be issues concerning policies, civil rights, good governance and justice. Let us not allow anyone to bring race and religion into our politics lest we suffer the fate of many countries around us where mass murders of entire families are made in the name of ‘bangsa’ and ‘agama’.
**********************************************************************************************

Last year (May, 2007) .... I bought a book with the title "MAY 13 - Declassified Documents on the Malaysian Riots of 1969" by Dr. Kua Kia Soong.
Dr. Kua is the Director of a Human Rights organization SUARAM. He was also once a DAP MP for PJ (1990~1995).

In his book, he challenged the official history projected to the school system in Malaysia.
He based his writings on documents declassified at the Public Records Office, London after the lapse of 30-year secrecy rule.

In a nutshell, his conclusion was ....

.... the riots of 5/13 were by no means a spontaneous outbursts of violence between Malays & Chinese but rather a planned coup d'etat by the ascendants state capitalist class** against the Tunku-led aristocracy. It was a critical political putsch which changed the course of Malaysian political history & ensured the rise and entrenchment of the new Malay capitalist class via the New Economic Policy (NEP).

** Tunku himself has alledged :
"You know Harun was one of those - Harun (Din), Mahathir (Mohd), Ghazali Shafie - who were all working with Razak to oust me, to take over my place ..."

If you're interested to know the details ... get yourself a copy of the book ... available at all major bookstore.
Or ... stay tuned to RPK's M'sia Today ... he may hv Part 2, 3 ....


So, my view ... I draw similar conclusion from the writings of Dr. Kua & also RPK's article above (published on Harakah, back in 1999). I rest my case.

Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP)

Sep 11th, 2008 :

Attended a 2-day training on NLP.
Very interesting ....

A tool to compliment Communication Skills (see **)
Applying NLP enables one to size up your counterpart's category (whether it's V, A or K)

Also learnt about "the Secrets", a book by Rhonda Byrne ... a very powerful mindset on focussing on the things that you WANT and NOT the things that you DON'T want. In a nutshell, this is called the Law of Attraction ... the cosmic law that exists in the Universe ....

.. Highly Recommended ....

** a skill that is really lacking in the society nowadays ......

It is due to the lack of Communication Skills that leads to misunderstanding and therefore, to Conflicts ...
the root cause of all sufferings of mankind.