Wee Meng Chee - the true patriot

Is Meng Chee patriotic? Some ministers said he is not patriotic because he amended the tempo of the national anthem, some said he is not patriotic because his song is seditious, others said he criticized the government and tried to put the country in a chaos therefore he is not patriotic. What is patriotism? It is the love towards our country. However how do you define a country?

In the year of 1932 in China, there’s a professor named Chen Duxiu. He is a propagator of the Marxism-Leninism. He is also one of the founders of the Communist Party. In that year the Kuomintang Government put him on a trial with the accusation of “betrayal of country”

In his defense argument he said “The Communist Party is against the Kuomintang Government, not the Republic of China, Kuomintang Government is not a country! I did not betray the country, the government and the country are two different matters.”

A country is defined as the land, the people and the sovereign rights. Therefore any action to jeopardize the land, the people and the sovereign rights is betrayal to the country. While those against the government, having different political view if seen as betrayal to the country is erroneous.

Today Meng Chee criticized the government policies, the social evil – we can not take his action as betrayal to the country. In actual fact, he is a true patriot; He is the most patriotic among all patriots. When he furthered his studies in Taiwan, he brought along a Malaysian Flag. How many of us could do this? He even brought the Jalur Gemilang around the stadium during a basketball competition. We have one minister saying that if you don’t hang the national flag means that you are not patriotic. Is he trying to suggest those Mat Rempit who hangs the national flag on their motorcycles as patriotic?

We should ponder why this issue could start developed from the very beginning. If it is not Meng Chee who uploaded the “Negarakuku” on youtube, I believe there would be others who will do the same thing. I regard this as the Meng Chee phenomenon. The main reason of this phenomenon is the government act trying to suppress the young generations thinking. The younger generations do not have the proper channel or space to articulate their views. When the suppression of feelings get greater and greater eventually it will burst and we can see people like Meng Chee trying to express their feeling through video clips.

Why is the video clip by Meng Chee so well received? I asked one of my friends what is his feeling after viewing the clip. He responded “I feel well” Why is it so? This is because Meng Chee said the truth of our society in his song. It is the naked truth, an inconvenient truth that many of us feel deep inside our heart. It is just like the story of the emperor’s new cloth, when everyone is saying that how well the emperor dress is; a little young boy jumps out and pointed that the emperor is actually naked! Meng Chee is this little young boy. When our prime minister started his serving, he stressed that he wanted to listen to the truth. If he wants to listen to the truth, we tell him the truth; Meng Chee even rapped the truth out but what are the consequences? He is going to be punished!

There are also several double standards in this issue. Basically those allegations on Meng Chee could be categorized into three groups. First, amending the national anthem – if you really pay attention to Meng Chee’s song, you will realize what he did was merely increase the tempo of the national anthem and inserting some raps in between. He did not change the genre of the song. In fact, there are some singers who presented R&B Negaraku during concerts! If Meng Chee is to be punished, those singers should be punished as well. The second allegation on Meng Chee - his song is seditious and he is trying to provoke racial disharmony. Is this true? How about those seditious statements during the UMNO general assembly last year? Aren’t they more “suitable” to be charged under the seditious act? The third allegation – he is insulting Islam. To be honest, it is quite hard to defend Meng Chee on this issue. This is also the only part in the song that I do not agree personally. However the worst line Meng Chee used in the song was “ada yang suara macam ayam”

He used the phrase “macam ayam”. If you still remember last year in Parliament, the People Progressive Party President, Kayveas used the phrase “macam monyet” to address the opposition party MP. He even argued that “Saya tak cakap dia monyet, saya cakap dia macam monyet, macam sahajalah” In the end Kaveyas retracted the phrase and today Meng Chee apologized. If the government is going to punish Meng Chee, they should go after Kayveas first!

The government should not punish Meng Chee; they should understand that the main cause of this “negaraku” is the unfair treatment and discriminative policies. These policies should be corrected. It is not the other way round, which is to punish Meng Chee leaving the main issues – social evils, unfair treatment, and public service performance unaddressed. The government should listen to the younger generations view and address the issues brought up. If the government continues using suppressing actions against opposing views, it would only cause negative effects. Today Meng Chee used his real name to upload his song and without any cover up. What if others trying to emulate him but upload songs anonymously and without showing their face? This will only worsen the matter.

In one of Meng Chee’s video clip he mentioned the following
“If it is not the unfair Malaysian Universities policy, I need not come here(Taiwan). I love my country, the deeper my love, the eager I am to voice out my concern, but in return I am going to be punished by law. However, I am not worried. What I am worried is the social evil in Malaysia, the unfair policies and the incompetence of the government. I hope Malaysia will get better.”
These are sincere and heartfelt words coming out from a 24 year-old. Are you hardhearted enough to punish such a young guy?

Today we gather here to express our support to Meng Chee. We are going to back him up. Our society needs youngsters who dare to voice out, who can think independently like him. It is only with people like Meng Chee, we have hope for our country. If the younger generation no longer cares and no longer express their concern in the society and politics; it will be a grieved sorrow to our country.

Speech during "Love the country; Defend Meng Chee" Forum in KL-Selangor Chinese Assembly hall

First public speaking experience

I got a call from Uncle Kit on Saturday afternoon. Initially, I thought he wanted to ask me something about the murder of Tang Lai Meng or some social issues in Sungai Long. When he said that he wanted me to speak in the forum in KL Selangor Chinese Assembly Hall, I was surprised. I honestly couldn’t believe it. I thought DAP was lacked of speakers(so he called me) I was wrong. There is a panel of distinguished speakers, I am the only “nobody’ among the speakers. I didn’t take long to decide speaking. After my cousin said he could fetch me back to KL, immediately I gave Uncle Kit a return call telling him “I can make it!”

I was at my aunt’s house when Swee Kuan called me to confirm my particulars. I was quite excited and my Aunty somehow overheard that I will be speaking in the forum. She started getting panicked. Minutes before that, I told her I was just going to attend the forum. She then psycho me trying to convince me not to go, she said what if I get arrested under ISA, OSA, ICAC, BCAB, PWC, JGHFUXXXX just the month before I am leaving for London? My future will be ruined……bla bla bla….. She even took the script I drafted and trying to read what am I going to speak. When she read something about UMNO in my script she started nagging again
“UMNO is UMNO business lar, you don’t talk about UMNO lar. You just say you support Ming chi enough lar, later police arrest you……”

I was like,oh….ok ok. No UMNO. Lol. I also did not tell my parents that I am going to speak in the forum. First, they wouldn’t believe me. Secondly, I think if they believe me, they would stop me from going. Therefore I just told them I have some urgent matter to “settle” in KL. Of course they let me go.

I took the whole night trying to write up my full speech. It was a sleepless Friday night; the only thing kept playing in my mind was the piece of speech I am going to deliver.

Saturday afternoon, after watching Lin Dan beating Sonny in the Badminton World Championship we started journey back to KL. I was getting more and more nervous. I clearly couldn’t remember the last time I spoke in front of public. If I’m not mistaken it should be during primary school in the story telling competition or Pertandingan Syarahan. And that was in front of a bunch of school kids!

I reached the Chinese Assembly Hall on time. I was surprised that the whole room was full! Full house man~ previous forums I attended weren’t like that. Guan Eng suggested that we shift to the second floor(a larger hall) to accommodate more people. I can feel the warmth of the public. When we walked up to the second floor, surprisingly my nervousness and tensions all went off automatically. Suddenly there was a burning desire inside my heart to deliver a good speech.

When it was my turn to speak, I started quite shaky and eventually got better. The feeling on stage is good, everything just flows on smoothly that even I myself was surprised. The thunder applause from the floor definitely helps a lot. Tony said my speech was better than what they expected. He said Guan Eng was quite worry of my speech before the forum. As long as I deliver a decent piece of speech I am satisfied.

Right now I am in a dilemma. I want the news of this forum to be published in the papers(mainstream media I mean). However, I do not want my parents to see me in the newspaper! Sigh, I will have a tough time explaining to them by tomorrow. Maybe I can wake up early tomorrow and try to “get rid” of the newspaper? What’s a good excuse? Raining – paper got wet? Stray dog bites our newspaper? Or wind blows our papers away? Or maybe I can just say, that guy just looks like me, it’s not me~ ;p

And last but not least, Thank you Uncle Kit for giving me this opportunity! Thanks for having faith in someone without any public speaking experience like me to deliver a speech in such a big big forum!

Namewee apologized

So namewee had apologized(with the help of Chua Soi Lek). What's next? The cabinet has accepted his apology but insisted that action to be taken. Some have suggested the seditious act will be used.

There has been a lot of party trying to support namewee when he is bombarded by the ministers. including DAP, Keadilan, MCA and some NGOs'. However namewee had chosen MCA to back him. He clearly knows that something wrong would have happen(that he would be charged). It is also reasonable to assume that the MCA had demanded namewee to apologized promising to help him getting out of this trouble.

These few days, we can see MCA ministers giving out statement that this issue should come to an end, hoping to make this issue into nothing(they dare not address the "real" issue in the song - poor public service, corruption, and the admission rate of Chinese students in public universities). The cabinet decision was to accept the apology but insisted on taking action against namewee(contradicting isn't it?). This clearly comes from the UMNO decision to appeal to the angry Malays. They are there to "mempertahankan hak Melayu dan Islam"

This again demonstrated the poor and helpless MCA with no negotiating power in front of UMNO. Whenever there is any conflicting decisions in the BN, UMNO always have the final say(issues like the chinese primary school is a good example). Right now, Cabinet=UMNO and parliament=UMNO. The whole legislative is dominated by a racist party. Until BN is outvoted by the people, there is no way UMNO domination will come to an end. The only hope I see is Keadilan. Let's vote for change.

我爱我的国家Negarakuku

Negaraku Negarakuku
Negaraku Negarakuku
Negaraku Negarakuku

我爱我的国家 有国才有家
Saya cinta Negara saya, ada Negara baru ada keluarga
有家才有我 站在这边跟你
Ada Negara baru ada saya berdiri di sini
大声唱歌 你麦惊
Nyanyi sekuat-kuatnya, anda jangan takut
虽然我每次骂粗话
Walaupun setiap kali saya marah perkataan kasar
我的歌 就像榴莲一样
Lagu saya seperti durian
硬硬尖尖 只是
Tajam dan keras tetapi
看你敢不敢打开 看看里面的真相
Terpulang kepada anda berani buka mata untuk melihat kebenaran
他可以很臭也可以很香
Durian boleh berbau busuk juga boleh berbau wangi
只是看你有怎样的鼻坑
Hanya bergantung kepada lubang hidung anda

我们的警察 叫做MATA
Polis kita juga dipanggil MATA
因为他们的眼睛很亮
Kerana mata mereka sangat tajam
新年一到 他们就很努力
Sampai tahun baru mereka akan bekerja keras
拿住笔可是很少跟你开单
Pegang pen tetapi jarang keluar saman
因为他们口很渴 需要喝茶
Kerana mulut mereka dahaga perlu minim teh
还有KOPI O 要不要加糖
Lagi ada KOPI O nak tambah gula ke?
如果加糖 他嘴巴会甜甜跟你微笑
Kalau tambah gula mulut dia manis senyum sama kamu
你要离开的时候
Bila kamu tinggal
他还会跟你TATA
Dia lagi cakap TATA

Negaraku tanah tumpahnya darahku
Rakyat hidup
Bersatu dan maju

这种现象 不需要改善
Keadaan ini tak perlu diperbaiki
也不用加强 警民合作
Juga tak perlu diperkuatkan, polis bekerjasama dengan rakyat
一杯咖啡感情不会淡
Secawan kopi erat hubungan
我西北suka
Saya banyak suka
至少不会回家收到三万
Paling kurang balik rumah tak payah kena saman
我爸爸一定赌烂
Bapa saya mesti marah
我一定欠打 没有车给我驾
Saya mesti kena pukul, tak ada kereta pandu
怎么办 这次西北够力
Macam mana? kali ini teruklah
没有车 我要怎样出去玩
Tak ada kereta, macam mana nak keluar main
没有车 我要怎样打野战
Tak ada kereta, macam mana nak lumba kereta
没有车 我要怎样看阿瓜
Tak ada kereta, macam mana nak tengok ‘ah kua’

这个国家 我很喜欢
Negara ini saya banyak suka
早上五点
Pukul lima setiap pagi
还有morning call会叫我起床
Lagi ada morning call panggil saya bangun
有时几间一起唱
Ada kala beberapa nyanyi sekali
听起来好像情歌对唱
Dengar macam berduet
声音拗来拗去像唱R&B一样
Suara macam nyanyi R&B
虽然有时他们唱到走音
Walaupun ada masa mereka nyanyi salah key
虽然他们有时还会唱到破声
Walaupun ada masa mereka nyanyi sampai suara pecah
有些声音像公鸡 可是比公鸡早起床
Ada suara yang macam ayam, tetapi bangun lebih awal daripada ayam
这样我们才会知道准备上课上班
Macam ini baru kita tahu bila mahu pergi sekolah dan bekerja

不要怪 政府只会照顾土著
Jangan salahkan kerajaan hanya menjaga bumiputera
不要怪 我们没有受到公平照顾
Jangan salahkan kita tidak mendapat penjagaan yang adil
这样才能证明我们华人不怕吃苦
Macam ini baru membuktikan orang cina tak takut susah
这样才能训练我们逆境寻找出路
Macam ini baru boleh latih kita cari jalan keluar
不要觉得他们的标准 很奇怪
Jangan anggap piawaian mereka sangat hairan
因为这样反而表现我们 很厉害
Kerana ini menonjolkan kita sangat bagus
没有被宠坏的小孩 才不会依赖
Tidak ada anak yang manja baru boleh berdikari
不然你看看有人到现在 还没有断奶
Kalau tidak anda lihat masih ada orang yang belum putus susu

Rahmat Bahgia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertahta
Rahmat bahgia tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertahta

躲在政府部门里面的人 更厉害
Orang bekerja di jabatan kerajaan lagi hebat
他们做什么事情都可以慢慢来
Mereka buat apa kerja pun lambat
就算排队的人等到要骂 臭Lelai
Walaupun orang yang berbaris tunggu sampai nak marah “Lelai busuk”
他们的心情还是一样自由自在
“mood” mereka masih bagus
有时Kuih都拿出来
Ada kala kuih pun dikeluarkan
他吃他的粮惹Kuih
Dia makan nyonya kuih
你的队继续排
Kamu terus berbaris
就算你真的骂臭Lelai也不要紧
Kalau anda betul betul marah “lelai busuk” pun tidak apa
因为旁边的Guard他在做梦
Kerana guard di tepi sedang mimpi
他不会鸟你的啦
Dia takkan peduli kamu lar

他们把头包起来 慢慢走慢慢过马路
Mereka tutup kepala mereka, menyeberangi jalan dengan perlahan
你驾车经过还要小小让路
Anda yang memandu pula kena memberi jalan
最重要活得开心 最重要活得舒服
Yang paling penting hidup gembira, yang paling penting hidup selesa
不要学华人一样
Jangan belajar orang cina
整天忙忙碌碌 西北辛苦
Setiap hari sibuk-sibuk, banyak susah
这个精神我们真的不能不佩服
Semangat ini patut kita hayati
因为这个就是他们生活的态度
Kerana ini gaya hidup mereka
（态度 态度）
Gaya hidup

这首歌我都在讲好话
Lagu ini saya cakap semua bagus
相信你们赌烂我的人现在一定很喜欢
Orang yang tak suka saya sekarang mesti suka saya
世界很和平 很有希望
Dunia aman, harapan cerah
没有很受伤 也没有很乱
Tidak ada yang tercedera, tidak juga kecoh
你很高贵 你很高雅
Anda sangat “standard”
大便很香 不会骂粗话
Tahi sangat wangi, tidak boleh marah perkataan lucah
你们最High class每天要浪漫
Kamulah paling high class, setiap hari romantic
听光良品冠
Dengar lagu “Michael & Victor”
可是人家都已经跑去了台湾
Tetapi orang sudah cabut pergi Taiwan
独中生毕业了
Pelajar sekolah Cina tamat pengajian
要进Local大学西北难
Nak masuk local U sangat susah
其实这件事情我们更不需要赌烂
Perkara ini kita tak patut marah
这个其实是政府的一个伟大计划
Ini sememangnya satu lagi projek kerajaan yang mulia
他要我们到处跑 出国自己找希望
Mereka nak kita lari ke sana sini, keluar Negara untuk cari harapan
然后学习东西回来报答国家
Lepas tamat pengajian balik menyumbang kepada negara
这个计划真的是 好到没有话讲
Projek ini memang bagus, sampai tak ada apa boleh komen
世界各地都会看到Malaysia的孩子
Seluruh dunia pun boleh nampak anak Malaysia
好像逃难一样 西北爽
Seperti lari daripada bencana, memang syok
2007 马来西亚搞观光
2007 malaysia nak buat promosi
华人文化统统拿出来宣传
Adat cina semua digunakan untuk promosi
独中生政府根本不想管
Sekolah cina kerajaan langsung tak peduli
文凭丢Longkang 像我一样
Sijil buang longkang macam saya
中华毕业去了台湾
Tamat pengajian dari ‘tiong hua’ sekarang pergi Taiwan
学了东西准备回去报答国家
Lepas belajar nak balik menyumbang kepada negara
我站在台北路边拿住Guitar
Saya berdiri di tepi jalan Taipei angkat guitar
可是我的嘴巴还是一样唱
Tapi mulut saya masih sedang nyanyi

Rahmat bahgia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita selamat bertahta

monkey and cock

The MTV created by namewee has created a stir in the mainstream media. Harian Metro used the word 'biadab' to describe namewee without giving any translations in the papers, those who can't understand mandarin will definitely be carried away by the one sided report. This will only create tension among Malaysians. I will put up a malay translation of the lyrics soon. Besides that Syed Hamid today also commented in NST

"No matter how modern you are — you don’t make fun of your national anthem."

As for me this is only a way of expression. It is purely artistic and musical - and should not be taken as making fun of the national anthem. Besides that the most sensitive sentence i feel in the lyrics would be

'ada suara yang macam ayam'

If you still remember last year in parliament the PPP president, Kayveas uses the word 'macam monyet' to address the opposition but refused to apologize. According to him

'Saya tak cakap dia monyet, saya cakap dia macam monyet'



If this is the case, I plead nameweee not guilty.

Baby to lose arm, youth freed after 6 months

Recently there are two piece of social news that caught my attention. The first one was the news of the premature baby in the Klang General Hospital. The cells in her left hand are dead due to bacteria infection and need to be amputated in order to save her life(only 50% of chance of surviving). It is due to the negligence of doctors that are not well trained. According to reports, the doctor accidentally infected the baby’s left hand’s blood vessel when he was trying to do an intravenous dip. You can get the video clips of the baby here.

This is not the first time we heard of cases of negligence of doctors especially in the general hospital(only rare cases happened in private hospitals). However not everybody can afford to get treatment from the private hospital due to the high treatment fees. Some even demand a deposit from the family before treating the patient(even in an emergency case) where the victim is involved in an accident.

“However, the hospital demanded RM10,000 for my mother’s operation but I only had RM250 with me. They made us wait an hour before transferring her to Hospital Kuala Lumpur,” he claimed. Yek died three hours after she was admitted to HKL.

The poor however has no choice but to seek treatment from general hospital, yet things like this happen. It is indeed a sad story. For those who has already lost confidence in the public hospital and could not afford private hospital, what is their remedy? Stay at home and not getting any medical treatment?

The second news is about the police(again!), where a 19 years old boy is arrested and jailed in Kajang Prison for 6 months because he is not able to produce his My Card. Is this so called crime so serious that the police need to jail him together with other heavy-weight criminals such as murderer, rapist, robber? In advanced countries, if a police requires you to produce your identity card, the police must have a very valid reason or he can be charged of violating human rights. In fact most of the advanced countries do not have such thing called “identity card”. Contrastingly, in Malaysia the police can “syok syok” ask you to produce My Card. If you fail to do so, you need to “settle” the case(they are always “thirsty”), if you don’t have any money with you, they will send you to jail!

This is our Malaysian police – not focusing on fighting the “real” crime. A young harmless boy is sent to jail while the robbers and rapist are still walking freely on the streets. How could you accuse the police of not having enough manpower to fight crime while they have the time to arrest citizens who failed to produce My Card?

We can see, the whole public system in our country has rotten to an extend that is not able to be corrected under the current policy. The government’s GIGO(garbage in garbage out) policy has caused the public to suffer for many decades. Under the current government’s policy, they take garbage into the public service(local government, hospitals, police force) and produce garbage. And they try their best to “export”(marginalize) all the talents out to countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, USA. They then regard this as the 'ants attracted to sugar' failing to notice that it is their own policy that makes everything fail.

Nazri agreed with Nazrin but felt that the brain drain was not the result of a lack in a sense of belonging but of ‘money sense’. He likened the brain drain to ‘ants attracted to sugar’ and added that Malaysians ‘leave to make money but they will return. You don’t have to press the panic button yet.’

I always tell my friends that in other countries, anything associated with the government is always the best - National Universities, Government hospitals and public service. It’s exactly the opposite in Malaysia.

Town council or Developer?

Miss Sum from DSA called me regarding my recommendations to address the students safety in Sungai Long. She said that DSA had been pastering the town council regarding the street lights(jalan persiaran sungai long) since long time ago.

According to the town council, the street lights are still under the developer(Sin Heap Lee) responsiblity. However, when DSA write to the developer, they said that they have surrender the condominiums to the residents and the town council should fix the street lights. Dammit!

Who should fix the street lights? Students can't be walking in the dark for long. Definitely someone will get robbed or raped again! Miss Sum also mention, "We can't be like the opposition doing nothing except scolding!"

Now that DSA have did everything they could but still the issue could not be resolved. The main problem now is not because of street lights. It's the local government. If we could get to elect our local government, definitely they will have to repair all the street lights(or we wont give them our votes!) It's simple as that. The people should be the masters, the local government should serve us, not the other way round!

I would say something very wrong is happening in our public delivery system. The people must stand up and speak out loud. I love this quote from "V for Vendetta"

People should not be afraid of government.

The government should be afraid of the people.

If they system in our society is wrong, we must have the courage to vote for change. why do we need to write letter to the town council pastering them to repairing the street lights. While in the other hand, during the by-election in Ijok and Machap. You have all kinds of development coming in including children playground, all street lights being fixed and new road tar.Some RM36 million and RM30 million respectively are poured into the constituency for development(to "buy" votes). How could this be happening? The government is only concerned about the people during election. You don't even need a thousand dollars for reparing the street lights in sungai long. Yet, nobody bothers!

Do we need to wait for a by-election in Sungai Long to get the street lights repaired?

Umno is not racist, says Khairy

As reported in the star

KLANG: Umno Youth deputy chief Khairy Jamaludin has refuted allegations by the Opposition that the movement practises racism.

“I don’t understand how the accusation come about – calling us racist. In fact, Umno always emphasises on the power-sharing concept and history has proven it.

“Ijok is a good example, where an Indian candidate was nominated despite a Malay majority in the constituency. This had been repeated in many other constituencies.

“How can we be racist, when we are defending equality?” he asked after opening the Kapar Umno division youth delegates meeting here yesterday.

Khairy also said that Selangor did not need a comprehensive development blueprint from the Federal Government as it was already a well-developed state.

He said such development plans should be channelled to the less developed states such Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang.

Let's revisit UMNO General Assembly last October

Malacca delegate Hasnoor Sidang Hussein stated that

Umno is willing to risk lives and bathe in blood in defence of race and religion

Umno Youth exco member Azimi Daim said

when tension rises, the blood of Malay warriors will run in our veins

Perlis delegate Hashim Suboh

Datuk Hisham has unsheathed his keris, waved his keris, kissed his keris. We want to ask Datuk Hisham when is he going to use it

Razak Idris, Ketua Penerangan Pemuda Umno Terengganu who said that

Hak Orang Melayu tidak boleh dicabar, jika tidak orang Melayu akan mengamok, peristiwa Mei 13 akan berulang yang ianya akan lebih teruk daripada tahun 1969 yang akan menjadikan Kuala Lumpur padang terkukur

And also this very recent piece of news - Hishammudin : MCA, stop making statements on Malaysia being a secular state.

“Saya beri amaran kepada pemimpin MCA supaya berhenti membuat kenyataan sedemikian. Ingin saya tegaskan, saya bukan pemimpin naif yang akan membenarkan perkara ini berterusan. Amaran saya ialah berhenti membuat kenyataan,” katanya selepas merasmikan mesyuarat Umno Bahagian Ranau, di sini semalam.

What more can I say? Two-faced Kahiry!

two-faced(adj) - marked by deliberate deceptiveness especially by pretending one set of feelings and acting under the influence of another

Mr. Lai Fatt Sian, stop playing numbers!

I am writing this with grave concern that our beloved FAM(Faculty of Accountancy and Management) Dean, Mr. Lai Fatt Sian has replied ignorantly when replying to reporters questions. The points that he has raised were

• FAM conducts seminars frequently and put up posters to increase the students’ awareness of the safety.
• Taking into consideration the large number of students FAM has, the students who are robbed are few.
• The security of FAM is strict, students who are entering the building need to show the student ID.

While I have totally no objection to his first point made. I am particularly disturbed and disappointed with the second statement made by him. Mr. Lai, are you suggesting that since FAM has almost 6000 students, it is very normal for some students being robbed and the number of students being robbed is so immaterial that UTAR is not going to take any further action? Are you implying that some of the FAM students need to and should be robbed since FAM has such a large number of students?

According to your logic, we could further infer that “Taking into consideration the large number of students FAM has, the students who are murdered are few(in fact only one)”
Therefore we should not be interested with the death of Tang Lai Meng since we still have some 6000 other students in FAM. We should stop making a fuss out of the case since the loss of one student is so immaterial! Is this what you meant by saying that?

Do we need to make such a concession to crime that we could accept students being robbed? Definitely not! We want a zero crime rate in Sungai Long. None of the students deserved to be robbed, they have the right to walk fearless on the street, and they have the right to stay in a safe and secured neighborhood!

I would also like to point out something from your third statement. You mentioned that students who are entering the campus need to show the student ID. I say not. Students need only to show their ID card holder. Your guards only recognize the blue string of the card holder. Let me relay my own experience. There was a couple of occasions that I left my ID tag holder at home, the guards refused to let me in though I showed my student ID. My question is, isn’t a student ID good enough to prove your student identity? Why do you need the ID tag holder? I have seen students entering the campus with an empty ID tag holder(without student ID) and some even replace the student ID with a touch and go card. Obviously, your guard only recognizes the ID tag holder but not the student ID!

The very first day when I was on the induction course in PwC, I was told the evacuation plan and how to react during an emergency. Do you have any evacuation plans during emergency? I see only two exits for the FAM building since UTAR decided to lock the emergency door so as to make it easier for your guards to check the students ID TAG HOLDER when entering the building!

I propose that you amend your second and third statements to something more “meaningful” as follow

• I hereby ensure you that I will try my best to fight crime in whatever capacity I could and provide a safe study environment/neighborhood for the students by keeping the crime rate in Sungai Long to the most minimum level.
• If I fail to do so in three months time, I shall step down as FAM dean.

URGENT MAIL TO ADDRESS THE STUDENTS SAFETY IN SUNGAI LONG

To UTAR DSA,

URGENT MAIL TO ADDRESS THE STUDENTS SAFETY IN SUNGAI LONG
I am writing this to express my greatest concern on the murder of a first year accounting student in Mahkota Cheras. I would like to point out the mishandling of DSA in this particular case.

As far as I am concerned, the faculty office has got a full record of the student’s contact(who to inform in an emergency case). However DSA failed to inform the victim’s family members in time – keeping them out of knowledge and doubtful that their daughter “might” be murdered and making them bear the agony and distress. It was the police, not DSA who first inform the family members about the murder.

I would also like to bring up some issues/suggestions concerning the student’s safety in Sungai Long.

1. The road lamps in front of flat house(on the way to Evergreen) are not functioning.
   This is no longer a new issue. As you might already know, there are a couple of rob/snatch thief cases around that area. It is only a matter of time for another UTAR student to get into the headlines. It is very sarcastic that we have our "Sungai Long Pasar Malam" there and we only have bright lights once every week.
   
2. The small lane/route from Evergreen to Cypress
   As I am concerned, there are a lot of students without transport staying in Evergreen. DSA should try to negotiate with the Cypress condominium committee to allow students to take the shorter route to campus passing through Cypress from Evergreen.
   
3. To appoint someone/department addressing the students’ safety
   DSA can start a sub-department or appoint someone to fight crime - at least students know who to look for when they need help. This department can also help students to lodge police report and also to follow up the incident. Besides that, DSA can collect the details of crime faced by students(maybe it be petty crime such as stolen hand phone) and published a monthly statistics so that students will be more aware of the seriousness of the crime rate and beware of “hotspot” where crime happened most. In this way, UTAR could also counter rumors that they are trying to cover up criminal cases(I have heard alleged rape cases).
   
4. Late night classes
   I understand that given the current FAM building and number of classrooms, some students need to have late classes up to 8pm(I’ve seen classes up to 8.30pm!). However try not to schedule year one students any late night classes as they are new and unfamiliar to the neighborhood.
   
5. Form a student body to fight crime
   DSA could advise the student representatives to form a student body/patrol team(something like the rukun tetangga) – to patrol around the FAM building around 7-9pm to ensure that all students leave the building safetly. The patrol team could also escort students carrying laptops or those who park their vehicles far away.
   
6. Renew the students details and contacts
   DSA/faculty office should keep an up to date record on the student’s term address, contact number and also some general information who the student is staying with(ie. housemates/relatives/family). In this particular case, we clearly have no idea who is this girl staying with.
   

I fervently hope that you could look into the above matter and take prompt action. I hope that UTAR would be able to provide a safe and secured neighborhood for the students.

Best regards.

Chong Zhemin
a concerned alumni

UTAR student murdered

Three weeks ago I was at the MBPJ civic Hall for the Parliamentary Caucus on Human Rights and Good Governance on “Fight Rising Crime”. Never in life had I ever felt so hopeful for a safe and secured society – with more than 14 MPs’ present listening to the public’s suggestion and addressing the public discontent of the rising crime rate.


Three weeks after the caucus, I heard this most shocking news from my friend in UTAR about the murder of a UTAR accounting student in Mahkota cheras, Sungai Long - a place that I have lived for around 3 years, the place I earned my degree, a place I have endless memories and also a place that I claimed safe. I feel so despair and disappointed.

While the murderer should be condemned for this brutality, the police force and UTAR should bear some responsibility to ensuring the resident/student safety. The DSA(department of students affairs) in particularly should be reprimanded for not able to inform the victim’s family members in time – keeping them out of knowledge and doubtful that their daughter “might” be murdered and making them bear the agony and distress. It was the police, not DSA who first inform the family members about the murder.

It is with most regret that such a tragedy happened at the month where UTAR is holding its third convocation. As a UTAR alumni and having so many friends and relatives currently studying in UTAR Sungai Long, I am going to write to UTAR DSA to express my great concern. Prompt action must be taken to ensure the safety of the student and most importantly to provide a safe and secured neighborhood for the students.

Open Invitation to Malaysians - August 10 Parliamentary Roundtable to reaffirm Malaysia a secular state with Islam as official religion

Dear Malaysian,

OPEN INVITATION to Parliamentary Roundtable on Friday 10th August 2007 to reaffirm Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement on the occasion of 50th Merdeka anniversary that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as official religion and not an Islamic state
_______________________________________

When Malaya achieved independence in 1957 and Malaysia was formed six years later in 1963, a national social compact was reached that the nation shall be a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic State.

The Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state was given expression in the Federal Constitution, articulated by the founding fathers of the nation including the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein and given full recognition by the highest court in the land.

For over four decades, there was national consensus of the secular character of Malaysian nation-building which was only disrupted in the past six years, raising questions about the national commitment to protect and sustain this fundamental cornerstone of Malaysian nation-building.

A Parliamentary Roundtable to reaffirm the Merdeka social contract and the Malaysia Agreement that the nation is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state is being convened in Parliament on Friday, 10th August 2007 at 10 am. (Bilik Taklimat)

This is to send out a clear and unequivocal message on the occasion of the 50th Merdeka anniversary of the nation in 2007 that the Merdeka social contract and the Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state must continue to be the bedrock of the Malaysian nation-building process.

You are invited to the Parliamentary Roundtable to endorse the reaffirmation of the Merdeka social contract and Malaysia Agreement that Malaysia is a secular state with Islam as the official religion and not an Islamic state.

I apologise for the shortness of time. Kindly inform my office of your ability to accept this invitation or your representative to the Parliamentary Roundtable by Wednesday, 8th August 2007. (Contact persons Lau Weng San 016-3231563, 03-79578022; Wong Chow Onn 016-2681483).

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,

Lim Kit Siang
Opposition Leader
Parliament
1st August 2007

Jeff Ooi’s Welcoming Party as member of DAP

Beleive it! Jeff Ooi is now a DAP member. I witnessed him handed the DAP membership form to Cheras MP this morning.

Check out his new political blog - jeff4malayisa for the press statement on joining DAP. Currently the blog is inaccessible due to high volume of traffic(i believe). Also read this, Uncle Kit's speech and Guan Eng's press statement. This is the report from merekareview.


Now that Jeff Ooi has taken a political stand. We need to send him into parliament in the next GE to speak for the people. Guan Eng had confirmed in the PC that Jeff will be contesting in a parliamentary seat. Which constituency? We(DAP) shall announce that later. Who is next after Jeff Ooi? This coming GE is becoming more and more unpredictable. I am anticipating more heavyweights to join politics.

Is Hell exothermic (gives of heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

University of Washington chemistry mid-term
- submitted by sting_au2000

The following is an actual question given on a University of Washington chemistry mid-term. The answer was so "profound" that the professor shared it with colleagues, which is why we have the pleasure of enjoying it as well.

Bonus Question:
Is Hell exothermic (gives of heat) or endothermic (absorbs heat)?

Most of the students wrote proofs of their beliefs using Boyle's Law, (gas cools off when it expands and heats up when it is compressed) or some varient.
One student however, wrote the following:

First, we need to know how the mass of Hell is changing in time. So we need to know the rate that souls are moving into Hell and the rate they are leaving.

I think we can safely assume that once a soul gets to Hell it will not leave. Therefore, no souls are leaving. As for how many souls are entering Hell, lets look at the different religions that exist in the world today. Some of these religions state that if you are not a member of their religion, you will go to hell. Since there are more than one of these religions and since people do not belong to more than one religion, we can project that all souls go to hell.
With birth and death rates as they are we can expect the number of souls in Hell to increase exponentially.

Now, we look at the rate of change of the volume of Hell because Boyle's Law states that in order for the temperature and pressure in Hell to stay the same, the volume of Hell has to expand as souls are added.

This gives two possibilities:
1. If Hell is expanding at a slower rate than the rate at which souls enter Hell, then the temperature and pressure in Hell will increase untill all Hell breaks loose.
2. If Hell is expanding at a rate faster than the increase of souls in Hell, then the temperature and pressure will drop untill Hell freezes over.

So which is it? If we accept the postulate given to me by Ms.Banyan during my freshman year that, "It will be a cold day in Hell before I sleep with you" and we take into account the fact that I still have not succeeded in having sexual relations with her, then #2 cannot be true.
Thus I am sure that Hell is exothermic and will not freeze.

The student received the only "A" given.

Open Invite to Jeff Ooi's DAP Welcoming Ceremony

The biggest landmark political and blogging event of the year is going to happen here in PJ ss17. Jeff Ooi, Malaysia's pioneering and most prominent socio-political blogger is expected to make his statement on his decision to join the DAP to fight for a better Malaysia.

DATE: July 31, 2007
TIME: 10:30am
PLACE: Food Foundry, BG-8 Happy Mansion Jalan 17/13, Petaling Jaya

Click here for the map.

For more information please contact Tony Pua.