Human Rights Party @ Hindraf –Leadership Without Direction/Vision

(by penang3brothers)

Due to recent developments brought about by the propagation of ‘marginalised Indians’ by none other than the infamous Secretary General of HRP, Mr. Uthayakumar, we feel constrained to write and in doing so, we are asking you to reflect upon the points raised. 

First and foremost we would like to register our stand on this issue as being not against the struggle of Mr. Uthayakumar but against the method employed. As an educated lawyer, he should have known from the beginning that Democracy is based on the principles of ‘majority rule’; and that the majority rules to its advantage, obviously.

Having said that lets us contemplate on the matter in hand. We did patronise the HRP website and came out disgusted with the amount of racism advocated against the Malay Community through some of his outlandish claims against UMNO. If his sincere objective is to highlight the mismanagement/oppression/brutality of the UMNO leadership then he should have been more precise in naming these leaders instead of demonising the entire UMNO which consist of nearly 3 Million members. This is tantamount to calling all Malays as anti-Indians which is definitely an outrageous claim. We detest the approach undertaken by Mr. Uthaya and we foresee that this group of Indians are unwittingly being lined up to face reprobation from the Malay Community, since most of his statements are very reproachful towards them.

Mr. Uthaya must understand that UMNO is NOT the enemy of Indians and below is one reason why;

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 (Posted by Aspan Alias in his blog- 28^th June 2009)

 “In 1999 General Election, Kuala Pilah had 24,000 UMNO members but BN candidate Dato’ Napsiah Omar secured only 16,000 votes. Out of the 16,000 votes, 10,000 came from the non-Malay votes as the Chinese and Indians were all out in support of BN then.
To summarize the figures, Napsiah only managed to secure 6,000 Malay votes and that included Malays who were non-UMNO members and that was the clear voting pattern everywhere in the Peninsula. The same situation happened in 2008 General Election when more than 80% UMNO members voted for the opposition in many constituencies.”

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Fanning hatred towards the Malay community and/or their leaders will not solve these Indians problems but in fact will add further weight to their burden as they will be sidelined as trouble makers. In fact it’s already in motion. 

The core factor for nearly all the problems faced by this group of Indian community is nothing but poverty, to which Mr. Uthaya himself had acknowledged in his web-postings and letters to the Government. 

The question now is, what is he doing to tackle this problem? By organising street demonstrations, hunger strikes, mass prayers, soliciting foreign aids and all other methods of demands, at best, solved nothing but gained cheap publicity and popularity for the top leadership of HRP @Hindraf. The cause might be noble but the method is despicable. 

The time has come for Mr. Uthaya to address the root cause of their ‘marginalisation’ ,which we strongly feel is due to their lack in ‘financial independence’. 

Let us look at the Chinese community. After the dark episode of ‘May 13’, didn’t the Chinese move forward? They did not organise street protests nor did they lament at the many obstacles and bureaucracy thrown at them by the Government but instead they organised ‘kongsi’ meetings. They were united in their struggle. They did not resort to ‘hindrafism’ but strived towards financial independence. 

Their great leaders of that time drove them forward in achieving a self-sustaining community. They bought their own land, they build their own temples and schools on that land, they placed high importance on education, and even the villages had private Chinese schools. These schools were not aided by the Government, in fact even the national Chinese schools did not stretch their arms and beg for Government allocations but on the contrary, they raised their own funds. 

We agree, that the task of seeking financial independence of this ‘marginalised’ community is indeed a laborious process but if planned and executed correctly, it is achievable, just like the Punjabis, Sikhs, Bengalis, Malayalis, Gujeratis and many other Ethnic Indian community who stood on their own and still standing on their own effort and perseverance against the many hurdles encountered along their social and economic struggle. They did not surrender their fate in the hands of MIC but chose to fight their own survival and they did it and still doing it without resorting to any violence or reproach towards any race. 

The ‘marginalised Indians’ championed by Mr. Uthaya are entirely, if not all, made up of ignorant, contented and/or illiterate Tamils. At best Mr. Uthaya is unwittingly shepherding this group of Indians further away from fellow Malaysians by providing an avenue for this group in coming together and finding solace in the “ we are oppressed, we are helpless, what can we do” cocoon spun by HRP @Hindraf.   

As we acknowledged earlier, Mr. Uthaya should be commended for championing the plight of the oppressed minority but we stand firm with our conviction that he is not a good leader; for leadership comes with great responsibility which until today we find it lacking in him.  

The main point in contention; we abhor the sight of children being used and manipulated in a man’s battleground. What kind of human being let alone a leader would stoop so low as to shield himself behind these young and innocent kids during HRP’s 2^nd Hindraf Anniversary (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fBGKKcOzaM) and during the handover of the 18 points memorandum to the PM’s office? (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm1gEGnXckI).

What if there was a commotion or if the Police resorted to firing tear gas? He knew very well the likely possibilities in a street protest and yet he chose to expose these children to the risk of getting themselves seriously hurt, if not killed. We strongly condemn his foolish behaviours which will, inevitably, bring down with him these ignorant ‘marginalised’ Indians. 

Having said all these, we believe in constructive criticism, as such we would like to suggest to Mr. Uthaya to channel his and his party’s resources towards uplifting the standard of living of these ‘marginalised’ Indians (Tamils).

Below is the excerpt from ‘The New York Times’ daily; 

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Rural India Gets Chance at Piece of Jobs Boom

 By Lydia Polgreen         Published: November 12, 2009  

BAGEPALLI, India —  

“Seventy percent of Indians live in rural areas like Bagepalli. A handful of entrepreneurs are experimenting to bring the jobs to distant corners of India that have been largely cut off from its extraordinary economic rise.

Almost all of those jobs are in cities. But 70 percent of Indians live in rural areas. India largely skipped — or never arrived at — the industrial phase of development that might have pulled the rural masses to cities.

Over the decades a Gandhian fondness for rural life has also kept people in villages, where the bonds of caste and custom remain strong.

India has struggled unsuccessfully with the question of how to lift this vast underclass out of poverty. Some economists argue that India still needs rapid urbanization if it is ever to become a major economic power and provide jobs to its vast legions of unemployed.

But the founders of Rural Shores a company that is setting up outsourcing offices in rural areas, say it makes more sense to take the jobs where the people are.

“We thought, ‘Why not take the jobs to the village?’ ” said G. Srinivasan, the company’s director. “There is a lot of talent there, and we can train them to do the job.”

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Based on the above, we suggest that instead of wasting his effort and energy, banging on the doors of the Government, Mr. Uthaya should pool together his friends, relatives, well wishers and party members in helping this backward group of people in striving towards a better living. All those monies being collected / donated to the Temples should be directed to refurbishing the existing Tamil schools.

Every Indian village and estate should have a ‘Community-Computer-Centre’ manned by his HRP members to facilitate the growth of computer literacy among the young and old. Apart from that, free tuition classes must be conducted on a regular basis to assist the weak students. Amazingly, the Indian Community, especially the Tamils, have more Temples then Centre of Learning (our Indian friends concurred with this fact). Mr. Uthaya as a learned Lawyer should encourage and instil the importance of formal education among this group.  

In the same breath, business and job opportunities in the private sector should be made available to them. As what the Director of Rural Shores said, bring the job to them. It’s a win-win situation for both parties since these entrepreneurs will find the cost of operation in these areas are much lesser than in townships.

Mr.Uthaya and HRP @Hindraf, while continuing their social struggle, should not ignore the gospel truth that Sound Education and Economic Independence shall liberate these ‘marginalised’ Indians. All efforts and resources should be mobilised towards achieving this common goal and rest assured, once achieved, they shall not be oppressed any further.

To Mr.Uthaya; “these Indians dont need a fighter, they need a leader. Its time for you to become one”

Thank you.

MCA – A Lesson in Leadership

( by penang3brothers )

Walter Sisulu was a South African anti-apartheid activist and member of the African National Congress (ANC).

He was one of Nelson Mandela’s political mentors and his closest collaborator for half a century in the campaign against South Africa’s racist political order.

While Mr. Mandela was the public face of the African National Congress, by his own account he admitted that he rarely acted without first consulting Mr. Sisulu.

* * * * *Walter Sisulu was a peasant boy who rose to become Deputy President of the African National Congress and one of the foremost influences in South African politics.

His firm belief in a non-racist philosophy, at a time when many black activists were arguing differently, proved decisive in shaping the philosophy and political direction of the ANC.

He was sentenced to life imprisonment on June 12, 1964. With other senior ANC figures, they were housed on Robben Island, one of the world’s most notorious prisons.

Sisulu was released on October 15, 1989 at the age of 77, after spending nearly 26 years behind bars. * * * * *

Mr. Mandela said;

“Sisulu stands head and shoulders above all of us in South Africa. You will ask what is the reason for his elevated status among us. Very simple, it is humility. It is simplicity. Because he pushed all of us forward and remained quietly in the background.”

Mr. Mandela added;

“However, he neither sought nor wielded his authority by virtue of office. He was ever ready to draw others into leadership. When he was banned by the apartheid regime from holding office in the ANC he smoothed the way for OR (Oliver Tambo) to take up the post as the Secretary General.

He never asked of others what he was not prepared to do himself.

Rivalry between organisations was to be expected in prison. Many among us prisoners were perceived to be leaders of one or other organisation.

But all prisoners saw Xhamela (Walter Sisulu) as the leader of all of us, irrespective of the organisation one belonged to – a leader of the entire people.

Since the birth of democracy many among us have traveled the world and received numerous awards acclaiming one’s leadership.

With or without any such awards Walter’s status as a national leader is beyond challenge.”

“Bitterness does not do your cause any good, “That doesn’t mean you don’t get angry. But you don’t let it get in the way of your policy.”– Walter Sisulu

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Currently, Malaysia is in dire need of capable, trustworthy, selfless and responsible leaders in the caliber of Mr. Walter Sisulu.

Sadly, nearly every leader of every political party, irrespective of race and ideology, is very much striving towards gaining popularity, solely, for themselves.

Let us ponder on the current situation plaguing the political party of MCA. We just could not comprehend the reason behind all these infighting among its top leadership. For what and for whose causes are these elected leaders fighting for, to the extent of discrediting each other, publicly?

We are left wondering on how one can remain a leader if the very element of leadership is neglected by creating factions among fellow members of the same community in order to pursue their personal agenda?

Leadership requires the maturity to set aside personal differences among fellow comrades in order to achieve common ground in serving those they represent and/or those who look up to them for guidance.

Unfortunately, what we are witnessing now before us is that these so called leaders of not only for the Chinese Community but the entire citizens of Malaysia by virtue of their Ministerial positions in the Government, are allowing themselves to be blinded by their quest for personal glory to the extent of seeking and inviting UMNO to interfere into the domestic affairs of MCA.

The dignity, pride and sovereignty of MCA are not only tarnished but unceremoniously lost and trampled upon in this great calamity. In any trial or tribulation, it is not an embarrassment to have lost, but to loose with our heads down is definitely humiliating. This dark episode in the glorious history of MCA is totally uncalled for and certainly not welcomed nor desired by its faithful members and the Chinese Community as a whole.

To say the least, this is a disgrace to the very community they were entrusted to lead and care.

For now, we leave these elected leaders with a note to reflect upon;

“ What have you brought upon is nothing but self destruction; for we do not have the wisdom to see it otherwise ”

Thank you.

……year- end sales, 50% discount

The following was reported in the ‘Star online’- 27^th November 09

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Shah Alam traffic offenders to get another month’s reprieve;

The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA) has extended by a month to Dec 31 the period when traffic and parking offenders will be offered a 50 percent discount on their compound fines.

MBSA public relations officer Shahrin Ahmad said the council would come down hard on offenders after Dec 31 and initiate court action.

Shahrin told Bernama more than 100 offenders had been brought to court so far and had to pay penalties higher than the compound fines imposed on them as well as legal costs.

He said that up to Oct 13, MBSA was owed RM37.8mil in compound fine arrears.

Shahrin said MBSA had opened additional payment counters at shopping malls in the city for the convenience of motorists. – Bernama

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(by Public Thought)

….discount, you mean discount to offenders??? Does the offender gets bonus points if his/her fine runs above RM 300??? Do we need to present our Bonus-Link card at the payment counter? Can the accumulated points be redeemed for future summonses?

Kan nin neh!!!, I must be the stupidest idiot for settling my fines in full, within one week of receiving the summons and above all, had to hunt for the payment counter, in the first place!!!

If MBSA managed to successfully prosecute nearly 100 offenders in court; then why not just continue with the legal process? Isn’t that the right thing to do?

Correct me if I’m wrong but what’s the whole purpose of penalising an offender? Isn’t it to inconvenience them, burden them with a penalty and hope that they will learn a lesson; failing which, a heavier penalty/punishment awaits these repeated offenders???

By allowing them to accumulate their summonses and earning a 50% discount, DOES sent out a wrong message to the general public, which is- ‘wait for the sales; discount is coming to town’……….

Errrrr…..anyway, it’s time for me to go now, I got another 3 more summons to pay…….!!!

To Chief Minister, with concern

(by penang3brothers)

The following email was sent to the Chief Minister of Penang on 23rd November 2009

* * * * * * *  * * * * *

YB Tuan Lim Guan Eng

Chief Minister Penang

Dear YB Lim,

First and foremost Congratulations on your successful campaigning and eventual victory in resting, or shall we say liberating, the state of Penang from Barisan National.

It was a miraculous and unbelievable moment in our lives because we thought it was near impossible for ‘change’ to happen. But indeed it did take place, historically.

We waited for this moment for a very long time, right from the first assault launched by your father, YB Lim Kit Siang, with mission ‘Tanjong’ in 1986, followed by ‘Tanjong’ 2 and 3 in 1990 and 1995, respectively.

In 1990 when your father defeated the then Chief Minister Tun Dr. Lim Chong Eu, for the Padang Kota State seat, we, for once believed that finally the Opposition had captured Penang. We were overwhelmingly confident that since the Chief Minister himself was defeated surely, surely, the State was captured by DAP. But as fate would have it, the final count was Opposition 14 seats against Barisan’s 19.

Ahhh!!!!……we were utterly dejected to a point of being speechless; we could not even cry…..it was so close and yet……………….

In 1995, during the election campaign, when we first saw the poster of your father, YB Lim Kit Siang, with the caption “Chief Minister with Power’’, we told our friends and family “now that’s how a Chief Minister should look like, very stern and yet elegant’’

We were there on 20^th November 1995, the eve of polling day at Macallum Flats playground for the final mammoth rally of the DAP. We were waiting with anticipation for the emergence of the last speaker of the night. When the DAP song was played signifying the arrival of your father, the whole crowd of about 20,000 people went wild with cheers. Your father was given a hero’s welcome with a roaring and thunderous applause from the frenzied crowd. The atmosphere was electrifying. We thought to ourselves, ‘‘this is it, the time has come, and we are looking at the next Chief Minister’’.

……but then again, the huge crowd did not translate into votes…..we were very sad and dejected. It was then that we gave up hope on our dreams to see changes/improvement in the political scenario of our beloved state of Penang.

Now, after 22 years since the first ‘Tanjong’ battle cry in 1986, what eluded your father was captured by your goodself.

We sincerely felt that you deserve to be appointed as the Chief Minister (apart from many other reasons including your level of education) especially for the one noble deed where you fought and paid a heavy price by sacrificing your freedom in defending the plight of a 15 year old Malay girl. We SALUTE you for that.

We can and we do proudly say that our Chief Minister fought for justice, fought for truth, fought for the oppressed and fought for equal rights.

YB Lim, now that the dream of capturing Penang from Barisan National has become a reality, its time the Pakatan Rakyat, especially DAP, to move on and show to the rest of the World what it means by good governance.

Recently there were many allegations against the State Government, particularly against your goodself, such as not fulfilling your electoral promises, allegations of mismanagement, accusations of betrayal by certain villagers and so on……

YB Lim, we believe that Penang cannot be transformed nor can the mismanagement of the previous Government be rectified within these 21 months that you had taken over, but YB Lim, we strongly feel that what is lacking from your side is INFORMATION to the general public on current issues/scandals/controversies plaguing the Government of Penang.

Currently there are so many blogs carrying negative remarks/stories/allegations of your Administration. We are having a hard time deciding on what to believe and what not to.

We are and we will support the Pakatan Rakyat Government of Penang but how are we going to do so when we can’t even speak to our friends and relatives on the actual facts/truths of the matter. Where are we supposed to get the right information?

We would like to suggest to your goodself to please provide a media, a blog for instance, where we could seek for the truth or in other words YOUR side of the story (so to speak) and if at present there is such a site/blog that undertakes in disseminating your views/points/explanations on these current issues in Penang, please guide us to that source.

Maybe there might be some news being carried in the Chinese Daily but then again how many Chinese in Penang can read/write Mandarin? How many of those who can, subscribe to these Dailies? How about the non-Chinese?

YB Lim, we wish to see your governance of our beloved Penang to continue for many years to come but you can’t achieve that without us, the people, the layman and the voters.

The next General Election would most probably will be called somewhere in late 2011 or early 2012, since the present Federal Government would not wait too long to launch their campaign in capturing what they lost. Which means, YB Lim, you only have another 24 to 30 months !!!.

Please help us to help you, in helping Pakatan Rakyat in retaining Penang in the next General election.

Looking forward to hearing from your goodself.

Thank you very much and have a nice day.

Penang3Brothers

‘Inspired by Frustration’

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Divine but Deadly

(by Devotee)

It was a nice, cool Monday morning. I took a slow drive to one of my usual (very old but not favorite) Mamak stall for a simple nasi lemak and teh tarik.

This make shift stall is just beside the Temple at Perak road/Anson road junction. This stall has been around since the late sixties but it did change ownership a few times.

While I was having my breakfast something just struck me. I used to follow my mother to this Temple, very long time ago. She used to offer her prayers to all the Deities there, which can take up to half an hour. In fact this temple houses a variety of Deities from Taoism, Hinduism and Buddhism. Definitely a Democratic Temple.

But what missed me then, struck me on that day, which was, the amount of smoke generated from the burning joss/incense sticks. At that point I realised that it must be hazardous to my health to inhale these fumes albeit its fragrance. The next question was how much damage will this act of worship would bring to the environment? Wouldn’t this act contribute to Global warming since nearly all major religion’s places of worship around the world, burn some form of prayer paraphernalia, everyday?

It got me thinking. Does burning more joss sticks make one more pious? if so, Does being more pious gives us the right to pollute? if so, Doesn’t the pollution caused by the pious, harm the environment?

I believe and respect the rights of a person to practice their chosen religion but they should do so, responsibly.

Thank you.

(p.s.- I’ve already asked my mother to cut down on the joss/incense stick, too!!)

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Attached herewith a study conducted by Dr Manoon Leechawengwong.

Burning joss sticks ‘as deadly as traffic fumes or cigarette smoke’

Photograph: Anuruddha Lokuhapuarachchi/ Reuters

Worship is generally not a life-threatening pursuit. But devotees across Asia could be taking their life into their hands every time they go to a temple to pray, according to a study by a Thai doctor.

Burning joss sticks lit as an offering in shrines and temples fill the air with cancer-causing toxins that are every bit as deadly as traffic fumes and cigarette smoke, says Dr Manoon Leechawengwong.

Dr Manoon, who has just completed a two-year study of temple workers tasked with clearing the smoldering sticks, found the cocktail of chemicals in the smoke put them at risk of leukemia, lung, blood and bladder cancers.

“One joss stick creates the same amount of cancer-causing chemicals at one cigarette,” said Dr Manoon, who led the research. “I knew there would be some carcinogens, but I was surprised by the levels.”

Joss sticks are a type of incense used in worship in many Asian countries. In Buddhism they are believed to aid spiritual communication and serve as an offering.

Dr Manoon’s study was conducted among 40 workers in three temples at Ayutthaya, Chachoengsao and Samut Prakan, sites chosen deliberately far from Bangkok’s traffic pollution. The findings were compared with another 25 people living in a joss-stick free environment.

Temple workers were exposed to high levels of benzene, also known as petroleum ether, related to leukemia; butadiene involved in blood cancer; and benzo[a]pyrene that can cause lung, bladder and skin cancers.

The level of benzene in the temple workers was four times higher than normal, butadiene was 260 times higher, and benzo[a]pyrene – the most dangerous carcinogen – 63 times greater.

Analysis of the temple workers blood and urine samples discovered damage to their DNA, with a correspondingly lower capacity of their bodies to repair that damage.

“We know from our study that there’s DNA damage,” said Dr Manoon. “But what we don’t know is if they will develop cancer. Certainly they have a greater risk. It’s like smoking. Not all smokers get cancer, it’s about 20%.”

But Dr Manoon urges worshippers to reduce the risks by extinguishing the scented joss stick immediately after use, rather than leaving it standing pots of sand as it burns down. Manufacturers could also produce sticks that burn for a minute or less.

“It’s not necessary as part of the ritual for these traditional joss sticks to burn down,” he said. “By putting them out after a minute or so the air pollution would be cut by 30 to 40 times.”

Each year, people around the world light up joss sticks weighing tens of thousands of tonnes, he said.

One tonne of burning joss sticks would emit 325.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 7.2kg of methane, he added that the
Smoldering joss sticks release carcinogenic substances in the air and contribute to global warming.

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Motorcyclist, ‘a piece of his mind….’

(by Public Thought)

You want my comment? I’ll give you a few;

Well, brother, First, it’s fucking hot….. Penang is hot, I mean, skin burning HOT and that’s my biggest frustration every time I’m forced to stop my EX-5 at any given traffic light.

My suggestion, is to plant more trees, maybe not the Angsana Trees due to the space it needs to grow out but probably some smaller trees, any species as long as it could provide some kind of shade.

Second, maybe, kalau boleh, build more flyovers at major intersections like;

• Anson Road/Burmah Road
• Farlim
• Bagan Jermal/Burmah Road
• Dato Keramat/Perak Road
• Tanjong Tokong/Bagan Jermal
• Scotland Road/Batu Gantung

The flyovers will reduce the congestions at these traffic lights…..and in return the State will have less motorcyclists or even motorists getting frustrated, loosing their temper and ending up beating their wives /girlfriends/kids (it’s always easier to lepas geram on them then on the guy driving in front of you, since, who knows he might be carrying a Samurai sword under his seat !!) and it gives an opportunity for the Government to show that it cares.

Third, I used to love, that peaceful and relaxing ride around Penang in the 70’s and even up to the early 90’s. Me and my friends, we really felt like Islanders but now it’s no different from KL (maybe not that bad but we are certainly heading that way)    The roads in Penang are still the same size but the traffic volume had increased, probably tripled, quadrupled……or what ever …pled from the numbers during the 70’s. Now, I’m definitely not against any car owners or the National car but for GOD sake, I strongly think its time to widen the fucking roads inPenang.

To a certain extend the implementation of One-way streets in certain parts of Penang did help to ease the congestions but, but, but it was only during its initial period. At present, owing to the tremendous increase in the number of vehicles in Penang, these One-way streets could no longer cope with the current usage especially if the adjoining roads are either too narrow or are 2 way streets.

Kan nin neh, how can you channel the huge traffic from a One-way street directly into a small road !!!!

I’m not blaming the State (wa pun keng Rocket) but it’s about time the State starts doing something about this. I’m only giving my suggestions, maybe the MPPP or PR knows better.

Thank you brother, time to go and fetch my wife.

aiyoh! motor bei start, kan nin neh………..!!!!

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The Journey Begins…

Tonight, we embark on a journey.

Simple as it may be….it’s a journey that shall bring the truth,the trials and the tribulation of the seeker, to the eyes of the world at large.

It’s not an ambition, it’s not even a mission but just an experience, being shared with fellow humans while waiting…….waiting with certainty…….for the end is never far away…….

We welcome you……

“Fai quello che puoi’, con quello che hai, dove stai”

( Do what you can, with what you have, where you are )