Malaysia crime rates are rising in an alarming rate… there was a dramatic 13.4% increase in violent crimes last year, of which rape cases were up by about 30% and gang robbery by a whopping 160%. [Malaysiakini]
We need to act fast to cope with this problem; it is a matter that concerned every Malaysian citizens, and quite often it’s a matter of life and death.
I don’t quite understand how the crime rates could be soaring sky high in the past few years. Set the crime fighting and prevention efforts aside… I couldn’t figure out how on earth did we managed to produce so many criminals in Malaysia.
Read the rest of this post »
Dr Chua Soi Lek has resigned as Health Minister for 4 days now, and a new acting Health Minister (Ong Ka Ting) has been announced for a couple of days… but our parliament website has yet to make necessary changes…
Screenshot of Malaysia Parliament website (on
Jan 6 Feb 17; still no changes)
It’s the Official Website of the Parliament of Malaysia; not a website running by cats and dogs… how could they not keep this kind of information up to date?
Advertlets (advertlets.com), one of the two major online advertising networks in Malaysia, is facing a huge crisis… it seems like they have forgotten to renew their domain name.
Forgetting to renew a domain name is probably the lowest mistake any webmaster could make. It would be dumb enough if it is committed by an amateur webmaster; it was simply unthinkable for a supposedly ‘professional’ web based company to make this mistake.
Besides, websites that were running their ads were redirected to the domain registrar’s domain parking page… it simply means that Advertlets had bought down hundreds or thousands of websites that ran their ads.
(It’s advisable for Advertlets publishers to remove the Advertlets ad code at the moment until Advertlets could settle the issue)
Advertlets still have some time to renew their domain before it is being snapped by opportunists. Regardless, it is a huge mistake that seriously dampened their reputation (their reputation was already debatable to start with) and credibility.
If you do run a website… please remember to renew your domain name; make it a top priority. I would suggest webmasters to extend your domain ownership years in advance. This website domain (Yeinjee.com) for example… would not be expiring until 2017.
Update Jan 7 - Advertlets is back; their boss Josh Lim has apologised and explained about what has happened (not much details though).
While the world is watching on the high rising crude oil price, the real oil crisis creeps in and affecting every individual in Malaysia… Malaysia is shortage of cooking oil!
From next week, a customer will only be able to purchase a maximum of 5kg of cooking oil at any one time. Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs Minister Datuk Shafie Apdal in making the announcement on the rationing of cooking oil today, said it was necessary in facing the cooking oil shortage crisis in the country. [Bernama]
Didn’t see this coming at all… cooking oil has been in abundance at the hypermarkets I frequent (in PJ/KL). It’s reported that Kelantan, Pahang, Melaka and Kedah were worst hit by the crisis and major supermarkets there were facing difficulty in replenishing the stocks.
Shafie has advised consumers not to panic as it would only worsen the situation. The irony is, the rationing exercise is certainly going to worsen the situation in short term… my first thought when reading the news was “better go and buy some oil ASAP.” I bet I am not the only one who is thinking about this… it’s not panicking; it’s just being a human.
With the price of crude oil rising above 100 dollars a barrel, it’s inevitable that our petrol price is going up pretty soon.
Malaysia is not facing bankruptcy danger even if we keep the price level… what Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak claimed prior to the New Year Day was obviously to demean the opposition parties instead of solid economic facts. Najib said that the opposition’s promises to reduce oil prices if it were to form a government will only bankrupt the country, because it’s not possible…
It doesn’t take a genius to realise that the government controlled Petronas would be making extra money following the rising oil price as well… the government is probably not losing too much with the subsidies compared to a few years ago (if there is any loses at all).
Khairy Jamaluddin was right though when he said on Umno’s General Assembly in Nov 2007 that the petrol subsidy could be better spent on other developments. My point of view is still the same… that it would be a wise move to cut the petrol subsidy ONLY IF the money are spent at the right place (education, health care etc.) and not going to dubious projects like Angkasawan or buying a new submarine… or perhaps the worst - to waste and corruption.
Considering that Malaysia won’t be having much petroleum resources left (probably finished in a decade or two without new findings)… our government need to be proactive in finding new energy resources (bio-diesel, solar power etc.) and reducing petroleum consumption. We need a better public transport system to start with; it’s a pain to travel in Malaysia without a car.
At the meantime, we the common citizens just have to be prepared for the next price hike.
“My biggest mistake ever since coming to KL is to fulfil my duties as the Health Minister and as MCA vice-president,” declared Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who quit as Health Minister and from all party posts after admitting he was the man featured in a sex DVD, copies of which were widely distributed in Johor.
The 60-year-old Johor politician said his visits to inspect health facilities nationwide and meeting MCA grassroots members gave rise to speculations that he had political agenda, thus becoming a target for people to bring him down politically. [Bernama]
In an earlier interview, Chua however said that his biggest mistake was that he stayed in the hotel and in the same room for convenience.
Seems like Chua is ‘admitting’ lots of mistakes here… he somehow failed to realize though, that his biggest mistake is having sex with the other woman other than her wife.
It doesn’t matter if someone is a minister, a political leader, a secretary, a factory worker, or just somebody on the street… if you are married, you will need to learn to keep your pants up in front of other women.
Chua Soi Lek chose to take his pants down instead… THAT is his biggest mistake.
If he has had a normal private life, his political enemies won’t have a chance to take him down… at least it would be much harder to do so.
Still, a huge mistake doesn’t make him an entirely bad person. I wish him and his family well… it’s time to give this man some peace.
MCA (former) vice-president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek, who yesterday admitted to being the man in the sex DVD, copies of which are widely distributed in Johor, today resigned as Health Minister, MP for Labis and from all party posts with immediate effect. [Bernama]
I still believe that he shouldn’t resign under this circumstance. As mentioned at my earlier post, Chua’s resigning is indirectly surrendering to the real culprits by approving that privacy invasion (secret recording) is the right thing to do.
No credits to Chua for stepping down and leaving everything behind. It is easy for him to abandon everything now; it would be tougher to stand on his feet and face the crisis instead of giving up so soon, which he should… he chose the easier path.
My hope now is that the people behind the sex DVD could be brought to justice. However, considering the possible political agenda behind the whole scandal… I wonder if the cops would be doing their best to find the culprits.
[Update] - MCA accepts Chua resignation [Malaysiakini]
Some thoughts from other bloggers regarding Chua’s resignation…
The grave sins of Chua Soi Lek
Honesty is such a lonely world
Chua soi lek resigns just about every damn thing
So much smoke, Lulu’s not able to see clearly
Of the only crime here is intrusion of privacy
Was Chua Soi Lek victim of double betrayal?
Chua did the honourable thing (I don’t agree, obviously)
Kuala Terengganu was officially declared on Jan 1, 2008 as the 12th city in Malaysia.
Following the declaration, the local authority is now known as the Kuala Terengganu City Council, or Majlis Bandaraya Kuala Terengganu (MBKT). Datuk Mat Razali Kassim is appointed the first Kuala Terengganu’s mayor.
Here’s a challenge for you… name me the other 11 cities that have been granted the city status in Malaysia. I bet you can’t… I couldn’t. [Answer on Wikipedia]