“Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country…” the quote was part of the inaugural address by former US President John F Kennedy on January 20, 1961.
The recent development in Malaysia has prompted me to think a lot lately. There are a lot of things that I wanted to share, but I kept on writing and deleting it for the past hour, because it’s hard to put my actual thoughts into words.
Bottomline is, too many Malaysians are complaining too much recently. We are always asking what the country can do for us… but how often have we heard from Malaysians on what we can do for the country instead?
Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.
Melaka and George Town have been added into UNESCO’s World Heritage List a couple of days ago; the cities are jointly inscribed as the “historic cities of the Straits of Malacca”.
It’s the first Cultural World Heritage in Malaysia, in addition to the two Nature World Heritage we already have (Kinabalu National Park and Mulu National Park).
While some folks are celebrating the occasion, I wonder how many Malaysians really know what World Heritage is about. Both cities are certainly going to benefit from extra tourism activities, but do mind that World Heritage is not a tourism project, but meant to protect the natural and cultural heritages around the world.
I hope that related bodies will continue their hardwork to keep these two places intact, and congratulations for all the effort to getting the recognition.
Seems like tomorrow’s fuel-hike demo is going ahead in Kelana Jaya; hope that there won’t be any violent crash during the rally, and I hope that the protestors are fighting on the right cause and not for political reasons.
There is no point protesting against the petrol hike… the fuel subsidy was wrong and should have been gone long ago. It there is anything to complain about… it’s about corruption, poor public transportation and the government failure in improving our living standard for the past decade.
Inflation is something inevitable; what really strike Malaysians these days is the failure to improve our earning-capability since the 1997 economic crisis. With exceptions of a few professions, the salary and income levels of most jobs are not on par with inflation rate for the past decade… some sectors are actually falling behind the pre-1997 era.
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Four out of every 10 adult Malaysians above 18 years are either overweight or obese; Health Minister Datuk Liow Tiong Lai said according to statistics, the prevalence of adult obesity in Malaysia had more than tripled within 10 years (1996-2006). [Bernama]
So, chances are one in every two to three persons that are reading this article now is overweight or obese. For your health sake, lose some weight now… and I probably need to to something about mine too.
Ever thought of Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan, the man who accused Anwar of sodomy, might actually be a victim?
When Anwar was accused in the 90s, I believe he was framed; and despite my dispute over the recent accusation, I still believe that Anwar did not do it.
However, does that mean that we are absolutely sure that Mohd Saiful is not sodomised by Anwar? Is there no chances, not even 1% of chances that Mohd Saiful is telling the truth? I wonder.
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A police report has been lodged against PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim for allegedly sodomosing one of his aides… the second time that such an accusation had been made in over 10 years. [Malaysiakini]
Anwar responded that the report is a complete fabrication, which could be a retaliation for evidence he has recently obtained implicating IGP Musa Hassan and AG Gani Patail in misconduct including fabrication of evidence in the cases launched against him in 1998-1999.
When Anwar was first accused of sodomy in 1997… the people were separated in opinions; but this time, people would find it hard to believe that he’s not been framed.
Update - PM Badawi claimed that BN government is not behind this and would leave the police to conduct investigations on the allegations and to take the necessary action. [Thestar]
The Selangor PAS Youth will ask the state government to meet with the relevant departments and state-owned companies to discuss the types of entertainment programmes which should be allowed in the state. Its chief Sallehen Mokhyi said the meetings would help the state government ensure that only activities which focused on the healthy development of youths would be allowed. [Thestar]
Seems like the PAS Youth have learned nothing after being slammed by the Sultan for their protest against rock queen Ella and dangdut singer Mas Idayu performing at the Sultan of Selangor Cup football match.
Frankly, if they can’t even stand the likes of Ella and Mas Idayu, we can kiss goodbye to most of the western artists if their wishes are granted; events like Super GT would probably be scrapped too… but I doubt the state government and royals would pay much attention to their plea at the moment.
It should remind people though, that PAS’ philosophy is not really aligned with PKR and DAP. If Pakatan Rakyat does take over the government by September… do bear in mind that PAS will have to part of the plan.
There are callings that we should not be shallow with PAS’ administration, that their governmental in Kelantan is better than some media is claming… but sometimes, what they are trying to do is plain annoying. They even tried to ban lipstick and high heels in Kota Bahru [Bernama], makes me wonder what they would come out next.
Raja Petra Kamarudin has made a statutory declaration on June 18 alleging that Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, Deputy Prime Minister Najib’s wife, was at the murder scene of Mongolian national Altantuya Shaariibuu. [Malaysiakini]
The news is not picked up by the main media yet, but the blogosphere has been heated up with all sorts of discussions.
Whether the allegation is truth or not, I don’t know… in fact only very few people would know at the moment. RPK has shown his courage over the years, but frankly, sometimes he is abusing his influence to bully the politicians.
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