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.

The show will be running on August 12/16/20/24/29, with teams from Malaysia, China, Canada and Spain participating. Check out more details on MIFC’s website, and also check out some pics from MIFC 2007.

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.

Singaporeans are paying a despatch boy RM2500 a month while most fresh graduates won’t be getting that much in Malaysia. Off course there are arguments that the cost of living would be higher in Singapore, but their definite advantage is that their overall standard of living would not be affected as much by global effects because of their higher earning power.

The effect of globalisation has become more apparent these days; inflations and cost of living is not something that we can control alone unless the country is self-sufficient in everything. The logical option to keeping our living sustainable is to increase our production level, and thus the income level of general citizens… and it’s something that the government has to think and work on.

We need to have a plan, a solid idea of what we want our country to be in the next 5, 10 or 20 years. One of the reasons why I am not against removing the petrol subsidy is that the money could be better spent (set aside the corruption issue first) on other development instead of protection policies. It’s better to teach people to fish than to give them fishes.

What the lower income group should fight for are policies that could increase their income level and a fair distribution of wealth. It’s unthinkable that some working classes are earning less than RM500 a month; that’s an exploitation to our labour forces. It’s a fair thing that skillful workers or educated peope should earn more than those who are not… but surely the hardwork itself could be rewarded better.

Malaysia need to rebrand ourselves; we are branded as a cheap and resourceful place for foreign investors in late 80s and the 90s, but with the rising of China, India and Vietnam etc… we are not having the advantage we used to have. Malaysia need to learn to stop relying heavily on FDI and create our own branding… we need to optimise our profit levels and minimise wastage, and the government needs to lead by example and Malaysians should work hard on improving ourselves.

Finally, instead of blaming solely on the government for the hardship these days, some Malaysians need to reflect on ourselves too… some of us have been too complacent with ourselves for the past decade or two; some of us have been taking too many things for granted; some of us have been living inside caves for failing to realise what’s going around; some of us have been mere fools to think that government has to be responsible to spoon feed them forever.

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.

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.

Second scenario… let’s assumed Mohd Saiful is indeed a liar; does that mean he is an absolute villain? How about him being forced to be part of this? What if his (or his family) safety is in jeopardy? What if he had to make a choice between life or death? He can’t hide into Turkey Embassy obviously… so, what option does he have?

The meaningless photos

His photos taken with various BN officials are widespread in the net, with claims that he is closely allied to the BN government… but does those photos really mean anything?

I have had pictures taken with Rafidah Aziz, I even had a lunch with her; I also have pictures taken with Raja Nazrin (Perak’s crown prince), Lim Keng Aik, Fong Chan Onn and also pictures with no less than two (ex) MPs that served my places.

So, does that mean that I am close to these peeps? Not at all… I have better chance of winning a lottery than having them remembering my name. The photos simply means that I had the chance to meet these people… and being an active student during high school and university provided lots of chances to meet these peeps… it’s no big deal at all.

Same situation might apply to Modh Saiful too; does those photos provide any insight that he is working closely with BN government? Think Malaysians, think.

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]

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.

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.

This is not the first time he is alleging that Najib was involved in Altantuya’s murder, but he has failed to produce any solid proofs besides empty talks so far. I hope the cops and authorities will take his statutory seriously… because if Najib is really guilty, I want him to face justice; if Najib is innocent, I would like to see RPK facing the song.

I always believe that everyone is innocent until proven not; that’s one of the basic cores of our constitution. It sucks to let go of a criminal, but the last thing I want to see is innocent people being punished.

Don’t bother reminding me how corrupted our government and the judicial system are, because it’s not the point I am trying to make here.

Lots of people don’t like Najib, I personally am not fond of this fella at all. However, that doesn’t mean that we should implicate that he (or his wife) is a murderer without having solid evidences or investigations.

It’s saddening thing to see some Malaysians having their logical minds being taken control by their senseless emotions, just go and read some comments on Malaysia-Today, LKS’ blog, Anwar’s blog ans Susan’s blog… and you would see so many Malaysians sentencing Najib to guilt as if they were right on the crime scene and saw everything.

Imagine how would your love ones feel if you are being wrongly investigated, charged or prosecuted for a murder that you never committed? Imagine how would you feel if your family member is being accused of doing things that they never did? It could be one of the worst things that you would want to happen in your life.

What we want to see is to have justice served; and as said earlier, I hope to see the authorities taking RPK’s declaration seriously… after all, it’s not fun to risk being sentenced to jail just to mock a person you really hate. But until then, Najib is not a murderer, and it’s unfair to accuse him of being so without knowing the facts.

Use your heart, use your mind, and not let your emotion taking control of your soul my fellow Malaysians. Show some mercy.

The poor and chaotic situations in Sabah are collective ‘efforts’ for both the federal and state governments for more than three decades.

The illegal immigration issue in Sabah is widespread, it’s a shame that the government are not doing much to coup with this… but is it fair for Badawi and Umno to shoulder all the blames? What were the likes of Yong Teck Lee doing all these years (including his Chief Minister terms) to deal with this issue?

Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Nik Aziz, and all the Kadazan-Dusun chieftains… what have they done for the past decade or two for the Sabahans? Nik Aziz never care, LKS only knows how to complain, and Anwar only started to care because he can become a PM. All these people (including some Sabahan leaders) are just as idiotic as everyone else when it comes to issues in Sabah, none of them are any better than Badawi when it comes to social welfare for Sabahans.

If the federal government is not doing well enough to help the state, by all means kick their ass… the only question is, why wait until now? The ass should have been kicked long time ago. So, if the BN government had won big again this term, SAPP and YTL would still remain silent and enjoy their honeymoon isn’t it?

Don’t just blame it on the federal leaders my fellow Malaysians, have a look at your local politicians as well. And if you think Badawi is idiot, think what Mahathir, Anwar and the local leaders had done for you.

When the plan was first announced in March, MB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim has said that the free water policy is implemented by reducing the cost per unit of usage and the state government (and the taxpayers) need not pay subsidies to Syabas… looks like Pak Lah is not the only one that is good at flip-flopping.

Well, Selangor folks would not need to pay the water bill from their own pocket, but is the water really free? Those money are coming from the state government after all… money that can be spent on improving infrastructures, productivity and quality of living in other ways which in the end will benefit the people in long term.

Is this the right thing for the Selangor government to do? I am not sure. I don’t like the concept of subsidies (of any kind) at the first place… Malaysians have been pampered for way too long with the subsidies, so long that some of us have been taken it for granted and lost the sense of competitiveness.

Update June 19 – the water is not really free, seriously. Consumers will still have to pay a RM6 minimal (service) charge to Syabas.