Regain our trust?You can talk until you foam at the mouth and still we won't trust you !! And you are quite good at foaming

Blame it on my naive mind, but I was not able to understand why a person who was elected as Ketua Pemuda was left out, whereas the one who was defeated was appointed to a government post.  Not that I was a fan of the elected youth head; I was in fact a critic of the person.

When things can be compromised in the name of politics, then a lot of things are definitely not right… With this, I am not hopeful of any real reform coming…

So the winner is the loser and the vanguished is the winner… How ironic and confusing to my simple mind….

The message is clear. No point  offering oneself  for positions in the party.. Just be the president’s man and you will get appointed even if you lose.. And that is what is being practised in Bn component parties ; young men of little calibers were appointed to positions just because they sing the tunes of the head or the eunuchs of the party. 

That is the culture we are witnessing , and all talks of going back to grassroots sound empty- regaining the trust of the youths in the Barisan Nasional (BN) government will be the biggest challenge for the new Youth and Sports Minister, Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek.

He said this was based on his analysis of the results of the last general election and the by-elections that followed, which indicated dissatisfaction or anger among young people towards BN.Totally clueless we encourage the malay youth 'LEPAKKING'AT THE BINTANG WORK& 'MAT REMPATING' CULTURE WE NEED MORE MONEY shocked as it would be a new area for him, as looking after the interests of youths was a huge challenge for the government.

Youthful Potential Gone Awry

Based on this report, the comments of the new Youth and Sports Minister sound rather shallow and bereft of solid thoughts. Anyway one wishes him luck. If he can effectively reduce the number of Mat Rempits, that would be worth something. 

And would it be to much to ask that the Hon. Minister pays some attention to youths from the Indian community ... (among them are many who need guidance, hope, education and career opportunities )..... so they won't remain marginalised and disenfranchised. It would be worthwhile to EVERY Malaysian that these Mat Rempits and the marginalised Indian kids, in fact, all kids are developed into productive and able citizens rather than become the feedstock to swell the number of the criminal community and the ranks of the unemployed. There is so much to be done with our youths. So, what do you say, Hon. Youth Minister?

Regain our trust?You can talk until you foam at the mouth and still we won't trust you !! And you are quite good at foaming. Plus what Anwar said in the debate against you were proven correct. The youth arent stupid. You cant fool us. We know for a fact UMNO is stupid. Look at the Village Idiot, Syed Botak !!

One would have thought that for a party that has lost 5+1 states in the recent general election and the popular vote in Peninsular Malaysia, there would be much soul-searching and perhaps adoption of much needed reform and new strategies to win back the trust of the people. I was hopeful when the PM announced that judicial reform would be undertaken. I was hopeful when PM announced the formation of an independent body for fighting corruption, the MCAC, in the mould of the ICAC of Hong Kong. I was hopeful when suddenly many pro-BN politicians started to blog, thinking that perhaps more freedom of expression would be allowed. Alas! My hopes were dashed when the Sedition Act was used to charge well-known blogger Raja Petra. The Sedition Act is an archaic law enacted by the British in 1948. The situation then and now is totally different, and this law should have been repealed long ago. It is like using a 1948 car in the Formula One race of today - totally out-of -date. According to Wikipedia, the act criminalises speech with ‘seditious tendency’ including that which would ‘bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against’ the government or engender ‘feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races’. Are RPK’s writings seditious? I would not want to go into the debate on the merits of the case as the case is before the courts now. But if anyone feels slighted by RPK’s writing, or for that matter, if anyone feels slighted or defamed by any writing of any blogger, there is such a thing called civil law and the civil courts. The person feeling slighted or defamed could sue in a civil court for libel and defamation, if necessary for hundreds of thousands of ringgit and if more necessary for millions of ringgit. The Sedition Act is just like the ISA, another archaic piece. If you feel someone is undertaking activities that may lead to security of the nation being threatened, by all means charge him in open court. So just like ISA, the Sedition Act is out-of-date and both should have been repealed a long time ago. Lee Kuan Yew sued for libel and won many times against those who slighted him in either speeches or writings. I do not remember him using the state machinery to charge someone who has allegedly defamed him. Yes, he used the ISA for security reasons, but not the Sedition Act for personal vendettas. I have a feeling of ‘deja vu’. It is like 2004, when we were promised so many things but none of them came about after four years. Is this a repeat of things? Will we ever see the light of a Judicial Commission or an MCAC? Will it be like the IPCMC? I hope not. But what RPK case has shown is that we are taking one step forward and three steps back.

"It's frightening. When I think about it, seems to me that it's a very big responsibility to address the question of government survival, which calls for us to focus our attention on people aged 35 and below.

"There are things that we need to ponder about. Has there been lack of attention given or they (the youths) have been having pent-up feelings against the government for not fulfilling their aspirations?" he said to reporters when met at the Royal Malaysian Air Force base, here, today.

Ahmad Shabery and several other ministers were there to send off Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak for the 14th Asean Summit in Pattaya, Thailand.

Asked about the first thing he would do in his new portfolio, he said it was too early to make an announcement and he needed to discuss with the previous minister (Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob) and the ministry's officers about the  planned programmes.

"I believe there are many programmes that should be continued because like in agriculture, we cannot expect to get good results immediately from our  investments in youth and sports.

"We try, but the positive results will take time to materialise, sometimes after five or six years (of sports training). Then we think about creating new products (talents)," he said.

Asked about his feelings over the new appointment, Ahmad Shabery said he was at first shocked as it would be a new area for him, as looking after the interests of youths was a huge challenge for the government.

"The government's future depends on how much trust young people have in its current administration.

"So, when given the new responsibility, like in football, I'll be in the forward line. But God willing, I will do my best for the ministry.

"What is important is how to raise the spirit of young people, and in this aspect, I have two deputy ministers who are still in the 'youth' category. I believe they will be of great help."

On sports, he said, he said it was part of daily life, and "if there is integrity, discipline and good coordination in sports, it mirrors a good community life system".

This would be one important aspect he needed to look into as sports could build patriotism and be a source of wealth as seen in other countries, said Ahmad Shabery who likes tennis, golf and bowling. - Bernama