And at the centre of it all is the independent voice: Of the humble blogger and those seemingly unimportant people on Facebook and Twitter who have shown that they not only have an opinion they are ready to voice with courage but they also have the power to influence public policy. The fight against corruption consolidated on the net. RTI data quickly reaches millions. That’s why Najib has become such an ardent fan of China, North Korea and Libya and wants to emulate their repressive media policy. And Malaysia, is now trying to sneakily find ways and means to censor net content. The excuse is predictable. There is too much of slander taking place and communal provocation. But the real purpose is obvious. The State wants to now monitor (aka censor) our blogs, tweets, emails, chats.
Last weekend, Russia saw an extra ordinary spurt of anti-Government activism that took on the supreme might of KGB-backed Vladimir Putin. One man and one phrase made it happen. Alexei Anatolievich Navalny, 35, an intrepid blogger. He works for no big newspaper chain, no TV network. But his blog is widely read and he has been able to bring together all dissident opinion by calling on “nationalists, liberals, leftists, greens, vegetarians, Martians” via his Twitter feed to unite against what he describes as “the Party of Swindlers and Thieves”. This colourful description of Putin’s party has caught the imagination of the Russian people and Navalny has done what no politician, no journalist could do till date. He has mounted a serious, credible offensive against the mighty Kremlin.
This is what great journalism is about. Not that smart turn of phrase or a glib edit, but the ability to move people into action, to inspire, lead a nation towards change. Its about empowering us to take on the brute system. Editors did it in my time. Today, TV anchors try to do it. But as Governments exert pressure on big media all over the world, it’s the internet that ensures us access to free speech. Navalny has been jailed for 15 days, true. But the fire he has lit through his blogs and tweets is enough to give Putin many sleepless nights. For the common Russian has now joined Navalny’s battle against corruption.
Sounds familiar? The same thing happened in China seven months ago, when the Government arrested its most famous dissident artist Ai Weiwei for tax evasion and he vanished for a while. But the fire that men like Navalny and Ai have lit is blazing bright and the world has woken up to the amazing power of the individual writer, journalist, protestor, activist who has no weapon, no support system apart from the written word. All he needs is a humble abode on the net to reach out to others and seek to bring forth change. So now you know what’s worrying Najibl?
Luckily the UMNO is in no shape to take on the enormous task of muzzling the internet in Malaysia. Its own allies will not back it. Nor will the Opposition. If Najib persists, it will only bring him (and his party) grief.
So never under estimate the power of the written word. Nor the courage of the lonely blogger. No Party of Thieves and Swindlers, however entrenched it may be, can ever fight back the moral authority of a single MALAY
related article http://malaysiakita786.blogspot.com/2011/03/dysfunctional-fame-whores-debra-chong.html
Umno’s a giant ponzi scheme’
Malays in the rural areas are not exactly insular in their outlook and they too can read between the lines.
“Dengar cerita CEO National Feedlot Centre (suami Shahrizat Abdul Jalil – Minister of Women, Family and Community Development) dapat gaji RM100k sebulan, anak sulung (aged 31) dapat gaji RM45k sebulan, anak kedua (aged 27) dapat RM35k sebulan, anak ketiga (aged 25) dapat 35k sebulan. Jika ini betul, ia sesungguhnya memalukan. Ambil duit rakyat buat bayar gaji besar. Anak saya pun graduate juga. UPSR, PMR, SPM dapat semua A. Umur 24 tahun. Kerja swasta. Dia pun work hard. Balik kerja paling awal jam 9 malam. Kadang-kadang sampai 1 pagi. Gaji dia RM2,700/sebulan. Adakah anak saya akan sokong BN/Umno kalau begini keadaannya? Saya dah tahu jawapannya. Umno tak boleh kelentong orang cerdik. Umno is not capable of changing, not with the current leaders. When more than 50% of our working population is earning less than RM2k/month, tak tahu malu ke mereka-mereka ini. Merompak siang dan malam, 7 hari seminggu. Perompak Ali Baba P Ramli pun ada cuti hujung minggu.”
Even if we refuse to admit it, the above is an outpouring of bitterness.
This kind of anecdotal and very personalized tale of feeling marginalized and alienated reflects the wider bitterness of Malays with Umno.
There is nothing that Umno can do about it now. It’s a discredited brand. It’s synonymous with pillage and plunder, corruption, arrogance that can only be the result of being far too long in power.
The 2011 Umno general assembly was an occasion for an orgy of vituperative shouting match.
Listening to the maddening speeches by Umno delegates, I am reminded of what Arthur Schopenhauer in his Essays and Aphorisms said:
“Every miserable fool who has nothing at all of which he can be proud, adopts as a last resource pride in the nation to which he belongs; he is ready and happy to defend all its faults and follies tooth and nail, thus reimbursing himself for his own inferiority.”
That is what Umno has become – an inferior good. It is a good that decreases in demand as social awareness increases.
Malays in rural areas are not exactly insular in their outlook. They read the papers, understand what’s written in between the lines. Their children come back and inform parents.
Umno can’t fool all the people all the time with its scare mongering tactics.
People know. They talk among themselves. They know Umno has become a huge money making juggernaut.
The ones making money are the Umno chieftains, cronies, families. Umno operates a giant Ponzi scheme, not dissimilar to Bernard Madoff’s multi-level marketing.
It can’t defend itself on its track record other than reminding people that Umno has done much for the people and country.
Umno elite ripped off Malays
That claim sounds hollow because all governments in the world carry out programs and implement policies.
Mubarak of Egypt did the same thing. Gaddafi gave Libyans much development and personal help to people.
The Tunisian president did much development for Tunisia. Therefore what Umno did, is not unique in that it is sufficient for people to feel beholden and enslaved by Umno.
I feel sorry for the people who think and dismiss as a flash-in-the-pan the widespread disenchantment with Umno since 2008.
The disenchantment is real. Ordinary Malays are disputing Umno’s empty claims of fighting for the interest of Malays.
The fact is it is the Umno elite who is ripping off Malays.
They rob the KTM PRIME LAND BANK, SOLD FOR PEANUTS,THEN BEG THE CHINESE FOR MONEY
The RM 500-million fee from the purchase of the submarines? It was divided among top Umno leaders and it’s rumored that a former prime minister got RM160 million.
Who threatened the royal houses? Umno did during the constitutional crisis years. Umno was behind the exposure of scandalous behavior of members of the royal family. It wasn’t the Chinese.
POOR people is below the law, RICH UMNO above itIf you were to drink and drive on New Year’s eve – or on any other day, for that matter – (not that you’re silly enough to drink and drive, of course) and were stopped by a cop, you’d likely face a stiff fine up to Rs 5,000 and a possible night in jail. Compare this with the case of former chief minister sexually molested and raped her a 14-year-old girl,. Her family was persecuted by members of the umno police; herfriens had 11 false cases made against them, and the family eventually had to leave the state. Almost 20 years later, the perpetrator of this crime gets a chairman of felcra
The reason given for this gross travesty of justice is that the An uproar has been created in the media and in Parliament by the but lim guan eng has to go jail case. But like so many other cause celebres will this too prove to be a nine-day-horror, soon wiped out from public memory by a more topical scandal, a more recent and more gory crime?Once again, chief minster case exposes the glaring anomalies and shortcomings of our outdated, overburdened and severely flawed legal system. Even when the perpetrator free after he committed his criminal act – the punishment rarely fits the crime. The rich or the powerful – like Rathore with his top cop connections – get off lightly; common citizens bear the full brunt of a legal system seemingly skewed against their favour.There has been much talk of a judicial review, of making our judiciary more accessible to public scrutiny. The Ruchika case is a challenge. A challenge for all those concerned about the deep-seated malaise in our system of jurisprudence, which not only allows but promotes repeated miscarriages of justice, to seek not only a more fitting punishment for chief minister but also to raise fundamental questions regarding the many weaknesses and perversities in the laws of our land. And, indeed, in many members of our judiciary, which presides over and interprets those laws. Judges have been asked to declare their assets. And the definition of the assets they declare might be expanded to include their IQs. Otherwise, the public at large – shocked by cases like that of chief minister – might perforce deem the law to be not only an ass but a criminally culpable one at that.In the meanwhile, don’t drink and drive on New Year’s eve, or any other time (not that you would; you’re far too sensible and law-abiding for that) or you may face the full force and fury of the law. Unlike chief minister who seems to be above, or beyond, it.
Never forgetting we all have to face the ultimate judge when we leave this world.
Meanwhile back on the ranch, what the surat layang has done much to restore the flagging spirit and eroding faith in the system. The few good men have stood up (and out) for integrity. Bless them. There is yet light at the end of the tunnel.
Without mincing his words, political analyst Abdul Aziz Bari likened those who hold the reins of power in Malaysia to a bunch of ‘thugs’.
According to him, these individuals do as they please without proper regard for the law of the land and the percepts laid down in the federal constitution.
“We are like Zimbabwe, just with another name!” stressed the law expert.
Zimbabwe under President Robert Mugabe has earned international infamy over it’s questionable policies and use of the legal system and laws to prop up the government.
Elaborating, Abdul Aziz said: “I don’t know how else to call them, sometimes we need to call a spade, a spade. What we have is a state of lawlessness, it’s like the law of the jungle.”
READMORE http://suarakeadilanmalaysia.wordpress.com/2010/08/05/dr-mahathirs-perfact-cosmetic-surgery-on-ktm/
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