Tahun 2010 berlalu lebih awal!

Pagi Khamis 30 Disember 2010 negara dikejutkan dengan berita PM mengisytiharkan cuti umum untuk keesokan harinya, Jumaat 31 Disember.  Ada di kalangan rakyat yang gembira, tetapi ada juga terkedu.  Golongan kedua ini termasuk mereka yang merancang melaksanakan tugas-tugas rasmi sebelum tirai 2010 ditutup.  Najib, yang begitu teruja dengan kemenangan Malaysia ke atas negra jiran dalam sukan bola sepak, telah melondehkan tirai 2010 dengan mendadak sekali.

Ada yang tertanya: Bagaimana PM buat keputusan?  Sudahkah dia pertimbangkan baik-baik dari semua segi?  Dahlah hari bekerja - termasuk bank - 5 hari.  Menjelang hujung tahun yang patutnya dipanjangkan dengan sebab yang jelas tiba-tiba dipendekkan lagi ...

Sudahkah PM menimbangkan betul-betul implikasi ekonominya?

Ibu bapa yang menghantar anak mereka kembali ke sekolah pun terpaksa bergegas-gegas menyiapkan segala yang perlu - sebab sekolah tidak akan dibuka pada 31 Disember.

Ada 2 persoalan di sini.  Pertama: wajarkah cuti umum diisytiharkan sewenangnya?  Kedua: jikapun wajar diisytiharkan cuti tidakkah ada hari yang lebih sesuai?

Pada pendapat saya, jawapan soalan kedua itu jelas:  Hari yang lebih sesuai diisytiharkan ialah Isnin 3 Januari 2011.  Cuti umum Isnin bermakna kita panjangkan hayat 2010 supaya ramai yang sempat membereskan tugas yang nyaris-nyaris tertunggak sementara kita tunda sedikit permulaan 2011.

Ramai yang akan mampu tersenyum jika itu dilaksanakan.

Insiden ini menunjukkan gaya PM kita membuat keputusan:  trigger-happy.  Implikasinya serius apabila berhadapan dengan krisis yang memerlukan keputusan jitu dibuat dengan pantas.

Richard Holbrooke 1941-2010

'To End A War' in 1990's

In 2000's

My comment:  An outstanding, brilliant diplomat, probably accomplished more than Kissinger did for the US.  A very colourful person who conducted diplomacy in much of his own way - did not not shy away from befriending dictators.  He is widely quoted (in obituaries) for the following 1999 words:

"If you can prevent the deaths of people still alive, you're not doing a disservice to those already killed trying to do so.  And so I make no apologies for negotiating with Milosevic and even worse people, provided one doesn't lose one's point of view."

Kissinger said of Holbrooke:

"If Richard calls you and asks you for something, just say yes. If you say no, you'll eventually get to yes, but the journey will be very painful."

Colourful adjectives and pictures such as 'physical, feisty, bulldozer, the raging bull' have been used to describe Holbrooke the diplomat.

Notable for the Dayton Agreement which ended the Balkan war.  Of Jewish parentage, raised as a Quaker, but turned out to be atheist, according to his mother. Married three times.

Died on Monday December 13. 2010 caused by a torn aorta.  [A torn aorta is a rip in the inner wall of the body's largest artery. The result is serious internal bleeding, a loss of normal blood flow and possible complications in organs affected by the resulting lack of blood, according to medical experts. Without surgery it generally leads to rapid death.]

You may not agree with some of the things he did, but you have to admit he did work for his country's interest, and he had given his best, up to the last hours of his life.  Above all, he seemed to have truly believed in what he did.

Here is an obituary  that appears today on the New Yorker:

'Hisham says Soi Lek has upset Umno leaders'

I read the report by Clara Chooi of the Malaysian Insider [December 08, 2010 pm] with interest, not for the contents (as they are just predictable of the Keris-wielding Malay jaguh) but at the picture that goes with the report.  I searched through the web for reports by other - especially the mainstream - media but could not find any at the time (just suppose they are still waiting for words from the top on how to print it ...)

You can read for yourself the report in the Malaysian Insider, but I just want you to behold the picture that goes with the report:

Isn't it the IGP in the background.?

If so, it brings home the very point [of course, there was another] which Chua Soi Lek seemed trying to get across:  abuse of power, conflict of interest, complacency, sheer recklessness ...

In his capacity as a politician, representing (the big brother or the real tuan)  UMNO at that, airing his disappointment over some opinions from his own political comrades, he has the IGP on his side.

The picture disturbs me, an ordinary citizen, just as many statements that came out of the mouth of this politician do.  He threatens his political enemies - and friends alike - while playing with the ambiguity as to whether he is just a benign politician or the sinister in charge of the police.

Are we on the verge of seeing the ISA being invoked, given the charged atmosphere:  what with the 'Ketuanan Melayu' issue being spinned out-of-control, and the Palace seemed so gullibly dragged in?  Furthermore. the GE fever, or fervour, which Najib has brought on, seems to have been doused by a stream of bad omens against it.

The GE is just a mechanism to perpetuate the BN's hold on power.  There is other means too.

The ISA cards could be on the table, and the pretexts have been so nicely designed ...  After all, Najib has also vowed that Putrajaya should be defended at all costs.

'AG and Documents' by Art Harun

 [Comment: I couldn'thave said better ...]

I read with particular interest a report by the Malaysian Insider that the AG was ready to declassify documents which are now classified as official secrets under the Official Secrets Act in the Tun Ling Liong Sik's prosecution.

The AG was quoted as saying, "I have no problems. I will provide the documents." The reason for doing so, according to the report is, "we have an understanding...that this will be sorted before the trial proper starts."

The report continues to say that "the top government lawyer said he was doing it to ensure the trial would run smoothly."

Tun Ling is charged under section 418 of the Penal Code. That charge, upon conviction, carries a sentence of imprisonment of up to seven years or a fine, or both.

It is good to see the AG willingly disclosing all documents to the defence for once. In this case, those documents are deemed so important to the nation, so much so they were categorised as official secrets. The disclosure of these documents may even affect national security. That is why they are so categorised.

However, in order for the court to arrive at a fair and just decision, the truth must come out. It is therefore only fair for the AG to declassify the documents so thatthe trial will run smoothly (as the AG is quoted to have said) and also to enable the defence team to prepare its defence properly.

The willingness and the speed by which the AG agrees to declassify the documents and is releasing the same to the defence is however a far cry from the Sodomy 2 case, where the AG is unwilling to even release medical notes and reports to the defence team.

The medical notes and reports are personal in nature. They are not categorised as official secrets. They are just about the accuser's rectum, what it contains and how the rectum looks like. To put it bluntly, those reports and notes are about, well, to be crass, they are about a person's ass. Nothing more.

These documents are essential to the defence. They will serve to justify and verify the truth and accuracy of what the various medical doctors are saying in their testimony. The disclosure of these documents will no doubt ensure justice and fairness.

It will reveal the naked truth.

Harga barang naik lagi ...

Goodbye Sam-y

I really enjoy the music ... thanks whoever created it.

enter