H1N1: It's getting out of hand..in Malaysia

Guong

It was May 15th that Malaysia got her first H1N1 case. 4 month have pass since then yet the death rate in Malaysia is 4 times the global fatality rate?

Why does other countries such as India have lesser fatality cases (24 deaths) compared to Malaysia? Something must have gone terribly wrong.

From what I've observed for the past months,

1. Schools were still opened even though there are cases of H1N1 infected students reported.
2. People still went for the movies. Transformers, Ice Age 3, Harry Potter, G.I Joe to name a few.
3. One can see only a few wear the surgical mask when shopping, commuting or traveling. Airports included.
4. Misleading info not long ago about how H1N1 spread due to 'name conflict'.

Now, as a citizen, the only thing we can do are to stay healthy and practice good hygiene. Forget the Mega Sell Carnival 2009.

And for all of the politicians out there, please don't politicize this pandemic.

PAS president stupid, obnoxious, racist and arrogant remarks..

Guong

I'm so disturbed by this remarks which was quoted from non-other that PAS president himself, Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang.

I'm not Sarawakian but as a Sabahan and as a people of Borneo, the remarks really irritate me to the point that.........just.....damn!!

I've wrote about how west Malaysian stereotyped us east Malaysian and this is an example of such stereotype with the highest order of chauvinist like mentality. And this actually came from a party that are said to champion the people rights?!!

What was the remark?

Hadi was reported as saying: “Semua pilihanraya kecil sebelum ini keputusannya memihak kepada kita. Cuma di Batang Ai sahaja kita kalah sebab mereka ini tidak reti undi, pakai cawat lagi. Saya bukan nak hina tetapi tempat yang pakai molek, undi PAS.
[or in English]
(In all previous by-elections, the results favoured us. Only in Batang Ai we lost because they did not know how to vote, still wearing loincloths. I am not trying to insult but in those places where people dressed nicely, they voted for PAS.)”TBP

By the time I wrote this post, there are still no sign or news of Hadi apologizing or retracting his remark.

If this is the kind of mentality they have in their narrow mind regarding East Malaysian, they are no different than those Umno/BN goons who think of us only as a fix deposit or an example of 1Malaysia nation.

PAS, another racist party. In fact, all of West Malaysian parties are racist. That's how East Malaysian sees it. Hadi's remark just confirms it.

After the 100th day...

Guong

It's old news even though it happen just a week ago. Our PM have dishes out 11 goodies for us right before the Manek Urai by-election. Coincidence? Unlikely.

Now people are more interested in an 'accident' that took place at the MACC building. It's a sad incident indeed. But that's another topic.

How about the 11 'goodies'?

1. a 20% discount for motorists who pay toll 80 times a month via Smart Tag or Touch ’n Go from Sept 1.
I don't see this as feasible. 80 times a month? Only via Smart Tag or Touch 'n Go? Only a bunch of the whole highway users will benefit from this and most likely these 'bunch' are a wealthy bunch. And this measure is actually aimed at the low income motorist? How many of these low income motorists actually use the highway 80 times a month? So impractical I would say.

2. some 44,000 low-cost houses in Kuala Lumpur to be sold to existing tenants.
How about the loan procedures, the interest rate, eligibility..?

3. a 50% discount on licences for petty traders in the Federal Territory.
Hmm..Ok, I have to give credit on this one.

4. a RM150mil allocation for entrepreneurs, and another RM15mil specifically for young Indian businessmen.
Sounds good...just wondering, where do they get the allocation from?

5. another 3,000 taxi permits to be approved soon.
3,000 more blood sucker in the making. No offense to taxi drivers but I'm yet to find a single taxi driver who are not a 'blood sucker'. I hope the recent increase on taxi fare would reduce their blood sucker-ness.

6. expediting birth registrations in Sabah and Sarawak.
Now this is serious. How will they differentiate illegal immigrants from Sabahan or Sarawakian? It happens before and this would be seen as an opportunity by these 'alien' to become citizen. I smell another population boom in Sabah. Damn!

7. clearing the backlog of citizenship applications.
This also bears the same problem as point 6. And isn't Sabah and Sarawak state government has full authority on its state NRD? How come the federal government can say 'clear the backlog of your citizenship applications'? Double Damn!!

8. improving access to basic utilities in rural areas.
This also focused on Sabah and Sarawak. And the sad part is, this was already promised way back after they took (read 'stole') Sabah in 1994. What with this re-promised promise? Triple Damn!!!

9. reducing the cost to obtain a B2 motorcycle licence (under 250cc).
More Mat Rempit in the making.

10. setting up a new trust fund, Amanah Saham 1Malaysia, for investors aged above 18.
Where will the money be invested? Will there be any race quota since it's called Amanah Saham 1Malaysia? Who are eligible to invest in this fund, the rich, the poor? I see a long queue up ahead..

11. various measures to be announced soon to curb crime and corruption.
Ironically, the MACC incident happens. Crime and corruption complete in one package. And it's a big one too.

Populist? I wonder what's installed in the next 100th day.

No more PPSMI or Teaching Science and Mathematics in English

Guong

First thing comes to my mind after knowing this decision was "Is it politically motivated?". And unsurprisingly, that was also the first thing they denied in scraping this policies. Which only fuel my doubt on weather this was politically motivated or not.

This issue have been long discussed, debated, questioned and to some extent, condemned by different walks of people in Malaysia.

It all comes down to one word. Politic.

Who will suffer from this? The pupils, students, teachers and our future.
Who will benefit from this? The politicians and chauvinist nationalist.

Was PPSMI a failure?

He however denied that the PPSMI policy had failed.

"I wouldn't say it was a complete failure, but it did not achieve what it was supposed to achieve," he said.M.I

A 'maybe' answer. And this answer actually came from our DPM.

So, was the previous policy a success? I meant before PPSMI was implemented. If it was successful, why did they made PPSMI policy? So, the policy before PPSMI wasn't successful either. Then, why are they taking a step backward?

Politicians really screwed our education system. And they actually realized it since they sent their children to international school or private school.

Damn!

*You can read the data about this policy here during its 6 years implementation.

Swine flu (selsema babi) or H1N1?

Guong

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 (Bernama) -- Information Communication and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Dr Rais Yatim today suggested that all media return to using the terminology "swine flu" instead of Influenza A(H1N1). Bernama

What with this name change? The whole world is using H1N1 as a reference to this flu. Why change it?

He said this was to ensure that the people realized the danger of the disease and to get the message across to them more accurately.

It is also easier for (radio and television) announcers to state "selsema babi" (swine flu) than H1N1 in Bahasa Melayu, he told reporters after an official visit to Pos Malaysia, here.

What? If these announcers can't even pronounce such easy word, how on earth did they manage to become an announcer in the first place? Sounds more like an insult rather than helping them.

And what did our health minister have to say about this terminology?

PUTRAJAYA, June 26 (Bernama) -- The Health Ministry is sticking to the term Influenza A (H1N1) based on three reasons, namely the virus that causes the spread of the disease is a mixture of three aspects -- human beings, avian and swine -- as identified by the World Health Organisation (WHO), said its Director-General Tan Sri Dr Mohd Ismail Merican. bernama

The answer by 'Dr'. Rais Yatim?

"We in the ministry will continue to use the easy-to-understand term. We will use the A(H1N1) terminology but for subsequent mentions, we will proceed with the term swine flu," he told reporters after the launching of the "1Malaysia" logo by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak here. bernama

Kinda ironic since he said this in the launching of 1Malaysia logo.

Or is this just some subtle way to give all the pork eaters/breeders some hint that one day, they'll ban pig? I'm just speculating.

Why do I reach to such speculation?

1. 'Selsema babi' or swine flu doesn't really define this flu accurately since it can be transmitted from human to human not from pig to human only. Maybe someone might say, "What about 'selsema burung' or bird flu?" Bird flu was named bird flu because the flu transmitted from bird to human only.

2. We've been using the term H1N1 even before this flu became a pandemic. So saying that this term will spread the massage across is just nonsense. The whole world is using the term H1N1. It will only cause confusion.

3. This statement was made by a politician who is not even involved in any medication related field. Judging from the political scene in Malaysia nowadays, everything will be politicized.

4. So, if they can't give the correct impression about this flu, how can they control it from spreading? I've already heard some people talking about avoiding pig to avoid catching this flu. (All thanks to the term 'selsema babi')

5. And some already voice irrational idea such as eliminating all of the pig in Malaysia. Don't believe me? Try surfing the web. You'll be surprised. And most of them are Malaysian.

They should just focus on treating and controlling this pandemic. Changing the name isn't helping much.

Why blame the pig? Or is it 'Why blame the pork eater?'

No news worth mentioning?

Guong

Lately, all of the front page issues have been revolving only around West Malaysia. And all of it were political issues. Ironically, we Sabahan couldn't care less or should I say we can't really relate with these issues.

The Chin Peng issue, the 'unity government' issue, Manek Urai by-election, Nizar stunt in the parliament etc.

Yet the issues that are relevant for the whole Malaysia were not being 'issued' as much as these more hype and politically beneficial issues.

Such as economy, human trafficking issue and being immune with it etc.

And they talk about 1Malaysia...

One Malaysia, Sabah the best example? Don't talk sweet!!

Guong

Kota Kinabalu: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak on his maiden visit to Sabah as Prime Minister praised the State for displaying the best example of his "One Malaysia: People First, Performance Now" concept.DE

The best? Really? But that wasn't the case when we were still an opposition 15 years ago. What were the accusation by the federal government back then? Forgot already? Let us walk down the memory lane.

- Sabah is anti-West Malaysian.
- Sabah discriminate Muslims.
- Sabah pro-Christian.
- Sabah is a very hostile place.

These were during Sabah was still an opposition (PBS era). They said all these just so they can break our unity back then. It didn't work so they used an even dirtier tricks. Defection or better know as "Katak" and also 'Projek I.C' people. The result? Well, just look at Sabah now. The last in every aspect and it all happen during Umno reign.

And now, after their power depends solely on Sabah and Sarawak, they came back uttering sweet words.

Recalling his statement a few years ago that Sabah is like a "fixed deposit" in the BN, he quipped his visit was to check the value of the fixed deposit and believed the value would remain at a high level.DE

Oh..fixed deposit again? What, are we just some kind of bailout cash for them to stay in power?

Ok, before anyone says that it's the Sabahan own fault for not having the balls to make a change, let me give these 'anyone' a bit of history lesson.

Which state in Malaysia that have change more than 2 ruling party since the birth of Malaysia?
P.Pinang? Kedah? Perak? Kelantan? Terengganu? Selangor?

The answer is Sabah. We've tasted 5 different ruling party and we give them the boot every time they perform poorly. Unko/Upko, Usno, Berjaya, PBS and BN. Excepts for PBS where Umno/BN played dirty. So, don't call us as afraid of change, we already beat you guys to it way before you guys wanted change. ('you guys' refer to those ignorant opposition members from PR and Umno/BN)

People first, performance now? Sabah the best example for one Malaysia? These words doesn't mean anything to me. I believe most Sabahan also doesn't give a damn about it. What we want is the actual result.

Simply put, Walk The Talk. Don't just blah..blah..blah.. We Sabahan are not that gullible with these sweet praises. Or we'll give you the boot, again!