Ini untuk minum Kopi! (this is for your coffee!)

Coffee….ah. Nothing like a nice cuppa of freshly brewed coffee.

In fact, the coffee bars are enjoying brisk business, these days. But lets take a look at how its done here in Malaysia, shall we? Wong Sai Wan shared his views here, and I thought he was making a good point.

In Malaysia, the term “Kopi O License” is often used for drivers who break the law or even those who are ignorant of the law. Such is the case. And sometimes, just sometimes (ok, who am I trying to kid? MOST of the time, really) we get to hear this phrase, “Duit Kopi” which literally means coffee money, except that there is something more to it.

Much like “I scratch your back, you scratch mine” kinda thing.

So, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s announcement recently of the formation of the Malaysian Commission of Anti Corruption is a most welcomed change. But does he and his counterparts from Barisan Nasional really mean it? I sincerely doubt it.

One cannot help but imagine the worse when you look at the lifestyle of those in power, as well as those in the fringes. With their wives in toe as well closing down ‘welfare and charitable’ organizations whose money was raised for those efforts, now citing ‘that these monies cannot go to the new state government for fear that the money will not reach those in need’ is simply pathethic! But this is not just my opinion.

How else can you explain these?

(If you ask me, I would rather pay Starbucks for their lovely coffee to fete my supporters rather then packaging these myself! It’s a no brainer “would you like a cuppa BN coffee of Starbucks?” If the PM is serious about fighting graft, BN must stop this kind of practice!

222 and away we go

the 222 members of Parliament will be sworn in today. Amongst them will be our All Blogs V.P Jeff Ooi. One thing for sure is that this time in the sitting, there will be decent representation of Barisan Rakyat Pakatan Rakyat's elected representatives.
It was also announced by the Information Ministry that they have set aside at least RM1.4 million daily for its live broadcast of the proceedings, although they have only committed 30 minutes!
Wow! How generous! Seems to me like money well spent (if indeed there is expenses to that tune, which I am sure their equipment should all be written off in value by now...) as opposed to those crappy programs aired over TV1 & 2 now! There was also a promise by the Ministry that the proceedings will not be censored no matter how sensitive in nature the contents. (yah sure)
One of the questions I would like to hear is how on earth did a 'welfare' body set up by their wives, under the auspice of the State Government is allowed to transfer money as they see fit, and what kind of welfare (Travelling en-masse overseas) and charity this kinds of entourage do in Australia?
Or was it Europe?

I am looking forward to hearing our brother Jeff speak, as I am sure that he will for one ask of what has happened to the wi-max licensees as well as to the mechanism and policies of SKMM in his most favoured subject....Telcos!

read here , here or AP news here for similar stories

Boss, now that you are no longer boss, who gets the money?

Tsk Tsk Tsk….public funds , My Money,BN Government’s Money,My Government’s Money , OK, money that’s collected from the tax payer’s! Phew! How can you describe the money then? Come on, go ahead!

It seems those people in power (before the 8^th of March, that is) do not know the difference between State government owned money and Federal owned money! Err, I am no expert, but having confirmed this with someone in the know, I was made to understand that State coffers means State managed monies! If there is a deficit budget, then they try to get more from the Federal Government. (just like your children get monies for their own use, and if they have used up all theirs then, mama and papa just have to cough out more!)

But how about monies, donated (on what grounds, we certainly will never know, OSA mah) to a certain organization for welfare and charitable use (if this body did use the money for these noble purposes, how then did they end up with RM10 million???)? read here Not yours, and here gone in a matter of days....

Does it mean that if the person who sits as the Chair of that body has the right to amend the body’s constitution in order for that person to remain incharge of that fund???
I did not know that being loyalist to political parties would have different means of dispensing monies to charities!

So, not being privy to much information about where, who, why, how, I picked this up from the Sun, and shook my head in disgust, at the attitudes of these disgusting wives of the Association of Wives of Assemblymen and Parliament members of Selangor!

My questions are as follows:

1.On what grounds did PKNS part their money to the tune of half a million to this association?

2.If this association was to do welfare work for charity, (and from the way they are behaving) have they been only dispensing help to BN supporters?

3.If this association was for the wives of State Assemblymen and Parliament members, when Parliament was dissolved, then why was a meeting not convened earlier before the elections?

4.The chair of the association would have been assumed to have held on to the reigns of the association for too long, won’t that be?

So many questions, and no answers! More and more shit dirt are coming out to the open. And yet, the BN led government can still attest to their leadership by example. Wasn’t it some months back that the EC chief said that only BN can govern this country?

What’s your take?

Lets just cut all our trees down shall we? In support of DBKL....

Urrrrggh! Damn these buggers of the environment! I can't think of a more catchy headline in orderfor me to get this message across!

Barely two weeks ago, I reported that the Ampang Hills was being threatened with development that had received planning permission to which most residents objected. The Selangor Government had also made it known that all developments of hill slopes in categories 3 (above 25°, below 35 °) & 4(above35°) had been stopped immediately. This was done in the hope to protect the environment. But more hill slopes that are being threatened has come to light, thanks to the casual approval of development projects, both by city & town councils. How an entire hillslope can be rid of trees and approved to build bungalows goes beyond one’s imagination.

The description by an immigrant resident two weeks ago lays truth to the objective of these developers, likening them to drug pushers, putting money ahead of their responsibility! By cutting down the trees that play a role in keeping the slope firm, these agents against the environment are speeding up soil erosion on the slope. What more with the current rainy spells that we have been experiencing, the residents at the foot of the hill cannot be faulted in raising their voices! Recalling the major landslide tragedies in this country, from the Highland Tower collapse, to the Genting Highlands tragedy, the North Sounth Highway landslides, The Ukay Heihts landslides, there just are no shortages of lessons to be learnt.

Yet, the City Council of Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) saw it fit to approve this project at the hillslopes of Medan Damansara. For as long as I remember, having grown up in the vicinity, the hill slope bordering Medan Damasara had remained largely green and protected. Right now, its muddy orange, with the entire hill made bare of its green foliage. Don't you just love our civil servants when the objections are finally raised in the local newspapers, they somehow find dault in the developers! Stop work, it seems is the best that they can do! Hoi! WTF was it approved in the first place? Did the developers plant trees for every one that they cut down? havent they heard of green replenishments? One thing for sure is that you can 'plant' a hill slope! or fabricate one to be more precise! MP Lembah Pantai saw it fit to comment, but we really do not need sideshows! We need affirmative action! Don't get me wrong. Its good that she has taken interest, but do we need our MP's to focus on these? I think not.
I suppose, the developer will claim its right to develop its own land as expected, but at what cost? As it is, green tress and foliage is fast shrinking in the Klang Valley, and with the Selangor State Development Body (PKNS) leading in having had the honour to be fined the heaviest for its encroachment into the Bukit Cerakah Forest Reserve, it is no wonder that our very civil servants entrusted to protect our green lungs are being systematically destroyed in the sake of development! Thanks to DBKL too, Bkt Gasing is under threat again....

What do we have to do to protect our environment?

I suggest we look to the ever environment friendly government in Australia for help. Please do something before our environment gives up on us!

How apt that our councils see it fit to do it like this!........this post is in support of Earth Day!

City Council Shafts local citizenry!

A blogger friend of mine said this to me once “Your postings are good but it doesn’t really rock the government”. Its true, after all this blog started out with the intention to show its readers the kind of injustice and discriminatory practices an airline in Malaysia shafted its own dished out to its staff. And as it would have played out, that airline stopped this blogger from saying anything more. ( but do visit regularly once the Industrial court comes out with its verdict some time in July). I am sure you will be able to read and compare the kind that I will be posting about.

For now, I have to contend with stories like these, and hope that you as the reader will see what most people have to put up with. I was alerted by a reader a week ago, and thanks to the Star Metro for pointing this out. The MBPJ (Petaling Jaya City Council) has saw it fit to restrict a public playing field that used to be accessible to citizens of the municipality to its own use for staff and families of the council! As it stands, there is already a shortage of playing fields and with a school teacher citing this for the fact that their students use this field for training, what other reasons can they raise to protest this move by the city council?

I have seen competitions being hosted in this field, paintball competitions, and even 7 a side football matches, not to mention a boring local football league match. Do they have this right? I don’t think so, but I have yet to look through the by-laws of this council. YB Petaling Selatan should look into this as well as the assemblyman.

I know I will be really pissed off if this happened in my neighbourhood, and I am also sure you will be too….will you?

Delivering Justice, Renewing Trust

UPDATE: 21st April, this may be old news but this is what the other judges had to say about the Judicial Appointment Committee.......Read Here
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That is just what the speech was supposed to be. A special address by the Prime Minister, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was delivered to a roomful of Law practitioners, including former Chief Justice Tun Salleh Abbas as well as Tan Sri Azmi Kamaruddin. The much awaited speech, which contents were carried by The Straits Times was short of an apology much needed by those who were involved in the 8888 Judiciary crisis (8888 depicts 8 of August 1988).
Also present at the dinner were family members of the late Tan Sri Wan Sulaiman Pawanteh, and the late Tan Sri Abdoolcader. Dato' George Seah & Tan Sri Wan Hamzah were unwell and had not made the dinner.
This being the first opportunity for him to address the legal fraternity(after the elections), he recounted how the judiciary, formerly an example and model to other countries, had been scarred from the 1988 crisis.
Acknowledging the perceived corruption and perceived decline of the political atmosphere, PM Badawi added that no nation can be called fair without an independent Judiciary.
Reflecting the cries of some Royals, seen as a call for a judicial renaissance, Prime Minister even recalled the march of the lawyers in Putrajaya, dubbed by some, Th Penguin Walk.
PM also made it known that he did appoint Dato' Zaid Ibrahim, calling the move 'a political leap of faith'.
He also announced the need to prevent abuse by safeguarding the process, and in line with that , the nominating, appointment and promoting of Judges be done through the Judicial Appointment commission, with the prerogative being with the PM to recommend to the King for approval. The process will involve primary stakeholders, and asserts the need to alleviate the current level of remuneration. The need to also compensate those that were involved in the 1988 saga was also addressed. PM then urged the fraternity to move ahead and for all to do their part in order to work together and start a new chapter.
Earlier Bar Council President Ambiga S touched on the need to address the issue of ISA detainees, and hoped that the PM will also undertake to solve the nagging problem.

It can be argued that this is just another smokescreen for the embattled UMNO President, but in reliaty PM Abdullah Badawi had just performed a PR coup de'tat.

Other reports can be found here, and here . Rocky sees Tun Salleh as a giant of a man.
Najib's take on the piecemeal offered.
And one hell of a hilarious 'Photo' and accompanying report....! (Reproduced here in case it is taken off from this official MSM site!)

This photo was taken from the Utusan Malaysian Online website!
My mum can do better than this!
(but if this was indeed the original photo, then Ambiga's complements must have gotten to Pak Lah's head!)

What does it take for us to pay more attention to our Environment?(2)

I reported about the residents of Ampang Hills, specifically residents from Taman Hijau, Taman TAR, Ukay Heights, and those affected by the proposed development of the hill coming together last Saturday to voice their concerns to their members of Parliament and Selangor State Council Chairman for Environment. Today, they took time off work to meet with the local council (Majlis Perbandaran Ampang Jaya) and developer at the local public hearing.
Chaired by Selangor State Executive Councillor for Local Governments YB Ronnie Liu, most departments were on hand to provide answers to the residents. At least, that was what it was planned for. One by one, the residents took to the microphones voicing their concerns, ranging from the soil instability to traffic issues, as well as the much required planning permission.
Although no technical documents were made available to those protesting, it was understood that MPAJ had in fact allowed the developer MAA Assurance, to place two information kiosk, believed to have also contained copies of relevant technical details.
The Department of Environment's technical representative present (name unknown, as it was not provided) also made a rather surprising statement. He said, to the astonishment of most present, that a detailed Environmental Impact study is only required for land development projects greater than 50 Hectares. As the proposed development stands at around 25 hectares, it seems by law the Detailed Environmental Impact study can be dispensed away. Surprisingly, given the instability of the surrounding area, the Director of DOE had also allowed this oversight, which is upheld by law, and further chose not to invoke his authority in demanding a detailed study.
If one chooses to follow the letter of the law, then I suppose, we can just bulldoze the hill.
Rightfully as pointed out by one of the residents involved, the very tragedy of the Highland Towers had all been forgotten. One person who chose to be heard was none other than Dr Benjamin George. He is still the president of the Highland Towers Residents committee.
Dr George who lost his family and friends in the 1993 tragedy gave an insight to the results of the long standing legal battle. The Highland Towers committee was taken to court by the MPAJ and lost cost of the matter, and they were made to pay cost of Rm1.5 million.
(Part of the judgement "As a local authority, the 4th defendant (MPAJ) owes a duty of care to the plaintiffs to use reasonable care, skill and diligence to ensure that the hill slope and the drainage was properly accommodated before approving building or other related plans, and during construction stage, to comply with and to ensure the implementation of drainage system. Then when CFs were applied for, there should be proper and thorough inspection on whether the buildings so built were safe in all aspect and not just confine only to the structure. And after the Highland Towers was erected, to ascertain drainage requirement in the area was adequate to ensure slope stability behind Block 1. Then subsequent to the collapse of Block 1, measures should have been taken to prevent recurrence of the tragedy to Block 2 & 3.")
Dr Benjamin made his protest on the grounds that a tragedy like the one that he had experienced must not be permitted to happen again, which there is a possibility of, if development of the very hill that caused the collapse of the Highland Towers block be allowed.
He also appealed to the new state government to interject and possibly get MPAJ to refund the cost which his association.

Dato' Abdul Aziz, the President of the Taman Hijau RA also cited the soil composition of the surrounding area, and on those grounds asked for the detailed soil study documents be produced. Prior to today's meeting, it seems the only documents provided to the RA's were insufficient. On the subject of detailed reports, and documents, YB Elizabeth Wong in her position as Chair for Environment of the Selangor State Exco, assured all that if at all any documents were classified as State Secrets, she will bring the matter up to the Menteri Besar in order to declassify the documents so that all involved will be given fair access to it.
Perhaps the most glaring issue is that almost all present in the room was uncomfortable with the mammoth development of the hill, what more given the regular soil movement that had caused many landslides, both major and minor.

At the hearing, after the protestations of the residents, MPAJ and relevant representatives from those supporting the development were given the opportunity to answer to the queries.
IKRAM gave their stand and highlighted that IKRAM is a bipartisan body that focuses on the studies that are independently produced, and from there make recommendations.
However, the only reference that I could get through the net was the corporate information of Ikram Sdn Bhd, which appears to me is a private entity, in the field of geotechnical surveying and consultancy. What IKRAM did state was that they received 3 seperate geotechnical reports from independent companies, which the developers had hired. What the law says about this, I am not sure, but it does appear that the developer did appoint these independent surveyors, and if so, how truly independent were they in discharging their duties?

In all honesty, the Local council did follow their by laws, and if so, they did in fact follow the laid down letter of the law. As for the developers, we can only assume that they did so too.
And if that is the case, where then will these residents bring their complaints to?
A senior resident, a Dato'Sri (presumably a retired law enforcer) was close to tears in stating the obvious, having to fight the council and developers in order for him to enjoy the golden years of his life, despite serving the country and having risked his life, he was clearly beyond words that actions like these have brought him to the front again, albeit in different circumstances.

MAA's Mr Tan Thean Eng then took to the stand in saying that MAA was the rightful land owner and because of economic reasons, his company do have the right to exercise theirs, in developing their land, and added that they have complied with every letter of the law.
Attempts to show those present computer aided models via the computer encountered some technical errors resulting in a poorly projected video. Mr Tan in his efforts to protect his company's interest also made a surprising remark, that the Residents who first cited safety as their concern (fear of landslides) have also now resorted to claiming protection of the green lung.
Mr Tan then added that the 'protection of Green Lung' is not the priority of MAA, as they purely see it as a project, in order for them to recover the RM290 million already spent on the project. He also made a public offer that the immediate solution to the problem is for someone to purchase the hill in question from MAA.

Protection and security in the eyes of those staying there remains as one intertwined issue which both the developer and the local council must see to. It seems for now, all the residents want is a careful consideration of all aspects as well as the solution that all can be happy about.
It has to be, given that they agreed to the immediate formation of a task force which is to include members of the council as well as technical bodies in hope that they can all come to an amicable solution ahead of the appeal tribunal, which if a decision is taken, can only be stopped by the courts.
Tengku Mahani in her capacity as the coordinator for the residents association in the newly formed task force , had expressed that all documents that were requested before had never been given to the resident associations what more communication from the various departments involved in the approval process. As such they will take the opportunity to study these documents carefully before replying. The formation of the task force as suggested by YB Ronnie is a step forward in trying to look for a settlement.

Also made known was an apparent conversation between a member of the development company to a friend of a Resident "don't worry about landslides after this, we will cut away with all the slopes!". Said in jest or not, it is indeed worrying if all developers think like this.

Read here for related approved development by the MPAJ that affected residents

save Ukay Heights has their own blog, and through their links, learn more about how other residents are facing uphill fights with their local council to save their environment

And here to fore more related news and issues surrounding Bukit Antarabangsa

Malay Mail carried this
(Photos will follow once technical errors are corrected)

It was an Illegal gathering...

April 14th saw a mammoth gathering of PKR supporters at the Sultan Sulaiman Club grounds in Kampung Bharu. It is now said that the gathering was illegal, at least according to KL Deputy Police Chief SAC (1) Dato' Abdul Samah Mat. It is really good to see that the Police are taking steps to curb illegal gathering. Which brings us back to the point, why is there a need to have police permits for a gathering in a private compound? Why need permits at all? I don't think it is right to have permits at all, whether its for BN or PR purposes. The police should be there to provide security if there are crowd troubles. Thats it.
I certainly do not need permission from anyone if I want to go to a place where people gather.
BTW, did the Police summon Pak Lah or other UMNO top dogs for the protest that UMNO members took part in Komtar? or Shah Alam? Hey, what about the 'forum' where Tun Mahathir, Mukhriz, and Khir Toyo spoke at in Singgahsana Hotel?
WTF! I think this permit thing for public gathering is shites!
Read here for the Star report on why three top PKR officers were summoned by the police.

We are Ready..

Anwar during his speech

Post event Press conference

Sultan Sulaiman club in the heartland of Urban Kampung. Its a historical ground indeed. In no way demeaning, the Kampung here is Kampung Bharu, a truely rural village in an urban setting!
Flushed with historical structures, Kampung Bharu thrives on its Malay heritage, and Sultan Sulaiman club is no different. Having played its role in the past , Sultan Sulaiman Club came to the fore again last night.
Anwar Ibrahim's Parti KeAdilan Rakyat had a mammoth gathering, both to thank it's supporters as well as to 'commemorate' his incarceration from society, more accurately UMNO, which also marks his return to active politics. The rally also saw PKR's elected Members of Parliament and State Assemblymen who showed up in what is possibly, PKR's strongest show of strength. The crowd grew steadily and had swelled to almost 20,000 when Anwar arrived. Chegu Bard, the Rembau candidate who lost to Khairy Jamaludin was the emcee of the night, leading the crowd to thunderous shouts of 'reformasi', a cry familiar to PKR die hards during Anwar's days of detention.
Not having earlier known about what the rally was all about, I covered it in hope to get good footages for myblog-tv. YB Azmin Ali, opened the proceedings, before YB Datuk Seri Wan Azizah made her short address, followed by YB Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim, The Menteri Besar of Selangor. Khalid saw it fit to recite the poetry Rajawali, by renowned Indonesian poet, WS Rendra. The poetry, a metaphor, which portrays the 'Rajawali', a majestic bird, with its vision of grandeur in the sky, will strike upon those who caged it up denying its rightful claim of flight!
And aptly, Khalid introduced Anwar who later tantalised the crowd with more of the UMNO spectacle. Anwar also went further in stating that PKR-DAP-PAS Pakatan Rakyat, will soon form the next government, if not in June, in July, and if not, in August, clearly a sign that he has already gotten the support from elected representatives from the ruling party! Or is it?
Not given the chance to close his speech, OCPD of Dang Wangi moved in to 'advice' the organisers to stop the event for fear of crowd trouble. Reportedly, the Police cited an even larger group of about 20000 people outside the premises as the problem. To loud jeers from the crowd, Anwar then made his concluding remarks.
In the post event press conference, he also touched on the need to rebuke Tun Mahathir's recent attacks on him, asserting that Tun Mahathir had a personal agenda, one of which was to push Najib ahead as the next Prime Minister. Anwar also cited Tun's decision to pay a famous corrupt lobbyist on Capitol Hill to get meetings with Bush (senior) as an example of Tun's misdeeds.
Anwar said that his decision to out Mahathir was due to the recent unfounded attacks on him, one of which was to accuse Anwar of being a Jewish Agent.
Anwar was asked when he will enter Parliament to which he replied that the priority was to manage the 5 states that are in the hands of Pakatan Rakyat as incorruptible, financially sound states and to fulfill their election manifesto, as well as ensuring a strong People's Alliance, before seeing the opportunity to negotiate with elected representatives who subscribe to the Alliance's principles and ideas in order to form a strong government. He also stated that his personal agenda of pursuing a seat in Parliament as not a priority.
When asked if the People's Alliance can already form the government, he gave his personal view of needing a comfortable majority (to form a government) in order to make sweeping changes in policies. When asked if the next DPM will be a Sabahan, Anwar said that it is for the next government to decide by consensus.
Reiterating that the Pakatan's principles of good governance, he asserted that there are no monetary offers to any elected reps who wish to cross over. He also made clear that the Alliance has rid itself off all UMNO endemics when asked if his party members who were previously strong UMNO stalwarts, would instill the UMNO culture of Politics through business.
On touching the issue of electoral violations with the help from the Electoral Commission, he cited the basic flaws of the commission, the last minute exclusion of indelible ink, the use of postal votes, and the need to still review the means.
Wan Azizah was also asked if she would be ready to be the first woman prime Minister, to which she replied she was ready, however the decision is that of consensus by nature, and one that the Alliance will decide on.
Perhaps the most striking statement from Anwar, was that "Pakatan Rakyat is now ready".
Ready or not, perhaps the next thing to watch out for is the swearing in of Parliament. Until then both sides are still playing this cat and mouse game.

(other reports here, boston globe, ABC Australia, myblog-tv)

What does it take for us to pay more attention to our Environment?

Residents and their elected Reps

Until the recent elections, most Malaysians were an apathetic lot. They really were.
The 'as long as it is not in my backyard' mentality still heeds. But it’s only my opinion.
I was told by a friend of mine, that if I could change my support for BN, then there is hope altogether for every other Malaysian. Yes, I am guilty as charged. A die hard Gomen supporter until recently, that is.

I was at the 'Save Ampang Hills' meeting today. Alerted by a fellow blogger Sri Menanti(read his post here), I got there in time for the start of the meeting. Three Resident Committees had gathered amidst three recently elected members of Parliament, as well as a State Exco member. State Council member for Tourism, Consumer Affairs and Environment, YB Elizabeth Wong was on site to receive the brief on the action committee's latest actions. The Ampang Hill which is to be developed by MAA, is part of the 141 hill slope development projects that was approved by the previous BN lead government. The resident committees of Taman Hijau, Ukay Heights and Taman TAR gathered to appeal to the current Pakatan Rakyat (People's Alliance) State Government to investigate 'approved' projects that were done at local council level in order to determine the feasibility as well as the environmental impact which could mitigate as a result of it. Taman Hijau RA President Datuk Abdul Aziz appealed to YB Azmin Ali, Member of Parliament for Gombak and State Assemblyman for Bukit Antarabangsa as well as YB Zuraida Kamarudin, MP for Ampang to provide their support and help in helping the RA's to halt the project.
Given the recent decision by the Selangor State Government to stop all hill slope projects (category 3&4 slopes are which slope with gradient of 29% or higher), the Ampang Hills project under the ownership of MAA, Malaysian Allied Assurance will have to stop. However, because MAA was given the conditional approval by the MPAJ (Ampang Jaya Municipal Council) in 2007, it seems for now, this project can only be appealed against by the RA's. YB Elizabeth Wong had added that though the State Exco can issue stop work orders and open investigations to these projects, she hoped that the RA's can utilise the channels available to them for now. This would mean the avenue of legal process.

YB Zuraida was more vocal and had vowed to ‘stand at the top of the hill’ should heavy machineries be brought in to clear the slope and jungle. During the gathering, residents were heard giving their opinion and thought to the representatives. One gentleman who immigrated from abroad had likened the behaviour of the developers to being drug pushers, placing interest in making money rather then protecting the environment. He reiterated that his decision to migrate to Ampang Jaya was because he loved it here, not particularly Malaysia, but Bukit Malawati! A local resident also pointed out how the public hearing on protest regarding the project was ‘bulldozed through’.

It is indeed disturbing to note that eventhough, the Highlands Tower tragedy (being the most deadly landslide tragedy of this nation) occurred in this same area, the local government can see it fit to approve such a high risk project. If nothing is done to stop these land grabbing, slope cutting, tree chopping developers to task, then we might as well follow the Brazilians in outdoing them to destroy the forest which so evidently needs protection. Shall we?

Of course not, and you can do your part in telling friends, and taking ownership, much like our friends in Ampang Hilir who are up in arms against indiscriminate development!
Start by sending emails of support to the MPAJ council, or better still show up for the next gathering where we can all join hands in saying enough!

save Ukay Heights has their own blog, and through their links, learn more about how other residents are facing uphill fights with their local council to save their environment

And here to fore more related news and issues surrounding Bukit Antarabangsa

(please visit myblog-tv.blogspot.com for the videos accompanying this report which shall be available for viewing from Tuesday 15^th April onwards)

What a difference a year makes. . .

Let's see...
1 year ago....this day
a.BN was still its arrogant self and governing the country ala the only way they know, divide and rule. One year later they are having the time of their life! (Pun intended)
b.All blogs was just formed, albeit a protem committee named, blog house was only in the thoughts of those people. One year on, All-Blogs hosted the Bangsa Malaysia do with People's Parliament initiative, Datuk Marina Mahathir chose to use blog-house as the venue for the Inter Faith Prayer which was held for Tun Dr Mahathir , The People's declaration was made public in the blog-house,
Global Voices Online met with the Protem Committee at all blogs before having a dinner forum in KLGCC, Saffron Sunday......man, what a differrence a year makes.
c.All Blogs grew from an idea. It now has a home, computers, Air Conditioning, Internet Connection, courtesy of well wishers. (Names will be published when we get confirmation on their wish to remain anonymous or not.
d.We now have a sound system, a long way from the days when we needed to get a loaner set from a political party.
.....and our next meeting will be up soon.
Will keep you all posted on whats happening next@all blogs!

Cut off the leg when the toe hurts...

I cannot think of any other reason, really. It has to be that, as the title suggests. After all what can you make of this? (read here)
I am beginning to think that somewhere down the line, these people were thought to do this. How else can you explain these kinds of boycott? Still do not know what I am talking about?
Recently appointed Tourism Minister Azalina had all this to say...and more.
In fact, I am perplexed that the Federal Government can do this.

“We will appoint committee members from the tourism community to help develop tourism in these states,” she said.Azalina said some tourism events, such as the Penang Music Festival (in May) and the Langkawi Water Festival (this weekend), would go ahead and contracts with state contractors would be honoured.“However, we will re-evaluate plans for other events if they have not started or if the contractors have not been appointed."

In other words, we will only give money to our own people, because otherwise we have no control over how we spend it...
Can they do this? But come to think of it, the Federal Government should have more money then, seeing that almost none of the federal Ministers would need to visit these five states from today on.....

What do you think? Hey...KLIA is in Selangor, Langkawi is in Kedah, ....where will the federal Govt promote next? Sure as hell it ain't gonna be Sabah and Sarawak........

myblog-TV kicks off

Since the run up to the elections, I noticed a stark increase in video viewership via youtube.
I suppose this may be unique to our country given that almost all the media, be it print, radio or TV is in the good hands of the government (or its partners!).
Sharing this with some friends, we mooted the idea of an independent on demand video channel, content which is to be collated from within our country. With some kind contribution from these people, myblog-tv.blogspot has since put up two videos, with another two in the making.
Come April 9th, hopefully myblog-tv will be given permission to film the forum "the impact of ICT in the Malaysian General Elections - Lessons for Singapore". This will be hosted by the School of Public Policy, Institute of Policy Studies, NUS. It will feature Rocky (of Rockybru), YB Jeff Ooi (Screenshots), Haris Ibrahim (The People's Parliament) amongst others.

At the present moment, we have invested in basic equipment, including video capture cards, and sound devices to support our single camera team (On loan 3 CCD Panasonic camera by TVSmith). Next in line would be reliable tripods, and some basic lighting equipment.
To encourage others to do the same, do contact me if you wish to apply these techniques and tools for video editing and basic equipment for your home projects .
Your patience is greatly appreciated, bearing in mind that these are amateur footages.....but professional WYSIWYG content is almost guaranteed!

*WYSIWIG-what you see is what you get...UN-SPUN

KJPP....we are moving

Most people would have gotten over the 'Tsunami' effect of the recent elections, and would have got back to their 'usual' self, I suppose. But not this group. One person rallied and has been working on the Kelana Jaya People's Parliament. He is Wong PY. There is also one other Kelana Jaya meet the MP initiative, but the KJPP is something different. Its the coming together of like minded citizens, or call it civil society, if you will.
Here, we talked about the local issues, about what every Ahmad, Raju and Wong can do for his / her community. Last night, we did just that, came together to brainstorm and work within our community to straighten things. Here, plain citizens are empowering themselves to take the battle forward, the battle to right the many wrongs of our municipality. Member of Parliament of Kota Raja, Dr Siti Mariah of PAS joined us too. She wanted to see for herself what others could do for her constituents too. She did not have that much time to spare, but she took with her many positives on what she can do for her Kota Raja constituency.
At a time, when others are trying to find out why they could not make headway, we are finding out how we can contribute to the betterment of our own community. No Chinese, Malays or Indians. everyone came together as concerned citizens to improve our quality of life, something the municipal council had forgotten along the way.
Development it seems is the price we pay, according to the officers. Development it is, but over development. Not enough Parks, not enough rides, not enough public facilities, too much commercial development, so much so that there are rows of unkempt commercial properties in SS15 alone!
KJPP has kiced off their second meeting, and now they have appointed between themselves keepers of issues rlevant to their interest. Civil society is engaging the council, and elected representatives. If I understood it correctly, we will see more people participating and keeping vigilant on the council that has been so wantonly irresponsible in the past.
The rakyat has woken up, here in Kelana Jaya, what about your community?

Its no joke.......1 Million (since March 20 2007)

Stand up (grand applause!). Marina has just got her 1st Million visitors to rantingsbymm.blogspot.com. I can still remember (if I am not wrong) how it started. There was another blog dedicated to her weekly column, musings, which was started, presumably, by her fan.
Some weeks later she started her blog (not sure if it had anything to do with former) but the rest they say is history!
As busy as she was, she took the afternoon off to celebrate her first million visitors with the MRT regulars....

Keep the good articles coming and I'm sure the 2nd Million will come within 10 months!
(please do visit again for the uploaded youtube video)