" A Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year of the Water Dragon 2012"- Net Image

Wishing all my blog visitors Gong Xi Fa Cai! Yes, this year is especially auspicious in the Chinese calendar, being the lunar year of the Dragon (HAIL THE MIGHTY DRAGON!)

Being a Dragon child had indeed placed a lot of stress on me as I was supposed to achieve great things in life. Though I do not quite believe in the horoscopes and would try to avoid reading them but sometimes curiosity got the better of me. Like a restless teenager , I want to know how I am being described as a character and my fortune foretold, knowing there are millions sharing my birth year in this Great Planet!

My New year (2012) horoscopes (horrorscopes) below..and my own response in blue.

Quote “The Dragon is the mightiest of the signs. Dragons symbolize such character traits as dominance (ask my friends not my staff) and ambition (Am I, like others, not extremely ambitious?). They are driven, unafraid of challenges ( scary but true!) and willing to take risks ( so much so that I end up gaining less on DJI than I should!). They are passionate ( Yep, till it hurts!) in what they do and they do in grand fashion ( you could say that again!).

While Dragons frequently help others,rarely will they ask for help (too proud!). Dragons prefer to be alone ( I agree ). Dragons have tempers that can flair fast! (You should see me hissing smoke!). Success comes easy for Dragons( not that easy, but succeed I did!).

You will be rewarded as the fast pace suits you well ( yes, it does, much to the chagrin of others!). Do be cautious with money making schemes ( overcautious you might say!). Good progress with career and financial fronts ( this I must believe!). Avoid arguments ( Arrrgh… I can’t help this). Dragons are compatible with the Monkey or Rat (Gees…) and incompatible with the OX ( Oh no… the love of my life!)” Unquote.

A good way to look at this is to imagine that you have all the positive attributes and mentally work towards realising your dreams. Whenever you falter and fall you should get up come back to recall those traits and try again and again and indeed, perseverance usually pays in any field you choose.

Looking back in my immediate family circle, I am the most successful academically and professionally. Does that have anything to do with my being a Dragon? No one can tell. Only a down and out Dragon can share his life story and expunge the myth of being born in a Dragon year!

By the way, I have another Dragon in the family, dear me! This one is more tenacious in his pursuit to be successful. In fact he has overcome extreme odds and tribulation to be where he is today and we can only pray that he continues riding on the mythical Dragon and Good Fortune follows him wherever he goes just as it does me all these years.

Yes, I love being a Dragon.

Anwar the de facto leader of the opposition party,PKR, used to file similar suits, i.e suing for this ridiculous sum to muzzle further comments on his character in the past. And, yes, his latest multi-million defamation suit against Utusan, the Malay language newspaper which commented negatively on his recent interview with British Broadcasting Corporation or BBC on gay rights in Malaysia here. This suing seems to be never-ending. In fact Anwar could be an arm chair multimillionaire if he were to win all those suits!

Through Shahrizat, PKR is now given a taste of their own medicine though I think the whole thing is an abuse of the court’s process. This kind of suit whether from the government or the opposition politicians is again using the court to settle political matters. The court has more pressing cases to attend to than dealing with this frivolous suit.

This culture of suing seems to be peculiar to Malaysia. When the wife of the chief of a European bank was found to benefit from some financial dealings related to the bank, her husband promptly resigned. There was no news of him suing the people who exposed the moral infraction.

Will this kind of suit stop the revelations of wrongdoings of people in power? The only workable solution is for credible anonymous reports of corruption to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Council or MACC to be speedily investigated without fear or favour and the guilty be dealt with by the court only then will the people have faith in the system. The corrupt will instead be officially and legally defamed.

But the legal process takes time and the opposition,wanting very much to capitalise on these negative practices of ‘government’s cronies” seeing that the general election is imminent, just cannot wait. This is all about political opportunities to demoralise your opponents in the eye of the voting public.

And so things are not that simple as in the contentious case of being legally right but morally wrong. To the general public the moral angle is just as important and is somehow crying out to be addressed.

In light of the recent blasts near the court on the day Anwar was acquitted on 09 January 2012 and the frightening conclusion that the bombs were home-made by an expert, we cannot take this kind of “joke” lightly. If the authorities let this daredevil off the hook, they would be opening a Pandora’s box setting off many more such “jokes” on the net and you would not know which one is actually going to be fatal!

Prosecute the culprit unless he is found to be mentally ill and let there be a lesson to anyone who dares issue such a threat and become a menace to our peaceful society. Don’t set a precedent of non prosecution only to regret later considering a challenging general election is around the corner.

Notice that I said “our PM” because I respect the post. It could be anyone holding the post beside Najib. And so it is our duty as citizens to protect the sanctity of the most important government post of our country. If we fail to give this joker a deterrent punishment, not only do we not respect the post and human lives, but we will give a wrong signal to many young people out there whose power to cause havoc is at the click of their fingertips.

During the UK riot in August 2011, two men posted messages urging people in their areas to come out and burn down the city and both were speedily prosecuted and sentenced to four years’ jail each! Too harsh you think? But that immediately stopped the posting of more of such incendiary messages.

The UK authorities were clear and firm in their handling of such threat on social media networks used by millions of people and some might be like-minded/copycat and flood the net with similar irresponsible messages.

Even if the bomb threat is aimed at an Opposition Leader, the identified culprit should also be prosecuted and the same punishment under the relevant section of the Penal Code, meted out. In short, this man should not be let off scot free! This should be extended to anyone, regardless of race,creed and political inclinations, who dares to make such threat publicly.

This is not about an opposition sentiment because an opposition will always oppose whatever the government does. And this is not about the government’s right to response, this is about ensuring that people do not make jokes on matters which are sensitive to public security and inimical to public order.

Following disclosures by the opposition of the loan’s misuse and abuse to benefit her family, instead of stepping down gracefully, this woman went on to trumpet that she had nothing to do with the mess excreted (for want of a better word) by her husband, the executive chairman of the corporation and their children, none of whom has a degree in accountancy,as high-salaried directors.

She goes on to babble that the opposition is scared of the strength of Wanita UMNO (Women Wing), of which she is the Head and so has singled her out and attacked her and her family to gain a political advantage. Jesus Christ! Does she think she can hide behind the party for the unethical and atrocious corruption that her family committed? This is a typical person who, being a lawyer by training, would look at the technical angle of the controversy and harp on it to confuse people. She made a pathetic figure in attempting to act as if nothing had happened at the recent UMNO Meet.

I am not an opposition lover but I think they are vital in exposing this kind of corruption at the high level. In the past the Auditor-General would make negative comments on certain projects but if they are related to the government politicians, there were no follow-up. This time around the people who make up the opposition are more knowledgeable and they simply embrace this negative report and delve into it further and dig out more mess it is hiding.

And so Shahrizat, as the wife of the Chairman of NFC, don’t tell us that you have nothing to do with the corporation. Do you really think your mere lecturer of a husband would get the massive loan at an incredibly low interest rate, without your political influence? Of course there would be no record of your being there at the moment of the cabinet approval of the loan. But we are not stupid.

But really the whole controversy is not about the loan approval. The issue is about how the highly decadent family has abused the terms of the loan, using our money (tax payers) for their personal benefit: buying luxury condos,luxury cars and luxury holidays and transferring the fund to other non-related businesses in Singapore as reported widely in the non-mainstream news. On top of that, the target of the project is not achieved (ref: Auditor-General’s Report 2010)

The latest revelation is on how Shahrizat’s husband could have paid someone ( a con man) more than RM1.5m to bribe the police so that the latter would not investigate the NFC brutally. This latest exposure is hitting hard at the credibility and integrity of the Cow Family of which Shahrizat is a member, whether she likes it or not. This attempt to muzzle the enforcement personnel is too much for Najib’s government. Cool as Najib appears to be he must have been rattled especially after the Anwar sodomy II not guilty verdict on 09 Jan 2012 fresh on his mind.

Shahrizat as a (non-elected) member of the cabinet cannot be present to listen in to what the cabinet is discussing on her family. And after much behind-the scene cajolery, finally she is applying for leave here ostensibly to facilitate the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Council or MACC to conduct their investigations and giving a breather to her exasperated colleagues.

Shahrizat Jalil-Technically right but morally wrong so far

Shahrizat you may be technically right for not having anything to do with the messy corporation your husband leads but you are surely morally wrong for being linked personally with this corrupt business because you are politically connected to the government which approved the massive loan in the first place. It is hard not to believe that you must’ve somehow benefited from the corrupt activities.The right thing to do is to submit your resignation as a Minister and face the music with your family, as an ordinary citizen.

Take an extended break lady. In fact it is better that you don’t come back from your leave. Step down please and step down gracefully and save Najib’s government from further embarrassment. You are a political liability to UMNO and to BN, period.

Credit Cards - a Convenient or a Bane?

Then you have banks offering credit cards to all and sundry. You also have frequent sales plus those so-called loyalty cards and you get SMSs on new merchandise coming in from concept stores and you get reward points for spending…. spend RM500.00 on one receipt and you get triple the points or additional vouchers to go on spending, Dear me, all the pressure from the business people is truly overwhelming. And then those gadgets which keep on churning out new models. I personally know of a relative who has every single iPhone model,iPad and iPod you name it , he’s got it. It is like an addiction if you read my previous posting on the subject.

Then they have these stamps for you to collect the more you spend the more you collect and you can redeem these stamps plus additional cost for lovely items like crockery or pots and pans. So if you like those items you would go on spending in order to get them.

And then you are confronted with online shopping where you order items right in the comfort of your home using your credit card, yes, it is so easy to spend and keep on spending.

In the meantime,the telcos keep sending messages asking you to download these and that and you get all these advertisements on your Facebook, your free emails your TVs your newspapers, we are thoroughly deluged with them! It is very difficult for those without sufficient early training of saving to manage these concerted attempts to make you spend.

The credit cards’ issuers also appear to up the ante by allowing holders to pay minimum amount on their cards’ expenditure and increasing interest on the balance, making people perpetually be in debt. Also the easy loans given out to people to buy cars, the repayment period used to be five years and now it has become nine years, again people are virtually enslaved to the lender. The loan sharks is another evil feature of this kind of society buying things on credit.

Numerous social problems have emerged out of this spending habit. We have heard of young people being declared bankrupt almost daily mostly due to living beyond their means like buying cars on loan and not having the capability of paying off the lending agency.

I think the policy of making everyone own a car is short-sighted. A good government should plan for its citizens’ good quality of life through well-planned infrastructures and amenities. Citizens should not be made to shoulder heavy transportation costs to go about their daily life. You can see how good planning of public transportation in great cities like London and Paris make going around not only cheaper but more convenient. A lot of cost-saving here in terms of car’s purchase,maintenance and petrol.

The failure of the Malaysian government to develop public transportation system is regrettable, already our roads and highways are chockablock-ed/ gridlocked with traffics (plus high accident rate), but our people are spending more because it is so easy for them to just drive to the shopping mall however far it is. If we have to go by public transport we would be more thrifty.

Uncontrolled Consumerism is a Mental Sickness

The pressure to spend and spend is partly influenced by the environment.The consumer society that we live in today lulls its members into materialism by making them more spendthrift. As we advance towards a high income nation we will need to nurture thriftiness in our children to avoid wasteful consumerism and promote better saving.

Looks like Najib and his government has to adopt Plan B now for the upcoming 13th General Election!

The prosecution’s appeal will take time and the tactical time is after the GE.

Well, good for Anwar and his supporters and now the world knows that our court is not influenced by the government and yet I have this nagging feeling that the way the whole thing was handled by the prosecution had raised a lot of queries and created reasonable doubt. On technical ground, evidence can be demolished by a good defence.

But look at the editorial of this foreign online newspaper here, the last line of the last paragraph sounded like a threat to me.

Do we need a leader who is indebted to and likely to be subservient to a foreign power?

Everyone at the 901 gathering needs Plan B

One could just imagine that the supporters are bringing two types of banners depending on the nature of the verdict and have probably been instructed on what to do either way. Curiously interesting this gathering on January 9 2012 referred to as 901! Malaysians will witness the whole “opera” with bated breath.

It is also not extraordinary that there are a few hundred police reports being lodged by people from various parts of the country against the proposed gathering which could be incendiary. How do you control such a large crowd out to make a point ahead of the defining 13th General Election most likely to be called this very year? The police, citing the recently passed (yet to be gazetted) Peaceful Assembly Act 2011, has permitted the application by the organizer and would be acting based on ensuring law and order during the assembly. As anticipated, the Bar Council has promptly lauded the police’s move.

The Inspector General of Police warns 901 organisers against sedition

Much to the credit of the police, certain conditions are set to ensure a peaceful assembly of people with highly charged emotion. Among the conditions are: Gathering is confined at the court’s car park,no banner asking for Anwar to be freed,no speeches and loud hailers to excite the crowd and all have to disperse after an hour following the delivery of the verdict.

I don’t believe for one minute that the police will come unprepared. They should at all cost have Plan B because a large crowd of agitated people is hard to predict. It is better to prepare for a worst-case scenario.

On the other hand, should those “demonstrators” turn violent, their action will serve to discredit the organizer which is the opposition alliance. Can they afford this wild response so near to the general election? They are undoubtedly being scrutinized by Malaysian voters. They would be foolish to jeopardize their parties’ chances at the general election. In fact this is their last golden opportunity to show the world that they are civilized and a worthy opposition which is respectful of the court’s decision. And possibly win over the hearts of those who always love an underdog!

So far the government is seen to be fair by allowing this gathering though not right in front of the court complex. Imagine, either way the opposition is going to have some smart words to say. But surely should the defendant be found guilty, they are not going to condemn the judge as that would be in contempt of the court and the organizers could be arrested for the action.

And fancy that the opposition should come out with the call for the people to be the judge of this sodomy case! How many people are they talking about? This is nothing but a gimmicky tactic. It does appear that some people just cannot extricate themselves from the conspiracy theory, like someone planted Anwar’s semen into Saiful’s anus! And that all those expert witnesses for the prosecution are incompetent and outright liars.

Such is their concentration and faith on the perceived infallibility of Anwar Ibrahim, they have dismissed the plaintiff’s rights. I wonder whether there would be supporters of the supposed victim of sodomy, Saiful Bukhari Azlan. Though the Police seems to give the impression that such a crowd would also be there. This group also will have Plan B.

And the cable TV and foreign journalists will no doubt come in droves to report the event. I foresee CNN,BBC and AlJazeera are also getting ready with their Plan B on format of reporting tailoring to the verdict. In fact, we as anxious spectators will also be at that court in spirits and later setting blogs, Twitters, Facebook and other social media networks abuzz.

The person who has only one definite Plan is our honorable Judge! I pray that he weighs all the evidence and arrives at the right decision and judgement in the interest of justice and the sanctity of our justice system.

Many of us do not have the full story or facts of the case unless we followed the court proceedings closely so we should not be overzealous in commenting on the verdict particularly before its delivery by His Honor. If a negative sentiment is expressed openly we might get hauled up for sedition.

After watching the series of violent UK riots in August 2011 being broadcast to the entire world, I hope our 901 assembly would turn out to be a walk in the park…. or would it? That’s the reason I am obsessed with Plan B.

A few days before the new year, the husband of a former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of IIB was charged with soliciting money from a contractor to build a boarding school in Iskandar. And a day before that a former vice-president of IIB pleaded guilty to corrupt practices. Apparently he cannot be named as he was assisting the authorities to investigate other allegations of corruption in the agency. Expect more arrests to be made and welcome to the black world of greed and of shameless men and women.

Mohd Amin Suhaimi, husband of IIB ex-CEO -charged with bribery

Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB) is the commercial investment holding company created to oversee and encourage regional development under the Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) of Iskandar Malaysia, the main southern development corridor in Johor, Malaysia. A special growth area, Iskandar Malaysia is envisaged to capitalize on its current synergies with Singapore as it aims to complement each other as an economic hub.

One can then imagine the billion of ringgit being pumped in to realise this vision. But as commonly acknowledged, wherever there are money and opportunities to manipulate and in the absence of rigorous control, the people who manage the fund and, laughably, those close to them (like the husband of the former CEO of IIB) would tend to capitalize.

Of course not all will be in this greedy and shameless category but looking at the number of suspects and arrests so far in IIB, one would not be wrong to conclude that the corruption in this agency is not only rampant but frightening as well in its pervasiveness. It seems so widespread and it is almost as if their corporate culture is to line one’s pocket through graft.

The ultimate outcome of all these corrupt activities is higher cost to the government, hence the oblivious tax-payers, and higher cost of doing business plus the poor quality of construction works,safety infringement,shoddy workmanship, high maintenance cost et cetera as there would be no proper supervision of these when infractions and substandard works are swept under the carpet.

And don’t forget the international image of Malaysia as a destination for business and foreign investment. Bona fide foreign investors loathe corrupt practices as they end up having to fork out more and to unnecessarily jack up their cost and appear noncompetitive somewhere else and having to answer to their stakeholders. Graft is bad news for investment. Just look at the withdrawal of the major Middle-East investor in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) fiasco when development cost escalated as corruption ate into the deals.

The sad thing is those officers in IIB, mostly consisting of one race and most of them seconded by Khazanah Nasional Berhad, are paid a relatively high salary and yet greed got the better of them. They have already got lovely houses,nice cars and a good life and yet these are not sufficient for them. Wanting to live a high life like going on annual holidays in London,Aspen,Paris, Monaco and traveling business class for the whole family as well as funding their children’s expensive education overseas could be factors that make them greedy and drive them to abuse their positions in the agency.

They do not have the foresight about possible discovery of their corrupt practices. Their greed knows no bound. The word shame (“malu” in Malay language) carries no emotive connotations. Shame is just a word.

Corporate governance is for the proverbial dust bin. Practical internal controls and a system of check and balance are only on paper as they romp towards making money illegally and using it to feed their families.

Unless the system possessed sustainable control mechanisms with less human interactions and operated by man and women of integrity, we are going to keep encountering these corrupt individuals out to enrich themselves at the expense of the government and eventually the ordinary man on the street.

I remember watching the New Year celebration by time zone on CNN from the brilliant fireworks across the globe from Sydney to Hong Kong,Tokyo,London,New York,Moscow and Buenos Aires and this evening I would do the same.

Some years ago I used to celebrate with friends,partying,eating and drinking and welcoming the new year was more of a shared activity.But somehow over the years, all the boisterousness seems hollow and I would rather be on my own and reflect on the year that has gone and contemplate on the year that is being ushered.

As for my resolutions, I just want to make sure that 2012 is a healthier and wealthier year for me that means:

* Less sugar and fatty food intake
* No more blogging past midnight ( except for this last one )
* More prayer to balance my life
* More caring for my loved ones
* Better communication
* More trust in my instinct as far as stock market is concerned
* More contrararian than moving with the flows
* More reading of books by various authors rather than sticking to a select few
* More saving and investment
* Less spending on unnecessary items
* More discipline with my time

Well guys, that’s about all I can think of at this “defining moment”, oh yes, less breaking of my resolutions like last year 2011…(about 5 minutes ago!)

Happy New year 2012 to everyone and may your life be blessed and your dreams mostly come true.

Google Celebrating The New Year 2012

Wishing all my blog visitors a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday. It is not often that we get a three-day weekend as Christmas this year falls on a Sunday.

Tallest Christmas tree in South East Asia at S'pore Resort World 2011

Visiting friends in East Malaysia where the spirit of Christmas truly comes alive. The malls and supermarkets are packed with people and my favourite evergreen Christmas songs blaring away in the background…”Rudolph the Red-nosed reindeer”, “Feliz Navidad”, “I am dreaming of a white Christmas”, “Silent night” and the iconic “Jingle Bells”.

Can’t help recalling the sound,sights and lights of London in December! The window dressings among the great departmental stores on Oxford St,Knightsbridge and Marble Arch were richly creative. Red,green and black interspersed with blue,white and yellow and flickering lights and warm lights everywhere, along the road,across the streets and on the buildings. Think of Jalan Masjid India the weekend before Hari Raya in Kuala Lumpur, the crowd in London is many,many times that.

Ever changing multi-colored lights at Mandarin Gallery, S'pore

S'pore city crowd at 2330hrs

Was in Singapore last week where Orchard Road was bathed in blue and white lights and Christmas is a most welcomed celebration. The vibrancy was palpable. Hotels,departmental stores- Takashimaya, Metro Jaya, Isetan; shopping complexes – Paragon,Far East Plaza ,Lucky Plaza; cafes and leisure centres were teeming with people late into the night. Now that is a real CITY! The Christmas ambiance is just amazing.

My most memorable Christmas was in Brussels, Belgium in 2005. Booked into a 5-star Windsor hotel right in the centre of the City and very near Grand Place on 24 Dec, I woke up on Christmas morning to the sound of church bells ringing merrily and oh, how beautifully cold it was! The colorful winter markets, the dancing lights gyrating to the techno-music in the city square were all magical and invigorating and by 3pm it was already dark and people walked shoulder to shoulder to keep warm. I really miss the festivities… and the indulgence.

Cakes galore!

Poinsettia in earthenware jars

Have been in a holiday mood ever since “flakes” of snow first fell on my blog…. thank you WordPress for making Christmas season celebratory.

And JOY TO THE WORLD!