how to tell the truth

Though it is not unexpected, I still felt terribly disappointed when I recently read that Umno vice- president Muhyiddin Yassin wanted Asli to retract its 45% bumiputera equity ownership estimation. He said the report was a challenge to the government’s integrity and described it as irresponsible and ‘rubbish’. He said the government should take action against Asli if it failed to retract the report; that Asli should also admit the report was wrong to prevent a polemic that would affect racial unity. He further said: ‘The report is rubbish and cannot be used. As a Malay, I am angry and I think it was done with malice. The report may have an agenda that aims at forming a polemic among those who believe the report to be true. They will definitely blame the government for revealing the wrong facts’. The above was quoted from an article in Malaysiakini. What it amounts to is like swearing, 'In god I shall tell not the truth and anything but the truth.'

another comedy

Mahathir attacked the Asli finding which made nonsense of his past positions and his son quickly came out to retrieve the report as erroroneous. Where is the error? It is just a different report using different criteria and assumptions. And to insist that the bumi control of the national wealth is stuck at 18% is not only misleading but also confirms that the bumi are simply backward or with below par intelligence. For after more than 35 years of affirmative actions and unequal opportunities they are still unable to improve their lot. Isn't this depressing? What are they telling the world?

april fool on oct 9!

Now this could be the biggest joke of the 21st century. UN and the Americans all hopping mad about the North Korean nuclear test and threatening sanctions and punitive measures only to discover that the test was the result of an earthquake which the North Korean knew and pull it off as a nuclear test. How the world was made to look silly by a North Korean trick! This is really unimaginable. Classic North Koreans.

what it costs an average guy to live here

Let me paint in broadbrush of what an average hardlander of 25 years will need to live in Singapore against what he earns in the next 40 years of his life. I prefer the word hardlander than heartlander for obvious reasons. Assuming a nett income of $2000 plus bonus or $30k per annum. Total income for 40 years $1.2 mil What he needs to spend. 1. 4 room flat ($250k plus interest) $500k 2. Monthly household expenses($1k pm) $480k 3. Personal expenses($300 pm) $144k 4. 1 child up to self supporting $150k These 4 items alone will wipe out all his income. Forget about owning a car. And there are many other expenses and social obligations to take care of. As a hardlander, his increment is not going to be substantial to offset the constant increase in cost of living. So he will, for his whole life, living from hand to mouth, at $2000 nett income.

an american comedy

Ever since the North Korea detonated that device, I was all in stitches. I could not believe my ears to hear all the jokes that came after this incident. The first came from Hill, from the US State Department. He said that even if the North Koreans have tested a nuclear device, the US will not recognise the North Koreans as a nuclear power. So? Does it mean that if the US refused to recognise a nuclear power, that power is not a nuclear power or no longer exists? I can't believe this can come out from a senior state official? The next big laugh was the admission that despite all the satellite technology, all the monitoring stations, all the intelligence gathering, all the leading edge technology, the West did not have a clue if it was a nuclear bomb or just a lot of TNT! You mean that they did not know what the hell hits them? The best joke came from the North Koreans. They literally have the US by their balls. The North Koreans have announced that if the US is not coming back to the negotiating table, they are going to test fire a nuclear tipped missiles! Wow! How could they say that and do it? The interesting thing now is that the US has no answers to the North Koreans' antics and negotiating tactics. What's next Uncle Sam? They claimed to have all contingencies thought out but the North Koreans seem to be one step ahead of them. This latest threat of another test is something the US very likely did not think of. And John Bolton, the US Ambassador at the UN, quickly pronounced that 'This is the way North Korea typically negotiates - by threats and intimidations.' What Bolton is saying is that the US never threatens or intimidates anyone or even the North Koreans! What a joke! I can't stop laughing. It is hilarious. And he added another one, that this is a standoff 'between North Korea and the rest of the world'. Really? Which world is he referring to? I have never feel the slightest threat from North Korea. I am just enjoying the drama and excitement of how one party, a big bully, trying to impose its will on a smaller nation and expect everyone to dance to its tune. This is great fun.