New laws needed to protect the weak and innocent.

The Odex case is revealing in the sense that the weak can be subject to extortion by the rich and powerful. People can be dragged to court or pay a ransom for the slightest infringement of the law. Then there is this guy who wrote to the press begging that something be done to restrain his neighbours 5 rottweilers from attacking any passerbys. After highlighting the fear and the possibility of a child being tear to pieces by the dogs, he pleaded sheepishly on what recourse he would have from the barking of the dogs. There must be laws to protect the innocents from people who live dangerously and exposed others to potential harm and destruction of lives. No recourse is going to make any difference to a child or an oldie who is badly mauled by ferocious animals. What the hell is happening? Are we waiting for disasters to happen just to make a few idiots happy with their wild animals? Tame? Animals are only tame when they don't attack. You just can't be too sure how the animal minds work and when it is going to be provoked or go berserk. Please, get rid of those beasts. Or at least have a law to cane the owners if their beasts attack anyone. Monetary compensation is useless to the victims. Make caning of the owners mandatory when an attack takes place.

CPF minimum sum should be $300,000

James Chi Han Hsuan in a letter to Today suggested that the minimum sum in the CPF should be raised to $300k. His justification is that he has many friends who have more than $200k in their savings accounts and they are squandering their money buying all kinds of luxury goods. I can't agree more with James. All these rich people with so much money and do not know what to do must be made to save more. I have also many friends who have millions in their bank accounts. I would want to suggest that the minimum sum be raised to $1 mil so that these people cannot squander away their money. 'Pssst, what about me, I don't have any money in my savings account?' Ah Pek asked.

Natural for citizens to criticise, as well as praise Govt.

'It is natural that citizens should criticise the Govt. It is also natural that citizens should praise the Govt for doing good. This is how a healthy relation is established between the individual and the collective.' George Yeo I could have copied the whole article in the Today paper by Nazry Bahrawi. The expression by George, perhaps the most down to earth minister with a halo over his head, shows a different kind of maturity and security in a person. He does not see every criticism as an attack and a need to respond with a sledgehammer. He sees a healthy relationship with the people that may not see eye to eye with the govt in some issues. And he accepts that it is the right of the citizens to criticise if needed be. 'But for a country to work, an active citizenry is crucial.' This is a comment by Nazry in his article.

The Royalties - A new dynamics

Amidst the throes of heightened tension in a country that has lost its direction, when parochialism and kampong politics were elevated to the national stage, a calming voice is emerging from an erstwhile quiet corner. The crown prince of Perak, Raja Nazrin Shah, a Harvard PHD holder in Political Economy and Govt, is steadily making his voice of reasons heard. The diminshing presence of the Malaysian Royalties, once seen as not contributing much to the development of the country, is emerging from its past shadow. A Harvard PHD, and a rational and sensible approach to nation building, is a far cry from the wild minds of what UMNO now represents. UMNO is no longer the vehicle of modernity and progress, but regression. UMNO is all about money and how to enrich one another by sucking the wealth of the country without any positive contribution. It is about sharing without contributing. A similar position that the royalties were once in. Straits Times has an article on Raja Nazrin Shah and his views of Malaysian politics. It is refreshing, and more impressive to have come from a Malaysia prince. This is the kind of leaders that Malaysia needs, well educated, progressive, confident and insightful. Not the yelling, chest thumping and kris kissing type. Those are kampong politicians, not statesmen. Malaysia needs more of such leaders to be in office to lead the country forward, not backward. As Badawi has said, Malaysia shall not be what the football team is today, regressive, backward and nothing to prove or show except being more bumiputras. Yes the Malaysian football team is a good example of what Malaysia is today. Study the football team carefully to understand why it fails and why Malaysia will also fail.

Odex or Odium?

The hefty fines that children are made to pay for downloading anime from the net is just. A crime is a crime. So age is a non issue. You download you infringe on people's copyright and intellectual properties. You must pay. I also believe that the law looks at children differently. Children cannot be jailed or caned, or hanged. But we are a nation that operates under the rule of law. We must accept the law with no exceptions. Reminds me of the school girl without a student pass. Just administer the law. And also of the streetdirectory provider. You download a few pages, the damages will come to tens of thousands. That is justice in a rule of law country.