Muhyiddin Spoke The Truth, Says Mahathir

August 26, 2009 22:25 PM Muhyiddin Spoke The Truth, Says Mahathir This is the heading in a reply by Mahathir on what Muhyiddin said. So, did Muhyiddin spoke the truth? Muhyiddin said two things. 1. He was persuaded to supply water to Singapore. 2. He said Lee Kuan Yew threatened to go to war with Malaysia if the latter did not supply water to Singapore. Mahathir said 1 is correct and 2 is false. Can I conclude that Muhyiddin said the truth for 1 and did not say the truth for 2? For Mahathir said that if LKY did threaten war with Malaysia, he would be the one to stop supplying water to Singapore. And that is vintage Mahathir and he would do it. Plainly, LKY would be diplomatic enough not to threaten war with Malaysia. Unbelieveable! Read the Bernama report below for the truth or half truth. "KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 26 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has admitted that he had persuaded Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to supply water to Singapore when the latter was the Johor menteri besar. "Tan Sri Muhyiddin spoke the truth about my persuading him to supply water to Singapore but Lee Kuan Yew did not threaten to go to war if we did not supply water. If he had done that, I think I would have stopped any further supply," Dr Mahathir said in an article posted in his blog on Wednesday. Dr Mahathir was commenting on Muhyiddin's statement on Aug 19 that he (Dr Mahathir) had summoned him to attend a meeting with the visiting Singapore prime minister then, Lee Kuan Yew, over gas pipeline and water supply issues in Kuala Lumpur. Muhyiddin had said that during the meeting between Dr Mahathir, the then finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, Lee and himself, Lee had pressed for adequate water supply to the republic from Johor. "Lee said Singapore was ready to go to war if Malaysia did not want to supply enough water and expressed his regret over the stalled water supply project from Sungai Lingu. "I said we did not have the money and Lee said Singapore was willing to bear the cost and, when completed, the assets will be owned by Malaysia, so Singapore had merely footed the bill," said Muhyiddin. Muhyiddin said this at a ceramah in Tanjung Putus, Bukit Mertajam, during the campaign in the Permatang Pasir state by-election to clarify allegations by the opposition that he (Muhyiddin) had sold a piece of land to Singapore in connection with the water treatment plant in Sungai Lingu, Bandar Tenggara, Johor. Dr Mahathir said in his article he did not know about the sale of land to Singapore but as it was agreed that a treatment plant be built by Singapore in Johor, land would have to be made available. "We were at that time trying to be friendly with Singapore in order to solve several problems. Although raw water would be supplied at 3 sen per 1,000 gallons, the understanding was that in future only treated water would be supplied when our treatment plants would be ready. "We would also not buy any more treated water from Singapore at 50 sen per thousand gallons when our new treatment plant in Johor is ready. "When we no longer needed to buy treated water from Singapore we could raise the price of raw water to Singapore without Singapore being able to raise the price of treated water to us. "However, when we concluded the water supply agreement, Singapore raised a lot of issues regarding our railway land, the CIQ (Customs, Immigration and Quarantine) at Tanjong Pagar, training flights by Singapore warplanes over Malaysia and the Central Provident Fund. "At that stage, I realised that being friendly with Singapore did not pay," Dr Mahathir added." -- BERNAMA

Of Race, Religion and Nationality

These are the most common identity tags that people wear on their chests. They are either Chinese, Indian or Malay, Taoist, Muslim, Christian or Buddhist, and Singaporean or other nationalities. It seems simple enough until one claims to all three and there are forces tugging them in all directions. In the context of a country, race is probably the easiest to deal with as ethnicity is always subordinated to nationality. Regardless of race, one is a citizen of a country. So we have Chinese Singaporeans, Malay Singaproeans, Indian and Eurasian Singaporeans. This is similar to European Americans, Afro Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans. And as citizens they enjoy the same rights and privileges. The exception is Malaysia where race is supreme over nationality. Malaysians do not enjoy the same rights and privileges unless they are Malay. Nationality may be an artificial construct but it is legal and well defined, with specific boundaries, rules and laws, and rights and responsibilities. All citizens are constitutionally equal. And they are known by their citizenships. So in China you have Han Chinese, Hui Chinese, Mongolian Chinese, Manchurian Chinese, Uigher Chinese and Tibetan Chinese. And they are equal under the constitution. The more troublesome part is religion. The believers believe that they are under a superior being with a superior set of laws. And if they don't abide by the law of a country and want the religious law to be above secular law, then you have a problem. In many countries, you have kings, Presidents, and Prime Ministers kneeling before a religious head who could be just another Ah Beng in a robe. The Ah Beng could be delivering his great message from his gods and the ministers could be sitting there quietly listening to him. And Ah Beng may not even pass his PSLE. But he is the representative of his gods. This is good. The trouble starts when they identify themselves as one and transcend across national borders. Then we have Turkish Muslims demanding the right to represent Uigher Muslims in China. Then we have Muslims from across the world helping their Muslim brothers to topple the secular govt in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand and other places. And they never see it as wrong as their superior doctrine and god are not restricted or confined to any man made borders. The world will be more muddle and chaotic when race, religion and nationality are messed around like rojak. _________________

Kudos to Tan Kin Lian

The formation of an independent watchdog group is a great leap forward in the protection of the small people that are often left in the lurch. The Financial Services Consumer Association(Fisca) is a welcome move. Tan Kin Lian has done it again, for the small and helpless people. We need more of such organisations for the good of the people. What such associations need is more clout, say professionals especially in the legal profession, to take up their case at minimal cost. In our expensive legal system, the small people without money often fell victims to the rich or the faceless corporations. The next thing that is needed is a channel to air their cases. I think as time goes on, as they become more vocal, the only reliable and dependable channel is still the cyberspace. The cyberspace is the friend of the small people as it is free and truly neutral and will print anything for anyone. Good work, Tan Kin Lian and friends, of the people.

Another dangerous proposition!

I was greeted by an article in ST by Salma Khalik suggesting insurance coverage for the 85 and above. With all good intention, she made many good reasonings and suggestions on why this group needs insurance coverage and how it could be done. Why is this frightening? Money flying away again. This kind of help, is asking people to take your money for your own good. Please, no more help of such kinds. Please, I am screaming, shouting, no more compulsion or any kind to take the people's money away. I know my kpkb is in vain. This is a sounding board to test whether the docile masses will bite or protest. If not, be prepared, another scheme may come your way. Compulsory insurance scheme for the above 85s. Great, all grounds covered. More money in the lockup. For goodness sake, if one is 85, prepare to leave. Our body is not built to last forever. We are not meant to be here forever. What the shit does one want to live that long for when nothing works? Want another pair of corneas, another pair of lungs, another heart, another stomach? At that age, people shall be contented to live the remaining part of their lives peacefully, with minimum pain. For those who have everything and all the money, please insure all you can and live for as long as you can. Change all the parts if you can afford it. For the average human beans, any day longer is suffering, pain and misery. And the suffering is not only to themselves but to their children and caregivers. What is more merciful? To prolong the pain and suffering, the misery, or to depart when the time has come? Another high faluting idea?

Making sense of statistics

Today paper reported that the 60% sandwiched class had a reprieve for price increases in the first 6 months of the year. The increase in CPI for this group of people is 0.7%. The ST highlighted that the poorest or lowest 20% was the worst hit as the CPI rose 1.6% for this group. Both used the same set of statistics from the Dept of Statistics to report a different thing. So one group should be celebrating and another group, the poorest, should be crying. But these are just statistics. Look at the shopping centres, foodcourts, the property launches, and the mercedes benzes in 2 or 3 rm flat car parks, then you may wonder whether the people are really suffering. You don't see the overt and abject poverty around the public housing estates. Yes there were the occasional soft drink can collectors and a few lonely souls browsing the rubbish bins instead of the internet. They are the exceptions. Prosperity is in the air. I just recall the happy faces at the NDP and the hundreds of thousands of merrymakers out for a good time at the Esplanade, the Marina Bay and the Padang area. So where are the poor or the poorest? If our poor and poorest are still able to have a good time in the worst economic crisis we are faceing, and with the CPI running away, than things cannot be so bad. Time for celebration again. For the top 20% they can open that $500 or $5000 bottle of champagne, the middle 60% can open the cheap red from ShengSiong or FairPrice. And the lowest 20% can either go for some cheap beer or toddy. Celebrate within your own means. This is paradise, the modern day Eden. (Jaunty going to scold me now.)