Saturday 27 August 2005

tiff is tuff

toilet tops and toothpaste tubes
loving lips and lovers lubes
cupid's bow: a rubix cube
which resolve eludes
a plain mistake...
how a heart breaks!
meet a girl and marry
her, or tango and tarry
here, and see the girl
walk out from your world
and walk back in
a full grown woman?

Monday 15 August 2005

votes

if you have no sight,
if you have no foresight,
if you have no hindsight,
if you have no vision,
if you have no ideas,
if you have no principles,
if you have no manifesto,
if you have no plan,
if you have no goal,
if you have no leadership,
why do you have votes?

Monday 8 August 2005

marking: spraying rims

Today I'm a little concerned about my wheels.

So I googled a bit and found this:
http://www.thirdgen.org/newdesign/tech/sergiowheels.shtml
http://www.type2.com/library/body/rimpaint.htm

This also looks interesting:
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/living/12310718.htm
(Copyrights in a macabre work. Wonder what Prof Dr. Khaw would say to that?)

OK, time to get back to work.

Tuesday 2 August 2005

never to dismantle your state run vehicle

while fat cats recline,
on state-run machinery
the masses face decline
thanks to rumour mongery.

our leaders will enable
a system they will dismantle
(or so they promise)
in a decade and a half:
but think you now: is it bluff?

they say the vehicle
must exist to render
help to those less able
from amongst their people.

they decide on sentiments
much to the detriment
of our credibility;
prospective investors
must look upon us
rather fearfully.

the distinctions are mental,
and their arguments unreal
in light of "going global" ...
our leaders are "stuck in local".

malaysians are all equal,
we should discard the idea of rental.
how can you brand us tenants
when without the non-M's,
we would still be british minions?

what wasted contribution,
which was so soon forgotten!
but this much is evident,
what proves to be their game:

their present strengths,
they would fiercely retain;
their past glories,
they hope to regain;
their policies --
must certainly remain!

o young malaysian!
live not in lores of yore;
you must see the human face
instead of badge of race.

though some people be not M's,
yet they suffer just like you;
they bleed and starve like you,
fall sick, and crave schooling too.

they who hunger, we must feed:
for derelicts have their needs;
the old and poor and weak:
have needs we must urgently meet!

why is not redistribution
more intelligent?
it is tragic and an illusion
if wealth is trafficked to sycophants
who do nothing for the nation
but misuse their position.

rather: be wise and recognise
the story of our time.
meet the needs of the deserving
instead of those reserving
our heritage for their underlings.

we must see the human face,
and discard the badge of race!

A Fwd'd Letter as regards the AP

AP: Two letters which, when glommed together, have taken on a double meaning in today's Malaysia. Ayah Pin, charismatic leader of a "deviant" group, is being enthusiastically prosecuted by state religious authorities. His accused crime: Apostasy, the sin of extolling another entity (other than Allah) as God.

But AP also stands for Approved Permit. The question is, who approves? Yes, the permits are approved. But in order to get an AP, you'd have to be the sole distributor of a foreign car manufacturer and your company would have to have 70% bumiputra equity. (Much further analysis is required regarding the bumi equity percentage in certain industries. For one thing, is it in line with the principle of non-discrimination? Does Islam support discrimination along ethnic lines? And so on and so forth.)

Behold the article as follows.

Permit AP: Malang sungguh rakyat Malaysia

Terima kasih kepada bekas Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang meminta nama pemegang AP (approved permit) didedahkan. Kalau beliau tidak membuka mulut, sampai sekarangpun rakyat tidak tahu betapa mereka menjadi `mangsa' mereka yang diberi keistimewaan (baca: kroni) perniagaan atas angin ini.

Hari ini tahulah kita betapa murahnya harga kereta siap pasang (CBU). Menurut laporan akhbar, sebuah kereta import 1.0 liter jenama popular dari Korea Selatan hanya berharga RM8,762 apabila tiba di Pelabuhan Kelang.

Namun, setelah dikenakan cukai, harga kereta tersebut menjadi RM22,868. Ia dijual pula oleh pemegang permit AP dengan harga RM46,000! Bayangkan, selepas cukai 160 peratus pun, mereka masih boleh mengaut keuntungan lebih 100 peratus.

Begitulah juga dengan kereta 1.3 liter jenama Korea Selatan yang berharga RM11,000 apabila tiba di Pelabuhan Kelang. Tetapi apabila sampai ke tangan pembeli, harganya menjadi RM59,000 hingga RM63,000! Maknanya, setelah dicampur cukai, dan keuntungan besar 'orang-orang istimewa' ini, rakyat terpaksa membayar hampir enam kali ganda, atau 600 peratus lebih mahal!
Cukai yang keterlaluan yang dikenakan oleh kerajaan untuk memberi perlindungan kepada 'kereta nasional' seperti Proton dan Perodua, bukanlah bukan cerita baru. Betapa murahnya harga sebuah kereta import dan jika kerajaan bertimbang rasa, kereta buatan Korea Selatan model 1.0 liter atau 1.3 liter itu mungkin boleh dijual pada harga RM20,000 hingga RM25,000 sahaja.

Kereta jenama tempatan yang sesuai untuk kegunaan keluarga yang paling murah, dijual dengan harga RM45,000. Jadi sebuah keluarga yang berpendapatan RM3,000 sebulan, terpaksa membayar kira-kira RM700 sebulan untuk tempoh lima hingga tujuh tahun bagi melangsaikan pinjaman kereta mereka.

Hari ini, kereta adalah keperluan, apatah lagi dengan sistem pengangkutan awam di Lembah Kelang yang amat tidak memuaskan. Apabila Dr Mahathir berkata orang Malaysia sudah pandai membuat kereta sendiri seawal tahun 1984 dahulu, kita bertepuk sorak kerana terlalu berbangga.
Selepas 21 tahun, Dr Mahathir masih bercakap tentang perlindungan ke atas kereta buatan nasional. Rakyat pula semakin merasakan tertipu dengan kenaikan harga kereta walaupun selepas perlaksaan Zon Perdagangan Bebas Asean (AFTA).

Di Thailand dan Singapura, di mana tiada 'kereta nasional' untuk dibangga-banggakan, harga kenderaan jauh lebih murah selepas AFTA. Tetapi tidak di negara kita. Persoalannya, kenapa perlu memberi keistimewaan kepada orang-orang tertentu untuk mendapatkan AP dengan menindas golongan kebanyakan?

Yang paling utama, kenapa kerajaan pimpinan Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi mesti akur dengan kata-kata Menteri Perdagangan Antarabangsa dan Industri, Datuk Seri Rafidah Aziz bahawa pemerintah tidak perlu mengumumkan nama pemegang AP?


O Ayah Pin!
Your cardinal sin
has caused a din
that may begin
to open the bin
that we have themed
apostasy.
Will you be be akin
to the neo-nazi,
that wicked specie?
Regardless of any
who decry thee
i hope our grundnorm
will be in good form
to rescue your hunted skin.

Monday 1 August 2005

Mr. OKT and His Ham

It's hard to be a leader nowadays. For one thing, it's hard to do the part that you were elected to do. You were voted, Mr. OKT, to speak up on behalf of your group: And you did, just a wee bit, in recent days, in response to Mr. Ham's statement. Mr. H had said that Mr. H's ilk would like to milk the till for another decade and a half.

Mr. OKT, you must remember that Mr. H belongs to the group of No Objections. You and your ilk, on the other hand, belong to the Money Creation Agency. The group of No Objections looks upon your group as a vehicle for continued happiness...

Mr. H has said that you should have spoken to him before PRESS-ing ahead with your response. But -- who is Mr. H? Does he sit on the top of his group? NO, he is not the supreme leader. But -- you, Mr. OKT, sit on the top of your group! Why should you have to consult with Mr. H before commenting on behalf of your group?

Should not Mr. H's supreme leader consulted you, before or even after the No Objections annual meeting? The argument may be that your Money Creation Agency is smaller than the No Objections group!

If the "size" argument is to hold water, Mr. OKT, then think, for one second! The "May I Come" group is smaller than the Money Creation Agency. Who should they consult with before PRESS-ing ahead to reply the No Objection group? A lesser official than Mr. H perhaps? Maybe his office boy?

What about the Movement group, which is smaller than the "May I Come" group? I fear they need consult with someone even lower ranking than that. They need to consult with the washerwoman before PRESS-ing ahead with any statements!

The way things work out, it won't be good. The allegation that the non-B's have a bigger cut of the cake must be supported by full and frank disclosure. In the face of full statistics, perhaps it shall be shown that the B's have it better than the non-B's. How is it that Dr. M can call for a full disclosure of AP holders, and command for the release of lists of previous years, and yet we cannot get the same full and frank disclosure for the No Equality Policy?

Mr. OKT, perhaps it would be prudent to check out what our Department of Statistics is doing for the nation. Click on the link below:
http://www.statistics.gov.my/

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