Flower Therapy - Taman Ku

One of the most satisfying things to do is creating and tending your own garden. Watching the plants grow bearing flowers and fruits that attracts birds, butterfly, bees and squirrels. Walking bare foots on the grass while spraying waters to the plants and your kids. It’s a life therapy, taking you away from all the madness of traffic jams and human rat race. Taking you away from pollution and hypocrisy. For a while let’s enjoy the plants of my garden.

Taman ku .... do your own garden

Heliconia Millipedes


Heliconia Turbo 2


Spanish Dancer


Birds of Paradise more then 15 yrs old


Bunga kertas dan Pandan


Heliconia Turbo 1


Belimbing Besi


Bonsai Ku


Chinese Fern


Rambutan Gading ... still green

Papaya ..... yummy

Parliment at Work - Bloopers of the Week

Careless Whisper ... Whammm

The Parliament sitting was extended for two more days to push through unfinished business and legislations. It has been hot with many bloopers and unprecedented antics following the 30 mins life show.

The top bloopers happened yesterday when Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Idris Harun used Tamil word which he claimed " Sit Down " against his distracters. When the Speaker said he did not understand the word N Goblakrishnan walked up to the Speaker and whispered to him the meaning of the word which he claimed obscene. Woww that caused the up roar in the Dewan until N Gobalikrishnan apologized for his action.

The second blooper of the week was when Deputy Minister of Health Datuk Dr Latiff made a statement that doctors were given "licence to heal" as well as "licence to kill". He must be crazy or nut to issue such statements in the Parliament or is he doing it to attract attention of the media or his boss ?

Lesson learnt, stick to Bahasa Malaysia or language you know best instead of making a fool of yourself. Think, think and think before you open your mouth to avoid portraying your stupidity to the world. To Goblakrishnan plan your walk and talk .... in his case good intention does not include breaking the rule of the house. With the 30 mins life telecast and coverage by media, now the Rakyat can see partial performance of their Yang Berkhidmat in Parliament.

Pulau Batu Putih goes to Singapore

In more then two hours judgment today the ICJ gave the sovereignty of Pulau Batu Putih to Singapore, Middle Rocks to Malaysia and South Ledge to the country where the territorial waters lies.

South Ledge ownership still subject to the arguments and interpretation of the judgments. So my friends Ancient Mariner and Mindful Mariner are spot on with their prediction on Batu Putih.

So what next? What are we going to do with the Pulau Pisang lighthouse that still man by the Singaporean? Hope we are not going to wait another twenty years to do what is right in our territory.

Pak Lah got MPs Backing : Get Down to WorkLah

The Star - Umno MPs back Abdullah
KUALA LUMPUR: Umno MPs have pledged support to party president Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi a day after former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad shocked the nation by quitting the party.

In a special meeting with Abdullah at the Parliament House here on Tuesday, the MPs gave their commitment to Abdullah that none of them would heed Dr Mahathir's call for them to also quit Umno.

Yes it’s a free country and anybody can say and do what they like within the confinement of the law, but then the continuous politicking after the PRU 12 is getting to everybody nerves. The public has been harassed everyday with political antics from BN and PR to the point that their productivity suffered. A lot of energy, time and money have been spent to entertain these political antics instead of focusing on the real issues facing by the Rakyat. The price of rice, foodstuffs, iron, fuel, services etc are rising like nobody business and causing the lower income group major difficulties.

Get down to worklah, BN be a better governor of Federal Government and States under your control and PK deliver what you have promised in the 5 states you ruled. The Rakyat has given their mandate and verdict, get down to worklah, five years down the line you can seek the Rakyat mandate again. They will judge you based on your performance not the "sandiwara" you played.

Let the UMNO members cleaned their house in any way they want and don't drag the Rakyat and country with it. The future of UMNO will be decided by its members alone, I don't think the 3 million members could not decide for themselves. At 62 years old if you still could not decide what is good for yourself then you are doomed to perish.

The UMNO MPs have given Pak Lah the backing, give him the space to do what is right for the Party, after all he is the Captain. If he is not good for the party take him down in accordance to the rules of the games. Jangan curi ayamlah.

Dr Mahathir quits UMNO

Dr M & Son

It looks like the lull is over and UMNO is back in the storm with the possibility of cargo shift very real. Like a ship, if the shifting is too much the ship will roll over and capsized. If the Captain is not competence to navigate the ship out of the storm, the crew may mutiny and take over the ship, jettison some cargoes and sail to safety.

So what will happen after Dr M resigned from UMNO? Whether you like him or hate him and for the good and bad he has done, the man is no ordinary person and has major influence in the life of Malaysians during his 22 years of Premiership. If he is not a political genius he must be close to it. Under his Premiership Malaysia economically move out of the second rated economy and became globally recognized. Tok Guru Nik Aziz comments on him reflects the unbiased truth about this man in fact Nik Aziz welcomes him into PAS fold anytime and regards him as an assets to the party. He is the happiest man in the world with Dr M quit decision because it will stop majority Malays from joining UMNO and weaken the party further.

From the few encounters that I have with him I believed Dr M thrived on challenging issues and problems. Despite his age he still shows the sharpness and able to deploy fatal moves towards his foes. He is a master strategist that have survived more the 22 years of Premiership with all sorts of challenges from economy, financial, leadership, scandals, cronyism etc. I have seen him standing more then 3 hours taking all sorts of firings from the floors and enjoying every minute of it.

So what is going to happen next? Is Pak Lah going to survive this new on slaught? Is there going to be mass resignation from the grassroots? Is Musa Hitam prediction that Dr M departure is good because finally the “ duri dalam daging” is gone! The ICT war has started, e-mel, blogs, sms and MSM have been deployed in this crisis. In fact at PRU 12 thousands of UMNO members abandoned the party through their action. Are they going to translate this to mass resignation? Let hope whatever the outcome it will not be at the expense of national harmony and prosperity.

Mahathir quits Umno - TheStar
ALOR STAR: Former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and veteran party man Tan Sri Sanusi Junid announced Monday that they are quitting Umno.

Dr Mahathir Mohamad announced this on Monday at 12.35pm, citing a lack of confidence in the current leadership."I am quitting Umno today," he told about 1,000 people, mostly Kedah Umno members, at a talk here on Monday."I will write a letter to Umno headquarters to inform that I have quit the party," he said.

He has been critical of his appointed successor Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, blaming the current Umno president for the party's disappointing performance in the 12th general election.

The ruling Barisan Nasional coalition, of which Umno is the largest component party, won the March 8 election with a simple majority, and saw four more states join Kelantan under Opposition rule.

Dr Mahathir urged other party members to quit too, as a way of pressuring Abdullah into vacating his post.However, he advised those who do quit not to join any opposition party, adding they can all rejoin the party once there is a change in leadership.

Abdullah has so far refused all calls for him to step down, and said he would defend his presidency in the party polls in December.
Sanusi, who is a former Kedah Mentri Besar, also quit the party on Monday.

PM Abdullah: ShockedMeanwhile, Abdullah said he was shocked by the decision and, despite their differences, had not expected him to leave.
However, the beleaguered premier said he would stay on and fight for the party. “Perhaps some other members might leave too, but this won’t entirely affect the party. It all depends on whether the rest want to stay on and continue to fight for the party too,” he said.

Umno Deputy President Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak expressed his shock and sadness too.Najib, who read a prepared statement to Malaysian reporters at Sharm El-Sheikh in Egypt, said he was prepared to meet Dr Mahathir to discuss his decision."I will also discuss with Datuk Seri Abdullah, whom I had contacted just now, on efforts to strengthen Umno and also the issue of leadership transition in the party."I hope all Umno members will stay calm and give support to our efforts to strengthen the party," he added.

Storm Brewing @ Sabah

Mt. Kinabalu Peak

The political maneuvers between PR and BN are still very active despite the result of recent election. The hot topic is on the BN members of parliament jumping ship to PR. The hottest state under speculation is Sabah, maybe due to its past records on changing alliances. Actually BN has a firm grip of that state winning almost 100% but then why this fragile loyalty. In fact most of key leaders from Sabah have started speaking their mind reminding their needs and expectations such as:

a) preservation of village reserves and Native Customary Right land.
b) abolishment of refugee settlements and establishments of a Royal Commission of Inquiry to investigate alleged issuance of identity cards to illegal immigrants.
c) development of basic infrastructures such as roads, electricity and treated water supply, especially in rural areas.
d) better representation of Sabah leaders at the federal level.
e) fairer returns for Sabah from the federal agencies in government linked companies.
f) abolishing the cooking oil subsidy scheme, which burdens oil palm planters.
g) abolishment of State Federal Development Department, set up to monitor disbursement of federal funds when Sabah was under the opposition PBS Government
h) priority to local Sabahans for top government positions instead of officers from Peninsular Malaysia.
i) more systematic development of schools, sufficient primary and secondary teachers especially in rural areas.
j) a solution to high cost of freight charges for goods imported into Sabah from Port Klang.

Most of the request above look reasonable and implementable but then action to address the issues must be slow resulting in all main stream and alternative medias covering it and Sabah MPs raising the same issues in parliament.

Although to get all the Sabah MPs changing alliances is almost impossible but if majority of them choose to change camp it will start the ball rolling for other MPs to follow suit. Pak Lah has no choice but to take early effective action to avoid the storm and move the ship to safe quadrant. Failing which the ship will enter the “calm area” which is the eye of the storm before all hell break loose.

IPOH Brue - Political Hot Spot

Perak has all the ingredients and reasons for becoming the hot spot in Malaysian political scene. Having slim margin in PRU 12 to rule the State, the Pakatan Rakyat is very fragile with the Menteri Besar coming from PAS, the lowest representation in the PR. The Sultan and Crown Prince are highly educated and respected by Rakyat. The opposition (BN) is very agile and combative in checking the new administration. Initial negotiation for the appointment of Menteri Besar and current crisis on the termination and reappointment of Jamry as Director of JAIP. The uncalled remarks and comments from Karpal Singh on the Sultan of Perak directive on the reinstatement of Jamry.

Dato Sri Mohammad Nizar the Menteri Besar of Perak was the man on the spot. He has to manage all the above issues despite being very green on the job, or rather still in the learning curve in administering the State. I would say he has the hardest job among all the Chief Minister in the country. Despite the few errors in judgments he has done quite well so far but unfortunately the people beyond his control is not helping by adding fuel to the fire. Its looks like that he has no option but to go through the baptism of fire in managing Perak. He will need more then just human intelligence to keep the administration intact and transform Perak into superior performing State.

Perhaps fellow bloggers here have some ideas and advice to him in managing Perak . I will start the ball rolling with comments below:

1. Keep doing what is best for the Rakyat while respecting the Sultan who is the ruler of the State
2. Do not go on witch hunting but focus on developing the State
3. Do not compromise on cronyism and corruptions in whatever forms
4. Focus on administering the state and minimize political trivial
5. Make sure all the Exco’s work as a team and not back stabbing each other

BUM 2008 - View from the Bridge

Desiderata .... Chairman BUM 2008


Panelists Jac, Rocky, Dato S Ahmad, Zorro, Dr Lim

Ancient Mariner, Jaff Point & Dato Syd Ahmad

Thanks to Ancient Mariner for inviting me to be his guest for BUM 2008 to meet fellow bloggers and observed the discourse on Civil Society. It was a relax, no protocols environment with line up of good experienced speakers with mixed participants stretching 4 generations age gaps, truly cyber where age doesn’t matter.

I managed to sit in for the first session but have to rush back for my daughter birthday party immediately after that. The line up for first session includes Rocky’s Bru, Dato Syed Ahmad Aidid, Dr Azmi Sharom, Dr Lim, Jacqueline and Zorro as Chairman. Some of the issues and pointers raised include:

1. Rocky shared his views and experienced in pushing for Bloggrs Association and freedom of alternative/ online media. The fear and need for self censorship.
2. Dato Syed Ahmad Aidid touched on the need for bloggers to focus on every aspects of civil society such as safety, security, environment, judiciary, governance etc. Blogging must be used as a means to generate civil society or civic society as he claimed. He did mention that he may not have to leave the bench if bloggers were as powerful as it is today. He is also considering heavily joining the blogging community soon.

Dr Azmi ... from KL to Penang all PR States

3. Dr Azmi shared his experience on University student’s excitement in PRU12 results. They believed that their voices have finally been heard and counted. He also raised the trends among students that have avoided main stream media and depended mostly on online news. He did cautioned the legal fraternity not to be too excited with the superficial changes announced by the Government but instead to demand for absolute changes in the division of power between the executive and judiciary.

Dr Lim ..... fear factor

4. Dr Lim emphasized on the need to fight against institution or media that create fear and divisions among the races and society. He felt that the popularity of the blogging community must be used to demolish races political bias and propagate equality in society.

5. Jac shared about her MalaysiaVotes.com and Flaming Policy in blogging. The need for rules and regulations in blogging especially for online media like hers.

Haris of PP and the crowds

I truly enjoyed the discourse which further enhanced my belief that the blogging community if properly shaped and organized will be the power house of future governance, guardians of injustice, platform for universal network and news and catalyst for development of civil society. Meanwhile the blogging community must continued to use its new found popularity, energy and power in ensuring the BN and PR governed with the interest of Rakyat as a top priority. It must be used to fight injustice, corruptions, abuse of power and conservation of the environment to facilitate sustainable development.

For the bloggers we have no choice but to be responsible, credible and self regulate ourselves to remain as the key factor and power house for the Rakyat.

Congratulations to the organizers and I shared some shots and Rocky’s write up on the event for your reading pleasure.

Rocky the Bru

The 4th estate has failed us? Politically-appointed editors to blame?The role of the mainstream media (MSM) came under heavy scrutiny at the Bloggers' Universe Malaysia 2008 held for the second year in a row at the Lake View Club, Subang. Haris Ibrahim of People's Parliament says the 4th Estate has failed the people and called on Malaysians to reclaim the integrity of the profession. Citizen Nades defended journalists and blamed politically-appointed Editors and draconian Press laws for the failure of a big chunk of the MSM in serving the people. Zorro, Kee Tuan Chye, Jeyapelan Mahesan, and Desiderata, among others, spoke on the the issue.

Jeff Ooi took part in the conference via a pre-recorded video clip. Steven Gan could not make it but BUM 2008 had Nades and RPK. I spoke of what the National Alliance of Bloggers was up to the last one year and of my fear that the New Media, bloggers in particular, may one day entertain self-censorship as a compromise with advertisers and Government.The 2pm-midnight event attracted some 200 bloggers, activists, journalists and politicians. Desi and Zorro moderated the two sessions and they have both kindly agreed to plan for BUM 2009.Syabas to Desi and Gang for another excellent party!p.s. RTM, Bernama, the Star, Utusan, the (new!) Malay Mail and several other papers covered the event.

The crowds ..... life reporting on HP.

Raja Petra ...... close up