BOB LOKMAN!

Fisabilillah: Bob Lokman

Setelah aku melalui segala jalan syahwat, Allah memberikan aku gambaran akhirat. Maka aku mula berjalan mencari kebenaran dan semalam 16 Rabi'ul Awal, aku melangkah masuk kedalam gerbang hijau yang bertonggakkan Ulama yang sangat ditakuti oleh pencinta dunia.

Mengalir airmata bila borang ahli disambut oleh Menteri Besar Kedah, Datuk Seri Azizan. Biar pun aku bukan sesiapa dikalangan orang Pas, tapi aku dapat merasakan kehangatan persaudaraan yang dihulurkan oleh mereka.

Aku menjadi insaf dikalangan anak- anak muda Pas yang rugged tapi ikhlas dalam perjuangan dan aku merasa amat malu diperhatikan oleh mereka bilamana aku merasa seperti seluruh hidup aku sebelum ini diselubungi syahwat keduniaan hingga aku merasa aku teramat tua dikalangan mereka.

Terlintas juga dibenak ku, mungkin kerana anak - anak muda inilah orang bijak pandai seperti Mahathir menolak Pas.

Biarlah tua, biarlah bertongkat, tapi sekarang aku tahu Allah maha pengampun dan penyanyang.

Maka oleh kerana itu aku akan patuh kepada kehendak Allah dalam ayat 104 Surah Aali-Imran. Pas akan aku jadikan wadah perjuangan untuk mempopularkan Allah kepada mereka yang belum kenal akan kekuasaanNYA.

Aku jadi insaf betapa aku yang lahir dalam keluarga Islam keturunan Ulama', terabai dengan kefahaman Islam yang pernah diterapkan kedalam jiwaku. Apatah lagi mereka yang tidak pernah tahu mengenai Islam, bagaimana mereka akan merasa takut pada Allah. Untuk itu sekali ini aku akan terus bercerita kepada sesiapa sahaja sesuatu yg membuatkan mereka bertaqwa kepada Allah.

Lagikan setiap ibu bapa sayangkan anak - anak yang dilahirkan, inikan pula Allah yang menciptakan kita dan segalanya. Biar pun Iblis dan yahudi memang dilaknat oleh Allah, namun satu masa dahulu mereka adalah hamba Allah yang baik. Selepas itu dengan takdir Allah mereka dijadikan sebagai contoh buruk kepada sesiapa yang tidak bertaqwa kepada Allah.

Ini Kuasa Allah. Kalau tiada keburukan kita tidak pandai menilai kebaikan sebagai mana kalau tiada ketaqwaan maka tiadalah kita mengerti bahawa Allah itu maha diatas segalanya.

Hari ini bila jiwa berada didalam Pas, ada satu semangat baru yang membuatkan aku berfikir mengapa Allah menjadikan aku. Pagi tadi bila ada kawan yang bertanya, mengapa aku menganut Pas, aku tahu bahawa aku sudah diterima untuk bekerja oleh Allah. Inilah masanya untuk berubah dan mengubah sebahagian besar kenalan, kepada jalan baru bagi mereka yang fasiq.

Belum ramai yang menerima Islam sebenar. Kalau tidak sudah tentu Malaysia diperintah oleh Ulama'. Masalahnya siapa yang Islam dalam orang Melayu? Untuk mereka yang mencari jawapan bacalah Sirah Rasulullah berulang kali, maka kita akan nampak siapa Abu Bakar, siapa Abu Jahal dan siapa Abdullah Ubai dalam bangsa Melayu.

Kerana itulah aku memohon untuk masuk Pas. Lepas ni kita akan baca ada yang marah dengan apa yang aku kata. Itu biasa, sebagaimana ada orang yang marahkan harimau membunuh lembu. Ini kerana kita tidak mengertisunnatullah. Kalau kita susah di dunia, kita lupa bahawa itu kehendak Allah, apatah lagi bila kita mewah.

Sudah berkali-kali Pas kalah dalam pilihanraya. Memang susah nak menang kerana ini bukan perang Badar dimana malaikat juga turun berperang dengan perintah Allah. Janganlah mengharapkan malaikat turun beratur dipusat-pusat mengundi yang diadakan oleh suruhan jaya pilihan raya yang tidak mengikut suruhan Allah.

Ini demokrasi orang putih yang memberikan peluang kemenangan kepada orang yang mempunyai syahwat duniawi. Kerana itu perlunya kita memperkenalkan Islam adalah sistem terbaik untuk mentadbir dunia kepada manusia Malaysia.

Ini adalah kerana ramai manusia lupa bahawa Allah yang mencipta dunia dan hanya hukum Allah sahaja yang sesuai dilaksanakan. Mereka yang menolak selalunya mereka yang tidak tahu apa hukum Allah.

Selalunya mereka ditakutkan oleh yahudi yang memang mengetahui apa isi Al Quran dan mereka telah tahu lebih awal melalui Taurat bahawa Islam itu sempurna dan mereka tidak mahu kita menjadi ummat Muhammad. Maka kita akan luput dari mendapatkan Syufaat Rasul dipadang Mahsyar nanti.

Dan kali ini aku bersedia untuk berjuang dengan Pas, dan aku bersedia untuk kalah setelah menjalankan segala syarat perjuangan.

Dipetik daripada blog Bob Lokman

GADDAFI MUST GO NOW...GO WHERE?

International leaders called on Muammar Gaddafi to step down on Sunday, sharpening rhetoric against the Libyan regime.

Some leaders also addressed criticism that the international community has been too slow to take action against the violence in Libya.

On Saturday, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved sanctions against Libya, including asset freezes, a travel ban, an arms embargo, and the referral of crimes to the International Criminal Court.

Chip Pitts, a lecturer in human rights law at Stanford Law School, believes the resolution could lead to results on the ground in Libya, including the end of Gaddafi's rule.

"Gaddafi's forces now know they face real war crimes liability, and accountability in general," he told The Huffington Post. "The measures will encourage his forces and others from his side to keep defecting, thus accelerating Gaddafi's removal from power."

Below is a growing list of countries who have called on Gaddafi to step down:

United States: In a call to German Chancellor Angela Merkel, President Barack Obama said that Gaddafi's rule is no longer legitimate.

According to a White House release detailing the call, "The president stated 'When a leader's only means of staying in power is to use mass violence against his own people, he has lost his legitimacy to rule and needs to do what is right for his country by leaving now."

The direct reference to Gaddafi's rule represents a harsher message from the administration. Until Saturday, U.S. officials had stopped short of supporting the opposition movement, stating only that the Libyan people had a right to decide how they want to be led.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton added her voice to the mounting criticism.

"Gaddafi has lost the confidence of his people and he should go without further bloodshed and violence," she said in a statement.

Britain: "It is time for Colonel Gaddafi to go and to go now. There is no future for Libya that includes him," Prime Minister David Cameron said on Sunday.

Britain has revoked diplomatic immunity for Gaddafi, his sons, and his family.

Germany: "A ruling family which conducts a war so brutally against its own people is finished. The dictator cannot stay," Germain Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle wrote in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung newspaper on Sunday.

He added: "The EU was initially too hesitant."

France: "France's position is clear, Mr. Qaddafi must go," French President Nicolas Sarkozy said at a news conference on Friday.

Italy: "We have reached, I believe, a point of no return," Italian Foreign Affairs Minister Franco Frattini told Sky Italia television on Sunday.

Asked if Gaddafi should give up power, Frattini said: "It is inevitable for this to happen."

CHRISTCHURCH BADLY DAMAGED

Why was this earthquake so damaging; wasn't it smaller?

The city had been comparatively lucky with both the location and timing of last September's magnitude 7.1 Darfield (Canterbury) earthquake; the location of this one within 10 km of the city and at a shallow depth of 5 km during the middle of a working day has resulted in destruction, injuries and deaths.

Seismologically, this is classed as an aftershock because of its relationship to the ongoing activity since September last year. Its occurrence was always statistically possible, but the long time interval and slow decrease in general activity had made it less likely. Unfortunately, it has happened after all and in a location that has brought the worst result.

Christchurch earthquake not on Greendale Fault

Preliminary analysis of seismograph records of the devastating magnitude 6.3 earthquake on Tuesday show that it was just 9 km from the centre of Christchurch on a buried fault oriented roughly east-west.

There is no obvious structure directly connecting the faults that ruptured in the September’s magnitude 7.1 earthquake with the fault that generated the magnitude 6.3 event. On the contrary, precise aftershock relocations suggest that at least two north-east/south-west trending faults lie between the two and that there is no evidence from the earthquake data of an extension of the Greendale Fault.

Portable seismometer deployment in the Christchurch region

Planned portable earthquake recorder deployment sites are shown as yellow pins (short period instruments) and red pins (strong motion instruments). Existing GeoNet sites are shown as red squares (Canterbury Network strong motion sites) and red crosses (GeoNet National Network sites). Portable strong motion instruments from the 4 September 2010 Darfield earthquake deployment are shown as white squares.

Four GeoNet staff are travelling to Christchurch to deploy further portable earthquake recorders. These instruments will collect information on the continuing aftershock sequence of the M6.3 Christchurch earthquake. Earthquake data from the portable instruments will be used in conjunction with data from permanent GeoNet monitoring stations and portable instruments that remain deployed following the M7.1 Darfield earthquake. This combined earthquake dataset will be used in scientific studies of fault structures and ground motion.

In total, six short-period seismometers and four strong-motion accelerometers are planned to be placed around the outskirts of Christchurch. The short-period instruments will be installed in the area of aftershocks to enable increased precision of earthquake locations and an enhanced understanding of local fault structure. The strong-motion instruments will be deployed in the Port Hills to reveal ground motion differences between the hills and the plains as well as measure ground accelerations associated with any landslides that are caused. The instruments will record seismic activity for at least the next two months.

Othello: says that he, "like the base Indian threw a pearl away/Richer than all his tribe" (347). What does he mean?

Othello: Q & A

Dr. Johnson said that Othello would have been better if the first act had been omitted. What is the relevance of the first act of Othello, and what purpose does it serve?

The first act in Othello is vital to the character development of Iago, Othello, and Desdemona. Here we are told the motive behind Iago's hatred of the Moor, and we receive our first impression of Othello as a noble, rational, and intelligent leader. Similarly, through the dialogue in the first act we come to understand that Desdemona will not be parted from Othello under any circumstances, and that her love for him is stronger than even her love for her father. Without this act, the horrible events that follow would make much less of an impact.

In the play Othello, Iago derides Cassio and says that he is "damned in a fair wife." What does he mean?

This line has been the subject of much debate. It could be that Cassio was going to be married (this is the case in Shakespeare's source by Cinthio). Another hypothesis comes from Tucker Brooke. In his edition of the play he gives the following explanation of the line: "Cassio, says Iago, is a fellow of such effeminate quality that the like could hardly be endured in a fine lady. Here 'in' means 'in the person of' and 'wife' means women in general. In this description of Cassio, Iago is again lying in order to build up Roderigo's belief that Othello has misused him. The obscure feeling called inferiority complex drives him in the same direction" (Yale Shakespeare, 1947 [155]).

Can you tell me about the themes of appearance and reality in Othello?

In Othello, the outward appearance of evil masks an inward nobility. In Shakespeare's time, black was considered the color of the devil and an outward representation of evil and lechery (horrible I know!). Othello appears black, but in reality is white, ie. virtuous and honest. Iago, outwardly white and pure, is inwardly rotten and black and thus appearance and reality are not the same thing.

What is the difference between Quarto 2 and Quarto 3 of Othello?

The second Quarto, printed in 1630, was produced from a copy of the first Quarto, corrected by reference to the First Folio. The third Quarto, printed in 1655, is just a reprint of the second Quarto.

In Act 4, scene 3, Desdemona converses with Emilia about Lodovico and calls him a "proper man." She also insists that Emilia "unpin" her where she stands. Why do you think she behaves this way? Is it not out of character?

I would not take Desdemona's reference to Lodovico to mean that she is straying from Othello, especially given what occurs after the line is said. Lodovico and Othello are out of the room at the moment, but they are likely not very far, and Desdemona would be visible if they decided at any time to come back into the room. Most scholars agree on one of three possibilities: 1) Desdemona talks idly of Lodovico to keep her mind off of her troubles (assuming that the word 'proper' in this particular content means handsome); 2) the line does not belong to Desdemona at all but to Emilia and our version of the play is corrupt; 3) the line is proof of her innocence as previously stated.

In 5.2, Othello says that he, "like the base Indian threw a pearl away/Richer than all his tribe" (347). What does he mean?

The meaning behind Othello's comparison has been much debated, primarily because in the First Folio "Indian" is spelled "Iudean" or "Judean" (modernized). Now, if Shakespeare intended the word to be "Indian" then Othello would be referring to the Indians of the New World, commonly known as "savages" in Renaissance England. The famous Shakespeare editor George Lyman Kittredge wrote that "the supposed ignorance of savages with regard to the value of precious stones had become proverbial." Thus Othello, in his treatment of Desdemona, would be comparing himself to the savage who throws away a precious stone because he cannot realize its worth. However, if Shakespeare intended the word to be "Judean", then Othello is likely comparing himself to Judas Iscariot, the betrayer of Jesus. It was common in Shakespeare's day to refer to one's soul as his "eternal jewell" (see Macbeth III.i.64), and "pearl" in this case could mean Othello's soul. Thus Othello, like Judas, not only murdered his beloved, but also lost his own soul.

In Othello's final speech his mentions Aleppo and how he killed "a circumcised dog." What does this mean?

Othello knows that all his valiant deeds will be soon forgotten, utterly overshadowed by the death of Desdemona, but he nonetheless implores the Venetians to remember him as a great soldier who risked his life repeatedly for Venice. He says "When you shall these unlucky deeds relate/Speak of me as I am" (5.2.340-1). One deed in particular Othello wants the Venetians to remember. When he was in the Turkish city, Aleppo, where Venetians were allowed to trade freely with the Turkish citizens, Othello found a "malignant Turk" beating a Venetian. Othello saved the Venetian by killing the Turk or, as Othello calls him, the "circumcised dog", even though striking a Turk in Aleppo was punishable by death. Note that Othello refers to the Turk as a "circumcised dog" because the Turk was Muslim, and Muslim men must be circumcised.

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SAKMONGKOL AK47: DUN Kerdau, Jemaah PAS- antum jangan tabor fitnah.

SAKMONGKOL AK47: DUN Kerdau, Jemaah PAS- antum jangan tabor fitnah.

Is the Malay is the richest racial group in Malaysia?

No clear policies on big issues confronting Malays

Mat Goneng
Feb 24, 11
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Mr. John Malott's essay on the 'The Price of Malaysia's Racism' which appeared in the Wall Street Journal of Feb 8^, 2011 lacks depth.

Reading his article one would conclude that the Malay race is the richest racial group in Malaysia.

Far from it, on the contrary, the average income of the Malays at RM3,500 is the lowest. The Indians' average income is RM4,500 and the Chinese RM6,200.

But that is not the full story. Of the thousands of SMEs in the country, the Malays own less than 5% of the total and if one looks at the export of manufactured goods (rubber, wood, plastic based, etc) which are strongly supported by the Malaysian government through its agencies, Matrade and Mida, the biggest beneficiary are the Chinese and Indians SMEs with more than 95% of the total export.

When the "actual profits" from manufacturing are considered the actual average income of the non-Malays could be three or four times higher than that of the Malays.

It's true that 90% of the civil service, police and military staffs are Malays but these are all low paying jobs.

What is troubling is that when Malaysia reaches a developed nation status with a targeted per capita income of RM49,500 the largest number of Malaysian whose income will be below the targeted average, will be the Malays.

How can there be One Malaysia when the Malays in terms of wealth, are actually the second class citizen in the country.

What is a tragedy for the Malays is that neither the present government nor the opposition has clear, effective policy implementation to address the big issues confronting the Malays.

Basically, the Malays are very weak and despite their poor economic status, have been accommodating the request of the non-Malays like as though they (the Malays) have achieved huge success in Malaysia. As a race they are just docile and pathetic.

The Malays despite being the poorest, it's not them but the Indians who went to the streets (as the accompanying photograph in the essay showed) to protest their so called disadvantaged position.

At the rate the country progresses, when Malaysia reaches a developed nation status, the Malays will remain the poorest in the country and lulled by their false symbols of supremacy in the prime minister, king, sultans, administrators, soldiers and policemen being Malays.

Mr. Malott has to really rewrite the superficiality of his thoughts.

Malaysia is a complex country to understand and govern and all considered has actually done quite well

The death toll continued to rise

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• By LUCY CRAYMER And GEOFFREY ROGOW

CHRISTCHURCH, New Zealand—The death toll continued to rise Friday with numerous foreigners now thought to be among the dead, three days after a massive earthquake rocked New Zealand's second largest city.

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Rescuers at the CTV building in Christchurch. Many people are still unaccounted for in the quake's aftermath.

Aftershocks continue to shake the area, with at least six tremors felt in the city Friday from 3.3 to 4.4 in magnitude. International and local rescue teams have joined forces to search for the more than 200 people still missing, but hope of finding survivors is fading as rescuers haven't found anyone alive in the past 48 hours.

Police said many of the missing were expected to be among the 113 bodies that have been recovered. Less than a dozen people have so far been identified by authorities, though it is expected many of the unidentified bodies will be those of foreign nationals.

"This is not just New Zealand's tragedy, it is a tragedy that will touch many families around the world," said Minister of Foreign Affairs Murray McCully.

Rescue workers using dogs, sensitive listening equipment and cameras are searching for survivors as police enforce restrictions on entering the city's devastated historic downtown area. A 6 p.m. curfew remains in place to prevent looting.

New Zealand was rocked early Thursday by several major aftershocks that came in the wake of Tuesday's massive 6.3-magnitude earthquake in the city of Christchurch, where hundreds remain missing. Geoff Rogow has the latest.

Aftershocks and fears that 26-storey Grand Chancellor Hotel could collapse at any moment has complicated the recovery and played on frazzled nerves. Engineers estimated the building moved 10 feet in 10 minutes at one point more than a day after the 6.3-magnitude quake.

Fourteen employees of financial-services concern Pyne Gould Corp. are believed trapped in the Pyne Gould Guinness office building downtown, while a further 120 people are believed to have perished in the Canterbury Television building where concerns about the Grand Chancellor hampered recovery efforts.

Businesses and shops reopening has begun to restore some normality in outlying suburbs and surrounding towns. The South Island's largest port, Lyttelton, is expected to be reopened Saturday with full operations to resume within a week allowing for exports of coal, pine wood and dairy products from the South Island.

"We have been working really hard to get things up and running," said Simon Munt and official at Lyttelton Port Co.

But the nearby township closer to the earthquake's epicenter is likely to remain closed for some time.

"Most of the buildings are going to have to be demolished because nobody is going to rebuild in brick, because you won't be able to insure it," said Lois Ogilvie, 50, the owner of the Volcano Café and Lava Bar in the center of town.

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See a map of the quake's epicenter, damage and other key spots.

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Residents are fleeing the area amid fears that another major quake could hit at any time. Lyttelton resident Meredith Morton, 36, sent her two sons to stay with their father in North Canterbury as she begins the clean up.

"It's nice not to be worrying about them in the quakes," said Ms. Morton.

As residents struggle to comprehend the scale of the disaster, estimates of the cost of the damage have begun. Prime Minister John Key said that the damage bill will be more than four billion New Zealand dollars (US$3 billion), and that he couldn't rule out a J.P. Morgan estimate of NZ$16 billion.

The deadly earthquake has led financial markets to price in a 0.25 percentage point interest-rate cut by New Zealand's central bank at its March 10 policy-review meeting, with analysts saying the bank should ease monetary policy even more to help the economy cope with the shock.

That prospect would mark a stark shift in policy expectations, reflecting the worsening outlook for New Zealand's economy, which was already battling to recover from a deep recession triggered by the global financial crisis.

"At a time of national crisis, when the underlying economy is already proving frustratingly weak, a rate cut would potentially be very helpful to the recovery of the economy. We expect the RBNZ to deliver a 50 basis point rate cut at the March 10 meeting, if not sooner," said ASB Economist Jane Turner.

Australia—New Zealand's largest trading partner—is also starting to estimate damages to its businesses in New Zealand, as the two countries have long had close economic and political ties.

Economists said Australian exports to New Zealand could take a short-term hit if the earthquake causes the New Zealand economy to contract in the quarter ending in March, and possibly the following quarter.

The short-term drain on exports, however, will likely be offset by increased demand for raw materials once rebuilding starts.

Christchurch sits at the head of the fertile Canterbury plain region of New Zealand's South Island. The city, with a population of about 377,000, is a commercial center in the agricultural and tourism-dependent region and accounts for about 15% of the nation's economy.

The U.S. Geological Survey issued a statement saying the quake was part of the "aftershock sequence" from September's earthquake.

'No water in Christchurch,

thousands left city'

Ravit Avraham, Israeli residing in New Zealand describes post-quake catastrophe, unimaginable destruction as death toll rises to 113, with 300 still missing. Tanks block city center as more rescue teams arrive

Aviel Magnezi

VIDEO - Ravit Avraham, an Israeli travel agent, has been living in the peaceful New Zealand city of Christchurch for the past decade. But nothing could have prepared her, her husband and children for the horrific earthquake that hit the city earlier this week.

The official death toll continues to climb, currently standing at 113, and officials said rescue teams had pulled nothing but bodies from the rubble of collapsed buildings for 48 hours. About 300 people are still considered missing.

"I never thought that something like this could happen. After the previous earthquake (in September 2010) the city returned to normal within a couple of weeks. Geologists talked about a stronger quake yet to come which will 'level the ground' but no one ever imagined such destruction and death," Avraham told Ynet. "We'll get over the destruction. Buildings fall and they will be rebuilt, the city will be rebuilt. The catastrophe is the loss of lives."

Avraham is in constant contact with Israeli tourists in New Zealand, and even accommodated two Israelis when the earthquake hit. According to her, authorities continue to search for missing people.

"The city center is blocked off by tanks, which we never see in New Zealand. Professional rescue teams are here from the United States, Canada, Japan and Taiwan, and another team from Britain is expected to arrive. There are a lot of people who wish to come search for their missing relatives, but the entrance is closed out of fear they'll get hurt or disturb the search and rescue teams," she added.

Avraham said the teams are still looking for survivors. "They're listening for voices. They'll evacuate the bodies later," she said. "Many neighborhoods are flooded. Bridges have collapsed and roads have split open. About 80% of the residents don't have water."

According to Avraham, many residents decided to flee the city. "Half of them don't have electricity, telephones, internet or any contact with the outer world. Thousands have left the city. At least 1,000 homes have been ruined and many other houses cannot be lived in for fear they will collapse.

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NZ: Rescue teams search for missing Israelis

Four days after mass earthquake, Ofer Levy's uncle arrives in Christchurch together with two Israeli rescue teams in hopes of finding nephew, friend. 'We haven't lost hope,' he says

Aviel Magnezi

The more time passes since the devastating earthquake that hit New Zealand Monday the less chances there are of survivors being found. Four days after the tremor, Yaakov Levy, the uncle of one missing Israeli has arrived in quake-stricken Christchurch in search for him. Currently 15 Israelis are considered missing in New Zealand, data from Israel's Embassy in the country suggests.

Ofer Levy and Gabi Engle were making their way from their hostel to meet a winegrower in the hopes of landing a job with him when the mass earthquake hit Christchurch. So far two Israeli private rescue teams have arrived in New Zealand in search of the two.

"The area that was affected is sealed off. Hundreds of local rescue personnel and volunteers from around the world are working to trace survivors. We are trying to get as many details about Ofer and Gabi in the meantime," Levy said. "Currently they are not allowing outside rescue teams to operate but have set up a special Foreign Ministry war room and their representatives are helping us. "

Levy described the chaos in the city. "The destruction is all too evident. I managed to sneak into the city center for a short while and we started working vigorously to trace them. We haven't lost hope and the search continues in the assumption they are alive."

Gabi (Left) and Ofer. 'We haven't lost hope'

Shai Lanuel, a member of the Magnus International Search and Rescue company currently working in New Zealand said: "Rescue efforts are currently concentrated on two tall buildings that have collapsed, each housing some 100 people."

He described the somber atmosphere. "Sadly they are not talking about rescuing but about tracing. They don't estimate there are any survivors under the rubble and that is why they won’t allow anyone to approach the area for fear the buildings will collapse. "

Hilik Magnus, the company's director said that his teams are preparing to stay in New Zealand for a considerable amount of time.

Piles of rubble in Christchurch (Photo: AFP)

Meanwhile, Israelis residing in New Zealand have joined rescue efforts. One of them is Yifat Or Shahar who has been living in the country for the past six years. "They weren't equipped for emergency situations. There wasn't enough equipment and that caused a situation where in order to pull out people from the rubble they were forced to cut their body parts."

However, Yifat remains hopeful especially in the face of the Israeli crews' arrival. "True, no survivors were found in the last few hours but we believe Gabi and Ofer will be found alive soon. Contrary to other reports, forces here continue to search for signs of life."

Back in Rehovot, Ofer's father continues to hope for the best. "I don’t know exactly what's going on, the locals are working by the book. We’re hoping for the best."

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IS MALAYSIA UNSAFE COUNTRY?

John Mallot: Malaysia is a terrible, unsafe country

Posted on February 9, 2011 by jebatmustdie ( From Blog JebatMustDie )

That is the gist of his latest article. The opening few paragraphs of this latest barb from old John Mallot is basically telling us that this country is on the verge of a racial calamity. From his plush writing table in the United States, he is saying that Malaysia now is far worse than the terror we endured back in 13th May 1969.

I read his article while having lunch with a few friends just now. I must say, I was in complete fear for my life! Malays and chinese/indians were terrorising each other. Few cars and buildings were on fire.

Hundreds died and injured in the many racial skirmishes that went on and on in the city centre just now.

I was on the verge to rush home and pack up in order to leave Kuala Lumpur when the nice chinese waitress smiled at me and asked if I wanted any dessert. No tension there.

You see, what I described above was exactly what Mallot might have been thinking while writing his article below.

Maybe he should take a look at the mirror and comment on his country’s own problems.

To John Mallot, Anwar Ibrahim is a liability that is bringing down your own credibility, if you have any left.

All the issues he brought up in his article had been dealt, mitigated and put to rest.

To the readers, I leave it to you to read the full text below. We must always be wary of foreigners who tries to stir racial tension in this country. After all, Malaysia is not their country. They will not lose out if anything bad happens to us.

Sadly, we find that even our own countrymen are helping them to fan this bigotry amongst us. If we persist in giving more opportunities for anti-nationalists like these to discredit our country, we may find ourselves facing the complete anarchy that is now Egypt. Like the columnist Shamsul Akmar of The New Straits Times, one of the few able writers that I seldom miss reading, had written a few days ago -

The next question is, if Mubarak had danced to the tune played by Washington, why is it that the US seems to be abandoning him today?

As in the case of other leaders who had been stooges of the US, their continued rule had always been without popular support and when uprising occurred, there was nothing much Washington could do to stop the tide.

The next best thing for Washington is to abandon the leader who had outlived his usefulness and start “nurturing” a new stooge.

As it is, there is a lot of suspicions that Omar Suleiman, the vice-president appointed by Mubarak last week, is with the approval of Washington and Tel Aviv.

In that sense Malaysia has been lucky to not end up being dependent economically on the US.

It could have happened in 1998 if Malaysia had turned to the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, both bodies whose policies and strategies are tailored to suit that of the US.

But it did not. But it could, maybe the next time Malaysia is saddled with another crisis.

And there is always a tin-pot American stooge wannabe waiting for the opportunity.

Malaysia, too, is not devoid of such candidates.

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John Mallot’s:

Malaysia’s national tourism agency promotes the country as “a bubbling, bustling melting pot of races and religions where Malays, Indians, Chinese and many other ethnic groups live together in peace and harmony.” Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak echoed this view when he announced his government’s theme, One Malaysia. “What makes Malaysia unique,” Mr. Najib said, “is the diversity of our peoples. One Malaysia’s goal is to preserve and enhance this unity in diversity, which has always been our strength and remains our best hope for the future.”

If Mr. Najib is serious about achieving that goal, a long look in the mirror might be in order first. Despite the government’s new catchphrase, racial and religious tensions are higher today than when Mr. Najib took office in 2009. Indeed, they are worse than at any time since 1969, when at least 200 people died in racial clashes between the majority Malay and minority Chinese communities. The recent deterioration is due to the troubling fact that the country’s leadership is tolerating, and in some cases provoking, ethnic factionalism through words and actions.

A Kuala Lumpur street is deserted after curfew was imposed during the riots in 1969. This picture was taken two days after the May 13 clashes.

For instance, when the Catholic archbishop of Kuala Lumpur invited the prime minister for a Christmas Day open house last December, Hardev Kaur, an aide to Mr. Najib, said Christian crosses would have to be removed. There could be no carols or prayers, so as not to offend the prime minister, who is Muslim. Ms. Kaur later insisted that she “had made it clear that it was a request and not an instruction,” as if any Malaysian could say no to a request from the prime minister’s office.

Similar examples of insensitivity abound. In September 2009, Minister of Home Affairs Hishammuddin Onn met with protesters who had carried the decapitated head of a cow, a sacred animal in the Hindu religion, to an Indian temple. Mr. Hishammuddin then held a press conference defending their actions. Two months later, Defense Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi told Parliament that one reason Malaysia’s armed forces are overwhelmingly Malay is that other ethnic groups have a “low spirit of patriotism.” Under public pressure, he later apologized.

The leading Malay language newspaper, Utusan Melayu, prints what opposition leader Lim Kit Siang calls a daily staple of falsehoods that stoke racial hatred. Utusan, which is owned by Mr. Najib’s political party, has claimed that the opposition would make Malaysia a colony of China and abolish the Malay monarchy. It regularly attacks Chinese Malaysian politicians, and even suggested that one of them, parliamentarian Teresa Kok, should be killed.

This steady erosion of tolerance is more than a political challenge. It’s an economic problem as well.

Once one of the developing world’s stars, Malaysia’s economy has underperformed for the past decade. To meet its much-vaunted goal of becoming a developed nation by 2020, Malaysia needs to grow by 8% per year during this decade. That level of growth will require major private investment from both domestic and foreign sources, upgraded human skills, and significant economic reform. Worsening racial and religious tensions stand in the way.

Almost 500,000 Malaysians left the country between 2007 and 2009, more than doubling the number of Malaysian professionals who live overseas. It appears that most were skilled ethnic Chinese and Indian Malaysians, tired of being treated as second-class citizens in their own country and denied the opportunity to compete on a level playing field, whether in education, business, or government. Many of these emigrants, as well as the many Malaysian students who study overseas and never return (again, most of whom are ethnic Chinese and Indian), have the business, engineering, and scientific skills that Malaysia needs for its future. They also have the cultural and linguistic savvy to enhance Malaysia’s economic ties with Asia’s two biggest growing markets, China and India.

Of course, one could argue that discrimination isn’t new for these Chinese and Indians. Malaysia’s affirmative action policies for its Malay majority—which give them preference in everything from stock allocation to housing discounts—have been in place for decades. So what is driving the ethnic minorities away now?

First, these minorities increasingly feel that they have lost a voice in their own government. The Chinese and Indian political parties in the ruling coalition are supposed to protect the interests of their communities, but over the past few years, they have been neutered. They stand largely silent in the face of the growing racial insults hurled by their Malay political partners. Today over 90% of the civil service, police, military, university lecturers, and overseas diplomatic staff are Malay. Even TalentCorp, the government agency created in 2010 that is supposed to encourage overseas Malaysians to return home, is headed by a Malay, with an all-Malay Board of Trustees.

Second, economic reform and adjustments to the government’s affirmative action policies are on hold. Although Mr. Najib held out the hope of change a year ago with his New Economic Model, which promised an “inclusive” affirmative action policy that would be, in Mr. Najib’s words, “market friendly, merit-based, transparent and needs-based,” he has failed to follow through. This is because of opposition from right-wing militant Malay groups such as Perkasa, which believe that a move towards meritocracy and transparency threatens what they call “Malay rights.”

But stalling reform will mean a further loss in competitiveness and slower growth. It also means that the cronyism and no-bid contracts that favor the well-connected will continue. All this sends a discouraging signal to many young Malaysians that no matter how hard they study or work, they will have a hard time getting ahead.

Mr. Najib may not actually believe much of the rhetoric emanating from his party and his government’s officers, but he tolerates it because he needs to shore up his Malay base. It’s politically convenient at a time when his party faces its most serious opposition challenge in recent memory—and especially when the opposition is challenging the government on ethnic policy and its economic consequences. One young opposition leader, parliamentarian Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim, has proposed a national debate on what she called the alternative visions of Malaysia’s future—whether it should be a Malay nation or a Malaysian nation. For that, she earned the wrath of Perkasa; the government suggested her remark was “seditious.”

Malaysia’s government might find it politically expedient to stir the racial and religious pot, but its opportunism comes with an economic price tag. Its citizens will continue to vote with their feet and take their money and talents with them. And foreign investors, concerned about racial instability and the absence of meaningful economic reform, will continue to look elsewhere to do business. (John Mallot was the US Ambassador to Malaysia from 1995 to 1998).

There you have it. Thank you.