Sharifah Zohra VS KS Bawani – The Listen, Listen, Listen Episode

I believe most of you would have already watched the video clip on the net, if not please do so before reading this post. This is one of the most obnoxious video that I have watched in recent times. 

The clip that I watched is 12minutes long. It mainly centers on the part of Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) Law Student KS Bawani’s attempt, to put forth her question and point of view on the issue of Bersih and Free Education in an event titled “Women and Politics” held recently at UUM, by a little known organization called Suara Wanita 1 Malaysia (SW1M).

Hence my comments here is only centered on that part, because the main thing that made this video so hot is the dazzling display of obnoxious arrogance and unbelievable stupidity displayed by the moderator in handling the question of KS Bawani.   

The following is my satirical take on the video:

Watching this video brings to mind the saying in Malay “Semakin Berisi, Semakin Tunduk”, which means that when someone has more substance, the more humble he/she becomes? In this video, the main character of interest stand straight up and displays obnoxious arrogance signifying how empty the person is. And as the saying goes “Empty Vessel Makes the Most Noise” and Empty Vessel noise can be damn annoying. So please don’t blame Bawani for running back to her seat, because no one in their right mind would be able to tolerate the annoying noise of an Empty Vessel.

BTW, can you make the Empty Vessel to get some “Pendidikan”? I guess, someone tried and the experiment ended up with the Empty Vessel earning a degree as well as Permanent Head Damage. The result, the Empty Vessels cognitive ability to listen and comprehend things and conversation is deeply impaired. So when you ask a logical and rational question, you get nonsense in return. Not only that, the damage is so severe that the Empty Vessel failed to realize that when someone is talking it is supposed to be listening by remaining silent and not by saying the word Listen, Listen, Listen loudly.

So the moral of the story is that, Empty Vessels are very powerful Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), in which they will not only destroy their own reputation and credibility, but also of the organization that they represent and the host that hosted them, so do beware of this new type of WMD if you want to safeguard your reputation.

And for those audience who just clapped and supported the WMD in action without really knowing what is happening, just remember the experiment of Empty Vessel getting “pendidikan”.  By all means, do get a degree but not Permanent Head Damage. Don’t Forget this great nation needs you in future.

 May God Bless Malaysia.

Government Expenditure

The Auditor General’s report is out. As expected there are some interesting findings as usual. The highlights for this year are as follows:

• A local council has paid RM 871 for a toilet Sign. (I’m just wondering, if the toilet sign itself can cost so much, how much the toilet bowl would cost….. any bet guys)
• They also bought spiral pendent lights for RM 38,700, which can be found for as low as RM 1500 on the market
• Not to mention they also bought a bedroom number at RM 542 each. The number can be bought for RM 38 at the store. (I guess this is what happens when people who are not good with numbers were sent to buy numbers)

Compare this with what happened last year:

• A local college paid RM 42,320 for a laptop (I guess it deserves an entry into Malaysia Book of Records as Malaysia’s most expensive laptop and the person who approved its purchase should be given the Smart Consumer Award for that year)
• The college also paid between RM1,398 and RM2,945 for 204 teaching manuals. It comes in a nice comb binding (the news didn’t mention whether it is Photostat copies or not, so can’t speculate on that) and the best part is they never used it after paying RM358,476 of our tax money …. . (This what we call Smart college…don’t even know what they need, and we send our children to them to be educated….no wonder once they are out they can’t get jobs)
• Also another college paid RM224 for a screwdriver set (of four) which had a RM40 market price ( part of our country’s smart college network I guess)
• Some other agencies paid RM5,700 for a car jack that would normally cost a mere RM50 (how would you call the person who made this purchase….Jack XXX….no prise for guessing that)

These are just a sample of the type of expenditure that our government undertakes every year. I’m sure they have exercised maximum caution and prudence in spending our hard earned tax money so that it can benefit the rakyat (people).

But, I’m just curious. If we can spend money like this and buy things at these super inflated prices, that means we are a damn bloody rich country, isn’t it ( better agree with this, because if not we can be construed as being very dumb or corrupt, which is not so nice).

If we are so rich that we can overpay for normal things like this, then I’m pretty sure the government is rich enough to extend and increase the subsidy for Petrol, Sugar, Flour and other essentials of the people. So I hope in future the government will cut their expenses rather than subsidies. Now I know why foreign businesses like to do business in Malaysia, they just love to do business with our government so much.

Warisan Merdeka

The budget 2011 was really interesting. While the budget looks very much like an election budget, there was a huge surprise in waiting. It’s none other than the Warisan Merdeka project.

A project to develop 100 storey modern skyscraper adjacent to Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara. The cost is RM 5 Billion and the project owner is permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB).

The tune was familiar. It’s justified in the name of development, economic benefits, job creation for the masses, multiplier effect on the economy and contribution to the nations goal of becoming a high income nation in the long run.

I’m sure the government has done its detail analysis and realizes the importance of it, to be announcing it in this year’s budget. But as a taxpaying Malaysian citizen who has been taught to think and analyze by the same government through it education system, I feel this matter needs a bit more analysis for my own comfort.

Below are some questions that linger in my mind and the answers to it as well:

First and foremost in my mind, what is the need for this 100 storey tower?

The tower will obviously add a lot of office space in KL. But are we facing such a serious scarcity of office space currently that we need this 100 storey high tower. And do we have such a land scarcity like Singapore or Hong Kong that we need to build so high.

I don’t think so. The newspaper classified section lists out hundreds of ads daily for office space to let. Not to mention the banner and signs hanging from so many office towers that advertises office space to let.

Hence we do have a lot of surplus office space that can meet the current and immediate future needs of office space.

So what could be the other reason then.


Could it be that we are trying to create an icon for Malaysia?

It could be if we build this before KLCC. But now KLCC has done the job successfully. In fact KLCC achievements were far better compared to this proposed Warisan Merdeka. KLCC was the world’s tallest building when it was completed in 1998. In fact it still remains as the world’s tallest twin tower till today. Architecturally stunning and created a wave in the international scene and succeeded in being the country’s icon. Not only that, it is also a tourist draw and located in a business district that is well suited for an iconic tower like it.

Warisan Merdeka on the other hand, when completed is not going to set any new world record. The proposed location is questionable. Not to mention there is no pressing need for it as well and it’s also doubtful whether it will succeed in replacing KLCC as Malaysia’s icon.

Even if it does, I don’t think we need a new icon at a cost of RM 5 Billion. It’s simply not worth it.

Could it be to create jobs for Malaysians and boost up our economy?

Well, I’m sure projects like this could create a lot of jobs. The biggest number of jobs would be for laborers who can work on this project for few years. But most of the construction laborers in our country are foreigners from Indonesia, Bangladesh and other countries. So not only it doesn’t benefit Malaysians much, but the repatriation of salary of these foreign workers back to their home countries, actually weakens our economy as big sum of our money is leaving the country.

But wait, we are trying to create a high income nation. So the jobs for Malaysians are the high paying jobs, like the engineers, architects and others.

There is some truth to this. But if we analyze deeper, our country actually lacks a bit in terms of the required expertise to build such an ultra high rise building. That’s the reason why we got Hazama, Samsung and Kukdong from Japan and Korea to build the KLCC for us, as they are one of the leaders in this area. Not only that, a lot of other associated technology required for ultra high rise of this nature would also have to be sourced from foreign firms. Hence while we invest a big sum of money into this project, we could expect a big sum of our money to leave the country as well, which I don’t think is so good for our economy.

But let say if we do complete the Warisan Merdeka project, what good would it do. Honestly the only thing that I can think of is that it will add to the office space supply in the KL City and be a new icon for the country as the tallest structure in the country. I don’t think there is any good in that and I don’t view it as a symbol of development either. But I can foresee that the tower will definitely add to the serious traffic jams that already exist in that proposed area.

On contrast, imagine if we spend this RM 5 Bilion to develop multiple office towers and associated infrastructure in terms of new residential neighborhoods, schools, hospitals and better transport system like highways, we could actually create new city on the outskirt of KL. This new city would not only rejuvenate the real estate value and development of its surrounding, but also contribute to reducing the high concentration and dependence of businesses and people on KL itself thus making the KL city more livable in terms of reduced and more manageable traffic as well as stabilizing the ever escalating real estate prices in KL itself, thus making KL city more sustainable in the long run.

Not to mention that the expertise required to develop this kind of new cities as well as high rise buildings between 20-40 storey high are available locally and can be executed well by our local architects and construction firms. Hence the big chunk of the money that we spend on this kind of projects will actually stay in our own country, which is good for our economy.

Furthermore the development of this kind of new cities would also entail the involvement of multiple architecture and construction firms in the country, thus contributing to better spread of the money and wealth while having a real positive rejuvenating effect on the local construction industry as well as our economy.

Why I’m bothered by this?

Simply because it involves RM 5 Billion of our money. For the readers who cannot imagine how much money is this, let me give you an example. RM 5 billion is sufficient to buy more than 119,000 low cost homes priced at RM 42,000 each. That means the government can provide more than 100,000 poor families with a roof over their head if they wish to do so. Yup, thats how big the sum is.


So why are we building it?

Only the god and government knows. But as a taxpaying Malaysian, I’m just not convinced and wishes the money to be better spent for the welfare of rakyat in line with the motto of our government, “Rakyat Di Dahulukan, Pencapaian Di utamakan”. God Bless Malaysia.

Our World

This is my personal reflection on the issues that is affecting our world. Being a global citizen and a avid reader, September 11, 2001, not only changed the world but also started me questioning the events and news that shape our lives. Here I will provide alternative take to the various political and current affairs issues that shapes our world.

The reality is, we are living in a modern information age that is driven by capitalist interest, where we have been trust into a never ending race. We are actually overwhelmed with information and stifled by conditioning, that most of us are living with the tunnel vision of meeting the ends meet and winning the survival race in a world that is predominantly views materialistic success as the yardstick to measure development and success.


The rich are engaged in the race for supremacy, while the poor is in the race for survival, while the middle class is in the race for never ending development. But it seems that we have forgotten the most important race, which is Human Race.

Therefore it’s time for us to rethink the way we govern the world and formulate our policies, so that we can actually do something meaningful for the race that matters which is human race. In order to do this we have to make a paradigm shift to make this world a much better place, and the first step to that would be for us to develop our world views and break free from the existing conditioning that makes up the tunnel that we are in today.

And this blog is a small contribution to that goal.