#JOM - Anwar and Wikileaks

The JOM crew arrived at Pontian tonight which happened to be the parliamentary constituency of Dato Ahmad Maslan the Information Chief of UMNO. Together with the Public Speaking unit (Unit Pidato) of Pemuda UMNO led by Lokman Nor Adam the JOM crew attended a ceramah programme known as Pentas Pemuda.

It's like any of the usual ceramah, first Lokman Adam spoke about the issues in Selangor followed by Dato Ahmad Maslan who explained what happened in parliament during the Apco fiasco and how Anwar lied while explaining on several Felda issues. However what struck me most personally was when UMNO/BN Youth Chief, Khairy Jamaluddin talked about Wikileaks.



Several weeks back, Sydney Morning Herald an Australian based newspaper published an article entitled "Caught in Political Sex Trap". It's an article based on leaked US Diplomatic cable communications between US Embassy in Canberra and State Department in Washington DC. The leaked document is basically a report about what was discussed between the diplomat and the ONA (Office of National Assesment) Australia's Intelligence service.




What struck out in that report was the short paragraph about Malaysia. The cable, dated back in Nov 2008 had this to say about the current (at that time) political situation in Malaysia
'The Australians said that Singapore's intelligences services and [Singaporean elder statesman] Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar 'did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted'.''

The acts by which he is currently indicted as mentioned refers to the sodomy court case brought by Saiful Bukhari, Anwar's personal aide (at first he was just a coffee boy). Quite startling when one think about the fact that the Singaporeans can confirm that indeed Anwar is the sort of man that have that sort of sexual preference. But what is even more worrying is what is written after

The document states the Singaporeans told ONA they made this assessment on the basis of ''technical intelligence''

Technical Intelligence, defined in the term of intelligence work (spying) are information or proof of a certain event that is considered as quite solid. In this case "technical intelligence" would mean either they have proof in the form of pictures, videos, intercepted communication or maybe audio recording.

Now imagine this, the Singaporeans has "technical intelligence" on the Anwar Ibrahim, and let's just say that Pakatan Rakyat won in the next general election and Anwar Ibrahim became the Prime Minister. Upon being the Prime Minister one of the first country that he would negotiate with would be Singapore since we both have many outstanding issues, don't you think that the Singaporeans would use this trump card of theirs. There is no way PAS is going to allow a homosexual be the Prime Minister not with their Islamic State and Hudud.

Anwar Ibrahim would be caught in a quandary, what would stop him from conceding sensitive things like Sand, Airspace and water. This is the man who lied to the whole nation about Sept 16, blatantly lied to not only every single Malaysian but even the rest of the world as well with his botched up plan based on imaginary list of jumping MPs. This is a man who would not think twice in sacrificing the nation's sovereignty in order to save his political ambition. After all, he has done it many times before.

Of course they brushed it all off by saying that this is all a "conspiracy" and that the document is fabricated. But here's the thing, the document's source is from wikileaks the same source of 250 000 other diplomatic cables that was leaked and by now it has been confirmed even by the United States Govt that indeed their sensitive documents got leaked.

Second, up till today, we have yet to hear any statement by the Singaporean Govt nor the Australian Govt denying that the information in those cables were false or fabricated. Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo made no attempt to hide the authenticity of the cables that were reported by The Sun-Herald newspaper in Sydney but said “the views must be respected”.

Basically what Khairy tried to convey was that if indeed Anwar Ibrahim did become the Prime Minister of Malaysia, indeed we would be royally screwed. Now in the spirit of facts and figures, after all we're not from Pakatan Rakyat, here is the link to the actual cable by which was leaked to the Sydney Morning Herald

http://images.theage.com.au/file/2010/12/15/2096934/Cables.htm?rand=1292396653979

Search for the cable daved Novermber 2008, for simple search for the word Malaysia.

Excerpt -

17. (S//NF) Turning briefly to Malaysia, the Australians said that Singapore's intelligence services and Lee Kuan Yew have told ONA in their exchanges that opposition leader Anwar "did indeed commit the acts for which he is currently indicted," citing unshared technical intelligence. ONA assessed, and their Singapore counterparts concurred, "it was a set up job-and he probably knew that, but walked into it anyway.

Happy Reading folks.

#JOM Heboh

No this is not that JOM HEBOH, that huge TV3 event but it's lively nonetheless. Jelajah One Malaysia apart from doing community services aims to engage the young people of this nation. Unlike Pakatan Rakyat though, folks in Barisan Nasional have this world view that there more to politics than 'ceramahs' and street demonstrations hence instead of causing havoc, JOM organised a concert. Technically it still cause some havoc, only the good kind.

Being December in Kuala Terangganu, concert or no concert the rain is here in all it's glory along with winds from south china sea. So there it was, a concert with bands blaring their mad skills accompanied by some showers and a melodious tune of the east coast wind. On the up side, it does give that effect of a Queen's concert live in Wembley. Don't we all miss Freddy Mercury.....

However, rain it may be, the crowd was there, people from young and old, with friends and families came over to listen to young people expressing their creativity via music. This concert though, keeping to the spirit of engaging with young people, feature not only established bands but also local acts as well. You get band's with names like "Kugiran Belia Marang" performing on stage for the very first time. It was quite a local event as fans, friend and family came over to show their support.

Rock ON folks!!!!

This concert also comes as a relief for the volunteers who welcome a new breath of air other than the usual house repairing and kenduris. Well for once, for Khairy at least, he gets to do something other than laying bricks for houses and cementing floors.

Rain or Shine, the programmes gotta go, Rock on baby! Rock On!!

Right catch you later folks, there's a road I got to travel to... JOM

#JOM (Jelajah One Malaysia) - Real Politics

When one talks about politics the usual mental image that pops up in the mind would be either a fiery speaker holding a rally over thousands of people, street demonstrations with people wearing headbands shouting injustice over something or suited men debating (mostly shouting) in Parliament. But truth be told, beneath all of that supposedly happening picture of rallies and speeches, at least in Malaysia politics can be rather subdued most of the time, depending on which side your on at least.

Now they say that the most boring rallies are the ones organised by Barisan Nasional, I have to admit that. When you compare to rallies held by PAS or PKR especially, with their entourage of "pasar malam" stalls and a large arsenal of fiery speakers like Mat Sabu, Anwar Ibrahim and Mahfuz Omar it's like a carnival when these folks hold their rallies. Perhaps the only thing that could challenge their dominance would be a TV3 Sure Heboh.

The thing is, ceramah was never a BN's forte, BN politicians are prone to giving speeches about government policies, economic issues and actual facts which is quite boring to most. People want to hear about gossips, jokes or scandals, things that make their emotions stir, fiery speeches with brilliant rhetorical skills regardless of any substantive or actual facts.

Yet one may wonder, though ironic it may be to some, that most of Barisan's stronghold are located in the rural areas. It's because, though village folks are attracted to rallies and fiery rhetorical speeches, there's one thing that they would prefer more which is a rhetorics and that is actual, real, on the ground work which is something Barisan Nasional is very good at. Delivering real development.

To win audiences and popularity all you need is a good loudspeaker, very good rhetorical skills and the ability to conjure up amazing creative stories. However to win votes, you have to actually go on the ground, visit on your constituents, attending their events like weddings and funerals and solving their problems. That is "REAL POLITICS" at least in the context of Malaysian Politics. One of the thing that #JOM (Find us on twitter) highlights is the actual work of politics, where participants get's first hand experience in solving micro issues like repairing homes and delivering aids to those in need.

Eizwan visiting one of the repaired homes

Jamawi an UMNO Youth Exco taking pictures of the repairs.

This is a scenic picture in a typical malay village, yes that's about it :P

A competent Malaysian Parliamentarian is expected to have the ability to debate on issues, drive a taxi and basic construction skills.

Of course, apart from manual labour, volunteers (read city slickers) from JOM are expected to endure the usual kampung kenduri and by that eating local dishes (repeatedly especially during wedding season), hearing through a ketua kampung speech, greeting the locals and listening to their problems.

Nasi Dagang Be...

Kuala Nerus, Ganu kite.

Giat Mara CEO going down mingling with the village folks.

I admit, our nation is blessed with many young intelligent people, young people with opinion on how things should be done, how politicians should change and many other things. But commenting and writing about it on the internet is one thing, try going down the ground and actually experience what Malaysian Politics is all about. Regardless of what affiliation you may come from, Jelajah One Malaysia is searching for volunteers, young Malaysians who would like to contribute something to society but somehow lack the platform for it.

Interested in getting it down and dirty?

Drop a comment here and be a volunteer.

Jelajah One Malaysia #JOM - Circumcision Day

Yours truly is currently in the entourage of Jelajah One Malaysia #JOM, a people centric programme initiated by Pemuda BN. Basically in this series of JOM, BN Youth will go on a whirlwind tour of 5 states (Terengganu, Pahang, Johor, Melaka and Negeri Sembilan) taking part in various community based programmes.

So today, were going to witness one of the most interesting event that is rarely seen these days in cities and towns but alive and well in rural malay village a typical kampung mass circumcision.

Circumcision is a medical procedure in which the foreskin of a penis is removed and is practiced in the Islamic faith. It's also a coming of age procedure for a young male muslim by which it is considered the first step in a transition into manhood.

The boys, they all seem brave now but wait till they see all the needles.

Right, the idea is that to make the whole circumcision procedure smoother it is best that if the penis is, well, shrink first and the best way to do that is by showering cold water in early in the morning and what better way to do that by having the local fire brigade spraying their hose on you.

And there it goes.

Imagine cold shower in unholy morning hours, only this time around, you do it in public.

Now once the showering is over the boys would change over to a sarong, now the reason for the sarong is that sarong, being a single cloth, is quite flexible in well, one having space for your penis to have some manouver and at the same time easily removed and wear before and after the procedure.

As you can see here, this young man is all gung ho and putting on a brave face because his family is standing outside and his friends all around. But wait till he see the needles below.

Even I shievered a little when I saw those.

Fear not, this is not some barbaric procedure and before anything is cut, clipped or sewed the err organ is... sedated, that's the word I think. According to the medical staff (and experience as well) basically the boy wont feel a thing and it's mostly a psychological issue. But try telling that to a 9 year old who just saw a bunch of scissors and knives about to go to his penis.

It only takes one kid to start panicking before the whole pack begins to crack and I had quite an adventure in pinning them down and at the same time convincing that it's all quite allright. I have to admit, it was quite amusing nonetheless. let's just say, I had never expected that I would be in a situation where I had to hold down a pair of legs while looking at his penis being circumcised while convincing him everything will be allright. It's like trying to sell a fridge t0 an eskimo.

These are Pros, trust me I have seen them in action.

The next batch.

Instead of the usual fiery ceramah or some political rally, which in the end divide people rather than achieving much other than political mileage having community based programmes like these, in my opinion is much more beneficial. Kudos to BN Youth for organising this, I for one never expected this in the first place, it was quite an experience. Anyway, it's late now and it has been a long and wet day (It's poring here) so I'm going to call the night. Check more updates tomorrow, for now, Sinatra_Z signing off from Kuala Terengganu....

Sinatra_Z - Sarimah and Relationships

DEC 16 — It all started when Sarimah Ibrahim appeared on “Melodi”, a TV3 programme featuring entertainment news and gossip which is a staple for housewives.

Sarimah, who was hunted by a pesky “Melodi” reporter with corny questions regarding her relationship status (they probably saw it on Facebook), commented along the lines that she wouldn’t mind if her admirers, who happened to see her in public, were to say hi or talk to her (she won’t bite) and that she prefers men who have a good sense of humour.

It just so happened that yours truly spent many Saturday mornings during his university days following episodes of “Samurai X” and “Card Captor Sakura” (yes that magical high school girl who collects cards) on “Kids @ NTV7” and saw Sarimah Ibrahim jumping around with her funny voice entertaining kids.

Let’s just say, Kak Sarimah brightened my Saturdays with her glow and positive energy. Yes, I had a crush on her back then and I admit I still do. So now, she’s single, wouldn’t mind random nerds saying hi to her in public and likes funny guys... you do the maths. And just to be clear with you folks, NO I am not planning on being her stalker.

But then what she said got me thinking about men with a sense of humour. How I have heard that many times over with various other women saying the exact same thing. Yes, that is what we are going to be discussing today instead of my nerdy fantasies of a cartoon show host. We’re going to talk about women and what they say about relationships and what they actually mean. Quite a transition, no?

http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/opinion/article/sarimah-and-relationships/

Sinatra_Z - Blogging

Back then it was just about things that you do on your free time.

A space for you to rant, have an opinion or simply camwhoring.

Some use it as a creative space, posting up stories and pictures. Back then, blogging was a very personal thing.

Of course it was filled with menial rants of teenagers who is angry with society, or a place to bitch about your superiors. Sometimes it even shocks me at how vain people can be by reading what they write and god forbid if you have an opinion about it, prepare for a long counter post.

Yet,

No matter how corny, cheesy or overly dramatic those blogs may be, it was quite interesting. The fact that back then people treated blogs as an online diary, a place where you share those hidden thoughts. It's like a window for you to peer upon other people's lives. I had loads of fun scourging through the net reading about life, especially when in University, I had none whatsoever. I'm not being overly dramatic, it was seriously that bad. A typical saturday for me would be waking up at 11, lunch, anime, afternoon nap, wake up in the evening with a headache, head towards the lab with a can of coffee surfing the net reading on things.

It was like a cheap substitution for non fiction books.

Nowadays it's all either about politics, making money online or reviews of something. Blogging itself became a buzz word, when people ask questions like "are you a blogger?" I would always find it hard to answer. One could say that I am a blogger, after all I do own a blog and occasionally write things on it. It's just that, I know what they really meant and I hate it how the term 'blogging' has somehow been hijacked, even if it was unintentional.

I guess,

I just miss blogs that is very personal in nature, something quite rare these days.

Hell even I have to admit,

these days I keep on using it as a place to post articles I write for TMI.

I was asked once "Where is your funny blog?"

I know what she meant. I could say that tis is the season to be melancholy with all the rain and what not. I could say that I can't be funny all the time.

But truth be told, the real answer to that question is

"I don't know, I really don't know where it's gone to."

So yeah...

Maybe blogging was a bit more dumber and immature back then.

But at least it was raw and it was real.

And it was very personal.

And I missed it.

Good Night Folks......