Shame To The Country.

This week which is still only the first week of March has already witnessed several distasteful news and happenings taking place which can only be seen as bringing shame to the country. On Tuesday, 3rd March, the Perak state assembly had to conduct their emergency meeting under a tree. This was so because the state secretary acting on orders from the ruling BN government had locked the entrance to the state secretariat building. And to ensure that the entrance remained locked, a huge police presence plus a group of local UMNO toughs were on hand ready to dish out physical injury or restraint to anyone who still dared to stand up for political justice and equality in Perak. Even then, some supporters of the Perak state assembly were there to give moral support to the embattled state assemblymen and they jeered defiantly at the huge police presence. Later, in the day, actually, in the evening, the police was asking the mass media to display and identify the faces of all those who were there. One can see that the police was siding with the BN ruling class in the morning by making sure that the state assembly had to conduct their business under a tree and in the evening, the police was asking the mass media to participate in collective intimidation against the minority opposition. So much for 'democracy' in Malaysia. This shameful event was later followed by the news that the autopsy report of the late A. Kugan revealed that he had died from kidney failure caused by multiple severe beatings while he was under police detention and not because of something else as alleged earlier. In the meantime, the police are issuing a stiff warning to the public not to get involved in the planned action of going to the Parliament later this week to submit a memorandum on the Feb 18 police slaying of six men suspected to be criminals. On the same day, two men made a public declaration that they would file a court injunction to stop the UMNO party elections sheduled for later this month if the investigations into money politics and corruption were not resumed. The authorities had earlier claimed that there was not 'enough evidence' to warrant any such further investigations. Also in the news was the issue of the ringgit losing its value to the dollar to the lowest level in three years despite government claims of chalking up uninterrupted trade surplus for more than one hundred months. The daily news are filled with stories about the difficulties faced by fishermen, rubber-tappers and small-time traders as a result of the current economic crisis despite claims by the BN ruling class of Malaysia being a 'safe haven'. The local stock market is falling like a rock and people are getting restless. Faith in the BN federal government is at an all-time low, with the police standing shoulder to shoulder with UMNO Youth thugs against the common people who want change and a clean effective government. The crime rate is shooting through the roof with even very young people now getting involved with various assault and rape cases. In Parlimament, the majority BN representatives were clearly quite clueless as to what is going on in the country daily, with them busily clowning inside Parliament and gushing with boundless praise

about how caring the government of Malaysia is to the people. They are either jokers of the worst kind or confidence tricksters that are unsurpassed in our universe. However, they were rightly stung when an opposition member charged that the BN's bumiputra-insistent policy was equivalent to apartheid. Suddenly, the UMNO self-praising politicians were on the offensive, issuing threats and demanding retraction of the accusation. The present race-based political system perpetuated by the BN is the reason why the accusation is actually quite valid against the country. What is most significant is that it is only now that people are able to open their mouths to speak about it. The UMNO hotheads should provide real answers to several matters and not issue threats or demand retractions. 1 .Why are certain jobs and positions out of bounds to other races ? 2. Why is it that other races are not entitled to discounts when purchasing houses ? 3. Why is it that other races are arrested or pursued by the police whenever a public gathering is declared to be illegal ? Why does the police act rough towards minority people and are seen to be friendly and sympathetic towards someone else ? 4. Why is it that other races are hauled up by the authorities whenever they were deemed to have made 'sensitive' comments ? Why does the power of arbitrary pronunciation of 'guilt' lie with a certain quarter only ? Is it morally legal ? Or is it 'special' only for this country ? Is it above board ? No ? Yes ? 5. Why is it that the other races are labelled 'disloyal', 'uncouth', unpatriotic' and 'traitorous' so freely and readily ? 6. Why is it that only a particular race is entitled to be mentioned as the 'defender of race, culture, religion and the royalty' ? 7. Why is it that only a particular race is eligible to hold the posts of university chancellors in the public universities ? 8. Why is it that the other races are always warned against 'instigating' or 'inciting' the people ? 9. Why is it that other races are forced to toe the official line when it comes to the matter of international issues ? The government keeps hammering the airwaves about 'Jewish brutality" and 'Jewish aggression' but keeps silent about the actions of Thai Muslim terrorists who bomb civilian targets in southern Thailand. Doesn't that indicate more than a hint of racism or bigotry ? No ? 10. Why is it that government jobs are so scarce for the other races ? We need not even have to ask about the GLCs. Now you know why so many people today get themselves involved in drug peddling, wayside robberies, illegal gambling, vice activities, piracy and kidnapping.

11. Why is it that many very bright students of the other races fail to obtain scholarships every year ? 12. Why does the government keep maintaining a jaundiced eye towards minority trading or business companies ? Why is AirAsia treated like a stepchild compared to MAS ? Why are many other companies also find themselves in the same straits as AirAsia ? 13. Why is it still so possible for the country to keep harping on things like 'hak bangsa'( rights of race), 'perjuangan untuk agama' (struggle for religion), 'ketuanan'(supremacy) when such action would be deemed unethical, even criminal, in other countries ? Why are such issues always accompanied by verbal threats against the minorities ? Isn't it apartheid ? No ? Yes ?