When I read Jys’ post that she heard stories that the Genting founder had died, I thought it was just some sick joke that people are passing around. However, when I saw the link provided to The Star at the end of her post, I realized that it could be real.
According to the news article, Tan Sri Lim Goh Tong passed away today at 11.20am at the Subang Jaya Medical Centre. He migrated from China with only US$175 and has become the third richest man in the country. Without him, Malaysia might not have had a Genting to go to. We would not have had a place to have fun and to win/lose some money at.
May he rest in peace.
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I usually don’t read articles or posts that are incredibly long. Not unless they are of great interest to me of course. I was checking out Malaysiakini the other day and found an article about an interview conducted by Malaysiakini questioning our ex-ISA detainee, Abdul Malek who was recently awarded RM2.5 million for his unlawful arrest some years back.
As he recalled his experience and torture while being detained, I can’t help but to wonder if what he said was the truth. I am not saying that he lied but if what he said is true, I can’t imagine what more is happening behind the scenes that we normal citizens are kept out from.
He explained how he was forced fed urine and dog faeces. He said that he was even threatened with a syringe believed to have the HIV virus on it. How can this be happening in Malaysia? How can this happen within the police force?
I’d like to believe that Malaysia is a peaceful country to live in. That the leaders and people in power are just and fair. That they will be guiding the country towards success and beyond.
How childish are my thoughts.
Apart from being in a “safe zone” from natural disaster, there are internal disasters going beneath the smoke screen. Oh wait, I don’t believe Malaysia is even in the safe zone from natural disasters anymore. There was the Tsunami that happened a few years back.
I was watching this movie on Astro last night at about 2am. I don’t remember the title of the movie. It was about a guy named “V”. How their government spread virus and fear into their people to stay in power. How their government control every single media that “informs” the people of only what the government wants them to know.
I was surprised that the movie wasn’t banned in Malaysia. Not that I am saying it reflects anything but the government has banned a few books and movies before that I think this movie should have been one of them. Not that I want it to be banned but…how do I explain?
Arrggh…nevermind.
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We have seen in the past how some individuals were detained and questioned under the ISA. ISA is a scary word. In fact, it is almost a dirty word (short of 1 letter to be a 4 letter word). Anyway…
Malaysiakini reported that an Ex-ISA detainee, Abdul Malek Hussin won a legal suit against the government today over his arrest and torture back in 1998. The “reward” is RM2.5 million.
If you have access to Malaysiakini (if you don’t, you should!), you’ll notice that the Kuala Lumpur High Court ruled that Abdul Malek’s arrest was “unlawful and that he was assaulted under custody. The court also ruled that he was denied access to his lawyer.”
Errr…pardon me for my lack of knowledge but since when all ISA detainees are arrested “lawfully”? Don’t get me wrong. If someone is detained under normal circumstances the way Abdul Malek did, it may (or may not) be unlawful. However, the ISA is “special”. It has its “special powers” probably because it was used in the past to fight off terrorism and other security threats to the country. Therefore, such an arrest may be considered lawful under the ISA context but not in normal circumstances.
Looking at this case won by Abdul Malek, I wonder if people will start shouting, “Arrest me for ISA, please!”
Okay, considering that in Abdul Malek’s suit where he accused the police of severely assaulting him physically and mentally, including (quoting from Malaysiakini) “stripped naked, forced fed dirty and stinking water and subjected to sexual abuse”, one may think twice before wishing for something like that. I am sure there is a better way to become a millionaire.
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UPDATE: I read one of Jeff Ooi’s post on Astronaut? Spaceflight Participant? and realized that I made a mistake on labeling our first Malaysian to space. The right term we should be using is spaceflight participant and not astronaut.
This was pointed out by Devil as well. Thanks.
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I have to shamefully admit that I was asleep when the spacecraft ferrying our first Malaysian astronaut spaceflight participant blasted off into space. In fact, when (probably) the whole of Malaysia was talking about it, the space mission didn’t even made me raise an eyebrow. To make matters worse, I only knew that the blast off was last night when I heard it over the radio yesterday morning.
Although I knew that the blast off was scheduled last night, I didn’t even realized that I missed it until this morning when I read it on the papers and on Malaysiakini. I slept very early and woke up almost 2 in the morning.
For whatever price this space mission has and will costs us, I hope it is worth every cent of it. There are already plans to send a second astronaut spaceflight participant to space.
Can I be the next astronaut spaceflight participant, or maybe even the first real astronaut, please? I would like to show the world how making money blogging from space is possible. I may even get dozens of three figure offers from advertisers. Maybe even more. Who knows? I will then be the first Malaysian (or even first person) who wrote the first paid post in space! Maybe even a second title — The first person who became a millionaire by writing paid posts in space. OMG!
So, where were you during the blast off? Were you glued onto the TV screen? Was there a great sense of pride and joy when you saw the blast off? If yes, how much is left? If no, why is it so? What else did I miss?
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There are some recent news that caught my attention. There are serious ones like in the case of Tee Hui Yi, who have just undergone two heart transplants. It highlighted the inadequate numbers of organ donors in Malaysia. I don’t want to go into that since I am not registered as an organ donor myself.
On the other hand, there are “funny” ones like the one where two Styrofoam keris were held up in the air by Heah Tick Lai during Gerakan Youth’s annual meeting. As reported by Malaysiakini:
“I wave this pair of keris here not to fight or challenge anyone… I hope next time Hishammuddin will hold and shout ‘unity for all Malaysians’,” he said.
Well, as long as no keris is used to “bathe in any liquid”, I have no problem with it.
Then there is the article on how whistleblowers are protected by law and that they should step forward to assist in investigation without any worries. It also stated that the Anti Corruption Act guarantees that their identity will not be revealed. If the Lingam tape recording is genuine, I salute the person who recorded and/or exposed the tape. It either takes real courage or stupidity to do that.
Quoting TheStar:
He (Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim) told a press conference after being interviewed by the ACA that the whistleblowers feared for their lives as those implicated in the video include a powerful judge, top corporate figure and an influential politician.
Anwar said while ACA had said it was willing to protect the identity of the source, but it could not guarantee the personal safety of these whistleblowers because that is not within its ambit of power.
This reminds me of those police and gangster movies. When someone knows too much or have betrayed their boss, they are put to sleep. However, those scenes will only happen in movies, right? It does not happen in real life, right?
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