Kash’s World

Just saw the news on MalaysiaKini that Teresa Kok has been released.

Thank God that good sense prevailed. Next, and soon I hope, should be RPK.

And can we please get rid of the ISA law once and for all? I think there are ample other laws. We don’t need such a draconian law any more, that is if it was ever needed at all.

For fifty years this country has suffered because of dichotomies.

To promote BM, we must stop teaching English. Helping the Malays meant leaving other races aside, even if there were segments of underprivileged among those races. Islam must be raised to a high status as the official religion in Malaysia, so that meant other religions must be squeezed and not given room.

Well last night, one man spoke of a new Malaysia. A nation in which it would be possible to uphold the status of and promote the use of Bahasa Malaysia as our national language and yet make sure that everyone is proficient in English so that we can compete in the world’s market economy. A nation where every race will be helped without compromising the special position of one race. That man also spoke about the dignity of the Malays, that he wants a Malay race that is competent and able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the other people of Malaysia.

He spelt the end of divisive politics and of a new paradigm where everyone’s aspirations and needs can be satisfied without hurting others. A united and strong nation.

Who says there is no substance in his message? He has always spoken eloquently but yesterday he even surpassed himself.

If there was any doubt that we are seeing a PM-elect, it would have been erased last night. Malaysiakini reported a 20,000 strong crowd. It seemed a little bit more to me.

The adoring crowd made sure his car moved at the pace a metre every minute, so big was the throng of well wishers who rushed to shake his hands and pass him encouragements.

It was Malaysia Day in Kelana Jaya stadium yesterday and soon, God willing, the entire nation will celebrate a new beginning.

It took half an hour for the car to move a few hundred metres

The PM-elect

The determination of Malaysians to see change, no matter at how much pain to self

PS- as usual, TV Smith has the best pics

I haven’t been blogging lately because of a few reasons. Work-wise some urgent projects came along and there went my working hours. And at night, I have been doing the same thing a lot of Malaysians have been doing these past two weeks.

I have been attending ceramahs.

These last 10 days, I have heard many speakers make their case as to why they should be elected into Parliament or State Assemblies. Most are well known. Let me see, Anwar Ibrahim, Nurul Izzah, Tony Pua, Nik Nadzmi, Raja Petra Kamaruddin, Wee Choo Keong and Fong Po Kuan.

I did not attend any ceramahs organised by BN. Not because I did not want to. I just did not know where they were holding their talks. In fact I don’t even know if they organised any ceramahs in the Klang Valley other than the visists of the PM and Deputy PM.

On the other hand, the campaign put on by the Opposition this time round was commendable.

That was the another reason why I did not blog so much. Their campaign was so effective there was no need really to add my small voice to the voices calling for justice, freedom and equality in Malaysia.

The first two days, I was worried because they had not organised themselves properly on the Internet. But once they got their act together, they were formidable.

People were able to find where ceramahs were being held and who were speaking.

That is why candidates like Hannah Yeoh thought only a few hundred people would come but thousands turned up.

I missed the opportunity to hear luminaries like Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh and Haris Ibrahim in person but that was a minor problem only. Whateever I missed in person was always available on the Internet.

The climax was last night in Kg Limau, Lembah Pantai. I estimate that at least 10,000 people stood in pouring rain to hear Anwar Ibrahim speak. It was a sea of umbrellas, cars and motorbikes.

I had one hell of a time. If you stayed at home, I think you missed a lot. Now, you’ll have to wait five years for your next opportunity. Unless of course, you didn;t like the rain and followed the election happenings on the Internet.

Malaysiakini reports that the Bar Council has called off the Human Rights Day march scheduled for this Sunday.

On the balance of things, I think this is a sensible move.

The social climate, unfortunately, has taken a very ugly and disquieting turn over the last two weeks. I’ve received enough messages and seen online postings to convince me that someone somewhere might start something.

It’s best not to give anyone a chance to exploit the situation.

Although the official tone is that most ordinary Malaysians don’t read online political postings and that Malaysians mostly prefer other stuff on the Net, some people are getting worried enough to launch cyber attacks on political websites.

The reason for the rise in online heat appears to be the Bersih rally that is scheduled for the 10th of November at Dataran Merdeka and which is being organised by various NGOs and parties to highlight the need for free and fair elections.

Over the past few days, the Malaysia-Today site appears to have been attacked/hacked. Then Bersih’s own website was hacked with a message posted saying that the gathering has been postponed indefinitely.

The Bersih site is still down as I write this. Very possibly the site creators will have to rebuild the site from scratch.

If it really is true that no one reads online political posts then why the need to attack? Hmmm…

Of course, the attacks are not just confined to cyberspace. This letter on Malaysiakini sums up the issue well

I ran into a relative last week in a shopping centre and he was with his kids. I though the wife had gone to get car from the car park but it turned out she was in the hospital with dengue fever.

That was the third case I had heard about in my circle of friends recently and that made me wonder how bad the situation was.

Turned out, we are in the midst of a massive outbreak covering the whole of South East Asia and which could very possibly be the worst since the massive outbreak in 1998.

Just look at the specs. By the first six months of 2007, Thailand had recorded almost 24,000 cases, Cambodia 17,000 and Indonesia 68,000, with 748 deaths. Myanmar, Singapore, Vietnam and the Philippines have all seen dengue rates higher over last year’s figures.

The latest news shows Indonesia at more than 120,000 cases and Thailand and Malaysia with a combined 80,000 cases.

That is something to be very worried about as the monsoon is yet to arrive.

Check your homes to see if you have brreding grounds that favour this striped devil.

I’m also wondering if our health authorities should check out the M.I. Dengue monitoring system.

There are good prevention tips and related info here and here.