A Budget for Poor Lazarus?

Now there was a certain rich man, and he was clothed in purple and fine linen, living in luxury every day. A certain beggar, named Lazarus, was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table. Yes, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

It happened that the beggar died, and that he was carried away by the angels to Abraham's bosom. The rich man also died, and was buried. In Hades, he lifted up his eyes, being in torment, and saw Abraham far off, and Lazarus at his bosom. He cried and said, "Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue! For I am in anguish in this flame."

But Abraham said, "Son, remember that you, in your lifetime, received your good things, and Lazarus, in the same way, bad things. But now here he is comforted and you are in anguish. Besides all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed, that those who want to pass from here to you are not able, and that none may cross over from there to us."

He said, "I ask you therefore, father, that you would send him to my father's house; for I have five brothers, that he may testify to them, so they won't also come into this place of torment."

But Abraham said to him, "They have Moses and the prophets. Let them listen to them."

He said, "No, father Abraham, but if one goes to them from the dead, they will repent."

He said to him, "If they don't listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded if one rises from the dead."
– Luke 16:19–31, World English Bible

Budget 2011 was never a people’s budget. It’s really for “a certain rich” strata of society who has all the fine things in life. Their everyday wants and needs have been taken care off by the numerous “blood sucking” systems without a care for tomorrow. I think we can recognize these groups of people in Malaysia. Can you name some of them?

Not only are they well connected but they are also well protected. From the Executive arm to the AG chambers the powers that be continues to feed them thru various means (nepotism, cronyism, back door appointments, money politics, patronage system, corruption etc) and gets the rich to become richer & bolder but the poor poorer.

The high society of today continues to usurp and be blind to the plight of modern day Lazarus and their intention is to grab whatever that is left from the men and women on the street. Look at PLUS Highway & EPF, 100 storey Heritage Tower & PNB etc.

We could have used this money to build low cost houses for the needy or give scholarship to our poor students. This is what Affirmative Action really is!!!

But as we can see, most of the allocation in this Budget will be or has been given to their families and the well connected cronies of the powerful.

At the end of the day it doesn’t really matter what happens to Lazarus or what he feels as he is always kept at the wayside and fringes of society –“ was laid at the gate.” He has neither a voice nor connection to pull any strings except to wait till kingdom comes!

Today’s the rakyat were only given “crumbs” from the budget which doesn’t make much of a difference in our lives.

The Lazarus of today are left to fend for themselves and were in no way taken into account in the BN government plans to become a high income country whatever that means to you.

Who are the modern day Lazarus? Where is he/she today? They are considered to be the Least, the Last and the Lost of our society.

In this parable the rich had no name given by Jesus except Lazarus. Do you know who are they or their names?

And do you know what their daily struggles are like? Is it the dubious inflation rate of 2-4%, high cost of living & food, sense of alienation, hopelessness for the future, children’s education, medical, transportation, bills to pay etc. 

Somehow it bothers all of us that this budget gave low or no priority to the majority of people who are struggling for their day to day bread. It’s never a rakyat’s budget after all. It’s a complete farce to all thinking and feeling Malaysians!

But does that mean it’s wrong to be rich? Absolutely no. If not, what is Abraham doing in heaven with Lazarus? As Scriptures says, Abraham was a very rich men with livestock, silver and gold (Gen 13:2).

Does the end justify the means? Well, this is something for all of us to reflect upon.

Charles Swindoll said...

The World Needs Men & Women...

Who cannot be bought;

Whose word is their bond;

Who put character above wealth;

Who are larger than their vocations;

Who do not hesitate to take chances;

Who will not lose their individuality in a crowd;

Who will be as honest in small things as in great things;

Who will make no compromise with wrong;

Whose ambitions are not just their own selfish desires;

Who will not agree just because everybody else does it;

Who are true to their friends through good and evil;

Who are not afraid to stand for the truth when it is unpopular;

Who say “no” with emphasis, although the rest of the world says “yes.”

A Malaysian Tale 2

Say Cheese

Three dead bodies turn up at the mortuary, all with very big smiles on their faces. The coroner calls the police to show them what has happened. A Detective Inspector is sent and is taken to the first body.

'Clinton, 60, died of heart failure whilst in bed with his mistress. Hence the enormous smile, Inspector,' says the Coroner.

The DI is taken to the second dead man. 'Suharto, 70, made a pile from government funds, and spent it all on whiskey. Died of alcohol poisoning, hence the smile.

'Nothing unusual here', thinks the DI, and asks to be shown the last body.

Ah,' says the coroner. 'This is the most unusual one. Dr. Mahathir, 75, struck by lightning.'

'Why is he smiling then?' inquires the Inspector.

To which the coroner replies, 'He thought he was having his picture taken.'


Miracle Failure

After he put Anwar in jail, Mahathir received a lot of criticism from different sources. Everything he did was sure to get the journalists and diplomats screaming at him about corruption and cronyism etc. Finally, he was so fed up that he called all the journalists and diplomats to Johor Bahru.

Now, for all of you, I'm going to do something which you all cannot complain about.' and he magically stepped onto the waters of the straits of johore and walked the full 1 km to the other side without falling into the water. The onlookers were amazed and Mahathir was sure he'd get some compliments in the news tomorrow.

The next day, Mahathir was shocked to find in newspapers across the planet

The Sun 'Mahathir Can't Swim'

The New York Times 'Mahathir crosses borders without going through immigration'

The Straits Times 'Mahathir uses propaganda to curry F(L)AVOR!

Najib, are you afraid of offending Perkasa?

Najib, give us a break and spare us your rhetoric!

Najib, where is your action against the 3 civil service who uttered derogatory words on the Indians & Chinese as far back as 2 months ago? Why the silence? Are you afraid of offending Perkasa?

Who are you to tell Malaysians “to stop being overly communal…” It is you who need to heed these words.

After all, you have not been able to control your own UMNO and Perkasa from being communal and racist. And on top of it you have the cheek to say that UMNO must work with all NGO’s and this would include the racist & primitive Perkasa?

And what are you implying here? That it’s ok for UMNO to be communal but not anybody else. If you want to put a stop to all these racist rant and slant than that it is imperative for you to start with your own backyard. You’ve got no choice Najib!

Najib you said you are encouraging UMNO to fight and help the other races. What’s the big deal? The sun shines on all men and women. Aren’t they Malaysians after all? Haven’t they supported BN enough all these years so that your cronies can milk our land to the max?

Najib for the Chinese & Indians who have made their home here this is our Promised Land. This was our land of milk and honey seen by our forefathers many generations ago. And this country continues to be our home no matter what you or your UMNO/BTN/Perkasa says it is.

So, please stop saying that we are pendatang’s. Because for the simple reason we are not. And we hope that you will put a stop especially to your own UMNO members and the civil service who have become quite un-civilized the last few years as they increased the race rhetoric to Malaysians generally.

Seriously Najib, give us a break lah!!!

Mahathir's Dilemma

Let me first say that many people your age would be seeking to quiet down and enjoy the remaining balance of your life with their love ones. But somehow I find this a complete surprise as this is not the case with you.

Even at this age you are able to shake the government to its core. Look at Pak Lah and now Najib and his 1Malaysia program.

And I guess you are doing this coz something is bothering you. We know what is it but it would be great if we could hear it from the horses’ mouth as you claim you are “past self-interest” and all.

Anyhow, back to your latest venom on “the country we all love.”

Dr. M, you said that we Malaysians don’t understand 1 Malaysia. Do you really think that we are such dumb fools not able to comprehend this slogan? For your info, it simply means Unity. In our context it’s Unity in Diversity!

That’s it. Now the next question is do we need 1Malaysia? Of course we do. It’s precisely because of people like you and those in the primitive group Perkasa whom you are the spiritual advisor to.

Dr. M, we need 1Malaysia to work for our children’s future. But somehow you and Perkasa think otherwise. You and your proxy Muhyiddin think it will not work. You and some bigoted and racist civil servants feel that 1Malaysia should fail.

Why? Are you afraid of loosing something? Seriously, tell us what is it.

Then you claim that the Malays have a different understanding of 1Malaysia than the rest of the non-Malays.

You claim that the Malays wants us to adopt BM as our national language. Who hasn’t? Even the East Malaysians with a variety of their indigenous languages has done that. In addition, you want the non-Malays to give up their mother tongue and more importantly their education system as well.

In your own words the Chinese civilization system has been around for four thousand years and this has made them more resilient and knowledgeable. And now you want to destroy a part of that very fundamental institution (education) which has sustained the Chinese over the centuries? What are you up to?

Well, it is not the non-Malays who don’t want to learn BM. It is you who disallowed the use of BM in schools as far as teaching of Maths and Science was concerned.

It just doesn’t make sense what you are saying now and did the last time you were a PM of “the country we all love.”

Well, we Malaysians know very well that you are a flip-flop men too. On one hand you could be preaching about Bangsa Malaysia but on the other you could be talking about Malay supremacy with ease! And that hasn’t stop since your Malay Dilemma days.

Dr. M, your blog says that the non-Malays interprete 1Malaysia as amending the constitution. Give us a break! It was you who have amended the constitution many times without fail when you were in power all those 22 years. Did the opposition ever tried to amend their state constitution that they were controlling? Not at all! Did they ever said they were going to? NO!!!

It was you who amended the powers of the rulers not once but twice. And now you are talking about the Malays loosing power.

I believe no non-Malays wants to amend Article 153 in our constitution. I think it’s there to fulfill a purpose and ensure that economically we Malaysians will have a fair share of the economic pie and stand on our feet. Did you do that when you were in power for 22 years as a dictator? Obviously you didn’t do enough so that you could harp on this issue over and over again.

And instead you fed and fattened your cronies like the cows of Bashan! And the poor who really needed the 30% help did not get to see it. What happen to the RM54 billion bumi share which at present is left with RM2 billion only? Surely, you would know something about this. Why the silence, Dr. M?

In addition, most of our national coffers fall victim to your cronies’ uncontrolled hunger for greed i.e. EPF, Socso etc. Under your premiership corruption and money politics become the order of the day. As you went to create UMNO Baru, you also created a new political culture which was based on greed and patronage. And this system of governance (read:Mahathirism) is still in play today especially thru one of your boys Najib.

Please do not hide behind the façade of Malay unity to protect your self interest or the interest of your cronies. And I think you need to grow up and behave as an elderly politician. Look at Tunku and learn from our Bapa Kemerdekaan.

Stop the nonsense and allow us to forge our way ahead for the “the country we all love.”

We could use less people like you to become Bangsa Malaysia. If only you could let us be!

The Utter Tyranny of Detention Without Trial - a very true and recent story

Most of you may have read that Azean Irdawaty's son, Benjy, was recently arrested for apparently in possession of 800grams of cocaine, and 140grams of methamphetamine. If true, that would make him a presumed trafficker under our law. The death sentence would be staring at his face.
However, they only charged him with being in possession of 0.24grams of metaphetamine. What happened to the 800 grams of cocaine? And 139.76 grams of metaphetamine which he supposedly have?
To top it up, today, the Star reported that the "powder" found was not cocaine after all!
After bail was granted, he was re-arrested under the Dangerous Drugs (Special Preventive Measures) Act 1985. This Act is the drug version of the ISA. It allows detention without trial.
In addition, Amer Hamzah, his lawyer, was manhandled by the police. Lawyers are planning a protest walk tomorrow.
Read Benjy's story as told by his sister, Elza.
On March 11th, he was arrested at his apartment's parking lot in Segambut. Police brought him to an apartment he rented in Kepong, and after entering, claimed that in that residence, he possessed 800grams of cocaine, and 140grams of methamphetamine, and accused him of processing and trafficking, putting him under the risk of being charged under Section 39B, which carries the death penalty.
On March 12th he was remanded for 7 days. When my parents inquired if we can engage a lawyer, the Investigation Officer told us "No need".
On March 17th, after our family waited more than an hour, we were allowed to see him for the very first time, under supervision.
Again my mother asked if we should get him a lawyer, again the I.O advised against it, claiming "Lawyer tak boleh buat apa-apa sekarang. Buang duit je. (Lawyer can't do anything now. It's simply a waste of money)."
On March 18th, his remand was extended another 7 days. The magistrate inquired why there was no lawyer present for him, and whether he was made aware he had the right to a counsel of his choice. He replied "No." Therefore, he requested for one, and only nine hours later, did the I.O call to inform my mother, who promptly engaged Amer Hamzah Arshad. But the very next day, the police used their Executive authority under Section 28A that vetoed his right to a counsel. All requests made by our lawyer to visit him was denied.
Only after we complained to SUHAKAM, did the police allow Amer to visit him.
On the last day of his remand. After the investigations were concluded. For only 15 minutes.
On March 25th, he was brought to court, and charged under Section 12(2) for possession of 0.24grams of metaphetamin in his Segambut residence. Nothing the police claimed they found in the Kepong residence, the cocaine and shabu that was "already packaged to be distributed" or the so called "cocaine processing mini-lab" was brought to court.
Because there WAS none.
He was released on bail. A trial date was set. He was so close to being free, and seeing his 4 year old son again.
But as he was signing the papers of his release, the Plainclothes were outside waiting.
Not two steps after he came out of the bail department, without any explanation, they re-arrested him. Amer was restrained from protecting him, and only after Amer repeatedly asked them to show their I.D, did they do so. Still, no explanation was given to the family. We were merely told to go to the Headquarters and speak to Inspector Kang. The same guy who claimed my brother possessed the cocaine they NEVER found.
He never saw us, he was "in a meeting." He wasn't too occupied to give the press a statement, but was unavailable to see us.
We were told by the new I.O for this case, and the DSP (the guy who signed the papers denying my brother the right to a counsel) that they are detaining him for 60 days under the Special Preventive Measures Act (LPK), after which, they could further detain him for 2 years if found guilty.
Guilty according to THEM. For under this act, it is a detention without trial, like the Internal Security Act. Any information gathered from "witnesses" and "investigations" will never be disclosed to him or his lawyer, or the court. He will also not be able to defend himself against any allegations. Under this act, he will never have his day in court.
On March 25th, my brother, Ben, was denied his Constitutional rights.
For 2 weeks, our family went through hell. Sleepless nights, press waiting outside our door, Ben had asthma attacks after the police delayed themselves in acquiring the requested medication for 3 days, Mama, who is a cancer patient herself, suffered chest pains and lost her voice.
We felt it was all worth it, for we would be able to have him back.
But now, a new nightmare has begun.
Whether or not Ben is guilty, should not be for the Police to decide. If they HAD the evidence to strengthen their warrant for re-arrest, why was it not brought to court? Why is Ben not given a chance to defend himself? How can we ever know the authenticity of these so called witnesses and their statements? If there were ANY to begin with?
Under this act, I could simply be caught for any crimes of drug offences the police accuse me of, because they can claim they have enough information (even if they have absolutely nothing) and detain me. For 60 days, for 2 years, and even EXTEND it after.
Acts like this and the ISA are licenses for ARBITRARY arrest and detention. Anytime. Anywhere. Anybody.
My family and Amer will not back down. We will fight for Ben's right. We will speak up for all of those who were silenced before us, who will be silenced hereafter.
But we seek your help. In any way at all, help us fight this. Re-post this, write on your blogs, write to your local representative, to our newspapers, and together we shall use our voice, our art, our space, to stand up not just for Ben, but for all our rights.
Liberty is a Constitutional right. It's time to get it back.
I have said it many times and I will say it again. Detention without trial is inhuman, unjust and is an affront to civil society. It causes more damage than the damage which it is designed to avert.
And it breeds abuse. And laziness on the part of our authorities. Why bother to investigate when the so caled "bad guys" could be detained without trial?
The above story is but ONE of the thousands of untold stories about detention without trials.
It is but ONE of the agony, anguish and anger which is felt about this utterly uncivilised affront to fundamental liberties.
Do you all want this to happen to you or one of your family members?

A Malaysian Tale

While walking down the street one day a Malaysian Boleh Minister is tragically hit by a truck, and dies. His soul arrives in heaven and is met by St. Peter at the entrance.

“Welcome to heaven,” says St. Peter. “Before you settle in, it seems there is a problem. We have never had a high official from Malaysia, you see, so we’re not sure what to do with you.”


“No problem, just let me in,” says the man.

“Well, I’d like to, but I have orders from higher up. What we’ll do is have you spend one day in hell and one day in heaven. After that you can choose where to spend eternity.”

“Really, I have made up my mind. I want to be in heaven,” says the Yang Berhormat.

“I’m sorry, but we have our rules,” says St. Peter.

And with that, St. Peter escorts him to the elevator, and he goes down, down, down to hell. The doors open and he finds himself in the middle of a green golf course. In the distance is a clubhouse and standing in front of it are all his friends and other politicians who had worked with him.

Everyone is very happy and dressed in the finest batik there is. They run to greet him, shake his hand, and reminisce about the good times they had while getting rich at the expense of the people. They play a friendly game of golf and then indulge themselves in lobsters, caviar and the most expensive food there is.

Also present is the Devil, who really is a very friendly guy who has a good time dancing and telling jokes. They are having such a good time that before he realizes it, it is time to go.

Everyone gives him a hearty farewell, and waves while the elevator rises.

The elevator goes up, up, up and the doors re-open on heaven, where St. Peter is waiting for him.

“Now it’ s time to visit heaven.”

So, another 24 hours pass, with the Yang Berhormat joining a group of contented souls moving from cloud to cloud, playing the harp, and singing. They have a good time and, before he realizes it, the day is gone, and St. Peter returns.

“Well, then, you’ve spent a day in hell and another in heaven. Now choose your eternity.”

The Yang Berhormat reflects for a minute, then he answers: “Well, I would never have said this before, I mean heaven has been delightful, but I think Ai yam better off in hell.”

So St. Peter escorts him to the elevator and he goes down, down, down to hell. Now the doors of the elevator open, and he’s in the middle of a barren land covered with waste and garbage.

He sees all his friends, dressed in rags, picking up the trash and putting it in black bags as more trash falls from above.

The Devil comes over to him, and puts his arm around his shoulder.

“I don’t understand,” stammers the Yang Berhormat, “Yesterday I was here, and there was a golf course and clubhouse, and we ate lobster and caviar, drank champagne, danced and had a great time. Now there’s just a wasteland full of garbage, and my friends look miserable. What happened?”

The Devil looks at him, smiles and says, “Yesterday we were campaigning, just like you did during a Malaysian election…… Today you have voted.”

SO, VOTE WISELY IN THE COMING ELECTION!

Still want to vote for the devil you know?

Top 10 Reason Why 1Malaysia is Dead!

Why I think 1Malaysia is as good as a dead cat? The facts is just below:-

1) UMNO & Ketuanan Melayu - Kerismudin started to raise the keris in two of UMNO General Assembly. Some said it is a call to war! Against whom? Against 1Malaysia. It is very un-becoming of you to behave such as this knowing the kind of legacy your father and grandfather left & wished for Malaysia.

2) Khairy Jamaluddin speech where he said that the rakyat had been deprived of the UMNO President's speech because a certain race (Indians) monopolised the newspaper distribution. Who asked you to organized the UMNO General Assembly on Deepavali day? There goes 1Malaysia to the drain.

3) Ahmad Ismail during the Permatang Pauh by-ellection calling Chinese as pendatangs. What the hell men? What about you? Where did you came from? Go and check your roots first! On top of it when Ahmad was suspended from UMNO we see UMNO Secretary General (Tengku Adnan) sitting just next to him in the said press conference. Wither 1Malaysia.

4) Nasir Safar - Who said Chinese women came to work as prostitutes and Indians as beggars to Malaya. The Advisor who happen to be the closest to the 1Malaysia PM is the last person on earth who should utter such words. But not in 1Malaysia dude!

5) Perkasa & Ibrahim Ali - Should I say more? The mother of all frogs who is hell bent to become a hero here is spewing venom (literally sometimes) wherever he goes. They have made their intentions well known that the NEP is here to stay for good. But this so-called "hero" has got no guts and the brains to take up Nurul Izzah's challenge to debate on the special position of the Malays as stated in the constitution. And as days goes by UMNO is seen as not only outsourcing its dirty job to Perkasa but becoming ever more kowtow-ing to it as well. And if UMNO kowtow to Perkasa i wonder what is the position of the other BN component parties? Ahh...the whole of BN is also kowtow-ing to Perkasa lah!

Najib, I hope you are reading this!

6) Mamak Mahathir - They say never give a microphone to an Indian coz he might not want to leave the stage. Well, I say never ever vote another Indian to power as he might rule for another 22 years (well, look at Samy Vellu too) and systematically destroy all fundamental institutions of this country e.g. judiciary, police force, race-relations, human rights abuses, etc etc. He is back with a vengence to break whatever unity that is left in this country so that his hold on the gravy train is ever more secured for himself and his family. Nazri has aptly called him the "Father of all Racist".

Huh...more to come guys...!

7) The cow head incident - A group of extremist paraded a cow's head in Shah Alam and was given a big welcoming by Kerismudin in his office after that. Then, they were just given light punishment and got away scot free. Do you still think 1Malaysia exist? Hang on there guyz...

8) Allah issue - Non Muslim's are not to use this word as it supposedly would confuse the Muslims. But Christians has been using this word since Biblical times esp in Middle East & even in Indonesia. If there is confusion then the onus is on the confused party to educate themselves so that this confusion/ignorance can be addresed. Not restricting the Christian and Sikh community from using Allah in their worship. Due to this issue, several churches were burnt and vandalized around the country. Najib, your 1Malaysia is Smoke on the Water!

Is this what your 1Malaysia is all about Najib?

9) School head from Johor (Siti Inshah) uttered racist words to a group of Chinese students that they can go back to China and Indians who wear the prayer strings look like dogs. Lets not forget another school head from Kedah too who did utter the same deragotary words on some Chinese students. But till today the 1Malaysia goverment has failed to take any disciplinary action on these 2 headmasters. In fact, DPM Muhyiddin Yassin said there is nothing much he can do as his hands are tied. What the hell???

And...the top 10 reason why 1Malaysia is dead:-

10) The latest racial slur alledgedly by BTN deputy director Hamim Husin calling Chinese "mata sepet" and Indians "kaki botol". Till now, the 1Malaysia goverment feels the BTN course is needed in this country. Many groups has called for its abolishment but to no avail. This 1Malaysia goverment is very adamant in pushing thru its racist indoctrination to the impressionable young minds thus creating a very divided nation. In fact, this BTN course has become a curse which our country has to endure for time to come. We need to get to the bottom of this. Scrap BTN once and for all or we will scrap you UMNO/BN in GE13!!!

People, perhaps these are the Top 10 reasons why Najib's 1Malaysia is a good as dead. All the policies that this Najib goverment implement or try to has found its way to the monsoon drain.

So Najib, I don't think you should try so hard to convert the Rakyat. You should start with your own downline first as they are the root-causes of this Tragedy.

In fact, if you were to see the above incidents it all started with your UMNO leaders, advisors and mentor then trickle down to the civil service.

The rot starts with the head and you are that Head Najib!!!