A tribute to SJS Kuching and the La Salle Brothers

Kaypo Anak Sarawak is a Columnist  of  Hermit Hornbill at The Borneo Post Online , His article is  published  in The Borneo Post every Sunday. (Used by permission of the Author )

I READ with nostalgic sadness the news that Brother Paul Ho, Brother Director of St Xavier’s Institution in Penang, had just retired, bringing to an end the 157-year presence of the La Salle Brothers in Malaysia.

They have built and run 59 secondary and primary schools in Malaysia in those long years, and brought quality education to something like two million Malaysian students!

The La Salle Brotherhood was established by St John Baptiste De La Salle of the Roman Catholic Church about 300 years ago, specifically devoted to the education of the poor, at a time when education was the privilege of the rich only.

Why are M’sian MPs so bored?

By Sim Kwang Yang

WHEN the Malaysian Mirror invited me to be one of their columnists, I was more than delighted.

A writer like me with such an “anti-government” past would never get such an invitation from the mainstream media of course. I used to write a column for the independent Chinese-language Nanyang Siang Pau until 2003 when the MCA bought this established newspaper. Then I was told apologetically that my service was no longer required.

The Malaysian Mirror is another news portal, the new kid on the block, among the rank of the Fifth Estate trying to subvert the monopoly of the Malaysian public sphere of the failed Fourth Estate of the mainstream media. As with other news portals, the Malaysian Mirror will probably grant me unbridled freedom, which is any critical writer’s dream. Seasoned writers like me will not abuse our freedom of expression, wantonly. We have enough rough knowledge of the relevant laws to stay away from unnecessary trouble. We have to protect the interests of our publisher, too. This is my 1st article in Malaysian Mirror.

Thinking about NOT migrating

By Sim Kwang Yang

We all know more than a few relatives and friends who have migrated overseas to seek greener pasture there.  The number of people must be very large, and most of them must have come from the Chinese and the Indian communities.

They are mostly wealthy professionals and businessmen, for that will help them apply successfully for permanent residency in those western developed countries.

We all know roughly the reason for their life-changing move.  The racial politics in Malaysia discriminates against the Chinese and the Indians; they are much better treated in Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States of America.  There, they can develop their career and enhance their professional skills, which is what all professionals dream of.  Of course, they also make a much better living on a level playing field.

The Sultan’s Constitutional Powers: A Comment

“The Sultan has no explicit power to dismiss an MB under the Perak Constitution”

By Hueditor

Kevin YL Tan has taught constitutional law for over 20 years. He currently holds Adjunct Professorships at the Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore and the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University. He is co-author (with Thio Li-ann) of the leading constitutional law textbook “Constitutional Law in Malaysia and Singapore” widely used as standard reading material in universities; “Introduction to Singapore’s Constitution” and numerous articles on constitutional law in Singapore, Malaysia and the region.

More than a month after delivering the 5-minutes oral decision to reversed the High Court decision on who is the lawful Perak Menteri Besar, two (Md Raus Sharif and Ahmad Maarop JJCA) of the three Court of Appeal’s written judgments were released yesterday. However, the final one (Zainun Ali JCA) will only be available on Monday as a result of a “computer glitch”.  If you are interested to read the full grounds of judgment of Md Raus Sharif and Ahmad Maarop JJCA, please go to the end of this post.

A different kind of love story

Love is probably the most human emotion is our existence. It is also probably the least understood human emotion, especially when it is the love between a man and a woman. I reproduce below a short story on the subject by O. Henry, probably the greatest short-story writer in the history of the US. It feels like great material for a Sunday afternoon read.

SKY

THE GIFT OF THE MAGI

by O. Henry

One dollar and eighty-seven cents. That was all. And sixty cents of it was in pennies. Pennies saved one and two at a time by bulldozing the grocer and the vegetable man and the butcher until one’s cheeks burned with the silent imputation of parsimony that such close dealing implied. Three times Della counted it. One dollar and eighty- seven cents. And the next day would be Christmas.

Letter from Sarawak

By Bunga Pakma

Di Miri baka di Lundu; Di din baka ditu’. —  Sempama jako’ Iban.

“In Miri, same as in Lundu;  There, same as here.”

While I was in the US I took care of chickens, fed dogs, carried boxes and wood around, made fires, cut grass, and marketed. Back home in Kpg. Senyiur I feed chickens and dogs, carried stuff here and there (ladies love to rearrange furniture, for which job they need a man), make fires, cut grass, and bought veggies and lauk.  Ho hum.  Yet despite Connecticut’s copioeus tree-cover, its coyotes traipsing across the backyard, the deer, turkeys, and occasional bear, Sarawak remains dinstinctly wilder than Connecticut.

Last Friday my wife roused me from sleep before 0500.  She told me to take the shotgun and meet her out at the bottom of the garden.  I wiped the dreams out of my eyes, retrieved my late father-in-law’s senapang and the two peterum we had left, grabbed my specs and lurched towards the chickenhouse, still clothed in nothing but my bedtime cawat.

Malaysia, truly Asia’s bully

By Pak Bui

A few years ago, I watched an unregistered, or “illegal”, Indonesian timber camp worker, taken to a small district hospital, with a broken body. The young man had been injured badly in a logging accident. He had died during the two-day truck drive from the logging camp.

I stood among a small crowd of onlookers, watching the Indonesian’s body being removed from the logging truck. One burly hospital attendant lifted the young Indonesian in his arms, as one might carry a sleeping child, or, as Michelangelo depicted, the Madonna might have held her son’s body.

Michael Jackson – the King is dead

By Sim Kwang Yang

I got up early this morning, switched on the TV, and the news was all about the sudden death of Michael Jackson from heart failure at the age of 50.

Millions of his fans will mourn the passing of this pop icon dubbed the King of Pop, though not being much of a consumer of pop culture, I was never a fan of any pop star in my whole life.

But the entertainment industry means mega bucks and worldwide sale, and no corner of the world can really be exempt from its influence.  Growing up in Kuching in the 60s, I was familiar with the music of the Jackson Five, and numerous pop groups like them.

The $ 31 billion Malaysian – Pua’s mighty ‘Pen’

By Sim Kwang Yang

I did not know that the Pen Drive used by computer users all over the world was invented by a Malaysian studying and working in Taiwan, until somebody sent the following story to my email.  I reproduce it below for your reading pleasure

Pua’s mighty ‘Pen’

S. INDRAMALAR speaks to the creator of the now indispensable Pen Drive

Fact file

Name: Pua Khein Seng
Age: 31
Hometown: Sekinchan, Selangor
Education: SJKC Yeok Kuan, Sekinchan; Pin Hwa Independent school, Klang; Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
Occupation: Engineer/ president of Phison Electonics Corp
Current base: Taipei , Taiwan
Years abroad: 12

WHEN he set off for Taiwan in 1993, Pua Khein Seng’s only aim was to complete his degree in Electrical Control Engineering at the renowned Chiao Tung University and return home to work in Malaysia .

Umno Woos a Confused PAS

By Kenny Gan

It boggles the mind. A mountain has been made from a molehill. PAS engaging Umno for talks was nothing more than a casual suggestion flung out at the 55^th PAS Muktamar by a couple of leaders vying for election. No call for concrete action at all, merely a few dangling hints which one suspects to be directed at its Pakatan partners to give PAS more space and importance than at Umno.

But this issue has taken a life of its own, mainly due to UMNO’s swift declaration of interest by middle ranking leaders like Khairy. Other PR leaders have jumped in to give their response, notably PAS own Tok Guru Nik Aziz and DAP’s Lim Kit Siang. When top Umno leaders such as Najib and Muhyiddin echo the call for unity talks the initial non-issue has grown to the level of being taken seriously.

Whipping and Jail for Forcing Sex on Your Wife

By Rosita Maja

Rape involves forcing a person to have sex against that person’s will – without consent. Rape can be committed by threatening the victim, putting the victim in a state of fear, by coercion or using violence.

Marital rape, also known as spousal rape, is committed under identical circumstances, the only difference being that the perpetrator here is the victim’s spouse.

Many Malaysians wonder: does the relationship or the bond of marriage make marital rape a “lesser rape or a lesser crime” than rape by a stranger? The answer is an emphatic no. Sexual violence does not become permissible, simply because the rapist is a spouse or a sexual intimate of the woman.

Iran’s Children of Tomorrow

By Sim Kwang Yang

I know Malaysians and particularly Sarawakians are generally pretty inward looking and self-absorbed.  They do not seem to pay too much attention to international relations and current affairs of the world.

But we live in an increasingly inter-connected world.  What happens in one corner of the world will somehow over time affect our lives as well.  Look at the current global financial melt-down.  No country on earth is spared though it started in the US.

Personally, I have always been interested in international news from even a very young age.  When I became MP, I became opposition spokesman on foreign affair.

Happy Father’s Day, Datuk Seri Shahrizat

By Chee How (on Sunday, June 21)

It’s Father’s Day today!

On the brighter side, I received a gift from my 5-years old boy. It is a simple bookmark with his charming smile and scrawling of “Dad, I Love You”. I can only imagine how he and his good teacher were struggling to fit those words into the little space. The erased pencil marks tell. It is a priceless artwork for the proud father, needless to say.

Unfortunately, this otherwise wonderful week was ruined by the Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil. Speaking to reporters in Parliament, the Minister was noncommittal about the findings of a task force that was set up to investigate reports of sexual violations against Penan girls and women.

With blogs, words will travel …BN govt took grabbed and snatched NCR land A Fact

BN govt took grabbed and snatched NCR land A Fact

Baru Bian, a renowned native customary land rights lawyer is also a member in Keadilan’s Political Bureau and Supreme Council. write to Honbill Unleashed the following.

While the cyber cynics may label blogging as talking to converts only and that we cannot talk to the rural people and will be useless in overthrowing the BN government of Sarawak. Hornbill Unleashed as a Sarawak-base communal blog is only to happy to show these cyber cynics how useful blogging, websites and internet portals are as a mean to overthrowing the BN government of Sarawak.

In his second trip to Sarawak within a week, PM Najib was evidently engaging himself to prepare BN Sarawak for a state election to fix his tattered electoral records and reputation.

Letter from Iran

A Different Iranian Revolution

This article was written by a student in Iran who, for reasons of safety, did not want to be identified by his full name.

WE look over this wall of marching people to see what our friends in the United States are saying about us. We cannot help it — 30 years of struggle against the Enemy has had the curious effect of making us intrigued. To our great dismay, what we find is that in important sectors of the American press a disturbing counter narrative is emerging: That perhaps this election wasn’t a fraud after all. That the United States shouldn’t rush in with complaints of democracy denied, and that perhaps Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is the president the Iranian people truly want (and, by extension, deserve).

Do not believe it. Those so-called experts warning Americans to be leery of claims of fraud by the opposition are basing their arguments on an outdated understanding of Iran that has little to do with the reality of what we here are experiencing during these singular days.

Thinking about blogging – on a lazy Malaysian Sunday

By Sim Kwang Yang

Pak Bui, a member of our communal blog, lamented in a recent entry that my article on fear and Panopticon did not get the wide readership that it deserved.

I am new to this business of blogging, and my immediate anxiety everyday is to make sure we have something fresh for the next day.  We are not yet three months old, so I am not that concerned that the number of daily hits has set new records.  All my life, even among my active days in politics, I have always believed in long term hard work and giving my best.

Pak Bui also expressed concern about some responses from cyber cynics that we are talking to converts only, the Internet savvy professional and business class.  We cannot talk to the rural people and will be useless in overthrowing the BN government of Sarawak.

Letter from Sarawak – Outside encroachment & Internal dissent

By Bunga Pakma

THE friction and confusion which our kampong suffered from a recent windfall, about which I wrote last week, is not the only time the tenor of life has been upset by encroachment from the outside or dissension on the inside. The back-story is of some depth.

Our kampong should have a name, a pseudonym which serves, like my own, for a handle. Let’s call it “Kpg. Senyiur.”

The outer world of business first impinged on Kpg. Senyiur before I married into it, over twenty years ago. The kampong proper sits on one bank of a not-inconsiderable river. At that time, the early 80s, the other bank was thickly wooded. A company came in, some say from Sibu, noted the wood, noted that a road (unpaved, but a road) ran nearby, and proposed paying the kampong for permission to log a swathe, and hiring the men to do the work.

We will be responsible, decent and courteous

A new Internet news portal called the Malaysian Mirror will be launched next week at http://malaysianmirror.com  They have a few trial runs and are still fine tuning last minute details.  Here is what the editor Francis Siah has written.

By Francis Paul Siah

EVEN before the Malaysian Mirror was officially launched, an online portal has already branded us. Not unexpectedly, in less than complimentary fashion too.

When another followed up mentioning names, I must confess I was initially annoyed. Later, I thought it was best to laugh it off. Hey, somebody has started a branding division for the Mirror even before we set up one … and we need not pay them a consultation fee. Thank you so much.

A Tour of Malaysia’s Blogosphere

By Pak Bui

Sim Kwang Yang’s “The ISA Panopticon and the Anatomy of Fear”, on this blog, is a compelling antithesis to the threats and vitriol thrown at concerned, engaged Malaysians every day. The arguments articulated in the post are far more enlightening than anything found in the mainstream Malaysian media.

As a little experiment, try comparing the ISA piece with the articles in today’s news or opinion pages of the New Straits Times, Nanyang Siang Pau or (if your intelligence enjoys being insulted, and then slapped, kicked and spat on) the Utusan.

Still, grumpy cyber-cynics among us may complain that SKY’s articles have not reached a wide audience, and have not embraced rural readers. The Hornbill Unleashed blog has recorded 85,000 hits in its three months of existence. Most of these hits have been lodged by the keyboards of educated, urban professionals.

What is the meaning of your life?

By Sim Kwang Yang

I know that people expect me to comment on politics all the time, because of my experience in active full-time politics.

But let me make a little confession.  Sometimes, I feel wary of political commentaries, especially when the Internet is so over-saturated with crude hysterical and partisan polemic and rhetoric.  How I wish Malaysian net portals and blogs would discuss some intelligent subjects more seriously.

Fortunately, I still have Hornbill Unleashed, a blog still struggling to find is plural identity, a piece of virgin intellectual territory, waiting for literary exploration.

PKR Should Woo Tengku Razaleigh

By Kenny Gan @ hueditor

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim’s (right) entry into PKR has given a boost to the opposition party. The reform minded moderate had been wooed by both PKR and DAP even before he resigned from the BN government in September last year over the use of ISA on civilians. Zaid was subsequently booted out by Umno for his presence at opposition functions. Well respected by both PAS and DAP, Zaid is expected to play a role in strengthening ties between the three Pakatan Rakyat parties.

Datuk Zaid was a prime target for the opposition’s courtship because it was clear that his reform minded personality made him a misfit in the Badawi administration and better fit for the social justice ideology of Pakatan Rakyat. Zaid is indeed a good catch for PKR but there is another prominent Malay leader who can also be said to be a “misfit” in Umno and whom the opposition should court assiduously. The person I’m referring to is none other than Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, also affectionately known as Ku Li.

Human sharks on the prowl

Kaypo Anak Sarawak is a Columnist  of  Hermit Hornbill at The Borneo Post Online , His article is  published  in The Borneo Post every Sunday. (Used by permission of the Author )

In William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Shylock is the Jewish moneylender who lends money to his Christian rival Antonio. When Antonio goes bankrupt and defaults on his payment, Shylock demands Antonio’s pound of flesh of his choice, the heart.

The name Shylock has since entered the English language to mean loan sharks, or ‘Ah Longs’ in Malaysian parlance.

Loan sharks are very much in the news these days. Our national dailies chronicle their cruel method of collecting debts, imprisoning debtors with irons like slaves even. Relatives of debtors who have fled are intimidated to no end. In the rare cases, the odd debtor could not tolerate the mental torture anymore; he just collects some friends and kills the loan shark instead. Or he commits suicide.

What ought we expect from an MP in Parliament?

By Sim Kwang Yang

Deputy Speaker of the Dewan Rakyat Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (right) has stirred up a hornet’s nest by criticising Sarawak MPs for being less than vocal in the parliament.  That riled up his parliamentary colleagues from Sarawak, who called his words “sweeping statements”.  The Batang Sadong MP Nancy Shukri was particularly unhappy.

Some credibility has to be given to Wan Junaidi because he is the Deputy Speaker who helps the Speaker in chairing the house proceedings.  He would know.

I served in the Dewan Rakyat for three terms as MP of Bandar Kuching from 1982 to 1995.  With some exceptions, including Wan Junaidi, Sarawak MPs were indeed a meek quiet lot.  That trend has probably not change since then.

Holding professionals responsible

By Pak Bui

Dr Colin Nicholas,(right) of the Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), wrote an article that sheds startling light on the state of professional ethics in Malaysia.

(For those of us unfamiliar with the COAC, it is an NGO working to support the original peoples of Peninsular Malaysia. The COAC is not, under any circumstances, to be confused with the Jabatan Hal-Ehwal Orang Asli, whose acronym delights in “JHEOA”. JHEOA operates under the ambit of the Ministry of Rural and Regional Development. This Ministry can also be described as the COUC: the Centre for Orang Umno Concerns.)

Dr Nicholas’s account of the bewildering grief of an Orang Asli family, on the COAC website, “Two Unusual Deaths, Two Post-Mortems”, is both heart-rending and extremely enlightening.

Letter from Sarawak – Village politics in Sarawak

By Bunga Pakma

Well, I’m home.  When we get off our plane we never know for certain what we shall meet.  This time I left the incessant chatter, rant and sub-hysteria of American politics (it is mostly talk) only to step into a thick, roiling cauldron of personal kampong politics.

A week and a half ago, still in Connecticut, I talked to my wife on the phone.  She told me that our district YB had arranged a grant of the astounding sum of RM40k to the kampong, and that with the next change of officers the kampong wanted her to be Bendahari in charge of it.  She was elected, with a sizable majority, because she has experience of business and accounting.  What an honour, you might say, but all that did was to throw her into a panic and a resolve to refuse the responsibility or to get rid of it as soon as she could.  My wife is a public-spirited woman with intelligence, experience, and strong views on decent government.  That she should view with horror a chance to benefit her community tells much about politics at all levels in Sarawak.

Can PAS dance with Umno?

By Kenny Gan

After the 55^th PAS Muktamar, Umno has indeed grabbed hold of the weak spot in Pakatan Rakyat and exploited it to their advantage. The weak spot is PAS and the opportunity came in the form of the apparent readiness of certain leaders in PAS for talks with Umno, purportedly on a unity government.

As these leaders include the newly elected President and Deputy President a worried outcry is has been raised on PAS’ intention and its commitment to the Pakatan Rakyat coalition.

First of all, we must ask, “What unity government?” Umno has never warmed up to PAS President Hadi Awang’s call for a unity government when it first surfaced last year nor are they likely to now.

ISA and the panopticon: the anatomy of fear

By Sim Kwang Yang

I was a little taken aback when a close and respected friend complimented me on my courage in my writing.

I was surprised, because much as I searched within myself, I felt no courage in me when taking on the most contentious issues and the most powerful politicians of the land.  Then I realise why I don’t feel brave at all.  I don’t have to be brave because I feel no fear, as long as I am careful and fair.

That does not mean I am such a fearless hero.  I too have my phobias.  Being broke is my greatest fear that has pursued me in my entire life.  My other fear is dying slowly a long, debilitating, and painful death, while being broke!

Then I realise we are all moulded by our fears, and we do not know much about our fears.  So I checked up some quick resources on the Internet. One site – about.com:phobia — has this to say:

Will BN lose power in the next general election? – Information Unleashed

By Kenny Gan

“Will BN lose power in the next general election?” Malaysians are interested in it, most of them would want to know ‘when’ and ‘how’. Our reader, Kenny Gan, analyzes at length the contemporary political state of affairs and advocates for change. Best of all, Kenny points out how each of us can play a role to ensure that BN will lose power, SOONEST!

We thank Kenny Gan for his laudable effort.  we published Part I “Swinging in Tandem” Part II ” Bulldozing Away Public Opinion“  and Today, We give you the last episode of Part III “Information Unleashed ”…

Information Unleashed

Access to information allows voters to make informed choices. Monopoly of information has been one of BN’s most effective and powerful weapons.

Internet connectivity now is about twelve times more common than that in 1999, when Mahathir held his last election. The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission estimates an online penetration of 59% or 14.9 million users in 2008. This can only keep on increasing, up to the next general election

Violence and Forced Sex In Marriage is no “ Personal Matter ”

By Rosita Maja  @ Hueditor

The Story of Princess Manohara Odelia Pinot made international headline news last week. The 17-year-old Indonesian was quoted as saying her husband had treated her “like an animal”. Manohara claimed that she was treated as a toy by her husband, and that she was sexually, physically and mentally abused. She alleged she was raped, abused and tortured during her nine months of marriage with Tengku Muhammad Fakhry, 32, a Kelantan Prince.

During a trip to Singapore with the prince, Manohara was rescued by her mother and fled back to Indonesia, with the help of the Singaporean police, and officials from both the Indonesian and American embassies,

Matrimonial and Domestic Violence

Domestic violence is a criminal offence under the Domestic Violence Act 521 (1994).
It is certainly not a “personal or a private” matter.

Will BN lose power in the next general election ? – “Bulldozing Away Public Opinion”

By Kenny Gan

“Will BN lose power in the next general election?” Malaysians are interested in it, most of them would want to know ‘when’ and ‘how’. Our reader, Kenny Gan, analyzes at length the contemporary political state of affairs and advocates for change. Best of all, Kenny points out how each of us can play a role to ensure that BN will lose power, SOONEST!

We thank Kenny Gan for his laudable effort. Yesterday, we publish Part I “Swinging in Tandem” of the 3-Parts series. Tomorrow, be sure that you read Part III “Information Unleashed ”…

Bulldozing Away Public Opinion

Any party which has to stand for elections should be mindful of public opinion, but Umno does things which no other democratic government would dare to do. Acts like the Perak power grab, Anwar’s trumped up sodomy charges and the PKFZ scandal show a cavalier disregard for public opinion. Nowadays, the judiciary does not even pretend to be fair, the MACC is almost a laughing stock in the way it chases after opposition politicians and the police make no pretence of taking sides.

Will BN lose power in the next general election? – ” Swinging in Tandem “

By Kenny Gan

“Will BN lose power in the next general election?” Malaysians are interested in it, most of them would want to know ‘when’ and ‘how’. Our reader, Kenny Gan, analyzes at length the contemporary political state of affairs and advocates for change. Best of all, Kenny points out how each of us can play a role to ensure that BN will lose power, SOONEST!

We thank Kenny Gan for his laudable effort. Today, we publish Part I “Swinging in Tandem” of the 3-Parts series. Tomorrow, be sure that you read Part II “Bulldozing Away Public Opinion”…

The aftermath of the political tsunami of the12th general election has left many Malaysians with new hope for change burning in their hearts. They look forward to a new government which can discard the racial baggage of the past, embrace meritocracy, respect democratic rights, take a serious stand on fighting corruption and lead the country to a dynamic and vibrant future.

So the big question asked by every right thinking Malaysian longing for a new Malaysia is, “Can Barisan Nasional be unseated in the next general election due in 2013?

To answer this question, we must first examine why BN is losing support, and next, whether Umno can institute reforms to reverse the tide and rejuvenate its political fortunes.

Life and Time of a Penan Selungo between two “worlds”

By Apang  @ Hueditor

Penan Selungo and their World

Anthony is just such a humble and quiet person whose shy nature would not stand out in a crowd. He has no reason to want to stand out in the first place. He is a Penan from Ulu Baram, Sarawak, a home to him but a wild jungle to most of us. While his identity card lists him as being born in the year 1965, but that is just a year created when applying for his identity card. Anthony, like so many of his fellow Penan Selungo (there are also Penan from Lapok and Silak in the Baram, and also Penan from the Belaga District and their languages all differ from one another) had existed long before there was any need to have a paper as identity.

So, the calendar was an alien concept to the very people who live for generations with their natural environment. Unlike other Dayak people who are subsistence farmers that use crop-farming cycle as concept in time, the Penan would be using fruiting season in dating their time.

SKY Counters George Chan – on a lazy Malaysian Sunday!

By Sim Kwang Yang

The public political conversation in Sarawak can only be described as primitive at best.  How I know it!  I was engaged in frontline politics for nearly 20 years in Bandar Kuching, trying to elevate the level of political narrative in my home state.  It was near impossible, because the media was all closed, and the weight of the Internet had yet to be felt.

Thanks to the Internet, I can read the Borneo Post online everyday these days.  Living in Cheras on the edge of Kuala Lumpur as I do, it is my way of touching base with my home state, so to speak.

On June 5, in a story headlined Pakatan Rakyat cannot bring progress, this is what I read about what George Chan has to say.

Letter from America 7

By Bunga Pakma  @ Hueditor

 

Forty-eight hours to go before I enter the belly of the Lang Pirak who will carry me back to my beloved menoa and home.  I am packing my bags, and as distracted and frenzied as I am, I must pack up a few words for you too, honoured Reader.

My last letter addressed the issue of racism.  Since I wrote that, much has happened.  First, on Public Radio—which in America is not state controlled—I heard that in a decade or two so-called “minorities” will amount to one-third of all Americans, and that mixed-race marriages and children are on the point of becoming the norm.  On my trips to the Stop ‘n’ Shop or A & P supermarket I have spotted quite a few little children with coffee-coloured skin and frizzy hair, most of them held by a white mother.  They get out of Volvos, as often as not.  This gives me a warm and fuzzy feeling.  I am a Dad, so I understand affection for children, and furthermore I say, Let’s mix it all up!  One human species!

Another Project by BN…falls to pieces

By Pak Bui @ Hueditor

The Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah’s main hospital, has been crippled since last year. Health Minister Liow Tiong Lai admitted last October that the main QEH tower block, housing 250 beds, the forensic medicine block, and the boiler room, had all been deemed unsafe. Hospital staff and patients had been sounding the alarm for eight long years, terrified by pieces of concrete dropping to the floor in the wards and toilets.

There followed a chaotic period of scrambling for beds. QEH patients were bounced around to private hospitals, including the high-priced private Sabah Medical Centre (SMC), and the Beaufort District Hospital, half a day’s travel away for patients and their families.