Negarakuku all over again...

As you may know, Muar born rapper Wee Meng Chee, AKA Namewee, made headlines in 2007 with a Youtube video in which he used the national anthem as a chorus for his irreverent and expletive-laced tirade against various ails of Malaysia as he perceived them.

Well, he's back -- with a new song, "Nah!", in which he repeatedly gives the middle finger to the Johor principal who allegedly told her Chinese students they could go back to China. It's not the most inspired lyrics, and the rather brainless refrain will put off many, but the song is unmistakably against racism. Ironic indeed that Namewee has now found himself once again in the cross-hairs of the Sedition Act.

Namewee under probe over video.

So, let me get this straight: the educator who made explicitly racist slurs is not sacked, not even reprimanded apparently, and the singer who rants against her is being investigated for sedition -- oookay... what planet am I on again?


Happy Independence Day Malaysia!

For our Future

Sunday, I brought my two primary school aged sons to Chung Hua Middle School No. 1 to take part in a fundraising joggerthon. There was a crowd of some 3,000 runners and supporters, and I was mightily impressed by the organisation of the CHMS committee. The Chairman of the Board of Management, Richard Wee, gave an inspiring speech on how education should not and must not be politicised. I was nodding my head in agreement the whole way... and then my jaw dropped when I heard what the patron of the event, Satok Assemblyman Datuk Amar Abang Johari, said:

“I have a certain formula on how to raise funds for Chinese private schools but it will take six months to a year to work it out. I don’t want to reveal the formula today… and if I lose my election I cannot do it.”

Read it here: Abg Jo keeps secret of helping Chinese schools close to his chest - BorneoPost Online

[Postscript: one of my boys came in 8th, out of a group of more than 600 primary school kids -- go, Tristan! You've made your old man proud...]

"Change is the ineluctable fact."

"Economic reform cannot happen when race still governs our public life, and where our citizens are not allowed to think and speak independently."


Read this incisive commentary from Karim Raslan in mySinChew.com - now, that's 1Malaysia for you . . .


"Whatever happens, there is no turning back and Malaysia will never be the same again."

This is J L A Dot Com

Wait, that's the expert analyst in Frankfurt closely monitoring developments in Malaysia's currency? Where's he doing this from, a prison library?

Shut up and work lah

Nazri pushes zero tolerance against racist principals - The Malaysian Insider:

Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz stepped up today to fill the palpable silence of his Cabinet colleagues over the racial uproar caused by two school principals, saying that the government should take severe action and show “zero tolerance” for such “racist educators”.

The school principal in question had allegedly said that Chinese could go back to China, and  likened Indians to dogs. She was not reprimanded for her remarks. 
All in all, this is a welcomed response from Nazri indeed! I must say that things are getting interesting... 

From the same report:

When asked for his opinion on the status of the country's race relations, Nazri was quick to point out that the only problem lay with the nation's leaders.

“Nothing wrong with the rakyat... only the leaders are getting all racial with one another. On the ground, the people are mixing well,” he said.

The Padang Rengas MP pointed out that in his constituency, there were no problems between the different racial communities.

“They work well together. Only the leaders are talking a lot and behaving badly. That’s why I always believe that it is better for them to shut up and just go and work,” he said.

Spare a Thought

(picture credit: MSNBC)

Kinder

It is a bit embarrassing to have been concerned with the human problem all one's life and find at the end that one has no more to offer by way of advice than "try to be a little kinder." - Aldous Huxley, novelist (1894-1963)