Ox Year and PS

Still in time to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Ox Year. Hope the Ox will be a very strong one to pull through the slowing down market by giving an unexpected bull run.

Whatever the economic reasons, during this festive season there is the high spirited celebration of family ties, cultural practices, sumptous of good food and not forgetting the blast of fire crackers even though it has banned in Malaysia years ago. But the sound of fire crackers are heard less this year compared to previous years. This is one of the sign that people are spending only on the necessity only.

This jotting was done at my wife's hometown which is in the state of Pahang. The house is situated in a Chinese new village. Most of the single storey houses in the village are built from wood with zinc roofing although there are some which are already rebuilt with bricks and cement tiles roofing. It is no more a laid back village as expected because town center is just a short walk away. The bus station is also situated nearby.

The usual fast food - KFC, Pizza Hut and McDonalds - are at the town center since few years ago. The old cinema, where an autographed poster of Jackie Chan's movie " Who Am I" was pinned on the board, was teared down about two years ago. Part of the movie was filmed at a nearby primary jungle. On the site now is a block of three storeys shop houses and Guardian Pharmacy already opened it's latest branch in one of the shops.

Whatever it is, what is Chinese New Year minus the "balik kampung" feeling? My kids are having fun re-connecting with their cousins - not through chasing the neighbours chickens but going after the "enemy" with the Play station games. Hmm.... sign of change in the way kids are engaged nowadays. - Loka

Double Death President

United States of America will sworn in their 44th President today. Barack Hussein Obama will be the first Afican-American to claim the most powerful job not only in the USA but also the world.

During his campaign for the US presidency, Obama's clarion call for Hope and Change are heard loud and clear through out. Add-on with a back ground like his, Obama will be hard pressed to deliver whatever his promises since the Democrats primary until his election on Nov 4, 2008. His performance will be monitored not only by Americans but also leaders and people from all over the world. His actions and foreign policies are ecpected to set new direction for a ever hopeful international audiences.

People are putting high hopes on him to change the world to a better and peaceful place to live in. But then Barack Obama is just as human as anyone and on top of that he is a politician. Human values in him may want to answer calls to the needs of the crying babies at Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, Sudan, Ethiopia, North Korea and all places that USA has interests but the politician instinct in him will only response to matters which are of interest to himself and his own nation only.

From the moment on the first day he steps into the White House he is no more the Barack Obama that can decides everything on his own but will be surrounded by many advisers, consultants, strategists, military, lobbyist, medias and trails of other interested parties with their respective agenda, hidden or in-guise. He is no more in total control of himself. He may seems to be in charge but shows can be deceiving. It is payback time for all who had supported him to sit in the Oval Office. It will not take too long for us to see what Barack Obama really made off. Is he really what he is perceived and expected to be by people in USA and all around the world?

As mentioned many times before, we will see the true colours of a person(politician) when given powers to govern the destiny of many. And it is not necessary black as Obama might try to portray himself as a white. So, do not expect too much from this Hawaiian. He might change as he promised.

And based on Chinese numerical beliefs, as the 44th president it does not fares too good for him as the number four in Chinese is read "shi" or "sei" in Cantonese or "si" in Hokkien which means death. That is double death! He was elected on Nov 4 and he was born on August 4th too! "Shi" (four) is always stucked with him.

Hope you can Change that too, Obama! - Loka

Najib need to work harder

As known by now Umno lost the Kuala Terengganu by-election to PAS which won by 2,631 majority. Abdul Wahid of PAS receives 32,883 votes while Umno's Wan Farid got 30,252 and independent candidate Azharudin Mamat lost his deposit when able to garner only 193 votes.

There are few points to ponder from this result.

1. If this is taken as a yardstick of premier-in-waiting Najib Razak's popularity, it shows loud and clear that he need to do more to earn his right to be the next PM. Not just from Umno's delegates but from the common people.

2. Did Umno candidates contesting in the forth-coming party election provided the full support to ensure thier party's victory or they are more concerned with their own political well-being?

3. The increased of Malay voters supporting PAS, is it due to PAS assertion to implement hudud and qisas?

4. The Chinese voters continues supporting BN, does it means they rejected DAP's buddy-buddy with PAS? Or MCA's election machinery managed to convinced them to reject PAS?

5. With additional seat for PR in parliament, Anwar Ibrahim re-energized himself to continue the plan to take over the federal government.

6. Development politics does not provides the impact on the electorates as before. The promise of continuous development and deputy minister for Wan Farid does not convince enough to support BN.

7. The Chinese voters gained a windfall or durian runtuh with the millions poured to the Chinese community and schools. But does this also cause the Malay voter to be unhappy with the federal government. - Loka

PAS supports DAP?

It looks like the DAP are going all out for the Chinese voters in the Kuala Terengganu by-election by giving MCA a head-on fight. Even though DAP is not fielding any candidate for the by-election, they are fighting nail and tooth for the 11% Chinese voters to throw their support to the PAS candidate. If PAS wins this round with the Chinese support then DAP can claim that the Chinese already deserted MCA and the real Chinese champion now is no more MCA but DAP.

Is DAP putting in too much effort for the sake of reducing MCA's influence amongst the Chinese community? What will be the price that DAP have to pay later when PAS gets stronger and more accessible to the Chinese community? As the Nik Aziz had said about Umno on the derailed plan to enhance PAS-Umno cooperation, " one does not get bitten twice by the same snake from the same hole twice"?

Has DAP forgotten the the thrashing they suffered in the 1999 general election after the Chinese voters deserted them due to their close cooperation with PAS? PAS won more seats than they can ever imagine while DAP experience one of the worst general election results. Lim Kit Siang even lost in Ipoh Timur and with that also the Opposition Leader position in Parliament to PAS president Hadi Awang.

On the other way around, if there is a by-election now which is contested by DAP against BN in a mixed seat, will PAS gives the similiar support if not more to ensure victory for DAP? Based on precedents and the insistence of PAS on the Islamic State and Hudud issue, it will be very slim chance for this to happen. Maybe PAS wil provide a gesture of "goodwill" is by not contesting the seat themselves!

DAP Chairman Karpal Singh has been very clear in his stand that there shall be no Hudud law or Islamic state for this country. Karpal has been very consistent in his stand but it seems some DAP leaders are still playing buddy-buddy to PAS for whatever reasons they know better. If DAP leaders are not careful, this external issue will be the catalyst of leadership split and downfall of DAP. - Loka

Are hypermarts really patriotic?

It seems the hypermarkets are having a competition to attract consumers to their outlets especially to shop for Chinese New Year goodies. Full page promotions and offers were splashed daily in the newspapers announcing special offers on selected items. These offers are a good choice for the consumers to compare prices to save every sen for each item.

Once a consumer steps into the hypermarts looking for the offered items, it will not be surprising to find a notice announcing the said price cut items are out of stock. This might give the consumer the feeling that they had been cheated. Many had already gone thru this before. You go into a hypermart thinking to grab the special offer item but can't get one because it is out of stock and you ends up filling your trolley with other not-so-competitive promotional items.

Well, that's the intention of the hypermart anyway. The purpose is to attract the consumers into their hypermart and once your are inside, what will stops you from dropping the other items into the trolley.

If consumers thinks that the hypermarts are such a patriotic lot with high corporate social responsibility that responses to the government's campaign for price reduction, think again. How many items are price reduced compared to the total items in the hypermarts? And of most of the price cut items, how many are really popular items which are in demand by consumers?

Even if the selected price cut items are of popular items, do the hypermarts really cuts their profits too? Not really. The hypermarts will still demand for the same margin from the suppliers. It is the suppliers that have to bear the extra cost of any price cut items. If any suppliers do not give in to the hypermarts demands, their goods will only be available on limited volume in the respective hypermarts. The hypermarts are becoming too powerful in dictating the distribution of the suppliers products. The hypermarts are just making a good PR move at the suppliers expenses and with increase sales volumes too when consumers go in droves to their hypermarts to buy the items on offer.

But then as consumers, as long as the prices are slashed, we don't care as long as we pay less. We will only be affected when the products we want are not on the shelves because the suppliers declined to submit to the hypermarts lop sided pricing policy. The hypermarts will stop ordering goods from the particular supplier to force it to accept the hypermarts terms. Unless the supplier is also a huge multi national company and its products are always in demand and available in every nooks and corners. Then the supplier will be able to dictate their own terms. One of these companies is Nestle, which items like the Milo brand chocolate drink and Maggi instant noodles are purchased and consumed by nearly everyone in country. But this type of supplier are not many in town. - Loka

Ox, cowherd and Bull-shit

Chinese New Year will be celebrated in less than two weeks. This year will be the Year of the Ox or Bull or Cow, whatever you like to call it. Many are already in the celebration mood but some are taking it rather too seriously. They wanna be the ox themselves. So they began to think as one.

With the cost of daily expenses on the rise, people do not expect the economy to be bullish but the least they expect is the reduction of bull-shit statements from certain people in the political circle and self appointed spoke person of the people.

For instance, do not think just because you are the Minister of Education , you can cow around by instructing the school children to hate and demonstrate against Israel. Leave the kids alone. You can afford to pay the motorcycle gangs of Mat Rempits to wear your Putera's T-shirt and march to the streets. The Home Minister will surely instruct the police to provide traffic control for your demonstrators since it is against Israel aggression and not about the conflicts in Sri Lanka. Maybe it is not that the Home Minister love the Sri Lankans victims less but he loves the Palestinians more even though we know both are humans too. Both will feel pain if shot or bombed. Maybe he thinks like a cow. No. Maybe an ox.

Some politicians thinks the people are cow minded and they are the cowherd. Just throw them some premium grasses and the cows will follow their bidding and instructions. They think by throwing millions in ang pows to the voters in Kuala Terengganu, the voters will be swayed by their persuasion to give them the votes. Voters are not cows. They will take your ang pows but not necessary give you the votes. We will see who is the real cow on Jan 17 ? - Loka

Two in one campaign

Umno deputy president aspirant Muhyiddin Yassin told voters in Kuala Terengganu not to vote based on the looks of the candidate.

Is he really speaking to the right target group for the KT by-election or his message was really meant for the Umno delegates in the forth coming party election in March. He is pitted against two candidates who are considered more people friendly than him, Ali Rustam and Muhammad Taib.

Muhyiddin knows that he can't win the deputy presidency if the delegates pick their choice based on personality rather than capability. He may be the popular choice as Deputy Prime Minister if the votes is in the hands of the ordinary Malaysian but he can't be sure that he will be the one unless he is voted in as Umno deputy president first. That's the fact in Malaysian politics.

If that's the case, it proves that the the KT by-election has been used as a platform by the candidates for the Umno election to campaign for themselves rather than Umno by-election candidate Wan Warid. It is no wonder that the current KT by-election campaigning lacked the oomph and excitement that we usually sees in previous by-elections. Is Umno big guns savings their armoury and war chests for their own use later in March? Furthermore it does not brings any difference to them if Umno lose the seat, other than Wan Farid cannot be a deputy minster and Najib's losing face in view of him claiming the prime minister position in March.

On the other hand, what if Ali Rustam wins the deputy presidency? Will he resigned as Melaka Chief Minister and Bukit Baru state assemblyman to contest a parliamentary seat to enable him to be appointed as Deputy Prime Minister? If this happens, which Melaka parliamentary seat will be vacated for him to contest? Maybe swapping with his supporter Md Sirat Abu's Bukit Katil seat? - Loka

Punching bag

Will Najib be the punching bag while Wan Farid watch from the Kuala Terengganu ring side?

Early signs already shows that will be the way the Kuala Terengganu by-election heading to. Whether Najib wants to admits it or not, the one really fighting the opposition in KT is surely not Wan Farid. It will a test that Najib cannot afford to lose before claiming the political throne of Malaysia in March.

Nobody knows who will be the loser in this by-election but I know the sure winner will be the people of KT with all those election goodies coming their way.- Loka

Boycott war mongers

After the Israeli attacks on the Gaza, there were calls to boycott USA products in response to USA's continuous support of Israel.

Calls to boycott USA related products are not something new but it usually will not succeed and will die off in due time as happens in 2002 and 2006. Some people just can't let go of a hot Expresso while surfing at the Starbucks or a quick bite on the Big Mac at the McDonalds. Those calling for the boycott should first practice what they preached by throwing out all USA related designer apparels, gadgets, books and food in their own house, including the Levi's jeans on their body and the Microsoft operating system which they used to produce their press statement. Not forgetting, if they graduated from a USA university, they should burn their USA degree on a Malaysian charcoal pit.

There are even calls for the OIC to sent in a joint army to go into war with Israel in the name of protecting the Palestinians. Are these people saying Malaysia should commit our soldiers to fight the Israeli army without the sanction of the UN? If that is so, what's the difference with the action of the US which attacked Iraq without UN blessing. Will these war mongers expect all Malaysians to bear the consequences when Malaysia itself becomes the target of Israel due to OIC arbitrary military action?

Hoped these war mongers will think not only with their heart but with their head as well. Fight the Middle East conflict at the UN Assembly, not on Israelis or Palestinians soil, if they think UN is still relevant anyway.- Loka

To school with heavy burden

New school term begins today. Many parents has been visiting the shopping complexes and shops for the past few weeks to purchase school items for their school going kids. With the slowing down of the economy, every cent counts and parents are always on the look out for the best bargains. It will totalled up to few hundred bucks to a thousand if a family have four school going kids especially if they are buying those branded items.

For those kids who don't mind having non branded school shoes, a pair of canvas and rubber white shoes can be bought as low as RM3.99. Buying a pair of a local made popular brand because other kids having it too, it will cost at least RM 20.00 to RM40.00 a pair. Each kids will need at least two pairs each.

When it's time to pack the bags for school, it is normal if the school bags with the books (textbook, work book, exercise books, dictionary etc), color pencils, pencil case and a filled water tumbler slotted into the bag's side pocket - with the total weight of between 7 - 10 kgs. No wonder those trolley bags is an hot item not to be left out in any school items shopping spree. Those sturdy and popular ones comes with a price tag of between RM69 - RM 109 but we will be happy if it lasts one year of schooling!

Those kids with classrooms at the ground floor will be lucky but for those at the 2nd or 3rd floors, just imagine these poor kids have to carry the 10 kilos school bags up on the stairs. If the kids weighted just about 20 kgs, they will be carrying half of their weight on 2 - 6 flights of stairs!

My elder son's bag with everything loaded weighted about 9 kilos and his classroom is situated at the 2nd floor. To spread out the weight, all his exercise books were placed in a separate hand carry document bag. My son told me his teacher advised his class not to carry school bags with contents weighted more than 15% of their own weight. Most of the kids would have failed in this school bag test. Based on the advise, a 30kgs kid cannot carry more than 4.5kgs loaded bag but most loaded school bags are more than 4.5kgs!

Can the Education Ministry comes out with a practical solution to lessen the burden of the kids. - Loka