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Gong Xi Fa Cai to you, Jeff.

Agree with you. Either we submit, call for defeat or we challenge where we see there should be justice for all.

All these expressways are not the first and last to be built with lopsided agreement and sure-win, sure-profit deals for the rent-seekers and their co-horts.

If we let the current government rot further, our children and grandchildren will see more of it in their lifetime.

Reason: More and more people managed to climb up the ladder into the corridor of power. And with their unsatiable thirst and hunger, they demand bigger and bigger piece of the cake. What is left to the commonners who elect them up in the first place?

Expressways is just one way of easy money, skim cepat kaya. How about the other licensing? Taxi licensing, printing of holograms, etc?

I think the stupidest of all are us, the voters who are sweet-talked, manipulated, and sold the country for a kain batik, RM200 or promises of building new vernacular schools, upgrading dilapidated condition of schools, tarring of the road in our housing area.

We will see more of it in the days to come. And it begins from the KLSE/KLCI. Hope not too many who come in the second wave gets burned this time around.

One thing is sure, the warchest is being built as of now for the GE. And these is the first wave which has since propped up KLSE/KLCI price.

Good luck.

Jeff,
Agreed, what we are seeking to do is to make a great nation greater. We have to make known this fact from the very start. It is not about a developing nation anymore.
We are on the correct trajectory to arrive at Developed Nation by 2020. Hopefully we stay on course and make the necessary minor adjustments to fall on target by 2020. That minor adjustments is what we as bloggers seek to input.
And this should be our MISSION STATEMENT.

Getting silent whiners to join the conversation makes an uphill battle for two reasons: 1) "it's like that lah" attitude; 2) illusion of fear.

Both reasons are caused by half-century long of CONDITIONING. BN had been successful in engineering complacency and compliance. In my opinion, that was largely done through media hypnotism. But the people happily accept that, so they deserve what they voted for.

Besides conditioning the country, BN had also created an environment that condition themselves towards corruption. Given the stronghold rewarded by voters, corruption is the only natural outcome.

It's also because of that, I reserve from judging the individual governers for they are not held against any higher standard than a low life hustlers.

Contrary to professionals, the government is not made out of highly educated elitist. People make that mistake by giving standing ovation everytime a minister show up at a function, as if the people are the servants. Government are the aggregation of everybody, and therefore their quality is really the average of the entire population.

If we manage to elavate the intelligence of the entire population, strip the illusion of fear and plant the "it ought not to be like that" attitude, we might have a shot.

They really need to understand,
critic ≠ (is not equal to) anti.

I totally agree that the citizens of Malaysia should talk to each other as your caption rightly said The Nation should talk.
What we have now is a Government, elected no doubt, which rules by all sorts
of repressive and oppressive laws,Printing Press Act, OSA, ISA,discrimination,corruption, croniym .All are secret kept from the people who elected them. Why is it necessary to govern in that manner.If it is government in power to rule for the good of the nation without any qualification what are they afraid of?
Coser to the topic, it is time those in power realise that the public are beginning to realise what they are denied and opening their eyes and questioning all policies and their implementation . In this respect the internet and the bloggers are are providing a service which has been lacking for a very very long time as the socalled media is good only to spin the stories to make the govt look good.First,all the newspapers are owned by political parties and in addition subject to annual renewal of printing licences.So cannot expect the real stories to be heard. The internet and bloggers are standing for the vacuum the people experience.
As has been suggested, the opposition parties shhould come together and offer a crdible and cohesive alternative for the people to choose from.I think we are ready for a change of Govt.When such a choice is available, the next question is to reach those who have no access to internet, computers and bloggers.The opposition has to think seriously how that can be executed.
The present govt of 50 years has given us an opportunity to say sayonara to them. Can we take advantage of the situation?

Jeff, you are right on to keep the government on its toes. We need more people to monitor and point out the “goings on” and read between the lines especially over technical and complex government projects. Samy had deferred the Toll Collect at Sungai Nyiur and surely all the taxpayers AGAIN will pick up the tabs in the lost of revenue to the concessionaire company by way of the agreement.

These Highway Robbery traps have been laid long ago. The folks at Seberang Jaya & Butterworth have been using that route for over 10 years without paying and toll was NOT collected because the “whole BORR project was not completed”. But the Federal Government and the concessionaire company more than 10 years ago had agree to the toll. The residents were “smart” as they protested and appealed through the Penang State Government, which was very mindful of the “marginalization” tag hurled at them previously quickly responded and constructed 4 Toll-free linkages, reported by NST ONLY (15th Feb 07) (and one 300 m stretch was even fast-track at a cost of RM2 million). And BN fully aware of its implications (lost of these State & parliamentary seats) in the coming GE U-turned and deferred toll collection at Sungai Nyiur Plaza and Penang, Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Abdul Rashid Abdullah hailed this as a “smart response”
The swift manner the announcement was made by SAMY (all the way from London) without even a possible nod from the Cabinet is surprising. All along, Samy mislead us to believe the Cabinet has the final say (example over the declassification of Toll agreements, he needed to put up a proposal etc) and now he can announced this deferment alone.
All the above and more details at:
http://powerpresent.blogspot.com/2007/02/300000-protested-sungai-nyior-toll.html

A democracy which stifles its citizens' voice becomes an autocracy. An autocracy which favours its ruling elites by closing an eye on their corrupt practices becomes a kleptocracy.

Is Malaysia a kleptocracy?

This is the question which all of us, including the judiciary, should be asking. After all, they know what they had to go through when checks and balances in governance were sacrificed for the expediency of implementing national policies that themselves were not given sufficient debate space to the very peoples who had to live their results everyday - the rakyat.

The toll agreements that are now thorns in every motorist's throat are just one example where if the rakyats' inputs had been taken, we would not now be in so much a quagmire that this umno govt had had to panic and invoke an executive statute (OSA was mentioned)in order to try and quell the tide of anger that says the rakyat have been had.

How many people know that as far back as ten years ago, this umno govt already knew its EPU/ICU divisions had fouled up big time on the terms of those agreements? How else could one explain the negative reactions even govt agency secs were showing without reservation even back then whenever those divisions were mentioned? It takes the former PM to admit in no uncertain terms that 'stupidity' sense was the cause. Honestly (if this word can still be used in this country), does he believe for one minute that the rakyat are stupid to think that stupidity was the reason?

The reason why blogospheres sprout in this country is because they are the only channels left for the rakyat to call for change, and the only reason why change is needed is because checks and balances have been displaced in the umno govt by a cavalier sense of self-importance and arrogance that just because the last elections gave them a majority, they can take it that the rakyat will be quiet when the elites ride roughshot over them. Come on, this is the year of the boar, not the bull.

We talk about tolls. We could just as well have been talking about the fiascos behind the procurement of the national ICs, parking meters, billboards, fumigation services, submarines, fighter planes, vehicle APs, KLIA floor tiles, assessments, conversions, approvals, what have you. What about things like InventqJaya, Mimos fabrication labs, sale of MISC freighters, commonwealth games accounts, bailouts, buyouts and boarshits on economic performances? Just as no answer forthwithed on why automatic windows can fail over three generations of the national car, and no answer will ever see the light of day on the 18 to be named, no answer will come out on whether approved FDIs were used as landed FDIs in order to impress the World Bank and if that doesn't work, 'low' inflation rates might.

In this country, you throw a stone, it immediately falls in a hole where money from the rakyat drains away to the pockets of cronies. The disease of kleptocracy has eaten the rakyats' contribution right into their bone marrows.

You want a number? An extra 30 million has had to be spent on repairs to the MRR2. Its toll has gone up by 60% in the twinkling of the eye. Some minister muttered that the contractor would pay. Don't blame the rakyat for asking now how much of the extra 60% includes part or full payment for the extra 30 million.

Bloggers don't wear Armani suits or three thousand pound sterling shoes . They don't eat in five-star hotels. They can't command special forces with C4 or emulex. They're not invited to open restaurants in faraway lands where nestle pristine mansions or alfalfa farms for retirement to soothe tired nerves from a lifetime of 'serving the nation'. Bloggers wear Factory Outlets or Reject Shops. Their shoes are Bata. Their diets are mee rebus and roti canai.

They're just concerned rakyat.

Just imagine - without blogospheres, how much more shit will run its course before the rakyat finally know the true and hidden costs of nationhood.

Some amongst the present govt admits they make mistakes. How does saying that reduce the chance of making the same mistakes again by new sets of politicians if there are no digital guardians of the rakyats' rights in this society?

Some amongst the elites take offense. Some even display astonishment. Why not do the most logical thing to set things right - rebut with privileged 'facts' in the same platform? That is how society grows mentally, gvernance matures its processes, mistakes minimised for the sake of future generations, judiciaries get to retain their roles as custodians of integrity, if not their souls of conscience.

Without checks and balances, all is lost. Innocence as much as conscience, integrity as much as progress. The very meaning of nationhood.

"Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has given the nod for agreements on tolled roads between the concessionaires and the Government to be made public. The prime minister must be congratulated for listening to the wishes of the people. These agreements are signed during the Mahathir's administration. The ex-premier had acknowledged that the agreements are lopsided."

taken from here:http://khookaypeng.blogspot.com/

Sometimes, if you ask, persistently, your wish will be answered. Lets see what lies within when the time comes, that it is so secret.

I have always believed that the truth will prevail. Trouble with this believe under the present circumstances is the cost may be too much until the revelation is achieved.

When spin doctors spin, I sometimes sigh; can the really expect us to believe them? Some of them are just so plain foolish and unbelievable that it's funny!

The truth is it is not funny. When governments don't govern effectively, with responsibility and transparency, the culture is perpetuated, and culture is difficult (but not impossible) to cleanse or re-do.

We should, and we must speak out. Yes, there is clearly a difference in being anti-Government and being critical of he government.

A united voice may seem nothing, but remember the power of the spoken word of the written one have been known to topple and tumble great misdeeds in our time.

May God bless this nation I call home.

Good luck Malaysia.

I agree that we should be critical of the goverment , however just dont be critical for the sake of beig critical. we need also to provide solutions to wat we ae critical of. What I have not heard is how the opposition is going to run the highways without tolls or do they intend to increase the income tax.

I agree with mamboking. Talking and complaining is easy. Providing solutions isn't. We have a lot of people fighting for change, but not nearly enough. At the same time, we have a surfeit of complainers and blamers.

Yet, where are the people with constructive comments on how we can build a better country? They are so hard to find anywhere. They can't be found in our jingoistic and propaganda-based mainstream media (except maybe The Sun). They're almost as hard to find in alternative media like blogs. Where are they? I wrote about this not too long ago, because I believe that if we want a better Malaysia, we need more commentary on solutions, not blame:

http://www.infernalramblings.com/articles/Malaysian_Socio-Politics/136/

a thick bunch of ideas and solutions was posted almost two years ago in this blog.

whither?

to add some more; think about this:

1. bloggers utd sends invitation to cabinet to meet; bloggers utd announces on www that it has sent invitation to cabinet to meet.

the meeting will be about the evolution of blogosphere in the context of national governance.

the strategy is to find a common platform to create new protocols of communication so that this country's thinkers will not be equated as unionists versus management in a paradigm that would otherwise says govts are governors which they are not; they're public servants.

2. the opposition front has to be rebranded; right now its foci are navels of women, chastity belts, jossticks, karaoke mikes, tolls, peoples' living standards, bodysnatching, interfaith, education, health, the usuals.

to be rebranded, they must come together; to come together, they must have common hot buttons, burning platforms and red-ant issues.

summarise those issues, create a common manifesto and get them to debate it in six sittings.

3. the national intelligentsia of all the communities must come together independent of the govt.

bloggers utd can initiate; no hangups on any issue.

change agents can be anywhere - in the youth wings of the govt as in the opposition; just meet as Malaysians-lah.

4. the growth of blogosphere is not just because people get their climaxes from complaining, or for that matter, people get their highs from complaining about people complaining.

it's got to do with info-capture; something you write as a list becomes archivable for ages, and can later, presumably, be reused in settings completely divorced from when it was written; who remembers the last expletive in a mamak stall?

the agglomeration of ideas and information, perspectives and viewpoints, contexts and cleveries, will create a malaysian edition of a global worldview.

a global worldview is paramount for navigating and repositioning.

4. what do they fear? people who don't pay taxes and people who will silently boycott officialdom.

that's what they fear.

make use of it but only to the extent of driving home terang-terang the message that enough is enough (eIe is two-eyes between a nose bridge not without reason).

the logical conclusion by them would be that parliament will gain more divisiveness and whatever program that comes out after that will only receive equivalent tepid support.

the cost to the nation will be large; like a nuclear simul, everybody dies.

the very thought of that scenario should wake them up that they need to find another way acceptable to the majority.

5. two-thirds of... voting for opposition?

make use of it but set a condition;

both proposition and opposition are malaysians and national interest is not served by chasing one stance at the expense of the other but whether the gap between is big or small depends on mindset change which means education which means debate which means dissemination.

who's doing the dissemination at the moment? the ones at the organ-grinder.

6. what's this country's fundamentals? where are they? what can they become?
put the industrialist, agronomist, economist and lawyer together and get an answer that a govt cannot give because a govt is locked in its own box.

they-are-not-very-bright; even those in the backoffice; even those backburnered.

how many know exactly what's going on in places which are creating tomorrow's future in whatever segment you can think of?

you got to have that clear in your head so that your PM can stand at his putrajaya balcony, and instead of pointing here and there at how resplendent his putrajaya, will instead announce that starting tomorrow, so that we can best sg and hk, it will take no more than 1 day for any company to be set-up in this country, including telco lines, lofsa bank account, mida incentives and registration certificate printed on conqueror bond paper with a neat new logo.

operational benchmarks.

and apply them to the land offices, the bandarayas and all the crooked corners of this land.

set such targets, set their deadlines, and post it globally.

then meet again to see if done.

so many other things, trees, humps, security, road fatalities, education, health, environment, all the yipeekayeeas you can think of.

let's take a pew.

why are we doing what should have been done thirty years ago?

plenty more and only using the coccyx