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Sincerely, we hope our leadership will wake up, take note of that cautious warning "....that not everybody wants a society so clearly defined by race and religion, which he said "remains the case here in Malaysia".. without turning it into an "uncalled for remark", "unwelcomed comment" or "don't meddle in our affairs" kind of issue, nor try to forget that it was ever mentioned to us by someone who's been there and done that, but follow it through with appropriate action.
But then, we'll just put it in our next wish list...

What a waste of words. All of that would be completely lost on our Malaysian leaders! Hope they give poor Kofi some durians before they send him off!!!

Jeff, there is so much that we can all learn from Kofi Annan's speech.I only hope our Government Leaders also take note and pay heed to the clarion call for injustices in our society.

Some pertinent quotes I thought worth mentioning.

" A society so clearly defined by race and religion, which he said "remains the case here in Malaysia."

" There are three freedoms which all human beings crave for -- freedom from want; freedom from fear, conflict or large-scale violence; and freedom from discrimination, arbitrary or degrading treatment."

"It is only when governments are grounded in the rule of law -- fairly and consistently applied -- that society can rest on a solid foundation."

" Leaders must also hold themselves to the same rules, the same restrains, and never above them."

" Respect for national sovereignty can no longer be used as an excuse for inaction in the face of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity." SRI LANKA is in dire need of help in this respect.

Great coverage, Jeff. And good advice from Mr. Annan, for sure.

The time to debate the virtues and pitfalls of globalization is long gone, now that we're already neck-deep in a fast globalizing world. It's either swim, or struggle and sink.

The real question now is whether or not the political will and temerity to do what's right for the country is there. It doesn't take a rocket scientist, or even Kofi Annan, to tell us the best way forward. I believe we already know, and what Mr. Annan articulated merely confirms that.

The best path forward, for the good of Malaysia, is not going to be easy, nor is it going to be popular. But whether or not there is a willingness of the few to give up the influence and power they have today, for the greater good of the nation, is left to be seen.

I can only hope and pray that reason, and a commitment to do what's best for Malaysia, will prevail.

As usual, Malaysia MSM spin the speech from the context.

Too bad MSM can't spin and say that the world rely on Malaysia. ;)

Dear Jeff,

Heartiest congratulations for being the only blogger invited to this keynote address by Kofi Annan. This clearly shows that Khazanah (Azman Mokhtar et al) have given recognition to you.

It is also nice to notice that you have shown your thanks by giving a very objective and succinct write-up about the occasion.

But it would also be nice if we can learn a bit more on your own impressions of Annan's speech. The usual "Jeff's oomph" on this speech is somehow missing so far.

Spinning is not as bad as demanding the govt declare Kofi persona non grata like the rommel guy for interfering in our affairs.

I am quietly waitng for just one UMNO smart alex to open the floodgates...and then they will cry for his blood.

If what Kofi says is true, that a society can only rest on a solid foundation if all the fundamentals are in place, which in this case; a society not defined by race and religion (which remains the case here in Malaysia), not enslaved by freedom from want (can the government refrain from corruption?), freedom from not being fearful (can the citizen be assured of safety from political bullies?), guaranteeing a conflict or large-scale violence free culture (can the governent assure the citizen there won't be major violence if there is a power shift?) and freedom from not being discriminated or degration treatment (can the rest of the non-majority rakyat be free from dicrimination from all levels of societies?), then we are not on solid grounds. This society will crumble when the tipping point sets in.

"More importantly, Annan said, leaders must also hold themselves to the same rules, the same restrains, and never above them."

Was Kofi Annan alluding that double standard was being practised? We try to ignore it but it's hard when, locally, aspersion of corruption has already been cast on people who lead, people who administrate, people who execute, and people who enforce. That's all the four quadratic roots of the entire chain of command. Indeed, would one be far wrong to say that the cancer of corruption has indeed spread to the bone marrow? In fact, one should not be looking for just the benchmarks of interpol - one should be looking at how prosecutors conduct themselves and the process of nailing evidence. Why cut off in an open court mere mention of a DPM, for instance?

Annan spoke about rights and integrity. Rommel spoke about discompetitive rent-based discriminatory policies. And not too long ago, LKY alerted to rapes, hijacks and lootings in Johor. Shall we dare to hope that as right as LKY turned out to be, Rommel and Annan won't? The rakyat already know the answer to that, so why continue the charade of denials, obfuscations, portrayal as the aggrieved party, patriotisme even against one's own ex-citizens?

And just as some MPs pooh2 LKY, silky girl said Rommel had an attitude problem. So what's the response to be for Annan?

The same emotion against foreigners who bravely criticise also resides in the same people who tell emigrants to go!forever. Would a father tell his son or daughter to leave the family forever just because there's a difference of opinion on how to raise the family, even more so when the household has come by what seems to be a feel-good moment? Rather than take the easy road to save one's own face, the patriarch should sit down and self-examine his convictions. If any, in reality.

One cannot escape the conclusion that there's something deeply wrong with the people who are running this country.

It's a cliche all right to say that pride comes before a fall. Umno is upgrading that cliche to a fact. What is there to be proud of when citizens are divided by policies, narcotized by discriminatory hand-outs, and killed by weak enforcement while those who speak against corruption, cronyism, discrimination and ineptitude are demonized so that the status quo can be perpetuated on threat of social stability being jeopardized if such practices are not overlooked? So that an event caused by ultras staging a coup de'tat on moderates can be rebranded as caused by inequitable distribution of wealth and opportunity? RM38 Billion unclaimed muslim wealth in this country seems to be flying against that.

Perhaps Annan had wanted to also say something else - that Malaysia can tweak itself so that she can really become a new role model for the rest of the world. Please, how can we be a real world model unless we trim the fat, go through a real regime of change, and repurify the soul of this nation?

For instance, the predecessor had the cheek to say "i can only give contracts to people i can trust.' The incumbent doesn't even say anything - he's doing it with greater elegance - the projects are just given quietly. Where're the open tenders, even the tenders for how to finance the projects? Where're the integrity committees? We are as puzzled by how the 9MP projects will be financed as we are puzzled why the govt is presuming that concessionaires will not allow for the toll agreements to be made public. You cannot act stupid as a feint to hide malpractices. If even UTK bullets have to be accounted for, why not rakyats' money, especially when 95% of the rakyats will run out of their EPF savings by the age of 59?

The chance to govern a nation has to be taken with a truly deep and well-publicised sense of real responsibility, even at the expense of personal loss by admitting to guilt, ineptitude, indifference and gullibility. Dr Syed Alwi spoke about the need for responsibility to be enjoined to rights/privileges. The right of politicians to govern ends where the right of all citizens to integrity prevails. Even spiderman's Aunt May will tell you that.

To the tune of the Funeral March, we can only conclude from the procession of bad things happening so far that the standard of our politicians is very low - not just as leaders, but also as men, and women.

If they continue the way they are doing things, Annan will have a new international case study of what NOT to use.

Food for thought, perhaps?

In other words Star news. left out the thought provoking parts and printed the apple polishing parts.