This time, 1Malaysia's product extension is where you pee.

The Terengganu state government will introduce a “1Toilet” policy in a move to liberalise education, The Star reports today.

Under 1Toilet, teachers – and even principals – will soon have to share toilets with their students... "and to mingle freely", the country's top-selling English paper says.

I was just reading an Op-Ed without byline in Malaysian Insider about rhetoric and consistency of race-laced politicians.

As if it takes a chameleon to greet another chameleon, and for the chameleon to crawl the path of fellow chameleon, there is this piece in Malaysiakini on the same day, titled: The 'chameleon' will never reach Putrajaya.

If anything, the audio of the YouTube chameleon clip SFXly clicks.

From I Malaysia to 1 Region to 1 World... now they take 1 Malaysia Banana Leaf to London.

One of the key players in the PKFZ public spat with Tee Keat is the chairman of the BN Backbenchers Club (BNBBC), who is also the MP for Bintulu.

Both the BN men became the spices that made PKFZ a hot issue in and outside the media circles and their readers.

But, will it be as hot in the Parliament when it reconvenes October 19, when Tee Keat and Bintulu appear in the same august hall of legislature?

Chances, as far as the agenda for Day 1 of the coming sitting of the Parliament is concerned are extremely slim. PKFZ failed to feature on the agenda for Day 1, October 19. At least not the Top 12 questions that normally receive prime-time live telecast.

Here's the Day 1 Agenda (Oral Question Time) issued by the Secretariat of Dewan Rakyat and received today:

QUESTION 1: Bangsa Malaysia - I People
MP: Dr Marcus Majigoh (BN-Putatan)
MINISTER TO RESPOND: Prime Minister

QUESTION 2: Economic impact on Malaysia in relation to the recent G20 Summit
MP: Dr Tan Seng Giow (DAP-Kepong)
MINISTER: Finance Minister

QUESTION 3: Shortage of skilled medical personnel in Sarawak
MP: Tiong King Sing (BN-Bintulu)
MINISTER: Health Minister

QUESTION 4: Ways to arrest negative image of MACC, Police and the Attorney-General's Chamber.
MP: Anwar Ibrahim (PKR-Pematang Pauh)
MINISTER: Prime Minister

QUESTION 5: Current status for the defunct Bernama TV.
MP: Halimah Mohd Sadique(BN-Tenggara)
MINISTER: Ministerof Information, Communications and Culture

QUESTION 6: Breakdown of civil servants by race and possibility of hiring contract workers without prior consent from the Civil Service Dept (JPA)
MP: Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan)
MINISTER: Prime Minister

QUESTION 7: Is Program Kejiranan Lestari successful in handling social problems in Johor, Kuala Lumpur, Selangor and Penang.
MP: Dr Mohamad Shahrom bin Osman (BN-Lipis)
MINISTER: Minister of Women Development, Family and Society

QUESTION 8: Has the government managed to regain control of Bernas which has now fallen into foreign hands?
MP: Haji Taib Azamudden bin Mat Taib (PAS-Baling)
MINISTER: Minister of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry

QUESTION 9: Tense relationship between Malaysia and Indonesia.
MP: Haji Ismail bin Haji Muttalib (BN-Maran)
MINISTER: Minister of Foreign Affairs

QUESTION 10: Current updates for H1N1
MP: Fong Poh Kuan (DAP-Batu Gajah)
MINISTER: Minister of Health

QUESTION 11: The 3-year Road Safety Campaign and possibility of including it into pupils' curriculum.
MP: Lilah bin Yasin (BN-Jempol)
MINISTER: Transport Minister

QUESTION 12: Implication of delayed decision to control influx of illegal immigrants.
MP: Nasharuddin Mat Isa (PAS-Bachok)
MINISTER: Minister of Human Resources

I remember Kit Siang volleying 3 questions per day at Tee Keat to not let all stones unturned on PKFZ.

Thus far, MPs have yet to receive the PwC report on PKFZ with full appendix that Tee Keat promised us before the last Parliament sitting.

Come to think of it, I wonder, will Tee Keat still be Transport Minister when the Parliament resits?

Without an official footing in national level politics, will Isa get his quid pro quo and be made a state Exco?

SOURCE: Malaysiakini, Oct 11, 2009

The record shows he has won the Bagan Pinang by-election with a 5,435-vote majority, defeating PAS candidate Zulkefly Mohamad Omar by more than doubling the margin of 2,333 votes BN-Umno scored during GE2008.

Significantly, BN-Umno managed to recapture the three voting centres that fell to PAS in 2008, namely Pekan Silliau, Ladang Atherton and Sua Betong. There is also obvious erosion of Chinese votes to the BN's favour, notably in Kampung Bagan Pinang and Teluk Kemang.

Even the 40% block of postal votes, the key contention of a lop-sided contest, were solidly delivered to favour BN-Umno. The majority this time has increased to 2,920 votes from 1,891 in 2008. BN-Umno's score in postal votes improved to 3,521 from 3,080 in 2008, while that for PAS worsened from 1,189 votes to 601 yesterday.

1 Malaysia, 2 Moral Systems

In a way, Isa is vindicated.

Despite his party having slapped him with a 6-year political jail sentence and later with a parole for proven money politics, he has been recycled, reused, and has survived the severe test of political resuscitation that Soi Lek failed to get.

Both Isa and Soi Lek have been exemplary examples of political taboos for many a Malaysian who despise moral decadence among public figures who hold and wield power while they last.

However, in Najib's 1Malaysia, it's glaring that Umno and MCA practise two different sets of moral compass for people who walk the corridors of power, and they are showered with different fate.

All these happened one day after the other within the last two days. I can expect Malaysians to debate this issue actively in the days to come -- 1 Malaysia, 2 Moral Systems for communal politics.

Samy vindicated too

In another way, MIC chief S. Samy Vellu should feel vindicated too.

One day before voting in Bagan Pinang, on October 10, BN chief Najib Razak tried to subvert MIC -- and by default plant a vote of no-confidence in Samy -- by officiating the launch of another race-based political entity by the name of Malaysian Makkal Sakti Party.

According to MIC sources quoted in Malaysiakini, out of the 1,870 Indians who voted in Bagan Pinang, BN got a whopping 1,387 votes while PAS only managed 483.

Isn't MIC still holding fort? MIC can now proclaim that with Samy at the helm, it is still the only power representing the Indians in Malaysia.

But other minor components in BN, minions such as Gerakan and PPP, are crying foul of the BN taiko's new crusading agenda -- shape up or ship out.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS... The Bagan Pinang results are also a false vindication for the Pakatan Rakyat and voters who turned away from BN.

With Isa's landslide win, they can safely say: 'Umno has legitimised corruption'. But don't forget the changing dynamics in bread-and-butter politics.

I have participated in 6 out of 8 by-elections and campaigned for PR in Peninsular Malaysia thus far, and I had been observing. It's a lesson yet-to-be learned by many political hopefuls who are found in dereliction of their duties to reform the country.

In Bagan Pinang, the candidate was from PAS. I noticed DAP under the leadership of Negeri Sembilan chief Anthony Loke had gone all the way to provide ground support to the local PAS leadership which saw wobbly logistics playing haunt on them throughout the 7-day campaign.

DAP, through the initiative of its sole state assemblyman -- Au Yong Tin Sin (Lukut) -- in the 4-state-seat Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency, had chosen a strategic, visible location along the Jalan Pantai trunk road to place its operation centre and bore all the costs incurred for manpower, and campaign essentials. PAS showed its appreciation by having the announcement of the candidate at the DAP Ops Room, and held the finale rally at the same premises.

Causal Campaigners vs Casual Campaigners

However, the same cannot be said of PKR in terms of ground presence and real logistics support. Most PKR leaders relied on the so-called magic of Anwar Ibrahim and offered their oratory skills at the ceramahs. Ground presence and campaign leadership were abundantly absent.

In Bagan Pinang, its a clear case of Causal Campaigners contrasting the Casual Campaigners among the PR component parties that decided the outcome. Some came for ceramah sight-seeing and treated themselves as mere "By-election Tourists"

Those outstation PR YBs -- we have 82 MPs to count on nationally, and over a couple of hundred of state assembly persons on register -- seemed to think that they don't have to go work the ground to ensure a victory.

A handful of PR YBs used press statements, not even blogs in the digital age, to remotely campaign at large.

Many other PR YBs thought they needed just to show up only during the last laps of the campaign and to squeeze their ways onto the same stage that Anwar speak on the finale super rally -- and steal a camera opportunity or two for good Press.

These free-rider PR YBs had better be prepared for more landslide defeats in their respective homegrounds, far worse than the one we saw in Bagan Pinang yesterday.

Mohd Isa Samad has just proved that there's no replacement for consistent solid legwork on the ground to win the hearts and souls of the electorate.

Whether he made a pile for himself in between the money trains of development, or whether he should unfairly inherit a big stash of victory-guaranteed postal votes is entirely a different matter, though.

Fear of more Hasan Ali in PAS?

For now, PAS has to do some soul-searching to determine if the Hasan Ali factor in Selangor has contributed to the tremendous erosion of support to PR among the non-Malays/non-Muslims alike.

The Hasan Ali problem is like a pregnancy that grows and grows. A good midwife must be found to grab the baby soon. Confidence on PR as a viable option for the overhaul of Malaysian government will evaporate if more Hasan Ali are to rear his ugly face on the march to capture Putrajaya.

Interesting, it's because of the paragraphs on some sort of tribal jinx, if Eileen's story is anything to go by:

The EGM's results showed that the biggest loser was Ong, whose loss set tongues wagging that the Hainanese jinx had struck again.

In the party's long history, no Hainanese president had fared well. Tan Koon Swan's reign as president in the mid-1980s came to an end seven months later when he was jailed for criminal breach of trust.

Ong, meanwhile, is a week shy of his one-year anniversary as president.

Screenshots takes no position on this, though.

Many a wish come true

To be frank, I have to salute MCA delegates for displaying a high degree of conviction to the democratic spirit and process in determining the fate of the party, and its leaders.

By their votes, both Tee Keat and Soi Lek have had their wish come true -- Tee Keat will not have Soi Lek as his deputy, and Soi Lek can for sure die an MCA man.

But the biggest winner is Umno. The BN taiko can now remove a thorn in the PKFZ flesh without having to move a finger.

U, Must Not Oppose. Hadn't Koon Swan learnt it well from Mahathir before?

• Screenshots will migrate to an international platform. The regular jeffooi.com URL will point to another destination and function whereas the alternative URL jeffooi.my will have a new role. It's a new experimentation in my Internet journey. Suspense for now.

• I will start a weekly Sunday column in Kwong Wah Yit Poh, the Penang-based top-selling Chinese newspaper with the highest readership in Northern Peninsular. This is also my first attempt at writing a regular column with a rusty command of Chinese, trying to connect with my core constituents over local and national issues.

• I will revive the Ferryman ( 摆渡人 ) Chinese blog once the weekly Sunday column kicks in.

• I had started a fortnightly Malay political column in Era Pakatan alongside my two comrades from PAS and PKR. It caters to a national audience to entrench our reach among the key clusters of supporters. The latest topic was to debunk the myth about Najibnomics.

• I will facilitate a team of Penang State Exco members to network with the green technology industry and sectoral investors and financiers from Korea, and to learn and familiarise ourselves with the integrated solid waste management solutions practised there. This is the positive outcome of my self-funded visit to Seoul in August, precisely for the same purpose.

• In conjunction with the trip to Seoul with the Excos, I will adjourn to a self-funded study tour of the no-tax, no-visa Cheju Island to learn how it is being positioned as a centre of IT/BT innovations for Korea, besides being the vibrant all-season destination for medical and eco-tourism.

• I will perform another national duty for the Penang state to spearhead further development of the telecommunications and multimedia sector as a prime catalyst for growth towards an international-class city. This will certainly eat into my quality time with the family.

• I will have the opportunity to witness and debate in Budget 2010 as a legislator when Parliament sessions resume October 19. Have been spending lots of time researching for my talking points lately.

• I will continue to help in the Bagan Pinang campaign and, despite all odds, I earnestly hope to see an upset that gives victory to the underdog.

All in all, I pray that I will gain His compassion in guiding me to success, and keep me healthy and on-target while I try to perform my duties the best I could.

Gain some, lose some...

Regrettably, due to the hectic schedule, I had to skip the return visit to Jakarta for the Pesta Blogger Indonesia 2009.

Nevertheless, sampaikanlah salam ku, Indonesia.

Oh yes... I hope to upgrade my trusty Nikon D300 to D300s through a trade-in. It will continue to be my resident camera for long zoom, but it now comes with HD video recording. Launched in Amsterdam in late July, I was told auto-focus has improved tremendously.

He calls that the 1Malaysia concept for the world, and money must flow out of the country in perpetuity.

The Paris Price-tag: US$5 million (launching fund) and US$1 million annually (open-ended).

Objectives (Tersurat): South-South Co-operation.

Objectives (Tersirat): Instant international recognition can be earned bought nowadays.

What's that pepatah Melayu again?

Kera di hutan disusu,
anak di pangkuan mati kelaparan.

Remember the story of Isrin Basitul I highlighted in Screenshots during my visit to Pitas and Kudat in Sabah with Professor Jeffrey Sachs last January?

Don't let the door of hope shut on her... LensaPress photo by Jeff Ooi

I am talking about Resource Curse, and I am thinking of the likely impact on the abject poor in Sabah and Terengganu despite having God endow them with petroleum for decades.

You mean the new thinking is to donate to UNESCO every year so that they can help our own people like Isrin in return? You mean charity must not start from home anymore?

You mean this is Najibnomics?

Citizen-Nades' 5-year trail on the PKFZ Scandal is now being bound at the printers, and it will be available officially on October 15, just in time before Parliament reconvenes October 19.

Note: The book is available strictly via online purchase. Details on Citizen-Nades.com.

Grab a copy!

We treat national budgetting very seriously. In view of that, my party, DAP, will be officially launching tomorrow our Alternative National Budget for 2010, themed: Democratising Malaysia's Economy.

You are welcome to join us for the launch and the press conference. It will be helmed by DAP Secretary-General Lim Guan Eng together with our Members of Parliament and state assemblymen.

Date: 7 October 2009 (Wednesday)
Time: 11.00 am
Venue: Rocket United Cafe (1st Flr), 18 Jalan SS2/63, Petaling Jaya

RSVP details here.

In the spirit of Pakatan Rakyat, our Alternative Budget will be forwarded to the coalition's Top Leadership Council for consideration and adoption, and the views and opinions of our coalition partners will be taken into due account.

We also welcome Najib to borrow our budget proposals and make some last-minute changes to his Budget Speech to cater to the needs of Malaysians' Malaysia.

For those who are interested, a copy of our Alternative Budget will be made available for download from the DAP website after the launch. Hard copy of the Alternative Budget can be purchased at RM15.

What have we now?

1Malaysia F1 Team.

1Malaysia Amanah Saham.

1Malaysia Tony Fernandes.

1Malaysia Earthquake Fund for Asia.

1Malaysia Mat Rempits.

1Malaysia Lantern Festival.

But reality check: What we don't have now for all Malaysians?

Sharing of national wealth, equitably.

Why has Najib been so totally silent on a number of socio-economic issues that have torn Malaysian fabrics apart, for example, the politics of poverty and equitable distribution of national wealth?

Currently, the bottom 40% of the Malaysian population only get to own 13% of the country's wealth.

Whereas, the top 10% -- you know who -- have grabbed almost 40% of national wealth -- and you know why.

Let us ask these, perhaps, as per Article 153 of the Federal Constitution...

Where's the 1Malaysia Budget for Race-Neutral National Talent Pool?

Where's the 1Malaysia Trust Fund for Modernisation of National-type Schools?

Where's the 1Malaysia Equal Opportunity Trust Fund for the Minority Bumiputras?

In fact, branding gurus shouldn't sit still but to get Najib to answer one very core question: What's your 1Malaysia all about after one full year of hot air and hogwash?

If the crass list of 1Malaysia ini, 1Malaysia itu goes on, will 1Malaysia Nasi Kandar be next?

This time, I related to a real joke just transmitted from Paris.

Umno chief Najib defended Mohd Isa, who was punished by Umno for money politics (read: corruption related to vote buying), by saying that his "crime" was merely a technical matter in the party.

"In our system, even a criminal gets a second chance," he told a group of students at a hari raya open house in Paris yesterday.

However, in Malaysiakini, readers are saying technical or otherwise, a record of offence is still an offence.

More pungently, to date, Umno has not even cleared Mohd Isa of his crime.

BY THE WAY... The Star today reported that actress Michelle Yeoh and her fiancé, former F1 Ferrari boss Datuk Seri Jean Todt, flew in from Malaysia to attend Najib's open house in Paris.

June 24, MCA vice president and Tourism Minister admitted that Najib's government has allocated RM1 million for Jean Todt to spend over two years as Malaysia’s Tourism ambassador.

To add spices to the French-styled hari raya do, Altantuya’s father released a statement to coincide with Najib’s Paris trip yesterday.

Heard a new round of political jokes in Port Dickson. It's about the dilemma of the Negeri Sembilan menteri besar, Mohamad Hassan.

Tolong PAS, Umno mampus.
Tolong Umno, aku yang mampus.

(If I help PAS, Umno will die.
If I help Umno, I'll die.)

That's because Mohamad Hassan is faced with a million-dollar question now: Should Umno candidate Mohd Isa Samad win, will he be made an Exco?

There are 10 Exco posts provided for under the state constitution, but Mohamad had only filled 8 vacancies after GE2008.

In theory, Mohd Isa can at least be made Exco No. 9, but Mohamad is tight-lipped when reporters posed him that question incessantly yesterday.

Mohamad made it into the second term as the Negeri Sembilan menteri besar with a much reduced majority in GE2008. The PR coalition has narrowed the gap into a 6-seat margin. Should Bagan Pinang fall, the BN majority will be further reduced to 4 seats.

So, the next headache for Mohamad is Umno No. 1, Najib, actually.

It's too precarious for BN to sustain its effectiveness in the state with a slim majority while PR continues to make significant inroads. A replacement MB is on the card for Najib since Mohamad had never been his man of choice anyway.

"Mohd Isa can't be returning to active politics at 59 without a quid pro quo," pundits of Umno local politics said.

Whereas, Mohd Isa is a seasoned hand in local politics and in the running of the state as he had been a menteri besar for 22 years. It was only fate that Abdullah Badawi made him a federal minister after GE2004, and had his political career killed just months thereafter due to graft-related disciplinary action sanctioned by the party.

Upset is imminent

Thus far, Umno's campaign machinery has yet to kick in full-steam, while PAS, too, is fumbling with basic logistics and still struggling to find a strong footing at the local grassroots level. Both opponents are neutralised on this same terrain.

However, how Umno's internal squabbling is going to get more intense by voting day on October 11 will decide whether who will ultimately mampus in the race, Umno or Mohamad Hassan.

Noticeably, Mohd Isa was never the state assemblyman for Bagan Pinang though he resides there. Born in Melaka, his former constituency throughout his stance as the Negeri Sembilan MB was in Linggi.

For now, it's a battle-ground like most Umno-held constituencies. Non-Malay voters comprising 31.5% of the electorates will be the deciding factor as the 63% Malay voters -- inclusive of the 34%+ of postal votes -- will give BN-Umno the upperhand advantage though a split-in-the-middle is brewing.

Furthermore, the racism-laced Umno campaign tactics had not gone down unnoticed by the Chinese (1,458 votes) and Indian (2,834) voters combined.

But given the intra-party conflicts within Umno, an upset is very much on the card.

Heard two amusing things and saw one ugly face.

Taking the cue from a newscaster who announced that Umno had chosen I-S-A as the candidate, the popular Anti-ISA badges will be delivered in huge supply in Port Dickson. The Malay versions say: Mansuh ISA. Tak Nak ISA.

Meanwhile, efforts are being made to declare a particular room in a particular hotel of regency as a heritage site. ZZ... it's a place to sleep soundly but to have lingering nightmares when awake.

The ugly? Racists reign again.

Following the expose by Screenshots, more Immigration officers are to shape up or ship out of Penang International Airport for showing up late at their workstations and causing flight delay.

Tonight, the evening edition of Guang Ming Daily reported that a total of 13 Immigration officers stationed at the Penang International Airport are to be disciplined and transferred to the agency's other offices in George Town and the Penang Port.

Little Birds told Screenshots that computer records indicated the first passenger bound on Monday's flight AK5052 was only cleared by the Immigration at 05.57am, barely 3 minutes before the scheduled take-off time at 06.00am .

There could have been relaxed security procedure as the Immigration officers rushed through the border clearance process for the 99 passengers and 6 crew members within 12 minutes.

The last passport stamped for the flight was digitally captured at 06.09am, Little Birds said.

Transfers ordered by D-G, Putrajaya

Earlier today, Screenshots confirmed that Fatimah Binti Hashim, the Assistant Director of Immigration heading the operations at the Penang International Airport, had been transferred on a 24-hour notice, effective October 1.

It has now been confirmed that the 13 ordered on immediate transfer comprised assistant director Fatimah, and the entire shift of officers who were placed on the same duty roster with the handful of culprits who showed up late for work on September 28, causing the popular 6.00am AirAsia AK5052 direct flight to Hong Kong to be delayed by 31 minutes.

Penang state Immigration Director Abdul Rahman Harun (picture left), who evidently retracted from his defensive stance earlier, told Guang Ming that the directive for the immediate transfer was ordered by Dato' Abdul Rahman bin Othman, the Director-General of Immigration stationed at Putrajaya.

In an another development, effective from today, the Immigration Dept will be running a 24-hour service at the Penang International Airport.

The round-the-clock service will be manned by three groups of 6 officers each, who will change shifts at 07.00 am, 03.00pm and 11.00pm daily.

For the record, Penang is the largest international airport outside KLIA in terms of aircraft movements and passenger and cargo volumes in the country.

FAMOUS LAST WORDS... I had dispatched immediate accolades to the Immigration Dept for taking swift action on the culprits.

I also suggested that all agencies involved in the front-line services at all international airports should rekindle customer-care and courtesy campaigns to enhance travellers' perception about Penang and Malaysia.

Read it in Guang Ming online.