Lynas Share Price History

A snapshot of the share price history of Lynas Corporation Ltd over the last six months. What does this say about investor sentiment?

Source: Australian Securities Exchange website (August 26, 2012)

Lynas is behind the detestable decision to set up the rare earth refinery in Gebeng, Kuantan in this country – in cahoots with the BN government – which has witnessed strong opposition from Malaysians. Australia is so vast a country, yet Lynas chose Gebeng! Lynas must be thinking Malaysians are dumb!

In the SPL game on Saturday, Celtic’s injury-hit side still managed to carve an impressive 4-2 win over Inverness CT. Victor Wanyama contributed the first goal with a well-placed header from Adam Matthews’ corner (4) and then Tony Watt produced a brilliant piece of skill, a good turn of pace and a composed finish in the 25th minute to give Celtic’s second goal. Charlie Mulgrew fired Celtic three ahead (48) and Watt was again on hand to make it 4-0 in the 64th minute. However, Celtic switched off the final 10 minutes and Ross Draper scored two consolations for CT Inverness (82, 87).

And in the EPL game on Sunday between Liverpool and Manchester City, the former could only produce a 2-2 draw. Twice, Liverpool took the lead only to squander that lead.

The former produced the first goal when Martin Skrtel powered in a header from Steven Gerrard's 34th-minute corner. But the latter levelled the score in the 63rd minute when Yaya Toure capitalized on the failure of Liverpool's Martin Kelly to clear a Carlos Tevez cross. Luis Suarez curled in a free-kick to put Liverpool back in front (66) when Jack Rodwell was punished for a handball. But Tevez, with his 100th goal in English football, drew City level again in the 80th minute when he seized on a stray back-pass from defender Skrtel and then calmly rounded Pepe Reina before slotting home.

It's not a defeat but it is still not good enough!

Club Tall Tale Champion 2012

On Saturday evening, I was at the MIM Toastmasters Club of Kuala Lumpur event to celebrate the club’s 25 Glittering Years. Yup, it was the Silver Jubilee & Installation Dinner. I was the emcee for the said function and two Coronas helped ensure that I made this an enlivening evening that overflowed with rollicking merriment. I also took part in the Tall Tale Contest (the other contestants were Surendran Veerasamy, Giles Ojo and Vince Tay) – and of course, I won! It was a relief because I crafted the speech last Tuesday but when I re-read it the following day, I realized to my horror that it had a convoluted storyline that didn’t quite make sense. I tried to improve on the speech on Thursday but my mind drew a blank because I was focusing on another speech. It was only on Saturday morning that I looked at the script again and I managed to scribble some notes but I wasn’t happy with the outcome. It was when I was driving from Damansara Uptown (where I attended the Division B Council meeting) to KL’s Jalan Ampang between 4.45-6.00 PM that I began putting the speech together in my head. I didn’t have a complete speech by the time I reached the venue but I was hopeful. And when the contest began, I just gave it my best shot. The speech title was “Cheng Ho” – a real gem of a story from ancient China about an illicit love affair, the queen mother and an eunuch!

I posed with Aileen Gabriella Robinson, Miss Tourism International 2012

In the morning, I stopped by at the Faith Christian Center in Bandar Sunway to attend the club Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests – I only dropped in as a favor to Crispen and it was a forgettable event. Faith Toastmasters had only two members participating in the Humorous Speech and four in the Speech Evaluation contests. And they started thirty minutes late.

Crime Statistics Are Not What They Seem

An anonymously written letter sent to a number of MPs had alleged that the police and Putrajaya's efficiency unit Pemandu had tinkered with statistics and the classification of offences to show that the crime rate had fallen. Simply put, the authorities have been hoodwinking us with crime statistics that are palatable and only because they have been manipulated to serve a political end.

The said letter was purportedly written under the pseudonym Sumun Osram by an insider, a police officer wishing to remain anonymous. [I don’t blame him – in Malaysia, we have The Whistleblower Protection Act 2010 but whistleblowers are the ones getting arrested].

This deception is dastardly simple – it depends on the manner in which crime is classified. In this case, it is index crime or non-index crime. Official crime statistics, however, consist of only index crime. "The 'Sumun Osram' letter had charged that there is a systemic attempt to lower the crime statistics by shifting the index crime to the non-index crime when police reports are made.

According to the letter, which was made available to The Malaysian Insider, "Index crime is defined as crime which is reported with sufficient regularity and with sufficient significance to be meaningful as an index to the crime situation. Non-index crime’, on the other hand, is considered as cases minor in nature and does not occur with such rampancy to warrant its inclusion into the crime statistics or as a benchmark to determine the crime situation.

‘Index crime’ consists of two categories. One is ‘Violent Crime’ and the other is ‘Property Crime’.’Violent Crime’ comprises of murder; rape; armed robbery with accomplice; robbery with accomplice; armed robbery; robbery; and causing hurt. Meanwhile ‘property crime’ comprises of theft; car theft; motorcycle theft; heavy vehicle theft; snatch theft; and burglary. These are the crimes used as statistics to portray the crime situation.

Therefore, NOT all police reports made went into the crime statistics. If they did, perhaps, crime in Malaysia may equal to that in Gotham! That explains why in my “crime” blogposts I had summoned Batman to come and rescue Malaysians from this sense of helplessness – read my blogposts at these links http://helpvictor.blogspot.com/2012/06/wheres-batman.html and http://helpvictor.blogspot.com/2012/06/sorry-batmans-busy.html.

Also the writer of the letter detailed specific examples of how the crime index was manipulated: Certainly, the accusation is very grave indeed because it casts misgivings on the integrity of official statistics, and, by extension, the credibility of the Home Ministry, Pemandu, and the Malaysian police. Distrust is the word to best describe what I feel about the government.

John Lau has become the first Malaysian to be elected president of Toastmasters International for the 2012-2013 term. He is the sixth president outside of North America in the 88-year history of TI which has 280,000 members in 13,500 clubs in 116 countries. Congrats, John Lau!

Section 114A Definitely Stays

A second cabinet minister, Nazri Aziz on Thursday reaffirmed that the Evidence Act amendment stays (The Sun, Malaysia, August 24, 2012, p 01). So Najib didn’t really mean it! He was only putting on a show because Malaysians are still so trusting of him! Kindly read my blogpost titled “Najib Wants to Re-look Section 114A” dated August 15, 2012! Najib is really a dishonest delinquent!

I chanced upon this video clip – actually a charming tutorial on “How to Eat a Watermelon”! I found it intriguing and I thought I will share this with everybody. Tom Willett, a man of many years and great experience, gives us the benefit of his long experimentation and refinement in watermelon-eating techniques. There are some surprises here, but he had me from his first words: "Hello, watermelon students!" Enjoy!

And I took the liberty to add the “videoresponse” which is equally interesting:

The Police 'Makan Gaji Buta'

Two Thursdays ago, Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein told reporters that the focus on crime-busting was "not seen as a need" for the government until only recently, and he even went to the extent of reiterating the fact that he was not misquoted (Webpage http://www.malaysiakini.com/news/206893, published August 23, 2012).

Considering the spike in crime across the country and this has been amply documented, his statement was very irresponsible indeed. His admission raises troubling questions. Is this why the police were preoccupied with breaking up candlelight vigils and peaceful marches because they weren’t tasked to collar criminals? Does this mean that the police have been receiving ‘gaji buta’ all these years? And why do we need the police if crime-busting is not even a priority?

No wonder lah! Felons are not afraid to terrorize the public. Violent transgressions get more violent. In fact, crime flourishes everywhere.

And why was it “only recently” that the police are trying to concern themselves with law enforcement? The reasoning is incredibly simple. Escalating crime is no longer a matter of perception because everybody else except the government and the police knows that crime is very real. It is at our doorstep, taunting us because the police won’t do their job! And in case, the police want to scold me – don't fault me! I am only repeating what Hishamuddin said!

Yesterday, asphalt arteries leading to the city were still sparse with road-hugging traffic and so I took the opportunity to attend the Metro Toastmasters meeting in Kuala Lumpur. As only one speaker was scheduled to deliver her speech – I tried my luck to see if I could be the second project speaker. And when permission was granted, I promptly decided to redo the speech I delivered at Taman Indrahana the week before. I had already crafted this speech on Monday but I couldn’t find the time to pore over the script and then practise. Only yesterday, I managed to read it and because it was eight-and-a-half- minutes long, I had to rewrite nearly seventy-plus percent of the speech besides condensing it further. That didn’t give me sufficient time to rehearse. Like always, I still presented the speech but it was again very much done impromptu. I personally felt I did better than the speech I made at Taman Indrahana and although it was a major revision, I got a kick from hearing laughter reverberating the meeting room. This time I titled my speech “Gunung Ledang” and my evaluator was Garry Cheong, a Malaysian from the First Northern Thailand Toastmasters Club in Chiangmai, Thailand.

Anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed this meeting and Stepen Seow as the Toastmaster-of-the-Evening was in top form. An eight out of a ten score for this meeting.

Squash Bid for Olympics

Image credit: http://squash.me.uk/ozopen/?p=491

Nicol David and Laura Massaro in action in the final. Image credit: http://squashuk.com/tournaments/australian-open-nicol-david-retains-title/

Nicol David reigned supreme in the Australian Open with straight-game wins in the finals on Sunday. And in the process, she picked up her sixty-second Women’s Squash Association (WSA) title. I am not going to talk about her impressive squash success but rather her aspiration to see the sport grace the Olympics.

And to underscore her determination, she said that she would trade all her titles just for one shot at an Olympics gold. Now, if there is any Malaysian who really deserves to be the first Malaysian to win Malaysia’s first gold – I reckon it is Nicol David. She is head and shoulders above any Malaysian athlete whom I know of, an outstanding Malaysian, a talented sportswoman! And I salute her single-minded dedication to squash.

Of course, I agree with her when she said that squash players are some of the best athletes in the world and it’s truly a sport for all-rounders because you need every bit of skill to play at the highest level. We really belong in the Olympics.” (The Star, August 21, 2012, p 46).

Nicol David is the poster girl for squash’s 2020 Olympic bid. The decision will only be known next year when the International Olympic Council (IOC) meet in Buenos Aires, Argentina to decide whether to include squash among other sports in the Games.

It is time that squash receives the recognition it deserves. Let’s support David’s effort!

Mahathir Knows His Devil

Image credit: http://www.jucoolimages.com/devil.php

Mahathir Mohamed yesterday drew an analogy between BN and PR, describing BN as the devil and PR as the angel. He had blogged that Malaysians were better off with “the devil you know than the angel you don’t”. He was inferring that the shortcomings of the BN government cannot be as bad as the populist promises of PR because the latter will surely bankrupt the country. He was telling us that Malaysians should continue to accept the status quo and even The Sun repeated his baloney when the Malaysian daily headlined on page 02 today that “Opposition rule will fail: Dr M”.

He is missing the point. Malaysians are no longer willing to accept the present state of affairs. Malaysians want change. Nope, that is only half-true. Malaysians demand change.

Just in case, he is having one of those “blur” moments, I would like to tell him that Malaysians already know that BN is the devil incarnate. As for PR bankrupting the country – all I can say is, fat chance! BN has already done such a great job that by the time, PR takes over the government, the national coffers would be almost depleted.

I am your typical Malaysian and like most Malaysians, we are ready to take the plunge to exorcise the devil from our government. And I am counting on the guardian angel to protect me!

Image credit: http://www.youwall.com/index.php?ver=MzE4OA==

And in case, there are those of you who are also blur, common sense will tell you that an angel is preferred to the devil. Unless, of course, you are in cahoots with the devil himself!

Photographs that were taken yesterday of the Sunway University building that is work-in-progress:

Punk Prayer

For those interested to acquaint themselves with the song “Punk Prayer” by the Russian feminist punk band Pussy Riot, here is one interesting version (Webpage http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/aug/20/pussy-riot-punk-prayer-lyrics?newsfeed=true, published August 20, 2012):

Punk Prayer, English version by Carol Rumens

(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, banish Putin, banish Putin,
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, banish him, we pray thee!
Congregations genuflect,
Black robes brag gilt epaulettes,
Freedom's phantom's gone to heaven,
Gay Pride's chained and in detention.
KGB's chief saint descends
To guide the punks to prison vans.
Don't upset His Saintship, ladies,
Stick to making love and babies.
Crap, crap, this godliness crap!
Crap, crap, this holiness crap!
(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Mother of God.
Be a feminist, we pray thee,
Be a feminist, we pray thee.
Bless our festering bastard-boss.
Let black cars parade the Cross.
The Missionary's in class for cash.
Meet him there, and pay his stash.
Patriarch Gundy believes in Putin.
Better believe in God, you vermin!
Fight for rights, forget the rite –
Join our protest, Holy Virgin.
(Chorus)
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, banish Putin, banish Putin,
Virgin Mary, Mother of God, we pray thee, banish him!

Like most clueless authorities everywhere, what started out as an arty protest transformed into an international cause because of Russian stupidity.

Protests in support of Pussy Riot were staged in cities worldwide including London, Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, Marseille, Cologne, Barcelona, Warsaw, Sofia, New York, Toronto, St Petersburg, Kiev, Sydney and many other locations. Many were seen donning the punk band's trademark colorful knit balaclavas:


In Edinburgh, Scotland. Image credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-supporters-protest-sentence

In Warsaw, Poland. Image credit: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1221074/1/.html

In Dublin, Ireland. Image credit: http://thechronicleherald.ca/world/127489-free-pussy-riot-protests-go-global

In Berlin, Germany. Image credit: http://womensenews.org/story/the-world/120817/russian-sentencing-spurs-global-pussy-riots

In Brussels, Belgium. Image credit: http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/multimedia/news/national-news/2012/08/17/pussy-riot-protests-break-out-as-punk-band-members-are-jailed-for-two-years-100252-31645808/

In London, UK. Image credit: http://now-here-this.timeout.com/2012/08/17/in-pictures-todays-freepussyriot-protests/

In Toronto, Canada. Image credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-supporters-protest-sentence#/?picture=394879720&index=7

In Kiev, Ukraine. Image credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-supporters-protest-sentence#/?picture=394879724&index=9

In Paris, France. Image credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-supporters-protest-sentence#/?picture=394879716&index=5

In Barcelona, Spain. Image credit: http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/gallery/2012/aug/17/pussy-riot-supporters-protest-sentence#/?picture=394879726&index=10

Meanwhile, Russian police are searching for the other members of Pussy Riot who took part in the anti-Putin protest in Moscow. That is what it was – just a protest! What’s the big deal anyway?

Quiet Weekend in Sabah

Maybe because it is Raya Aildilfitri, but Sabah has been pretty quiet. Maybe the frogs are taking a breather before they make their next move. Maybe the RCI has stopped the migration in its tracks.
.
Certainly Papar MP and Federal-level UMNO Puteri chief Rosnah Haji Abdul Rashid Shirlin (left) sounded extremely confident when she proclaimed “BN is still the choice of Sabahans and Malaysians”. She even suggested that the latest ground reports favor Sabah BN (Webpage http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2012/08/17/latest-ground-reports-favour-sabah-bn/, published August 17, 2012).

Still, PR is keenly eyeing Sabah with its 25 parliamentary seats. Together with Sarawak, the two states are extremely crucial to BN’s goal of retaining Putrajaya in GE13, given the uncertainties in Peninsular Malaysia. The question on everyone's lips is, are Sabahans ready to swing?

Palaniappa Subramaniam, an engineering manager from Air Itam, Penang, has emerged runner-up in the 2012 World Championship of Public Speaking organized by Toastmasters International in Orlando, Florida over the weekend. He is only the second Malaysian to earn this accolade. He did well.

Vince Tay shared the above on Facebook. Perhaps, I should give it a shot! Didnt I say I want to be happy?