Elegant Embroidery

Sunway University Toastmasters Club is adding a touch of class to our meetings. Check out photos of the two logos representing Toastmasters International and Sunway University that are being embroidered onto table cloth that will be used to drape over naked tables. These will be unveiled at our next meeting in a week’s time, i.e. June 07, 2012.

Still on the subject of Toastmastering – I drove fast as a bird on the wing to Bukit Jalil to attend the AFC Toastmasters meeting last evening – I was stuck in a faculty meeting that finished late, y’see – where I was the General Evaluator. To be honest, I was feeling a little anxious because the last time I went to their meeting, I wasn’t at all impressed. I remember the stern remarks I made in my blog.

Anyway, the meeting turned out to be so enlivening and engrossing that I too was caught up in its tightly-wrapped euphoria. You may say I was seduced by the meeting because everything – well, almost everything – went well. I didn’t show it but I was elated to have Sheryl Chieng to be the Toastmaster-of-the-Evening (again!) because she put so much exuberance into her role that I was shaken and stirred to the point that my feet didn’t touch the floor from then on. She successfully tapped into her supply of inexhaustible energy in order to give us a meeting that was enviably enjoyable. But that was not all. Grace Tan tickled us non-stop with her brand of humor that was a knee-slapping laughter fest – in fact, all of us laughed so hard and so loud that we half-expected the police to turn up at the door because neighbors down the road have complained about the ear-splitting racket coming from AFC House. The speeches were splendid and the speakers superb. And the evaluations outdid the speeches – by being stupendously superior that I became acutely aware of my own inadequacy. With the likes of Jocelyn Lim, Ahmad Zaki, Grace Tan and Daniel Teh, these evaluators offered an intoxicating cocktail of eloquence and experience, sophistication and style, and charm and charisma.

I very nearly gave in to score this meeting a 9 out of a 10, but I stopped myself just in time. After all, the meeting did start ten minutes late and that, in my book, is still frowned upon. Finally, I decided to award an 8. Whether 8 or 9, the fact remains that this was a meeting where I savored every single moment of its delectable delights. Truly, an awesome meeting!

Chilean-style Protests

I read with interest that even a supposedly progressive country like Canada has a repressive law – Bill 78. This is an emergency law passed this month, i.e. May 18, 2012 by the National Assembly of Quebec, Canada. The law restricts freedom of assembly, protest, or picketing on or near university grounds, and anywhere in Quebec without prior police approval. The law also places restrictions upon education employees right to strike and gives the police the power to arbitrarily declare approved protests to be illegal ones midstream.

The law was passed amid a long, bitter student strike over tuition hikes, but it hasn't damped down the protest. In fact, it has so outraged many Quebeckers that many have joined in nightly protests. The type of protest is loud and noisy. It is called charivari, a form of protest involving beating pots and pans in the streets. It was widely used in Chile after Augusto Pinochet – who used terror to govern Chile – banned public protest.

There is a diversity in the range of protesters – from sensibly dressed fortysomethings wearing hiking boots and kagools and long-haired students wearing only shorts to men and women pushing young children in prams and hipsters on fixed-gear bikes – was matched by the diversity of utensils they chose to create noise. Some had reached past the saucepan and wooden spoon and there were unlikely pairings as a colander and a drumstick, a pan lid and a pair of chopsticks, and a barbecue lid and a pair of tongs all being put to alternative use.


Image credit: http://i.thestar.com/images/fc/19/2285a97c490e9eb899f916790c81.jpg

Image credit: http://www.windsorstar.com/news/6681591.bin

Image credit: http://i.imgur.com/VsR6h.jpg

And I liked this response by Montreal students when they were asked to send the cops the route of their protest march:

Image credit: http://imgur.com/gallery/tH9Kn

Putrajaya Drag Race That Went Wrong

Last Saturday, just after midnight, a drag race event – that was part of the Himpunan Sejuta Belia (One Million Youths Gathering) that Najib Razak rolled out to impress a sceptical public that young Malaysians are on his side – turned ugly. The time was 12:30 AM. One competing car, a Mitsubishi Lancer Turbo lost control, swerved off the road at high speed and knocked down spectators like bowling pins – and in the process, injuring seventeen people including four who were seriously hurt. Miraculously, no one died.


NSTP pix by Fariz Iswadi Ismail

If you had read the news reports in government-controlled media very carefully, the blame for this incident at the Wadi Ehsan Highway at Precinct 19 in Putrajaya was put squarely on the victims because they were watching from outside the permitted perimeters. These youngsters intentionally put their own lives in danger – therefore, please don’t blame the authorities.

Never mind that they allowed the race in the first place when there is no sanctioning body to monitor and supervise it.

Never mind if the Wadi Ehsan Highway is not a gazetted race track.

Never mind if the barricades were so flimsy that any vehicle that decides to run amok will plough right into the sea of spectators.

Never mind if nobody seriously scrutinized the safety arrangements.

Never mind if at that time, young people should be in bed instead of watching cars race in the middle of the night.

Youth and Sports Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek wasn’t even apologetic but he was quick to add that this incident should not be politicized.

Yet, he forgot that earlier in the day, Najib Razak himself politicized the event when he told the young people who went to Putrajaya that it was important that they make a correct choice when casting their ballots, saying that his BN coalition has proven its capability in delivering positive change for the country for more than 55 years (Webpage http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/litee/malaysia/article/vote-bn-to-guarantee-malaysias-future-najib-tells-youths, published May 26, 2012). And according to The Malaysian Insider, Najib received thunderous applause. He even thought he was being very funny when he drew laughter “from the adoring crowd” by mocking Bersih: “Democracy does not mean streets protests... that is demo-crazy"!

Politics is always on Najib’s mind – he cannot help it lah because his job depends on it!

Anyway, my point is that Malaysia is a funny country. A request for two hours of sit-in peaceful protest at an open field is forbidden, but dangerouse high-speed drag race at night on a public road is approved and allowed!!!

The Houla Massacre

It has now been fourteen months since the revolt against the Assad regime in Syria. As the world watches, the country continues to drown in blood-soaked violence.

The latest horrific incident was the massacre of 108 civilians, many of them children, in the town of Houla, northwest of the central city of Homs, carried out by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. Activists told of tanks, mortars and machine guns firing on civilians after anti-government protests on Friday, followed by Assad’s militia – known as the Shabiha – launching the mass-killings.

Rupert Colville, for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, said: “It looks like entire families were shot in their houses.” More frighteningly, more than 30 of those slaughtered were children under the age of 10. Some of the pictures showed children who appear to have been executed with close-range shots to the head.

Malaysia continues to turn a blind eye to this and other atrocities but countries like France, Britain, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Australia have already expelled Syrian diplomatic envoys. But will this do anything to stop further killings? How many more innocents will have to die before the world decides to take action?

In the 1990s, the world failed to prevent genocide in Rwanda. We said never again. We shall soon know if the world genuinely meant it. Why am I very sceptical?

Myanmar - A Country in Transition

I haven’t been blogging about Myanmar even though the country has been enjoying positive news of late. I am just staying on the sidelines. Certainly, the country is steadily and slowly moving in the right progressive direction – but I ask myself, how long will the self-initiated reforms last?

It has been said that U Thein Sein has been making all the right moves. Since he “won” power through a controversial general election in 2010, his regime had cleverly persuaded Aung San Suu Kyi and her party, the National League for Democracy, to participate in and legitimize the April by-election for 44 seats vacated by his Cabinet ministers. Sure, her party did emerge victorious and she was even formally sworn into parliament after a brief stand-off with the government over the script of her oath.

Then what? Myanmar is still working on the process of re-integration with the international community. Economic reforms have been grudgingly slow. And like me, most parties are playing the waiting game. For now, that’s all we can do!

Yesterday I went to Cititel MidValley for the MidValley Toastmasters meeting. It was an awesome assembly of like-minded people and we all had a good time. For five reasons. First, there were thirty-one attendees, making this a fabulous turnout. Second, there were Toastmasters who came from ten different clubs – one all the way from Osaka, Japan, Yuko Fujita from the Senri Toastmasters Club. Third, the quality of the speeches and evaluations were a class above. Fourth, the Toastmaster-of-the-Evening, Sheryl Chieng gave us a sizzling meeting, proving to everyone that she is a dynamo, a hot shot, a live wire. Fifth, I had no roles at all and so I was able to sit back, relax and immerse myself wholly in the meeting. This meeting, for sure, deserved a score of an 8 out of a 10.

Malaysians Don't Trust the EC

Independent pollsters Merdeka Center surveyed 1,019 registered voters between April 14 to 26, 2012 and found more than nine in 10 voters in peninsular Malaysia want the electoral roll cleaned up before GE13. In this survey, 48 percent of the respondents agreed that the electoral list was inaccurate and ‘embedded with doubtful voters such as foreigners, people who were transferred without their knowledge or people with multiple identities’; while 44 percent of the respondents expressed confidence that the election process in Malaysia was free from irregularity and abuse.

Bersih should feel vindicated by the above. This explains why more than 200,000 Malaysians gave up their Saturday to be a part of Bersih 3.0.

S Ambiga suggested the Election Commisison (EC) has lost its mandate as an independent body overseeing Malaysia’s electoral process. The Merdeka Center survey proves that public confidence in the EC has sunk to a new low. To put it bluntly, the EC is not doing its job!

Still, only 39 percent of respondents understood Bersih’s key demands. There is a genuine need to educate these Malaysians and Bersih should really conduct outreach programs. Don’t organize information sessions for the converted – please!

It is interesting that the EC deputy chairperson Wan Ahmad Wan Omar (above photo) has dismissed the survey results. He maintained confidence that voters would not dispute the GE13 outcome or be upset should BN stay in power. Wah, he is so bloody confident BN will be victorious! Or maybe he knows that all that “fixing” will ensure BN wins anyway!?!

Ribena Berry at PKR Gala Dinner

Not all political fund-raising dinners feature only speeches – sometimes, you get to be also entertained. Take this PKR Gala Dinner at Bandar Utama on May 04, 2012 – listen and enjoy Ribena Berry’s take on Malaysian politics, The 1Malaysia Virus:



This morning, I was at Bandar Pusat Damansara to attend the HELP University Toastmasters meeting. This must be the exam period for members because attendance was very poor. Fortunately, with the support of Toastmasters from other clubs and three non-Toastmasters – we were able to muster a decent quorum of ten.

In spite of this, the meeting was still enjoyable because there were four good speeches and evaluations. Really, their quality compensated for the lack of numbers. I was roped in to be the General Evaluator. And I was voted the Best Table Topics speaker too. My score for this meeting is a commendable 7 out of a 10.

More Protests in Damansara Heights

I am sure that S Ambiga is also having a trying day today. Again, her abode in Damansara Herights became the target of protests.

Although the Kuala Lumpur Petty Traders Action Council’s “pasar malam protest” was called off, the errant millionaire trader (i.e. Jamal Md Yunus) accompanied by 20 other “friends” turned up to ostensibly hand over a memorandum to Ambiga. He then announced his next plan, that is, to organize a rally, dubbed “Bersih 4.0 Loves Peace” that would be held at Bukit Jalil Stadium on June 23. To seduce 150,000 Malaysians to attend this “peace assembly”, he is offering a Lamborghini Gallardo and other luxury cars via lucky draws. This is increasingly looking to be just a publicity stunt for Jamal, the opportunist.

There was also a platoon of about fifty “youths” – wearing white T-shirts with the word Halau 1.0 – converging at Damansara Heights and hurling abuse at Ambiga.

It billed itself as Gerakan Belia Gagasan 1Malaysia – and its leader, Shahrul Nasrun Kamarudin led his members to bray a chorus of nastiness that included “Bersih kotor!” (Bersih is dirty) and “Halau Ambiga!” (Chase away Ambiga).

Shahrul was also heard releasing his venom: "She's the dajjal (the Muslim equivalent of the anti-Christ), she defends apostates, the LGBT (lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders)" before he delivered a one-page memorandum, titled ‘10 Reasons why Ambiga should be expelled from Malaysia’, and which carried an image apparently depicting a devil with two horns and red skin, and its face covered by a mask of Ambiga’s face.

The memo, among others, accused Ambiga of being the ‘Number One Traitor’, an instigator who led Malaysians to breach a court order and the violence at Bersih 3.0, and a liar for twisting facts on the Election Commission, bumiputra rights, and the Interfaith Council.

By the way, I read somewhere that Shahrul was the exco member of UMNO offshoot Perkasa's Youth wing. This is not a surprise, right?

And then at least thirty bikers were spotted at the scene to show their support for these wayward protestors. They were barred from entering the housing area by DBKL officers but that didn’t discourage them because they returned on foot with a larger group, bringing the total size of the group, dubbed “Bersih 4.0 peace-lovers”, to about 100. These people were issued Bersih 4.0 T-shirts on the spot

This time around, the Police and DBKL were there to monitor the situation and ensure that there was no untoward incident.