Lazy Ass MCMC

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I Not Stupid

I Not Stupid (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our government is regularly headed by people who are either lazy or stupid (likely both). I’ve written about this in my Law blog but the logic behind the amendments to the Evidence Act that shift the burden of proof from the accuser to the accused is either lazy or stupid.

Our MCMC Chairman, Datuk Mohamed Sharil Mohamed Tarmizi, was quoted as claiming that it was easy for people to deny that they’re the perpetrators of crime by just saying that “it wasn’t me”. Therefore, the burden of proof needs to be shifted as there is no other proof that the authorities can muster to support their case.

This kind of logic is either plain stupid or lazy. That’s why we have to beat confessions out of people, or throw them out of windows. Our authorities are filled with people who are plain stupid and lazy.

Elsewhere in the world, the authorities are able to catch cyber criminals doing all sorts of bad things, from hacking, to piracy and pornography. However, our local authorities are unable to do it and now wish to make a presumption of guilt onto any accused party.

And to top it off, they’re holding children hostage. “As more of the young are connected online, who is going to watch over these kids when there are real people who want to harm them.” This kind of statement is only designed to evoke an emotional response, rather than a rational one.

If the issue was child pornography or crimes against children, then make that an “exception” to the general rule. Even then, it’s dicey. Two can play at this game as a child rapist would still be presumed innocent until proven otherwise. Why should someone who posts defamatory comments be considered worse than a child rapist?

However, making it a general rule and then using an exception to explain it away, is just stupid. That’s right. I’ve used the word ‘stupid’ so many times in this entry, but I’ll need to use it another time.

It is evidence of stupidity, laziness, the lack of education and training when someone tries to introduce a Law to force the accused to prove something that doesn’t exist. It is nigh impossible for the accused to present any evidence to prove that they didn’t do it. The only way to do it would be to find out who actually did it.

Maybe the right thing would be to just allow this amendment to go through and to have a free-for-all festival on-line targeting all the law enforcement and major government figures. Let’s just go around making defamatory comments masquerading as the MCMC chair and let him try to prove his own innocence.

Stupidity isn’t a valid defence either.

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Question of Numbers

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Menteri Luar Negeri, Dato' Seri Utama Dr. Rais...

Menteri Luar Negeri, Dato’ Seri Utama Dr. Rais Yatim (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Our extremely honest and trustworthy information minister – Dr Rais Yatim – claimed today that they were able to conclusively determine from image estimation techniques that there were only about 22,700 people gathered at Bersih 3.0 rally.

I think that our government has lost the forest for the trees.

Firstly, nobody believes in whatever official figures you quote any more as you have lost all credibility. In Bersih 1.0, you claimed that there were only about 4,000 people. Nobody believed you.

In Bersih 2.0, you claimed that it was smaller than Bersih 1.0 with only 5,000 people. Malaysia became the only place in the world where the immutable laws of mathematics have been violated – 5,000 is less than 4,000.

Also, the police managed to arrest a whopping 1,600 people – 30% of the crowd. That’s essentially one in every three person at the rally. I can tell you that no Malaysian can ever believe that our PDRM has such efficiency catching unarmed people.

Now you claim that there are only 22,700 people and I guess that the point is to show that this is the fringe minority who are making noise. All these mathemagic just beguiles the average Malaysian like me.

Does it matter whether it is 22,700 or 227,000? – No.

What matters is that:

  1. Bersih is growing. You cannot deny that. I can tell you that for every person that attended the rally, there are at least another 10 who’re unable to attend it due to various reasons and that they will be there for Bersih 4.0
  2. Bersih is able to pull in a truly 1Malaysia crowd. Maybe the UMNO birthday bash drew in huge crowds – but it was not a 1Malaysia event. Bersih is the single largest 1Malaysia event in Malaysia.
  3. Bersih attendees came on their own volition and under the threat of police arrests, tear gas, water cannons, police beatings, etc. Quantity isn’t the only thing that you should be concerned with – quality too.

So, what I’d like to say is that the numbers are not at all important. What is important is the message, which I think that our government is missing. The people want clear systemic changes, which our government is unable or unwilling to commit to.

You’ve lost the plot.

Losing Weight

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I’ve had several people comment on the fact that I’ve lost some weight recently. A classmate asked me yesterday if I was on a diet. A friend whom I’ve not seen for a while immediately commented on this too, when we met up for mamak today. I’ve also noted that my belt has dropped a notch or two in the last few weeks.

I’d love to say that I’ve been to the gym, working out, etc – all very macho things to do for someone who wants to lose weight. Unfortunately, I’ve actually stopped running until June due to a heel injury and am resting my foot for a few months to let things heal proper.

I’d settle for simply going on a diet – eating healthy, lots of fruits and vegetables, etc. Maybe doing some high fibre, high protein, low carb kind of thing. Unfortunately, I’ve actually been eating rather unhealthily and consuming more food in general – lots of ice-cream in fact.

But I’m still losing weight.

I’ve just been working too darn hard. The next four months are not going to get any easier for me. I’m unlikely to be getting much sleep from now until Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It’s just that I’ve got too many things on my plate and I think that I need to drop a few things to stay alive.

I’ll need to to cut-down on my volunteer work next year to free up some time for other positive work. However, I seem to be picking up more random work.

I just have too many fingers and too many pies.

The Voice

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After watching the season finale and the winner of The Voice, I have to say that I think that Adam Levine screwed up royally with Katrina Parker. She was clearly America’s choice but got the boot in the semi-finals because of Adam’s scores.

Listening to her performance of “Jars of Hearts” literally brought tears to my eyes. She literally grew before all our eyes from a shy OA to a confident diva belting emotions.

She’s the only one who made me cry.

Yellow Snowball

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The only reason that I decided to come home to Malaysia is this – to fight for our future.

If there was one thing that my experiences at Bersih have taught me – it’s that there’s hope for Malaysia yet – one where people treat each other like people, where rights are respected and not trampled over, where one is able to make an honest living.

Our parents generation have failed us and as a result, our generation is saddled with all the mistakes of the past and it’s up to us to tackle the problems one by one. While some take the easy way out, to run away, or to hide elsewhere biding their time, I would have none of that.

Bersih 3.0 marks a turning point in our country’s future. No amount of violence and accusations will distract from this. Our people have changed and the country has been changed forever by this. No way will we be going back to the ways of the past.

All parties of our government need to take cognisance of this. Regardless of who comes to power in the next general elections, the landscape and people have changed forever. Whomever comes to power will have to realise that the rakyat no longer blindly trust the government.

This event also marks the rise of the middle-class, traditionally the drivers of all political change. Thanks to various education and economic opportunities provided in the past, we have a burgeoning middle-class who are educated enough to see through the many lies told by all sides and figure things out for ourselves.

A lot needs to be done to regain that trust and all parties must realise that, particularly our police force, who have become a force of authority to a farce of one. Same goes for the main-stream media whose censorship, distortion and lies only serve to stoke further anger and provoke incredulity.

I don’t know what the future holds but I’m sure of one thing – nothing is going to be the same after this.

The snowballing has begun.

Explanation Required

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Watch this official video of the car accident from PDRM.

I saw what seemed like blood stains on the ground, near the driver side-door of the car. I do not know who it belongs to. I thought that it might have belonged to the police.

Now, this other video seems to show someone fighting off the crowds.

Maybe the police came out swinging and defended himself, fearing for his life. But why?

Now, watch this amateur video of the said accident from a different angle.

I saw what seemed like some people flying like bowling pins when they were hit by the police car, which seemed to be trying to brake.

Now, that puts a whole different spin on the story of the car accident.

Was it reasonable for the rally goers to throw stuff at the police car – or was it provoked?
Was it reasonable for the police car to speed away in a crowd – or was it negligent?

Ouch. My head hurts to think about it.