Not too shabby! Some good news from The Economist, seems that our Malaysian passport is pretty powerful in that we can enter quite a lot of countries without requiring a visa. Interesting!

I always seem to find quotes from science fiction that seem to apply fully to our situation at home. I have been reading the Dune Chronicles recently and have found the quality of political intrigue second to none (not even to the various sandiwara at home). The politicians can learn a lot of political strategy from Frank Herbert’s writings.

A large populace held in check by a small but powerful force is quite a common situation in our universe. And we know the major conditions wherein this large populace may turn upon its keepers:

1. When they find a leader. This is the most volatile threat to the powerful; they must retain control of leaders.
2. When the populace recognises its chains. Keep the populace blind and unquestioning.
3. When the populace perceives a hope of escape from bondage. They must never even believe that escape is possible!

– Children of Dune.

That sounds very much like a script for our problem. In Malaysia, people are beginning to wake up to its chains thanks largely to the proliferation of the Internet. Also, the opposition governments are beginning to show themselves as a credible alternative. Now, all that we need is a good leader and there will be no turning back as the powerful minority crumbles from within.

I hope and I pray that we do not embarass ourselves but our government just does not ever fail to do so. I just read an article in TheStar on how the lawyer representing our MACC traded barbs with Dr Pornthip, a world famous pathologist. I can understand the legal tactic of trying to discredit the witness by questioning her credentials but this is just sad.

According to the article:

Abdul Razak also told Dr Pornthip that Mahidol University, from where she graduated, was not recognised in Malaysia.

“But it’s the top five in Asia,” retorted Dr Pornthip, who also told Abdul Razak not to look down on Asians.

At one juncture, Dr Pornthip asked Abdul Razak if he was really a lawyer.

Seeing such a statement made, I really had to go look up the facts. Turns out that Dr Pornthip was not quite accurate. According to the 2010 THE-QS rankings, Mahidol University is ranked #28 in Asia. So, she was wrong in saying that it is the top five in Asia.

However, what is truly sad about this is that according to the government lawyer, our country doesn’t recognise the university while we recognise universities that are ranked further down the ranking such as Universiti Malaya (#42), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (#58), Universiti Sains Malaysia (#69), Universiti Putra Malaysia (#77) and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (#82).

The lawyer should not have brought up the issue of university credibility when our own universities are all ranked way below the one Dr Pornthip graduated from. At one time, our government did not even recognise Peking University (#12) and Tsinghua University (#16), the top universities in China. I think that we do recognise some Chinese universities now.

Before we go about attacking the quality and credentials of foreign universities, maybe we should first examine our own quality and credentials. I think that it is fair for Dr Pornthip to have asked Abdul Razak if he was a real lawyer.

For some reason, our mainstream media has recently gained an obsession to highlight baby dumping issues. I guess that since they cannot highlight other ‘sensitive’ issues, this is the best that they are allowed to do – social issues. You sometimes really need to leave it to our government officials to come up with the craziest notions on what is wrong with our society.

Widespread access to pornography and weakened family ties have led to an increase in baby dumping in the past five years, according to Federal CID director Comm Datuk Seri Bakri Zinin.

Honestly, while I understand that porn is an easy target for weakened family values, it is definitely not the cause. In fact, studies done overseas have shown that there is generally, a reverse correlation between porn and rising social crimes. The more accessible porn material is, the less social crimes there are.

Women’s Aid Organisation executive director Ivy Josiah said there was no correlation between a rise in baby dumping and pornography.

The crux of the matter isn’t the easy availability of porn but the lack of education among our young. Abstinence programmes have proven to be a failure and so, let’s avoid them here. Young people should be taught about their bodies – physical, physiological and psychological aspects of sex.

Sex education should not be treated as a taboo but introduced to combat problems like baby dumping, said Malaysian Council for Child Welfare honorary secretary Ismail Majid.

That is exactly the kind of solution that we need to the problem – instead of just vilifying porn. Don’t mistake me for defending porn, I am attacking stupidity. Anyone who knows me knows that I have zero tolerance for stupidity. Our police chief should learn to keep his opinions to himself and to channel them through a proper channel such as a media spokesperson.

A HONG KONG film-maker is aspiring to become the first person in the world to release a 3D erotic movie. Director Christopher Sun said he was racing against time to complete the filming of the flick titled 3-D Sex and Zen: Extreme Ecstasy.

While I know that 3D is all the craze these days, I’m not quite sure how it would translate porn. Porn is largely viewed in the privacy of homes where availability of 3D devices is less, and there is less need for it because of the smaller viewing experience. However, I’d be interested to find out how it does around the world.

Selepas Tsunami (After the Tsunami) from Pusat KOMAS on Vimeo.

I like the term – Memperkasakan Rakyat – empowering people.

Having previously attended one of his talks, I can say that I like his lecture on Student Power. It was very informative and educational, without being boring and intellectual. It made me ask a simple question – why was all this history suppressed? I would have loved to know the kinds of achievements that the students made in the swinging 60s.

I would think that such acts of courage, thought and conviction would serve as examples and encourage students today to think outside the box and to develop themselves into creative thinkers, capable innovators and future leaders.

Seriously, anak sendiri mati kelaparam, why?

Seems that there is a major development in the Teoh Beng Hock case – the sudden surfacing of a suicide note that was found months after his death. The circumstances in which the note was found makes it difficult to admit as evidence in court but in the spirit of Malaysia Boleh, let’s just assume that it does make its way into court.

In that case, it still does not change the crux of the problem.

I have always insisted that the people in charge, grow a pair and take responsibility. Regardless of whether TBH was murdered by Chinese triads (goes one conspiracy theory), thrown out a window by the MACC (goes the coverup theory), or jumped out of the window on his own volition (goes the suicide theory), it does not change the facts of the matter.

The facts of the matter are: that TBH went into the MACC office on that fateful day, through the front door, to assist in certain investigations; and the next day, his body was found outside the building, below an open window, sustaining injuries consistent with falling from a great height. These are facts of the matter that are not disputed at all by any party.

Let’s keep our eye on the ball.

The MACC is responsible either way. If he was murdered by outside parties on their premises – the MACC were responsible for his safety. If he was dropped out the window in the course of the investigation – the MACC were responsible for dropping him. If he had jumped out of the window in desperation – the MACC were responsible for taking care of him as a witness.

In all cases, there is no reason for him to have died if the MACC had carried out their duties. The only question that needs answering is whether he died of malice or negligence. In any case, the MACC has greater responsibilities that its leaders are expected to live up to.

I just read an article in TheStar that touches on information security and our government. Okay, regular readers will know that I just have to say something when our government decides to dabble in technology. I shall quote two portions of the article.

He said the Cabinet decided on Feb 24 that these agencies must obtain the Information Security Management System (ISMS) certification within three years to ensure that they were ready to face cyber threats and attacks.

What this means, once it passed through my BS filter is: Our Cabinet has mandated that certain agencies must now spend some money to enrich certain parties in order to hire security consultants, conduct security training, hold security certifications and what nots. This might be a good opportunity for certain applied research institutes that shall remain nameless, to get a slice of the pie and provide secure infrastructure to these agencies.

Any certified information security professionals should start picking up the phone and making calls to their friends, and friends of friends, to secure contracts to provide security training. Unfortunately, it seems that all the pie is going towards one security agency – Cybersecurity Malaysia – who are our local agents for various international security certifications and training.

CyberSecurity Malaysia chief operating officer Zahri Yunos said the most worrying threat was distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks.

This almost made me fall off my chair in Secret Recipe. I know for a fact that this is not the most worrying security threat faced by our government, or any other large organisation for that matter. A DDoS attack is the most basic of all potential threats and the solutions to handle the problem are already widely known – all it takes is more money as the solution is an arms race between attacker and defender.

The most worrying threat to all security systems is internal – human beings. All major technology companies take great pains in locking information down. Anyone who has worked in a major technology company will have stories about glued USB ports, removed CD-writers, restricted network access and more. Some organisations even fire employees that bring in mobile phones and cameras.

So, I think that it is scary for the COO of Cybersecurity Malaysia to talk that way. Granted, he’s not the CTO but maybe he should have picked up a little about security from his colleagues before mouthing off.

I am sure that everyone has heard about the case of Vui Kong by now. Above is the campaign video and story that drove me to tears while enjoying a piece of cake in Secret Recipe. I certainly hope nobody noticed me wiping my eyes!

This story has forced me to question my own opinions on the matter. It brings together two strongly held opinions into conflict – that illegal drugs are evil; that state sanctioned murder is evil. While plenty can be said about the various enlightened solutions to both evils that would never have resulted in a mandatory death sentence to Vui Kong, the immediate nature of the case makes these things moot. I had to make a decision fast on what I feel is the right thing to do in this case.

While I can sympathise with his background and story, I am reminded by the fact that there are many other people with similar stories who did not resort to being a drug mule like he did – case in point: none of his other siblings. I also question the fact that he was a repeat offender and that if the situation was turned around, he would be enjoying the riches that such high risk work gets. I also wonder at the number of other lives that he may have helped ruin in the process of his work. However, I also think that state sanctioned murder is not the right way to handle the situation.

Do I think that someone like Vui Kong deserves a second chance at life? Yes. Do I think that he will make the best of his second chance? The probabilities are stacked against him, unfortunately. He is far more likely to fall back to his old ways after a period of relative quiet. It is not his fault actually – that evil people will find their way to him is unfortunate.

Since I am of two minds about the situation, I can only direct my impotent anger at the real criminals behind this problem – the drug lords and the politicians.

If drugs were legalised, the drug lords would no longer have a business and the government would gain additional taxes. If the government got its act together to lift people out of hardcore poverty and to educate the most vulnerable groups, this scenario may have been happily averted. If the legal system had got it’s act together, they may have been able to side-step this public relations disaster.

However, neither is the case here. This is a case of an unfortunate individual, caught in a tragic situation of his own making, without the adequate resources at his disposal to handle the situation.

(A case can be made against his original public defender!)

Since Vui Kong has turned Buddhist, the only thing I can do is to hope that he finds solace in the teachings and to learn from the mistakes of this life and not to repeat them in the next. I hope that he can find peace through meditation during his final days and that he leaves this world in peace and equanimity. I can only imagine how difficult it is to be in his situation but I cannot help but think that he has no way out of this.

I know that it may sound heartless and harsh, but in this case, it is a lose-lose situation.

PS: If he has to hang, let’s try to at least bring him home and do him that little kindness. Dying in a foreign land away from his family just seems a little unnecessary.

Only in Malaysia is religion defined as what is written on paper, instead of what an individual believes or professes. We have come to a point where we no longer care about what an individual wants or needs, but choose instead to affix a stamp on every single person. How else can a piece of paper and a court decision decide the religion of a person of age who has declared their faith in another religion.

“Religion is the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or in general a set of beliefs explaining the existence of and giving meaning to the universe, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.”

Seems like belief is no longer an important ingredient to being a Muslim in Malaysia. One is a Muslim if it says so on a piece of paper, be it an IC or some other legal document. Well, I personally have come across many ‘paper’ Muslims in my life – those who consume more pork than I do, drink more than I do and worse.

Our religious authorities need to realise that there is no meaning to forcing someone to be a Muslim if he/she no longer has faith in the religion. Coercion is just going to drive the person even further away from the core tenets of the religion. A more effective method would be to teach, guide and help someone else find religion instead of forcing it down their throats when they do not want to swallow.

My advice to all Malaysians, please triple check the religion of your future spouse – lest one get caught in the quagmire of breeding bastards by law.