Losing Mandate

There is a small point of note, that most Malaysians are confused over – that is the government’s mandate to govern.

As far as the Consti is concerned, the current government’s term of office will automatically expire on 27-Apr-2013 next month. However, as far as mandate goes, the current government has already lost its mandate to govern.

The Malaysian system of democracy gives the government, only a 5-year maximum mandate to govern. After that, the government must go back to the people to seek a new mandate. The last time that we gave the government our mandate was on 8-Mar-2008.

Therefore, the current government has already lost its mandate, even if it still has a valid term in office. In essence, it is merely serving notice.

This is rather unprecedented in Malaysia. The tricky thing is that the present government is treading on unexplored terrain. It’s still going about its business as usual, without realising that it no longer enjoys the people’s mandate.

The right thing to do would be for our PM to dissolve the parliament immediately and call for a fresh mandate.

Ironman 3 Trailer

Wooot! I totally love the ending of the trailer.. a little spoiler but a good one.

Cybersex Scam

Cheesy acting, but the message is clear. Scams always work.

Can Pakatan Lead?

I know that change is afoot, when my mom asks me this: Anwar is a weak leader and DAP cannot work together with PAS, if Pakatan Rakyat wins the next GE, can they lead?

First, it’s good that Anwar is a weak leader. We do not need another strong man like Mahathir. Look at what kind of troubles he brought. Second, all of the parties will find a way to work together simply for political survival. If they break up, they’re as good as dead. BN will not let them live.

Our country has developed to a point where the people now want more freedoms and a less authoritarian government. We would do well with a little more decentralisation and stronger institutions. That’s why it’s probably a good idea to have a less dominant leader, like Anwar, than someone like Muhyiddin.

Anwar, as a PM, would have to govern with the help of his Cabinet, which will be made up of people from all sides, hopefully the best. He would not be able to govern by sheer force of will. I wouldn’t trust him to do it anyway as he’s not very smart.

I also think that there are a lot of capable and intelligent leaders in PR who can help run the country. I do hope that they field better candidates this time around. It’s time to retire of the dead wood within their own parties.

Furthermore, they will all have to work together to ensure their political survival. They are such a big threat to BN now that they would not be able to survive if they were disunited. They’re all politicians, out for power. They will find some way to sort things out.

In fact, for their first term, they would not need to deal with any contentious issues. Our country is so wrecked with problems that there are just so many low-lying fruits to pick on. These issues are things that all the rakyat can work together, to fix, with the politicians.

So, I don’t see any real problems initially. The cracks will definitely occur later, when all the simple problems have been solved. Then, they’ll need to tackle the big contentious issues.

But by that time, Malaysia would hopefully be in a better position to handle any political crises that may crop up.

KPOP: EXID

I find the deep, low voices, mesmerising.

Women-only Parking

I read an article this morning that said, “parking bays at shopping malls demarcated for female drivers are being used by inconsiderate male drivers and shoppers.” I find the tone used in the article, thoroughly offensive.

I was also just as unhappy with the women-only carriages on KTM trains for the same reasons. Replace “women-only” with any religion/race and you’d have the whole country in an uproar, like the “halal” elevator issue at a local hotel recently.

Whenever I see these “women-only” parking bays at shopping malls, it thoroughly pisses me off. I don’t understand why am I being discriminated against. It’s bad enough that I live in a country that discriminates against me based on race. Now, I’m having public transport and shopping malls discriminate against me based on gender.

What’s next – gender segregated check-out lines, cinema halls, hair salons, etc? Oh wait, we already have that in PAS-led Kelantan.

According to the article, “it is the same with bays that are designated for physically challenged drivers.” These are the standard parking bays and are not like disabled parking at all, which are few and are specially sized and designed for the use of disabled vehicles.

Further, according to the article, the mall “set aside 445 out of 1,600 parking bays for the convenience of women shoppers.” That’s nearly a whopping 30%! There are definitely not 30% disabled parking in malls. 30% reserved parking is not a reasonable number by anyone’s count.

The only rational justification that the malls can give for setting aside these women-only parking is for security reasons. Then, my answer to them is that this is not the answer. You do not provide security by cordoning off women-only parking. That’s the lazy solution.

If the mall truly wanted to provide better security for women, they must markedly increase the number of security guards on patrol. As the article states, “…4,889 parking bays in the mall, with 10 security guards patrolling every level…” There are 4-levels. Do the math.

Can you see the problem there?

Malls can even provide a special valet service, hire a bunch of valets and charge the women more for this service. Or if they really want to rip-off their customers, sell these women special season parking passes since “80% of our shoppers are women and convenience to them is important.”

Yea, and men like to be inconvenienced.

This zoning of parking lots is the dumbest solution that can only work in a country where the people are not savvy enough to haul the malls’ arse to court. I pay the same price for parking as a woman, so why do I not have the right to park in 30% of the lots.

It’s ridiculous. It’s unreasonable. It’s probably unlawful too.

PS: My dear sisters, you have to rise up and fight against such wanton and arbitrary discrimination.

Fake Circulars

I read with incredulity the claim made by our Home Minister that the allegations made against the National Registration Department are fake. Incredulity because, in light of the recent shocking but not surprising revelations at the Sabah RCI, it has thoroughly eroded my trust in any government institution.

The PAS-VP showed a copy of government circular and claimed that, “the alleged circular, dated Dec 14, 2012, required that identity cards that have not been claimed after 18 months be sent to Keningau, Sabah for processing by Dec 31 last year at the latest.”

That said, I’m going to be real fair here and say this.

If the allegations made by PAS vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar are false, he has committed a grave offence of not just making defamatory comments, he has also forged a government circular, which I’m sure is a big enough offence on its own. I’m pretty sure that all government circulars are numbered and his claims can easily be verified.

Therefore, I urge the HM to immediately lodge a police report on this so that the PDRM can investigate the matter and the AG can then charge the PAS-VP with a whole host of offences, which will put the nail in his coffin and lock him up for life. Personally, I don’t care if he ends up in jail or not.

Unless of course, the HM is actually afraid of further evidence that will surface in court of what these unclaimed MyKADs are actually doing there. Maybe there are proper MyKAD disposal facilities only in Keningau, Sabah. I honestly do not know, but am interested to find out what is so special about Keningau.

Until and unless this happens, I will take you for the liar, our dearest HM.

Update: Looks like the NRD has lodged a police report. Kudos!