Kacang is Nuts!

Looks like the cat is really out of the bag on the Chua Soi Lek sex video. The matter which was first hinted at in Jeff Ooi’s article on the MoH curse has become a full blown sex scandal saga. Well, although our ex-Minister of Health is an old man, at least nobody can accuse him of not being a man of vigor. That said, it is really none of anyone’s business what the man does behind closed doors. If the matter does not impair his work and duty, then why should the public care what his personal (and private, one might add) life is like? Even his own family has decided to forgive him and stand behind him on the issue. Should the Malaysian public let bygones be bygones?

Well, yes and no, actually. It is true that the leaders of a country should be held to a higher standard of conduct compared to everyone else. After all, that’s why we elect them to lead. It is expected that our “betters” should conduct themselves in a manner worthy of a one who has earned our trust. On the flip side however, it is also true that one must not have double standards when judging/punishing a leader who is guilty of misconduct. All who have erred should be punished in a manner befitting the severity of their transgressions, no more and no less. Which is why it is puzzling that the brouhaha has resulted in the government forcing the MoH to resign, although he has pledged to continue his work.

Let me put this into perspective. On one hand, we have the ex-MoH, Chua Soi Lek, who is guilty of having an affair and forced to resign from all positions. However, he has broken no laws and it is unlikely that his affair would have affected his work and duty to the general public. On the other hand, we have the likes of the MP of Jasin, Said ‘Close-One-Eye’ Yusof who abused his power and position by demanding that the Customs release lawfully and rightfully confiscated timber belonging to his company. The timber consignment was earlier confiscated for exceeding regulated size limits. When the affair blew up, he was let of with barely a slap to the wrist before the matter was closed. At the same time, we also have Works Minister Samy Vellu, who has presided over a host of serious and potentially lethal disasters in projects commissioned by his ministry. Disasters such as defective, cracked and landslide-prone highways (MRR2, Karak etc), as well as shoddy workmanship in buildings and other structures (Parliment, Jalan Duta Court Complex, Immegration Department HQ, Hospital Sultan Ismail etc), all the time putting the blame squarely on “God” for the sending down such disasters. Samy Vellu is still the Works Minister the last time I checked.

It appears that while others in authority have done far worse things than sexual misconduct, they have been let off with little or no punishment in spite of their actions being criminal or having directly put the welfare of Malaysian citizens at risk. Why then, the selective punishment for Chua Soi Lek because of something so personal with no direct bearing on the nation? Why not catch whoever was behind the recording anyway? Looks like once again, emotion has won over our mental faculties, and saving face is the order of the day. Or was it something else?

American senator and current Presidential hopeful Barack Obama introduced the Federal Funding Accountability and Transparency Act of 2006. What’s it about and why is it so special, you ask? I quote its purpose from the site set up as a result of the act itself:

To provide the public with information about how their tax dollars are spent. Citizens have a right and need to understand where tax dollars are spent. Collecting data about the various types of contracts, grants, loans, and other types of spending in our government will provide a broader picture of and much needed transparency to the Federal spending processes. The ability to look at contracts, grants, loans, and other types of spending across many agencies, in greater detail, is a key ingredient to building public trust in government and credibility in the professionals who use these agreements.

In detail, the most crucial part of the act is:

Not later than January 1, 2008, the Office of Management and Budget shall, in accordance with this section, section 204 of the E-Government Act of 2002 (Public Law 107–347; 44 U.S.C. 3501 note), and the Office of Federal Procurement Policy Act (41 U.S.C. 403 et seq.), ensure the existence and operation of a single searchable website, accessible by the public at no cost to access, that includes for each Federal award—

1. the name of the entity receiving the award;
2. the amount of the award;
3. information on the award including transaction type, funding agency, the North American Industry Classification System code or Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance number (where applicable), program source, and an award title descriptive of the purpose of each funding action;
4. the location of the entity receiving the award and the primary location of performance under the award, including the city, State, congressional district, and country;
5. a unique identifier of the entity receiving the award and of the parent entity of the recipient, should the entity be owned by another entity; and
6. any other relevant information specified by the Office of Management and Budget.

If the Malaysian government were really serious about transparency and curbing corruption, I think this would be one of the first things to be looked at. Such check and balance mechanisms are surely required to control the atrocious spending of our government.

Barisan Nasional, the ball is in your court.

DPM Najib’s new toy The Scorpene subs are finally here. Now if we only had somewhere to submerge it. After all, the Sunda Shelf is on average only around 100m deep…

Specs here if anyone is interested.

Personally, I find it hard to show any sort of enthusiasm about the first Malaysian in space. Call me a wet blanket if you will, but I see no point in hurling a man into the stars just for the hell of it. Yes, let us say it as it is. We launched a Malaysian into space Just-For-The-Hell™ of it. Let’s not be addled by whatever so called “experiments” which are to be conducted up there, as they were merely tacked up to give some measure the legitimacy of the mission. The truth remains that these experiments were concocted to give a purpose (any purpose!) to the space mission. After all, I’m sure that many people still remember the brouhaha that followed after we Malaysians started bandying around about making “teh tarik” and throwing “roti prata” in space when this “project” was announced. Apparently the Russians balked at that one (Throwing tea and bread in the ISS??? Yob tvoyu maht tovarisch, no!!!), and we had to go back to the drawing board to see what else we could do. Sounds just like putting the cart before the horse, no?

So why did we launch our Malaysian into space anyway? It wasn’t as if we had anything to boast of, since we did not contribute any technology or knowledge to the mission. There also seemed to be no specific purpose for the mission, since we had to look for something for Dr. Sheikh to do once he actually got to the space station. This whole thing stinks of us just wanting to get bragging rights and say “Been there, done that, got the fuckin’ T-shirt”. Well, excuse me. While we’re busy bragging to the world how big our balls are, the world is laughing behind our backs at this foolishness and wondering how much money were we conned of for this space tour. Yes, it is a space tour, since we went there just for kicks and paid good money for it. Sorta like taking a holiday to the Caribbeans or Maldives. Money which would like have been better spent on actually developing the country instead of being pissed away like this.

Wake up Malaysia. There are only so many mistakes we can afford as a developing country. While we’re busy shooting people off to space, our national unity is being shot to hell. Crime and corruption are spiraling out of control, and the transparency of the current administration is as crystal clear as a brick wall. Let’s have some common sense here and not be carried away with such inane things in future. We need FOCUS on the more IMPORTANT things. Let us be proud of our very own Malaysian Astronaut when we ourselves have the technology and knowledge to blast our own country men to the great beyond, and not before.