Kok Keong joins legal defence of Perak G' ovt

One of the lawyers in Ipoh who have volunteered their legal service to the defence of the only legitimate people's government in Perak is my friend Chan Kok Keong. He is not only conversant with laws as well as parliamentary orders and conventions, but he also shares my interest in Western philosophy. He has also acquired a practical knowledge of Mandarin through reading books with the Pinyin transliteration guide.

MB Nizar wins hearts & minds of folks in Ipoh

MB Nizar wins hearts & minds of folks in Ipoh

Last Saturday, I visited some organic inhabitants in Ipoh' s New Town and found out from Taiko Hoong and his wife Ah Ching that MB Nizar is now the most respected Malay in Ipoh, and if he contests in one of the electoral constituencies within Ipoh, he could defeat any Chinese or Indian candidates from the National Front. Asked what if MB Nizar fights Zambry in Ipoh ? Ah Ching said : "Sambi sure lose deposit one". It was only less than a year ago that Taiko Hoong worried whether his xxxx would be potong under a new government headed by a PAS man. Indeed, as Uncle Krisnan has articulated very succintly, true relations between leaders and people can only be premised on self-respect and mutual respect and respect from other cannot be demanded by force.

Defending good values for future generations

Defending good values for future generations

As I told the public forum in Ipoh last Friday evening, Hee Yit Foong's fundamental trouble is not her personal problems within DAP, but her utterly shameless betrayal of the people's trust. I said the people who have been betrayed have the right and are also right to condemn Hee forever so that she would not be emulated by our youths and children.

UMNO denies plan to hire QCs for Perak crisis

UMNO denies plan to hire QCs for Perak crisis

Definitely as a result of a firestorm of genuinely patriotic protests of many Malaysian citizens, especially netizens in the cyberspace, Umno has denied that it is seeking the services of Queen's Counsels ( QCs ) in the United Kingdom to break the constitutional deadlocks in Perak.

My hometown' s Indian hero & Chinese villain

My hometown' s Indian hero & Chinese villain

Ah May and her friends have just returned from Ipoh after spending a week there to visit their families and childhood friends. They told me that Perak's State Assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar (above) is now the most popular figure among town folks, while Hee Yit Foong, the most despised person for the utterly shameless role she played in the coup. So, besides being seriously stuck in a legal morass and constitutional quigmire, the plotters of the coup in Perak have also found the great wall of the people's value-system hard to crack even by royal artillery.

Dr. Mahathir : Sivakumar committed no crime

Dr. Mahathir : Sivakumar committed no crime

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian PM and ex-President of Umno, thinks that "the suspension of any state assemblyman is not a crime which the police can take action against". Clare Street concurs.

'Patriotic' Umno now seeks foreign assistance

'Patriotic' Umno now seeks foreign assistance

According to the latest news report in malaysiakini, Umno now seeks legal opinion on its constitutional and legal quagmire in Perak from a team of Queen's Counsels (QC) in UK. Read in the light of Umno's own 'nationalist' claim, it undoubtedly reflects a deep-seated 'neo-colonial' mindset and a serious lack of confidence in the community of legal or constitutional experts in our own independent and sovereign country.

'Politeness' & honesty may diverge in real life

'Politeness' & honesty may diverge in real life

X, a law graduate from a very prestigious university in Britain said : " Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen, in my humble opinion, the earth is flat and its shape looks like a square box ". Z, a mechanic from Ipoh's Kampung Kuchai who merely completed a few years of primary school education, reacted angrily with utter contempt: " @#*&# you !, all the f%#*'ing space explorations have proven that the earth is round and it looks like a ball ". Who speaks the truths ? Who is more truthful-leh ?

Pristine philosophy of life on earth from Ipoh

BN now also 'a great champion' of rule of law

Having been installed illegitimately just a forthnight ago, the Zambry regime in Perak and its Federal backers and friends now also struggle for "constituional procedures". BN has also demanded for "proof" that it is involved in the despicable leak of Elizabeth Wong' s photographs.

Pristine philosophy of life on earth from Ipoh

Pristine philosophy of life on earth from Ipoh

Uncle Krisnan just telephoned from Ipoh and said fairly philosophically that for anyone on earth to be respected by others, he must first has self-respect, and respect others. He said: " we cannot show power in utter disrespect for others first, and then demand respect from those we have disrepected ". Uncle Krisnan, my father's old dear friend who merely finished Standard 6 in Sungai Pari, and who once worked as a collector of nightsoil, before modern public toilers were introduced in Ipoh in the late 1970s, is doubtlessly a wiser man than any self-styled 'philosopher-king' in Alexandria, real or fake, and elsewhere on earth.

Addressing folks in Ipoh on situation in Perak

UMNO now acts as 'moral guardian' for nation

By pressuring Elizabeth Wong to quit over the public circulation of her pictures taken by someone else in private without her knowledge and consent, Umno has postured itself as a 'moral guardian' of the nation.

Addressing folks in Ipoh on situation in Perak

On Friday evening, at the kind invitation of twelve non-partisan civic organisations in Ipoh, I spoke to a spirited crowd of about 300 on the causes and consequences (including unintended consequences) of the coup in Perak. Folks in town were clearly still very furious; and I could strongly sense that even grandfathers, grandmothers and housewives have been incensed by the unconstitutional as well as anti-democratic ways whereby their elected government has been arbitrarily removed. The plotters of the coup obviously under-estimated the very powerful sense of self-respect, as well as honour and shame, of common souls. Seen in this light, the political upheaval resulting from the 2/06 coup in Perak is, by essence, a clash between two different value-systems.

Background of M' sian rulers' loss of immunity

Background of M' sian rulers' loss of immunity

Besides Australian Harold Crouch's Government & Society in Malaysia, Canadian Mark Gillen's The Malay Rulers' Loss of Immunity is also an excellent backgrounder for a deeper understanding of the off-and-on political struggles between unelected rulers and their royal courts on one hand, and the constitutionally elected governments on the other.

Dr. Mahathir' s moral courage still memorable

Dr. Mahathir' s moral courage still memorable

Malaysia's ex-PM as well as a former president of Umno, Dr. Mahathir Mohamad may be controversial for some of his domestic policies and worldviews but his moral courage to speak the truth to the hereditary rulers in the 1993 constitutional amendments is still very memorable.

Media poll: 88% disagree with Sultan of Perak

Media poll: 88% disagree with Sultan of Perak

According to a public opinion survey conducted by independent online media malaysiakini, 88% of 34,617 respondents have registered their disagreements with the decision made by Sultan Azlan Shah of Perak, who 'sacked' MB Nizar and installed the Zambry regime amid protests. Anybody who contests in an election in Malaysia and obtains only 9.8% of the popular and direct votes cast will definitely be declared a loser.

Malaysian palace politics in historical context

Malaysian palace politics in historical context

Political struggles between people's elected governments on one hand and unelected rulers and/or their royal courts on the other have been incessant in Malaya/Malaysia. Some of the major cases are recorded and analysed by Australian political scientist Dr. Harold Crouch in his book Govenment & Society in Malaysia ( New York, Cornell University Press, 1996 ). I am sure the study of Dr. Harold Crouch, which is still available in bookstores, is very useful in providing historical insights and perspectives of the prevailing situation in Perak, and raising the debate in Malaysia and elsewhere in the world to a much higher level.

Unquestioning obedience to rulers idolatrous

Unquestioning obedience to rulers idolatrous

During the political movement for constitutional amendments in 1993 to prevent excessess and to check abuses of the powers of traditional sultans, the theological idea that unquestioning or blind obedience to any rulers on earth amounts to syrik or idolatry, was also widely used. From the premise of that idea, it follows logically that rulers on earth who demand unquestioning obedience from the people try in effect to posture themselves on par with, or even higher than, the One True X.

UMNO popularised precedent for royal critics

UMNO popularised precedent for royal critics

The precedent of raja adil raja disembah; raja zalim raja disanggah may have been in existence for a long time in the folk culture of the Malays, but it is certainly Umno itself which popularised it during the movements of Constitutional Admentments in 1983 and 1993 to curb excessess and also check abuses of the powers of traditional sultans. Underlying the more progressive tradition of raja adil raja disembah; raja zalim raja disanggah is the admission of the real possibility that hereditary rulers could also betray the rakyat, or make decisions that are detrimental to the values or/and interests of the common people. So, the public critics of Sultan Azlan Shah's constitutionally erroneous decision to "sack" MB Nizar and to install the Zambry regime in Perak only follow the precedent popularised by none other than Umno itself.

Constitutional expert: Sultan Azlan Shah errs

Constitutional expert: Sultan Azlan Shah errs

Constitutional expert Professor Aziz A Bari reiterated in malaysiakini that the Sultan of Perak has no powers under the post-Merdeka state constitution to "hire or fire" a Menteri Besar at his personal pleasure. To put it simply and bluntly, it is reasoned that, the Sultan's decision to "sack" Nizar is an act of an absolute, not constitutional, monarchy. Absolute monarchy was first publicly criticised by none other than the Umno-dominated National Front government itself during the popular movements for constitutional amendments in the 1980s and 1990s to curb excessess and check abuses of the powers of traditional sultans. One of the basic principles and slogans popluarised by Umno veterans and Malay nationalists, such as Dr. Mahathir Mohamad and (the late) Ghafar Baba was: raja adil raja disembah; raja zalim raja disanggah.

Support only legitimate government in Perak

Greetings for Thaipusam from James & family

James and family would like to say Happy Thaipusam to our relatives, neighbours, old friends and acquaintances who celebrate the festival.

Ren Re call to help suffering children in Gaza

Support only legitimate government in Perak

Clare Street only supports the legitimate government of the people in Perak, headed by Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin. In other words, Clare Street considers the Zambry's regime set up yesterday as illegitimate.

Sultan Azlan Shah loses people' s full support

Sultan Azlan Shah loses people' s full support

It is clear to all from public and private discourses that, by swearing-in a regime whose popular support is not yet tested and verified in a direct election, the Sultan of Perak has lost full support of the people. Widespread disenchantment with Perak's royal powers is self-evident.

Legal experts dispute Perak Sultan' s decision

Legal experts dispute Perak Sultan' s decision

Two indepedent and non-partisan legal experts reportedly dispute the decision made by Sultan Azlan Shah on Perak' s political development. I uphold the principle that only through a new state election could the general will of the people be ascertained, and the crisis be overcome.

BN regime in Perak not people' s government

BN regime in Perak not people' s government

Allow me to reiterate that the BN regime in Perak is still illegitimate because it does not reflect the people's will through a direct election.

BN 'government' in Perak not people's choice

BN 'government' in Perak not people's choice

The so-called new BN 'government' in the Perak state, in my personal opinion, is illegitimate because its inauguration is not premised upon the outcome of a direct election, which reflects the will of the people. In other words, the BN regime in Perak is essentially anti-democratic.

Ren Re call to help suffering children in Gaza

At the Ren Re party last evening, Uncle Ng said he has donated to the humanitarian fund for the innocent and suffering Palestinian children in Gaza. He hoped more Malaysians of all races will assist generously. Ren Re is the seventh day of the Chinese New Year when the oneness of humanity is celebrated as the common birthday of entire mankind.

Oneness of humanity part of CNY celebration

Reading Nikolai Ostrovsky' s novel once again

For this Chinese New Year breaks in Ipoh, I re-read two chapters of a Chinese-language children edition ( 2008 ) of Nikolai Ostrovsky's How The Steel Was Tempered. I used to peruse older editions of the novel when there was no customers to serve inside my family's coffee shop during Chinese New Years when the business was operated as normal. According to dear Lucia, How The Steel Was Tempered has appeared in over 450 editions in over 110 languages in more than 40 countries.