History all the way

A few of my readers complain that I am too history eccentric and they said it sometimes too mind-numbing for their reading.

A few asked me how old I was, when those happenings happened, and a few more asked me what have those histories have got to do with our current modern lives.

There are many ways of answering these questions, but I am too unknowledgeable to answer them in philosophical behavior as I am not a scholarly person. Remember I have never been to Oxford or Cambridge University like some had.

I am not at all able to put up nice and impressive definition to this big terminology but I know it is important constituent of modern and civilized being and nations.

If I am not wrong, oxford dictionary defines "history" as a study of past human events.

How one could decide of the future if there is no history to that? How do we go about charting the nation’s paths for the future without basing it on its history? Everything has be history attached tightly to it.

A large number of Malaysians are not welcoming Chin Peng to spend his residue of his life in this country because of his history.

But a lot of us forget history that Japan takes the US as her main partner in many areas and scope of bilateral relationship despite of deadly atomic bombs detonated by the Americans in the 2nd World War on Hiroshima that made Japan a bankrupt.

We are not happy that Singapore is changing her history by denying the existence of Sang Nila Utama in history. They taught their school children that Singapore was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819…and we can see what history meant to them.

A bit of knowledge in history, old and recent one would make one forms good or bad impressions on individuals and it all depends on one’s perception in that person and that again depends on what angle one looks at him.

It is history that makes me form a strong stand that the current environment is not sustainable if nothing is done towards improving it. Malaysians are praying hard that the leaders of today would do things in sanity for our good history of tomorrow.

And history again proves to us all that sacrifices from leaders of the past were consequential to our lives of today and the future. That is nothing more and nothing less history to us now.

The interpretation of history in place is again be taken differently by individuals who sees things from different angle.

History of Mahathir administration is very colorful and many people think that was a very good history to many, but to persons like me and a lot others take it differently as I believe his politics and going for speedy physical development have brought Malaysian to become materially eccentric.

That leads to massive corruption in the government as a rush in building physical development had contribute in parallel the fertility of corrupt practices both by politicians and the government servants.

That is weaknesses to many and equally many others think he did the right thing.

Tengku Razaleigh (TR) has his own weaknesses for being too gentleman in facing his political contemporaries who had strong political killer instinct with no element of gentleman ship.

Time Magazine used to write on TR and one of the magazine’s comment was, “had this prince was a little bit less gentleman he would have become the Prime Minister long time ago”…and that is again a writing of history.

However TR again can create another history if he can be the real person to make up all the distortion in the Malaysian administration and politics to a real peacefulness of life in this great but improperly managed country.

The world goes to war because of history. The Muslims in particular the Palestinians and her neighborhood feel disparaged with United Nation for forming an Israeli state in their homeland in 1948 after the Jews were ostracized in Europe.

19 years after Israel went to war with the surrounding neighbors and succeeded in expanding her territories and subsequently brings unending disputes over their territories until today.

Conversely the Jews recount ancient history to justify and legitimize their existence in the region as a sovereign state. They claim that the whole regions of the northern Africa and the Mediterranean were all theirs historically.

In fact to the Jews all prophets except for Muhammad s.a.w were from them and they feel they are superior to any other races in the world. In crude actuality the Jews unify among their small community because of history that they went through.

The US goes to war purely because of history. The Americans are the world super power and they know and history tells them that all Super Powers never last.

The Portuguese was a Super Power, followed by the French and the Dutch as well as the British which had colonies around the globe, and their existence as Super Power is only known to historians.

In short, what we do today will be history once we wake up the following morning.

Space and time do not permit me to write this article longer than this point, and I hope this short write-up of mine can answer the questions put to me by some readers of my blog.

Everybody! Let us enjoy our weekend with our family and friends to the fullest because what we enjoy today may become history tomorrow.

We must bear in mind that death is always peeping in. We may just close our eyes unpredictably if God wishes and it is all at his liberty.

Than our lives in this world would become history to the next world. Whether we go to heaven or hell then, it all depends again on our life historical conduct.

So it is history all the way.


Thanks………………………………………………………………..Aspan Alias

UMNO : Mandatory massive corrections OR ........

This country like many others which recent history can tell should now go for massive adjustment in order to remain salient and outstanding, as we proudly claim.

Nonetheless, we must submit to the fact that it would certainly takes time for the serenity and stillness to stand upright with tolerable degree of political decency.

Indonesia had gone through rough and uneven tribulations for more than 10 years after the downfall of Suharto, who had been loitering in the Presidential Palace for more than 30 years with iron-fist rule.

After India, Indonesia has turned into another great democracy in Asia, after the Indonesian has realized that ruling by flexing political muscle is not sustainable when the rakyat are cogently and lucidly crying for revolutionary changes in that great nation of more than 250 million population.

To the mind of concerned citizen, Malaysia is no exception from the rising call for an accurate and straightforward democracy as our politics of late are obviously in topsy-turvy, proving to everyone that the strong model of democracy that has been friendly to us now turn sour.

Our fore fathers had been repeatedly reminding us to take good care of the systems and values we adopted, by being honest and without a breath of personal glorious intention and put our hearts and soul forefront for the nation’s sake.

When our leaders of past decades tried to run the country with the intention to create personal legendary history, by fouling the system and values, the environment clearly changed.

The rakyat then slowly became divisive in perception of things, and the originally intended purposes were waywardly short-circuited and shift of directions became unambiguous.

By convention the President of UMNO becomes automatic Prime Minister, and a strong President would command strong and impeccable mandate from the people.

But that has become history. A strong and unanimously elected President has ceased to enjoy the support of the masses, as UMNO itself has been mutilated by its leaders for the past 2 decades through unprecedented intra-politics within the party.

UMNO is swiftly meandering towards massive defections of its own members in the ballot box in the next General Elections intended to be called in 2013.

The huge party membership means nothing anymore in electing their ruling line-up, and for now UMNO’s fate is very unpredictable, but the mood on the ground reflects that the party is at incurable stage.

A large number of its members have ceased to take pride being members of the party and subsequently lost the sense of ownership of their own struggle and it happens not without reasons.

The members have used up all reserved patients after seeing all the shenanigans and monkeyshines of their leaders, more so towards those in the government in particular the Cabinet line-up.

The critics within the party are not welcomed; in fact they take offence and brand the critics as insubordination to the party and government and quite a number were sent in prison under Internal Security Act (ISA).

As for now the people have already made decision in their mind and in order to circumvent the fall, UMNO in particular has to accept in humility of its irrelevance currently, and should strive on by adopting drastic changes in its approach to the adversities in place.

Everyone in UMNO, the top leader in particular should earnestly be prepared to sacrifice personal feelings, glory and advantages in place, for tranquil political state of affairs.

The old and the young, the veterans and the reigning ones and astute personalities should be sitting with clear minds minus prejudices towards individuals or groups and make the proposed conclave a success and consequential.

Rakyat on the street like me will just be waiting for positive outcome for permanent reconciliations and formula based on provisions and spirit of our Federal Constitutions.

If this endeavor is not set in motion, the prediction that BN/UMNO is approaching its terminal death in perpetuity, would become reality.

Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is just waiting as an alternative to us and we can’t blame the rakyat switching their allegiance from UMNO/BN as the parties within that coalition (PR) are legally registered political organs.

Voting for any other party other than UMNO in any election, is never a crime, as some of us in UMNO perceive.

Just can’t imagine when there will be scanty UMNO representatives then sitting on the opposition bench across the floor in Parliament, exactly the same row where DS Anwar Ibrahim currently sits.

For those who are still in deep love with UMNO would then be in despondency, and it will more hurting for them if the switch of seats are with DS Anwar Ibrahim and his party.

If that seriously happens, UMNO will cease to be a premier political organization of consequence, as it will be relegated to the same fate of HAMIM and BERJASA, or to the best it will be within the class and wavelength of current GERAKAN party.


Thanks……………………………………………………Aspan Alias

Thieves & the corrupt - Any diffrerence?

Is thieving already become a culture of today’s life? Before any further deliberation, let us ask ourselves who are the people within that category of thieves?

It is good to know as the thieves can be somebody close to us, or they can even be our leaders. Some can come from well-to-do family and adored by many and quite a number pretentiously talk about how to be a morally rounded person.

There are some common attributes of thieves; they are dishonest, light-fingers and having the apt to steal. Then we ask who the thieves are?

A person who steals a few chickens form his neighbour’s farm is a thief, and a person who quietly picks up one or two durians under its tree without the knowledge of the owner too is a thief.

What about robbers? Robbers are also thieves as they force on some one to hand over their money or valuables to them (robbers).

So, Botak Chin is a thief. The answer is YES. What about Batang Kali who was shot dead in Damansara Jaya few years ago? He was also a thief. Both were shot dead by the police as they had been in the wanted list of the police for a long while.

What about corruptors in the government and politicians who take benefits apart from what is due to them?

They are also thieves, but their differences than the ones we mentioned earlier are distinct.

The corruptors are the white collar thieves while the ones we mentioned earlier are the blue-collared ones.

Then we ask what the differences between the white-collared and the blue-collared thieves and what are the consequences they have to face if these two kinds of thieves are found guilty and convicted?

The consequence can be a lot different. The white collar thieves would face jail sentence while the other kind of thief might end up with gunshots and looses his cheap life.

The white-collared thieves get more loots than the blue-collared. The loots for the white collar thieves are sometimes called commission and let us now call them commissionaire.

Normally the white-collared ones secure their commissions more than allowable rates by hiking prices of product and services and the supplier would then send back a portion of what they earned to the purchasers.

The purchasers could be Government Departments like Ministries, or private and public companies and corruptions are rampant in these places.

This is a white collar corruption and if found guilty, the conviction may send one to prison and fined to the amount stipulated by law.

I have not heard of white collar thieves being shot dead when convicted. Even before the conviction it would cost years before the court could decide on their conviction, as one is still innocent until proven guilty.

By engaging good and renowned lawyers these white collar thieves may even not found guilty and can lead a normal life like others in the neighborhood and enjoy the loots with his family.

The white collar thieves sometimes can be a great leader to a nation as the court of Law are unable to find him guilty as the transfer of the corrupt monies are normally done in high manner and the wire transfer would not be easy to trace and leave no trail.

Over and above that these white collar thieves are having strong position that the authority dare not try to do investigation even though his criminal act is an open secret. Even if the police or any other related body are forced to investigate the answer is already predictable…insufficient proof.

The mafias are well and safe while the pariahs will have to serve their sentences.

The quantum for white collar thieves is normally very huge and may be in hundreds of million ringgit, and that is why we can see houses of those corruptors elegantly stand in places like Kensington in London, Perth, Melbourne, Adelaide and many other cities in the world.

White collar thieves normally are social and political climbers. The higher they climb the more they can pinch and steal.

Conversely, the blue-collared thieves are more risky as the nature of thieving is easily monitored by the authority. Botak Chin was shot dead and could not have the time to engage a lawyer. So did Batang Kali.

Once they are caught their wives and families suffer after their death for generations while the white collar thieves have the family guaranteed of easy lives after their death also for generations.

In short, the conviction on white collar thieves is just jail-term while the blue-collared ones would end up dead by bullet shots.

Other common traits for both categories of thieves; once a thief he remains a thief.

Looking through the angle of moral there is no difference between Botak Chin and corrupt leaders of a nation.

But let us come to term that both are thieves and they are a real pests to the community, and let us not disagree about it.


Thanks………………………………………………………Aspan Alias

Petronas : The next "rape" victim?

When can there be an ultimate serenity in Malaysian politics? Can we ever achieve it or just continue on listening to rhetoric and pranks of the deceiving politicians of the day?

Or is there any serious intention in the first place to arrive at a political tranquility by any of the ruling politicians, as many politicians of late survive through political tribulation and misfortune?

There are questionable actions taken by our top leader which outcries the people of late. The appointment of Omar Ong, the so-called young economic savvy in the 4th floor at JPM to the Board of PETRONAS is another issue under serious public watchfulness.

Now, there are rumors circulating that Syed Hamid Albar is going to chair the Board of PETRONAS and if the rumors turns real than there is another flaw that DS Najib commits…and it is an absolute crab.

PETRONAS has never been touched by politician and all the while that petroleum company has been growing up on its own independently under direct supervision of the reigning Prime Minister.

If there is any politician sitting on the Board, we are at risk of facing another round of political misadventure and would be a tough issue to mitigate.

I pray that the rumor is unsubstantiated. It abhors if it is the real finality that had been decided.

What does Tengku Razaleigh (TR), the architect of PETRONAS has to say about this?

If Mahathir interminably gives comments to leaders who succeeded him, TR should come up with opinion on this issue as he is the living founder of PETRONAS which he built for free of charge…no salary. No allowances…no car. No nothing.

TR should come up with his voice upright because he was the one who went through the pains sweat, tears and hell in getting PETRONAS in existence and subsequently becomes one of the giants of the world.

TR is duty bound to tell the people on the endurances that he had to go through in setting up PETRONAS with everyone in the world were going against the forms and the fundamental motives of setting up this National Petroleum Company.

It was purely for the sake of the needful Malaysian and the generation there after and if current leaders are all out to fulfill their personal advantages, the doors are wide ajar for them to leave us.

He (TR) must tell us why politicians were not welcomed to the Board and why the company was totally given to professionals to manage.

This is his inheritance for the people and he must help us to protect this astute organization from going through shambles and muddle.

Tun Razak’s Cabinet gave him (TR) the task to set up our own National Petroleum Company, and TR was given very wide parameter within which he decided on every little thing as to how PETRONAS should be organized.

Malaysian of younger generation do not know all the hind side stories as to why PETRONAS was set up the way we make out today.

The unpatriotic leaders of the day are not able to actualize all the reasoning behind much stuff surrounding PETRONAS existence.

It is obligatory on the part of TR to recount detailed history of PETRONAS; it is for the generation after to understand the significance of its existence that no element of personal greed creeps in it.

We are in defense of the few left for the people and we wish not to see any further sordid, distasteful and squalid decisions by current leaders as we don’t want to bear witness for our leader’s wrong doings any further. We have had enough of it.

I would advocate everyone who has the platform to express views over this matter, and be vigilant of what is there to come for PETRONAS.

Let us put up defense for PETRONAS till the end from encroachment of unreliable persons with mischievous intent.

I hope what we heard; as I have said in a line above is just an unfounded rumor. No one should be blaming us for being so protective of PETRONAS, as that is the only one of the few left for us to have pride and to rest our laurels on…the rest have gone to the backyard.

Lastly may I repeat, I hope it is just an unsubstantiated rumor. I am dreadful if it is real.


Thanks……………………………………………..Aspan Alias