Well now seriously. When Khalid Ibrahim made his suggestion for 10% of UiTM placements to be opened up to non-bumis, who did you think he was looking out for? The non-bumis? When was the last time you heard Chinese or Indian students clamouring for UiTM allocations? A degree from UiTM is probably worth less than a good private diploma (outside the govt sector that is).

Yes it’s true that the majority of (private) university and college students are non-bumi - but the solution isn’t to cloister yourselves up in a bumi-exclusvive institution. Degrees are only worth as much as the university behind it: from the university’s own site, half of its “international achievements” come from those dubious Geneva exhibitions we heard about last year.

As Education Malaysia points out, it’s pretty hard to see how UiTM is justified as a university, aside from its name, when it’s non-selective and mono-ethnic. “Charity school funded by taxpayers” is a more apt description, or perhaps “Umnoputera factory”.

The political response is also telling:
- The Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin reads the suggestion as an “insult to Malays”.
- UiTM vice-chancellor Ibrahim Abu Shah called Khalid a “traitor to his race” (Education Malaysia dug up an interesting profile on him as well ).
- “Prime Minister for all Malaysians” Abdullah Badawi vetoed it saying Khalid had “no power” to implement such a thing.
- Toothless MCA and Gerakan pay lip service to Khalid’s suggestion (or maybe not?)
- Malaysian Muslim Consumer’s Association director Noor Nirwandy Mat Noordin had the most insiduous comment of all:

“If something like this is allowed to happen, then there will be a worrying situation where many Malay institutions will crumble and be ‘Malaysia-nised‘.

It’s exactly 2 weeks before Merdeka Day. I find it hard to celebrate.

Popularity: 60% [?]

You may recall that some time back the government tried to spin on their rating in the Global Competitiveness Report, claiming that we were “eighth” among nations with a population of above 20mil - a completely arbitrary categorization, conveniently excluding Singapore of course. We had actually fallen two places. (Hey Pak Lah, isn’t it even MORE OF A SHAME if we are less competitive than countries with fewer people?)

The spinmasters are back, this time working on our International Corruption Perception Index ranking. We dropped from 23 in 1995 to 44 and 43 in 2006 and 2007. But according to Mr. Nice, we are actually IMPROVING. You see, there are more countries in the index now!

Abdullah said if one analysed the index closely, Malaysia had improved on its performance in the fight against corruption.

“From our placing at 56.1% in the list of countries surveyed in 1996, we have improved to 24% last year and then 26.9% this year.

“This means that Malaysia is better than 76% of the countries last year, up from 73.1% in 2006 and 43.9% in 1995,”he said.

Among the new countries in this year’s survey are Somalia and Afghanistan. Aren’t we all SO PROUD we are better than them?

He also contradicts himself by stating in the same article that it is more accurate to use the actual index score instead:

“A more accurate indicator to show the trend of a country’s performance in the index is the country’s score.

“Malaysia’s score since 1995 has been averaging five points, which is a good and stable level,” he said in a written reply on Monday.

Bearing in mind that the index is fucking scored OUT OF TEN, I would say we need this doddling idiot out of office as soon as possible lest he infect us all with his indifference and mediocrity.

Popularity: 51% [?]

Sorry for the simple post but I just had to link up Nat Tan’s posting of Pak Lah on CNN.

I have to echo his question.. “Can you imagine what the world thinks of us? That we are a nation led by….. this?”

I’m not a diehard Anwar follower but I still have to admit he can hold his own in debates and discussions, while the current crop of ministers look like idiots whenever interviewed on international TV.

Popularity: 20% [?]

Malaysia must be really doing well! The shuttle hasn’t even come back yet and the govt has already made plans to send another flight participant space tourist astronaut up.

“Captain doctor Faiz Khaleed will be the primary angkasawan and the next mission, probably in 2008 or 2009, should have him doing more challenging tasks,” Jamaluddin said according to the New Straits Times.

“This could involve him doing a space walk or conducting repairs to the spacecraft,” he said.

“I hope to submit a proposal to NASA (the US space administration) by this year that in addition to his training with the Russian Space Agency, Dr. Faiz will also be able to undergo training with them,” he said.

A space walk may be “challenging”, but really, how does it justify spending another RM100mil? And how on earth do they already know that the spacecraft will need repairs?! Sounds like the next mission will be more like a massive photo-op.

Popularity: 12% [?]

I have to admit that sometimes - especially at the beginning of Pak Lah’s tenure - I was in the camp of those who were thinking “Oh Pak Lah’s actually a nice guy; he just doesn’t have the willpower/clout to carry out his cleanup”. But as time goes on it’s petty obvious we were all hoodwinked.

In the current judiciary scandal, I was expecting him to start as usual with “setting up a panel to investigate”. But instead I open The Star today and see this:

Abdullah said that based on the content of the video clip and transcript that was sent to his office, only a single person’s conversation could be heard despite claims that the lawyer was talking to a senior judge.

“Can we believe or accept this?” he said.

He added that if investigations revealed that the claims were false, action would be taken against those who were trying to undermine the judiciary.

The prime minister said the video recording would invoke public anger and hatred towards the judiciary.

…

He said at this juncture, the question of setting up a Commission of Inquiry did not arise as the allegations in the video clip had yet to be proven as authentic.

I mean seriously, we’re talking about a scandal up there in the ranks of US’ Watergate, and the mainstream papers are relegating the news to page 15-20 with no names and no pictures, and treating it as though the corrupt are the victims. He wants the allegations to be proved before setting up a commission. Seriously.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Sorry I won’t be able to update with anything substantial for the next week or so…busy with assignments.

LKS’s blogs today about Revathi Masoosai/Siti Fatimah - if you haven’t read the news, she deconverted from Islam years ago, and the authorities found out about her status after she gave birth. Her marriage is unregistered because her husband would have had to convert to Islam.

Her 100-day remand by the Malacca Syariah Court has been extended another 80 days. The reason? “She did not cooperate” (Read: Didn’t want to de-deconvert from Islam). Poor baby.

Popularity: 13% [?]

So on page 13 of the Star today (14th June) we have a full-colour, full-page ad from the Selangor government thanking our PM, “with utmost sincerity” for visiting the state on the 13th. According to the rates, such an ad costs 35k and needs to be booked a week in advance.

Remember: “elegant silence”, unless you need to bodek!

Popularity: 12% [?]

PM Abdullah Badawi has finally received the inspiration he needed to form a new Cabinet. And what a disappointing one it is! Out of 72 ministers and deputy ministers a total of four were dropped (including Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Salleh), with the rest of the appointments akin to a game of musical chairs. Noh Omar, the ex-Deputy Home Affairs Minister infamous for his “kalau you tak suka you keluar dari Malaysia” remark, became the new Deputy Education Minister. The other “appointments” saw ministers being reassigned within the Cabinet.

Rafidah Aziz was retained, surviving the Approved Permits (AP) controversy, immediately claiming God’s mandate and declaring she is still in charge of APs (or isn’t she?).

Joceline Tan of The Star delivered the requisite fawning analysis with the following whopper:

Those trying to understand the Prime Minister’s rationale behind the
changes must remember that his decisions are not solely based on qualifications, ability and performance.

Party politics is about compromise and consensus and he has to accommodate the interests not only of his own party but that of the component parties who worked together to bring him the biggest mandate ever won by a prime minister in the general election.