This week which is still only the first week of March has already

witnessed several distasteful news and happenings taking place which

can only be seen as bringing shame to the country.

On Tuesday, 3rd March, the Perak state assembly had to conduct

their emergency meeting under a tree. This was so because the
state secretary acting on orders from the ruling BN government
had locked the entrance to the state secretariat building. And to
ensure that the entrance remained locked, a huge police presence
plus a group of local UMNO toughs were on hand ready to dish out
physical injury or restraint to anyone who still dared to stand
up for political justice and equality in Perak.

Even then, some supporters of the Perak state assembly were there
to give moral support to the embattled state assemblymen and they
jeered defiantly at the huge police presence. Later, in the day,
actually, in the evening, the police was asking the mass media
to display and identify the faces of all those who were there. One
can see that the police was siding with the BN ruling class in the
morning by making sure that the state assembly had to conduct their
business under a tree and in the evening, the police was asking
the mass media to participate in collective intimidation against
the minority opposition. So much for 'democracy' in Malaysia.

This shameful event was later followed by the news that the autopsy
report of the late A. Kugan revealed that he had died from kidney
failure caused by multiple severe beatings while he was under police
detention and not because of something else as alleged earlier. In the
meantime, the police are issuing a stiff warning to the public not to
get involved in the planned action of going to the Parliament later
this week to submit a memorandum on the Feb 18 police slaying of six
men suspected to be criminals.

On the same day, two men made a public declaration that they would
file a court injunction to stop the UMNO party elections sheduled
for later this month if the investigations into money politics and
corruption were not resumed. The authorities had earlier claimed
that there was not 'enough evidence' to warrant any such further
investigations.

Also in the news was the issue of the ringgit losing its value to
the dollar to the lowest level in three years despite government
claims of chalking up uninterrupted trade surplus for more than one
hundred months. The daily news are filled with stories about the
difficulties faced by fishermen, rubber-tappers and small-time
traders as a result of the current economic crisis despite claims
by the BN ruling class of Malaysia being a 'safe haven'. The local
stock market is falling like a rock and people are getting restless.

Faith in the BN federal government is at an all-time low, with the

police standing shoulder to shoulder with UMNO Youth thugs against
the common people who want change and a clean effective government.
The crime rate is shooting through the roof with even very young
people now getting involved with various assault and rape cases.

In Parlimament, the majority BN representatives were clearly quite

clueless as to what is going on in the country daily, with them
busily clowning inside Parliament and gushing with boundless praise
about how caring the government of Malaysia is to the people. They
are either jokers of the worst kind or confidence tricksters that
are unsurpassed in our universe. However, they were rightly stung
when an opposition member charged that the BN's bumiputra-insistent
policy was equivalent to apartheid. Suddenly, the UMNO self-praising
politicians were on the offensive, issuing threats and demanding
retraction of the accusation.

The present race-based political system perpetuated by the BN is the

reason why the accusation is actually quite valid against the country.
What is most significant is that it is only now that people are able
to open their mouths to speak about it.

The UMNO hotheads should provide real answers to several matters and
not issue threats or demand retractions.

1 .Why are certain jobs and positions out of bounds to other races ?

2. Why is it that other races are not entitled to discounts when

purchasing houses ?

3. Why is it that other races are arrested or pursued by the police

whenever a public gathering is declared to be illegal ? Why does
the police act rough towards minority people and are seen to be
friendly and sympathetic towards someone else ?

4. Why is it that other races are hauled up by the authorities

whenever they were deemed to have made 'sensitive' comments ?

Why does the power of arbitrary pronunciation of 'guilt' lie with

a certain quarter only ? Is it morally legal ? Or is it 'special'
only for this country ? Is it above board ? No ? Yes ?

5. Why is it that the other races are labelled 'disloyal', 'uncouth',

unpatriotic' and 'traitorous' so freely and readily ?

6. Why is it that only a particular race is entitled to be mentioned

as the 'defender of race, culture, religion and the royalty' ?

7. Why is it that only a particular race is eligible to hold the

posts of university chancellors in the public universities ?

8. Why is it that the other races are always warned against

'instigating' or 'inciting' the people ?

9. Why is it that other races are forced to toe the official

line when it comes to the matter of international issues ?

The government keeps hammering the airwaves about 'Jewish brutality"

and 'Jewish aggression' but keeps silent about the actions of Thai
Muslim terrorists who bomb civilian targets in southern Thailand.
Doesn't that indicate more than a hint of racism or bigotry ? No ?

10. Why is it that government jobs are so scarce for the other races ?
We need not even have to ask about the GLCs. Now you know why so
many people today get themselves involved in drug peddling, wayside
robberies, illegal gambling, vice activities, piracy and kidnapping.
11. Why is it that many very bright students of the other races fail
to obtain scholarships every year ?

12. Why does the government keep maintaining a jaundiced eye towards
minority trading or business companies ?

Why is AirAsia treated like a stepchild compared to MAS ? Why are many
other companies also find themselves in the same straits as AirAsia ?

13. Why is it still so possible for the country to keep harping on

things like 'hak bangsa'( rights of race), 'perjuangan untuk
agama' (struggle for religion), 'ketuanan'(supremacy) when
such action would be deemed unethical, even criminal, in other
countries ? Why are such issues always accompanied by verbal
threats against the minorities ? Isn't it apartheid ? No ? Yes ?