The Life Story Of A 100 Ringgit Note

I was having a beautiful dream, sleeping among the other 100 ringgit notes banded in stack of 100, when suddenly the loud noise from the opening of heavy metal door woke me up. The lights were switched on and by now all other denominations notes were wide awake as well.

We were inside a strong bank vault with two armed security guards guarding the opened vault. Inside, all new notes comprising of the various denominations were stacked separately from the old notes.

I was part of the new note, under the 100 ringgit denomination. I was just released yesterday, after being dressed so beautifully in colors with security input and a serial number which I supposed was to be my name, from the authority of Bank Negara to my new owner, the Bank.

The old notes were laughing at us, the new notes, and I asked why they are laughing at us. One 5 ringgit note started yelling, afraid that we could not hear him because the bankers inside the vault were talking so loudly. "You all are going out to face the world, you will be squeezed, splashed with saliva, argued and fought over, love and hate, all kinds of hands will be touching you and you may get to travel all over the world. The Chinese New Year is just a week away and you all will be in great demand. We the old notes are tired and needed some rest, so good luck to you all."

One banker started to grab us and stacked them inside a tray and after taking a few more stacks he walked out of the vault and ordered the security to lock the vault.

Once outside, he counted the stacks again together with a nice looking lady, I supposed must be the cashier over the counter. We were roughly handled and squeezed together inside a drawer. After a while I heard the cashier asking someone over the counter, "you want the 100 ringgit new notes as well" and that someone, a bank customer answered yes, he wanted some new 100 ringgit notes.

The cashier opened the drawer and took a stack of the 100 ringgit note which included me and placed us inside a machine. Suddenly we were shaking so vigorously and one by one we were jammed through a tiny slot and came out to the other side. Still dizzy from the shaking machine, which I learned later was a money counting machine, we were picked up and handed over to the customer, a middle age man. Before leaving the man requested for some ang pow envelope which the cashier gladly gave him.

My long journey into this new world started with this man, an office manager. He took me back to his office and sitting behind his chair, he pulled me out but not before he put his finger in his mouth to get wet from his saliva and recounting his stack of note. Still wet from his saliva, I was slided into the red packet and sealed. He continued with what he was doing with the other notes.

Before the office closes he called in his secretary, a malay lady and gave her an ang pow with me inside. The manager told the secretary that this ang pow was his personally and her bonus from the company will followed suit. The secretary thanked him and left for home feel with happiness.

The next day, my new owner went to the market to but some vegetables. I was traded for the vegetables to an Indian vegetable seller. With me tagging along, the Indian vegetable seller went to a toddy shop and passed me to another Indian selling the toddy.

Before going home, the toddy man pass by a 4D outlet and gambled me away. By now, I was a little soiled with me been squeezed into the vegetable seller's pocket and spilled with toddy. I remained with the 4D owner for a while locked inside a little safe. I guess it was about a week before I was taken out.

I heard the 4D owner talking to someone over the phone, "we have to kow tim them, a few hundred ringgit should solved our problem". Out I go again, this time to a small secluded coffee stall. I was handed over to someone who converse in malay. This man took me to a money changer and exchanged for Thai baht.

The money changer then exchanged me to a Chinese who just came back from holiday and wanted to change his remaining US dollar back to ringgit.

The Chinese man with his family traded me for some pork and the pork seller took me to Genting. What a nice and cool place. The pork seller exchanged me for the casino chips and play his heart out while I was squeezed into a small box near the gambling table mixing with other notes of various denominations. I stayed there for a while until the casino security took the box and delivered us to the casino vault where we were separated and went through the counting machine. I was so dizzy that I doses of and when I woke up I was about to be exchanged to a young lady for her winning chips.

The young lady was so thrilled with her winning and now she can pay her government tax with her winning without hurting her monthly income. There I go inside a government office for the first time after the young lady paid her tax. The government has to pay the civil servants through their bank accounts and I was bundled by the bank into an atm machine.

Today is pay day for the civil servants and you can see almost all banks with atm machines were crowded. Most of the civil servants were muslim malays and they started emptying the atm by withdrawing their salary. I was withdrawn by an elderly civil servant and he put me inside his newly bought wallet. Coincidentally today was also a Friday and with me inside this civil servant's wallet, he went for his prayer.

Over the weekend the son of the civil servant requested some money to buy some books. The father took out his wallet and pulled me out and the son took me and went in search for his books. Finally I landed inside the cashier box of a book shop.

The cycle of me going round and round continues for a couple of years. I was owned by all different races one time or another, muslim and non muslim and all kinds of hands had handled me. There are the hands of Indians selling vegetables and toddy, the Chinese hands selling pork, non halal food and from gambling outlets, the malay hands selling nasi lemak, tom tam, ikan bakar and the mamak stalls and even through the hands of the corrupt. The government had used me to pay the salary of the civil servant through the banks.

One day I found myself back inside the government treasury. The government had announced that those elderly citizen 60 years and above will received 100 ringgit each as appreciation for their contribution. Some will be receiving by cash while others through the bank.

On the day of distribution, I was given to an old elderly malay woman. She was so happy and she decided not to used me as yet and she kept me inside her locker at home.

There was no problem of me being circulated among the different races, religious and non religious, Malays, Chinese, Indians and even foreigners for so many years and there was not a single complain about me.

Out of the blue the elderly malay woman who owned me, after hearing rumors that I was dirty and non halal or whatever they claimed me to be, decided to give me up. I was shocked because all these years I was appreciated and happily owned without any fussed.

What is happening, is there something that I don't know of and why condemned me for being dirty after being so useful to everyone for so many years?

What is the government and bank negara going to do with me, clean me up or burn me? I pray that those who had insulted me to face the reality of the world and not by using religious argument to discredit me for I am non political, non religious and I am born into this world just to serve everyone human being without discrimination or distortion.

PKR, DAP, Enough Is Enough, Fight All You Want & Let The Third Force Arises!

To Pakatan Rakyat leaders and elected representatives, please read through my blog postings and see how much I wanted change for Malaysia, relying on your promises and great efforts in wanting to march to Putra Jaya.

Political parties are trying to reach out to the fence sitters but PR is driving supporters to become fence sitters, how irony. I am almost up to my neck to become a graduated fence sitter even though I am a card carrying life member of DAP.

Pakatan Rakyat has yet to get into their heads that the 308 tsunami is not the love for PR but more towards hating the corrupt, arrogant and racist umno/bn.

Arrogant and power crazy had started to creep into PKR and DAP, thinking that they are sure to have the people support in the coming 13th GE to capture Putra Jaya. They are fighting for top positions assuming that they will have a place in the government once they capture Putra Jaya, this is what I called building castle in the air.

We can see so much infighting, arrogant and disgraceful happenings in PKR party election and yet their leaders are not doing anything at all, instead championing it as a "true democracy". There are several hot spots brewing in DAP but at least their leaders are trying to do something about it but why the needs for all these nonsense to occur in the first place.

Most of PR elected reps are still young and have many more years in their political life, why the hurry to fight for powerful positions? Work out some kind of solution to allow those young capable politicians to rotate and share power equally during their political life.

I had a conversation with Haris Ibrahim of People's Parliament regarding the third force. At that time I was not really keen nor interested about the whole thing but with what is happening to PR especially PKR and DAP, I am about to look and study more on the third force.

Can PR or DAP blame me for that? If you do, I will show you all my middle finger because it is you all that drove me to make such a decision.

Even with what I had said above, my position is still the same, we must rid of the corrupt, arrogant and racist umno/bn in the coming 13th GE. PR, please do not misread me here that my strong support is still with you. If you all continue the infighting, power crazy and display your arrogant, I will go for the third force or just spoiled my vote.

You wanted the peoples support, make sure that you are sincere in working for the people and not for your self benefits. Be a gentleman, be the first to give way to your fellow members if things are getting hot. Let them take the lead if they think that they are that good to be a leader. The results of their performances, good or bad can be seen by all.

Lastly, can you give me one good reason why I should continue to fight for change alongside Pakatan Rakyat after seeing all the nonsense happening inside PR and that my effort will go to waste.

Do not tell me that it is the parties internal problems, because whatever PR does internally, it will reflect on the public opinion as well.

Friends of Pakatan Rakyat (UK) present ......

In conversation with Anwar Ibrahim, Raja Petra and Tian Chua.

Date: Saturday, 2 October 2010 (today)

Time: 1.00pm to 4.30pm (UK time) - 9.00pm to 12.30am (MY time)

Venue: Cruciform Lecture Theatre 1, University College London (UCL), Gower Street WC1E 6BT, London, UK.

This event will be broadcast live through USTREAM and live streaming will commence from 9.30pm (MY time).

This event will be streamed live. Blogger Romerz, has the details HERE.

Press Statement By Kim Quek On Banning Of His Book “The March To Putrajaya”

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Press Statement By Kim Quek On Banning Of His Book “The March To Putrajaya”

I refer to the banning of my book “The March to Putrajaya” and the various reason given by the Home Ministry’s Secretary General Mahmood Adam as reported by Bernama and relayed by various web portals and blogsites on Sept 30.

The ban was effected by invoking Subsection 7(1) of the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, and as such, Home Minister Hishamuddin Hussein was supposed to have exercised his personal judgment upon satisfying himself of the pertinent facts before signing the order. And hence, in respect of the various grounds advanced by the Secretary General, I will address my response to Minister Hishamuddin, as he is the elected representative who should account to the people for this act including the various reasons given to justify it.

What hatred against the Constitution?

You said my book has “incited hatred against the Constitution”. This is a sick joke. Throughout my book, one consistent theme is my appeal to everyone to be faithful and to defend the Constitution. Even on the much politicized Article 153, which has been deliberately and dishonestly misinterpreted to carry out all sorts of racist agenda and therefore has attracted much misgiving, I have only words of praise for it. I quote from my article titled “The Constitution and Malay Rights” in page 27l of my book:

“The center of controversy is Article 153 of the Constitution which provides for what is popularly known as Malay ‘privileges’. Due to misrepresentation by Umno in the past, many have come to identify Article 153 – and even the entire Constitution – as racially discriminatory. This is not so. In spite of numerous constitutional amendments, the egalitarian spirit of our Constitution in respect of racial equality remains largely intact. Public misunderstanding is attributed to Umno hijacking Article 153 to practice unbridled racial discrimination for self-enrichment in the past few decades”.

On the subject of the Constitution, I have only advocated adherence – not defiance, and if at all I made criticism, these are always directed at the people who betrayed it, like the masterminds who engineered the unconstitutional power grab in Perak, the judges, prosecutors and police who trampled on the Constitution in order to protect and preserve the unconstitutional state government.

I would therefore request Hishamuddin to name one example – one single example would do – where I show disaffection to our Constitution, not to mention “inciting hatred”. If he can’t, he should apologise to me and withdraw his statement.

Baseless accusation?

You also said my book contains “baseless accusations and speculations against national leaders and incite hatred and anger among the people”.

Yes, I have criticized leaders who are corrupt and who have abused power, but these are based on facts that are well known and not having been satisfactorily rebutted. If I have told lies and defamed people, why hasn’t any one sued me or denied to me the veracity of my articles, which after all have been well publicised in many popular web portals and blogsites and party organs, and hence such information has been in public domain for a long time. I have not received a single complaint from any one claiming to be injured.

Again, I invite Hishamuddin to cite instances where I have indulged in “baseless accusation and speculations against national leaders”. I will be only too happy to give my clarification to any example he might bring up.

When the corrupt acts of leaders are exposed, how do you expect the people will react? Of course they will be angry. But who should take responsibility for having caused the people’s anger? The one who betrays the people’s trust by stealing public funds or the one who inform the people of such public frauds? The blame rests squarely with the corrupt, not with the whistle-blower.

Not by the wildest stretch of imagination can you accuse me of “inciting hatred”!

My message of reforms

If there is one dominating theme that persists throughout my book, it is the message of reforms. The country must undertake serious reforms and it must be done now, lest we will have to pay a price that no one would like to bear.

I consider myself a patriot for pointing all the ills of our current political status quo, and in fact Umno should thank me for doing that, for isn’t it true that all its top leaders of Umno have been singing the tune of reforms since the 2008 general election? Why not take the hard medicine from me – medicine that will do you good?

I welcome any criticism and open dialogue over any part of my book, as it is through honest discourse that we will bring benefit to the nation.

As for the Ministry’s ban over my book, I reserve my right to take the necessary legal recourse to protect my constitutional rights.

Kim Quek

Najib's Pastoral Picture of Malaysia - Asia Sentinel

Written by Asia Sentinel Correspondent.

Thursday, 30 September 2010

Despite the prime minister's speech to the UN, his country is facing serious racial tension

Malaysia's Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak, made an eloquent speech to the United Nations earlier this week, telling the assembled body that, among other things, Malaysia "is a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and democratic society that has benefited from the positive interaction and synergy between the various communities. Mosques, temples, churches and other places of worship co-exist in harmony.
"Although Islam is the official religion, we honor other religions – Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism – by making their religious and cultural celebrations as national holidays and celebrate them as national events. It is this equilibrium that leads to moderation or wasatiyyah in the Islamic tradition of mutual justice."

That picture of Malaysia, thought to have been crafted by the giant US public relations firm APCO Worldwide for delivery in New York, is badly frayed, however. Many people in Kuala Lumpur say racial tension is higher than it has been since 1987, when former Prime Minister Mahathir cracked down in the so-called Operation Lalang and threw lots of top opposition politicians in jail under the Internal Security Act, which allows in effect for indefinite detention without trial.

Political events since the 2008 general election have led to ever-rising tension, particularly between Malays and Chinese although there have been strains in the Indian community as well. It is unclear today how far down into the society that racial bitterness extends. On many occasions, the two races have worked together to attempt to calm racial tensions. Last year, when unknown vandals firebombed a Christian church in a Kuala Lumpur suburb, urban Malays went to the church to attempt to calm anger.

Najib's attempts to unify his country are facing deep problems, many of them caused by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has taken on the question of special rights for the Malay majority and played a major role in the development of a Malay superiority NGO called Perkasa, whose fiery leader, Ibrahim Ali, has been perceived as a Mahathir ally although he is an independent legislator.

"Perkasa's vocal spokesmen Ibrahim and Mahathir seem hell bent – through such vociferous bickering – to stop Prime Minister Najib Razak from implementing his New Economic Model which is supposed to liberalise the economy from the clutches of the economically stifling, much corrupted and skewed New Economic Policy that heavily plays on 'Malay rights," wrote Raja Petra Kamarudin, the editor of the influential blog Malaysia Today.

"The problem is a segment of the Malays fear what is needed to revive private investment, especially domestic private investment, could cause Najib to lose the general election," said an analyst with a Kuala Lumpur-based think tank. "This assumes that the Malay electorate would be hostile to policy measures to ameliorate the NEP's re-structuring objectives. Najib has said this will now be applied on nationally rather than on a company basis while continuing the focus on reducing poverty. Perkasa's strength comes from its linkage with Mahathir who still commands some support in Umno and among the Malay community. Undoubtedly, Malays who feel threatened by prospect of less contracts etc from the Government will be hostile to Najib's economic plans."

The Sept. 27 death of another lawmaker, Parti Islam se-Malaysia state assemblyman Che Hashim Sulaima, will kick off the 12th by-election since the 2008 electoral surprise that gave the opposition control of four states and shocked the ruling Barisan Nasional. The United Malays National Organisation is expected to pull out all the stops in going after the Kelantan seat. With the Islamic fundamentalist PAS in the unanticipated role of positioning itself as a moderate party seeking to attract non-Malay votes, it remains to be seen if UMNO will attempt to appeal to voters by emphasizing Malay superiority.

Mahathir has been fanning the flames of unrest by his continuing demand for the continuation of special treatment for Malays, a cause he has espoused ever since the publication of his book, The Malay Dilemma. In that book, Mahathir argued that because Malays were rural and backward and because the economy was controlled by urban Chinese, they needed special treatment. After disastrous racial riots in July of 1969, the government agreed with Mahathir and created the New Economic Policy, in affect an affirmative action program for a majority race. For 40 years, they have been given that special treatment but they have advanced relatively little vis-à-vis the Chinese. Today, social scientists argue that affirmative action to help the Malays has been a crutch that has cushioned their lives and kept them from healthy competition.

But changing that policy is messing with a powder keg. Rallies against changing it have drawn thousands of angry Malays. Mahathir fanned the flames considerably by lending his public support to a Malay superiority rally in Terengganu on May 13, the anniversary of the 1969 race riots that took hundreds of lives. The octogenarian former leader has not broken with Najib, partly out of his loyalty to Najib's father, who reinstated him in politics after he was expelled from UMNO following publication of his book. But he continues to demand special treatment for Malays. In his blog, Che Det, on August 30, he wrote that the leader of the Chinese Economic Congress was racist for calling for a meritocratic society.

"It is racial because he was advocating taking away the protection afforded by the NEP and quotas from the bumiputeras (native Malays) and not from any other race," Mahathir wrote. "I am not proud of the protection afforded the bumiputera. It implies weakness. I don't think Malays and other bumiputera like to think that they are inferior in any way. But the reality is that in Malaysia the bumiputeras need new skills and a new culture even. These cannot be had by them in a mere 20 years. The original planners of the NEP were too optimistic."

Najib hired the US public relations firm APCO to come up with a US$40 million program to seek to pull the races together as well as to seek to burnish his own image overseas, tarnished as it has been by a long series of scandals. The program, called 1Malaysia, is considered by most people to have failed.

Despite the fact that the special rights have become a millstone around their neck instead of moving them into a higher income bracket. Especially, critics say, it has created a rentier class of so-called "Umnoputras" who skim off contracts through government–linked companies to enrich themselves and that little of the benefit trickles down to the rank and file

When Najib took office in April 2009, he started seeking to modify the program, called the New Economic Policy. That has led to continuing tension. In May, some 1,500 members of the Malay Consultative Council, a group of 76 Malay-rights organizations, summarily rejected Najib's plans to replace it with what the premier called his New Economic Model.

At the forefront of the protest against Najib's plans has been Ibrahim Ali, who has not only threatened non-Malays but launched a series of attacks on moderates. Among other things, Ibrahim has sought to have top officials including Chua Soi Lek, the president of the Malaysian Chinese Association – the second biggest component of the Barisan Nasional after the United Malays National Organisation – arrested for sedition, basically for talking back at him. He has demanded also that shariah laws be amended to prohibit non-Muslims from entering mosques and prayer rooms – which they have done traditionally. He has also demanded that Nurul Izzah Anwar, an MP and opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, be jailed as well after Nurul accused Mahathir of inciting racial animosities.