Spot On !! ..

This is the first time I copy+paste someone else article for the stark truth in it .. Read on ..

Don’t break the mirror on the wall

MARCH 25 – One of the common things about all human beings is that all of us make mistakes at one time or another. To err, after all, is human. What distinguishes a clever human from a dumb one is that the former will learn from his mistakes whereas the latter will keep repeating them. Leaders are human and, therefore, leaders too will make mistakes. But a clever leader will learn from mistakes and become “cleverer”. The dumb one, however, will keep on shooting himself in the foot without realising it.

The litmus test of a good leadership is not that it will not make mistakes but that it realises its mistakes and takes steps to correct the shortcomings and, at the same time, makes sure that it will not make the same mistakes again. When democracy was at is infancy in the West, politicians realised that sometimes a mistake had to be pointed out before those who committed it became aware of it. So they realised that the best way to get feedback on whether they had made mistakes was to have a free press. As 18th century British statesman Edmund Burke once professed: “Three Estates in Parliament; but in the reporters’ gallery yonder, there sat a fourth Estate more important far than they all”. The three estates that he referred to are the pillars of democracy – the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. The “fourth estate” is the Press. To the westerner, the press plays an important role of a watchdog, and the press gives valuable feedback to the government. A free press is like a mirror; the reflection in it will tell those who stand before the mirror whether they have button their shirts properly, whether they have zipped up their pants, whether there are blemishes on their faces, and so on. All of us depend on the mirror on the wall to give us an idea whether our countenance is presentable. Likewise, a government needs a mirror to see whether it is doing all right or whether it has committed errors that might affect adversely the livelihood of the people. To a wise government, a free press is the mirror that it needs to see its reflection. In his book “Age of Turbulence”, Alan Greenspan pointed out that not a single nation which allows a free press suffers from starvation; not in the past and not likely in the future. It is because, with a free press, a government can detect a mistake before it is too late. The press will give the necessary feedback like an early warning system. So a free press is not only the fourth pillar of democracy, it is a friend of those governing, even if the press publishes writings that may be critical of certain policies or the decisions of these governing figures. A good friend is one that gives you counsel when you have done wrong; not one that praises you even if you have made a mistake. If it is a friend, then it should not be stifled. It should be allow to publish what is on the ground. A free press in this modern era encompasses not just the printed media, but the electronic press, as well as the blogs. I do not know about the reasons for the recent banning of the two political newspapers, but I hope that this is not the beginning of a clampdown on the blogs, the newspapers as well as on the freedom of speech. No one would be stupid enough to break the mirror on his wall just because he or she does not wish to see his or her own ugly countenance. Breaking the mirror will not help to turn an ugly countenance to a presentable one. We must realise that, even without the mirror, an ugly countenance will still remain ugly. Without the mirror, there is really no hope of remedial steps to address the ugliness and turn it to a more pleasant looking one. A clever leader therefore should not clamp down on the media and the blogs. Instead he should take steps to nurture press freedom. By doing so, he would have taken an important step to prevent shooting himself in the foot.

Battle Of The Hills & Rod Begins ..

Hills & Rod ?

Simply put, the Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambau & Batang Ai by-election will be a huge test of people's confidence of the incoming PM. Kinda like a do-or-die mission for the fellow. But from the run-ins, it seems that the govt don't have the confidence of winning it lawfully. Permits for 2 of the printed media runs by the so-called Opposition (can they be called Opposition anymore ?) were revoke until further notice (they said 3 months). This will hurt the dissemination of info to the people aligned with them. Though the Net will provide the neccessary feed for those connected, for those who just don't have it are hoping for the words of mouth by friends since the mainstream media just spins any story to the brink of fictionous articles and reports.

Now, it seems that they are denying the other parties a freedom of speech with a total abuse of the security forces namely PDRM. They were taunted, fired upon with tear gas and sprayed with chemical water. Some even threatened with the ISA & Sedicious Act. With the outgoing PM still sleeping, things really getting out of hand.

Such a democratic country huh ? They just want to hang on to whatever left of their so-called power. Really testing God's patience ..

The simple truth is .. they just can't accept defeat .. for a lot of excess baggages to hide ...

A Balloon Which Cost RM60b ..

Yesterday, we were told to buy a RM60b balloon to keep the economy afloat .. for a period of 2 years. Is it sufficient enough ?

For all the hoopla of "our economy & fundamental is strong" catchphrase, they suddenly made a U-turn saying otherwise. Can't they hear the cry to stop the rot months ago ? Or when the signal kept popping out everywhere for an intervention. With every analysis by economy expert all over the world said "be prepared", we were so coop-up with other trivial things, even the mainstream media keep jazzing up things to the extend that we just don't know what is right anymore (at least for those brainless yes-men).

Maybe it's not too late for the nation to subdue the downturn .. but sad to say that hundreds of thousand souls lost the fight .. those minnows that lived day by day on the shoestring budget. Even those so-called middle class people are getting close to the brink of personal depression.

But for those politicians .. hey .. business as usual.

10% please ..

So .. What Else Is New ..

Perak In A Deep Shit ..

Anwar's Case To The High Court ..

MACC Declares No Money Politics In UMNO .. duhh ..

Perak Speaker To Be Demonised ..

MB vs MB ..

3 By-Elections .. On The Same Day! ..

RM10b Stimulus Package That Not Stimulating ..

Our Fundamental Is Strong ? ..

Police Supremacy Or Constitutional Supremacy ..

Will Man U Grab All 5 Trophies ? ..

Will Beckam Be Allowed To Stay At AC Milan ? ..

errr .. the last two was just to balace things up .. but hey it is such a beautiful day isn't it ? ..

Passable Impasse ..

Talk about hard heads ..

What is happenning & unfolding in the Silver State right now can be summed up as an ego stand-off between the past & present. One was a chauvanist brats (and still is) and the other one was trying to get the job done. Constitiunal wise, the legal govt. got every right to the House since it was voted legally by the course of law. The spoilt brats of the past just could not take defeat gracefully, hence the coup (more like kidnapping I would say).

But whatever it is, the people would like to see how the civil servants involved reacts to this so-called uncalled for stand-off (and maybe the Royals too). Whether it'll be an amusing or bemusing ending ..

Still bewildered with the whole thing ?