The Flags of Sabah

I came across this website while surfing the net called Flags of the World and I chanced upon the Sabahan flag and its variations. I already knew of the Flag of 1963 and the Flag 0f 1988 but I seriously had forgotten about the Flag of 1982! Anyway, allow me to start from the present flag and then we shall move backwards in time... 

The Flag of 1988-Present (Above)

The Flag of 1982-1988 (Above)

The Flag of 1963-1981 (Above)

Union Flag 1948-1963 (Above)

State Flag And Ensign 1882-1948 (Above)

I managed to source these gems at the same Flags of the World link. I'm not sure of the sequence of the last 2 flags though but that's how I understood the description. From 1882 until 1948, North Borneo as Sabah was known at that time, was under the rule of the British North Borneo Charted Company. After the Second World War, the charted company ceded its control of North Borneo thus the territory became a British Colony.

27 September 2008 | My Sinchew

27 September 2008 | My Sinchew

阿都拉 refers to Abdullah.

18 September 2008 | My Sinchew

18 September 2008 | My Sinchew

916 变天表演 means 916 regime change show.

安华 refers to Anwar.

Life Is Such A Drama...

My opinion of the recent Malaysia Kini's 'Furore over racist blog posting' is that I find it odd that a 37-year-old and a 28-year-old lodged a police report against a 22-year-old girl's obvious immature comments. 'Sammy's racist remarks were totally uncalled, unacceptable and unbecoming of a true Malaysian' 

What does she know about being a true Malaysian at this early stage of her life? Here, let me put it this way;

Two grown men acting emotionally over what a silly 22-year-old girl wrote! And then lodged police report some more!

The only thing these guys succeeded in doing is helping Sammy increase her blog hits!

Anyway, she even posted an official letter of apology when she realized that thing got out of hand. Check it out here...

UPDATE: 04/10/2008

Sammy Chan has now blocked all access to her blog. I think she's going to carry this luggage with her for a very, very long time.

Depressing Situations

The family and I visited the in-laws last night. While we were there, the topic of the 78-year-old Malaysian-citizen-turned-red-IC-holder came up. How did this whole debacle ever happened?

According to the Upko president Bernard Dompok, it seems that the root of this fiasco lies with the National Registeration Dept (NRD)'s negligence with the local sensitivities. For instance just because there's a 'Yong' in the application, the officer would assume the applicant to be chinese. To hell with the anak negeri. Sino-Kadazan? Never heard of it. So therefore you are categorically an non-bumiputra. Dompok said his deputy, Wilfred Bumburing was being frustrated when said that Upko should review its status in the BN. Dompok also said that most members of his party shares Bumburing's frustration.

I don't blame him.

I am right now pissed off with my struggling in keying this whole thing into my tiny mobile and at the same time reluctantly trying to recall one of the MANY ridiculous incidents that has ever occurred in our beloved Sabah.

My wife asked whether we can sue the NRD. My reply was to the effect that once you do that, piss off the wrong people then you get to chit-chat with RPK pretty much for a very long time. Today's (Oct.3rd) Daily Express, page 6, Jeffrey Kitingan, a former ISA detainee, said there were times where he and former inmates had to supplement their food intake by trapping snakes and birds. Though there's food however the portion is meagre.

So piss off the government at your own peril unless of course you need to go on a diet...

This is what pisses me off about the government. When there's a problem that needs dealing with, just call upon the ISA and they'll come-a-running to clean up the mess.

The government's tactic in dealing with the populace is to instill paralyzing fear. That's why they incarcerated people like RPK hoping their actions might dampened other people from voicing out. It doesn't work and it'll never work. Just yesterday a handful of RPK supporters wearing 'Free RPK' t-shirts appeared at the Prime Minister's Hari Raya Open House. They were asking for the release of RPK. The PM appeared to be visibily amused. Soon after that, 200 Hindraf supporters also turned up to request the release of their members.

Whatever the case may be, we'll never get a fair hearing and sentence. The powers-that-be will always win. In Malaysia it is exclusively for absolute power the top leaders are clinging onto. I suppose you can say that power, like drugs, can be addictive. And when a person who is a power junkie gets backed to a corner like let's say, March 8, then the withdrawal symptons are difficult. It's going to get ugly in the coming days.

Ever seen a politician doing cold turkey? Brrrr. Neither have I.

Even though there are many questions about this country's issues that needs resolving but the ones in power aren't doing anything. Some tried, mind you, but most opted for doing nothing. Why disturb the easy life, right?

Times are bad right now both economically and politically. I'm hoping to see some changes soon.

Breach of M'sia Agreement: Yong

Breach of M'sia Agreement: Yong

Daily Express via Malaysia Today

Kota Kinabalu: Placing the National Registration Department (NRD) under the State Government will be a long-term solution to the many problems affecting the people like Yong Lee Hua, said Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) President Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee.

"The State Government should initiate discussions with the Federal Government to make the NRD a State department," he said in a statement, Tuesday.

Yong said it has to be reminded to the NRD that under the terms of the 1963 Malaysia Agreement every resident of Sabah (North Borneo) on the formation of Malaysia was automatically accepted as a citizen of the federation (of Malaysia).

"By virtue of her being a Sabah native in 1963, it is clear that she qualified as a Malaysian citizen. What the NRD had done to Yong Lee Hua @ Piang Lin is a breach of the Malaysia Agreement and could be taken to a court of law.

"How can a genuine Sabahan Malaysian lose her citizenship so casually whereas foreigners can become citizens so easily?," he asked.

"This is why the case of Yong Lee Hua@Piang Lin has infuriated many people to the extent that even the Chief Minister has to tell the authorities to rectify the problems," he said.

"With the media coverage and immense pressure from Upko and the intervention of the Chief Minister, I believe that the case of Yong Lee Hua @ Piang Lin will be resolved."

Yong said if Upko, whose President is the most senior in the Federal Cabinet after the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister and the Sabah Chief Minister cannot resolve this case, then nothing will.

"But what is more worrying is whether there are other cases of genuine Sabahans losing their Malaysian citizenships without the due process of law," he said.

He said what has happened in the recent decade is that many foreigners were able to obtain citizenship documents whether through legal or dubious means.

"These new citizens have become not only Malaysians but Sabahans with right of abode and employment in Sabah. These new citizens in Sabah have therefore acquired rights that surpass that of other Malaysians in Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak," he said.

These people could enter and remain in Sabah whereas other genuine Malaysians (from Peninsular Malaysia and Sarawak) are still subject to immigration controls and work passes.

He claimed that by joining Umno, many of these new citizens have also acquired political privileges and positions of influence in many districts.

"Some have even been successfully considered as bumiputeras and can own native lands and enjoy other rights and privileges that surpass millions of other Malaysian non-bumiputeras," he said.

He reminded that under the terms of the formation of Malaysia in 1963, entry in Sabah and Sarawak comes under the respective State Governments and that the only persons the State authority cannot prohibit from entering the State are federal civil servants on official duties in the State concerned.

"The spirit and intent of the Malaysia Agreement was to protect the Borneo states (Sabah and Sarawak)," he said.

He recalled a time in the 1980s when even a Member of Parliament from peninsula was put on a wheelchair and forcibly evicted from Sabah at the old Kota Kinabalu airport in Tanjong Aru.

"Although many people did not agree with the abuse of the State's immigration powers in such manner, that power remains intact because the Director of Immigration complied with a State directive, he said.

"But there is no assurance that the director will comply with State directives if his superiors and (federal) Minister were to disagree with a directive of the State.

"After all, some directives are administrative and discretionary in nature and not a matter of strict law that an officer of the government must comply with," he said.

- Daily Express, Sabah

SAPP to show proof of Sabah MyKad scandal

SAPP to show proof of Sabah MyKad scandal

MalaysiaToday

Evidence of illegal issuance of MyKad to foreigners will be released by the Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) on Saturday.

The MP for Sepanggar, Datuk Eric Majimbun, said he would reveal the details that led to a population explosion in the state.
“Just imagine, our population increased by 285 per cent between 1970 and 2000,” he said. “I will bare all, including proof of people not born in Sabah becoming Malaysian citizens (in Sabah).”

Majimbun, who is also SAPP deputy president, was at the state government’s Hari Raya open house in Likas, hosted by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman on Wednesday.

HUMAN MEMORY - Che Det

HUMAN MEMORY - Che Det

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, October 2, 2008

1. I have a problem. I cannot remember the date I was married. As a result I always get into trouble with my wife. 

2. She has a remarkable memory for dates, not just her own or our special dates but she can remember the dates of birth of all her children, the dates of their marriage, the birthdays of all 17 of my grandchildren and even of her sisters and brothers and late parents. 

3. So I can rely on her and sign the birthday cards she passed on to me. Unfortunately she cannot remember much of what she read when studying medicine. So I used to coach her. Thus we complement each other. 

4. God has endowed Man (and Woman) with the ability to remember. That is the basic difference between us and the animals. 

5. But with age our memory fails on details. Some brilliant people can remember what they did on a particular day 10 - 15 years ago, remember every detail, including the words they had spoken and the people they met etc. I am not among these people. I remember some events in which I was involved but only vaguely.

6. If you ask me what did I do on 12th August 1982, or on any other day, I would not be able to tell you. Other people with the proverbial photographic memory can, but I cannot. I am quite certain if I ask the questioner what he did on any particular day in the times long past he probably cannot tell me either. But then in a court or Commission he or the judge or Commissioners have the right to question, I had only the right to answer. 

7. This is very unsatisfactory. In a court of law, if you fail to remember every detail of what you did on a particular day 5, 10 or 15 years ago, then you must be lying, you must be hiding something. This possibility would be ominous - though it may not be ascertained with exactitude. But why bother about those niceties. Just conclude that a person who cannot remember is simply lying. 

8. I am going to take a memory course. Should I have occasion to be investigated or summoned to face a trial, I would be able to remember the suit I wore any day in my life and where I was when wearing the particular suit on a particular day. 

9. By the same token a person who had been sodomised must know the exact time of the day that it happened, the colour of the room and the size of the bed. If he fails to remember any of these things, then he must be lying.

10. Such is the law. So please try to memorise everything you do every day. Don't forget the details. It can be fatal for you. 

Crisis Management - TIME

Crisis Management - TIME

By Joe Klein, TIME, Thursday,Oct 2, 2008

A few hours before the house of Representatives smacked down the financial-bailout package, I watched John McCain — eyes flashing, jaw clenched, oozing sarcasm and disdain — on the attack in Ohio: "Senator Obama took a very different approach to the crisis our country faced. At first he didn't want to get involved. Then he was 'monitoring the situation.' That's not leadership; that's watching from the sidelines." And I thought of Karl Rove. Back in 2003, at the height of Howard Dean mania, Rove was skeptical about Dean's staying power as a candidate: "When was the last time Americans elected an angry President?"

Much has been written about McCain's mercurial temperament during the past few weeks. An election campaign that was supposed to be all about Barack Obama has turned out to be all about John McCain. In the process, the other side of the equation — Obama's steadiness throughout — has been pretty much overlooked. Just after the House shot down the bailout, Obama took to the stage in Colorado, and the contrast with McCain couldn't have been greater: "Now is not the time for fear, now is not the time for panic," he said. "We may not be able to do everything overnight...But I want you to understand, I know we can do it...Things are never smooth in Congress. It will get done."

We journalists have an extensive vocabulary for cataloging the failures of politicians and a skimpy one for celebrating their successes. It's safer to be skeptical: no one will ever accuse you of being in the tank. And so we've heard lots, in a negative way, about Obama's coolness and intellectuality. And at times in this campaign — during Hillary Clinton's populist transformation, after Sarah Palin's convention speech — Obama's demeanor has seemed problematic. He was too remote, too cerebral and nuanced in his answers, it was said; he had to get warmer, learn to love junk food, practice his bowling. But Obama stubbornly remained himself through the tough times; his preternatural calm has proved reassuring in both the economic crisis and the first debate. "His performance has been polished and steady," a prominent Republican told me. "John's has not been."

Part of Obama's steadiness is born of necessity: An angry, or flashy, black man isn't going to be elected President. But I've also gotten the sense, in the times I've interviewed and chatted with him, that calm is Obama's natural default position. He is friendly, informal, accessible...and a mystery, hard to get to know. He doesn't give away much, doesn't — unlike Bill Clinton — have that desperate need to make you like him. His brilliant, at times excessive, oratory is an outlier — the only over-the-top, Technicolor quality he has. There has been no grand cathartic moment for him in this campaign, but rather a steady accretion of trust, a growing public sense that he knows what he's talking about and isn't going to get crazy on us. His demeanor has rendered foolish all the rumors about his alleged radicalism. This guy is the furthest thing imaginable from an extremist; McCain, by his own admission, is the bomb-thrower in this race.

Obama's performance in the first debate was Exhibit A. My first reaction was that Obama didn't make any mistakes, but he allowed McCain to attack him relentlessly without making an effective counterattack. I saw it as a toss-up, not a momentum changer; the public, however, saw it as a clear-cut Obama win. In retrospect, there were two reasons for this. The first became clear when I read the transcript: Obama was far more forceful on the page than he was on the screen. He just lambasted McCain quietly. A key moment was the Iraq question: McCain was very strong here, slamming Obama for not supporting the surge. But Obama's litany of things McCain had gotten wrong ("You said that we were going to be greeted as liberators ...") was devastating. And his bottom line — that the war in Iraq had been a diversion from the real fight against al-Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan — made far more sense.

Obama's other great advantage was visual. He seemed, literally and figuratively, the bigger man. McCain's problem wasn't so much that he never looked at Obama; it was that he never looked at the camera. He seemed pinched, evasive, uncomfortable. Obama, by contrast, looked at both McCain and the camera. He addressed the public directly, seemed utterly confident and unflappable throughout.

The polls have McCain in free fall now. "John's advisers are sitting around, trying figure out their next Hail Mary pass," the prominent Republican told me. "But most Hail Marys aren't successful. They fall to the ground in the end zone." Sometimes a frantic heave will net a score, but you get the sense that even if McCain stages a last-minute rally, Obama will not be daunted. Under insane pressure — as brutal a year on the stump as I've ever seen — he has kept his head. He is the least angry man.