Prime Minister Najib Razak spent a staggering RM44 million on overseas trips in the 5-year period since coming into office. This was revealed by Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming. According to Kor Ming, this breaks down to RM8.8 million a year or RM734,516-67 a month.
The DAP MP demanded an explanation from the 60-year Premier for this “excessive” expenditure.
“The hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in times of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality“.Anyone who wants UMNO to change tack and progress..recognizes that the best we have is Muhyiddin . Of course,he is not perfect. No mortal is. But he is the best we have got.. I am convinced that no one else in UMNO has what it takes to bring about the change that Malay needs.That is the only way the rest of us (fighting for systemic reform and change) will survive. And if we don’t win this battle, I am not sure we will be around for the”Long War” We need to therefore re-group and consolidate around an alternative that appears to have the best chance of winning. We need to align around Muhyiddin . and offer support (which could be conditional), while maintaining our independence.Only time will tell whether we were right or wrong. But there is only one man today who has a fighting chance of making UMNO history. And I think it is time to give this man a chance. It is time to support this man. Time to say Muhyiddin for PM! hidup UMNO hidup Muhyiddin
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Najib is the joker in the pack. He is a UMNO party guy but really he is the party-destroyer. He is the spoiler in the nice little game that the Mahathir is playing with the leaders ofUMNO. They want him to come and spoil the game as much as they want a hole in their heads. In other words, Mahathirhasan interest in colluding to torpedo Najib.
“..times of great moral crisis“. I believe we are suffering the worst government Malaysia has ever had since 1957. I believe a UMNO would be untold disaster forMalays. A disaster for each of us who believes in freedoms, liberty and equality of opportunities. A disaster for everyone who opposes socialism and the politics of entitlements, built on narratives of victim-hood. A disaster which might push the Malays to a point of no-return.
The biggest portion of sex offenders, sex miscreants, drug addicts, juvenile crimes is made up of Malay Muslims. What does this mean? It means the programs proselytizing Islam made-for-the- media does not work.
What does Umno do in the name of the Malays and what does Umno actually do for the Malays? In the name of the Malays, Umno secures political power in order to use that power entrusted to exploit the wealth of the country and distribute it largely among the elite. It’s the underlying feudal mentality at play here. Accumulate and concentrate political power and then redistribute the fruits of victory as part of their beneficence. Hence Umno sees nothing contradictory and hypocritical in practicing direct negotiations that have now morphed into selected or close tenders. The same elite is selected, and the tender closes out the non-compliant players.
For instance I find the giving out of BR1M objectionable not because I oppose the giving of cash to poor and needy, but the manner it was given. It’s not Umno’s or BN’s money- its money extracted from tax payers. The giving out should have been apolitical. Bank Negara proposed the distribution of cash directly into recipients’ accounts. The distributing banks were ready and willing to do it- but Umno leaders wanted the cash given through them.
Why? Because then, they will be able to tell the story that it’s out of Umno’s beneficence, that you the wretched of the earth, you the voiceless, you the downtrodden, get to enjoy this cash. So if you want more, keep us in power- we give you RM500, allow us to wallop the billions. We who fight in your name, deserves to be rewarded as how we see fit.
I must admit that I haven’t a clue what the antonym of shopaholic is. I tried looking up the word or a similar expression on Google and in the dictionary, but couldn’t find anything even remotely suitable. And to be honest, while ‘shopaphobe’ comes close to capturing what I intend to say and mean, it’s not quite there. You see, it’s not that I have a fear of shopping. It’s just that I find it a complete and utter waste of time.
And so, perhaps you will understand why I say that my wife and I have continued to approach the onerous task of shopping in completely different ways ever since we were married and today, have only barely reached a satisfactory compromise. It’s not that she’s a shopaholic or falls back on retail therapy at each and every opportunity. In fact, in many ways, she’s quite the opposite. Over the past decade and a half, I have often urged her to buy things that I feel are more becoming of her or indulge in a flight of fancy. Most of the time, these are things that cost a tad short of an arm and a leg; but then, I do believe these things complement her, and so…
Let me explain. To me, shopping is much like one of those painful necessities that each one of us would love to do without, but can’t really do: much like taking your vaccination shots as a child, studying differential calculus in high-school when you have no intention of becoming an engineer, or the need to take a housing loan when you want to buy the apartment that’s just beyond your means. And, so, I approach this task with the clinical precision of a surgeon or a lawyer: I carefully draw up a list that identifies what I need, the quantities I need, the fabric I need, the colours/stripes I need, the shop/s that I need to visit, and the order in which I need to visit them. Then I go about the task quickly and efficiently. What helps, is knowing very clearly what I do not want to buy.
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Compare this to my wife, who tends to approach things far more organically – despite her taking to lists and bringing a certain degree of planning into her shopping forays ever since we were married. But then, her plans are more lateral than linear and involve her going to multiple outlets to identify that ‘one perfect piece’ that is embedded in her mind. Naturally, she achieves this in much the same time that I would have finished the entire onerous outing!
The unstable equilibrium that we have reached has been facilitated – no, not by the magical pieces of plastic that we all carry in our wallets nowadays – but by the fact that she has come to appreciate and accept my deep disregard for this form of entertainment and mode of spending quality time together. She knows that, I would much rather spend time with her on the beach, walking through the hills, enjoying a lovely meal at a fine-dining restaurant, watching a play or musical performance or visiting friends of our choice.
And in doing so, she is happy to take care of most leisurely shopping experiences on her own or accompanied by our sprightly 12-year old daughter. She knows that I will look forward to seeing the fruits of her labour and I will not hesitate to share my candid feedback and appreciation of her choice - much better than being accompanied by an ill-tempered man who is bored out of his mind and does not hesitate to show it, isn’t it?!
Of course, there are exceptions to every rule and there are occasions, like this weekend, when we spent most of our time travelling from one retail store to another as we collected things for our forthcoming holiday. But then, this trip was preceded by careful planning and had a series of specific metrics built in along the way. Even then, at the end of a two-hour process of sifting through, trying out and shortlisting the finest cotton-wear, I was – try as I might – at my intolerant best:
“Can you please consider setting up a series of stools for spouses such as me who come shopping with their better halves?” I asked the owner of the store even as I paid for a couple of dresses beyond what my wife was keen to buy.
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