Wednesday 29 May 2013

Cinami ?




I had an interesting banter with my friends recently. Many of my friends are quite aged i.e 55 and above. Not by choice though. You see, most of my peers are not based in Seremban. I shall not name these friends of mine but let me tell you that they are both professionals and semi-retired. These people are working just to kill time. I shall name them Frank Sinatra and Sammy Davies Jr.

Frank commented to me that there is a huge gap between the Chinese and Malays now after the GE13. Sammy agreed and asked me “Where do we go from here now?” I then asked them what made them feel this way.

Sammy then said that a senior top official of Malay ethnicity told him that the Chinese are ungrateful for accepting all the BRIMs and eating at all the BN-organised dinners and yet voted against the BN. I immediately said that BN does not represent the Malays.

Why are they equating “not supporting BN” with “not supporting the Malays”? Of which Frank said BN means UMNOlah since MIC and MCA have no power.

They went on to say that the Malay top official also said that the Chinese which constitutes 26% (sic) (as Chinese now constitutes 23% of the population in Malaysia, according to this latest report : http://www.indexmundi.com/malaysia/demographics_profile.html) of Malaysia’s population and yet control 60% of Malaysia’s economy.

I then asked for the source of that contention. Whereas I gave them Lim Teck Ghee’s findings (five years ago) that the Malays now control more than 45% Malaysia’s economy. Then they said that if the Chinese stopped doing business then Malaysia’s whole economy would shut down. It is just like saying if the Malays stopped doing business then Malaysia’s economy would be shut down as well. It won’t be shut down totally, maybe the people would be inconvenienced.

Anyway, all this racial divide argument is in my opinion, a smoke screen put up by UMNO to create a racial divide in order to divide and rule. We were subjected to this divide and rule spell and we have to outgrow it lest we be shackled by it. This so-called Chinese Tsunami or Cinami is not against the Malays but it is against BN. UMNO do not represent the Malays. After 2008’s tsunami, there were more Malay Members of Parliament than before. Pakatan Rakyat’s component parties consists of PKR, PAS and DAP. All these parties are open to all races. In fact, the Malays are the majority in both PKR and PAS.

Using simple mathematics, one would realise that with the 51% popular votes garnered by Pakatan Rakyat, the majority of the votes were from the Malays. The Malays who are ABU (Anything but UMNO), the Malays who are against the BN, the Malays who can think, the Malays who are progressive, the Malays who love Malaysia, the Malays who are Malaysians first and most importantly, the Malays who are our future !


To those so called top officials (who are UMNO cronies anyway), don’t tell us that UMNO represents the Malays. Don’t try to create racial tension. Don’t even try to create hatred in the Malays against the Chinese. The Cinami is  not against the Malays. The Cinami is against BN period.



Monday 27 May 2013

The Football In Me


Let me start by quoting Gary Lineker after losing the 1990 World Cup semifinal to Germany on penalties: “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end, the Germans win.”


Sorry for the long hiatus. My excuses for not writing ranges from the GE13 to writer's block to post GE13 blues. Most importantly, I can honestly tell you is the deep disappointment in me. The sadness is so deep that no tears will come.  DAP won 100% of our seats and yet we failed to capture the state ? Hard to fathom. 


So I shall write about my love for football today. Interestingly, I got the inspiration to write on this topic due to a radio show which discussed the effect of football mania on the lives of couples. At the very outset, let me tell you that I am no ordinary girl next door who knows nothing about football. I have to credit my late father, Mr Tang Seng Huang for introducing me to football and as a result I got hooked. I remember both of us sitting with our eyes glued in front of the television discussing excitedly about a “Road to Wembley” game, much to my sisters and mother’s chagrin. We were guilty of  hogging the television. His favourite team was Tottentham Hotspurs (“Spurs”) and mine was Manchester City (“City”).


My favourite game of all time was the FA Cup Final Replay between Spurs and City in 1981.  It was the first to be staged at Wembley. Ricky Villa opened the scoring for Spurs in the 8th minute.  Steve MacKenzie equalised for City in the 11th minute.  Kevin Reeves scored a penalty in the 50th minute to give City the lead. Garth Crooks then equalised in the 70th minute. In the 76th minute, Tony Galvin passed the ball to Villa 30 yards from City's goal, and the Argentinian dribbled past four defenders before scoring the winning goal. This goal was voted Wembley Goal of the Century in 2001, and it won Spurs the match, 3–2, and the FA Cup for the 6th time. My dad recorded the game on Betamax tape (before VHS or VCD). I watched the match over and over again until the tape was spoiled. 

My husband loves football too but his favourite team is Ipswich. Ipswich ? Is the team still in Championship League ?  I must salute him for his unwavered support eventhough his team is not in the top league like City, Spurs and Manchester United ("Red Devils"). Have I told you that I have switched my allegiance to the Red Devils since the 90's ? Guilty as charged ! 

Let me end by quoting Bill Shankly, Liverpool manager on football: “Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I’m very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”

  

Ardiles


Spurs


Villa celebrating !

Ticket