Info minister rethinking live Dewan telecast

By TEH ENG HOCK and MANJIT KAUR
KUALA LUMPUR: Information Minister Datuk Shabery Cheek is thinking of scrapping the live telecast of the proceedings in Dewan Rakyat after the circus-like atmosphere in the first sitting of Parliament.
“That is the problem with live TV. People tend to play to the gallery. I will have to seriously reconsider whether to continue, or to stop it,” he said at the Parliament lobby on Wednesday.
Shabery said he would not allow the proceedings to be telecast live in full until the Opposition MPs start behaving like “first class MPs”.
“They act like third class MPs, which was proven today, and I feel that to broadcast it in full would be a waste of taxpayers' money. Maybe some people like to see the circus, but Parliament is not a circus,” he said.
Shabery said he was disappointed with Wednesday’s proceedings.
“What was supposed to be more substantial about Parliament - democracy and the people - has been sidelined.
“If I extend the live broadcast, then it would be like this (chaotic) all the time,” he said.


Doesn't the rakyat have the right to know how their elected reps. are doing in the house? If it is a circus, then let them know what kind of jokers that they elected to the House. To stop the live telecast would not change the quality of these jokers in the House while the live telecast would show these jokers how well they look on live TV.
The BN government has not learnt anything from the march 8 general election and thought that it controls everything including the state-run media. However, if it refuses to let the live telecast of parliament session, then it will have to deal with another political revolt from the rakyat. The Abdullah administration is shaky as it is now and god knows what will happen in the near future.

David Wong
30-04-2008

A pleasant evening with a pastor!

A friend of mine arranged a tea session for me with a most approachable pastor this evening at around 7:30pm. We were there on time but the pastor was even earlier than us and was doing some reading under the din light of the eatery when we walked in.
As we sat down casually in front of him, he rose and greeted me with a firm handshake and a smile. I introduced myself and was told that he knew me but not the friend who arranged the appointment and i was impressed that he accepted the invitation from a total stranger. He further told me that he just came back from outstation and had to rush to make the appointment.

We talked about politics, social-economic and religious matters and everything under the sky very casually. We shared our working experience and most importantly we have the same core-value of life, that we all have a purpose in life and we must live to achieve that purpose.

I told him that sometime i felt guilty for neglecting my spouse and family and felt like i spent more time for the others than my own family which he also share. He told me that his spouse actually wrote to him once although they were living under the same roof and told him that "our kids are asking where there father was when they need him?"

It was a wonderful evening as we discussed life and the meaning of life. Although we are from quite a different background we feel that we truely understand each other and respect each other's commitment towards achieving a more open and harmonious society and making the society a more caring and loving one for everyone.

At the end of the session, or tea rather, he presented me with a book by Rick Warren entitled "The Purpose-Driven Life" and told me that i am to consume a chapter a day as the book was meant to be read over 40 days. As i glanced through now, the preface of the book actually specified that it is meant to be a guide for us to travel down the spiritual journey of life in 40 days. I can hardly resist the temptation to read the book right now.

David Wong
28-04-2008

Food crisis might to lead to instability in many countries, some even warned of war!

In a garbage dump in Port-au-Prince, people recently scavenged for food (photo left).

‘Scandalous Storm’
“This is a perfect storm,” President Elías Antonio Saca of El Salvador said Wednesday at the World Economic Forum on Latin America in Cancún, Mexico. “How long can we withstand the situation? We have to feed our people, and commodities are becoming scarce. This scandalous storm might become a hurricane that could upset not only our economies but also the stability of our countries.”
In Asia, if Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi of Malaysia steps down, which is looking increasingly likely amid postelection turmoil within his party, he may be that region’s first high- profile political casualty of fuel and food price inflation.
In Indonesia, fearing protests, the government recently revised its 2008 budget, increasing the amount it will spend on food subsidies by about $280 million.
“The biggest concern is food riots,” said H.S. Dillon, a former adviser to Indonesia’s Ministry of Agriculture. Referring to small but widespread protests touched off by a rise in soybean prices in January, he said, “It has happened in the past and can happen again.”
Last month in Senegal, one of Africa’s oldest and most stable democracies, police in riot gear beat and used tear gas against people protesting high food prices and later raided a television station that broadcast images of the event. Many Senegalese have expressed anger at President Abdoulaye Wade for spending lavishly on roads and five-star hotels for an Islamic summit meeting last month while many people are unable to afford rice or fish.
“Why are these riots happening?” asked Arif Husain, senior food security analyst at the World Food Program, which has issued urgent appeals for donations. “The human instinct is to survive, and people are going to do no matter what to survive. And if you’re hungry you get angry quicker.”
Worst crisis in 30 years-UN special adviser

“It’s the worst crisis of its kind in more than 30 years,” said Jeffrey D. Sachs, the economist and special adviser to the United Nations secretary general, Ban Ki-moon. “It’s a big deal and it’s obviously threatening a lot of governments. There are a number of governments on the ropes, and I think there’s more political fallout to come.”

Many rich nations are less affected while the under-developed and developing nations are suffering the worst crisis ever and the rising prices and shortages would see millions die form hunger and malnutirtion.

How serious is the rice grain shortage in Malaysia?

Rice shortage threatens Asia
By HARI SUDColumn
Published: April 22, 2008
TORONTO, Ontario, Canada, Three billion people in Asia are the rice guzzlers of the world and they are facing a supply shortage. Production at about 420 million tons a year has been static for the past four years. In this period about 100 million additional mouths have been added, which are putting a dent in the supply-demand chain.
Prices of rice have shot up 100 percent in the two years from 2005 to 2007. These have reached a level, like wheat prices -- which are 130 percent up -- that have made governments nervous. India has banned the export of most varieties of rice, except the high-end basmati rice, to conserve as much rice at home as possible. Other rice surplus countries have followed suit. They are scared of shortages at home and the unrest that follows shortages.

In Malaysia, the news of the shortage of "CORE RICE" has been under cover-up although the rice vendors all complaint about the shortage of supply by Bernas, the only authorised importer of rice and padi in Malaysia.

In Sibu, Bernas has been very secretic about the amount of stock of the commodity but the wholesalers of rice in town all complaint about the shortage of supply in town. Many said that the situation will worsen in the coming month although the authority said otherwise.

It is the responsibility of the governemnt to keep sufficient core rice, not the expensive rice, so that the poor can afford to put food on the table for their family. We will follow up the issue closely and reveal the truth to the people.

The Malaysian governmnet has recently announced that we need to import some 30% of the rice and yet in the state of Sarawak alone, hundred of thousands of hectare of land were left idle. Many had questioned how the RM40.00 billion allocated ,as announced by the PM,to the state would be utilised.

The government should make sure that the fund should be filtered down to the ordinary peoples instead of to the few selected cronies of the government. We had read news that the farmers are not benefitted even if the price of rice goes up as the middlemen were the ones benefitted. Like the palm oil, Sarawakian are not benefitted by the record CPO prices as only the gaint plantation groups benefitted. It is reported that the plantation gaints controlled more than 80% of the Sarawak's production. The ordinary people can't even afford to cultivate 10 acres of oil palm due to the lcack of land and fund while the gaints can always go to the banks for working capitals and government's assistance to get state lands in Sarawak.

David Wong

28-04-2008

David Wong wishes to sue Dato Sri Wong for defamation (mandarin text)

存糧課題被斥撒謊黃培根要告拿督黄顺舸诽谤
（詩巫15日訊）針對人聯黨詩巫支部主席拿督斯里黃順舸於2月29日在報章上，針對米倉存糧一事指“黃培根撒謊”。行動黨砂聯委會宣傳秘書黃培根決定告黃順舸誹謗。

黃培根指出，在競選期間，行動黨曾在人民集會上告知人民，於南蘭路的國家稻米局詩巫分局的米糧不足。行動黨手頭上有錄影為證，也播給民眾觀看。


“我所說的是事實，但是黃順舸卻在沒有證据的情況之下在報章上斥我撒謊！我要他為所說的話負責任。”他於今早召開新聞發佈會時，如此表示。黃培根說，米糧存貨不足是全世界的趨勢，這證明其在競選期間所言屬實。


“許多人為政治考量而攻擊我，要我在國選中落敗。除了黃順舸，還有其他領袖亦對米糧課題做出攻擊。我也會考慮控告這些領袖誹謗。”他指出，為何稻米局詩巫分局不早點儲存足夠3個月的米糧？這是稻米局的責任。据瞭解目前稻米局米倉剩下的，多是糯米。“我曾邀請順舸去米倉瞭解真實情況，但他卻不願意。”他說，黃順舸必須向人民交代，到底米倉的米糧有多少。