Water! Water!

I think it rained all day today. It was very windy when I went in to work this morning and when I went to the building next door for a meeting at 9am, it had started to rain. By the time that meeting was over and I made my way back to the office, it was bucketing down. I think from then on it just went on and on. I don’t know when it stopped but when I finally crawled out of the office a little after 7, it was still raining lightly and boy was it cold. I was telling someone the other day, how I was starting to feel like an ageing tropical creature and I felt the truth of that statement again tonight.

It has rained so much in Melbourne recently, that the state government is starting to think about lifting water restrictions at the current level – 3a, I think. As it stands, we have a pretty good chance of scaling back to a level 3 restriction. I’m not sure if this means we can then wash our cars but certainly, the reservoirs have edged back to close to 33%, up from a near Level 4 restriction of 26% or something like that. So it has been a great winter so far. Cold as it has been, the rain has been a much welcomed inconvenience to Melburnians. Actually I have not heard anyone complain about the wet so far.

I remember how wet it was too, when we first came to Melbourne in October 2004, Theresa and I stayed in her Uncle Seng/Aunt Ann’s house in Blackburn. It was a big house with 6 bedrooms spread across 3 levels. Theresa and I stayed in a bedroom at the lowest level, which was a basement but converted into a beautiful AV room. Our room was at a corner of this AV room, just to the back of the laundry and ironing room. Theresa stayed for just over a week and returned to Malaysia. I stayed on, getting things ready for the family to move over from Malaysia. I stayed with them for about 3 weeks, during which the bottom/basement floor flooded over twice. The rain was so plentiful then. I remember waking up about 2am one night, by the commotion which went on as the family realised what had happened downstairs. As I sat on the bed trying to make sense of what was happening, I realised my feet were in about 3-4 inches deep of water.

 

We ended up spending the whole night cleaning up and poor Uncle Seng/Aunt Ann probably spent the next few weeks worrying about the house. They fixed the problem and have since sold the house and ironically, since then, Melbourne has faced a prolonged drought, until now. I hope the new owners of that wonderful house would not have to contend with flooding problems.

Thin Skinned Malaysian Police Bullies Young Man

There is a young man now being persecuted and abused by the police in Malaysia. Nathaniel Tan is a staff of an opposition party and runs his own blog which is critical of the ruling party, the government and the police. The thin-skinned police, instead of investigating the wrongdoings alleged in Nathaniel’s blog, has chosen to pick on the whistleblower instead. Nathaniel is a young non-Malay male – easy target for the cowardly police and the establishment. Nathaniel’s allegations include police corruption, police collusion with organised crime and the UMNO lead government’s corruption and incompetence. None of these allegations are unique in that scores of other persons have made these allegations, including Malaysia Today. Nathaniel is singled out probably because he is an ordinary citizen, has no connections and is non-Malay – easy and convenient target for these imbecile cowards.

I repeat my sincere belief that Malaysia is beyond incremental change if it is to regain any sense of being a just and equitable society. It was heartening to see the picture of a vigil just outside the police station where Nathaniel is detained but more and bigger-scaled shows of dissent and protest is necessary. The cancer has been allowed to fester for too long that major procedures are now necessary.

 

Why haven’t there been more widespread dissent and outcry over the events which have taken place in Malaysia in the recent past? While the previous government under Mahathir had been merely iron-fisted, this Badawi government has been both ineffectual and iron-fisted. You may put up with less freedom if you think that is the price you pay for stability and prosperity, a la Singapore. But if your freedom is taken away without giving you stability and prosperity in exchange why do you remain quiet, docile and accepting anyway? Not that stability and prosperity are good reasons to take away your freedom but at least it is understandable if you said you were willing to put up with a lack of freedom because you need stability and financial security. Not good enough, but understandable. Lately however, Malaysians suffer in all respects. Poorer economic conditions, poorer law and order, poorer public delivery systems, poorer press, and poorer freedom, including religious freedom. I suppose Malaysians are nice people, especially the ethnic minority. They would take a lot of beatings and bullying and would remain pleasant and not show dissent, and the bullies know this.

Malaysian Bench – Racist Non-appointment

Gopal Sri Ram is the most senior of the Malaysian Court of Appeal judges. Yet they wont make him the chief. The previous chief died in May and the replacement is yet to be appointed. The most senior candidate also happens to be the smartest and most hardworking one. But no, they would not appoint him. Not even when they have just elevated 8 High Court judges to the Court of Appeal and there was no chief to preside over the oath taking by these newbies. Poor Gopal has been there since 1994! He has made decisions which the wider community agree as being sensible and smart. He should be elevated and sitting on the Federal Court bench as he is smarter and works harder than many of them sitting there now. Not only has he not been elevated, they wouldn’t make him chief at the Court of Appeal. Maybe if his name was Ghafar instead of Gopal, maybe something like Ghafar Rahman instead of Gopal Sri Ram, maybe then he would be made chief. That’s Malaysian justice for you. The best and most hardworking is often the one not doing the job. Is it any wonder the standards of the bench have plummeted? But then again this is true not just with the judiciary. All public sector offices are plagued with the same disease of racism, with race and religion forming the basis of appointments, not intelligence and industry.