The Lion’s PawPrints

Okay people, we’re heading into Nomination Day this Sunday. It’s still not clear who will be the candidates for my Parlimentary constituency P060 – Taiping will be but it’s a forgone conclusion that the ruling UMNO-led Barisan Nasional will be squaring off against the Democractic Action Party (DAP).

Nomination Day will be on Sunday Feb 24th at the Majlis Perbandaran Taiping building in the morning. So if you guys want a piece of the action, do turn up. It looks like the incumbent MP (Datuk) Kayveas will defending his seat although as I have said, nothing is still set yet. Apparently, the other parties in the Barisan Nasional coalition are still bickering over the Taiping seat.

For the uninitiated, Taiping is a very historical area in Malaysia and was the de facto first capital of the Federated Malay States. It’s also a town of many firsts, with the first railroad, zoo, hill resort, prison, muzium and a whole lot stuff being built here first before it was anywhere else in the Peninsula (West Malaysia).

Will he get it? We’ll know on Sunday. But regardless of all this people, voting is a democratic constitutional right and please don’t treat your vote as something simple. I am personally appaled that some of my former classmates chose not only to stay away from the election but could not have even bother to register to vote!

My advice to these kind of people : If you can’t even care to line up at the Post Office for 15-20 minutes to place your name on the Electoral Role, then please don’t go around bitching that this country isn’t fair to you blah-blah-blah-blah-blah. If you want your voice to be heard, then one of the ways is with casting your ballot. It is there for a purpose. It may look like just a simple paper-and-pencil exercise, but trust me, is a true exercise of power.

On another note, I’m not endorsing any party this time., so people, if you want to vote, please consider the issues and get the complete picture before casting your ballot.

A vote for the Barisan Nasional, regardless if it’s a vote for an MCA, MIC, Gerakan, PPP or whatever other candidate under the BN flag is in reality a vote for UMNO. They’ll be the ones that’ll hold the reins of power in the end and along with them come the corrupted money-loving, easy-going (read : lazy), Chinese-hating, Indian-disciminating, pointless slogan-screaming lot.

A vote for the DAP is a vote for a party that is run like a mini version of Nazi Germany or perhaps the Italian Mafia. It’s democratic credentials -you don’t like the friendly Uncle Lim (Kit Siang). then you’re dead – are hardly inspiring and they continue to defy political reality (somewhat arrogantly) by refusing to touch or deal with anything that has the word Islam on it with a 100-foot pole. (the distortion on that phrase is intended) I’m guessing they probably even turn up for meetings with the other opposition party, the Islamic Fundamentalist party PAS in Hazmat suits.

A vote for Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) is a vote for Anwar Ibrahim. Anwar, a former Deputy Prime Minister under Malaysian legend (Tun) Dr. Mahathir Mohammad is nothing but a fraud. He’s just bidding his time to re-enter UMNO. In the decade since Mahathir nuked him, his lust for power has never waned. He’s prepared to do anything and everything to ensure that he doesn’t fade away.

From trying to rig his own party’s election to being hypocritical over his own actions while in the Barisan Nasional vis-a-vis trying to shore up support with sometimes unrealistic plans, Anwar is prepared to do anything to gain power. He is the only person ever in the history of Malaya/Malaysia to have a party formed just because of him and this speaks volumes of what he really is. Currently due to the crushing his party suffered in the 2004 11th General Elections, his party is restricted to just one parlimentary seat – Permatang Pauh, which so happens to be the Anwar capital of the world, a seat held by his family (Anwar himself from 1982-1999 and then his wife from 1999 to the present).

A vote for Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) an Islamic fundamentalist party is a vote for a party with good goals and noble aims. However, some of the members have conduct that has much left to be desired. Islamic fundamentalism is a good thing but when one does not know what he is talking about, things can get pretty bad. PAS to me is like a shiny new BMW, in gleaming black and roaring it’s engines but with a monkey in the driver’s seat. Big problem! Or perhaps a Trident tactical nuclear missile with a gorilla sitting right in front of the red button.

When one has very little or no knowledge of what he is talking or doing, more so when it comes to religion, literal interpretation of it takes place and this usually comes with disastrous effects. And I’m a little bit concerned of the economic capabilities of PAS leaders. Kelantan, the state which has been ruled by PAS non-stop since 1990 hasn’t really seen great development in the first place.

Even if political issues hamper the process of some investment, the PAS government should have had the initiative to push forward (and abroad) and help power up the state’s economy. Sadly, they haven’t seem to have done it too well.

Well, decide on who you want to vote properly. This is not something that happens everyday. And for the Malaysian-Chinese, I’m not endorsing anyone, but please take a good look at this picture and remember. I may not be a Chinese but you for me are certainly Malaysian, not some kaum pendatang (migrant race, outsider race) as certain people like to call you.

And for the Malaysian-Indians, the choice is pretty much simple. Have you been served well enough? The most important thing : have you got a fair deal? This is your country remember that no one can take that away from you.

Think before you vote. It is time.

Just off from watching the latest Stargate : Atlantis episode titled Midway and I give it a 9.50 / 10.00. The action was cool, more so with Teal’c (Christopher Judge) from SG-1 appearing in this episode and linking up with Ronon Dex (Jason Momoa).

Teal’c got a new hairstyle too and it looks like he really beat his average of saying the word “Indeed” by quite a lot in this episode. : )

There were light moments like the part where Ronon queries him about Teal’c’s now world famous repititious usage of the word “Indeed”. Here’s the transcript :

 Teal’c        : Indeed

Ronon        : You say that a lot.

Teal’c         : What?

Ronon        : Indeed.

Teal’c         : (Getting up) Do I?

Ronon        : Yeah.

Teal’c         : (Putting on an expression) I had not noticed.

OMG! That scene was golden. Easily one of the best Stargate : Atlantis scenes of Season 4. I’m just a little disappointed that they outted everyone’s favourite Wraith “Todd” as a jerk. I’m personally not to happy with that. I can’t speak for every SGA fan but surely the writers would have known that “Todd” has a pretty much big fan base because he seems to be a “good” Wraith.

The writers better make a correction on that in later episodes. Outting “Todd” as a jerk was really a bad idea on their part. 

Anyway on the plus side, watching Teal’c and Ronon hooking up with each other and beating the crap out of the Wraith who had infiltrated Stargate Command back on Earth was something not to be missed.

And it totally awesome when Ronon hit back with the word “Indeed”. I’m sure so many us never saw that coming! That was pretty good.

But in terms of technical knowledge, this episode did not offer much, which was quite of a letdown. Maybe it’s just me. Because I’m the type who loves to hear Rodney McKay (or for that matter Samantha Carter and Daniel Jackson) jabber out intellectual stuff.

But somehow the timeline of the episode looks a little off. I wonder who the writers are going to account for it. In last weeks episode Trio, Samantha Carter broke her leg and guess what? Walla! This week, she up and running like as if it nothing but a bad dream.

They really jumped at least 2-3 months ahead in terms of time. And this may not be so noticable among fans but towards the end of Midway, Rodney, John and the rest of the guys from the  Midway Station boarded the Puddle Jumper as they blew up it up, it was made known to us a while before that that the Puddle Jumper could sustain them for around 2 weeks.

But towards the extreme end, the USAF Daedalus seemed to have reached them within 24-48 hours of the station being self-destructed. Little piece of info here, it was made known to us that it takes 18 days of travel aboard the Daedalus from Earth to Atlantis and the Midway Station is situated right in the void between the Milky Way and Pegasus Galaxies.

Whether this was a goof or not is left to be seen. Anyway, hurrah to a great episode and enjoy some of the stills from it below :

Okay, just two more little snippets of info, look at the last still from the episode. This was at the part where Teal’c and Ronon were slugging it out for more than an hour and everyone was betting on who would win. Two things in this picture of Chuck and John Sheppard strike me. First is the Turkish flag of one of the expedition members who is partially hidden.

It kind of makes me wonder when will they ever have an expedition member carrying the Malaysian flag. According to Wikipedia, there have been actors seens wearing patches with the flags of countries like the Zimbabwe, Serbia, Jamaica and the Philippines.

Okay, I know this is a just a TV show, but if they can get in, why can’t we? I’d really love see an expedition member carry our proud national flag the Jalur Gemilang (English translation : The Stripes Of Glory) in Stargate Atlantis one day.

And the second one is the banknote. It believe is a 2003 1000 yen banknote with the face of Bacteriologist Hideo Noguchi on gracing it. I can’t make out the other note.

There are 4 movies I’m waiting for in 2008. They are Stargate : The Ark Of Truth, Stargate : Continuum, 10 000 BC and lastly a movie about Queen Elizabeth (of England – I have to do this, some people are really, really slow)

Anyway, I’m especially waiting for the two Stargate movies. The Ark Of Truth will wrap up the Ori arc while Continuum will finish off the Goa’uld arc. In the Arc of Truth, SG-1 travel to the Ori home galaxy aboard the USAF Odyssey  to seek out a an ancient device capable of defeating the Ori for once and for all while in Continuum, Ba’al somehow manages to alter the timeline, messing things up.

Personally I have mixed feelings about this. While on one hand I am anticipating the release of both movies, these two movies being the tail-end of the Stargate : SG-1 TV series somehow leaves a sort of void in me. I’ve enjoyed Stargate since 1997 ( I never saw the 1994 movie that had Kurt Russel in it) and for me, no other TV series has ever come close. Not even its sister series Stargate : Atlantis.

It was one of the TV shows that I grew up with. It’s so sad to see it end but I guess, it had to happen sooner or later. I have seen some teasers on YouTube and trust me, they look pretty cool. Joining us for this last adventure against the Ori will be the gang from SG-1, Cameron Mitchell, Samantha Carter, Daniel Jackson, Teal’c, Vala Mal Doran along with General Landry, Adria,  Tomin, Ganos Lal/Morgan Le Fay, that Doci guy with the funny metal thing around this neck, along with that Prior guy who tried to wipe out the village in the Stargate SG-1 episode “Line In The Sand” with cameo apperances of Col. Abraham Ellis and the USAF Apollo, the Odyssey’s sister-ship.

So this is it world, March 2008, get ready for Stargate : The Ark Of Truth. 

 There is apparently no release date for Stargate : Continuum but it is slated to appear in the second half of 2008. It revolves around Ba’al who messes with the timeline. I’m pretty much still fuzzy over what happens in the movie but from what I know, Ba’al is about to the executed when Teal’c and Vala suddenly vanish and then the world seems to change. This final movie will have Richard Dean Anderson reprising his role as General Jack O’Neill but currently, it is unknown whether his role is a leading one or a cameo one.

I for one, feel that it would only be fair to fans that General O’Neill be made the lead role in the movie. After all, he was the one responsible for lighting up the series during the first 8 seasons of its run and I would like to see him go out with a bang. He is one of the best loved characters in the Stargate universe of all time and MGM and the producers must be fair to us the fans.

That said, good night everyone and remember, don’t just nick the movie from some site. Be original and buy the original DVD. These guys worked themselves to death just to entertain us. It’s only fair we give it back to them. Here’s a link where you can order it :

http://www.amazon.com/Stargate-Ark-Truth-Ben-Browder/dp/B0010YSD7M

Good night people!

Okay, okay, so it’s official. The Dewan Rakyat has been dissolved and we are now heading into the 12th Malaysian General Elections within 60 days of Feb 13th 2008. The exact polling date will be announced by the Election Commision later today but I’m writing this anyway.

For the extremely out of date ones, here’s the news clip :

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/2/14/nation/20319461&sec=nation&focus=1 

While I believe that elections are the cornerstone of democracy and that it is one of our basic rights as human beings, I for one have this to say about calling the elections now :

 ARE YOU CRAZY??!!!!!!!!!!

Let’s take a little recap shall we? The 11th Malaysian General Elections was held on Sunday March 11th 2004. That means, the Dewan Rakyat has been dissolved 3 years and 11 months after the elections. 

Usually, the Dewan Rakyat is dissolved 4 years and 6 months into it’s term and the current dissolution is probably the earliest that has ever occured in the history of Malaya/Malaysia.

Elections are not cheap to conduct. They run into the hundreds of millions of ringgit and since an elected government has a five year mandate, it would be a total waste to call an election extremely early. More so this time, with the ruling UMNO-led Barisan Nasional (Nasional Front) having the biggest majority it has ever had.

In other words, there is no danger of the government toppling as it has a rock solid lead in the lower house. So why call the elections now? Why can’t Prime Minister Abdullah (below) wait out the rest of his term before seeking a new mandate? 

One can only speculate but many things point towards Anwar Ibrahim (below), the former Deputy Prime Minister who will currently only be elidgible for contest in April 2008 because of the jail terms that he served for corruption during Prime Minister Mahathir’s years.

 Either way, I’m still all for Mahathir (below), whom I regard was the one that set Malaysia on the path to where it is. I have no doubt that any other Prime Minster other than Mahathir would have done the same. He’s the man who changed Malaysia and brought it to where it is now.

Okay, so he has flaws, but who doesn’t?

But back to the elections, it looks more like this elections isn’t about seeking a mandate from the people but more about political manouvering by those who sit in the chairs of power.

Just one word of warning though, vote wisely. I have a sinking feeling that if UMNO is given the blank cheque that it was given in 2004 by the rakyat, this are going to get really bad soon. Speculation is already zipping around that fuel subsidies are going to be further cut back and we can already see the prices of items blowing up across the board.

Holding this elections now may be a waste of public funds, yes but you know what? Not taking it seriously will be not only be a bigger waste, but a huge folly that we will have to live with for the next 5 years.

Hello everyone,

2008 is finally here yeah! Already this year is already seemingly different from all the other years and hopefully, this year will take me out of my Lost Decade.

I’m still pretty much grappling with the same issues as last year but I think that the end  finally near. Anyway issues up for me this year include CELTA, STPM, China, movie script and financial adjustments.

Not only that, I’ve been busy cleaning out my friends list. As some of you very well know, I am very selective of the friendships I keep. I’ve always stayed with the philosophy that you must “Always be selective of those you choose as friends” and I have absolutely no qualms of terminating friendships I find undesireable.

 I’ll write more later in much greater detail. Right now, I’m pretty much in a rush. But what you can be guaranteed that my blog if fully up-and-running again, it’ll be livelier, more energetic and more frequently updated than ever before. Hope you all wait for it  hope to catch you all soon!

 Darus