This is regarding the article in The Star where the Opposition says that the Menteri Besar and not the Sultan has jurisdiction over the appointments of those in the public service at http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/5/12/nation/21221220&sec=nation.

I seriously question this, because although sounding true, when I looked up the Constitution of Malaysia, I found this:

PART X - PUBLIC SERVICES

Article number: 132

132.

(1) For the purposes of this Constitution, the public services are -

o (a) the armed forces;

o (b) the judicial and legal service;

o (c) the general public service of the Federation;

o (d) the police force;

o (e) the railway service;

o (f) the joint public services mentioned in Article 133;

o (g) the public service of each State; and

o (h) the education service.

(2) Except as otherwise expressly provided by this Constitution, the qualifications for appointment and conditions of service of persons in the public services other than those mentioned in paragraph (g) of Clause (1) may be regulated by federal law and, subject to the provisions of any such law, by Yang di-Pertuan Agong; and the qualifications for appointment and conditions of service of persons in the public service of any State may be regulated by State law and, subject to the provisions of any such law, by the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri of that State.

(2A) Except as expressly provided by this Constitution, every person who is a member of any of the services mentioned in paragraphs (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) and (h) of Clause (1) holds office during the pleasure of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, and, except as expressly provided by the Constitution of the State, every person who is a member of the public service of a State holds office during the pleasure of the Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri.

(3) The public service shall not be taken to comprise -

o (a) the office of any member of the administration in the Federation or a State; or

o (b) the office of President, Speaker, Deputy President, Deputy Speaker or member of either House of Parliament or of the Legislative Assembly of a State; or

o (c) the office of judge of the Supreme Court or a High Court; or

o (d) the office of member of any Commission or Council established by this Constitution or any corresponding Commission or Council established by the Constitution of a State; or

o (e) such diplomatic posts as the Yang di-Pertuan Agong may by order prescribe, being post which but for the order would be posts in the general public service of the Federation.

• (4) References in this Part, except in Articles 136 and 147 to persons in the public service or to members of any of the public services shall not apply to:

o (a) the Clerk to either House of Parliament or any member of the Staff of Parliament; or

o (b) the Attorney General or, if provisions for the manner of his appointment and removal from office is specifically included in the Constitution of the State, or if he is appointed otherwise than from among the members of the judicial and legal service or of the public service of the State, the legal adviser of any State; or

o (c) a member of the personal staff of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong or of a Ruler or Yang di-Pertua Negeri; or

o (d) in the case of Malacca and Penang, if provision is made by State law for their appointment -

�� (i) the President of the Religious Affairs Department;

�� (ii) the Secretary of the Religious Affairs Department;

�� (iii) the Mufti;

�� (iv) the Kadi Besar; or

�� (v) a Kadi.

Such is Article 132 which is right at the beginning of the part on Public Services.

Please correct me if I am wrong, but doesn't this mean that the MB actually insulted the Sultan by bypassing him, or even worse, insulted the Agong? I'm not sure which, but JAIP is obviously either a state public service or a joint public service (even worse, as you are bypassing the Agong who is the number one person with the Permaisuri at number two in the country). Don't believe me?

PART IV - THE FEDERATION

Chapter 1 - The Supreme Head

Article number: 32

32.

(1) There shall be a Supreme Head of the Federation, to be called the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, who shall take precedence over all persons in the Federation and shall not be liable to any proceedings whatsoever in any court.

(2) The Consort of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong (to be called the Raja Permaisuri Agong) shall take precedence next after the Yang di-Pertuan Agong over all other persons in the Federation.

(3) The Yang di-Pertuan Agong shall be elected by the Conference of Rulers for a term of five years, but may at any time resign his office by writing under his hand addressed to the Conference of Rulers or be removed from office by the Conference of Rulers, and shall cease to hold office on ceasing to be a Ruler.

(4) The provisions of Part l and lll of the Third Schedule shall apply to the election and removal of the Yang di-Pertuan Agong.

Also, regarding the loudly proclaimed "freedom of speech", there is this:

PART II - FUNDAMENTAL LIBERTIES

Article number: 10

10.

(1) Subject to Clauses (2), (3) and (4) -

o (a) every citizen has the right to freedom of speech and expression;

o (b) all citizens have the right to assemble peaceably and without arms;

o (c) all citizens have the right to form associations.

(2) Parliament may by law impose -

o (a) on the rights conferred by paragraph (a) of Clause (1),such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, friendly relations with other countries, public order or morality and restrictions designed to protect the privileges of Parliament or of any Legislative Assembly or to provide against contempt of court, defamation, or incitement to any offence;

o (b) on the right conferred by paragraph (b) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, or public order;

o (c) on the right conferred by paragraph (c) of Clause (1), such restrictions as it deems necessary or expedient in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof, public order or morality.

(3) Restrictions on the right to form associations conferred by paragraph (c) of Clause (1) may also be imposed by any law relating to labour or education.

(4) In imposing restrictions in the interest of the security of the Federation or any part thereof or public order under Clause (2) (a), Parliament may pass law prohibiting the questioning of any matter, right, status, position, privilege, sovereignty or prerogative established or protected by the provisions of Part III, article 152, 153 or 181 otherwise than in relation to the implementation thereof as may be specified in such law.

So, freedom of speech isn't that free of responsibility after all, is it? The MB can't do ANYTHING he likes without asking the Ruler or the Agong, can he? Still think Karpal still isn't wrong when he says the appointments of state civil servants are completely under the Menteri Besar and Executive Committee alone, and nothing to do with the Ruler or Agong?

As a regular bus commuter from Klang, I have often wondered why we are being deprived of a RapidKL bus service system unlike the other parts of the Klang Valley.

At the moment, we have 4 KTM Kommuter stations in the Klang area (Bkt. Badak, Klang, Teluk Pulai and Teluk Gadong) and 3 in the Port Klang area (Kg. Raja Uda, Jln. Kastam and Pelabuhan Klang). Why not use these existing facilities as mini hubs like the ones along the Kelana Jaya and Ampang LRT lines?

An 'Utama' (U) trunk service can be introduced to connect the Bkt. Badak station to Teluk Gadong station, passing through major housing estates such as Taman Sentosa, Taman Sri Andalas, Bukit Tinggi/Botanic, Bayu Perdana, Taman Chi Liung and Taman Gembira. I believe that a majority of Klang residents live in these areas yet none of the existing bus operators are providing this route (all services currently start in Klang centrally). Isn't this a very profitable route (and less traffic congestion)? If the existing operators can't see this, then provide the permit to RapidKL, who has the expertise to operate a hub-and-spoke bus system. The new Jaya Jusco in Bandar Bukit Tinggi can act as a bus hub too, whereby commuters will then transfer to a 'Tempatan' (T) local service to get to their homes or offices within that area. Similarly, another bus hub can be setup at Taman Sentosa (this is a very large housing area, maybe 2 'T' bus services need to be introduced to cover Bandar Puteri as well) and one more in Taman Sri Andalas (a 'T' bus that covers Taman Klang Jaya and Taman Desawan).  

Another 'U' route that will be beneficial would be from Klang KTM station to Port Klang station via Jln.Tepi Sungai, Teluk Pulai (the KTM station), Kg.Delek/Sg.Bertek, Taman Gembira and the remaining KTM stations in the Port Klang area.

One more 'T' bus can  be put in service for connecting Klang KTM station, Jln. Tengku Kelana and North Klang bus terminal.  

The current bus service in Klang is satisfactory for the 3 trunk routes only (Klang - Port Klang, Klang - Banting, and Klang - Jln. Kebun/Bkt. Kemuning via Kg.Jawa). Service to other areas of Klang is bad. Therefore, the existing bus operators can have the slice of the pie by focusing on the trunk routes only (they should be relieved with the maintenance costs off their shoulders!).

If this is implemented, there is no need for an LRT system in Klang!

Commercialization compromises quality

Nurses Day which fell on May 12 passed us quietly without much publicity. It may be good for us to understand how our nurses are coping in as environment that is increasingly becoming more hostile to them.

Today the medical services have been so commercialized that its ideals are being lost. The mushrooming of large number of public and private hospitals in the country has tremendously increased the demand for nurses. As a result a large number of nursing schools have sprung up all over the country. Unfortunately many of these schools lack qualified, experienced and dedicated teachers. As a result these schools churn out large number nurses who are of questionable standards. With minimal exposure to clinical work, they are tasked to carry out various nursing duties.

To make matters worst these junior nurses are left alone without proper supervision as many of the senior ones have left for greener pastures. In fact many of them don’t even know how to handle patients who can be very demanding these days. Managing patients is an art that can only be mastered by years of experience not by just obtaining the necessary certificates. This experience I am afraid is sadly missing in our wards today.

If that is not bad enough, their superiors have become more of administrators rather than exemplary senior nurses themselves. They are ‘forced’ to be part of policies that generally favor the management than the nurses. This results in some form of ‘exploitation’ of the nurses to get the maximum work done with minimum incentives and rewards.

The unfavorable environment under which our nurses work has resulted in a drastic loss in zeal among them. To many, nursing has become a means of income not a vocation anymore. The lack of appreciation by their superiors, administrators and even the patients themselves has seriously eroded the morale of our nurses, both in public and private hospitals.

Privatization has dealt a major blow to the quality of patient care. Such care, when available, has become beyond the means of the vast majority of Malaysians who are toiling to make ends meet. Furthermore it has made the nurses mere tools for churning out profits for the huge co-operations that own hospitals. To make matters worse, now we are planning to embark on large a scale medical industry fashionably termed ‘medical tourism’.

Despite this commercialization of medical care in general we are fortunate to still have nurses who are dedicated, caring and compassionate but regrettably these qualities are the least sought for in our nurses these days as they are not readily saleable commodities.

The new Health Minister, who appears to be very energetic and eager, has some serious problems to address – to arrest the declining standards of nursing, putting the brakes on the massive and indiscriminate commercialization of patient care that is threatening the ethics of the medical profession, ensuring quality nursing schools and above all bringing back the glory and respect the nursing profession once commanded.

Meanwhile let us look out for those true Nightingales who are dedicated to serve their patients in silence despite all the odds arrayed against them. Let us show our appreciation and gratitude in cash, kind or the least in some kind words of appreciation and gratitude. We never know when we will need their services?

"Science student with 12 A 1 (including English O' Level grading) is just not good enough for PSD"

Though we were "prepared for the worst" - ie; my brother will fail to be offered a PSD scholarship, we're still very disappointed with the selection. So many more, with not so impressive results and an almost non-existent co-curiculum are successful.

Congrats to the successful applicants and for those "failures", I do understand your feelings right now - MAJOR DISAPPOINMENT - but please don't give up, remember "It ain't your fault. Keep up the good work AND remember those who give up on you in the first place once you've succeeded!".

Sad to note that my brother whom has consistently been the top boy in his school since kindergarden up to Form 5 is just not good enough to be offered a scholarship by the Public Services Department.

If evidence of my statement is required, please check with St Andrews primary school in Muar. My brother's record of being the only boy thus far, abling to get first in the whole form from Primary 1 to 6 is still standing despite having completed his Form 5 last year.

Further, my brother has consistently been in the top 5 of the whole form in High School Muar from Form 1 to 5.  He has the yearly medals at home, proudly displayed, to prove this.

He was also a dilligent librarian and an active scout member, having participated in numerous campings; with no criminal and/or negative records throughout his schooling years!

In terms of universal acknowledgment of his outstanding academic records, my brother has consistently scored higher distintions and distinctions in exams organised by UNSW (Australia) taken during his Form 4 and 5 years.

AND YET, he is just not good enough to be offered a scholarship by the PSD.

What're the criterias needed for PSD? Mind I ask?

It  is tiring to read the Education Ministry's inablity to come up with a viable world class school system for the nation's young.

The government having the political will wants the interest of the majority to prevail at the expense of providing a world class education for the masses. The governments 'tried but failed formula' of linking politics, race and religion to education  has resulted in a glaringly incompetent( unable to speak a proper language, poor thinking skills, low self esteem, poor aptitude and attitude etc) workforce. 

 The ideal system; 

1.The entire education system, from primary right up to tertiary level (and beyond)be in English.

2. Politics, race and religion be disassociated from education.

3. No quota system of any kind be practiced.

4. The poor (all races) be fully supported by the government.

5. BM be made a compulsory subject (passing is mandatory)

6. Introduce Mandarin, Tamil, French, Hindi, Italian etc as optional subjects to be taken.

7. Source for world class educators from Europe, America, Asia as full time consultants, placed at the Ministry of Education.

8. Set up a finishing school (teaching of courtesy, manners, fine dining skills, posture etc) within the school system.

Our yardstick...........Europe.

Any input?

I laud the move by Penang's Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng for the Govt to abolish the National Service programme as the  programme had not proven its effectiveness but instead caused the deaths of so many students who had been forced to attend the programme or be subjected to a summons and/or jail term.

The selected NS trainees should have been given a choice to  either participate or  back down from  the  programme  if  the Govt cannot ensure the safety of the participants, as said by the Chief Minister.  If this was implemented, then  the parents of  those students who died at the National Service camps would not be able to blame the Govt as they had agreed to have their children attend  the camp.

But since all parents had no choice but to send their children as required by law then the Govt has to bear full responsibility and the parents of those dead students SHOULD SUE THE GOVT AND THE FOUNDER OF THIS PROGRAMME for their chilren's death at the camp.

Reference is also made to the post by Syaper's "Death at NS Camp", I cant agree more with him for the rakyat to really look closely at the actions of the main ruling Govt who had in the past few  years implemented the National Service which  had caused the deaths of so many innocent students and had wasted millions of the rakyat's money and national  resources.

The National Service had not succeeded in preventing the occurence of Mat Rempits nor teenage gangsterisms by sending pre-selected teenagers to the camp.

Even  if  this had helped, the Mat Rempits and teenage gangsters would be on the roads again after 3 months  and this time with more vengeance as they now have learned to handle firearms and had been taught the martial arts,  not to protect themselves, but to attack innnocent victims.

Rest assured, I WILL NOT VOTE NOR SUPPORT THE GOVT THAT HAD SENT THE INNNOCENT STUDENTS TO THEIR UNNECESSARY DEATHS.

To the parents who had lost their child/children in the National Service camps,  I sympathise with them and pray that the future ruling Govt will abolish the National Service which is a FINANCIAL BLACKHOLE THAT ROBS THE  RAKYAT OF THEIR CHILDREN AND THE COUNTRY'S FINANCIAL RESOURCES!

I WILL NEVER, NEVER, EVER ALLOW MY CHILDREN TO ATTEND THESE DEATH CAMPS!

And just ask any of the Cabinet  Ministers if they would send their children to such death camps???

Sorry Pak Lah, it's a bit too late.

UMNO has already once again shown its arrogance.

Parliament has been in session for less than 14 days and already UMNO is raising hell by countering arguments with insults.

We've already heard how Wan Azizah was told to get out of Malaysia, and we've already heard how bribery in football will lead to them playing like "pondans".

If that is not blatant arrogance, I don't know what that is....

Don't understand how this happen and how can this allow - CROSS OVER MPs.  We voted for the party that we trust and now the MP's to Cross Over to other party.  Don't think those MP's are represented the nations/voters and they just cheat/lie to us after they had been elected!!!  

The gym seems to be a place to ask for opinions of relevance these days.

Recently at the gym in Menara Axis someone asked me what I thought about the Grand Saga road issue. Now, I may not be the most knowledgeable person when it comes to this issue, but reading through some of the press, here's what I've understood so far.

Basically, a private owned company developed a road under contract with the federal government to build up a tolled road.

Somehow, in the midst of all the negotiations, the deal turned sour and the road has been blocked off to avoid anyone from using it.

Then the public took notice of this road and started using it, thinking that their taxpayer ringgits are actually paying for it's maintenance. The company, which developed the road got pissed and blocked it off for two times in a row.

The federal government, which contracted the road, remains quiet about everything.

Then the company puts up barricades, the people take down the barricades, the company puts up the barricades again, the people get the politicians in the Opposition side involved to take it down again....

And now the police get involved, basically charged with protecting private owned property being infringed by the people who are using it.

That's the story I've gotten so far.

Did I miss out anything?

I'm sorry, but just because the people are pissed because they have to pay RM0.90 to and from home does not justify breaking the law and trespassing on private land, even if the toll has been raised twice.

And for politicians from the Opposition to support breaking the law in such a way, instead of forming a coalition to discuss the issue and gain a settlement from Narajaya and Grand Saga, is stupid and unreasonable.

Why hasn't the Selangor state government, which is so sympathetic to the people, simply negotiate the purchase of the road from Narajaya and make it toll free?

Narajaya, you now have a defendant to sue for trespassing and aiding and abetting to commit trespassing.

That would include the state government as Selangor with Khalid Ibrahim issuing the statement, along with Ronnie Liu and all Selangor state politicians who are involved in the removal of the barricades, including the contractors.

We continually argue that we are a nation of laws and we need to be lawful. This act of trespassing on private property is unlawful. What say all of us now?

Do we sacrifice our laws because it's more convenient to do so?

Why was my thanks to DAP article edited to the point of sounding rather polite?

Never mind.

Now on to a more mind-boggling discovery.

Last week I actually asked if Raja Petra actually had the power to determine who went to heaven and hell, since it's actually God's decision.

And after reading the argument brought up in Parliament, allow me to list out how the argument came about in Parliament.

"Uncle Lim" Kit Siang brings up the issue of Raja Petra, and then an MP asks for clarification. Uncle Lim asks him if we all agree to send Altantuya's murderers to hell. The MP states if LKS agrees that such a decision would be in the hand of the Almighty.

Uncle Lim then becomes angry and states that this MP doesn't "get the point".

Sorry Uncle Lim, but I'm agreeing with the MP from Rembau, Khairy Jamaluddin on this one. And I'm sure everyone knows how I hate to love anything that comes from Khairy, but this is one of those things.

And I'm glad to note that the MPs from PAS are less...urm, "conservative" sounding than I thought they would be. If anything, they seem to be the most well mannered bunch in Parliament, much to my surprise.

So kudos to PAS, especially Khalid Abdul Samad from Shah Alam.

And I'll be keeping a closer eye on Khairy.

With reference to the Star Metro article on 9th May 2008 regarding the above, I as a Klang resident for the last 31 years agree with the temparary solution being imposed by MPK effective 21st May 2008 (on turning Jln. Batu Tiga and Jln.Pasar into one way streets) in conjunction with the massive roadworks being carried out at the Chi Liung Plaza end of the Jambatan Kota - to a certain extent. There are still some missing pieces to the puzzle.

Firstly, in order to make Jln. Batu Tiga and Jln. Pasar into one-way streets, there is no need to remove the divider. Make the right side of the road STRICTLY for going into Klang town, access to the bus terminal, Kapar, Meru, Shah Alam and KL, while the left side is STRICTLY for going to Jln. Tengku Kelana and southern Klang via Jambatan Mussaeddin. Remember: Left=South & West, Right=North & East. This will prevent criss-crossing of traffic which lead to bottlenecks.

Secondly, block the Bulatan 100 exit of the Federal Highway for traffic coming from Shah Alam/KL. Currently, motorists from Shah Alam/KL exit here to go to town, Kapar, Meru or back to Shah Alam/KL. They should instead be directed to exit at the Berkeley roundabout. With this arrangement, there will be no inteference of traffic at Bulatan 100 as traffic from the Berkeley roundabout can be directed to the slip road.

Thirdly, traffic from Berkeley roundabout should be blocked from entering Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim. The same reason as above applies.

Fourthly, block traffic from Klang Town, Kapar and Meru (heading towards south Klang) from using the Jambatan Kota. Motorists coming from these places should be diverted to Jln. Batu Tiga.

If the above ideas are implemented, then only traffic from Shah Alam and KL will be on the Jambatan Kota. The bottlenecks may be removed significantly. The only backlash I see is the potential queue-jumping that will take place at the long queue at the exit of Berkeley roundabout. Town traffic, on the other hand, will be without the Shah Alam/KL traffic. If you are coming form KL and want to go to Jln. Tengku Kelana, you will get there faster if you take the Jambatan Kota and then make a left turning and go past the fire station on your left, or exit at Bukit Raja and take the Connaught Bridge route. Traffic on Bulatan 100 will be smooth flowing as the traffic lights there will be rendered useless.

This is important because I anticipate that buses headed for KL will have to go to the Federal Highway (Persiaran Sultan Ibrahim) via Jln. Nanas and Jln. Gee Hock Huat therefore we cannot afford to have any bottlenecks here.

Oh, finally, please station traffic police at Jln. Tengku Kelana and Jln. Tengku Diyauddin 24/7. Illegal parking and double parking there MUST NOT BE TOLERATED especially with the dire traffic the we will be facing daily until December 2009. Don't hesitate to issue summons. Triple the amount. If the motorists there are still stubborn, then please don't hesitate to bring out your steamrollers, monster trucks, or whatever and crush those obstructive vehicles!  Some people just don't deserve to drive cars! There is ample legal parking space there. People will just have to learn how to walk! Perhaps, designate some disabled parking lot along the side lanes.

What do you guys think?

The death toll arising from negligence from NS camps is now 16 over the last four years (and counting?). There is no point in investigating the deaths. The conclusion is clear for all to see - that NS personnel are NOT QUALIFIED to operate the camps.

Why not let the Defense Ministry handle this? We never hear of death at army camps. Further to this, we might as well make our youths go through a compulsory 2-year military service like our neighbours across the causeway. When we have youths equipped with patriotism and combat skills, we have a strong depth of army reserves who will be ready to be deployed to the nation's defence in times of trouble. Crime rate too may decrease significantly because criminals know that they are most likely going be apprehended my commandos.

If this solution is not practical, then scrap NS! There is no way of meeting in the middle here. 

The decision to raise the retirement age from 56 to 58 is very disturbing as it shows the whims and fancy policy making of our government. If any of these retiring civil servants service are still needed, the only thing the authority should do is to extend them 1 or 2 years contract on case by case basis.

The extension should not applicable to all the existing retiring staffs. The new policy should only apply to those new intakes but not on existing staff.

Is it fair to those who just retired at the age of 56 a few days ago from announcement date? Is it fair for those who are going to join the civil service as there are no new vacancies available?

There will be crisis that there will be lots of unemployed graduates or school leavers because they have been blocked by the new policy. 

Now that the Royal Commission has delivered it's findings the Nation waits to find out whether the Government is serious about judicial reforms.

I find it hard to believe that the authorities and the Agong are still deciding if the findings of the Royal Commission will be made public. There really is no doubt that the public have the right to know?

I am sure the public don't want to hear excuses and who is blaming who, we just want those who pervert the course of justice punished with the full extend of the law. Regardless of who they are.

The Public waits. Malaysia is now facing two acid tests (the other one is Altantuya's trial) of whether the country had gone to the dogs and prove beyond any doubt that it is still a third world country with two tall towers in the middle to distinguish it from parts of Africa!!!