The problem with censorship.

How is Rais Yatims idea of censoring the internet going to affect you. I feel it's stupid and bad, but I also feel UMNO would lose out more support if it censors the internet, than if it kept the situation status-quo.

But first to other things this government has censored.

There are a total of 397 banned books in the last 9 years.

These aren't just books that are meant to protect the Malays from 'confusion' , these are some rather normal books including Kundalini for Beginners. I wonder why my government wants to ban a book about Kundalini, in fact I wondered what the hell Kundalini was in the first place.

According to this article by the Global Campaign for free expression, Kundalini for Beginners was banned in mid-2006 together with other books. In fact out of the 397 books banned 94 of them were Mandarin, I'm unsure what Mandarin books were banned, but all this talk about protecting Malays from confusion starts losing steam once you see Mandarin books on the list.

Upon further investigation into the pathetically slow-loading list of books banned, I found several titles that might amuse most readers including:

1) MISDEEDS OF TUN MUSTAPHA
2) Suratan bertajuk "M.I.C. IS ANTI-ISLAM AND A THREAT TO RELIGIOUS HARMONY"
3) Peter J. Mojuntin The Golden Son of The Kadazan
4) Report of Amnesty International Mission to the Federation of Malaysia 18 November 1978
5) How We Won The War" - General Vo Nguyen Giap
6) BRUCE LEE - Hee Poh Publishing Co.

Of course I couldn't look through all of them, but these banning of books is ridiculous.

And now the Government wants to decide what you can and cannot view on the Internet.

If Government has proven before that it is willing to BAN Amnesty reports and Political literature from General Vo Nguyen Giap, what makes us think it will NOT ban political dissenters in Malaysia?

What re-assures us, that fans of Malaysia-Today, MalaysiaKini and Harakah are going to be able to view they're favorite news portals?

What re-assurance do I have that I can view the Herald online?

The government should not censor the Internet, it is going back on it's word on it's promise to investors.

If the government can't keep a simple promise like "We won't Censor the interenet" , how can we expect the Government to uphold other promises.

That being said, BN doesn't hold a monopoly on such stupidity. In fact, I'll show you that Rais Yatims decision to censor the internet may not be in UMNO best interest.

Kg. Buah Pala Debacle...proof DAP isn't all that good.

DAP Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng today noted that Kg. Buah Pala residents demanded Rm3.5 million per resident. A ridiculously high number, and most people (once shown the number) immediately get disgusted by the sum and have a negative impression of the residents. Depriving them of the their biggest asset.... public support.

Anil Netto whom I trust more than Lim Guan Eng, and Aliran (whom I trust more than all politicians) note than the Rm3.5 million was never thrown up by the residents.

Anil clarifies the figure here:
"I did see the RM3.5 million figure mentioned once, in one of the handouts given. But look at the context: that was when the residents were reacting to accusations that they were greedy. They retorted that the real greedy parties were those who were coveting their respective property lots, some of which they claimed could be worth up to RM3.5 million. That’s quite different from asking for compensation of RM3.5 million or demanding a RM3.5 million bungalow"

Aliran mentions that the residents were not given proper time, with no assurance of anything. When a group of poor residents goes against a corporation rich enough to build multi-million condominiums, there normally is a tilt in power. The only position the residents have is to sue.

According to Aliran in the offer:

• There is no guarantee when these houses would be ready for occupation.
• There is no indication on which part of the land these houses would be located.
• There is no indication of the cost of these houses.
• There is no mention whether these houses would be built first to allow the residents to move in at the shortest possible time before the commercial project takes off.
• There is nothing mentioned regarding the rental that would be incurred when the residents are forced to look for alternative accommodation upon the demolition of their houses.
• To add to these uncertainties, there is also a condition that states if the amended layout plan to accommodate these houses is rejected by the approving authority, the deal would be off and the residents would not have any hold on the Koperasi and Numestro for any compensation. If this were to happen, the residents would have lost their homes and would be entitled to nothing whatsoever – not even a sen. In that eventuality, they would have been exploited and deprived of everything that they have had on this land: their lives, their homes, their history, their heritage.

So basically... the corporation is telling residents, we're going to build you a house:
1) Not going to tell you when
2) Not going to tell you where
3) I won't promise when the house will be completed
4) I can't promise you that your house will be completed BEFORE I destroy your existing property.
5) If you accept this offer you can't sue me ....forever.


WHAT THE BLOODY FUCK?

I would not buy a house if the developer could not promise me (with exact detail), where the house was to be built (up to the centimer), how big the house would be (up to the mm), when the house would be complete (up to the day) and a promise of the quality of work (up to the brand of tiles they would use).

I cannot expect these residents to give up the only home they have for an amount of uncertainty I deem unacceptable.

Here's how the offer was designed:
1) The ultimatum is meant to apply pressure on the residents to accept

2) If the resident accept, then the developer will jump for joy.They have a 'get out of being sued' free card for a minimal price of building a undefined house. Undefined in the sense that everything from location,size and date of completion can be decided on the whim and fancy of the developer.

3) If the residents don't accept, then the developers tell the world of the offer and then smear the residents with a Rm3.5 million rumour.

I hate it when large corporations think they can take poor people for a ride.

I hate it when politicians refuse to have empathy for those involved.

I hate it when politicians and corporations get together with their Public Relations buddies and start bulldozing their way forward, by creating negative impressions and 'bad press'.

The only way around this is free journalism and non-partisan reporting. Or at least a wide variety of partisan reporting from either side.

Thanks Anil and Aliran. I trust these non-partisan reporters more than any other form of journalism.

Censoring the internet may not be in BNs best interest either. Without non-partisan reporting, shit from the DAP may be hard to come by.

I am now placing DAPs logo on my blog at bad, and it reflects how I think DAP is handling this issue. The logo has 5 points, ranging from Good to Fucked up, currently it's just one level above fucked up.

That's my 2 cents, don't spend it all in one place.