This is my earlier post when i was skating in middle east, Palestine.
Want to bump this, to let people know the reality in Palestine. I been there. It really sucks when Israel just occupy the land with western powers just paying lip service.
Entering Palestine is like going in prison. Even after Mandela triumph over apartheid, and world mourns his death, still apartheid exist in Palestine.
Palestine being caged n discriminated yet western world did nothing to stop Israel while praising for Mandela effort to fight apartheid.
Shame on the world n Israel. You Dun deserve to pay respect to Mandela.
Our protest letter to the Israel Embassy in Singapore.
The ceasefire must remain to alleviate humanitarian suffering and to keep alive prospects of peace negotiation which are the only hope to break the cycle of violence and devastation once and for all.
1. Johor Bahru akan bertukar wajah secara radikal. Pembangunan yang dicadangkan, dengan berpuluh bangunan pencakar langit yang tinggi dan indah, dengan mercu tanda yang berbentuk ‘sky scraper’ tertinggi akan menjadikan Johor Bahru lebih menarik dan mengagumkan dari New York.
2. Tidaklah salah jika JBB (Johor Bahru Baru) ini akan mengheret Malaysia ke era baru. Ia tetap mencerminkan kemodenan dan kemajuan Malaysia. Seperti dengan Kuala Lumpur, Johor Bahru akan sampai Wawasan 2020 lebih awal dari wilayah lain di Malaysia.
3. Walau bagaimanapun soalan yang timbul ialah siapa yang akan tinggal dan bekerja dalam puluhan pencakar langit ini. Dari manakah mereka akan datang. Dari Johor Bahru? Dari Malaysia?
4. Bangunan-bangunan ini bukanlah rumah murah. Tentulah bahan yang diguna ialah daripada marmar dan granit. Lif dan escalator memudahkan pelawat naik-turun. Di tingkat atas yang mungkin 30 atau 40 tingkat tingginya, tentulah disedia flat mewah dengan sewa puluh ribuan ringgit sebulan.
5. Mungkinkah yang akan isi pejabat mewah ini syarikat dari Majidee atau Gelang Patah? Dan Penduduk terdiri dari orang Melayu Johor Bahru dan kampung-kampung di sekitar. Di khuatir bukan.
6. Pada 1819 Singapura dijual kepada British oleh Temenggong dengan harga Dolar Sepanyol 60,000. Terdapat beberapa nelayan yang tinggal di pulau itu, pada ketika itu.
7. Pendatang asing membanjiri Singapura sehingga penduduk asalnya tenggelam dalam bandar besar yang didirikan. Demikianlah besarnya jumlah pendatang asing ini sehingga Singapura menjadi negara asing yang tidak dikembalikan kepada Johor apabila British bebaskan pulau itu daripada penjajahannya.
8. Apakah mungkin bandar indah dan mewah yang sedang didirikan tidak akan jadi satu lagi Singapura. Dalam sistem Malaysia sesiapa yang tinggal di negara ini selama 10 tahun dari 12 tahun yang lepas berhak mendapat kerakyatan. Dan kita tak pandai tolak permintaan orang. Lihat sahaja apa yang sedang berlaku sekarang.
9. Kawasan yang akan dibangunkan ini tentu akan menjadi sebahagian dari Malaysia. Ia akan memiliki beberapa kawasan pilihanraya. Kalau pun dicantum dengan kawasan lain majoriti penduduk akan terdiri daripada warga baru ini.
10. Sekarang kita tidak boleh sebut Melayu. Ia rasis. Tak apalah jika tidak ada seorang pun warga keturunan Melayu, asalkan yang akan mengundi dan memilih wakil rakyat terdiri dari warganegara Malaysia.
11. Saya mengalu-alukan transformasi di Johor Bahru seperti saya alu-alukan transformasi di lain-lain tempat. Yang penting ialah Malaysia menjadi negara maju walaupun ayam dikepok mati kelaparan dan itik di air mati kehausan.
JOHOR BARU: Consumers can expect a hike in the delivery charges by local freight forwarding companies to Singapore following the city-state’s decision to increase the Vehicle Goods Vehicle Permit (GVP) fee next month.
Federation of Malaysia Freight Forwarders (FMFF) president Alvin Chua said forwarding companies would not absorb the fee hike.
“The huge increase will have a significant impact on our members’ operating costs,” he said, adding that the additional cost of S$30 (RM77) would be added to the overall transportation fee next month. FMFF has about 1,100 members nationwide.
He said local companies exporting their goods to Singapore, however, could opt to revise their rates by striking a deal with companies in Singapore.
“I think it is fair that we charge it back to them (Singapore companies) as the increase in the GVP fees was imposed by their government.”
On Tuesday, Singapore’s Land Transport Authority had announced that effective Aug 1, the GVP fee would be raised by 300 per cent from S$10 (RM25.70) to S$40 (RM102.80) a month while the Vehicle Entry Permit (VEP) fee by more than 50 per cent from S$20 (RM51.40) to S$35 (RM90) a day.
With the hike, operators of more than 3,000 lorries entering Singapore via both checkpoints in Johor will have to spend a total of S$1.44 million (RM3.7 million) a year for the GVP fee alone.
However, the hike will not affect buses, taxis or foreign-registered motorcycles, which are charged at S$4 (RM10.28) per day.
Johor Sand and Granite Lorry Operators Association president Chia Jee Onn said the hike would have affect customers as the operating cost would also be raised.
“Customers can expect lorry operators to increase their charges because the GVP fee hike is significant. We can’t absorb such a high increase.”
He estimated more than 3,000 lorries from Malaysia entering Singapore daily to deliver all sorts of goods, from granite and building materials to electronic goods and finished products from factories.
“We have yet to calculate how much the (operating) cost would increase. We need about two weeks to get the response from our members.”
On Tuesday night, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin had said all parties must respect and accept the decision by the Singapore government.
He said the state government had submitted a proposal to the federal government for the introduction of a charge to every Singapore-registered vehicle entering Johor Baru through the Causeway or the Second Link Highway five months ago.
It was proposed that an entry charge of RM20 is imposed, of which RM5 is for road maintenance purposes.
“We are still waiting for a decision. We hope the federal government will expedite the decision on this,” said Khaled, while dismissing that it was a retaliatory move by the state government.
In Sepang, Transport Minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai said the Johor government’s proposal would be considered and a thorough study done.
“It is not something that could be implemented immediately as Malaysia has many entry points.
“The proposal must be studied carefully and properly especially on the implementation method.” Source: New Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR: Bumiputera must unite under Umno to stem the rise of opposition party DAP, an Utusan Malaysia columnist wrote today, warning that Singapore could still possibly re-enter the Federation of Malaysia to dilute the community’s majority among the races.
Cautioning the Malay youth not to be sold on the notions of liberalism espoused by the opposition, Datuk Ahmad Faris Abdul Halim said the country’s largest ethnic group was not certain to always maintain its numerical superiority over the other races.
He claimed that Article 2(A) of the Federal Constitution allows the inclusion of new states into the federation with a two-third majority vote in Parliament, which he said could open the door for Singapore to re-join the federation that expelled in 1965.
“If this happens — bolstered by the recent statement by Singapore’s founding father Lee Kuan Yew who repeatedly said it was not impossible for Singapore to re-unite with Malaysia under certain conditions — then imagine the ‘implications’ of Singapore with its 87 parliamentary seats,” he said.
“Therefore, Singapore’s 87 seats included into our country’s 222 parliamentary seats. What would happen to the Malays?”
Ahmad Faris said this would be the easiest way for a combination of DAP and Singapore’s ruling PAP to dominate the opposition bench here, given the former party’s existing 38 federal seats.
He also alluded to the increasing dissent from the country’s non-Bumiputera community towards Article 153 of the Constitution and contention against Islam’s position as the religion of the federation.
Article 153 specifies preferential quotas for the Bumiputera community in the areas of scholarship, education, and civil service.
He also alleged that the non-Malay community were so strong in their racial culture that they have managed to control nearly 68 per cent of the country’s riches, but he did not elaborate what he meant by the “riches” nor did he state how culture facilitate this purported domination.
The self-described current issues analyst then said the entire Bumiputera community should unite together with Umno — even if they did not all share the same religion — to demand for their rights as prescribed under Article 153, saying this would cow others from making claims on these.
Umno, in turn, must adopt the tough measures introduced under former Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, and take the lead in defending Islam, the monarchy, and the Malays.
Singapore joined Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak in 1963 to form what is now known as the Federation of Malaysia, but was expelled in 1965 after a tumultuous period that witnessed large scale race riots in the republic the year before.
In Election 2013, the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suffered its worst electoral performance when it managed to win 133 spots in the 222-seat Parliament and lost the popular vote to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact.
Although the rest of BN lost further ground from the previous nadir of Election 2008, Umno grew more dominant as a result of the backing it received from the mostly-Malay rural areas of the country.
Since then, the party has come under increasing pressure to reward the community and ensure its continued support as the bedrock for the party’s revival or survival in the next general election.
