Celebrating H.U.T. - Dirgahayu R.I. ke 63

DARKENED RAINCLOUDS LOOMED Sunday morning over the vast dreary swamps of Kalimantan Timur where a rig called Yani was temporarily shut down.

Led by Liaison Officer Captain (Mariner) A. Mannan of the Indonesian navy, the crew assembled on the heli-deck to commemorate 'HUT' (pronounced 'hoot'), Indonesia's 63rd birthday, or - Hari Ulang Tahun - as they liked to call it.

Mat Salo ,being the sole Malaysian on board, was given the unenviable position of guest of honor, worthy of a Du-Bes (duta besar).





We quickly got the outdoor part over before the heavens opened (portend of things to come?), commencing to the galley below for a Lucky Draw; the door prizes donated by our respective companies.

By the way, I 'won' a rice-cooker. Now what in heaven's name shall I do with it?

Adjourning to galley below. . .

Drawing Straws for The Lucky Draw

A jubilant crew member - "I won a TV set!"

The Captain & I

©2007-2008 mAtsalo iMages

Come visit my Other Blog

To all my enduring visitors here, please come visit my other blog too. Got a new post up today. The other blog is more family-oriented, suitable for all audiences where I hope to keep the unsavory stuff (like politics) out.



See you there!

Bakaq is freed; but systematic intimidation of the Rakyat remains

Case of Systematic Intimidation?

I WAS MORE THAN HAPPY to hear of Bakaq Penarik Beca's release when I received his SMS shortly past midnight on my ship here in the swampy dregs of East Kalimantan. He was detained for forty hours to be investigated under Malaysia's Sedition Act, primarily for defacing the police's crest in a posting in his blog; removing the "Muhammad" and " Allah" and replacing it with a "C4" and dollar sign respectively. The tiger element in the center of the crest too was replaced with a "howling dog" graphic. Some people might find it tasteless and I can understand how policemen would react with horror, but how would it would incite the Rakyat into hating the government is beyond me. I thought the Rakyat already hated the BN-led government? That's why BN was "trounced" in the last polls? Am I missing something here?

So ... Bakaq was only stating the obvious.

He has apologized, according to Bro Rocky for his "stupid mistake" in the "cut-and-paste" graphic but stands by the story in the posting. In his SMS to me, he laments that police had confiscated his PC and modem. And why the modem I couldn't fathom --unless it's another form of intimidation? Hey Polis, why throw out the baby out with the bath water? Sounds baby-ish to me, is it not?

One way to dishearten the Rakyat is to limit their movement (road-blocks) and freedom of expression (blogger harrasment)...

But I suspect, along with indiscriminate policing (read: harassment) like the all-too-common road blocks, is a symptom of a wider malaise that is ailing our society these days: systematic intimidation. And of course it designed to do one thing: to break the will of the Rakyat. One way to dishearten the Rakyat is to limit their movement (road blocks) and freedom of expression (blogger harassment). Keeping them in a perpetual state of despair. To what end? Furthermore, is it not mere coincidence that Bakaq's detention happened exactly WITHIN TWENTY-FOUR HOURS of DSAI being formally charged in the latest installment of SO.DO.ME. Part II? Not that Bakaq has anything to do with DSAI, of course.

The mainstream media's BN-sympathetic press reports carrying Foreign Minister Rais Yatim's statement to "monitor bloggers and form a watchdog council" isn't helping either. My guess is this was Yatim's knee-jerk response to popular blogger Bro Kickdefella's suggestion to fly the flag "upside down" as a show of disagreement in the way the country is run. And go to Unker Bernard's, the ex-priest-turned teacher-turned-Zorro for a second opinion too.

In short, the BN-led government is displaying a classic response to being under siege. And when they're under siege, they resort to time-tested dirty tricks like intimidating the Rakyat --and to go hard after anyone remotely identified as "anti-government".

Well, I got news for you, Pak Lah, so you better wake up. What with the constant road blocks harassing the Rakyat and unnecessarily lightening their wallets burning precious petrol --ordinary folk struggling with the effects of runaway inflation --and your blatant "Get Anwar" campaign along with indiscriminate targeting of conscientious bloggers like Bakaq, or kickdefella or RPK, the Rakyat are getting sick and fed-up and -surprise? - getting more anti-government these days? Well, just go down to the warongs and mamak stalls to see what I mean. The Rakyat, along with scores of members of your own party, cabinet and BN coalition partners wants you to concentrate on bringing the economy back on track instead of this SODOM and going-after-bloggers rubbish.

So Pak Lah, notice is served. The moment you abuse the government apparatus to go after conscientious citizens your days are numbered.

And when you fall --and you will surely fall, make sure you got a thick mattress below.

And I assure you, the mattress, is not for sleeping.

N.B.

I appeal to all clear and level-headed Malaysians to head over to Benar's site and sign the Memorandum on Media Freedom Petition. It will be handed over to national leaders on 31 August and to state leaders on 16 September. Thanks for the heads-up, Michelle.

Also head on to Harris Ibrahim's People's Parliament on how to save our judiciary.

And the brave young lady likes to remind you, 'the power is in your hands.'

Because it really is. So do it.

Pak Lah apologises to SBY, IGP Musa writes an apology to Donald, and Donald says sorry to ME?

I AM NOT PULLING anybody's leg here. He really did say sorry to me, Mat Salo.

A year ago, Pak Lah, as was widely reported in the Indonesian media, had personally telephoned Indonesia's president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono to convey his deepest regrets. Not to be outdone, IGP Musa Hassan too had written a letter of apology that was delivered to Donald at his Jakarta hospital bed via Malaysia's very own ambassador. And Donald, in turn, had actually said "sorry" in an SMS to me yesterday, the 19th of July.

Well, apologizing for not being able to meet for a private interview, that is.

To refresh your memory, a year ago Pak Donald was beaten senseless by Royal Malaysian policemen outside his hotel in Nilai, Negri Sembilan, an incident that provoked outrage and threatened to derail Malaysia's and Indonesia's "fragile" bilateral relations. Pak Donald had been attending a Karate event as a Ketua Wasit (chief referee), and was out minding his own business when he was unceremoniously dragged away to be shown Malaysia's special brand of hospitality that ended with him in a hospital emergency ward. Courtesy of the Royal Malaysian Police of course, currently once again being brought to scrutiny: Altantunya, Anwar, girl-raped-in USJ police station, Gemas. Ge-mas? Isn't that in Negri Sembilan too? Well, the State Police Chief was quoted as saying that in no way was transferring the alleged corrupt cops meant that there were "guilty". Yeah, sure.

Was Donald mistaken for an illegal alien? Who knows? I'm not even certain if the perpetrators were ever brought to book; or were they just given a slap on the wrist? Or a nudge and a wink to for "teaching an Indon a lesson"? A subtle thumbs-up? After all, blowing up tourists with deadly C4 explosives is not beyond them.

A few days ago I had overnighted at East Kalimantan's premier hotel in Balikpapan during the busy PON week. PON is Indo short-speak for Pekan Olahraga Nasional, Indonesia's national sports meet for regencies and provinces that is held once every four years, with the Indonesia's richest kabupaten (province) of Kaltim hosting this year's event. It is a bit like Malaysia's SUKMA.

The staff at the hotel there are my eyes and ears; having stayed there often and enjoying their graciousness, friendliness and uh, okay, the delectable staffs' uniform. One of the very pretty PR managers, a Miss Novi, with her impeccable calves shielded only by lacy black silk stockings, had whispered in my ear that that karate referee who was beaten up the Royal Malaysian Police is staying at the hotel too.

With that juicy piece of information delivered by an even juicier conduit, I repaired to to my suite (yes, suite -- I was upgraded during the busy PON week where all the city's hotels were running at 110 percent occupancy) only to abuse the mini-bar. Suitably quenched and inspired, I took a piece of the expensive hotel stationary paper and proceeded to write Donald a letter. Along with my own regrets delivered in terrible Bahasa Indonesia, I signed off with a request for a meeting. I put in my local Indonesian mobile number together with my room number in case he decided to take up on the offer. After having licked the enveloped and sealing it, I took the elevator to the lobby to meet again with Novi, where I unabashedly told her (after gaining the confidence that only a mini-bar's contents can provide) that she has the most lovely legs and the only reason I hang around in the lobby is to cuci mata. And so on, ad nauseam.

For almost two days I sat stewing until it was time for me to leave. Over breakfast on my final day I finally saw my prey. While nonchalantly heading past his table to fill my bowl with Mee Soto, I noticed that the scar above his right temple was still visible. He was sitting in the No Smoking section with some heavy types, whom I presumed also to be national karate referees. That spoiled my chance of walking over and extending a hand; if he was alone, sure, but with these heavies? Who's to say if they too want to extend me the same level of "hospitality" that Donald was shown in Nilai a year ago?

I needn't have worried; he had read my letter after all. Because a few days later he sent me this SMS, which I quote verbatim:

Selamat malam pak Ahmad. Membaca surat bapak, sy ucapkan terima kasih banyak atas simpatinya terhadap di zoliminya saya saat bertugas sbg wasit di * some text missing * Nilai Seremban. Saya minta maaf selama bertugas sbg Ketua wasit PON di Balikpapan tdk sempat jumpa bapak krn setiap selesai tugas pkl 20, kami hrs meeti *some text missing *ng utk evaluasi kinerja para wasit. Sejak kemarin sampai besok sy sdg rakernas interen perguruan karate sy & tgl 23-27 juli ini saya pimpin refreshing & * some text missing * tanding karate di Kalbar. Sekali lagi mohon maaf tdk dapat jumpa bapak di balikpapan. My Best Regards, Donald PLK

Note that he had extended his "regrets" for not being able to meet me. In his message I felt he showed no animosity to me or to the other 25 million or so Malaysians. Not sure how he still feels about the RMP goons who bashed him though. And why didn't he pursue a claim in the civil courts?

I think he has put this behind him and moved on. I think I shall move on too and delete the poster "Justice for Donald" out of my blog. I don't know if "justice" has been served for Donald or not, nor the perpetrators who had "welcomed" him by beating him to within-an-inch, but inside I feel good. You know, for doing my infinitesimally small part. But raiding the contents of that mini-bar earlier had certainly made me feel better. Not to mention, hornier.

And Miss Novi? Mmm...

I think I'll leave her alone. For now.

A Kid-Friendly Getaway in Malacca

THE SCHOOL HOLIDAYS were in full swing when I was home the last time. Trawling the 'net for some suitable mini-vacation breaks, we became intrigued by the ads for the new Holiday Inn Malacca. Particularly their "Kiddie Suite" - a large bedroom with king-sized bed and a kiddie partitioned area with double decker beds .

When my kids saw this on the computer screen, the six-year-old immediately broke into a jig. I knew this was it. The thing was, the six-year-old boy and his fourteen-year adolescent brother shares a bedroom, and more than once they had nudged and winked for a double decker. This would certainly free up much needed space. But the problem for the 'decker is the ceiling fan. It is not only impractical but dangerous. Unless one's home comes with a twenty-foot ceiling of course.



So now they get to live their fantasy!



Could be a bit of an anti-climax for couples seeking intimacy. Why? The partition has a break near the ceiling so the kids can sneak their head through to check on wayward parents!



Of course, a Malacca getaway would be incomplete without a seafood feast. Who better than Doc Tokasid and family to share it with?

Thanks for the hospitality, Doc!




N.B.

The Malacca Holiday Inn sits behind Mahkota Parade, thus almost all major attractions are within walking distance. Oh, don't forget to visit the excellent Asam Pedas restaurant by the shophouses in front.

Caveat - the Kiddie Suites are NOT sea-facing unfortunately...