News snippet – Highland Tower condominium tragedy happened 27 years ago on 11th December 1993 and it was one of the worst tragedies in the country. 48 people died from the said tragedy – a tragedy that should not have happened. Image source: The Star
Snippet 1 – A Memorial or Historical Site?
Speaking of high priorities in the country, it was not a big surprise when one reads this idea from the usual clueless politicians:-
The Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) only plans to beautify the site of the collapsed Highland Towers condominium and turn it into a historical site, said its Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
She said the ministry did not plan to build a memorial at the site as reported by the media.
“The plan to beautify the place is as a remembrance of the tragic incident which killed 48 residents on December 11, 1993,” she said in a statement last night.
Zuraida said the Highland Towers area needed to be given a new lease of life as it had caused a feeling of uneasiness among the local community due to the social problems that occurred there.
(Source)
It only raises a lot of questions.
The tragedy happened 27 years ago so why then the place was not made as a historical site?
What’s so historical about it?
We have in the past even had destroyed actual historical sites but now deciding to make a place of tragedy & human blunders as a historical site?
What is the cost to the taxpayers to set the area as a historical site?
If the collapsed buildings are causing a “feeling of uneasiness” among the local community due to the social problems, the best choice is NOT to make it as a historical site but rather engage an independent contractor to demolish the remaining structures and clear the land. Once vacant land, turn the area into a park or reserve forest.
When one uses taxpayers money to build a stadium but names the stadium after your own name, it should be known as a Syok Sendiri (Excited Yourself) stadium. By the way, this is a real extract from Google Map.
Snippet 2 – Nice Try Naming Stadium Backwards
Nice try but people are not stupid.
It does not take a genius to notice a gross abuse of power when a district officer naming a mini-stadium that was built using taxpayers money in his own name. The worse part is this dumbest act is the follow-up justifications.
The DO justified that “Ffira Mikah” actually means something but in Spanish and Arabic. Why not in the national language, Bahasa Malaysia that the local warriors have always has championed?
The Kedah State Government who is now involved in a number of controversies decided to play ignorant and brushed off the incident of abuse of power:-
An attempt to name a mini stadium in Padang Terap “Ffira Mikah” has been thwarted by the Kedah state government.
However, not before the signage of the name had gone up at the stadium with photos of it having gone viral on social media. The “Ffira Mikah Mini Stadium” had sparked controversy as it was alleged to be an inverted spelling of Padang Terap district officer Hakim Ariff Md Noor’s name.
State Health and Local Government committee chairman Datuk Dr Mohd Hayati Othman said they were not aware the mini stadium had been named as such until it drew criticism from the public yesterday. Dr Mohd Hayati said the local government has been advised to use names of historical figures in the district or names of individuals that had contributed to replace the current name.
Since yesterday, Hakim Ariff became the subject of criticism after Malaysians found out that the newly built football stadium had been given the name “Ffira Mikah”.
Located in Kuala Nerang, the stadium is under the purview of the PTDC and was officially launched by Hakim Ariff on Dec 7 after upgrading works were completed. It is understood that the stadium’s name signage has been removed today and it is expected to be known as the Kuala Nerang Mini Stadium.
(Source)
These are very kind of public servants who make the mockery of their duties and trust set by the people and act in their own personal interests. These little Napoleons are the dangerous ones and if they are not nipped at the butt, they will act beyond the law and create problems to the very people who they suppose to serve.
And the shrug by the State Government on this act will only encourage other “sleeper” rogue public servants out there to come out in the open and be bolder in their stupidity and abuse of power.
When I was in Iran for a project, we had non-alcoholic beer all the time. It was the favourite of the Iranians as well. Non-alcoholic beer is lower in calories and does not have any trace of alcohol. Image source: CNBC
Snippet 3 – So It’s Fine to Step on the Minorities?
It seems like it is easy to bully private businesses to stop selling items to the minorities with the justification that it is troubling the majorities. One such incident is when Jeram assemblyman Mohd Shaid Rosli forced the Jaya Grocer supermarket to shut down their non-halal section.
It did not take long for the bricks to fly in the social media on this act of bullying and just as expected, the politician back-track with the usual excuse of his intentions being misunderstood. After all, no one is forcing any Muslims to drink beer or eat non-halal food. Further non-halal sections are clearly marked and placed on one side of the corner so that one knows.
After public backlash, Jeram asemblyman Mohd Shaid Rosli has denied forcing a Jaya Grocer supermarket in Puncak Alam, Shah Alam to close its alcohol section.
He told online news entity The Malaysian Insight (TMI) that he had merely made a suggestion based on a petition by residents in the community who protested the sale of alcoholic drinks at the supermarket.
“I did not force or push the management to close its alcohol section in its newly opened outlet in Puncak Alam.
“The memorandum I submitted to the grocery store on behalf of local residents objecting to the sale of alcohol in the premises was a mere suggestion for the management to consider,” he reportedly told TMI.
(Source)
If it is a mere suggestion, then why a private business had to close the non-halal section? And it gets worse as evident by this letter by the Kuala Selangor DAP Youth chief, Lim Yew Ping:-
Jaya Grocer holds a legal permit issued by Kuala Selangor District Council for the sale of alcohol and non-halal products.
Under normal circumstances, it is the state assemblyman’s job to voice the people’s discontentment to the district council of Kuala Selangor and go through the standard procedure of having the discontentment debated in the council and let the district council do its job.
Instead, Shaid trespasses into private property and closes down private businesses. The act of the people’s representative to abuse the given power is both wrong and shameful.
Supermarkets pay taxes to the country. The issuance of a permit for the sale of alcohol and non-halal products depends on the local government. It is never the case for a state assemblyperson to dictate what private businesses do.
(Source)
“It is never the case for a state assemblyperson to dictate what private businesses do”?
Where we have heard of this expression?
Still, remember the issue of Foodpanda and it ended up with a committee of 3 ministries dealing with a private business entity? This seems to be another case of politicians meddling with the operations of a private entity.
Just 2 years ago, there was another issue with Hindu temple in Selangor where there was a tussle between 2 groups of committee claiming to run the temple, the developer who owns the land where the temple resides which in the end, caused riots and the death of an innocent fire-fighter. The Image source: NST
Snippet 4 – Temple Demolitions Revisited
This used to be happening a lot in the State of Selangor until BN Government lost the state and Pakatan took over. Temple demolitions were one of the factors that led to the BN losing the state considering a large number of Indians in the state.
Now there is another case of a temple being demolished but this time in the PAS led Kedah.
Rights group Lawyers for Liberty (LFL) has slammed Kedah Menteri Besar Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor for his “heavy-handed” and “unacceptable” defence of the demolition of a Hindu temple in Alor Setar.
LFL adviser N Surendran said Sanusi had previously ignored how the Sri Madurai Veeran shrine demolished in July was built during the colonial era and so was not illegally built at the time.
He said insinuating that devotees had deliberately built the temple on land that did not belong to them was a misrepresentation of facts.
“The situation of the demolished temple sums up the whole fraught problem of temple demolitions in Malaysia, in which temples originally built with permission during the colonial era were rendered ‘illegal’ by subsequent land sales or transfers decades later,” Surendran said in a statement today.
(Source)
It is the same case as in Selangor where temples were built more than 100 years ago in rubber estates to serve the needs of devotees in the estates but now find themselves in awkward situations.
Why the temple committee or whoever in charge of the temple did not make the necessary steps to ensure the registration of their temple and the land where the temple is situated? I trust 100 years is more than enough to get these things done.
For Indians, temple and Tamil schools are sensitive issues and even MIC had often used these 2 components in the politics. The State Government should have dealt with these sensitive issues in a better manner as to how this was done by the Selangor State Government in the past. However one cannot expect much from the PAS politicians – just see their past records in dealing with others outside their circle of power.
This leads back to the question – why the temple committee or whoever in charge of the temple did not make the necessary steps to ensure the registration of their temple?
No point anyone blaming the Government or some private developers when the temple committee themselves have been lazy, not taking proactive steps and not thinking out of the box to ensure the land belongs to the temple and there are no further legal complications in the future.
Trust me, God will not assist when one does not assist themselves.