Dr M recovering, part 2
Former Malaysian premier Dr Mahathir Mohamad did suffer a heart attack earlier this week when he complained of breathing difficulties, which led to his hospitalisation. This is his second heart attack in six months and his third since 1989.
But he feels much better now, according to his aide Sufi Yusoff and press reports.
In an e-mail reply to Sophie today, Sufi said:
Dear Sophie,
I apologise for not replying to the mail earlier. Things were just zooming by and I just got swept by events the last few days.
Dr M is progressing really well now. The National Heart Institute confirms that he had a heart attack and the breathing difficulty was caused by that and a chest infection, both ailments of which are not new to him.
We had Bernama take some pictures of him today on the road to recovery. Hopefully the papers will pick it up.
Again I apologise, and thank you for your concern on Dr M.
Regards,
Sufi
P/s I managed to tell him that a poodle called Sophie from Singapore sent her regards... :-)
Sophie is glad that Dr Mahathir -- the longest-serving leader of Malaysia before he stepped down in 2003 -- is ok. He can walk around his room and even cracked jokes, according to the AFP report below. Hope his laughter is related to Sufi's remark about a poodle called Sophie. I ain't a poodle, I'm a schnauzer! :-)
I apologise for not replying to the mail earlier. Things were just zooming by and I just got swept by events the last few days.
Dr M is progressing really well now. The National Heart Institute confirms that he had a heart attack and the breathing difficulty was caused by that and a chest infection, both ailments of which are not new to him.
We had Bernama take some pictures of him today on the road to recovery. Hopefully the papers will pick it up.
Again I apologise, and thank you for your concern on Dr M.
Regards,
Sufi
P/s I managed to tell him that a poodle called Sophie from Singapore sent her regards... :-)
Sophie is glad that Dr Mahathir -- the longest-serving leader of Malaysia before he stepped down in 2003 -- is ok. He can walk around his room and even cracked jokes, according to the AFP report below. Hope his laughter is related to Sufi's remark about a poodle called Sophie. I ain't a poodle, I'm a schnauzer! :-)
Mahathir feels much better
Kuala Lumpur - Malaysia's former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad said on Friday he was feeling better after suffering a heart attack earlier this week.
Mahathir said he could now walk around his room at the National Heart Institute, where he is warded, and was not feeling dizzy or having difficulty breathing, the state Bernama news agency reported.
"I feel much better now," Mahathir told Bernama. "I also have no dietary restrictions," he added.
Bernama described his mood as jovial, with the 81-year-old outspoken ex-premier cracking jokes and reading the newspaper.
Mahathir was admitted after having breathing difficulties, which doctors said on Thursday was due to lung congestion caused by a heart attack.
Mahathir said he would ease up on his schedule on the advice of his personal physician as well as the consulting cardiologist, Nasir Muda, Bernama reported.
"Dr Mahathir still needs to undergo chest physiotherapy daily and must be under doctors' observation," Nasir said, adding he would remain at the institute for a few more days. - AFP
19 comments:
Of the 30 richest people in Malaysia, only 8 are malays. One is Indian and the rest are Chinese.
12 billionaires in the list and only two are malays.
36 years of NEP and still more Chinese billionaires and millionaires.
What else does the government have to do so that our malay brethren can catch up!
So all they can do is blame the Chinese in Malaysia and Singapore for keeping them down.
Anyway for 22 years the twisting Mamak tried his level best to bring Singapore to its knees. He couldn't. So now he thinks the Thais can do it. And he is egging them.
Poor soul. He will never see Singapore on its knees.
As a post-independence-born Malaysian, I would like to offer my thoughts on Article 153 of the federal constitution which mentions the special position of the malays. Please note that there is no mention of the words 'special privileges' or 'special rights' in the constitution.
For too long, there has been a lack of understanding of what our forefathers had in mind when they included this clause in our much talked about social contract. To gain a better understanding, let us take a trip back in time to 1957 to actually visualise the scene then.
In a scenario where the immigrant Chinese and Indians were seeking citizenship rights in Malaysia, it is reasonable to presume that they would have had to understand and acknowledge the difficulties faced by the majority malays.
And this is where the meaning of the words 'special position' comes into focus. What did our forefathers mean by the special position of the malays? Did they mean that the malays would enjoy a higher status than all the other races? Did they mean that the malays would have special rights and privileges in perpetuity?
If this is what our forefathers had intended, then our constitution would have mentioned this specifically. However, the constitution or social contract does not say so.
What then, could the words 'special position' mean? It is reasonable to infer that our forefathers were concerned first by the fact that the malays were left behind economically despite being the indigenous majority in the country.
Secondly, they were concerned by the fact that, despite being immigrants, the Chinese and a small segment of the Indian community were relatively much better off.
The clause was therefore more so of an acknowledgment by the non-malays of the disadvantageous economic situation of the malays. The consideration given by the former to the latter when entering into the social contract for citizenship rights was agree to provide some measure of support for the malays to improve their economic standing.
If our forefathers had meant for these preferences to last in perpetuity, then there would not have been a request for a review in 15 years.
When I see the compulsory requirement for non-malay companies to hand over a certain portion of their equity to the malays for no input at all, I am tempted to ask: Is this what our forefathers had in mind? I can go on listing the abuses forever because there are plenty of them.
It is intriguing to hear senior BN and Umno leaders repeatedly asking the people to adhere to the social contract. What contract they are referring to? It cannot be the federal constitution. It is most probably some contract that they have entered into unilaterally without the agreement of the non-malays.
So it seems to be incorrect to firstly equate the words 'special position' with 'special rights and privileges'. Secondly, it also seems incorrect to suggest that the malays have special rights and privileges in perpetuity and therefore, that they have a higher status than everyone else.
The non-malays only agreed to allow them preferences over the others for a finite period of time. It has now been almost 50 years since independent but has such a meaningful review of those preferences taken place at all? Absolutely not.
In fact what has happened is that successive BN governments, dominated by Umno, and especially after the 1969 tragedy, have taken the liberty to very liberally interpret Article 153. This has led to the wholesale abuse of the consideration provided by the non-malays in 1957 for their citizenship rights.
It seems to me that the real social contract of 1957 was torn up long ago by the BN government with the way in which the NEP was implemented from the 1970s onwards.
To me, the real social contract of 1957 has long been dead. I hope the day will come when the people of Malaysia in the true independent spirit will make it live again.
Then perhaps, we would not have to spend hundreds of millions ringgit on nonsensical projects like the National Service to inculcate unity amongst the races.
None of our five prime ministers are pure malays. All of them are called melayu ciplak or melayu celup.
If you don't believe, you can ask MGG Pillai. He can tell you each one's orgin. So, the Umno is never at any point of time leaded by pure malay. It is the truth.
Tunku - part Siamese;
Razak - Bugis;
Hussein Onn - part Turkish;
Mahathir - Mamak Keling;
Badawi - part Chinese.
Even many other top Umno leaders are not pure malays - Musa Hitam and Mohamed Rahmat - part Chinese.
In the opposition side - Wan Azizah is Chinese and PAS Youth chief Salahuddin Ayob is also part Chinese.
I am glad, I got my residency in other country, I am showing off, yes, I am happy, I don't have to face those silly Malaysia politicians drama again.
Wish you people, for those talented one and the rich one, just pack up and go to other countries, they don't appreciate us, we won't stay!
As they say, we not happy, we can pack up. So I listen to them - since we Malaysians have to listen to the government "all the time", or some people will treat us, May 13 will be happen again.
I am a good Malaysian Chinese, I listened to my teacher in school, I studied hard, I didn't manage to get into local university, maybe it is too packed with their people and leave me no seat.
I paid my tax when I worked for a year full time after I graduated from my college diploma set, I paid my tax for them to build for the 10 thousand ringgit a street light in Cyberjaya.
I never voice out in the public that I was treated unequally, because they might jail me and left a big black mark on my police report. And what the "finance" promised me from an award I received 2 years ago - still heard nothing from them, even I contact them, they said who are you? Chinese name, they don't care anymore since then.
So I am a good Malaysian, a non-malay Malaysian, I obeyed all Malaysia rules, and I decided to leave the country. I mean, what is the point staying in the country you don't like?
Am I still love my country Malaysia? Ho yes I still, a bit since some of my family members are still there if not I won't be here anymore……….well maybe after another 20 years, after those "certain type" of malays already opened their mind, maybe I will return - return to buy a piece of land for my grave yard.
We have the tallest, longest, largest, greatest, grandest, biggest, everything; and now some record breaking events, falling, collapsing, cracking, bursting, break-downing incidents in new buildings. It is only the beginning.
The writer shows a serious lack of knowledge and understanding of the role of MCA in the pre-independence era. Not only was MCA was a political tool of the British colonial power, other Alliance parties like MIC and Umno were also political tools of the British.
The British made use of MCA, MIC and Umno to fight the Malayan Communist Party (MCP) and the Malay Left in order to protect its economic interests in the then Malaya.
The Chinese were confined to various Chinese new villages under the Briggs plan to curb the influence of the communist party. MCA was then granted a licence to run the Million Dollar lottery scheme by the British authority to make easy money from the Chinese community. In return, the MCA had to use part of the profit to win the hearts of the Chinese in the new villages. This strategy worked well to serve the interests of the British master during the pre-independence days.
When the time has come to give independence to Malaya, the British kept its promise by working only with Umno, MCA and MIC. On the other hand, the real independence fighters, including some prominent Malay Left leaders, were arrested and locked up in prisons. And the war against the MCP continued with greater intensity.
But true leader like Tan Cheng Lock were sidelined by other MCA and Umno leaders in the run up to the independence negotiations. Cheng Lock had promised the Chinese community to present the general demands of the Chinese community to the British. But he was barred from attending the final round of talks in London. The MCA was represented by HS Lee and Tan Tong Hai.
According to the late Tunku Abdul Rahman (in one of his writings), Tan Tong Hai threw the entire general demands document into a wastepaper basket in a London hotel room instead of bringing it up at the negotiation table. That is the reason why I often tell the young people that the betrayal of MCA could be traced back to its inception. As a result of this unforgivable sell-out, Chinese Malaysians were treated like second-class citizens in our land. The Chinese were stuck with the 'non-bumis' label thanks to MCA.
It is people like Leong Yew Koh who instigated Tunku to strip the citizenship and teaching licence of foremost Chinese education pioneer Lim Lian Geok. Check with Loot Ting Yee. He is one of the mother tongue education pioneers who can verify my story.
The entire history of MCA is filled with betrayals, crimes and sins. They have failed to preserve and protect the interests and rights of the Chinese community which they have claimed to represent.
Take a closer look at these scandals - the deposit-taking-cooperative scandal, the Aik Hua Holdings scandal, the Chang Min Thien Fund scandal, the MCA JE Fund scandal, it is a never-ending list. And guess what? Most of the victims of these scandals were MCA members and supporters.
Mind you, it was MCA leaders that instigated the closure of the original Bai Xiao (SJKC Damansara) in Petaling Jaya. It was also the efforts of SOS Damansara Action Committee and the pressure mounted by DAP, DongJiaoZong and the entire Chinese community that brought about the unprecedented speedy construction of the new SJKC Damansara in Tropicana.
It is a great shame that MCA leaders do not even bother to get accreditation for the certificates, diplomas and degrees courses offered by TAR College (TARC). Recently, a young Malaysian Chinese boy's application was rejected by the Royal Malaysian Police simply because the academic qualifications he obtained from the MCA sponsored TARC were not recognised by both National Accreditation Board and Public Service Department.
Under the current MCA leadership, the Chinese community can only request for a new Chinese primary school when one is dead. And all these years, the allocation of funds for Chinese primary schools remains unfair and unjust; only about 2.4% of the total budget is given to the Chinese stream and about 1% given to the Tamil stream. The rest was all given to the malay (national type) primary schools. None of the MCA 'tai kohs' (mainly Chinese educated) dare to make noise on this subject.
Yes, Lee Kuan Yew was not totally wrong. The Umno-led BN government has been systematically marginalising the Chinese and other non-malay communities. And what did MCA leaders like Chan Kong Choy and Ong Ka Ting do about it? And why were they keeping so timidly quiet when Umno ultras like Hisham and Khairy make all sorts of racist remarks and even waved a keris time and again shamelessly?
MCA is indefensible. That is why none of the MCA leaders dare to show up for the debate in Machap. And for the same reason, none of them have the courage to rebut me on all the historical facts I raised in the book entitled 'Accomplice? Coward? Culprit? The role of MCA in the Chinese community'.
If anybody who thinks that corruption and racial discrimination is not wrong then there will be nothing that is wrong.
This is what actually happening in Umno. They love the two evils:
(i) corruption to enrich themselves (ii) racial discrimination to make them feel good and superior to other races (when they do not know that they still need to be spoon fed and the tongkat) and deceive the poor kampung folks that they are heroes to their race who keep on voting for them.
They are actually robbing the country by making everybody poorer, malays and other races alike. Petrol prices are raised with hundred and one excuse, and tolls are raised without any transparency, and everything has gone up making the poor becoming poorer.
I do not see anything that they can be proud of, and nothing superior about them. Even to rob, they are all given assistance and tongkat to do it by having two set of laws, one for them and one for the ordinary citizens.
That is why malay is the most arrogant, corrupted, racist and terrorist race in the world. To the world population, malay is only a minority. And yet, still keep on talking about Islam, Muslim, Syariah law. Shame on you!
If ever I would want to produce a movie of the old China dynasty era, Koh Tsu Koon and Ong Ka Ting would make perfect casting as the eunuchs of the emperor.
Just look at their faces and mannerisms in real life and you'd know they are perfect for these roles in reel life.
This is not a false perception as many posters here have similar perception of these people.
Other than carrying the balls of the power bearers and keeping mum on issues affecting the Chinese community, these seemingly emasculated people are always seen having a gayest time showing their faces in the papers.
The voters just have to waken up for the next elections. Enough of Eunuchs!
Got NEP, you complain! Abolish NEP, you make noise!
Become Ali Baba, you lament! Ask you to work hard, you don't want!
And you keep on blaming other communities for everything!
"Pathetic" is the word my malay friends!
wow, i have never seen so many comments for one posting. keep em coming. woof woof
wihong, why you want to come back to malaysia? why you do want to buy the grave land for you in the country you are live now? he he he... for me all the people in this world are etnocentric, means one pupil will say that his culture, his religion and his people is the best. Malay is like that. Chinese also like that. U can see that scenario in Malaysia. Chinese think that his people is "rajin" do works so that they do not give job to other people who is come from other races. In vacany notice they will put "chinese only" as requirement. You think that is fair then what the other races do to your race also is "fair".
"Chinese Malaysians were treated like second-class citizens in our land". Could you change this word please... U know how chinese enter malaya? U must ask your forefathers, YAP AH LOI and other "tai kohs". They entered malaya "kononnya" want to settle the dispute among sultans. Now when your communities become sizeable, you say that this is your land.
Sultan Brunei do the right job... In brunei, they use king monarchy system. If they do not use that system, chinese in brunei also say that brunei is chinese land.
Nasib baik cina kat malaysia tak disembelih macam apa yang berlaku kat indon
Sultan Brunei do the right job... In brunei, they use king monarchy system. If they do not use that system, chinese in brunei also say that brunei is chinese land and claim for sultan's "post". The shameless ethnic I ever seen.
I am non-Muslim bumi - purely and originally from the land of Borneo - you malays have no right at all to speak here - pack your bag and go back to Indonesia where your nenek moyang came from.
Shame on you for calling others immigrant. There is no such thing as "hak bumiputra"! It is just a cover up for "hak migrant melayu"! Bangsa terrorist has no space here in my land.
Only those Semenanjung people who have lived in Sabah or Sarawak know the true meaning of integration and tolerance!
The only reason why there is many so-called pendatang in your malay land is primarily because your malay ancestors were a bunch of village idiots - who'd much rather let the white man take advantage of the nation great resources and run its affairs, while malays sat on their lazy asses collecting food for royalties.
Don't for a moment think that you and your ilk could have done it all alone in bringing this country to this stage of development, all by yourselves without the blood, sweat and tears of the non-malays.
Malays have not done non-malays any favors. We are all Malaysians, we all built this country and us non-malays………..no, better yet, Malaysians are here to stay!
Allowing the views of the non-malays to be heard in Malaysia. Otherwise, the malays will think that the non-malays are tolerating the nonsense of Umno.
You are living in the wrong country, in a wrong era. It is you malay who should pack your bag, and head to a desert, to live with your camel humping brethren in Saudi Arabia.
So get off your supremacist horse, because if not for the collective work of all Malaysians, an ignoramus like you would most likely be tilling the paddy fields or plucking the coconuts right now - instead of having the benefit of using a computer to surf the Internet and post rubbish on a board!
Really?
So what about UK lands in the Peninsula? What was that called Tanah UK?
And what about the 4 northern states that belonged to Thailand, that the Sultan groveled to the UK to take back? Tanah Thai?
And previous to that all the lands owned by Portugal and Holland? Tanah Portugal and Holland?
And how about the fiefdom of Raja Brooke in Borneo? Tanah Brooke?
Each state may have had its own Sultan and government but that does not = Malaysia!
If Malaysia was your own land to control then how come we had to have independence? I suppose Umno teach you that you have to declare independence from yourself?
Stupidest thing I ever heard!
You should go study Malaysia history, real Malaysia history not that doctored Umno garbage!
This country was all along a land for Orang Asli. The Chinese originated from China, Indians originated from India, malays originated from Indonesia etc. China get to give priority to the Chinese, India get to give priority to the Indians, and the malays are just freeloading from the Orang Asli land by claming it is bumi land.
This is because they are doing what Allah said……….Allah told malays to come from Indonesia and steal the land from Orang Asli and use Orang Asli as slaves. So when is Malaysia giving priority to Orang Asli?
The only time Malaysia is not a racist country is when an Orang Asli becomes the prime minister of Malaysia – which is never – it is a genocide in the name of Allah!
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