Barbarians at the Gate

Umno Youth members block wheelchair-bound Member of Parliament Karpal Singh in the Parliament compound. Karpal's son as well as other MPs come to his defence, including Lim Lip Eng and Fong Po Kuan. The Star reported:

"Lim's tie and coat had been pulled by the men in full view of Parliament security.

During the commotion, Fong shouted: 'Where is security? Where is security?' and a reply was heard: 'We only jaga (look after) inside (Parliament), not outside.'"

Apparently, the partial Parliament security take good care to jaga who butters their bread, whether it be inside or out.

To roll back the political impact, an 8-man team headed by Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Nazri Aziz will "take appropriate action against those responsible."

That really shouldn't be difficult: after all, the media have taken extensive photography and video of the barbarians... which then can easily be crossed-checked with the police. Unless there was an easier way to find out who they are. Oh wait, there is: Umno Youth records.

As easy as it may be to protect the integrity of Parliament from hooligans, what you wanna bet this gets swept under the carpet? I'll bet Ahmad Ismail is having a grand old laugh right now.

Holy cow! Selangor now?

After a coup in Perak, the Mentri Besar of Selangor has been investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for abuse of power in regards to the servicing of a car and the purchase of sacrificial goats.

The MACC states that it has evidence, and even before the Attorney-General decides whether to prosecute, it's makes the headlines. TV3 actually regarded as "news" a question to Tan Sri Khalid about whether he is now going to resign due to the allegations. And the poor fella hasn't even been charged with a crime.

The alleged cow-purchase was apparently around 10 thousand ringgit.

Let's put this into a little perspective. If Khalid is guilty of wrongly misusing power, well, he must be a real idiot not to really raid the kitty. Not to mention that he used it to buy things which are, by definition, sacrificed.

The last I recall, the Prime Minister's monthly entertainment allowance is around 15 thousand ringgit... a month. Never mind the allegations that bribes of up to 60 MILLION were offered to realize the Perak coup. Or the very the convenient donations to mosques during the Permatang Pauh election by our dear Deputy PM. Or the 15 million someone necessary, apparently, for the police to run the Kuala Terengganu by-election. Both of which, as if we needed reminding, the Barisan lost, nonetheless.

As someone mentioned to me, at best it isn't corruption. It's cowruption. In the Year of the Ox, it seems that we're headed for a lot more bull.