One Malaysia, a plagiarism of One Singapore? - Malaysiakini

Sounds also like the Singaporean tagline.

One People, One Nation, One Singapore. (Watch the youtube here)

Apparently, I am not the first to observe the commonality nor do I think that it is an exclusive tagline.

Anyway Najib’s team has mooted the “One Malaysia” concept, a simple yet powerful slogan that sounds more like a stripped-down of Singapore’s “One People, One Nation, One Singapore”. It would be a miracle for a person who vowed to “bathe the keris in Chinese blood” in 1987 to suddenly make a 360-degrees turn and sincere about having “One Malaysia” concept. (Streetvoice)

It is just the irony of things.

Firstly, there is huge hue and cry that the one Malaysia is closely resembling Malaysian Malaysia, which were them lambasted for being an opposition and non Malay ploy to confuse the citizens. This is a common story that anything that is wrong is associated with the Non Malays ( the Jews of Malaysia), or the opposition or the lacklustre Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.
It is then a huge contradiction that Najib's PR team conveniently borrowed / 'plagiarizes' a slogan from Singapore while trying to distinct itself from Kuan Yew's Malaysian Malaysia?

Secondly, it creaps back to its ketuanan Melayu ( Supremacy of Malay) clearly justifying the call to not overly optimistic that it will be anything different.
Prime Minister Najib come out with his definition today on what he meant by One Malaysia, staying closely to the definition given by the ultra-right UMNO mouthpiece, Utusan Melayu. It is to take into accounts all the concerns of the different races BUT will not forsake the concerns of the Malays primarily. And it is a rally call that we do everything as a group, dispensing (dirt under carpet) any prejudices or feelings. A noble yet indifferent goal that what we have known. Do admit that the Najib team does have an excellent proof-reader. It is technically the same stand as what we have been window dressed on , hence there is growing doubt that it will give better clarity to the quandry of race & religious scrimishes & the gaping.

I guess when there is an urgent need, Malaysians are able to conjure up any slogans or anthems to temporary impress the audiences.

The song had been very popular on the island of Mahé in the Seychelles. where the Sultan of Perak had formerly been living in exile. He heard it at a public band concert on the island, a song to a popular French melody, originally composed by the lyricist Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780-1857), who was born and died in Paris. When Sultan Idris Murshidul’adzam Shah who was the Ruler of the State of Perak from 1887 to 1916 represented the Malay Rulers of the Federated Malay States at the installation ceremony of King Eward VII in 1901, his protocol officer was asked what his state anthem was. Realizing that his state did not in fact possess an anthem, he, in order not to appear backward in front of his hosts, proceeded to hum the aforementioned tune. Thus was an anthem born. (Wikipedia )

Unfortunately, it may not be any of the idealism that makes Najib to come out
with the slogan. At the end of the day, one may realise that it could be just for convenience. Since his 'blog' is called 1 Malaysia (http://www.1malaysia.com.my/), why not directing the citizen to his blog by having a national caption that goes after it. Masterstroke of public relations spin and blog awareness program.

If petrol price is expensive, use motorbike

Image taken from http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/33/Honda_C70.JPG

While I was back in my hometown, noticed that my father's trusty old bike is below the required safety standards. In fact, his Honda C70 kapchai's suspension has gave way. Without telling him, I secretly went about town to find a motorcycle repair shop.

The truth is, it was a hard find. Many years ago, there would be quite a few motorbicyle shop littering this tranquil town of Muar. Not any more. Many people have moved on to cars and the impact is felt down the chain of business. Many motorcycle shops would have a hard time to stay afloat and this was the time when there was a sudden increase of fires affecting motorcycle shops. Rumour mills point to a conspiracy to extract insurance payment and to exit the business.

Anyway, the newly found mechanic and wife was very helpful and chatty. He then stressed that business has been improving as more people are buying motorbikes as it uses less fuels and hence will lower down the cost of living. I enjoyed a ground perspective of our economy at work.

How ironic it is that I saw this yet to be ascertained authentic piece of invoice but seemingly scanned document; that charges the country RM1.58 million for driving motorbikes to an election. That is RM1,580,000 for 12 days of 'work' of driving around in their motorbikes for UMNO youth members. This is daylight robbery. I can work many many years and will never earn this type of money. And 200 people just took less that half a month to squeeze RM1.58 million from taxpayer's money. Only in UMNO world where it is more expensive to drive a motorbike.

So, in the days of increasing cost of living .. it is ironic that the mere lowly mechanic went about doing his work to earn a decent living. The change of mobility preference helped his family to earn a bit more during these times, but I reckon he earned just enough during the lean times. Yet, he was still able to give me discount on top of his service. He did not overcharge or undercharge. That is a lesson in integrity.