www.wansaiful.com

Apparently the guy who accused Anwar of sodomy met his Najib’s aide. above is the pic taken from Malaysiakini. Najib’s aide in question is Khairil Anas Jusoh, my senior at Alam Shah. sigh….

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Wan Mohd Firdaus and I was interviewed live on Islam Channel’s Politics and Media show earlier today (broadcasted 19.00pm).

The repeat can be watched on www.islamchannel.tv or Sky Channel 813 at 08.00am GMT (15.00pm in Malaysia), Tuesday 24 June, or Thursday 26 June at 16.00pm GMT (23.00pm Malaysia)

(Sorry about the slouching - I had to sit in the middle of the couch…)

SMS received today: Wan, Enta tak nak respon kpd ‘Explanation’ mengenai buku Islamic State?

My reply: Tak de keperluan. The party is swiftly moving on. Kalau layan komentar kedai kopi yang tersangkut dikurun ke 15 Masihi, sampai bila pun tak habis. Idea utama buku well-received by pimpinan. Cukup lah tu. Buat penat je kalau layan mereka yang masih nak bermentaliti pembangkang.

Malaysiakini and The Star reported that the Malaysian government wants to make the rich pay more for fuel. This reminds me of a story which goes like this:

Every day, ten men go out for dinner. The bill for all ten comes to $100. If they pay their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this:
. The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing.
. The fifth would pay $1.
. The sixth would pay $3.
. The seventh $7.
. The eighth $12.
. The ninth $18.
. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59.

So, that’s what they decided to do. The ten men ate dinner in the Restaurant every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve. “Since you are all such good customers,” he said “I’m going to reduce the cost of your daily meal by $20.”

So, now dinner for ten only cost $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our taxes. So, the first four men were unaffected. They would still eat for free. But what about the other six, the paying customers? How could they divvy up the $20 windfall so that everyone
would get his “fair share”?

The six men realized that $20 divided by six is $3.33. But if they subtracted that from everybody’s share, then the fifth man and the sixth man would each end up being “PAID” to eat their meal. So, the restaurant owner suggested that it would be fair to reduce each man’s bill by roughly the same amount, and he proceeded to work out the amounts each should pay.

And so:
. The fifth man, like the first four now paid nothing (100% savings).
. The sixth now paid $2 instead of $3 (33% savings).
. The seventh now paid $5 instead of $7 (28% savings).
. The eighth now paid $9 instead of $12 (25% savings).
. The ninth now paid $14 instead of $18 (22% savings).
. The tenth now paid $49 instead of $59 (16% savings).

Each of the six was better off than before. And the first four continued to eat for free. But once outside the restaurant, the men began to compare their savings.

“I only got a dollar out of the $20,” declared the sixth man. He pointed to the tenth man - “but he got $10!”

“Yeah, that’s right,” exclaimed the fifth man. “I only saved a dollar, too. It’s unfair that he got ten times more than me!”

“That’s true!” shouted the seventh man. “Why should he get $10 back when I got only $2? The wealthy get all the breaks!”

“Wait a minute,” yelled the first four men in unison. “We didn’t get anything at all. The system exploits the poor!”

The nine surrounded the tenth and beat him up.

The next night the tenth man didn’t show up for dinner, so the nine sat down and ate without him. But when it came time to pay the bill, they discovered something important. They didn’t have enough money between all of them for even half of the bill!

And that, boys and girls, journalists and college professors, is how progressive tax system works. Tax the rich too much, attack them for being wealthy, and they just may not show up at the table anymore.

I was in Liverpool again today. More than 10 years ago I was in the City as a student at Liverpool University. Today, I was there to give a talk at Liverpool John Moores University’s Business School.

It was a very short visit. I arrived last night, spent the night at The Feathers Hotel on Mount Pleasant, and left mid-afternoon today. Of course I took some time to visit a few places.

The destination today was Toxteth.
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If you do, click here.

The Undergraduate ParliaMentors Programme is now accepting applications. This is a unique initiative aiming to nurture future politicians and community leaders from the three Abrahamic Faiths. Nine MPs from all three major parties each mentor a group of three students - one Christian, one Jewish and one Muslim - meeting with them on a monthly basis. With advice from their mentors, students develop projects focussing on themes such as political engagement and identity, whilst supported by key political NGOs and think tanks.

The programme
- Provides politics students from Christian, Jewish and Muslim communities with advice and support appropriate for a career in politics.
- Facilitates dialogue and joint working between young people of the three faith communities.
- Provides the participants with purposeful contact with the political world.
- Gives parliamentarians the chance to engage in depth with young people from faith communities.
- Establishes an alumni network of participants of the three faiths studying in the political field.
- Give future leaders the opportunity to understand their role in the political process.
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Pasca Pilihanraya Umum 2008

Maklumat lanjut boleh didapati dari:
http://www.freewebs.com/events-malaysia
Email: events.malaysia@yahoo.co.uk
Telefon: 07883009293

Found above the entrance to one of the rooms in the Capitol:

Big sign in front of the Newseum in DC (The first ammendment):

A quote from Abraham Lincoln (Lincoln Memorial). Malaysian who still cannot get rid of their ethnically divisive mentality have a lot to learn:

Martin Luther King’s tomb in Atlanta:

And, if you go Atlanta, you really have to try the Sundial Restaurant on the 72nd floor of the Westin Peachtree Plaza. The cocktail is wonderful!

And the view is spectacular. Seen here is the 1996 Olympic Centennial Park, which is in front of the CNN HQ.

And this is a view of Atlanta’s Downtown and Mid-town from Sundial:

The Islamic Centre on Embassy Row in DC:

And the Mosque on Atlanta’s 14th Street (I was driven to the mosque by Prof Abdullahi An-Naim):

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This Malaysiakini report (plus many others) makes make me think about the role Malaysian royals in public affairs.

In principle, I am happy that Malaysian royals are playing their role as one of the check and balance institutions. But this can only be done if they accept that they too are not immune from criticism.

So, respected Royal Highnesses, by all means please do get involved in public affairs. But do remember that if you want to criticise, be ready to be criticised. Attempts to hide behind the cloak of royal immunity will eventually invite people to start deliberating about republicanism.

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I also want to add that, if the Royals want to be more active in public life, they must be open to public scrutiny on their expenses. They must be willing to disclose how much it costs the public to help them sustain their lifestyle. I don’t mean just a simple disclosure to state or federal government. I mean proper public disclosure. In short, what I am asking is, can they prove publicly that they are worth the public money spent on them?

There is also one big question of how to justify spending taxpayers money collected from a multi-ethnic population to support an institution that protects the debated “sovereignty” of one race and one religion.

To that effect, if there are any laws that prevent the public and the media from openly debating and questioning the roles and the actions of the Rulers and their family members must be removed.

The British monarchy can be an initial source of reference, prior to developing our own model of royal accountability See here.