INDONESIAN PRESIDENT BROKE HIS DECREE WHEN HE SPOKE IN ENGLISH OFFICIALLY !

Indonesian President, Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono

President Soesilo Bambang Yudhoyono's fondness for using English instead of Indonesian in his speeches at various national and international events has been highlighted by the media.

In several occasions such as the Asian Summit and the Non Aligned Movement conference, Yudhoyono entertained audiences with his fluency in English.

Law No 24/2009 stipulates that Indonesian was compulsory for the president, vice president and state officials in official speeches.
President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has broken his own rule by delivering official speeches in English, Constitutional Court chief Mahfud MD said on Thursday.
Mahfud pointed out that it was not only the Constitution that the President violated, but also his own decree.

"A 2008 presidential decree says that Indonesian should be spoken at international meetings," Mahfud said.
(Jakarta Post 26 May 2011).

Comment:
Surprised? Not at all. But in Malaysia, PM or other dignitaries  have the freedom to speak their minds in English. Nobody seems to bother anymore, even though repeatedly they have been advised to speak Malay at official domestic functions. Never mind if their English is  suspect. They must and will show that they are and must be seen  eloquent. Forget the Malay language because it is only meant for the akar umbi in the kampungs and the "ceruk rantau." of the country.  Or probably SBY of Indonesia wants to see Indonesian dignitaries speak English more often at any function. Come then, let's  follow the Malaysian flavour.

ELECTION RESULTS OBVIOUSLY UNRAVEL LEE KUAN YEW DEAD WRONG ABOUT SINGAPORE MALAYS AND MUSLIMS!

Zainal Abidin Rasheed, Singapore Senior Minister of State for Foreign Affairs: Blaming LKY's remarks in Hard Truths for his defeat?

Singapore Senior Ministerof State for Foreign Affairs, Zainal Abidin Rasheed said Malays and Muslims still hurt by MM Lee's remarks in the book "Hard Truths", as repored in The Temasek review 13 may 2011.And it remains so’.

In his first media conference on Thursday after the People’s Action Party (PAP) team was defeated by the Workers’ Party team in Aljunied GRC, Mr Zainul suggested that there were also many residents who voted based on issues above and beyond Aljunied GRC.

On issues concerning the Malay-Muslim community, Mr Zainul said that (although) Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew had felt that his remarks on Malays, Muslims and integration in his recent book, “Hard Truths”, did not affect the Malay support for the PAP negatively.

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However, Mr Zainul said Singaporeans need only ask the Malays and Muslims in the country. He said many were hurt by those remarks and remain so.

Mr Zainul said this goes to show how easily the knots of racial harmony in the community can unravel.

Mr Zainul added that while it is unlikely he will stand in the next election due to his age, he will leave it to the party to decide.

He will continue his involvement as Adviser to the Aljunied Grassroots Organisations. Mr Zainul also put to rest the issue of being offered the post of Speaker of Parliament.

He said he will not accept the offer even if the Prime Minister offered it to him.

There are provisions in the Singapore constitution to appoint a non-elected Speaker of Parliament.

Comments:

There were 40 Responses to “Zainul Abidin Rasheed: Malays and Muslims still hurt by MM Lee’s remarks”. Among others:

• CHANGE:

May 13, 2011 at 4:42 pm  (Quote)

If the remarks in the “Hard Truth” hurts our Malay community, why no one highlight this to MM Lee?? Is it the FEAR FACTOR that exist within the ruling party beside to the people?? one wonder……

Like or Dislike: 36  30

• When We Are United, We'll Never Be Defeated!!!:

May 13, 2011 at 4:52 pm  (Quote)

The Malays Muslims are still hurt of course in regards to Old Fart’s remarks towards them..

You dont have to be a genius to realise this..

The Malays Muslims too have contributed and sacrificed alot for this country together with Sporeans of other races..

And to belittle them and cast doubts about them is a very very irresponsible act by Old Fart..

The Malays have long memories.. and in the GE, its only right that they go against Old Fart for his stupid comments about them

But sadly there are still quite a number of our Malay Muslims continuing to support Old Fart and the PAP..

Zainul, Georgie Boy, Ah Hua, they are all paying the price now… thanks to their Big Boss Old Fart…

The more Old Fart opens his mouth, the more support Sporeans will give to the Opposition..

Like or Dislike: 46  31

• WHY HE NEED GET 'SACKED' BY VOTERS, THEN 'OPEN' MOUTH TO SPEAK ABOUT THE 'UN-HAPPINERS':

May 13, 2011 at 4:56 pm  (Quote)

I guessed he’s afraid to tell the truth, as might get dumped from his 3.3million bucks pay by his ‘party’.

BUT HE NEVER THOUGHT HE DID BE VOTED OUT BY HIS VOTERS.

A LESSON TO BE LEARNED BY ALL GOVERNMENT APPOINTMENT HOLDER MPs.

Like or Dislike: 38  21

• too late to open your mouth Zainul...:

May 13, 2011 at 5:07 pm  (Quote)

Why only come out to say it now? You will not open your mouth if you won in Aljunied won’t you?. The Malay community would be happy if you continue to shut your mouth. Don’t be a munafik/hypocrite can or not? We are sick of you and the rest of the malay MP. And it comes from the bottom of our heart.

You want to know what the community think of you? you are all not worth the pay you are getting. And let me ask you one thing the tv clip in 2006 election and the nomination day 2011 clip both showed you flashing that devil sign. are you a masonic follower? or you suka2 ikut orang buat. It is unbecoming of you as a malay muslim leader to behave that way and you are not exactly a spring chicken by any standard! REPENT!!

SINGAPORE IS NOT A PRIVATE LIMITED GOVERNMENT SAYS THE ONLINECITIZEN

Singapore PM Lee Hsien Loong during his campaign trail last night.

Interesting! Yesterday I received two letters through e-mail, thought to be from Singapore prior to the Singapore General Election this weekend. The two letters were sent at 11.42 a.m Singapore time with a subject:   Singapore Pte Ltd – a letter Posted by theonlinecitizen on April 25, 2011 

Samuel Lai

Dearest PAP,
You have been running Singapore like a business, like a corporation, where you are the top management, where the people of Singapore are your employees and where all other institutions like education, health and transport, are your subsidiaries. No sir, this is not Singapore Pte Ltd, and we are not working for you.
 
Every policy that you have come up with has been made with economic growth in mind, i.e., to increase profitability for Singapore Pte Ltd, with retained earnings going into the national reserves.
 
Our education model has been structured to produce a quality workforce so that we can contribute efficiently and effectively to the nation’s economic growth. You dispense with the arts and concentrate on the commerce and sciences. You bring in plenty of foreigners into our schools so that we have to learn to work and study harder in the face of more competition. And you have succeeded. We now work one of the longest hours in the world with low wages.
 
This has been done at the expense of social costs. As human beings, we have needs to get married, to start a family, to have kids. As human beings, we have needs for work-life balance, needs for social activities, and needs for communal living. The culture and environment you have so delicately created have come at the expense of those needs. We don’t have time to play football and therefore we suck at it. Ok, in fact we suck at everything that does not make money. And we definitely suck at making children.
 
When you look at our low fertility rate, which you have so created because of the environment you have made, you try to improve it by offering stop-gap solutions in baby bonuses and tax reliefs. And in fact, the reasons you want the fertility rate to rise is to continue providing quality workers to work for Singapore Pte Ltd, put more money into the reserves through taxes, HDB profits, consumption, investment, i.e. increase Singapore’s GDP.
 
And of course, the other viable solution is to attract talented foreigners to fill up this institutional void. This causes another set of problems, like whether locals find it harder to get jobs, and whether these diasporic communities will take up citizenship, or leave without further contributing to birth rates. Well, what the hell, talented foreigners are always good for Singapore Pte Ltd.
 
You privatize our transportation system. You couldn’t run such a basic necessity of a first-world country with the same efficient and effective fervor. So, running it as a private entity was the only viable way? You talk about health tourism. Is that what the health sector is about, making money from foreigners?
 
Once in a while you declare dividends (grow and share) to appease us, so that we don’t remove you from your managerial posts.
Perhaps the most telling of Singapore Pte Ltd are the KPIs of top management. Our CEO, earning $3 million per annum, has his wages pegged to GDP growth, and so are the wages of the COOs, the CFOs, and the various department heads. Y our main motivation is Singapore Pte Ltd’s profitability. And given that at least 60% of Singapore’s GDP is contributed by Temasek Holdings and GIC, it certainly makes sense to increase the coffers of the national reserves.
 
It’s all about economic growth, economic growth, and economic growth.
However, countries are not just rated by economic growth. There are many other indicators that one may use to determine a country’s standing in the world, such as the purchasing power of the average citizen, the culture and ease of living, the efficiency of transportation, the range of quality education, the cleanliness of the streets, personal safety risks, and so on and so forth. You have undoubtedly excelled in some areas, but certainly not in others.
 
You forget that Singapore is not a corporation, but a community of individual human beings who have feelings, who can discern between what is good for us and what is not, what is fair and unfair. We, who have basic needs to have a roof put over our heads, and food to eat, have willingly contributed to your goal of building up the nation’s economy not because we are your employees but because we want Singapore to prosper, to achieve the vision of a first-world nation in which its citizens do not have negative emotions of fear, fear to vote, fear to speak freely, fear of the struggles of putting food on our table.
 
So, let me remind you, dearest PAP, that we have voted to put you where you are today. This makes us the shareholders. We are social beings, not economic assets. Together, we the citizens of Singapore own Singapore. It is us, the citizens, with our problems of rising costs of living, and not the profitability of the country that you have to care more about. And if you, dearest PAP, continue to run Singapore not as a nation of citizens but as a business, there will come a time when us, the shareholders, the real board of directors, vote you out and replace you with another managemen t team.

Yours sincerely,
A shareholder of Singapore Pte Ltd

A cyber-leaflet campaign through social media meant for Singapore voters, perhaps! A reminder to Malaysian voters in the wake of the country's next general election, expected this year! Will Malaysians become shareholders of Malaysia Sdn. Bhd. if a political party having similar aspirations taking over the reign in Putrajaya?