This and That

With the old lunar year drawing to an end, the hope is that adverse events recede and better times flourish.

In Malaysia, we once again hear the cry that Barisan needs a "Wow factor" after yet another loss in the Kuala Terengganu by-election. The claim is that this is only a setback and has no impact on the national political landscape. The Prime Minister said Umno accepts the decision of the voters with "an open heart and mind".

Having said that, it's off travelling on an official visit to the Middle East. No images of the visit are available on The Star or The New Straits Times websites. Even Al Jazeera was least concerned with this visit and has left it unreported.

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Gaza destroyed

Al Jazeera does however report Malaysia's former prime minister as blaming the US for backing Israeli military aggression against Palestinians in Gaza, saying it makes the US "much more guilty than even the Israelis".

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Excerpts of President Barack Obama's Inaugural Speech

. . . "we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord".

. . ."What the cynics fail to understand is that the ground has shifted beneath them—that the stale political arguments that have consumed us for so long no longer apply. The question we ask today is not whether our government is too big or too small but whether it works . . ."

An astute observation. Hello Malaysian politicians wake up to a new day please!

. . . "For we know that our patchwork heritage is a strength, not a weakness. We are a nation of Christians and Muslims, Jews and Hindus—and nonbelievers. We are shaped by every language and culture, drawn from every end of this Earth . . "

Hey Malaysia was the original melting pot template or model. Who pulled the rug from under our feet? Did we botched that up too!

. . ."To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history . . ."

A call that falls on deaf ears in our fair country!

. . . "Let it be said by our children's children that when we were tested we refused to let this journey end, that we did not turn back nor did we falter; and with eyes fixed on the horizon and God's grace upon us, we carried forth that great gift of freedom and delivered it safely to future generations . . ."

Can we claim we did not falter . . . for the safety of future generations?