Media - Democracy - Consequences

DO WE HAVE VITALS OF RESPONSIBLE CITIZEN IN A DEMOCRACY ?

The current state of the news media is partially to blame for the public’s general lack of information vital for responsible citizenship in a democracy. The news media has become an aspect of show business, offering merely infotainment.

It has evolved into an entity that tends to function as a public relations agency for wealthy and powerful multinational corporations, members of UMNO, the current Prime ministerial Administration including the administrations that preceded it.

The news media is being utilized as a political tool of suppression and propaganda by those in power, and propaganda is psychological in nature. Full of half-truths and utter misinformation, it’s an arrogant and very commercial strategy that is implemented because it appeals to emotions, fear being the main one relentless talk of national security, personal and community safety, can trigger childhood insecurities and indoctrinated views of authority.

Ends.
Vineeth Menon
vineeith@yahoo.com

My Suggestions for Better Malaysia

PAS and DAP could stop using Religion and secularism as the major factor and instead take somethings like this to their election Manifestos for better Malaysia.This could give a common platform to fight the election and the country would be much better.

MY IDEAS ON INITIAL REVAMPING OF MALAYSIAN SYSTEMS

Revamping the education system:-

• Compulsory and Free education to all citizens till SPM.
• Make Malay and English a Compulsory Subject.
• Provide Chinese & Indian languages as optional additional subjects.
• Free education for all, whose household income is below RM1500.
• Exams will never be allowed to intercept with any religious holidays.
• Reservations in all education system will be in same ratio of the population composition based on the latest government data
• Race and religion details in all the examination papers has to be replaced with just Serial Numbers.
  
• Start the education at the age of 5.Age of 5 is the age at which the children start grasping things. Also, this will enable our next generation to be graduated early.(Look at India).Also you could retire early.
  

Revamping the working Sector:-

• Fix the minimum Salary to RM950
• Implement an objective based evaluation and appraisal system for the government sector.

Revamping the reservation System:-

• All the existing reservation for Malays will remain with a change that these reservations are valid for ONLY the Malays, who’s income is less than RM2000
• Houses which are worth more that 250k wont have any bumi quota as these people are considered rich and do not need government assistance
  

Revamping the EPF procedures for the safety of the people:-

• Investment withdrawals are only allowed in the sectors where the government feels that there is minimum Risk.
• Create/Review the LIST of investments which government feels safe.
• Education withdrawals for education should only be allowed to the courses which are recognized by government.

Revamping of the Religious matters:-

• All the places of worship which are more than 25 years will be given land title; Provided it has been proved so in the court
• If any place of worship has to give way for development; the notice of 6 months will be given to the management of such places from the date of allocation of relocation place.
• All the places of worship which has mushroomed in last 25 years will be given notice to integrate with the older places of worship.
• Permits for new places of worship will be given, provided there is no such place existing in 10 sq km area of the requested place.
• Clarify the ambiguity between civil and Syariah law

Reassuring the Citizen’s freedom of Expression:-

• Press will be free to publish their views and other citizen views in all matters except the religious matters which are explosive in nature.
• Blogs and other media will be motivated and enlightened of the responsible journalism from time to time will be allowed to publish all the matters except the religious matters which are explosive in nature.
• ISA will be amended so that it won’t be able to use against any citizens for any political reasons. It will solely be used against terrorists and external forces trying to harm the country.

Revamping of the Election System:-

• The election commission is totally responsible for the Election. This means that "it supervises, guides, controls all aspects of the election process". Including the registration of the political parties.

• The election commission should enjoys full independence from the executive body in the state. The Agong appoints the high commissioner of the commission.

• The elected government is the executive power and it manages the administrative system of the state. Thus, the election commission is to ensure that the ruling party will not manipulate with the coming elections for forming a new government. Right now, the government is the body that supervises the general elections.

• The election commission supervises all government bodies during the time of holding the general elections. This means that the commission would have full control over the paramilitary troops and the police as well as all state property and their staff. This action guarantees the fairness of the elections. I have no doubt that all democratic powers in Malaysia would welcome the idea of establishing such a commission as the actual intervention of the police in the election process represents a great concern to all of us.

• The commission also acts as a judiciary body for solving election disputes. This means that it is the body that finally names the parliament members.

• Implement ELECTRONIC VOTING .We can copy the technology from India. It is well known that India is the first country in the world that managed to almost reach perfection regarding the standards of fair voting through ELECTRONIC VOTING.

To sum up, if we have the required guarantees to secure a fair election in place, we can catch up with India as a democratic country that is respected by its people and by the whole world

Revamping the judiciary:-

Present State of Judiciary: -

• There are reports that a section among the judges is corrupt. The dispute is only about the percentage. There are allegations that some judges are showing favoritism and some are inefficient. Some judgments are trying to rewrite the Constitution by giving innovative interpretations of the Constitutional provisions. Some judgments show intolerance to mass struggles and mass organizations. Inordinate delay in court proceedings are denying justice to common man. The people are increasingly loosing confidence in the judicial system.

How it should be: -

• The system of appointment of judges has to be changed and as in the case of other countries, the executive, the legislature, the public and the judiciary should be given appropriate role in the appointment of judges. The system of appointment should be transparent and subject to public scrutiny. The public should be given an opportunity to express their views on the names nominated for the post of a judge. Eg: In France, the president of the republic presides over an 18-member council comprising of minister of justice, prominent public figures and judges.
  

Recommendation: -

• I would recommend that the constitution of a National Judicial Commission with representatives from the three organs of the government – executive, legislature and judiciary – representative of the bar association and the general public. This commission should be vested with the powers to make recommendations for the appointment of judges, to conduct inquiries into the misbehavior of a judge, to impose minor punishments and to recommend to the president for the removal of a judge for proved misbehavior or incapacity.

- Vineeth Menon

Mouse Story - A reminder to all Malaysians

Mouse Story ...........

A mouse looked through the crack in the wall to see the farmer and his wife open a package.

"What food might this contain?"

The mouse wondered -he was devastated to discover it was a mousetrap.

Retreating to the farmyard,the mouse proclaimed the warning.

"There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house

The chicken clucked and scratched, raised her head and said,

"Mr. Mouse, I can tell this is a grave concern to you but it is of no consequence to me. I cannot be bothered by it.

The mouse turned to the pig and told him, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The pig sympathized, but said, "I am so very sorry, Mr. Mouse, but there is nothing I can do about it but pray. Be assured you are in my prayers."

The mouse turned to the cow and said, "There is a mousetrap in the house! There is a mousetrap in the house!"

The cow said, "Wow, Mr. Mouse. I'm sorry for you, but it's no skin off my nose."

So, the mouse returned to the house, head down and dejected, to face the farmer's mousetrap-- alone.

That very night a sound was heard throughout the house -- like the sound of a mousetrap catching its prey.

The farmer's wife rushed to see what was caught.In the darkness,she did not see it was a venomous snake whose tail the trap had caught.

The snake bit the farmer's wife. The farmer rushed her to the hospital and she returned home with a fever. Everyone knows you treat a fever with fresh chicken soup,so the farmer took his hatchet to the farmyard for the soup's main ingredient.

But his wife's sickness continued, so friends and neighbors came to sit with her around the clock. To feed them, the farmer butchered the pig.

The farmer's wife did not get well; she died. So many people came for her funeral, the farmer had the cow slaughtered to provide enough meat for all of them.

The mouse looked upon it all from his crack in the wall with great sadness. So, the next time you hear someone is facing a problem and think it doesn't concern you, remember -- when one of us is threatened, we are all at risk.

We are all involved in this journey called life. We must keep an eye out for one another and make an extra effort to encourage one another.

A friend once wrote "There are many ignorant people all around us, some lack the capacity to see beyond the apparent...many gullible to the small doings by officials... most only able to see the benefit they may derived…failing to see the disadvantaged position of the community as a whole. Everyone has got different levels of understanding. You cannot fault an idiot for being stupid if that is his inherent nature."

Source: forwarded mail..

Is Malaysia a democratic Country?

Democracy!!!

What does it involve?
Many people think that elections every few years is enough to make a country a democracy. This is not so.

Democracy requires votes. Every adult person should be able to vote regardless of gender, colour, race, religion, sexuality or political belief. Some countries deny the vote to people in prison. This is only valid if there are no political prisoners.

For votes to meaningful, the voter must have freedom and not be intimidated. Voting must be secret to allow complete freedom to vote.

For voting to be meaningful, there must be a real choice for the voter. Excluding parties or people from standing as candidates lessens voter choice.

People need information and education if they are to use their vote effectively.

In most countries of the world the providers of information, the media are often owned by a few large corporations or government.This lessens sources of news and information and does not allow people to make informed choices.

This is a big problem which have votes for all, little political intimidation, many political parties and fair voting systems.

Conclusion:
A country is only democratic if people have a right to elect the representatives of their choice with a full understanding of the issues.

Ends.
Vineeth Menon
vineeith@yahoo.com