"Give the kid a loaded gun, please !!"

MY, my... I read with disapproval,and am TOTALLY against the idea of NS kids being given loaded guns to practise during their stint of 2, or is it 3 months. And that too, with an M16, which has a firing rate of 750-900 rounds of bullets per minute !

Have you seen the faces of some of the kids in the papers ?They are not even ready to decide for themselves IF they should go for NS..... mind you it's the government who decides on their behalf and how can they... IF... they were asked to decide if they were ready to handle an M16 going to say NO.. remember this is a training camp and kids, naturally don't want to be seen as "chicken' by their peers and fellow trainers !!

For gods sake this is not the Palestine or some gun-trotting nation where holding a weapon is a status symbol of power. If they really need to 'play' with guns, they can be encouraged to join the army or police forces after finishing their formal education AND when they are a little bit older and responsible !

Instead, teach them to understand and respect each others cultures and to live in harmony.... I'm being an idealist here but hey!! isn't that the first approach of NS ? To keep the kids saperated or segregated for the first 17 years of their growing and learning years(in national or religious schools) and then try to acheive the impossible in 3 months !
Come on now... lets not be too quick to arm kids with guns or is there some profits to be gained by certain parties in the purchase of guns and bullets...Oh did I read somewhere that it costs 25cts. a bullet !!

I was once in a neighbour country and had the opportunity to be at a firing range...honestly just looking at the hundreds of various types of weapons laid out before me, made my stomach churn inside out!! Not because I was afraid.. but the thought of holding one of those guns in my hand and 'having the power to take the life of another with a single bullet' was not my idea of a peaceful world !And I was then 30 years old.Try giving flowers to one another instead !

Or better still, go and live for a year in another fellow Malaysians' home to learn about the other's religion, race and customs and it will be a whole lot damn cheaper!!!
My family and I will gladly open our house to anyone of these kids with the approval of their parents.
And I mean KIDS!!

Get tough with errant developers-PM

On page 2 of the Sun today(Friday June 2) was the above mentioned heading.
'The authorities should take strict action against errant developers instead of merely issue warnings which are normally ignored by them'. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said yesterday. He adds ' some developers would do whatever they want if they did not have to face the music'. ( when asked to comment on the landslide at Kampung Pasir, Hulu Klang.)
Well these are strong words, yes and developers beware !

But what about the PM using these same words to the persons who approved these projects,from the persons who signed the 'go-ahead' to these developers,the state executive councillors who 'consented' to approving these projects, the many approving bodies who 'part-took' to these buildings to be erected,the architechs and engineers of the state who with a stroke of a pen willingly signed away the lives of four members of a family ?

Oh.. I forgot they were merely Indonesia squatters illegally living in the area!And forget about the flattened long-houses and the 232 misplaced people(mostly Indonesians!) yae... Too bad! Right..???

Ya... right! these abovementioned persons in paragraph 2 are the real culprits who work hand-in-glove with these developers( did I say, some..??) "who would do whatever they wanted if they did not have to face the music"!!

Lets see some finger-pointing and heads rolling at the right places, first and if all else fails ..then there's always someone with a finger pointing skywards... "Act of God"!!!
Cheers and goodnight !