Oy Vey!

Recently the Auditor-General's 2012 report was released to the public and it's a gift that keeps on giving. That was a little sarcasm there in case you didn't get it (Sara); it has been quite revealing. It turns out the Government has a lot of money; unfortunately most of it end up in the hands of the corrupt/incompetent.

Here are a few brief highlights that have been revealed by the report. Read it and weep:

• The Sports and Youth Department spent RM2.9 million last year for the National Youth Day celebrations. At least half of the amount was spent on bringing in 3 K-Pop groups
• The Inland Revenue Board wasted more than RM9 million relocating its processing centre in Pandan Indah to Bangi
• The Ministry of Health paid two companies a total of RM320,000 to set up two Facebook and Twitter accounts
• And the report also revealed that several hundred Health Ministry officials filed false claims to reimburse them for purchases made on clothes and shoes. The claims made just for SHOES alone totalled RM207,000. When the auditors checked the addresses on the receipts they found that the stores did not exist
• A senior official in the Communications and Culture Ministry claimed travel expenses which totalled RM303,813 for a four day trip to Switzerland (Dayum!) to study the emergency telephone system (Da'Fuq?) If this is what he spent for business I hate to see what he spends on vacation. The auditors believe that the trip was actually worth RM50,000. Well clearly they don't know how to party
• The Customs Department destroyed 7,659 pairs of new shoes because they didn't fit and had also started to degrade after being kept in storage for 3 years. It's not too bad; it only cost taxpayers over RM600,000
• Clocks, scanners and “miscellaneous items” cost the Broadcasting Department around RM9 million. Why so much you ask? For example the department was budgeted RM100 to spend on each wall clocks. They ended up spending RM3,810 on 20 “branded” wall clocks which cost a total RM76,200 (sigh...)
• And I saved the best for last. The report initially revealed that the Royal Malaysia Police had lost over RM1 million worth of equipment including 44 guns and 29 vehicles

I guess I can empathize with the police. After all I've misplaced plenty of things and lost them. Nope..they're just idiots. The next time I get a parking ticket I'm just going to “lose it” by accident. And if the police give me to much trouble over it I'll just ask about the missing guns and vehicles. That'll shut em' up.

Opposition politicians have been quick to lampoon the police over the missing guns; saying that they might have fallen into the hands of criminals. But the Inspector General of Police has said not to worry; the guns may have not fallen into the hands of criminals but might have fallen into the ocean instead during operations and couldn't be recovered. WOW...I feel much safer.

Opposition MP Teresa Kok described the IGP's explanation as “idiotic.” Another politician Lim Guang Eng also asked if the vehicles lost by the police ended up in the ocean. Well, in Malaysia anything is possible after all.

A few days after the report was released the police said only 43 guns were now missing. One had been found. Well..sort of; a police officer who was off duty had to change a flat tyre on his motorcycle. And while changing his tyre he was approached by a man with a knife who threatened him before stealing the policeman's bag which contained the firearm. If only the police officer had something to defend himself with..oh wait. Too bad it was in his bag. Most people use holsters. I guess you can bring a knife to a gunfight and win. Sucks to be him, I guess. One down 43 to go.

A few weeks ago I wrote about a man by the name of Saravanan Batumalai who bravely intervened in a robbery that was taking place by ramming his car into the robbers motorcycle. The “alleged” robbers turned out to be cops and Saravanan managed to identity the two police officers from an identification parade. So you think case closed and the “alleged” prick cops go to jail.

Unfortunately in Malaysia things are not so easy. Not only did the cops remain on active duty during the investigation they have also been cleared of charges due to legal technicalities. Even though Saravanan gave a positive identification of the two police officers it doesn't count because the two cops had solid alibi's. Apparently Saravan's word is not good enough. Oh and of course the police don't lie.

Another reason the police officers didn't get charged is that the victim of the robbery never came forward to make a report or press charges. How convenient..I'm sure the police had nothing to do with that.

Of course what's the point of having two witnesses when the word of one witness is not good enough. As for the motorcycle that was found at the scene that belonged to one of the police officers? Well, according to the “alleged” scumbag cop, he had sold it to an unidentified man a few weeks before the crime took place. Sure, that makes sense. Wait..what's that smell? Too bad this “unidentified man” couldn't be found. Maybe he's a ghost like from Sixth Sense?

Saravanan has said he is disappointed over the result of the investigation; "There were witnesses to the attack and I cannot forget their faces as they were not wearing helmets. So how can they say there is a lack of evidence?”

It almost seems like there is a cover-up. After he lodged his police report he didn't hear anything from the police department which was almost two months. That was of course until the newspapers reported the story. Well regardless Saravan is still a BAMF. And those two cops are assholes. Allegedly...

Of course the question now is “What's next?” Will these reports be ignored until the next report? So far the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has opened 15 investigations. But just because you're being investigated it doesn't mean anything is going to happen. Just ask the two robber “alleged” cops.

As for the out of control spending I have a suggestion. Whenever I make a purchase on my credit card I get sent an sms to let me know about it. I think the Prime Minister needs to have a sms sent to him whenever a government department or official makes a purchase. At least then he can't keep ignoring it. I joke but seriously you guys need to get your shit together.

While all these revelations have been somewhat hilarious, the sad part is that the losers in this are the Malaysian people. Maybe it's time for a change? Next election is in a few years. In the meantime I'm going to get me a scuba license and find me some guns. Finders, keepers..

Don't take my word for it here are some links:

IGP guns “fall into sea”

A'G report: cops lose RM1.3 million

One down 43 to go

How will the average Malaysian react?

Image Credit:

Hang in there copy

My Ramblings Tumblr

Some Guys Don't Like Getting Rejected..

Louis C.K. said that dating takes a lot of courage. For the guy it takes a lot of courage just to ask the woman out, while for the woman it takes a lot of courage to say yes. Of course sometimes the guy in question is a total creep. And sometimes the guy is a Judge who had a bit of a power trip and is a total scumbag.

Ex-Judge Bryant Cochran

The woman in question in this case is one Angela Garmley from Chatsworth, Georgia. She had been in court regarding an incident in which she had been assaulted by three men. Judge Bryant Cochran who was presiding over the case then requested to hear Ms. Garmley side of the story in private in his chambers.

Angela Garmley

While alone together Judge Cochran informed Ms. Garmley that he needed a mistress and had “a real boner for her” (Da Fuq?) He then told her to send him a “seductive photo” of her so that he could get a “sneak peak.” And people say romance is dead..#Gross

If it takes courage to ask a woman on a date you could also say that it took a lot of balls to approach a plaintiff in a case and ask them to be your mistress. Or he just might be a disgusting asshole..yep that seems more likely. And has he never heard of Snapchat? That's a lot less of a hassle.

Unfortunately for the Judge Ms. Garmley didn't find his advances charming at all. She didn't reject his kind offer right there and then; instead she filed a complaint against him as well as giving an interview to a newspaper. Several days after the interview appeared in the paper Ms. Garmley was arrested by the police for drug possession.

Some of you might say that the timing was more than convenient and that her arrest was a little bit suspicious. And you would be right. The charges against Ms. Garmley were dropped after an investigation revealed that Judge Cochran had enlisted the help of several people to frame Ms. Garmley for drug possession. The two former police officers involved have both plead guilty to charges brought against them in federal court and are now awaiting sentencing.

Bryant Cochran resigned as judge (about damn time) though he has continued to deny any involvement in the arrest of Ms. Garmley. She currently has a civil suit pending against him. I still don't understand why he hasn't been charged with a crime; I'm no lawyer but I'm pretty sure planting drugs in someone's car is against the law. Or maybe his friends in the police force felt bad for him. Who knows..

Talk about handling rejection badly. Some people just don't take it well. We've all been rejected at least once in our life. And we've learnt how to move on. Well apparently Bryant never learnt that lesson.

Clearly in Georgia the requirements to be a Judge are pretty low. Morals or proper judgement are not required for the job; or intelligence. I'm pretty sure there are plenty of websites to help you find a mistress. You don't have to sexually harass a woman that walk into your courtroom. Of course this isn't the first Judge to upset me this week.

But for not taking any bullshit from this particular Judge, Ms Garmley is a BAMF. And now I hope she can get some monies off him. Then it might finally sink into his thick skull to stop behaving like a dick. Gawd men are stupid..

Don't take my word for it here are some links:

Cops plead guilty to planting drugs

Angela Garmley: How she stood up to a corrupt court

A little respect please

My Ramblings Tumblr

No Justice, No Peace

In another post this week I've been talking about all the unpleasant news from all over World; but things can be just as depressing over here in Malaysia. And recently Lady Justice has been having a pretty tough few weeks here in Malaysia.

There was a pretty horrific bus accident that claimed the lives of 37 people including the driver on their way back from Genting Highlands; the driver had lost control and the bus plunged into a ravine. Survivors of the bus accident later told reporters that the driver of the bus seemed angry at another car that had overtaken the bus. It was later revealed in the papers that the bus may have had faulty breaks but the Road Transport Department is still investigating. The bus driver also had 16 traffic summonses issued against him, all of them except for one were for speeding.

Hopefully the survivors of the bus crash as well as the families of the victims might get some justice and compensation for the ordeal they've been through. I'm no legal expert but it seems to me to be a little irresponsible on the part of the bus operator to hire a driver with 16 traffic summonses. I mean..it's like Post Malaysia hiring postmen who instead of delivering the mail, decide to dump it in the jungle instead. Oh wait..that did happen.

Unfortunately, in cases like these where the driver is also killed and can't be held accountable the authorities seem to forget all about it once the hubbub has died down. Sure, there's already a talk of setting up a panel to investigate the accident; but this isn't the first time an accident like this has happened. And when the next accident happens, everyone goes through this process all over again.

Malaysia just might be one of the countries where the criminals might just end up arresting you. I say this after reading a story about a man by the name of Saravanan Batumalai who a month ago saw a woman being mugged by two men on a motorcycle; he then sped up and rammed his car into the motorcycle.

One of the men managed to get up and run away while the other still tried to get away on the bike. Saravanan then rammed the motorcycle a second time pinning the bike under his car. The guy then pulled out a knife and Saravanan did not pursue him because he was armed. When the police arrived later they traced the bike and said that it belonged to the Kelana Jaya police station (Da Fuq?!)

That's not even the best part; Saravanan later went to the police station to record his statement, where he had to wait for two hours. After the long wait the senior police officer called for two men to be brought in; he recognized them as being the same men who tried to rob the woman. And he was later told that they were policemen. He later formally identified them at a police line-up.

I think we can all agree that Saravanan Batumalai is a BAMF and that those two cops are a bunch of punks with badges (allegedly). I have to say “allegedly” for legal purposes; the policemen are still under investigation a month later and still haven't been suspended from duty (Da Fuq?!). Apparently it's really complicated to charge the police with a crime. So just to cover my bases let me say that all suspected criminal cops are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. For the record I like cops but only the good honest ones. The rest can go erm..have sexual intercourse with one another.

Recently a video went viral here in Malaysia on Facebook; the video showed a family entering an elevator. The husband then assaults the wife by slapping her a few times; as the wife tries to get away from the husband he kicks her causing her to fall. The husband then proceeds to kick her several more times before exiting the lift with the children and leaving the woman behind. Sigh..men can be horrible. Naturally there was a fair bit of outrage from Netizens.

The police have identified Mohammad Affandi Ismail as the man in the video and he has been charged with voluntarily causing hurt to his wife. The offence under Section 323 of the Penal Code carries a maximum one-year jail term or RM2,000 maximum fine or both.

He has pleaded not guilty to allegedly (really?) assaulting his wife and was granted bail by the court.

As he left the courthouse he was followed by press photographers; he was smiling and gave them a thumbs up. Before entering his car he said “I apologise to all women. I did not mean to teach my wife a lesson.” I'm not a lawyer but doesn't that sound like an admission of guilt? Personally, if he is found guilty for his “alleged” assault he should be tied to a tree like a piñata and “all women” can show him how they feel about what he had done. Allegedly of course. I wouldn't want to get in trouble for expressing my opinion. As always he is innocent until proven guilty.

Even the Malaysian Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had weighed in on this case. He said that Malaysians should respect women “at home, at work and even in a lift.” I want to commend the Prime Minister for taking such a stance publicly on such a serious issue. Hopefully, all Malaysian men will take his lead and be more respectful towards women.

And I'm sure the Prime Minister is just as concerned as we Malaysians are over the aquittal of the two former police officers for the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu. Altantuya Shaariibuu was murdered in 2006; according to the police investigation she had been shot twice before her body had been blown up with C-4 explosives; although they say that she may have been alive when her murderers used the C-4 to kill her. It's really hard to get your hands on a gun in Malaysia; unless of course you're a criminal. So I'm guessing that it's significantly harder to get your hands on C-4.

The police investigated the matter and arrested two police officers Chief Inspector Azilah Hadri and Corporal Sirul Azhar Umar. These men at the time were the bodyguards to the Minister of Defence Datuk Seri Najib Razak who of course is the current Prime Minister of Malaysia. This almost seems like a great plot to a John Grisham novel.

Anyway, in 2009 both men were found guilty and were given the death sentence. And just last week the Court of Appeals granted these two men an aquittal on the grounds that there were gaps in the evidence submitted and they have since been released from prison. If it wasn't so sad it would almost be funny.

For many people the aquittal came as a shock, most were expecting a mistrial at least. With a mistrial these men could have been taken to court again and the facts of the case would have been re-examined. There are still many unanswered questions in this case. Conspiracy theorists say that there are people higher up in the government responsible for Altantuya’s murder. But I guess now we'll never know. Since both these men have been acquitted they can never be charged over the same offence again. Of course, the real question now is who is responsible for Altantuya’s death?

The two former police officer aquitted of the murder of Altantuya Shaariibuu

The Prime Minister said that women needed to be protected and respected and it's the same for Altantuya Shaariibuu. Hopefully she will get some justice, as well as her father who said that he was disappointed with the verdict. I can only imagine the pain he must be going through again knowing that his daughter's murder is still unresolved.

Of course not knowing what really happened is only fuelling speculation online by Malaysians. There are so many conspiracy theories floating out there. One of the things that I've seen people keep mentioning is the fact that we've never even seen what these two former police officers looked like. They've always had their faces covered; at least in America people practically knew the life story of George Zimmerman. I could come face-to-face with these two men and never know who they were.

In a recent press conference about combating crime in Malaysia the Prime Minister said that “The people must live in a country where they feel safe and we will not compromise that.” Which is something I agree with wholeheartedly. No Justice, No Peace.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Don't take my word for it; here are some links for you:

Genting Bus Accident

Postmen undelivered mail

Robber Cops 

Video showing husband hitting wife

Man charged with assaulting wife

Who killed Altantuya

Atlantuya aquittal 

Image Credit:

No Justice No Peace 

Old Bailey and Old Justice 

You Probably Didn't Know This About Any Of This..

I can understand why people hate watching and/or reading the news. I mean have you seen the news lately? It's HORRIBLE! The World can be such a depressing place sometimes.

No wonder people like to spend their time distracting themselves with their phones; watching Youtube videos; maybe reading this blog (hmm?); while ignoring what's going on around them. And I can't blame them. It's easier to concentrate on the trivial things in life.

You're probably not going to turn on CNN any time soon and the Breaking News is that “Today was a good day.” Nope..the good news is few and far between I'm afraid, it's usually filled with stories about conflict in various parts of the world; occasionally we're treated to the spectacle of a Royal Baby being born. And as nice as that is, sometimes I can't help get the impression that there's a lot of injustice in the World.

I'm not naïve; I've watched “The Wire.” I know that things don't always work out according to plan. Sometimes the good guys are the bad guys and vice versa. Sometimes they get away with crimes they committed. Of course when justice does prevail it doesn't seem enough somehow. But that doesn't mean we just sit quietly and let the injustice continue. My small contribution is to offer you my snarky opinion on certain topics. Let's begin.

Halliburton recently pleaded guilty to destroying evidence relating to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And for lying the company will have to pay the government the grand sum of $200,000. That's not a typo, that was the actual amount they were fined; of course, Halliburton will also be donating $55 Million to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.

While I commend the executives for donating out of their good “conscience” the “punishment” feels like a slap on the wrist; especially when you find out that Halliburton made $7.3 Billion in total revenue in the second quarter of 2013. That'll teach em' a lesson.

Meanwhile, the U.S. government was more than happy to make an example out of Chelsea Manning; the soldier was recently sentenced to 35 years in prison. If you're slightly confused and wondering why I didn't mention Bradley Manning, then you definitely haven't been paying attention to the news (check the links below).

In a statement read by Chelsea Manning's lawyer she said that "When I chose to disclose classified information... I did so out of love for our country and a sense of duty for others. If you deny my request for a pardon I will serve my time knowing that sometimes you have to pay a heavy price to live in a free society."

While I'm aware that she broke the law and is therefore considered a criminal I can't help feel sorry for her; when a government or a soldier does something that is morally wrong and if you ignore what's happening then you are part of that moral wrongdoing. It must have been difficult to have that burden on your shoulders. I don't know what I would've done if I had been in that same position. I will say that I admire Chelsea Manning for having the courage for doing what she did. Btw, good luck trying to get Edward Snowden now.

I wonder what ever happened to those Apache pilots in the “Collateral Murder” video. I get it, war is Hell; and in war mistakes happen. But I'm pretty sure that those men are spending time with their families and getting to sleep in their own beds at night. Chelsea Manning on the other hand will be spending her time in a cell for at least the next 7 years, which is when she will be eligible for parole.

Chelsea Manning's supporters have called on President Obama to give her a pardon. Unfortunately, this is unlikely to happen. Especially now that the President is busy with the issue of Syria and the governments alleged use of chemical weapon on it's own people.

In a recent interview with CNN, President Obama said that what has happened in Syria is “very troublesome”; in a separate interview the Secretary-General of the UN Ban Ki-Moon said that “Clearly this was a major and terrible incident. We owe it to the families of the victims to act.” The UN estimates that there have been over 100,000 deaths in Syria as well as over 2 Million Syrians made refugees from the fighting.

You won't catch me disagreeing with either of those two opinions, but why all of the sudden is there a rush to act now? Wasn't it “very troublesome” when there were 10,000 deaths? How about at 50,000 deaths? Why are governments so focused on the “red line” when it comes to chemical weapons? So basically you can kill 100,000 of your own citizens but make sure to keep using bullets and bombs? “We” owed the families of victims to act a really long time ago. But hey, international politics is complicated.

And in Japan the news isn't great as well. The Japanese government has criticized Tokyo Electric Power Co (Tepco) ; the Japanese electric utility company which is operating the Fukushima power plant over it's handling of highly radioactive water which is leaking at the site from a storage tank.

“We’ve allowed Tokyo Electric to deal with the contaminated water situation on its own and they’ve essentially turned it into a game of ‘Whack-a-Mole,’” Trade Minister Toshimitsu Motegi told reporters. “From now on, the government will move to the forefront.”

Tepco still has to deal with over 330,000 metric tons of water (enough to fill 132 Olympic-size swimming pools) with varying levels of toxicity that is stored in pits, basements and hundreds of tanks at the wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant.

On top of the leaking tank, Tepco admitted that irradiated water is flowing into the Pacific Ocean (from underground tunnels); which the government estimates at 300 tons a day. I'm not a doctor but I'm pretty sure that can't be good for you. But what do I know? It seemed to work fine for Spiderman. But maybe as a precaution stay away from Japanese Sushi for now. At least until Tepco gets its shit together.

Of course what everyone seems to care about this week is what Taylor Swift whispered at the VMAs; or how much the new Nintendo 2DS sucks; and that Ben Affleck would not make a great Batman. There's even a petition on change.org to “Remove Ben Affleck as Batman.” As of writing this post it has over 80,000 signatures.

Meanwhile, the online petition sent to the White House to free Chelsea Manning has about 6,619 signatures. I saw another petition on change.org asking to have all charges dropped against Chelsea Manning that has 102 signatures. And no, that's not a typo. Like I said earlier, it's a lot easier to focus on all the trivial stuff. Ignorance is bliss..

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere”

Martin Luther King Jr.

Don't take my word for it; here are some links for you:

A long list of what we know thanks to Pvt Manning

I am Chelsea Manning

Fukushima Leak

 Image Credit

No Justice No Peace