Upcoming topics

I've been trying to do an episode on bloggers since the start of the season but keep being given the run-around by the "relevant" persons/agencies/gate-keepers.

Am also planning to do a topic on police powers but I feel that this would only work if the IGP himself agrees to come onto the show. So, we shall wait and see.

Anyway, upcoming topic is on the state of sports in Malaysia. What do you think? Going the wrong way down a one-way track? Suggestions for improvement?

To cane or not to cane?

Guests: Dr. Goh Chee Leong, Vice President and Dean of Faculty of Behavioural Science, HELP University College
Hashim Adnan, President of the National Union of the Teaching Profession

I hope Shakespeare is not too upset about my cavalier use of his oft-quoted phrase. I'm in the ntv7 studio, updating this blog, as the tape of this episode is being rolled.

We spoke to school principals and disciplinary teachers in preparation for this episode. Most of them support caning.

A science teacher and disclipinary teacher told us that pain sensors is proof that human beings are meant to be able to learn from physical punishment. What a fantastic soundbite that would have made! Sadly, he didn't want to be on tape. You may not agree with his stand, but he's been able to show results. He's managed to turn his school around from being a school with a reputation for ill-disciplined students to one where the number of applications far exceeds the number of places. There's been an improvement in exam results and less discipline problems among students. And he's been voted "Most Popular Teacher" several times.

One headmaster said he's never caned a student because he never saw the need for it but also said he was 100 percent behind corporal punishment.

Most of the students we spoke to said being caned didn't bother them. I don't know if it's boys wanting to be macho and not telling the whole truth. But male colleages who remember being caned, also said more or less te same thing. They treat the whole thing as a bit of a lark.

It was more of a challenge finding someone who still felt mad about being caned.

UNICEF was very helpful in the making of this episode by giving us a lot of useful leads. I'm not sure I agree with their stand entirely that corporal punisment is a form of violence.

Anyway, here's a question for you. Do you think they'll ever come a day where it'd be illegal for you to smack your child? And would you welcome that?

Mat Rempits - a menace to society or misunderstood youth

Guests: 
Khairy Jamaluddin, Umno Youth chief and MP for Rembau

Datuk Eddy Chen, Honorary Treasurer, Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation

I wanted to start this episode with a short clip on Mat Rempits. Previous episodes have all been studio recordings but I wanted to try something different. Give the show a little bit of flavour. How difficult could producing a 2-minute clip be, I thought? I turned first to Haniza, a reporter who had previously worked on Edisi Siasat. She said wouldn't recommend it. "Too ganas now" she said. Her personal experience with Rempits wasn't a good one. Even though the cameraman was filming from a distance,the Rempits caught on and came for them. She and the cameraman jumped into their car and hightailed it, with the Rempits giving chase. Good thing the company cars aren't little 1.3cc hatchbacks. 

I tried another colleague, a studio director, who knows some Rempits personally. But no go. Too risky, he said. He wouldn't introduce us to them because he wouldn't be able to guarantee our safety.  

I asked the Siasat Mandarin reporters. They said they had also been planning to come up with an episode on Mat Rempits but have put it on hold for the time being, as it's too dangerous to film them. Guess I'll just stick to the studio for this episode. 

As for guests - who better to talk about Mat Rempits than Khairy Jamaluddin? And on the other side, the Malaysian Crime Prevention Foundation. I also wanted to get the police on board but sadly, the IGP Tan Sri Musa Hassan was busy. He said to try the head of traffic police chief, who unfortunately, also declined on account of his busy schedule. 

Anyway, what do you think of Mat Rempits? I personally think they're a menace. But in our street interviews, we found some people who thought of them as just youths wanting to do a bit of racing and lacking a proper avenue for that. One lady even described them as "stylo"! Maybe that's how rempit-ing started out but things have taken a turn for the worse and more and more people are associating them with crime. 

We're back! First topic - the NS Training Prog

Guests:

Datuk Tiki Lafe, Chairman, National Service Training Council

Anthony Loke Siew Fook, Head, DAP Socialist Youth and MP for Rasah

We're back with more hard-hitting topics, 12th April 2009. I will be tackling the delicate subject matter of National Service: has it achieved its objectives?

The NS Training Programme has consistently blown its budget, costing the government more than half a billion ringgit each year. Is it money well spent or money down the drain? In its 5 years, there have been over a dozen deaths of NS trainees. Still, neither guest would advocate that this programme be scrapped. Reviewed, yes. But not removed completely. Both said that it’s essentially a noble idea that’s simply flawed in its implementation. That may be true. But would you risk your child’s life in a programme in which its success has not even been truly measured

We've taped the show already due to requirements imposed by SKMM so unfortunately, I won't be able to pose any questions that you send.

Our next episode will be on the hot-button topic of the NEP. We were hoping to secure Umno Youth Chief and Rembau MP Khairy Jamaluddin to appear on the show but he was unable to do so due to prior commitments. We will however have Tony Pua, MP for PJ Utara and Dr Marzuki Mohd, from the International Islamic University.

I'd would love to hear questions and feedback that I can pose to our guests so send your comments this way.

Lompat Si Katak, Lompat!

Guests:

Datuk Seri Joseph Pairin Kitingan, President, Parti Bersatu Sabah and Deputy Chief Minister Sabah

Datuk Seri Yong Teck Lee, President, Sabah Progressive Party

Dr Azmi Sharom, Associate Professor, Law Faculty, University Malaya

What else could this week have been about but frogs?

I don’t like frogs except on my dinner plate. Is that an attitude our politicians share? Frogs but only on our terms, frogs are all right as long as they hop over to our side. Food for thought. 

I wanted someone who had had a personal experience in frog-handling. Current players being too caught up in the drama of the day, I had to settle for past actors. The most recent frog-hopping incident that brought down a government, barring the current crisis in Perak was in Sabah in 1994 so to Sabah we went. I set up an appointment with a Sabah politician and sent a crew there to set-up a video link recording, while I remained in the studio. On the day the crew arrived in Sabah, a day before recording, we were told that the politician was too busy to keep the appointment. What followed were frantic phone calls to Sabah and a bit of pleading on our part and our TV3 colleague in Kota Kinabalu on our behalf. In the meantime, I called another Sabah political leader as a back-up plan. As it turned out, both accepted and that’s the story of how we ended up with 3 guests for this episode.

The other guest was Azmi Sharom who said an anti-hopping law would be undemocratic. How then would he deal with politicians who hop with ignoble intentions? He proposed that other agencies in the state, such as the judiciary and the anti-corruption agency be strengthened. On a lighter note, the make-up artist found him really cute. 

ntv7’s Chinese talkshow “Editor’s Time” discussed the same topic for one episode and ended it with a song by Taiwan popstar A-Mei with a spoof music video of the 3 + 1 Perak assemblypersons. 

Police Accountability - what does it mean?

Guests:

Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar, Home Minister

S.Arutchelvan, Suaram

A. Kugan’s death in police custody was the reason for this episode. Exactly how accountable are our police for their actions? And does holding them accountable necessarily mean we are not supporting the police force as we should? That’s the “you’re either with us or against us” argument, made famous by George W. Bush. Who should be policing the police? Has it come to the stage where we may need protection from the police? And with a public that’s clamouring for less crime on the streets, is it acceptable to knock a suspect around if it helps to solve a crime, lock up one more criminal or save a life? Those were some of the questions posed in this episode.

What else did I learn from this episode?

Lesson 1 – It’s who you know that counts. Sometimes a well-crafted and persuasive letter can only get you so far, you would still need someone to put in a good word for you. That’s what got me one of my guests for this episode.

Lesson 2 – always put your guest at ease first before you put him on the defensive.  Never attempt to do it the other way round. Unless you’re looking for trouble and are partial to shouting matches. But that would only make it even harder to ask the tough questions. Suffice to say I don’t think Syed Hamid would want me interviewing him again anytime soon. 

Internal Security Act - Retain, Review or Repeal?

Guests:

Dato’ Nadzim Johan, Executive Secretary, Malaysia Muslim Consumer Organisation

(pro ISA) 

Haji Sulaiman Abdullah, former President, Bar Council

(against ISA) 

The ISA had always been on our list of topics for the show especially after the arrest of Teresa Kok, Tan Hoon Cheng (arrested for her own protection though, as the Home Minister himself explained later. A rather novel use for an old legislation, I must say.) Raja Petra Kamaruddin that night in September.

The obvious choice of pro-ISA guest would have to be someone from the government. But my attempts were stone-walled by press secretaries (who take instructions from their bosses?). “Topic a bit too hot now”. Oh well. So we got someone from Perwaris into the studio. After all, they had been holding demonstrations asking for the ISA to be retained.

There was a dearth of well-reasoned, informed arguments out there on why the ISA ought to be retained. I called up friends who are practicing lawyers, but who (unfortunately in this instance) also happen to be fervently against the ISA, to pick their brains. They are so accustomed to arguing against the ISA that I don’t really learn anything new. Short-cut attempt to research topic nipped in the bud. 

24 hours to recording and my original anti-ISA guest cancelled on me. Federal court hearing would trump a tv show anytime. Panic attack! Thankfully, there are very many experienced lawyers out there who know the issues like the back of their hand. Haji Sulaiman Abdullah was kind enough to appear on such short notice (although he made me answer some difficult questions on why I wanted him on the show. A question that had me stumped. I thought, isn’t it obvious? So I explained my reasons and it was a done deal).

Guest situation resolved I sat down to go through my research but couldn’t do much with a horrible cold and a splitting headache. Reams of research were left unread as I popped a bill and headed off to bed at 8pm. Yikes. The next morning, as soon as recording was over, I knew I had been too easy on Haji Sulaiman. A few minutes after the episode aired, I got a couple of text messages telling me I should have been harder on him.