VOXPOP 'One is to beat the opposition in the next GE, and second, to be the next PM. It looks like he will lose both.'

DPM: Acquittal proof of Najib's reform efforts

vox populi small thumbnailCHKS: If DPM Muhyiddin Yassin can claim that Anwar Ibrahim's acquittal is proof of reform, indirectly it is a self-admission that the government had a hand in the judiciary previously.

Even by saying this, it shows that the government still has a say in today's judiciary by choosing not to be involved this time.

If the judiciary is totally independent of the government, there is no need for ‘reform' in this aspect at all, and no amount of ‘reform' should influence the court's decision.

Furthermore, whether a person is convicted or acquitted is dependent on whether he is found guilty or not. It's nothing to do with the ‘reforms' of the government of the day. So what is he talking about?

Armageddon: Muhyiddin is fighting two wars - one is to beat the opposition in the next GE, and second, to be the next PM. It looks like he will lose both. If he is lucky he will be the next opposition leader.

Trumpet Call: The verdict of 'not guilty' is a slap in the face of BN, especially Umno. It certainly puts the government on the defensive. So what to do?

Well, try to save some face and try to make something out of the situation. Saying that the verdict is a result of the government's transformation programme is a very lame way of trying to score some points in a losing game.

But, my goodness, the DPM's comment is a real no brainer.

Abu Bakar Sutan Taharudin: Reform? It's close to admitting that all this while the BN government (especially the PM) is controlling our courts. The DPM didn't realise that by saying so, he was admitting that BN can decide who is guilty and who is not.

Only this time they have decided that Anwar should be freed (for whatever reason), hence the acquittal.

Ksn: What a brilliant analysis by the DPM. But how does one connect one judgment, rare and remote as it is, to PM Najib Razak's reforms?

What reforms are he referring to? Is it the fight against corruption, incompetency, lack of integrity, freeing the institutions, wastage and social justice?

I cannot see the connecting points. May be I am not up to the DPM's and Umno's intellect.

Malaysian ABU: This means our DPM admits that before the so-called Najib's 'transformation', the judiciary was not independent.

And after some 'reforms' (by the way, what kind of reforms have been done on our judiciary?), it now has become independent.

So, who controlled it before this? Anyhow, this does not show that there was no conspiracy in the setting up of the case against Anwar.

The half-cooked evidence presented to the court from the Attorney-General's Chambers, the police and the Chemistry Department confirmed that the case is a setup.

Furthermore, Najib still has to explain to the court and the public why he met sodomy complainant Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan a few days before the latter made a police report.


Ministry eye-poked over bad Google translation

Malaysian Born: What sort of low-grade incompetents are they hiring that they need to use Google Translate to go from Malay to English and then fail to pick up such glaring errors.

Clearly, the staff is borderline illiterate in English but is in charge of information and data destined for public consumption.

This is what happens when you start messing with the medium of education to score political points.

Disbeliever: Please Defence Ministry, don't blame Google Translate for the mangled English that appeared on your website.

There's a Malay proverb that says "Kalau tidak tahu menari, jangan salahkan lantai tinggi rendah" (If you don't know how to dance, don't blame the floor for being uneven).

Should the Defence Ministry, with the aid of Google Translate, tried to put up the English version of that Malay proverb, it would probably read like this: "If you don't know to dance, don't wrong floor high low".

There is no substitute for a competent (human) translator. Translation software helps to make the translator's job a little easier.

I would consider the Defence Ministry and the staff responsible for the direct translation as an embarrassment, not only to the ministry but also to the country.

Kee Thuan Chye: What a shameful excuse. How could a significant organisation like the Defence Ministry rely on Google Translate?

Doesn't it know about the dangers of transliterating, especially word for word? Its staff members are not schooled? And they are going to get a hefty pay rise soon, courtesy of PM Najib Razak?

The least we can expect is for the ministry to hire someone to oversee all its English communication. How could it entrust it to illiterates who can't string together an English sentence to save their own lives?

Obviously, there is no regard for doing the proper thing. And of course also none for quality control. Appalling!

Pemerhati: This glaring and idiotic error in translation and the equally idiotic and pathetic attempt to blame it on to Google Translate reflects the extremely rotten standard of our public service and the elected Umno ministers.

For this, Malaysians have to thank Dr Mahathir Mohamad who destroyed several of Malaysia's excellent institutions including the education system. We now have a lot of third-rate teachers who produce a large number of third-rate useless and unemployable graduates.

The corrupt and incompetent Umno leadership then creates a lot of unnecessary jobs for these useless people so as to provide them with a means of earning a livelihood.

Umno then hopes that these people will then vote for them during the elections and help them to win the elections so that they can continue to plunder the country.

Babylon: This is the product of our education policy. When you do not teach a subject well, it is no excuse to blame third parties, be it Google or anyone else. Google did not force you to use it.

Artchan: This advertorial was published on Aug 23, 2008 in the New Strait Times by Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia. It was published in conjunction with the university's 7th Convocation ceremony, and the translation was even worse.

Victor Johan: The idiom ‘A bad carpenter blaming his tools' should not be translated verbatimly in Malay language as ‘Tukang kayu jahat menyalahkan alat nya'.

Pak TT: This is the ministry that has spend billions of ringgit of taxpayers' ringgit, buying world-class weapons at inflated prices.

I shudder to think how they would translate the operating manuals of the Scorpene submarines, Offshore Patrol Vessels, MIGs, etc, to Bahasa Malaysia, let alone using the equipment.

 

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