Years ago, when the late Ghafar Baba was Dr M’s deputy, he represented the country to a UN General Assembly meet in New York.
A joke started to make its rounds about how Ghafar ordered his breakfast one morning in New York during that meet.
Don’t know if there’s any truth to it, but it’s such a funny story, so I’ll share it with you.
Ghafar wanted toast with butter and jam. Just like the roti bakar with mentega and kaya that we get from our kopitiam here.
This is what he’s supposed to have told the waiter.
‘I want you burn the bread, but don’t burn too much, ok. Put the butter upstairs and the jam downstairs’, or something like that.
Malaysiakini’s report today of the ever-increasing list of aspirants for the No.2 position in UMNO reminded me of this story.
You know why, lah!
The People's Parliament 
KnightsTemplar
October 9, 2008
Tyson Dont Take Toast.
Malaysianatheart
October 9, 2008
Errr …. my apologies for being so dense … but why ah??
The Ancient Mariner
October 9, 2008
I remember reading somewhere that Ali Rustam told a Singapore audience during a state tourism promo that Melaka has the best “burnt fish” restaurants in the country. Sheesh. The S’poreans must have been rolling all over the floor ..
gkteng
October 9, 2008
Haris,
Read in Malaysiakini they are dragging you to the police station for the Hari Raya visit at Putra World Trade centre. Hope you will be alright. Let us know if you need us to come. Cheers…..
gkteng,
God-willing, will be alright, thanks
cerita dongeng
October 9, 2008
v need to launch a nenepupu campaign to shame him away la
no speaky inglish
no know computar
secretly mary lari ppl dota
openly bring 2 big bags ‘mani’ out of da land
bodoh sombongly go make polis repot w/o eviden
u tot buying top 2 tiket chip kah, sure bcoz got many many more bags of ‘mani’ la
matt
October 9, 2008
They way they are lining up to contest,i have a hunch ol sleepy head will still end up leading umno unless DSAI can garner enough crossovers this 13okt.
telur dua
October 9, 2008
It is not enough that the shameless non-English speaking guy had screwed up his own reputation, but now he wants to drag the party’s image down as well. UMNO is full of such ‘patriotic’ members.
The party and such members do deserve each other.
Paul Warren
October 9, 2008
Isn’t it such a sad state to which UMNO has been reduced to if all that they can come up with is
Prime Minister to be: Questionable sexual escapades.
Questionable involvement in Altantuya murder.
Questionable comissions paid out on purchase of submarines and whatever else for the Ministry of Defence.
Never apologised for waving keris and threatening to have Chinese blood flow dwon the roads of KL.
Deputy Prime Ministers Wannabes: One caught smuggling money through a foreign country and most definitely lied under oath…But then again oath was in a Secular court..so I guess lying is o.k. la.
Anotehr Rustam, who wants says UMNO can do without MCA, MIC, PPP and so on…
And MCA, MIC, Gerakan PPP, and all the other parties from East Malaysia want to work with them.
Ali Baba suddenly seems a much more honourable character.
The Whisperer
October 9, 2008
I lafted but i repuse to commen here bcot my england no good la…
Hahaha.. good one, Haris.
God be with you Tomorrow.
The Whisperer,
And God be with you, too, always
fergie
October 9, 2008
No speaky Inglis no ploblem for Malaysia lah. Malaysia no look West .. Malaysia look East .. how to speak proper English when the teachers can’t teach our kids proper grammar, etc.
JJ
October 9, 2008
Good One Haris. If Mike Tyson gets the No. 2 position, he will hire an interpreter to travel with him. Or if he is interviewed by any Oz journalist without the interpreter, they can write about how much his inglis have improved.
Cheers.
Kinsyng
October 9, 2008
I don’t understand english.
Boleh cakap melayu.
kaki ayam
October 9, 2008
haris, why lar you go and ridicule orang that cannot cakap english one… not good u know…
tyson can speak good english, ex-guru kan…….but he just don wan to speak onli.
thepplway
October 9, 2008
I know mah,not just enough for roti ,but I’don’t no English so I can’t explain to the officer why my “burger” too big.
sorry lor !
rakyat don’t know ingreris no this problem,we don’t ever have a small roti !
artic turban
October 9, 2008
Harris, could you help out here and direct me and others, where we can get a running commentery or full blown news of rpk’s trial., I know you are busy but is any blogger writing about the proceddings, like the running commmentry you gave on the first day. Please for those not in pjaya, who support RPK, IT WOULD HELP, ESPECIALLY SINCE A MAJORITY HAVE STOPPED READING THE MSM RUBBISH NEWSPAPERS AND ONLINE PORTALS FOR THEIR PROPOGANDA MESSAGESfrom UMNO AND THEIR henchmen of bn.
mei1
October 9, 2008
I really “salute” you guys for sharing all sorts of creative Inglis, thanks for that!
oneofthesedays...
October 9, 2008
There’s scraping the bottom of the barrel and then…. there’s lifting the barrel and scraping at the ground.
Somebody help with the BM translation pls
🙂
Paul Warren
October 9, 2008
Hey, Haris,
I see you are going to be seeing the cops tomorrow….Ask them for me will you…how come it takes them 1 whole week to realise that maybe a crime might have been committed? And they were right there providing the “criminals” all the security that was needed.
lulu
October 9, 2008
engris tu tak penting.
yang penting – bank account.
kena tau baca bank statement.
Kopi Anan
October 9, 2008
if you ever want to smuggle foreign currencies or Aussie dollars, remember to plead , no splitting anglais !
Farida
October 9, 2008
Yet when he was at the UNIVERSITY OF MALAYA as a student in the 1960s, at a time when English was still the medium of instruction, this man got First Class Honours in History!
It’s not his education, it’s his lack of integrity! Only able to speak English at the level of Baa Baa Black sheep? So he told the Aussies! Sheesh!
Steven
October 9, 2008
Ha….ha….that’s a funny one, Haris! It just goes to show what standard of leadership we have in this country! Can’t take them anyway you know!
Rastaman.JB.
October 9, 2008
Dear Haris,
Just saw the TV3Suku Prime news and they say that you have been summoned by the cops for your visit to the HR Open House do at PWTC.
Hope the dumb asses accord you the respect that you deserve.
Have a good fight……….don’t allow them to ride roughshod on you.
Please take care and exercise caution.
Hope they don’t do a RPK on you.
May the Almighty be with you.
BR
RastamanJB
Rastaman,
May the Lord be with you, too.
ash
October 9, 2008
i think its laughable that we have ministers like this. not the good hearty laugh that fills your chest. the wry chuckle that shows amusement, but obviously tries to shroud the shame with humour.
take a good look at someone who can E-Nun-Ci-Ate.
someone who scares the bejeezers outta me. because he and his oiled back oxfordian hair speaks to the ‘my england is very the powderful’, conscience-questioned crowd that’s keeping the ISA here.
guess who sits on the other end of the dinner table from the Ghafar Babas of our time?
it ain’t pretty, y’all.
limau
October 9, 2008
A stupid Menteri Besar, who does not even know Australian Law is going for number 2. Our country has become a place of jokers in the eyes of others. Please for god sake get some good brain people to run the country, not crooks and jokers.
muhammad
October 9, 2008
haris,
are u enjoying yourself by making fun of other’s broken english.
i was educated in Ireland for more than 5 years and what amazed me was whenever I said a word wrongly or weirdly constructed a sentence, they never laughed at me, not even a smirk. And most of all, i never heard them bitching about my broken english like what you are doing now.
haris, i understand that your mastery of english language is high class, if not you won’t be such a prolific lawyer. But making fun of someone else’s broken english is just like you degrading yourself to be just like an uneducated person.
haris, even if i speak budu-english, i will live with it, you know why? I think i would prefer to speak malay than english, i’m proud of it. And i’m also proud that i’m bilingual now(though broken english initially).
And for you to make fun of those who speak imperfect english, forgive me for saying this, shame on you!
and for others who enjoyed this joke, shame on you too.
nicolas sarkozy never speak english while giving speeches, yet he made it to become president of France, not only that he caught the attention of carla bruni, a beautiful model too.
who are you guys to judge others’ english. by the way ghafar baba is no longer alive, i wonder how are you going to seek for his forgiveness. haris, you are still a muslim, am i right?
Whatever, lah
Ellyna
October 9, 2008
Was in the court today. RPK looks ok. Too many people, courtroom too small. Half past six prosecution team. Judge was having a field day having a go at the incompetent prosecution. Adjourned at around 12.00 and will continue on Monday.
NoYawns
October 9, 2008
Muhammad – the point is Tyson LIED about “I no spikking Inglis”, not about people who don’t speak English. Tyson lied to escape criminal charges and he was carrying so much cash!
So UMNO gets the leaders it deserves. Unfortunately whoever they elect becomes the PM for all of us – and we may have a PM who is associated with murder, sleaze and huge corruption. Sheeesh!!!
dunnoalso
October 9, 2008
haris
what muhammad (8.44 pm) said is what we all should be striving for…
Pls dont make fun of people…esp. the departed.
U have shown yr dark side….& i tot u r above this.
My humble request…pls dont go down this road again.
salam zul
Shamsul Yunos
October 9, 2008
This is what I think of your joke haris,
http://marahku.blogspot.com/
I was flipping trough the blogs and saw that Haris Ibrahim, who claims that he represents the People’s Parliament wrote a piece about Tun Ghafar Baba – it was actually a joke about how Tun Ghafar does not know how to speak proper English when ordering toast with butter and jam.
Haris admits that he does not know whether the story is true, yet he felt compelled, despite his legal background and, more importantly, self-professed passion for human rights, to link Tun Ghafar’s name to the joke.
You see he could have attached Tan Sri Muhammad Muhammad Taib’s name to the story, after all his currency smuggling case in Australia is record of Mat Taib’s admission of his poor grasp of the English language.
What difference would it have made to his joke?
Nothing, he could have changed the place, time and name and it would not have mattered.
Yet he chose to poke fun at a dead man, who throughout his years of loyal service to the country, never, to my knowledge had a nasty bone in his body. Tun Ghafar was a humble man, he knew who he was and never thought of himself as anything more than a footsoldier for the party.
I don’t understand why Haris thinks it is perfectly fine for him to poke fun at the late Tun Ghafar, a highly respected Malay leader who sacrificed his life for his people. What did Tun Ghafar do to Haris, his family, his friends and the people of Malaysia.
I know Haris may not think highly of Umno but there is no reason to stopp this low.
Anyway, kalu takpandai cakap omputeh tu bodoh sangat ke? Kalau boleh cakap Queen’s English tu pandai tinggi sangat ke tokohnye?
Kalu tinggi sangat tokohnya kalau pandai cakap English tu, padanlah ada orang yang pandang tinggi sangat apa saja yang dijaja oleh Barat.
storm62
October 9, 2008
bro haris, u r really Malaysian.
gua anak Penang you know, gua sipik Malaykien ( malay + hokkien) like the baba and nyonyas.
what the olang putih sipiking semua gua tau dengak, apa gua sipiking itu olang putih semua takla paham.
thats why gua tak boleh jadi mentri lo. shy ma.
some more Malaysia got mentri2 no sipiking english also got ar? gua mistake la, last time patut gua campur politics la. i think gua lagi qualified lo.
Jong
October 9, 2008
Hey guys, esp Muhammad(8.44pm) you come into his blog and you are telling Haris what to write? Comeon, if you don’t it here, just leave and go elsewhere. Haris is the owner of this blog, remember?
Haris, I think that was a good one! I admire your fantastic good sense of humor! Nice to have met you at the Magistrate Court on RPK first day of hearing.
muhammad
October 9, 2008
noYawns,
that’s another issue that we can debate on, but i like to bring one message at a time. and this time my message is what i had already written in my first comment.
Thanks dunnoalso for equivocal comment. I am not saying lying is OK, but let’s talk one thing at a time so that the message i’m trying to pass on to the blog owner a.k.a haris ibrahim will be received as how i want him to receive it.
owh and haris ibrahim did mention ghafar baba’s name. what has he got to do with muhammad taib spik no inglish case??
muhammad
October 9, 2008
haris did reply to my previous comment.
short, sweet and simple..
“whatever, lah”
maybe i’m asking too much from you.
digest this…
haris you must be wondering how to minta maaf from a guy which i put my utmost respect to. Ghafar baba is the greatest PM we never had. He’s humble, down to earth, kedai kopi type of leader.
He did not discriminate, and i think after what anwar ibrahim did to him, he didn’t lash out and plot a revenge on anwar. nor did he want to form a new party, stage a coup de etat, and lure MPs to jump ship to regain what was stolen from his hand.
like what u said haris… whatever,lah!
Joe Rakyat
October 9, 2008
Hey Everyone, Najis and goons seem to be going after Haris Ibrahim and Hindraf now, using Raya open house visit as an excuse.
When will they learn? The more you try and bully the rakyat, the more you make us angry and the faster you dig your own grave. For every RPK and Haris Ibrahim you try and scare, 10 more spring up in their place.
Even Raya open house is paid for by taxpayer money, so what the hell are they making a fuss over the visit? Wearing t-shirt now is a crime issit?? Bullshit.
Haris, we are with you. History will remember you and RPK the same way as Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr and all the other brave souls who fought for the rights of the Rakyat. Thank God for people like you who try to open our eyes to the rampant corruption and abuse of power going on in Malaysia.
What has UMNO done for the Rakyat these past 50 years? They have only enriched themselves and their cronies. The people are now mature enough to call for change, and change we will get. If not this year, then by the next election — the historical trend towards an enlightened Malaysian Rakyat is moving forwards and nothing UMNO does can reverse it now. JR
“All through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall, always.” – Mohandas Gandhi
Devan
October 9, 2008
Do we need a LIAR as UMNO Deputy President???
Anyway who cares…….ALL the UMNO Leaders are all LIARS !!!!!
ash
October 9, 2008
some of you ah… are SO holier than thou
there is saying: “whatever you do, do it well”
thats what we are all after
that is what malaysia is after
be it english, killer nasi lemak, or building LRT stations
so PLEASE stop taking yourselves so blardy seriously.
and stop being so blardy literal. some people who are departed are being taken apart right now in history books and you aren’t fussing about that (think hitler).
don’t like the oversimplistic analogy? i’m just emulating YOU to show you how i feel about you. 😉
and i understand the need to encourage virtue but apasal you guys nak buat hal about religion now. its freedom of expression. i suppose you’re allowed to tell people off (that’s a freedom of expression too) but you’re being so one-dimensional about it. exactly what your arguments should AVOID.
as if you’ve never had a good tongue-in-cheek chat at a mamak and said irreverent things. are you or are you not human, what more – Malaysian? do you not understand the spirit in which haris is blogging?
i’m sure any poke at GB was NOT meant to disrespect the dead. haris has better things to do, you know.
padahal, I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO than this.
but i couldn’t help myself. itchy fingers. geram.
eeeeesh!
mawardi
October 9, 2008
Haris, a high english-spoken lawyer, what have you done to this country, compared to poor english-spoken Ghafar Baba?
If you wanna take a shot at Mike Tyson, do not involve the dead please.
“May they do a RPK on you, Haris.”
bangmalaysia
October 9, 2008
I hope you’ll be OK tomorrow Haris.
Trespassing at a Hari Raya Open House, how ridiculous??
Anyways, I’m praying for all of you guys, take care.
travic
October 9, 2008
It’s never been about the inglis lah! It’s about the convenience of not speaking inglis lah! Next thing you know, one can get away with murder because one no speaking inglis!
meli
October 9, 2008
mr. harris,
please be more careful on your writings. that’s very insulting, idiot! some of arwah’s family members might read this, and you insult them. you are so fluent with your english huh? so be it. but dont disgrace others!!
da8991
October 9, 2008
Agree, you should not draw such parallels with the late GB.As for the “proposed” lineup, they are really their own worst enemy…and it is only a matter of time they will implode,or haven’t they partial done that already?
dbarber59
October 10, 2008
Agree with this. interesting article!
Dave Barber
http://finepoetry.wordpress.com
panca
October 10, 2008
Due to hectic schedule and distance travel southern most, ali rustam ‘burnt’ out. BTW his english language was not properly drilled, he should be “grilled” by now.
Malaysia Boleh, Memang Boleh!
wandererAUS
October 10, 2008
Muhammad:
Have some blooming sense of humor, don’t be so uptight!
You are behaving more like a snooty English esquire.
amy
October 10, 2008
ok-lah, stop everyone! Just like when I said, don’t compare dogs with UMNO goons becos they are better than humans most times, nobody listened. So, likewise, drawing parallel to certain individuals need not necessarily mean it is disrespect to the dead!! Maybe, Haris should have been more sensitive but then again, he’s fighting for the same cause as you and I. We all know what he’s trying to say. No excuse to make fun at a simple person but lighten up guys. Let’s shoot the perpetrator instead-UMNO GOONS!!!!!
Joe Rakyat
October 10, 2008
Reject Leaders Who Do Not Respect Country’s Rakyat
2008-10-09 15:04
KUALA TERENGGANU: The Malaysian Rakyat Thursday (9 Oct) called on Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to reject any form of unruly behaviour towards the country’s Rakyat.
The Rakyat said they did not want such behaviour (such as leaders sulking and pouting like Beverly Hills 90210 actors) to become a norm because it could undermine unity and security of the country, including teddy bear sales.
Citing as example the unruly incident at the Hari Raya open house of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and other Muslim cabinet ministers in Kuala Lumpur last Wednesday (1 Oct), where leaders conceitedly tried to brush off greeting members of the Rakyat simply because their t-shirts carried messages of support for detainees being held unjustly under the draconian ISA law. The Rakyat said such action could cause losses to the country.
“If there are leaders with other motives, who don’t understand the Malaysian culture of courtesy, are rude and don’t respect the Rakyat, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak must reject them. This kind of action cannot become a norm,” the Rakyat said.
The Rakyat said the government held the open house (paid for by the Rakyat) to enable the leaders to meet and greet the Malaysian Rakyat who had graciously voted the leaders into parliament, without having to observe protocol.
“Never in other countries can the leaders meet their Rakyat so easily. (But) this value of peace will be destroyed if certain leaders have other motives. This value of peace cannot be ignored,” said the Rakyat.
The Rakyat said that if such actions persisted, it might not be possible to practise the open house concept in future and that would be a loss, because leaders such as Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak would no longer get cards and teddy bears.
orang miskin
October 10, 2008
Tun Ghaffar may have sacrificed his life for his people, but look at what his followers are doing, which is a bigger joke to his legacy. I pray that God be with you when you meet the cops tomorrow, Haris sir.
Samuel Goh Kim Eng
October 10, 2008
To further help improve your English
Without being considered too proud or selfish
Do try to read often my original poems in English
Hopefully with wrong grammar and poor spelling to abolish
(C) Samuel Goh Kim Eng – 101008
http://MotivationInMotion.blogspot.com
Fri. 10th Oct. 2008.
Sayonara
October 10, 2008
Muha mad ENUFF..please don’t SWEAT the SMALL STUFF
omarkhayyam
October 10, 2008
Guys …. this is d UMNO that is curently in power 🙂
they represent the actual composition of UMNO 🙂
they are controlling the education … finance … n every damn thing in this country 🙂
do we have a future ????
cheers
omarkhayyam
October 10, 2008
looks like sum of u r getting “emotical” with dead man n inklish jokes 🙂
lets focus on da mesaage folks ….
harris ain’t no shakespearce either but jus doing his part to enlighten the many uninformed ones of the past that we all used to have with the present, that seems even more troubling 🙂
cheers
muhammad
October 10, 2008
wandererAUS,
just imagine someone is making fun of your deceased dad! then you will know what’s the true meaning of fun..
those who disagree with me, if you really lack of humor material, go and dig your dad’s weaknesses and make fun of that until you satisfied. try that for a while, then you will understand why this time haris is not being wise in posting article, EVEN in his own blog….
you know why am i being uptight, coz no freedom of expression allow you to do such a disgraceful act.
and a lawyer of haris ibrahim’s reputation replying “whatever,lah” to my disappointment at him, is another disgrace.
haris should apologize. as simple as that.
cerita dongeng
October 10, 2008
well haris makes me like our beluv ghafar baba even more! our Baba was so sweet n cute wif his straightness, zillion times better than those huge bunch of bodoh sombong hypocrite pretending to know a lot all the times
my ‘extremist’ mama luv him despite the fact tat she neber go to school, n i luv him even more
to muhammad n the rest, its ur mind tat decide wat u c, so pray more!
pls to share wif u “The trees from the forest”
http://mt.m2day.org/2008/content/view/12473/84/
god bless u
splim
October 10, 2008
I will not be surprised if a police report is lodged against Haris for insulting the dead.
Taikohtai
October 10, 2008
Guys,
Do stop bagging M2 for his no speaking the Englis.
Bloke managed to escape with all his cash intact. Even the poor learned Aussie judge got fooled by him, so you do have to give him credit for being street wise.
If M2 can fool the kwailos, the rakyat of Malaysia will not stand much chance. Yes, like it or not, the Sandiwara goes on and on and on and on and on and …….. as M2 goes kaching! kaching! kaching!
kate
October 10, 2008
Praying for you n all the others who are on the receiving end of police intimidation currently. MSM is going to town with their ridiculous reports. I am also praying for sanity to return to Malaysia, my beloved homeland. As for the joke ‘upstairs’, some people got it and some people didn’t but i hope everybody appreciates the fact that we all have the freedom to express our view here – thumbs up or thumbs down. Finally this is Mr Harris’s blog and he can write whatever he wants here. God bless you all.
God bless you, too, Kate
Rosli
October 10, 2008
Bro Haris its a very eyecatching MUKADIMAH,u dont even need to cont’d your story.People around umno circle who opposed “mi spik no inglis” now can use this story to spice up the VP campaign.TKS
Mandy
October 10, 2008
MAN OF COURAGE MEETS A LADY OF COURAGE
RPK had a special visitor today, Siew Hoon, his neighbour from Bt Rahman Putra, Sg Buloh. Siew Hoon suffered from an eye degenerative disease. When she was giving birth to her baby 12 years ago, she had to choose between saving her eyesight or saving her baby. She chose her baby and as a consequence, today she is blind.
Despite her handicap, she came to court to give support to RPK. It really touched us who were privileged to witness them hugging.
Siew Hoon related to us their experience when her family first shifted to BRP to be RPK’s neighbours. The housing estate suffered frequent breakins. So much so that RPK organised a Rukun Tetangga to guard the area. That’s RPK, said Siew Hoon. He is so caring for his neighbours, always fighting for justice. Once when she was alone in the house with her child, a thief climbed on the roof. RPK came out and risked his life to single-handedly chased the thief off. When Siew Hoon called the police, all they asked was: “Did you catch the thief?” The police could not be bothered to help us and it took a civilian to do it.
Another time, about 10 years back, when Anwar Ibrahim was arrested for sodomy. RPK explained to her, Anwar is not like that. He does not have such sexual preferences knowing him in college. RPK set up the Free Anwar Campaign Site to defend Anwar. He was always fighting for the underdog.
He set up Malaysia-Today to fight for us Malaysians. Now that he is in trouble, Siew Hoon re-iterated, we must come out and show him support. If I, a blind person, can do it. There is no reason normal people cannot do it.
http://tindakmalaysia.com/tm_forums2008/
Hazel
October 10, 2008
Dear Haris,
Bcos’ of your plead, a few friends and myself took a day off from work and went to PJ Sessions court yesterday to show our supports for RPK. Thanks Haris for reminding us to give back a little to our hero who has given so much for us.
Drachen
October 10, 2008
Regarding the aspirants in umno, I’ll bet most of them haven’t got a clue about the global recession that’s going to hit us next year and how to take the country through it. I doubt they know much more than Sarah Palin. Politicking is their only speciality.
kaki ayam
October 10, 2008
sigh, some people can be so bloody uptight. making fun of the dead it seems. and out of a sudden, the dead seems to be elevated to the status of a saint….
sometimes you just raise your hand and surrender to the way how some people make things complicated. for a simple joke, they can call you a disgrace to whatever, or NOT being a muslim, etc, etc. They are so ready to pounce on you, the moment they think you slip.
hey, talking about asking the forgiveness from fellow human beings, is this the islamic thingy or adat resam melayu?
if the person has departed, does that means we will never be forgiven? Isn’t asking forgiveness from God more than enough, because ultimately all sins that are committed, are sins against God?
okok, sorry for thinking aloud…and diverting from the topic…
desperate housewife
October 10, 2008
My friends poked fun at my Mandarin, and I poked them at their English. We were just joking, we even joked about ourselves and some other people, alive and dead ones.
Jong
October 10, 2008
muhammad
October 10, 2008 at 7:16 am
– Who is talking about your deceased dad, mine or ours?
Politicians are public property aren’t they? They must be prepared to be criticized and be laughed at.
Paul Warren
October 10, 2008
Maybe we shouldn’t be talking badly about all the dead then? Hitler, Mussollini, Nero!!
Come off it you guys, there are times we also say or write self-deprecating stuff about ourselves and our loved ones. Was malice injested into the little episode on the late Ghafar Baba that Haris wrote about? I don’t see malice in it. There is probably a long forgotten fondness even. You got to be such a black and white kind of person to only see the negative.
As for Mohd Mohd Taib, he deserves right up to the epiteph that is written on his grave stone much more than what Haris wrote. He, after all told a lie under oath that he did not nderstand English when in fact when he did his degreee in History at University Malaya, it must have all been in English at that time. And of course he is a living politician wanting to become our Deputy Prime Minister…He deserves all the scorn we can thrown at him.
And is that malice? No sir it is not!
HARRIS BANGSAT
October 10, 2008
Harris,
Emak bapak awak tak ajar awak? kenapa awak biadap?
Awak tahu tak Ghafar Baba lebih berjasa kepada negeri
daripada awak? Jasa awak kepada negara sebesar mana kalau hendak di-bandingkan sama TUN Ghafar?
storm62
October 10, 2008
muhammad 10.16pm,
the late Ghafar Baba has never been our PM before, he was only the DPM.
how i wish he could’ve exchange his place with Najib now! i dont mind if his english is poor.
but ex-MB of Selangor can even LIE to the Australians that he cannot speak english and also our Late Sultan of Selangor about his marriage with the Princess.
has he got the merit to be a DPM? what a disgrace to Malaysians.why not have some fun with his Ingeriss?
hope bro haris will be alright with the police today.
may the AL-Mighty be with you Bro. Haris.
C-bOk
October 10, 2008
Don’t make fun of a dead leader. Tun Ghaffar Baba has contributed to greatly to the country.
TheWrathOfGrapes
October 10, 2008
Some people just don’t get it. This piece is not about poor English. This is not even about En Ghafar Baba. Focus on the the title of this post – Ghafar Baba never claim that he spoke no Enggerish.
adam
October 10, 2008
Muhammad et al,
Can you look back in history and tell us what happened to a few hundred acres of govt land in Sg Buloh, first turned into a golf club then given to Hong Leong? You will then realise how great the man was…
ramli hj.awang
October 10, 2008
4 all of u guys…
WHATEVER,LAH…
kaki ayam
October 10, 2008
sigh…those comments are still coming in…
haris, are you taking it ok?
i bet some blog out there are diverting the topic on hand and sees this a great opportunity to demonise haris….
these people talks as if they were kissing Ghafar Baba toes when he is still alive…. bull shit, just plain opportunists…
Meng
October 10, 2008
He is a sick Donkey, wants to become the no 2. An idiot of the highest order who has not even a single human values in him to be a minister. Perhaps it is one of those qualities that makes a umno man a minister.
cresma
October 10, 2008
GOSH PAUL WARREN, WHY ARE YOU EQUATING THE LATE TUN GHAFFAR WITH THE LIKES OF HITLER, MUSSOLINI AND NERO?????
ARE YOU THAT STUPID?
Anti-ISA
October 10, 2008
Seeing Umno for what it is
– by a Malaysian Titanic 3rd Class Passenger
——————————————–
The truth is that Umno has ruled supreme for the last 50 years. It always got it’s way because the dominant ethnic majority of the country always supported it’s policies.
The state of the nation is corrupt, racist, discriminatory, abusive, unjust, inefficient, and backwards. If Malaysia stinks then it is because Umno stinks.
If the morals of the country stinks, then it is because the morals of Umno politicians stinks.
I won’t even discuss the morality of explosives and murder of foreign nationals as most people seem to be able to tell the difference between right and wrong in this instance.
Instead, I shall talk about Umno’s corruption and Umno’s racism as the former will occasion the disastrous downfall of this nation, and the latter will be the downfall of the Malays.
Umno teaches that it is just to discriminate against all non-Malays and non-Muslims – jobs, education, schools, colleges, universities, business opportunities, government contracts, concessions, taxes, and even finding a cemetery to bury the dead.
Umno teaches that it is right to discriminate on the basis of a person’s race, culture, language or religious beliefs.
In front of non-Malays, it speaks of tolerance and unity in diversity, and in front of Malays it speaks of race, religious, cultural and language supremacy, and the glorification of power and ethnic subjugation.
Bung Mokhtar Radin’s leadership role as characterised by a yobbish machismo, obscene gestures, medieval attitudes towards women and minorities, and strutting bigotry within Umno is not only not an accident of chance, but an exemplary example of Umno’s appeal to the baser instincts and darker fantasies of it’s ethnic constituency.
To the vernacular schools it gives a pittance for support, and to Malay language schools, there is no need to be diplomatic and call them ‘national language’ schools, it gives 100% support.
As for English-medium schools, the type that made Malaysian education the best in South East Asia, and our school-leavers the most sought after anywhere in the civilised world, they were made extinct, courtesy of Umno’s language and cultural supremacist fantasies. So we are left with unemployable graduates with deplorable job skills and prospects.
Umno’s policies caused a brain drain to Australia, New Zealand, UK, Canada, and the US.
Umno’s language supremacist policies caused the extinction of the best high-quality education that Malaysia and the Malays would ever know.
Umno’s perversion of the very idea of meritocracy in favour of racist discrimination has ensured the lack of meritocractic competition for all Malaysians.
Sooner or later, the Malays will realise that denying meritocracy to non-Malays guarantees that there can be no meritocracy for Malays even within their own community.
The fact that there is no notable inferiority complex nor entitlement complex or NEP dependence amongst the non-Malays is no accident.
If the non-Malays were the dominant ethnic majority, and they had an Umno-like racist party to lead them with promises of ethnic supremacy, and racial discrimination and ethnic privileges, then I believe they would have lost their self-confidence, self-respect, and self-belief too.
Farish Noor once said ‘Umno ternak Melayu untuk disembelih’.
I agree, and if the dominant ethnic majority fails to see past Umno’s seductive promises of ethnic supremacy and false gods of ethnic aggrandisement, then we are all finished.
muhammad
October 10, 2008
storm62.. and the rest..
i wrote ghafar baba is the greatest PM ‘we never’ had. Is it my english or your inability to comprehend? you want to make fun or laugh at someone else’s poor english, mind yours first!!
haris why are you so quiet? you are enjoying the quarrel? or you just don’t care. you are not man enough to say you admit your mistake and sorry for it. You uphold your ego for your ego is much more important than all the great contributions ghafar baba gave to our nation.
or should i put it this way, anything related to UMNO is useless, and UMNO never contribute to this country then only will u be happy??
you only want to hear/see what you want to see. that’s why when I commented against you and ask you to retract this post, you are dead silence. If you don’t have the gut to say i’m sorry, don’t go around demonstrating or showing your machoness among hindraf group etc.. since you can’t even bow down and admit your mistake..
no person in this world is perfect, the different is some acknowledge it, some doesn’t..
HardcoreMalay
October 10, 2008
WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT ENGLISH??? WHO GIVES A SHIT ABOUT GHAFFAR BABA??? THE DUDE IS DEAD, WORM FOOD!!! THIS IS MALAYSIA, WE DON’T GIVE A RAT’S ASS IF YOU SPEAK GODDAMN SIOUX RED-INDIAN LANGUAGE. WE STILL HATE EACH OTHER!!!
shar101
October 10, 2008
Aaahhh.. the bane of sopo bloggers, especially someone of Haris’s caliber.
Every single comment here which chastised Haris has failed to see the GB analogy in context to MMT whereby it is the latter that is disparaged, and not the former.
Quite simply, if GB is to be revered, then MMT must be despised for sullying the nobleness of GB because both are malay politicians from UMNO.
However, to expect SOME readers here to make that quantum leap of understanding is perhaps too much to ask.
——————————————————-
Btw Muhhamad, Sarkozy is french and the french are wont to speak english to each other.
Just like the Irish are perpetually suspicious of the english because.. well, have you ever wondered who made irish jokes famous.
And who knows, in the near future, people the world over will spread malaysian jokes about us being dour, dense and duplicitous.
lilian
October 10, 2008
Can you all give Haris a break!!! He is already stress with the police on his back. Wonder why no news from you today, Haris. Is everything, ok?
P/S Msg to HarecoreMalay, I don’t hate you.
Rastaman.JB.
October 10, 2008
Dear Haris,
Why is this creep, who is bereft of humor, getting Hindraf involved in his rants…..be a grown up lah…go have some chilled drink,will you ?
Sometimes, it is best to ignore idiots (but does it mean one has chickened out? )
BR
RastamanJB.
Markky
October 10, 2008
If u kenot spok the Ingris n u go to oter contris to leprisent melaysia, than de wite peopel mei tink we all lif on threes.
Bolehland Resident
October 11, 2008
Wah, can’t believe that people are acting like this, over a simple joke…
Don’t come and tell me no one made jokes about any other politician, dead or alive, even those claiming to be virtuous and pious people. Pot calling kettle black/ Paku mengata dulang serpih.
Anyway, the crux of the discussion here is about the “suitability” of a lying, conniving, evil man to be the next DPM of Malaysia. It is not about GB, so stop trying to detract from the issue at hand by throwing in diversionary topics, this applies to all the UMNO goons here.
Muhammad may have felt hurt that the message may have targeted him indirectly (with regards to the poor “inglis”) but please do not go all emotional and have a”holier than thou” view of things. Get a hold of your emotional self and concentrate on the issue at hand, which is a fair, democratic, clean government that serves the people and not the other way around.
mala
October 11, 2008
dear muhammad,
get a life!!!!
mala
October 11, 2008
haris,
u ok? pls update on today’s rendavouz with blue boys.
ruyom
October 11, 2008
New Cabinet:
Prime Minister – Anwar
Deputy Prime Minister – Lim Kit Siang
Agriculture Minister –
Community Minister –
Culture Minister – Farish Noor
Defence Minister – Azmin Ali
Education Minister – Nga Kor Ming
Environment Minister – Teresa Kok
Finance Minister – Tony Pua
Foreign Minister – Ramasamy
Health Minister – Tan Seng Giaw
Home Minister – Sivarasa
Information Minister – Jeff Ooi
Law Minister – Teng Chang Khim
Manpower Minister –
Sports Minister –
Technology Minister –
Trade Minister – Khalid
Transport Minister – Liew Chin Tong
Tourism Minister –
Aishah
October 11, 2008
Muha mad!
“God, it’s great to poke fun at these dead people. They don’t fight back, you know.”
~Oscar Wilde
Capt Cock
October 11, 2008
Even if that Mr Muhammad fella is not an UMNO member, I would say that his mind set is typical of the UMNO members mind set…which is narrow and crooked….so if that Mr Muhammad dont like jokes then just take a hike in a closet somewhere….whatever la Mr Muhammad
firedward
October 11, 2008
this is why we speak english lol. Very funny. BTW great post
mawardi
October 11, 2008
Hitler et. al are a bunch of leaders with bad reputation. That’s why people always criticize them, but then it’s more subjective.
I can accept if Haris the Idiot wanted to criticize the ideology and mindset of Ghafar Baba. But this is more like mocking the dead.
I guess everyone can insult Haris’ father. I will start first. Haris’ father is a poor loser because he ‘made’ Haris the idiot.
mawardi,
God’s peace be with you
Brian
October 11, 2008
Haris, whats wrong with with his toast when others carry $2million across borders because he did not understand English. Lots more in the umno lineup
Rom Nain
October 11, 2008
Dear Haris,
Scrolling down the comments to your post, I was constantly shaking my head, wondering whether to laugh or to cry at the responses from the likes of Muhammad, Shamsul and Dunnoalso. I guess this is what our education system has produced – I pray that the late, great freedom fighter, TUN Ghafar Baba, was never an Education Minister, lest I be accused of spitting on his grave for that comment! I wish you well, brother, given the humourless imbeciles you have to deal with the moment you put up a post, no matter how funny and relevant. Keep well.
Rom Nain,
God is kind.
The rest of you commentators are precious gems.
You keep well, too, my friend.
Rom Nain
October 11, 2008
Oops, sorry – I forgot to include the brilliantly poetic Mawardi (7.02 am) in that list as well. Such passion, such venom, such inanity.
Whatif
October 11, 2008
Lighten up, folks who seem critical of Haris’ so-called joke. His target is not GB but the other M2M guy. In fact, if I were GB, I do not mind this joke to be attributed to me, even if, it is somewhat at my expense. How often can you make people smile nowadays, what with today’s inflation, corruption, rampant crimes, political intimidation, etc. Anyway, I would rather be remembered for this little silly joke than for some criminal activities that some of our politicians have been doing to the rakyat.
Haris, you are doing fine. Keep it up.
Adam
tony tee
October 11, 2008
I have the privillege and honour of being with the late Tun Ghaffar for 3 days and am can vouch that he speaks english better than many of our local graduates.
ARSHAD KHAN
October 12, 2008
Lawyer bodoh kurang ajar baca ni
Peguam, aktivis dan bloggers, saudara Haris Ibrahim menulis mengenai allahyarham bekas Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tun Ghaffar Baba dalam blognya https://harismibrahim.wordpress.com/2008/10/09/i-no-understanding-you-i-no-speaking-inglis/.
Menurut Harris, dia ada mendengar orang bercakap mengenai Tun Ghaffar sewaktu arwah pergi ke Pertubuhan Bangsa-Bangsa Bersatu (PBB)
Kononnya sewaktu arwah nak pesan roti bakar dekat seorang pelayan, arwah cakap macam ni;
‘I want you burn the bread, but don’t burn too much, ok. Put the butter upstairs and the jam downstairs’, or something like that.
Beginilah, semua orang tahu Tun Ghaffar tidak begitu fasih berbahasa Inggeris tetapi untuk menghina arwah dengan lawak sebegini, sebenarnya agak keterlaluan..
Sesuai ke orang yang mati dijadikan bahan lawak? Beliau juga sudah tidak ada di dunia untuk membela dirinya dari cerita humor seperti di atas
Sepatutnya, kita terima sahajalah yang Allahyarham Tun Ghaffar tak fasih berbahasa Inggeris adalah fakta, Tun Ghaffar hanya bawa plastik beg masa kat airport selepas dijatuhkan dari jawatan Timbalan Perdana Menteri oleh Anwar Ibrahim adalah fakta, bini Tun Ghaffar kena tangkap basah masa arwah sakit juga adalah fakta.
Tetapi harus diingat, Tun Ghaffar mengabdikan dirinya untuk memperjuangkan kemerdekaan dan maruah orang Melayu juga adalah fakta, Beliau juga banyak membantu kaum lain untuk berjaya.
Tun Ghaffar menolak sebarang pingat sewaktu berkuasa kerana sifatnya yang rendah diri itu juga adalah fakta, Tun Ghaffar salah seorang pemimpin Melayu yang miskin harta kerana tidak gila wang ringgit walaupun pernah menjadi Timbalan Perdana Menteri juga adalah satu fakta.
Cukuplah ketika hayatnya, beliau dijadikan bahan lawak. Orang yang kononnya terpelajar tak wajar jadikan ini sebagai bahan lawak murahan. Bahasa adalah sesuatu yang unik. Boleh berbahasa Inggeris tak semestinya menggambarkan seseorang itu pandai dan bijak.
Ramai jugak yang terror bahasa Inggeris tapi bengong, tak reti buat kerja, cara kerja tak gambarkan bijaksana walaupun ijazah berjela-jela. Yang buat kerja untuk hancurkan negara pun ramai.
Berdosa sangatkah kalau kurang bijak berbahasa Inggeris? Atau hina sangatkah jika tak boleh berbahasa orang putih di zaman sekarang yang trendnya orang bawa laptop ke sana sini seolah-olah memanjang sibuk.
Lawyer yang bagus bahasa Inggeris pun ramai yang jadi lawyer buruk dan kelentong orang sana-sini.Jadi, biarkanlah roh Tun Ghaffar bersemadi dengan aman. Kita yang masih hidup ni pun belum tahu untung nasib kita lepas mati nanti.
Maaf Harris Ibrahim, sekali lagi saya ingin ulang, lawak anda ‘not funny’.- UNTA BELANG
expertester
October 15, 2008
Aku rasa marah baca lawak bengong nie. Aku rasa marah bila aku tengok anak melayu sendiri mengutuk saudara seislam yang dah tak dek kat dunia nie.
Aku nie tak la alim mana tapi sejahat mana pun orang tu time hidup dia, bila dia dah meninggal setahu aku bangsa dan saudara seagama aku tak buat bahan lawak. Apatah lagi Tun Ghafar nie perjuangkan politik Melayu dari dia muda sampai tua.
Ingat-ingat la… ajal maut kita nie kat tangan Tuhan yang satu.
PS : setahu aku bahasa rasmi Malaysia nie Bahasa Melayu kan. Walaupun blog aku tu bahasa inggeris rojak… aku tetap bangga cakap bahasa ibunda aku.