Why should I apologise?

This is taken from the Star website. Can be seen here also:

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Friday September 5, 2008

Ahmad: Why should I apologise?

By ANDREA FILMER

GEORGE TOWN: Bukit Bendera Umno division chief Datuk Ahmad Ismail has refused to apologise over his racist remark calling the Chinese community “immigrants who do not deserve equal rights”.

“Why should I apologise? I didn’t do anything wrong. Those who do wrong should apologise but I haven’t done anything,” Ahmad said when The Star met him outside his Bayan Baru office yesterday.

He, however, refused to comment on whether the press misquoted him.

Sounding calm and collected on the phone, he said a full statement on what transpired would be released after a Penang Umno liaison meeting tomorrow.

Man in the news: Ahmad gesturing as he replies to a question in Bayan Baru yesterday. He said he had been leading a sepak takraw team to a tournament in Bangkok.

He added that he would not say much at present, but wanted to clear up the issue of reporting to the police.

Police are currently investigating five reports lodged against Ahmad under the Sedition Act 1948 for uttering the remarks at a ceramah on the eve of the Permatang Pauh by-election.

He said there were reports of his going to the Bukit Mertajam police station on Wednesday night (to make a statement).

“I want to make it clear that I never told anyone or informed anyone that I would be there. It was their assumption,” he said.

Ahmad recorded a statement at the police contingent headquarters in Penang Road at about 10pm the same night while pressmen from television, online and print media were waiting for him on the mainland.

Asked where he had been over the last few days, Ahmad confirmed that he had been leading a sepak takraw team to a tournament in Bangkok.

“My phone has been on and off, but a lot of my anak buah (supporters) have been calling me, so maybe that’s why it has been hard to get through,” he said.

On the alleged misappropriation of funds involving now-defunct company Popular Profile Sdn Bhd (PPSB), Ahmad said he had resigned before any action was taken on the company.

“This issue has nothing to do with me. Action is taken on a company, not on a personal capacity. Moreover, I resigned from the company on Sept 1, 1998. What happened after that, I don’t know.

“The Chief Minister (Lim Guan Eng) shouldn’t be using his political muscle and power to attack me,” he said, adding that he would not say more on the land deal until he had checked the details.

Lim had recently attacked Ahmad on a 1997 land deal involving PPSB, in which Ahmad had been a director. Lim alleged that the company had cheated the state of RM500,000 in a deal involving 4.2ha of industrial land in Bukit Minyak.

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Well believe or not, I'm actually with this guy. Why should he apologise? As a person who is speaking the truth, he shouldn't apologise. He's only calling a rose a rose. Nothing more than that. It may be hard on our ears but it is the fact. Trust me, the truth hurts. So why are all the people angry at him when all he said was the truth, no matter how ugly it may sound, but he had the guts to say it. After all, most Chinese in coffeeshops always talk about how they are not given the same rights and etc. lah... So finally we have a UMNO dude who is brave enough to tell the world the truth.

Even the DPM, was there when he made that statement didn't disagree immediately. Which actually meant that he agrees in principle what was said that night. He just didn't have the guts to tell the public thats all. And why did he take so long to apologise? Because ppl were angry. he only sorry because ppl are angry, not because the statement was wrong. (Cue the song by Rihanna, Take A Bow; look at the lyrics here.) Ok lah i quote the a few of the lines from the song here:-

An' don't tell me you're sorry 'cause you're not
Baby when I know you're only sorry you got caught

But you put on quite a show
Really had me going
But now it's time to go
Curtain's finally closing
That was quite a show
Very entertaining
But it's over now (but it's over now)
Go on and take a bow...


Thank goodness we still have people like him, who are dead straight honest, with his no-beating around-the-bush, takes-no-prisoner approach. Its ppl like our other minister and leaders are those who do not tell us the truth, telling us that we are equal. They are the liars!! Screwing us from the front is OK, just dont tell me nice things then stab me in the back lah!

If there was an award for having the guts to be honest award, we should give it to him.

Sigh, but then again, its because of our government's inconsistent use of the law that I'm not as brutally honest as he is out in public. Had i been as honest as he is, I would be in jail eating nasi lemak everyday, and probaly sing negaraku and recite the rukun negara till my voice is coarse...

Hey man,

Thanks for the honesty!! Please do it more often. We don't need anymore hypocrites in Malaysia, we want ppl to tell us the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help us God.

Boodyboy, out!!!

The Truth is...

THE truth is that although people say it’s easy to tell the truth, the fact is that it’s never easy to say it. Especially when you know the truth hurts, creates ill feelings, causes anger, mistrust, and in certain cases turn friends into enemies.

Of course, it is important to distinguish between what is the truth and the perception of the person towards you. If its perception, then it probably shouldn’t bother you so much as each person has a different appeal towards another person. Everybody bears different feelings for each other, even best friends. However, the truth, no matter how nicely it is put, sometimes just hurts simply because no1 told you about it all this time, or its from some1 close to you.

Of course a fine example would be the people who join the American Idol auditions. Some of them actually think they can sing when the fact is that almost every1 agrees they can’t sing to save their lives. When they are told of this truth, they become really angry, and their reactions vary from person to person. But of course we can see that these people will try to deny the fact that they aren’t good singers. Some of course do it because of their relatives’ encouragement, although I think this is wrong. To give your family member false hope, even though the intention is good, may only make the person happy for a while, until, of course, the day he learns that he is actually not good enough. Then he will continue living the life with that disillusion despite the fact that the general public tells him that he ain’t good enough. And he still perseveres. Why? Because that person’s family members love that person so much that they couldn’t bear to tell him the truth. That he just simply isn’t good enough.

Of course one cannot blame the family for loving that person too much, but of course by encouraging it, the situation becomes worse. Little do they know that what they do today will have a long term effect on their member. The poor person will live life with a disillusion, thinking that he/she is right all along. He/she may even be angry or defiant when told otherwise because, that’s what his family members are telling him that there isn’t anything wrong.

I hate to be critical of people, partly because of the reasons mentioned above and partly because I couldn’t care less about most of the people I know. I don’t care if they have flaws. But the flaws of people whom I care matter to me most. Its not like I’m the most perfect person on earth. I have to admit that no human is perfect, hence the perfect human should have some form of imperfection. But still, its because I care for these people that I feel that I should voice out my concerns for them.

The thing that is holding me back sometimes is because of the reasons mentioned earlier. I’m afraid that I might hurt the person’s feelings or worse, the person becomes defensive. By being defensive it means that person is not going to accept your comments and is flatly rejecting it. Then as such, giving your 2 cents worth is actually worth nothing at all. Not only do you fail to help the person change or realize the need for a self assessment, you have now created hatred against you. The person is probably thinking that you are making an unfair comment.

Sigh… the dilemma we face when we’re about to tell a person the truth. Yes, sometimes reality sucks. And we hate to be the person to tell them that. Well unless you’re some heartless person or Simon Cowell lah. Simon would probably defend himself against this statement by saying he’s the only person who dares to tell people the truth. And maybe, just maybe, by today’s standards, telling the truth has become harsh. Maybe it’s because we’re too used to being obliging and courteous that to state the simple truth is to be harsh.

So you see, it’s a very confusing world we live in today. Most of the time I keep my mouth shut. I don’t want to hurt somebody’s feelings or lose a friend. Sometimes it’s better for them to continue living in that disillusion. But sometimes I just feel like I can’t take it anymore. I can’t let that person continue living their lives like that. I have to do something, even if it means being the bad guy.

Can some1 tell me if it’s wrong for me to want to change a person for the better?

And what if the person refuses to change? Should I just let them be? Or even worse, forget about them. Since they don’t want to help themselves, no point helping them?

Sigh….

Boodyboy, out!!!