Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak offers to use Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency’s Amfibi Bombardier CL415 to carry out water bombing and help Indonesia put out its forest fires. We ask Malaysians on their opinion of this story

Ahmad Zakaria, 28 (Rembau, Negeri Sembilan) - “Yes my company was awarded a RM3 million contract to put out the forest fires but as we have no planes or trained personnel, we welcome the government’s efforts.”

Alex Lim, 25 (Nilam Puri, Kelantan) - “I hope we charge them more than 3 sen per gallon.”

Z. Sathyaseelan, 77 (Santan, Perlis) “I thought relations are getting worse. We better ask for permission first if not they might shoot our plane down.”

Abdul Sitawak, 12 (Bintulu, Sarawak) - “Bomb them back to Stone Age, I have enough of those Indons coming in and stealing our camp fires.”

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PKR adviser Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has come out in support of former Malaya Communist Party (MCP) leader Chin Peng’s return to Malaysia. He said Chin Peng should be forgiven and allowed to return on humanitarian grounds. We ask Malaysians on their opinion of this story

Nazir Norani, 43 (Batu Pahat, Johor) - “Sexism in Malaysia is a serious problem in Malaysia. Given his history as a former MCP how do we know that he will not be displaying those male chauvinist babi behaviour again? ”

Alex Lim, 25 (Ipoh Barat, Perak) - “We shall prevail; one more MCA supporter will not stop Pakatan Rakyat from taking power eventually.  Oh you mean MCP ah not MCA – not MCA not to worry lah!”

Z. Sathyaseelan, 77 (Sungei Buloh, Selangor) “Why don’t we let him come in under Malaysia, My Second Home plan? More foreigners come to Malaysia lagi good right?”

Robert Thaiwikan, 12 (Kinabatangan, Sabah) - “Who is Chin Peng ah?”

Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin (PAS) was kicked out of the Dewan Rakyat minutes after he took his oath as the new MP for Bukit Gantang. We ask Malaysians on their opinion of this story

Ruhanie Ahmad, 33 (Bukit Gantang, Perak) - “Er does this mean that we will have another by-election? I don’t mind another RM20 from those dacing flag people coming around again.”

CC Wong, 39 (Petaling Street, KL) - “We should cut his pay for the days that he is suspended. And that of the other suspended MPs as well so that we can use it for the 9th Malaysian Plan”

George Lopez, 77 (KT, Terengganu) “This is so childish. When I was his age and I wanted something, I will just sit at the corner and sulk until my mother came over and smack me on my head. Violence always works.”

Robert Thaiwikan, 18 (Miri, Sarawak) - “Wonder if I can buy the “bubar DUN” (Dissolve state assembly) headgear on eBay. It will be a best seller here!”

We talk to the Men on the Rapid Penang Bus (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_man_on _the_Clapham_omnibus) to find out where they think their (former) Deputy Chief Minister is headed.

(TPT) – GEORGETOWN: It was hot, it was dusty, it stank of vehicle fumes and your correspondent was utterly exhausted. For our readers’ sake however, this correspondent will do everything he can to bring you the latest up-to-date tidbits on Penang’s man of the moment.

Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin resigned from his posts of Deputy Chief Minister I and state executive councilor on Saturday. Of course, this had been known to everyone but Fairus as long ago as July last year, so nobody could be said to have been surprised at this development. However, we found that many Penangites still doubted whether Fairus had stepped down from his posts willingly, or if something more nefarious had happened to him. Here we present some of the opinions heard from passengers on board a Rapid Penang bus on a lazy Sunday afternoon.

“Everyone knows Anwar said Fairus has resigned to pursue further studies. Why Anwar seems to know more about Fairus’s personal life than Fairus’s own boss is beyond me. But if Anwar says it’s true, then it’s definitely true,” said a female passenger just before alighting the bus with a toddler in tow.

“Aiyah, stop beating around the bush lah!” exclaimed a middle-aged man with early-onset balding. “He was fired lah! So hard to see meh? The “post-graduate studies” reason is so obviously a face-saving measure. Just wait and see what he gets up to next if you don’t believe me.”

“My cousin works at an employment agency and she says she’s seen an application from a “Mohammad Fairus Khairuddin” who’s applying for a toilet janitor position. It’s too much of a coincidence if you ask me,” commented a tertiary student who was seated with her friends.

“I saw Fairus yesterday evening! He was walking drunkenly around Jalan Batu Ferringi, asking tourists to give him a merciful end. Later I heard from a friend that some men in white uniforms pulled up in a truck, put a straight jacket on him and bundled him into the vehicle. I swear it’s the truth!” opined a woman who revealed that she worked in the F&B industry.

“Fairus has been abducted by aliens. There’s no doubt about it. Why else has no one seen him?” asked a passenger with a straggly beard. “I ought to know. I was once abducted by aliens near Lorong Love. They… conducted experiments on me. It was horrible. I was probed.”

“You know how the aliens look like? They look like Anwar. Yes no doubt about it. I knew something was wrong the first time I saw him in the flesh.”

(TPT) – KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has called for a stop to the employment of dirty tactics, including circulating libellous SMS messages as well as defaming people, in the run-up to the Umno elections this week. The Malaysian prime minister and Umno president said this should not be the way to defeat any candidate of the party elections.

“Those who have become victims of such tactics can report to the police for action to be taken,” he told Malaysian journalists covering his official visit to Kuwait, last night.

Toa Peh Kong, a retired becak driver commented that it is “brillianz” (sic) of PM Abdullah to ask UMNO representatives to report to police if they are being libelled. “Since everytime i see policeman at nasi lemak and mee goreng stalls, I think this is the best way to get them to do some work. Chase SMSes”, said Peh Kong.

Peh Kong added that this is not the first time that we have seen Abdullah’s sparkling brains at work – “last time also when Perak MB Dr. Zambry got suspended by the Perak Speaker, he told Zambry to make a police report……only I can see PM Abdullah diplomatic ways of getting the police to work”. Peh Kong mentioned that he is also going to do a bit to help Abdullah in his quest to get the police to work by reporting everything to the police. “Chicken price high, report police, mee goreng not nice, report police, traffic jam, report police, my wife no happy, report police – everything also report police lah”, exclaimed Peh Kong.

Petai Times can’t help but wonder why the country’s crime statistics are so high.

‘English not a prerequisite for success – in fact, why study?’

(TPT) – KUALA LUMPUR: In view of the debate on teaching Math and Science using the English Language, The Petai Times (TPT) conducted a street survey to get a pulse of the ground. Interviewees of different racial profiles were selected to reflect the multiracial Malaysian society. Deng Lang, Huan Kia and Ge Leng Kia were handpicked for their earnest and frank views.

TPT: As a Chinese, do you think English is suitable for teaching Maths and Science?

Deng Lang: My opinion on the topic of teaching Math and science in English. My first language is Mandarin Chinese, and I completed my primary and secondary education in a Mandarin language school.

I have obtained a Bachelor’s degree in kryptonite science and am pursuing a PhD in deep mathematics at a Chinese language university in Bhutan. Here are my views:

1. Learning in English is not a prerequisite for success in science. Math or Science has nothing to do with English. Learning how to recite the Alphabetical system from front to back, from back to front or even from the centre left to centre right will not lead to success at all, contrary to much held societal views.

2. Although knowing English might help us to understand some Western rigorously researched scientific publications – which have often been proven bogus ultimately in my view – it will not help in the long run.

3. Returning to the topic of achieving success in science, most Malaysian students do not speak English as their mother tongue and I barely passed the language when I first started to learn it in school. But look, I am still successfully studying deep mathematics in Bhutan!

TPT also managed to get the opinions of Huan Kia who was similarly opposed to the teaching of Maths and Science in English.

Huan Kia: No no, tak ada guna lah. Besides, the teachers cannot speak Engrish (sic) also, how to teach? Is my Engrish (sic) bad? I don’t think so, you boleh faham right?

To which we were unable to deny, we did understand the interviewee Huan Kia.

As Huan Kia spoke on in accented Bahasa Melayu interspersed with various English terms, a fuller picture emerged. His view, as translated after some difficulty was that Math and Science should be taught in Bahasa Melayu. It should be ensured that students are not denied the opportunity to obtain sufficient knowledge in maths and science, especially for those who will never be proficient in English.

Huan Kia: Betul lah. Ini bukan about BM atau Engrish (sic). We fair lah. Macam ‘relac one corner’, Engrish where got these 3 words to express? Only BM boleh kata macam itu.

Lastly, we sought the views of Ge Leng Kia, a Malaysian Indian who has lived in Malaysia for the past 50 years since his arrival here when he was 17 years old.

Ge Leng: Actually, everyone is missing the point. GMP (Movement against PPSMI) is correct. It is not about Bm or English or Mandarain. It is about the Malaysian identity versus the Ang Moh language.

“Learning too many languages is not in the identity of us. We are Malaysians, don’t need to learn too much. Besides, why study? We are Malaysians” Ge Leng Kia exclaims once more.

In conclusion, TPT’s informal surveys have shone the light on this bewildering and deeply dividing issue. Truly, our sense of the ground has vindicated research surveys conducted by various schools and academics – that actually, nobody really cares about this issue at all.