VOXPOP 'Since no objection has been raised, Tamil is now officially one of the languages that could be used in parliamentary debate.'

Umno MP's switch to Tamil leaves speaker speechless

Anonymous_5fb: With the existence of the 'Malay' definition in the constitution, anyone can be a Malay. We normally call this type of Malay 'constitutional Malay' or 'Melayu celup'.

We have many such Malays in Umno, including Perak MB Zambry Abdul Kadir and Baling MP Abdul Azeez Abdul Rahim (photo above), who can speak Tamil. Once out of Malaysia, most of them regard themselves as Tamils.

They have the best of both worlds. Why not? Weird things keep happening in the Malay world.

P Dev Anand Pillai: Congratulations to both Abdul Azeez and Kapar MP G Manivannan for bringing Tamil into our Parliament. It is one of the oldest languages in the world and the Malays must admit that a lot of their vocabulary is borrowed from Tamil.

It also shows that if Malays are allowed to learn other languages and engage in them, the racial and language barriers can be overcome.

Fair Play: History has just been created. The Tamil language had been used in parliamentary proceedings and recorded in the Hansard as such. Like Chin Peng, this part of our history could not erased.

Fair Play: Wow! Since no objection has been raised, Tamil is now officially one of the languages that could be used in parliamentary debate. At least some progress has been made.

Oriole: It's good to see an acknowledgment of other heritage languages. By the way, Azeez, the exchange might have been professional if you had not resorted to the use of "thambi". Not classy, bro!

Pisang Goreng: Whatever the political differences, you have to admit that this is one of the pleasures of having a multicultural heritage. Let's not forget that we are Malaysians and reject all attempts to categorise us otherwise.

Wira: Umno is being infiltrated and hijacked by Indians who are ashamed of their own ethnicity. This ‘Malay' MP is more comfortable, like most Penang Umno leaders are, with Tamil than Bahasa Malaysia.

Anonymous #40538199: Indeed, the Penang Malay Congress leader Rahmad Isahak should pressure Umno to purge all non-pure Malay in the party.

Skylight: I am so amused to see the speaker's bemused face.

Obama defers visit to Malaysia, says Najib

Fair Play: Lyndon B Johnson was the first US president to visit Malaysia in October 1966 when Tunku Abdul Rahman was then the prime minister.

I suppose PM Najib Razak thought he would be remembered in the history book as the second PM to receive such an accolade and after a 47-year gap too.

Too bad, it ain't going to happen. Call in divine intervention if you will. No doubt others would be very happy too in private, at least.

Anonymous #18267907: A correction here. President Johnson came to Malaysia in the 1960s only as a vice-president. And a kampung near Seremban is still named after him. Thus to date, not a US president has set foot in Malaysia due to its discriminatory policies.

Fair Play: Anonymous #18267907, thanks for the correction about President Johnson being the US vice-president at the time of his visit in 1966.

All the more reason for Najib to be very disappointed by the cancellation. Otherwise, he would have achieved something no other PM before him could have in the history of the nation, including the longest-serving PM on record.

Defer or cancel? Choice of word. The bottom line is the US president is not coming. Instead, he sends John Kerry to represent him and the US government. I suppose the powers-that-be are working overtime to make the best out of the situation.

2zzzxxx: President Barack Obama, you must thank your lucky stars for not having to visit the only racist country in the world. Your ancestors had to fight hard for equality but here racism is practised without shame.

Whatsup: Obama won't give two hoots about democracy in Malaysia as long as he is able to squeeze someone's balls to get what he wants. With all the skeletons in the closet known to all, Najib has no choice but to comply with any ball-squeezers - internally and externally.

Such is the predicament we, the rakyat, have to endure of the weakest and the worst-ever PM largely voted by the Bangladeshis and phantoms as well as the greedy and misplaced people.

Other than spending on our future, there's really nothing he can do well but create more perceptions.

Spinnot: Obama's original plan was to visit Indonesia (for the Apec Summit), Malaysia, Brunei (for East Asia Summit), and the Philippines, but he has apparently only cancelled his visit to Malaysia.

Perhaps we need people like Julian Assange or Edward Snowdon to tell us the real reason.

Ericlcc: In the not-too-distant future when oil begins to dry up, Malaysia may also experience administrative shutdown due to the excessively high public servant emoluments.

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