Negarakuku... Translated

Following the off tangent report by a widely circulated local Malay language (Harian Metro) newspaper that incited Malay discontent with Wee Meng Chee and his rendition of the Negaraku.

Although we do not support the creation of the spoofed Negaraku, people must not be quick to overreact and throw death threats to the Chinese and to Wee's family. Especially, without first understanding what Wee was rapping about.

Here is an example quoted from a response by a Malay person on Wee's apology letter on his blog:




Kebanyakkan kata-kata dalam lagu dia punya kebenaran.

Tapi dia seorang racist. Fuck you. Siapa respek dia aku isytiharkan kamu juga sebagai racist dan aku akan insytiharkan sumpah seranah 16 keturunan kau. Respek la bangsa/agama lain. Tak kira la kau siapa pon. Respek!

Inilah salah satu contoh Yellow Power di dalam rap!....

Aku tak menyokong mana-mana kegiatan yang maki hamun bangsa lain. Aku Malaysian. Seorang Malaysian seharusnya hormat bangsa dan agama lain.

So... Namewee.... kamu tidak boleh rap.... dan video kamu pun sangat-sangat teruk sama-sekali. DIY my anus...!

Fuck you Namewee! Fuck you... u fucking racist fuck...

semoga kamu mati bersama Rahmat Bahagia. macibai!

got email dari seorang fucker.... fuck u eric yong... kamu seorang bangsat racist yang patut mati!
mari la kita bersama spam email dia... yahhhhhhh!

So... who is the racist now?

Read the full posting here: http://nizam-nuri.blogspot.com/2007/08/namewee-merupakan-seorang-rappers-yang.html

So, before one over-reacts like the idiot above, it's best to first understand what was being said. As extracted from Namewee's blog, here it is:


NegarakuNegarakukuNegarakuNegarakukuNegarakuNegarakuku

Aku cinta Negara aku ada Negara baru ada keluarga
Ada keluarga baru ada aku berdiri disini
Nyanyi dengan engkau engkau jangan takut
Walaupun aku selalu cakap kasar
Lagu aku sama macam durian
Keras dan tajam tetapi
Tengok engkau berani buka ke tidak tengok apa yang ada di dalam
Dia boleh dikatakan busuk dia juga boleh dikatakan wangi
cuma tengok engkau ada macam mana punya hidung


MATAPolis kita panggil ‘mata’ (dlm bhs hokkien)
Ini kerana mata mereka sangat tajam
Apabila raya mereka akan jadi rajin
Pen di tangan tetapi jarang bagi saman

Ini keran mereka dahaga mereka mahu minum teh
Ataupun kopi O nak tambah gula ke tidak
Kalau tambah gula mulut mereka akan senyum dengan engkau
Apabila engkau nak pergi
TATADia akan ucap TATA (maksudnye bye)


NegarakuTanah tumpahnya darahku
Rakyat hidupBersatu dan maju

Gejala ini tidak perlu memperbaikikan
Juga tidak perlu memperkuatkan , kerjasama antara pihak polis dan rakyat
Secawan kopi hubungan boleh kekal
sukaAku memang suka

Sekurang-kurangnya balik rumah tidak akan dapat saman
Ayah mesti geram
Aku mesti kena marah tidak ada kereta untuk aku
Macam mana kali ini memang teruk

Tak de kereta macam mana aku nak keluar main
Tak de kereta macam mana aku nak XXX
Tak de kereta macam mana aku nak tengok ah kua
Negara ini aku memang suka


pukul 5 pagi
morning call
Ada morning call akan suruh aku bangun
Kadang-kadang beberapa ‘buah’ nyanyi sama-sama
macam tengah duet lagu cinta R&B
Suara tinggi rendah macam tengah nyanyi R&B
Walaupun kadang kala sebahagian daripada mereka out of tune
Walaupun kadang kala sebahagian daripada mereka pecah suara
Ada juga suara yang macam kokokan ayam tetapi dia bangun lagi awal dari ayam

Macam ini baru kite tahu mase untuk bersiap ke sekolah dan kerja

Jangan salahkan kerajaan hanya akan jaga rakyat tertentu
Jangan salahkan kami tidak dapat jagaan yang adil
Macam ini baru boleh menunjukkan yang orang cina tidak takut menderita
Macam ini baru boleh melatih kita mencari jalan keluar apabila menghadapi kesusahan
Jangan mengatakan standard ini sangat pelik
Kerana dengan ini baru menunjukkan kami sangat teror

Anak-anak yang tidak dimanja baru akan menjadi tabah
ada orang sampai sekarang masih belum berhenti minum susu


Rahmat bahagiaTuhan kurniakanRaja kita
Selamat bertakhtaRahmat bahagiaTuhan kurniakan
Raja kitaSelamat bertakhta


Pekerja dalam kerajaan lagi teror
Apa yang mereka buat boleh slow slow
Walaupun orang yang beratur marah
Mood mereka tetap rase bebas dan seronok
kuih Kadang-kalag kuih pun mereka ambil keluar kuih
Dia makan nyonya kuih dia
Dan engkau sambung beratur
Walaupun engkau nak marah pun tak pe
Kerana guard kat tepi pun tengah bermimpi
Dia takkan layan engkau


Mereka yang memakai tudung perlahan-lahan melintas jalan
Engkau yang memandu kenalah berhati-hati

Asalkan hidup dengan gembira asalkan hidup dengan selesa
Jangan macam orang cina
Tiap-tiap hari sibuk sangat susah
Semangat ini mesti kita kena kagumi
Kerana ini adalah sikap hidup mereka

Aku bercakap baik-baik dalam lagu ini
Aku percaya orang yang tak suka dengan aku mesti sangat suka
Dunia aman baru ada harapan
Tidak ada orang cedera dan tidak tak tersusun
Engkau suci engkau sopan

Najis wangi tak tahu cakap kasar

Engkau sangat high class tiap-tiap hari main romantic
Dengar guang liang pin kuan (penyanyi malaysia)
Tetapi mereka sudah pergi taiwan

Pelajar Sekolah Cina
Nak masuk local U sangat susah
Dalam kes ini, kita tidak patut geram

Ini cuma satu rancangan yang mulia dari kerajaan
Dia nak kami pergi merata-rata tempat pergi oversea mencari impian
Lepas itu balik negara membalas jasa
Rancangan ini memang bagus memang bagus
Di seluruh dunia mesti nampak malaysia punya rakyat
Macam melarikan dari bencana memang best


2007 ialah tahun pelancongan malaysia
Budaya cina semua mengambil keluar untuk publisiti

Pelajar sekolah cina
Memang tak dilayan oleh kerajaan
Sijil boleh buang ke longkang macam saya
Lepas tamat persekolahan terus pergi Taiwan

Belajar di sana bersedia balik negara untuk membalas jasa
Aku berdiri di tepi Taipei memain guitar
Tetapi Mulut aku tetap menyanyi


Rahmat bahagia
Tuhan kurniakan
Raja kita
Selamat bertakhta


It is best to understand the essence of the lyrics, no matter how racist it may appear and some people need to look within themselves and really assess whether there is any truth in it. Fact is, based on the responses from the Chinese community, many agree that this is what they have been feeling for a long time - nuff said.


Namewee's explanatory blog posting: http://namewee.blogspot.com/2007/08/hello-semua-orang-melayu-sila-tengok.html


The government should dig deep and look within themselves before going on a witch-hunt for bloggers and people like Wee who are expressing their frustration at years of missed opportunities that are due to the preferencial treatment that the Malay community receives, which, many of them now seem to take as their Birthright!


Afraid not bro... everyone has to earn their keep... shut up, wake up and start moving before the world leaves you behind. Disbelief? Well, just continue like this for another couple of decades...

You should read Wee's blog posting, that is supposed to be an apology cum explanation for his actions.

Nagarakuku... the Good and the Bad

Reluctantly, we decided to post a link to the Negarakuku video on YouTube. This is for fear of further aggrivating the situation with the small readership of this blog. But this one has a translation that is probably worthwhile reading. From there, you can decide whether to believe what the government has said about the video. The translation is hard to follow, so you may want to keep your cursor on the pause/play button.

Reading the responses to the numerous Negarakuku videos on YouTube, you can tell that the Malay viewers are certainly upset.

However, reflective of the majority of the Malay responses that cursed the Chinese and threatened to hunt Chinese down and all that, it reflects how easily agitated they are and the self centredness of only thinking about the insults made against them, rather than trying to understand why this came about and whether there is any truth to it.

Here is one viewer who responded, we are assuming he's Malay...

"http://www.youtube.com/user/Azizulb

kita Melayu rasa prihatin sama u punye perasaan, kita sudah lama mengongkong u punye talent/skill & kebebasan! Jadi, asalkan tak terlambat, pemimpin negara mesti merancang untuk melepaskan hak keistimewaan kami untuk kebahagiaan bersama, tanpa mengira isu perkauman, kerana kita sudah 50 tahun merdeka!! Merdeka!! Binalah Malaysia ikut CLASS bukan ikut KAUM!Kita tak mau Melayu kaya yang tiada CLASS! Kekayaan itu bukan milik sesuatu kaum, ia milik orang2 yang pandai & tekun! "

At least this guy seems to see the light. Actually, apart from all the negative references namewee has made on the situation in the country, the fact is many non-Malays (Indians and Others included) have been thinking and feeling this, but never daring to say for reasons and presence of ISA, Sedition Act and basic morality.

We don't think that the Negarakuku video should be supported, because it does have the potential to incite racial disharmony, and we really don't want another May 13th to come about with the Malays going around abusing the Chinese and raping Chinese women, as they did during the emergency.

But the question now is, what is the government going to do about this? Are they going to be embroiled in the gut-wrenching statements Namewee has made? Or are they going to assess whether there is any truth to the feelings on the ground? Will the government we voted in take a fair assessment of this or will they continue harping on how this person has "insulted Islam" and the "Agong"? (although I don't see where the insult is to the King).

The fact is, many Chinese and Indians feel poorly about the way minority races are being treated and they want something done. They are tired of the arrogant UMNO elected officials enacting laws and making false declarations. Will the government do something about this?

The only thing the minorities can be thankful to Namewee for is that he has said what nobody else has dared say. And hopefully some attention will be given to it. If not, there will rise another Namewee and again there will be a public outcry over such "abuse of internet freedom" and so on.

Frankly in reference to insulting Islam, we believe that the initial statement made by Syed Hamid Albar was a reflection of a Malay over-reaction. There was only one statement made in his song about Islam that could be deemed as derogatory, and that is in reference to the call for prayer and associating that to a rooster crowing. That is disrespectful.

But really, in this one instance of the Muslim call for prayer, one must understand where the dispise comes from. Think about how many Mosques there are, all located in multi-racial housing areas, no matter how rich or poor. All sanctioned to be built by the Federal and State government for the benefit of Muslims. Good and fair. But everybody pays for the Mosque through their taxes - everybody. Also fine. But the government doesn't contribute to building Churches or Temples. People dislike this, but never say anything. Then, 5 times a day, there is a call for prayer, blairing on loadspeakers mounted on the exterior of the Mosque. Regardless, whether it's 5am or 10pm, 5 times a day, everyday. But even then, people try to learn to live with it, in their hearts they are saying "shut-up!".

What is most unfair is that many years ago, the government disallowed Churches from tolling their bells as a call for prayer and weddings and so on. They passed this along to other places of worship as well. However, the mosques are allowed to continue. Isn't that discrimanatory?

Better still, these days, even if you have the money, in the recent cases of the Catholic Church in Shah Alam and the Ma Tzu Statue in Sabah, even if you have the money, getting an approval to build your non-Muslim place of worship can is most likely to be denied. There are many more unpublished cases such as these.

The injustice to all the other races and religions in Malaysia is too much to bear. Hence, you must understand where these negative feelings come from. When you do, you'll see that there is some truth, no matter how wrongly stated (in the song) to what is being said.

Here's a Taiwanese news clip from YouTube interviewing Name Wee...

DPM Najib's Declaration: Malaysia An Islamic State

Horror of Horrors... what do the minorities do now? Everyone, be it Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist or Christian was always under the impression that PAS was the party that intended on setting up the much feared Islamic State. Now, it seems that UMNO has deemed Malaysia to have always been an Islamic State. When did this come about? In every past election that I can recall, UMNO always stressed on the fact that PAS was extremist and in that same breath commented negatively of PAS intentions to set up an Islamic state in Kelantan, let alone the whole of Malaysia.

This was the tactic employed to woo voters to a more moderate Barisan Nasional with a moderate Muslim-Malay party, UMNO. The deterring factor for a majority of Malaysian voters in voting the opposition has always been the fear of PAS and their Islamic State ideology.

But recently, our DPM Najib has declared Malaysia as never being secular (contrary to our understanding) and always being an Islamic State. Shock and awe, the whole country was in uproar, especially the minority races. We didn't vote for this, we didn't agree to this!

Even though the Constitution does not state that we are an Islamic State and specifies Islam as the main religion of the country, people like DPM Najib and Former PM Mahathir, who obviously do not understand the nation's constitution they were meant to uphold, or has never read it. This may be believable in Najib's case, but not likely in Mahathir's, as he is known to be an avert reader - so what was his objective?

It seems that UMNO politicians love to play the racial and religious card in their attempt to win over PAS voters. For most Malays and Muslims these days, the more religious you appear to be, the stronger a candidate you become. A very narrow and shallow reason for choosing a country's leadership. Nonetheless, this is the rural Malay voter, unfortunately the urban Malay is .

Not caring for the impact that their statements have on all Malaysians, and forgetting that it is the Malay, Chinese, Indians and "Lain Lain" (Others) who make up this country and what it is today, they make statements that undoubtedly make everyone nervous.

The Nation's leaders in UMNO seem to think that just because they have been given a firm mandate by the majority of Malaysians, they can say what they like and make things like "Islamic State" policy overnight. Since when?

Furthermore, and more upsetting, people like Najib can insist that their statements are correct and not bother addressing the public's concern. Additionally, a media blackout on the subject had been established, only to allow statements by DPM Najib and PM Badawi to be publicised. Basically saying that "It's our right to say these things, what you believe or feel doesn't matter".

How dare you! Malaysia is made up of many people from many different races. We built this country together. Don't think you can make such sweeping statements and then arrogantly not attend to the public's outcry.

To think that UMNO practically begged for the Chinese vote in 1997 when Anuar Ibrahim formed PKR and went to the elections. BN won by a margin afforded to them by the Chinese vote. It could have easily gone the other way. And this is how you say thank you? Najib should not forget that during that election, he nearly lost his parliamentary seat by a few hundred votes.

If I recall correctly, during that time, UMNO was making remarks against voting for either DAP or PKR on the basis that they are tied up with the extremist PAS, which had the intention of setting up an Islamic State that UMNO knew DAP will never agree to.

So I suppose UMNO has a short memory... perhaps it's time to refresh it and to establish the impermanance of UMNO and BN's role in leading the people.

So, years after that episode, and now that UMNO feels that it's clout with the people is secure, it can say whatever it likes for the benefit of the Malays and Islam.

I am surprised that after all that, UMNO can make an about turn and declare that Malaysia is an Islamic State.

What does this mean to the people? Simple, UMNO and BN are now expendable. We tried to avoid becoming an Islamic State and were led to believe that by voting for BN we would be safe from such fundamentalist ideologies. However, since it has been declared that we now are, what difference will it make if we choose to vote for PAS or the opposition?

Some may say, it's Najib's words against all the nation. But I think that there are many in UMNO who support this, and these people are key players in the party and government. In which case, it is a matter of time before UMNO becomes a fundamentalist Islamic party. Slowly but surely, the minorities feel that their rights are being encroached upon. Slowly, but surely, UMNO is becoming more Islamic. It is a matter of time before everyone feels the full force of this change.

Voters can make the change now, if they wanted. A message can be sent to the likes of UMNO that this will not be accepted. Besides, with the many votes that UMNO will receive from either loyalists or those who are afraid to chance their vote to the opposition, perhaps for the many of us who are patriotic enough to attempt to preserve the balance of power and sanctity of our nation, we should vote opposition over UMNO candidates where possible. Perhaps by reducing the number of UMNO seats in parliament, we can eliminate rhetoric by people like Najib, Khairi, Nasir, "blog-hater" Zam and a number of others.

Why do we want to have leaders who go out there, shooting off their mouths without caring about how what they say affects all of us? They should be removed from power and hopefully silenced. Well, at least we are not giving them a pedestal to stand on!

Here's an article extracted from the Today paper, a Singapore publication. The writer has certainly made an accurate analysis worthy of reading - you'll find that it's what you have been thinking, but never verbalised.

14 August 2007
News Comment Section
Malaysia's State of Ambiguity

A TACTIC used by former Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, in his fight against the opposition Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS) in 2001, was to declare Malaysia an Islamic state. This, he figured, would take the windsout of the sails of the PAS, whose stated aim is to turn Malaysia into an Islamic state.

While the opposition Democratic ActionParty (DAP) made noise, the general public was hardly up in arms over the matter. The issue was soon forgotten although Dr Mahathir never retracted his declaration.

Last month, Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak reiterated the former Prime Minister’s stance, stating that not only was Malaysia an Islamic state, the country had never been secular in the first place.

Mr Najib got support from Dr Mahathir and drew expected criticism from the likes ofthe DAP, lawyers and rights groups.But something else happened: The Information Ministry took the unusual step of telling newspapers not to publish any articles on the issue, on grounds that this could cause“tension” among the public. Only commentsby Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi and his deputy were allowed for print.This move reflects how much the situation has changed. The bulk of the voting public during much of Dr Mahathir’s era was more compliant, less vocal and, perhaps crucially, did not have the Internet.

Today, Web-savvy, younger voters are more willing to stand up for their rights. Several issues, not just the Islamic-state controversy, have illustrated this point.

Earlier this year, Malaysia’s biggest bank came up with a policy that required its panel of lawyers to have at least three partners, one of whom must be a bumiputera holding a minimum of 50 per cent equity in the partnership. Maybank came under intense fire from the non-Malay community, which led to a quick withdrawal of the policy.

I am of the Internet generation, but I remember a time when both government agencies and private corporations could implement discriminatory (dubbed “affirmative action”) policies with impunity, such as the one Maybank tried to push.

Not today.

Last year, the annual general assembly ofthe United Malays National Organisation (Umno), saw speaker after speaker make fiery speeches. One delegate said they were willing to“risk lives” and “bathe in blood”. Another asked when Umno Youth chief Hishamuddin Hussein was going to use the keris he had brandished at the event.

The backlash from the televised and well-blogged event took Umno by surprise. Shortly after that, the government decided future general assemblies would not be televised, and began to take reconciliatory steps to assuage non-Malay outrage.

Mr Hishamuddin, who is also Education Minister, within months, announced the construction of a new Chinese school and some RM2.1 million ($918,000) in grants for Chinese schools. He also assured the Chinese community that the government would not close down Chinese schools, had no objections to building more and would resolve the shortage of Chinese school teachers as well as raise the standard of Chinese primary schools.

Even Mr Khairy Jamaluddin, the Prime Minister’s fiery son-in-law, has mellowed in his rhethoric. Last year, he called for the government to increase the affirmative action quota for Malays if the Chinese were not happy with the 30 per cent set aside. He made similar outrageous comments throughout much of last year and refused to apologise for them.

This past weekend, however, he denied that Umno was racist. “How can we be racist, when we are defending equality?” he said. He cited the power-sharing agreement Umno has with other component parties as an example.

Mr Badawi, who had kept silent on Mr Najib’s Islamic-state comment, recently came out to say that Malaysia was “not a secular state” but neither was it “a theocratic state like Iran and Pakistan” — his typical “neither here nor there” comment.

It’s also reminiscent of the government’s “strategic ambiguity” approach on the issue of whether Muslims are allowed to leave their religion. While the issue of apostasy is not something that non-Muslims are particularly concerned about, as it doesn’t directly affect them, an Islamic state is something that doesn’t sit well with them.

Lawyers say the Federal Constitution is unambiguous about Malaysia being a secular state — Article 3 (1) states it clearly— but the apostasy cases have shown how murky these things can be in practice. And while it’s true that non-Muslims have freedom of religion and can lead very secular lifestyles, there’s always the danger of the slippery slope.

This is probably why Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Bernard Dompok risked angering his Umno colleagues by saying at a public forum: “I will not agree that we are an Islamic state.” He understands full well that today’s non-Muslim public will not accept any ambiguity on this matter. But does Mr Badawi?

Oon Yeoh is a writer and commentator based in Kuala Lumpur.

Petrol Stations 7-10: Has the Government Lost Control?

Fuel. Fuel is what moves our country's economy. If you have ever travelled on the North-South Highway at night, you will see thousands of cars travelling from KL to Ipoh, Singapore to Malacca, Singapore to KL. These are at least from our observation the main and most frequented routes. This will all soon come to an end. PLUS may see a drop in passenger vehicle movements on their highways at the later hours of the night. Why? Well, unless you are carrying an extra tank of petrol in your car, you won't make it, especially if you are running a small CC car which usually has a 30-40 litre tank. Making those overnight trips from Johor or Malacca to Penang or Ipoh will be a thing of the past.

If you think it stops at passenger cars, think again. Commercial vehicles will be impacted too. How will you now move anything from timber, steel, agro produce cross country overnight? Usually transportation of such goods are done at night until the wee hours of the morning. So, we can expect that in some small way, the economy will be stifled.

Think about it, all your expectations of overnight mail by Poslaju or FedEx or whatever you use will be affected. Hence making Malaysia even more inefficient.

The only benefit that I see coming out of this is that all these Mat Rempits will run out of petrol sometime around midnight after doing all their cartwheels and wheelies or whatever stupid things they do.

This is all thanks to the PDAM (Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia) that intends to proceed with this new policy without government approval. Has the government lost control?

Now think about what happens when this 10pm closure is enforced. Everyone and their dog will be queueing at the petrol stations to fill up. Creating traffic jams along the main roads these stations are situated on. Not to mention all those commercial vehicles who will do their final fill up. That would make things even worse. Chaos!

Thanks to the PDAM, the economy will suffer, PLUS will lose money and we, the consumers will remain at their mercy. Where is the government in all this? Why haven't they stepped in to say something even after the first statement of intention by the PDAM yesterday? Nowhere!

Are they too engrossed in their Northern Corridor and Iskandar projects to notice and pay attention to all this? Obviously. But, there is a major oversight, the building materials will not transport themselves onto the site just with love and fresh air.

We'd hope to see the government do something about this - and soon.

We don't care if the petrol dealers think that their operating costs are high or that they are afraid of being robbed. There are ways of managing these things. Like the typical Melayu business, they usually have more people than they need to run the station. Usually there are 2 cashiers but only one counter open. The second person is just sitting there doing nothing.

The bigger and more understandable concern is that of security. But really, get with the 21st century - install high grade CCTV cameras that have high resolution and nightvision. Have them placed not only in the convenience store, but also on the outside. I have observed that CCTVs aren't present in many of the vital places and even if they are, the resolution is so bad, you can see nothing. Shouldn't all petrol stations have a panic button alerting the police as well? Most petrol stations don't even have an alarm system.

So, if the petrol dealers can't help themselves, then don't come crying to the media!

As for the police. Yes, the PDRM is useless, they are never around when you need them, and when you call in an emergency, you will probably encounter the following:

1. The officer cannot speak english and takes 1 minute to pass the phone to an officer who can. Usually an Indian person.
2. The officer doesn't seem interested or unphased, no sense of urgency

And then it takes about 30-40 minutes for the police to arrive on the scene, by which time, you would either be injured or dead and definately robbed.

It is now in the hands of IGP Musa, to get all the billions worth of police cars he asked for on the road and patrolling, not being parked outside mamak stalls for hours.

So, what can we as consumers do about this? Nothing you say? Yes, there is something we can do... To hurt the dealers, we cannot attack them all at one time. We need to single out one petroleum company and boycott its stations.

In this case, it should be PETRONAS. Why? Firstly, it's quasi government. The government will definately react to this. Also, the owners are mostly Malay, which the government will be compelled to protect. Additionally, they have the most stations with possibly a large number of unprofitable stations that should and can be closed (rationalised). One third of the 3000 dealers are Petronas dealers.

Boycott PETRONAS for a start and you can work through the rest in time. But it's likely that boycotting PETRONAS will spark the necessary reaction from the government.

Article from the New Straits Times
So, it’s fill up before 10pm

KUALA LUMPUR: All petrol stations, including those on highways, will close by 10pm within two months.

The Petrol Dealers Association of Malaysia (PDAM) said yesterday that its 3,200 members would only open for business between 7am and 10pm.

PDAM spokesperson Datuk Zulkifli Mokti said this was because the association’s members faced security risks as well as declining profits."The average petrol station is robbed once a year. This happens mostly at night."

He said the station owners were operating under constant fear of being robbed as they had large amounts of cash daily."Just two weeks ago, an owner was robbed on his way home. Dealers, too, have been shot and killed, kidnapped and threatened at gunpoint."Zulkifli said that reducing work shifts from three to two would help petrol stations bring down operating costs, which had been rising over the years.

On Monday, former PDAM president Alang Zari Ishak had said that stations along highways would remain open 24 hours a day. Yesterday, Alang was removed as president after 51 out of 65 council members voted against him at a meeting.

In announcing his removal, Zulkifli said many decisions made by the council had not been properly enforced."Certain decisions were not followed up (by Alang).

"Major (R) Wahid Bidin, who was formerly the deputy president, will act as the president until the association holds its election next year.