Background – Earlier today, as I was catching up with Ms MJ, she was already pissed as she received some not so nice messages from the The Rebel. I had the impression that it was already over, whatever she had with the Rebel. MJ decided to provide me with an exclusive bare-all interview for public viewing to clearly explain her side of the love saga with the Rebel.  Here is Part 1 of the exclusive interview:

me : It’s 3 pm Wed afternoon 25th Nov 2009 and we have Ms  MJ talking about her love life with the  REBEL
MJ : (Grinning)
me : Ms MJ, how did you meet the REBEL?
MJ : through my Thai gf her name is Tenny
me : and If I heard you correctly earlier, Ms Tenny died on her birthday? That is so tragic. I am sorry to hear that. Were you close to Tenny?
MJ : yes, she used to study at Stamford college in PJ. We got to know each other from Chilli’s Hilton then we became friends. She have to go back to BKK for good coz finished her studies. Soon after returning to Thailand she came to KL once awhile for visiting friends in Malaysia. After she finished her studies, she had gone back and started her own business. She has 2 companies at the same time. One is a Travel agency that she wanted me to be one of her business partner and the other is chemical company similar to what Rebel is doing. One day Tenny came down to KL and stayed with me. On the night we went to RP, she told me she’s meeting a friend there. As usual, RP is my home ground and i party like no tomorrow. It is in RP that she introduced me to this guy by the name of Mr Mohan.
 
me : and what was your first impression of Mr. Mohan aka the Rebel?
MJ : he did not impress me at all
MJ : he kept saying that I’m sexy and that I can dance, hehehe.
me : was that said during your first meeting?
MJ : yes
MJ : he bought us drinks and opened up few bottles
me : he’s hitting on you Ms. MJ!! not bad for a Rebel..haha
MJ : hahaha
MJ : Soon after that, though we were not close that time, one day Tenny asked me to drive her to Seremban coz she wanted to see the Rebel at his office. So we went ahead with that.
me : you went just to accompany Ms Tenny?
MJ : yes, there I noticed Mr Rebel hitting on me but i just pretended not to know anything. He talked to me more than he did to  my gf(Tenny).
me : what exactly was he up to? was he getting personal?
MJ : i can’t really remember when exactly did we exchange phone numbers.
me : so exchanging number is a major milestone in the relationship?
MJ : no
MJ : I mean after Tenny had gone back to BKK, he calls me often
MJ : I was actually in a relationship with someone else back then
me : and at this point of the relationship, how you would describe your relationship with the REBEL? just friends sort of?
MJ : only friends nothing else but friends. He asked me out for dinner and so on, so I went but had no intention to be in relation with him. We talked till morning about my bf and he started talking about one chinese gal he was trying to get close to.

me : well he confides in you ha? hehe..
MJ : sort of, towards the end of my relationship wit my bf at that time, we tend to spend more time together.I know he likes me, I mean i sensed it.He celebrated my 32nd birthday in bangsar with few of my gfs.He bought me a present,a DVD player. He told my gf Kat that he likes me. Kat is the one who encouraged me to go out with him actually. My gfs asked me “why don’t you like him, he’s driving nice car, doesn’t he?”
me : Hold your horses Ms.MJ…

me : dont get overly excited talking about REBEL
me : let me do the questioning..haha
MJ : alamak!
MJ : potong steam
(hahahahahahaha)

me : so who is Kat? we haven’t heard about her at all in this conversation
MJ : Kat is my ex-colleague. We worked together at Boulevard hotel midvalley. She’s still there and i left the company long but we are still in touch.
me : aha, and she met the Rebel?
MJ : she knows him and met him before.
me : she knew him from someone else or through you?
MJ : through me
me : and what was her impression  of the The Rebel?
MJ : she told me he is a good person and I don’t doubt it. As a friend, Rebel is ok.
MJ : sometimes,….
me : so i take it that you had no doubts whatsoever of his sincerity as a friend?
MJ : mmm ya you can say so
me : would you think a friend would call another friend a “slut”?
MJ : NO!
me : then are you changing your opinion then?
MJ : mmm..
me : you need beer now Ms MJ? hahaha…

MJ : he called me slut, bitch and all the names coz he can’t accept me as a friend. Seriously, he did call me all kinds of names.
me : so sluts, bitches and all the exotic names are meant for special gfs and not friends?
MJ : yes
me : you can say Ms MJ, i am actually learning these things so please excuse me if I may sound silly. Okay lets take a step back in our conversation to the intial days he was hitting on you. Kat said he is a good guy and gave you the assurance about him. Is that a true reflection of the story?
MJ : yes
me : but weren’t you going out with someone else then? I mean it does make sense to “try” him out if you were unattached? how did he manage to get rid of your other bf?
MJ : owh, let me tell u
me : yes please tell me
MJ : when Rebel and I were friends, my bf were having a problem. I found out he was going out with Thai lady and our relationship changed to friendship. Long after that then only Rebel and I started to get closer.
me : oh do you remember what Rebel said about your ex?
MJ : mmm no
me : how did friendship turn to relationshp with the Rebel?
me : was he successful in making impressions on you?
MJ : he told me he likes me and wants me to give him a chance. Yes he was successful. But not before warning him that he will regret 1 day (i remember what I said clearly)
me : how were you impressed by him? how did that happen? sweet talker?
MJ : not sweet talker but he showed me $$$
me : $$$?
MJ : I meant he spent for me like buying branded stuff, going for expensive dinner
me : so you like guys with $$$?
MJ : not really but who would reject $$$ if people would offer them isn’t it?
me : I won’t either Ms.MJ, but then  again, If he was a jerk I would certainly re-consider, $$$ or no $$$! I take it he was all good then?
MJ : my past bf has got no $$$
me : oh dear, and you had to feed him?
MJ : but I’m ok with it. One of my bf – yes he had no $$$ at all. He is 2nd Rebel
me : so I understand that it was 2 years you been with Rebel?
MJ : +-
me : lets stay focus on Tamil Tiger please
MJ : ok ok
me : we have no time for other rebels in this conversation, haha.
MJ : ok ok
me : brb, cig break
MJ : ok
me : c u later…..

(To be Continued….)

Last message received on 11/25 at 3:49 PM

SMH – Smuggled footage claims to show Tamil Tiger executions

VIDEO of naked, bound and blindfolded men apparently shot dead by Sri Lankan soldiers has surfaced, in what may be the first evidence of war crimes during the Sri Lankan Government’s recent offensive against the Tamil Tigers.

The Sri Lankan government has accused one of India’s biggest film stars, Rajnikanth, of being bankrolled by Tamil Tiger “blood money”.

Rajnikanth is second only to Jackie Chan in Asia’s film rich list

A senior cabinet minister provoked controversy when he claimed some of Rajnikanth’s filmes were funded by the terrorist group.

Read full article here.

The Committees on Arms Export Controls have published their their annual report, which includes scrutiny of export licences granted in 2008.

The four select C0mmittees that  meet and wok together on the issue are: Business and Enterprise, Defence, Foreign Affairs and International Development Committees.

These four Committees have worked together since 1999 to examine the Government’s expenditure, administration and policy on strategic exports, that is the licensing of arms exports and other controlled goods.

They reported that components supplied by the UK were almost certainly used in a variety of ways by Israeli forces during the recent conflict in Gaza.

They called on the Government to continue to do everything possible to ensure that this does not happen in future.

“We conclude that the Government is correct to assess the granting of licences for export on a case-by-case basis and we endorse decisions not to grant a number of licences in relation to Israel,” the committees reported.

“This includes the refusal of licences to supply a variety of components for end-use by Israel since the war in Lebanon in 2006.

“We further conclude that the Government’s review of extant licences relating to Israel is to be welcomed, as is its stated intention of assessing the need to revoke any which should be reconsidered in light of the Gaza conflict.

“We recommend that the Government keep us informed of the progress of the review, of whether or not the Government chooses to revoke any licences and whether the Government believes that its eventual position has implications for the UK’s defence relationships with either the USA or Israel itself, or for the operational capabilities of the UK’s armed forces.”

On Sri Lanka, the committees backed the case-by-case approach but recommended that the Government should review all existing licences relating to Sri Lanka, “and provide in its Response an assessment of what implications the situation in Sri Lanka will have on how the Foreign and Commonwealth Office judges the possible future use of strategic exports by that country and the risk that the export licensing criteria might be breached.”

They recommended an assessment of what UK supplied weapons, ammunition, parts and components were used by the Sri Lankan armed forces in the recent military actions against the Tamil Tigers.

They also backed the British Government and the EU’s arms embargo on China, and requested an update on its assessment of the human rights situation in China and of the adequacy of the current arms embargo in place.

Roger Berry MP, Chairman of the Committees on Arms Export Control, said:

“The UK has a responsibility to ensure that its arms export industry, and individual UK citizens, working overseas are not engaging in the illegal arms trade and therefore we remain convinced that there is a need for a registration system for arms brokers.

“In addition, the Government must now work with NGOs and industry to bring forward draft proposals on extending the extra-territorial provisions of export control legislation.”

Click here to read the report.

Today is the one year anniversary of the war between Russia and Georgia. The two countries were fighting over the South Ossetia area which was legally a part of Georgia but is more closely linked to Russia. After a long period of military build up on both sides last year, Georgian troops moved into the area and were repelled by Russian troops. Russia has declared the area to be independent while Georgia still maintains South Ossetia lawfully belongs to them, Bloomberg.

Oddly, the anniversary may have something to do with the denial of service attack that brought down Facebook, Livejournal, and Twitter yesterday. A 34-year-old Georgian man says that his online accounts were the targets of the attack yesterday. The man, whose username is Cyxymu, is a pro-Georgia blogger. He feels the attack was an effort to remove his content from public viewing and that the interference with Twitter and other applications was just collateral damage. We’ll be following this story, CNN.

The new leader of the Tamil Tigers, Selvarasa Pathmanathan, has been arrested by Sri Lanka. The Tamil people suffered a cripping offensive by the Sri Lanka military earlier this year. Sri Lanka claimed that Tamil Tiger militants were using civilians as human shields. It is unknown how many died, New York Times.

Iraq has suffered a rash of attacks against mosques and pilgrims. At least 30 are dead and 88 were injured by a car bomb in Rasheediyah, Iraq that detonated outside a Shiite mosque as worshippers were leaving Friday prayers. 20,000 police have been deployed to Karbala, Iraq in an effort to protect pilgrims as they make their way to the city to celebrate the birth of Mohammed al-Mahdi, the 12th Shiite imam. It is believed that he will return to earth bringing peace and harmony. Pilgrims have been killed and injured by bombing on the roads to Karbala, but no incidents have taken place inside the city. The event is being looked at as a test of the competence of the Iraqi security forces, Associated Press.

Prologue

Not so much. Because we’re all subjects of catastrophic exposure. Exposure of our inner most fragility. Sensitivity is in. And it has lost its sense. In it’s oblivious effects to return — and haunt the gluttony of the machine.

1. “I” as suggested in this article, remains anonymous to this article.

2. Lite way Electronics. Go figure.

3. Industrial Corruption. Just you wait.

Chapter 1

I sat there and had dinner with them. I shouldn’t be here. I believe we’re somewhere in Brickfields. I should have turned this offer down. Here with my brother in law. Scrounging the faces of these beasts? The tamil tigers someone had told me. I’m a technician and business is out of my league. Not to mention — Corruption. I’ve lived a straight life. Descent. This shit is way out of my league. I poured the curry on my steaming rice. Sliced the clean flesh of the fish with the tip of my fingernail. They looked at me. These guys from Sri Lanka. If I were to be trusted they screamed with their pertinent eyes. 

I felt hollow. A fearful sensation that remained idle. A fear that was guessing itself. Trying to place itself in its right emotion. The food I couldn’t taste. And business talk, about transportation of equipment. Equipment I had overseen a few days later. Overseen its exchange to these monstrous men from Sri Lanka. Jaya was supposed to do it. He chickened out — saying he had to be some place some time soon. Leaving me to deal with these men.

I remained quiet. Listened. Tried desperately to laugh at their jokes. I felt myself being shoved to the corner in their presence. What was I doing here? A question that kept mind fucking me. I kept all control that I could contrive. 

A flash from a camera blew at our table. WE HAD ALL TURNED TO LOOK. Another flash followed. The photographer discretely slipped out of this south indian snazz fest with a subdued grace. 

“They took our picture.” Jaya snapped in a controlled whisper.

The drive home. It was quiet. The air outside was cold. The street lights hung over us like the anorexic arms of satan — welcoming us to the gates of hell. That gate that separated Petaling Jaya from Kuala Lumpur. 

When I got home. I crawled into the King sized bed and weeped in my wife’s chest. She had asked me what was wrong. And I had no idea how to answer.

Chapter 2

I’m old. I don’t deserve this. I had had worked in many many shitholes, but this by far, prominently fucked with my psyche. It didn’t only fuck it. Rape was involved leaving blood stains, semen and shit. 

I wrote the resignation letter and took it to my brother in law. He laughed at me and threw it on the desk.

“What the fuck is your problem old man?” He chucked. “Is it the money?”

“No” I said. “I’m not felling up to this. It’s my medical condition.”

“Well just stay with us for another month.” He said with an arrogant smirk that I had felt like chewing off his lips with my front teeth.

“Okey.” I said and walked away. This photographer started to get to me. I sensed something bad. An earnest living. Fuck that. I felt all decency in me collapsing. Giving way to hollow turmoil. 

I looked at some of this stuff they had gotten from Italy. They were selling it to a TV station. A couple of technicians huddled around it. Replacing original motors with Recons. I tried to slip away unnoticed. But failed. I resorted to not noticing.

They had made me organized the database. Sooner, other workers fed me with transmitters they had messed up. Asking me to fix them so it would look like I messed it up. I take the fall. The rape happens again, with its blood piss and shit. I felt a plot coming down on me. The co-workers collapsed into little pools of whispers as I walked by. I felt old. But I was on their feet. Now I had realized they didn’t want me because I could work. I held their secret. And they knew it. I didn’t until now. As I stare down at these Recon machines, waiting to be deported to the TV stations.

I went into my brother in laws office. I shut the door behind me. 

“I’m resigning. I have already given 2 weeks notice.” I said.

“Well, why don’t you stay on for another year.” It was a cynical reply.

“Fuck your games. I’m coming back with another letter.”

The next morning I saw my doctor. I came back with a medically approved resignation. I stopped by the office with my wife. I had told her to wait in the car. I had some documents which I hadn’t returned and was going to come back for them later. As I entered the building, the security officer shut the gate behind me. 

“Why are you resigning?” He snapped. I wondered how this shit was any of his business. Outside the gate, there were more security officers packed into a Pajero. They all played the stare game. I turned to the security officer.

“I’m medically incapable. I’ve got my resignation right here.” I walked in the office. Late evening. Most of the staff had left. Jaya wasn’t around. I walked into my brother in laws office. He was here. I dropped the medical notice on his desk. He looked at it. 

“You didn’t have to go that far.” He said. “You could have just talked to me you know.” 

“Well I didn’t fell like talking. I’ve got the manuals in the car. Do you want them?”

“Yeah. Just drop them with Ashraff.”

I left. Shut the door behind me, sensing a burden elevate. A temporal enlightenment. When I came up to the security post again, the gate was still closed.

“I got some manuals in the car for Raj.” 

He stared me down. Picked up the phone and pressed a button. He rambled some shit into the receiver. He then pushed another button and the gate made a mechanical cranking sound. Those metal bars — moving out of my way. I felt a sense of stature. Of credibility. 

I dropped the manuals of at the security post. And I drove away. However the fear kept growing. Penetrating me. Evolved into a mental condition. This was their impact. The perpetrators a sworn enemy. I woke up to them everyday, across the infinite boundaries in my eyes — staring back at me from the other end of the mirror. 

Chapter 3

The drive home gave hope to a new beginning. But new beginnings had no boundaries too, so it might as well be the end.

From the BBC News:  “At a camp situated on top of a hill overlooking scenic rubber and coconut plantations in Sri Lanka, more than 100 former Tamil Tiger child soldiers are undergoing a year-long rehabilitation course… The camp is one of three camps set up by the Sri Lankan government to rehabilitate nearly 300 child soldiers and integrate them into society. The protective accommodation and rehabilitation centre in Ambepussa – located near the capital Colombo – provides an ideal setting for rejuvenating young minds. Although the camp is surrounded by barbed wire and guarded by the army, the the inmates say the atmosphere inside is more like a hostel. Most of the inmates of this camp are between 18 and 20. Many say the LTTE [Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam] took them by force.”  Read the full article.

Hundreds of thousands of people are trapped in internment camps despite the end of the civil war in Sri Lanka, an MP has told the Commons.

Siobhain McDonagh, Labour MP for Mitcham and Morden, secured an adjournment debate on Friday.

Last month the Sri Lankan Government declared victory over the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.

Ms McDonagh told MPs of the plight of hundreds of thousands of people trapped in internment camps and the need for reliable independent sources of information.

“The international community has a responsibility to take urgent humanitarian action, but the Sri Lankan Government have forfeited their position of trust,” she said.

In January 2008 the Government pulled out of the 2002 ceasefire.

“Even with the credit crunch enveloping the world, the Sri Lankan Government decided to invest an incredible share of the country’s economy in fighting a military campaign against ethnic Tamils,” she said.

“Last year, they voted to spend $1.9 billion of the country’s budget on the military.

“Coincidentally, they have since asked the international community, through the International Monetary Fund, for a loan.

“This is for a total of—believe it or not—$1.9 billion.

“Although it is claimed that this is to help Sri Lanka through the global economic crisis, it is hard to escape the conclusion that this money is actually to bankroll a massive military campaign against the country’s own people.

“The international community therefore has a responsibility to think long and hard before it agrees to such a loan.”

Ms McDonagh said it was “impossible to verify the shocking numbers of those affected by the conflict, owing to the lack of any independent evidence.”

“A quarter of a million people were in the so-called safe zone, facing daily bombardment,” she said.

“80,000 people have died in the conflict since it began and at least 7,000 Tamil civilians are thought to have died this year alone.

“Even in January 2008, the US Congressional Research Service estimated there were about 300,000 displaced people in Sri Lanka, including Sinhalese as well as Tamils.

“A further 250,000 Tamils are thought to be living in London, having left Sri Lanka for whatever reason. The impact of the conflict has been huge.”

Ms McDonagh said British Tamils are angry and the government must hear their voice.

“Many feel they have nothing more to lose,” she said.

“So far they have been entirely peaceful, but it is possible that some will have been radicalised by the brutality back home.

“However, of immediate short-term concern is the fact that as many as 300,000 people are currently in refugee camps—that is the reason I called for this debate,” she said.

“A kind of doublespeak exists when it comes to Sri Lanka.

“The camps are described by the Sri Lankan Government as welfare villages, but even the Library says that they are better described as internment camps.

“Last month, despite the desperate conditions in Sri Lanka, the last neutral organisation in the conflict zone, the International Red Cross, pulled out because the Sri Lankan Government had barred it from the camps.

“Some 300,000 civilians live in the camps, with huge numbers sick, malnourished or injured.

“But the Sri Lankan Government are still refusing to allow any independent monitors or agencies into the area.

“There must be unhindered access for independent international agencies like the Red Cross and the UNHCR to all the internment camps.”

Ms McDonagh said Britain “has done more than almost any other country to resolve the conflict” and praisedForeign Secretary David Miliband’s “extraordinary resolve in his efforts to help Tamils caught up in the conflict.”

Responding for the government, Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister Ivan Lewis commended Ms McDonagh on securing the debate.

“Of course, we are relieved that the thousands of civilians who were trapped in the conflict zone are no longer at immediate risk from the fighting, but we must also be clear that this is no time for celebration,” he said.

“Too many Sri Lankans died during three decades of conflict. We may never know the final figure, but it is reasonable to assume that it was far more than the 70,000 that is frequently cited.

“The significant challenges that now face the country are threefold: to provide immediate relief for the thousands of displaced civilians; to ensure their rehabilitation and resettlement; and to initiate a process of political reconciliation that is genuinely and authentically inclusive.

“As my hon. Friend said, as soon as the fighting was over my right hon. Friends the Prime Minister and the Foreign Secretary spoke to the President and Foreign Minister of Sri Lanka and urged the Sri Lankan Government to launch a genuine political process and to address the needs of the internally displaced persons—the IDPs.

“I think that we would all be united in saying that the most pressing priority has to be tackling the humanitarian situation.

“Shockingly, there are now more than 280,000 civilians in the IDP camps.

“Any country would struggle to cope with that number, and that is why the presence of the UN and international humanitarian agencies is so important, but they can provide the much needed assistance only with the full co-operation of the Sri Lankan Government.”

Mr Lewis said the British government believes lasting peace can only come about “only as a result of an inclusive political process, in which all communities in Sri Lanka believe genuinely that they are accepted and valued members of society.”

He said that the Department, the Department for International Development has allocated £12.5 million to support the work of the international humanitarian agencies.

“DFID’s contributions will continue to focus on the immediate needs of the IDPs, but they will also help to support displaced people in making a dignified and safe return to their homes,” he said.

“For Sri Lanka to move forward, all communities—Sinhalese, Tamils and Muslims—must feel that they have an equal stake in that society.

“We will continue to use our influence and continue to work with the Sri Lankan Government and other partners to help bring this about, so that we can move from conflict and war to an authentic process of peace and reconciliation.”