Absolute power corrupts absolutely

Perak Sate assembly Speaker V. Sivakumar (DAP-Tronoh) did not allow Datuk Seri Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN-Kubu Gajah) from being the first speaker to debate a motion of thanks on the royal address clearly display of excessive egoness and power hunger.

Ironically, power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Unlimited power is apt to corrupt the minds of those who possess it. The exercise of power by one human being over another is uniquely fraught with the effects of fallenness. Any exercise of power must be driven by a desire to recover the original benevolent intentions. The power the DAP politicians acquired has made them corrupt.

V. Sivakumar is the first Indian speaker in the country. Regardless of how powerful the speaker may be, the earlier decision made by the deputy speaker should be honored and the disrespected manner should be condemned to the strongest degree.

All 28 Barisan Nasional (BN) assemblymen staged a walkout, led by state BN chairman Datuk Seri Tajol Rosli Ghazali, as a show of protest after Speaker V. Sivakumar did not allow Datuk Seri Raja Ahmad Zainuddin Raja Omar (BN-Kubu Gajah) from being the first speaker in a debate here yesterday.

Earlier, Raja Ahmad Zainuddin had stood up and asked that he be allowed to debate a motion of thanks on the royal address at the end of the question and answer session.

Sivakumar, however, allowed Chang Lih Kang (PKR-Teja) to be the first speaker instead.

Raja Ahmad Zainuddin protested, saying that Deputy Speaker Hee Yit Foong had, on Wednesday, promised that he would be the first speaker.

A shouting match ensued with accusations hurled at the speaker for not honoring the earlier arrangement.

At this juncture, Tajol Rosli stood up and asked the speaker to either allow Raja Ahmad Zainuddin to debate, or the BN state assemblymen would stage a walkout.

When the request was turned down, Tajol Rosli immediately walked out of the hall, followed by other BN assemblymen.

Parliament is not a political market place to move around freely

Why should the big media companies deployed up to a dozen of reporters each, including editors, in Parliament? Is it an evident that the reporters assigned to cover the Parliament are not highly qualified and could not performance?

Ironically, parliament should not be a place to be swarmed with hundred of reporters and five journalists to cover the ongoing session is more than enough. The parliament is not a political market place, thus the journalists should be restricted from moving around freely in the lobby.

More than 100 journalists from all print, online and electronic media are staging a boycott. The decisions taken to cover the proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat and boycott all press conferences or events held outside of the chamber thus justified the actions taken were wrong and unjustified.

Last Friday, the Parliament administration issued a notice to all media organizations informing them that they could only send no more than five journalists to cover the ongoing session. The barricades have restricted the journalists from moving around freely in the lobby to interview parliamentarians.

In protest, journalists from all print, online and electronic media have decided to only cover the proceedings in the Dewan Rakyat and boycott all press conferences or events held outside of the chamber.

Water-powered cars

Oil hike would’nt becomes crisis if water-powered cars are materialized. Japan's Genepax has now made some real progress on those front water-powered cars.

Genepax Co Ltd explained the technologies used in its new fuel cell system "Water Energy System (WES)," which uses water as a fuel and does not emit CO₂.

The system can generate power just by supplying water and air to the fuel and air electrodes, respectively, the company said at the press conference, which took place June 12, 2008, at the Osaka Assembly Hall.

The basic power generation mechanism of the new system is similar to that of a normal fuel cell, which uses hydrogen as a fuel. According to Genepax, the main feature of the new system is that it uses the company's membrane electrode assembly (MEA), which contains a material capable of breaking down water into hydrogen and oxygen through a chemical reaction.

Though the company did not reveal the details, it "succeeded in adopting a well-known process to produce hydrogen from water to the MEA," said Hirasawa Kiyoshi, the company's president. This process is allegedly similar to the mechanism that produces hydrogen by a reaction of metal hydride and water. But compared with the existing method, the new process is expected to produce hydrogen from water for longer time, the company said.

With the new process, the cell needs only water and air, eliminating the need for a hydrogen reformer and high-pressure hydrogen tank. Moreover, the MEA requires no special catalysts, and the required amount of rare metals such as platinum is almost the same as that of existing systems, Genepax said.

Unlike the direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), which uses methanol as a fuel, the new system does not emit CO₂. In addition, it is expected to have a longer life because catalyst degradation (poisoning) caused by CO does not occur on the fuel electrode side. As it has only been slightly more than a year since the company completed the prototype, it plans to collect more data on the product life.

At the conference, Genepax unveiled a fuel cell stack with a rated output of 120W and a fuel cell system with a rated output of 300W. In the demonstration, the 120W fuel cell stack was first supplied with water by using a dry-cell battery operated pump. After power was generated, it was operated as a passive system with the pump turned off.

This time, the voltage of the fuel cell stack was 25-30V. Because the stack is composed of 40 cells connected in series, it is expected that the output per cell is 3W or higher, the voltage is about 0.5-0.7V, and the current is about 6-7A. The power density is likely to be not less than 30mW/cm² because the reaction area of the cell is 10 x 10 cm.

Meanwhile, the 300W fuel cell system is an active system, which supplies water and air with a pump. In the demonstration, Genepax powered the TV and the lighting equipment with a lead-acid battery charged by using the system. In addition, the 300W system was mounted in the luggage room of a compact electric vehicle "Reva" manufactured by Takeoka Mini Car Products Co Ltd, and the vehicle was actually driven by the system.

Genepax initially planned to develop a 500W system, but failed to procure the materials for MEA in time and ended up in making a 300W system.

For the future, the company intends to provide 1kw-class generation systems for use in electric vehicles and houses. Instead of driving electric vehicles with this system alone, the company expects to use it as a generator to charge the secondary battery used in electric vehicles.

Although the production cost is currently about ¥2,000,000 (US$18,522), it can be reduced to ¥500,000 or lower if Genepax succeeds in mass production. The company believes that its fuel cell system can compete with residential solar cell systems if the cost can be reduced to this level.

Anwar: MCA MPs will crossover to Pakatan

The MCA MPs will defect to Pakatan Rakyat was merely another political gimmick that has taken place offered by PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. He tries to generate political relevance for PKR and keeping the public on tenterhooks under Malaysia domestic political environments.

Yesterday, a politico uncritically reported that de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told journalists that several MCA MPs will crossover to Pakatan Rakyat soon.

“I can safely say that several MCA MPs will join us soon,” he told journalists after opening a service centre in Bayan Baru, Penang.

However, as with previous assertions of the same variety, that was all he was prepared to reveal. Anwar has been keeping the public on tenterhooks since the general election on March 8, with repeated claims of crossovers by Barisan Nasional (BN) parliamentarians, especially those in Sabah.

He said that discreet meetings have been held in Hong Kong, Manila and Singapore, to avoid scrutiny, and that “even a cabinet minister met me”. At a night rally held in City Stadium, George Town, the former deputy premier worked up the crowd with similar promises.

“It’s about time that we take over. It’s only a matter of time for us to take over. We are so close to Putrajaya,” he said to roars from some 15,000 people. “It’s very soon. I will not say how (soon). But it will happen soon.”

He stressed that defecting MPs would have to accept the Pakatan tenets of good governance. “I can guarantee you all today that if Pakatan Rakyat were to form the federal government today, we will bring down the oil price tomorrow,” said Anwar. “Let’s join force to topple this irresponsible and arrogant government.

If enough numbers support us, we will form the next government. The people of Penang must lead others in backing us for change to a better life,” said Anwar.

Hinting that Abdullah could dissolve Parliament in a sudden move to “save his skin”, he cautioned Pakatan leaders and members to be ready for a snap election. “We must fight to win till the end,” he said.