marymagpereira

“Well-behaved women seldom make history.” Ex-academic in Malaysian politics & labour relations; social activism in human rights & inter-faith relations.

[Lassaad أسعد @Lassaad___]

The irony in this interview is that a journalist from a Qatari media channel is asking questions about democracy and the will of the people.

Qatar is ruled by a family dictatorship and is a vassal state to the United States. The media channel Al Jazeera, founded by Qatar, talks about democracy in the whole universe except its own country.

Can the same journalist ask the prince of Qatar about the state of democracy and freedom of speech in his country?
Absolutely not. He might end up in jail for having thought about asking the question.

[Syed Saddiq @SyedSaddiq]

8.30pm, Muar setia di Parlimen.

Menteri Kewangan 2 menjawab soalan saya.

1) “Adakah betul Tabung Haji rugi melabur duit pendeposit dalam syarikat kawalan Jho Low”

Jawapan: Bukan rugi kecil, tapi RUGI 100%.

Ratusan juta dilabur dalam syarikat Putra Perdana yang terbukti dikawal oleh Jho Low.

Berapa kerugian yang perlu ditanggung Tabung Haji?

~RM200juta!

2) “Apa nasib 14 Pelaburan Tabung Haji yang ditegur dalam RCI”

7 dari 14 Pelaburan Tabung Haji, rugi 100%.

Kerugian terkumpul berbilion ringgit. Kerana masalah integriti & pengurusan yang tidak cekap. Kesan Ahli Politik masuk campur dalam urusan pelaburan Tabung Haji.

……….

Bila saya dengar ni, tak tahu la nak marah atau menangis.

Saya desak Multi-Agency task force (SPRM/PDRM/LHDN/SC) ditubuhkan & siasat pendedahan ini sampai ke lubang cacing.

Ini bukan soal politik, tapi soal masa depan 10juta pendeposit Tabung Haji.

[Rafizi Ramli @rafiziramli]

Kita sambung lagi bincang tentang pelaburan KWAP dalam eFishery. Saya berpengalaman sebagai auditor. Itu kerja saya sejak muda.

Setiap skandal kerajaan yang saya bongkar sebelum ini semuanya bermula daripada tiga penyata yang sama.

1 - Income statement. Penyata untung rugi. Berapa pendapatan? Berapa perbelanjaan? Berapa untung?

2 - Balance sheet atau kunci kira-kira. Berapa aset, berapa hutang, berapa duit di bank, berapa masuk untuk saham?

Kedua-dua ni bersaling kait. Untung rugi daripada income statement akan masuk ke bahagian equity dalam balance sheet. Semuanya sepatutnya balance out. Itulah keindahan perakaunan yang bertahan selama ini iaitu debit dan kredit. Kalau ada satu kaki di debit, mesti ada satu kaki di kredit.

Tetapi orang selalu lupa penyata yang ketiga:

3 - Cash flow statement

Kalau syarikat itu untung, dan untung dia nampak cantik, kemudian ia diletakkan dalam balance sheet. Kita perlu pergi check satu perkara sahaja. Duit itu betul-betul masuk ke dalam tidak? Sepadan atau tidak dengan untung yang dilaporkan?

Income statement boleh cakap apa dia nak cakap. Balance sheet boleh cakap apa dia nak cakap.

Tapi cash flow?

Bila invois itu direka, duit itu memang tak pernah ada.

Ini bukan forensik yang rumit. Ini penyata ketiga. Penyata yang mana-mana auditor sepatutnya membuka terlebih dahulu.

Jadi saya cuma nak tahu satu perkara.

Macam mana due diligence dibuat?

Macam mana auditor mengesahkan angka-angka ini?

Dan apa sebenarnya yang mereka jumpa sebelum pelaburan ini diluluskan?

Tonton kupasan lanjut isu pelaburan KWAP dalam eFishery di Podcast YBM #56 di saluran YouTube saya:
https://t.co/G4qBFITyfM

[Slayingwolf @bin_salle39329]

I just finished my stint as a PACA at a school in Johor Bahru (JB), which is an absolute UMNO stronghold. I was assigned to Saluran 4, specifically designated for young Malay Gen-Z voters in the area. In fact, a quick glance at the voter list confirmed it was 100% Malay Gen-Z.
Before diving into the details, I want to share a quick story from the day before. On Friday, while on the express bus down to Johor, I called a friend who is a BN Sabah member. I told him I was going to be a PACA in Kampung Majidee, representing the Bersama party.
He immediately burst out laughing and asked, "Are you crazy?!" He warned me to brace myself for getting zero votes, explaining that it is an impenetrable UMNO/BN fortress. "Exactly like Sabah," he joked. "Give money and settle." Still laughing, he asked which stream (saluran) I was handling. When I told him it was Saluran 4 for Gen-Z, he laughed even harder. "Sure get zero, lah! Kena tebal muka bro kalau dapat kosong," he teased. I laughed nervously and replied, "Harap pecah telur lah, bro," and we shared a good laugh.
Fast forward through a long election day, we finally reached the grand finale: the vote counting.
Everything went smoothly while sorting the voting slips. But when it came time to announce the votes for each party, I had to fight to keep my composure, as my friend's teasing was still echoing in my head. 😂
When the counting began, they opened the first batch of 100 slips. The SPR officer announced them one by one, calling out "Barisan, Barisan" almost the entire way, with PH and PN picking up just a few. Once the first 100 were finished, they opened the second batch... and still, zero for Bersama. The atmosphere in the room was incredibly tense and quiet until, out of nowhere, I jokingly blurted out, "Bersama bagi satu lah!" The SPR officer, my fellow PACAs, and the police all burst out laughing. 😂😂😂
As they opened the third batch of 100 slips, the announcements were still dominated by BN, alongside a smattering of PH and PN votes. Suddenly, the SPR officer paused for about two seconds, looked at me, and announced, "One for Bersama!" I instantly replied, "Finally! 😂😂" and the whole room erupted in laughter again. I wasn't sure if they pitied me or just found the timing funny.
After that first vote for Bersama, it went right back to BN, BN, BN. However, as the third batch progressed, it became a bit more balanced among BN, PH, and PN, and Bersama managed to secure a few more, bringing our total to four. Towards the very end, I joked again, "Kurang-kurang bagi lah lima votes!" The room laughed once more. By the end of the count, a total of seven Gen-Z voters in that saluran had voted for Bersama.
Humor aside, the real takeaway from this experience is that I am genuinely impressed by those seven Gen-Z voters who went against the grain to vote for Bersama in such a stronghold.
To be fair, you have to give credit to UMNO-BN Johor for controlling the narrative so effectively and mobilizing their pool of Malay Gen-Z voters to come out and vote. To my surprise, the youngest Gen-Z demographic, taking up about two whole pages on the voter list, roughly 50 people all showed up to cast their ballots. Kudos to UMNO-BN for securing the Gen-Z vote, regardless of the methods they used, only God knows.
If any of those seven Gen-Z voters in Kampung Majidee happen to read this story, please reach out to https://t.co/l3odXrGteX or keep an eye on our programs so we can show you why your vote for Bersama mattered. We want to help guide you to become strong individuals who can truly differentiate between right and wrong.
Anyway, the chapter in Johor is closed for now. Hopefully, everyone remains calm regardless of the final election results. If our intentions are good, people will eventually see it. Above all, we must stick to our party's principles and continue to grow, so we can provide hope to those seven Gen-Z voters in Kg Majidee, and to the rest of the country.

[marymagpereira @MarymagP]

@partibersamamy 👍🏽

[marymagpereira @MarymagP]

@fmtoday Wow! FMT, you too?!😵‍💫

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

I cannot unsee this.
I've been watching Trump answer questions for years. The confidence. The certainty. The way he shuts down a room. I genuinely thought he was one of the sharpest communicators alive.
Then one day I caught myself finishing his sentence before he said it.
Not guessing. Knowing. Word for word. Before he said it.
So I pulled the transcripts.
Press conferences. Interviews. Sprays. Egg prices. Greenland. January 6th. Military strikes. Different years. Different reporters. Completely different topics.
Same thing every time.
Every single time Trump is asked a question — any question — he runs the exact same 7 steps. In the exact same order. Without exception.
This is not personality.
This is not confidence.
This is not charisma.
This is a deliberate repeatable formula. And I can prove it.
His actual words. Public record. Verify every single one yourself.
📷 STEP 1 — KILL THE QUESTION
(First thing every time — make the question itself the problem.)
📷 "That's a stupid question." / "Fake news."
📷 STEP 2 — KILL WHO ASKED IT
(Destroy the source so the question has nowhere to stand.)
📷 "Your ratings are terrible. Nobody watches your network."
📷 STEP 3 — INSERT HIMSELF
(Every topic. Every time. Without fail. It always lands here.)
📷 "Nobody has ever done what I've done."
📷 STEP 4 — SCALE IT TO THE BIGGEST CLAIM POSSIBLE
(Not good. Not great. The greatest. Ever. In history. Every single time.)
📷 "More than any administration — by far." / "Nobody has ever had crowds like I've had — in history, for any country."
📷 STEP 5 — UNNAMED PEOPLE AGREE
(Faceless. Countless. Unverifiable. Always there.)
📷 "Smart people are saying it. Great people. A lot of people."
📷 STEP 6 — VAGUE THREAT
(Something bad will happen. Never specified. Always implied.)
📷 "All hell will break out." / "They know it. Believe me."
📷 STEP 7 — LOOP BACK TO HIMSELF
(Different words. Same destination. Formula complete.)
📷 "It's been an amazing period of time. Page after page of accomplishments."
The question was never answered.
The formula just ran.
Go back and watch any clip.
Any year. Any topic. Any reporter.
Count the steps.
I'll wait.
This is the part nobody wants to sit with:
Real conviction engages with the actual question. It sometimes stumbles. Sometimes says I don't know. It changes shape based on what's in front of it.
A formula runs the same 7 steps whether the topic is war or egg prices.
Which means the response was never built for the question.
It was built for you.
To feel powerful. To feel certain. To stop you from noticing that nothing was actually answered.
And it worked.
For years it worked.
Pull any transcript. Public record. Count the steps yourself.
This isn't about politics.
This is about what you were never supposed to notice.
I've found the same deliberate pattern running in another major figure in this administration. Different slots. Same principle. Same effect.
Next post I break it down.
Follow or miss it. VIA~~ Jamie Hoo

[RosarySon @SkyVirginSon]

With all due respect to the Office of the President, this post contains several claims that are factually inaccurate and theologically misguided, and as a Catholic I feel compelled to respond.

1. The Pope was not elected to please any president.

Pope Leo XIV was elected by 133 cardinals from across the world in a sacred conclave, on the fourth ballot, on May 8, 2025. 

The Holy Spirit guides the conclave, not American politics.

To suggest that “if I wasn’t in the White House, Leo wouldn’t be in the Vatican”  is not only historically ignorant but theologically offensive to every Catholic on earth.

2. He was not an unknown outsider.

Pope Leo XIV served as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Pope Francis, one of the most powerful roles in the Vatican, responsible for selecting bishops for dioceses worldwide. 

He was one of the most qualified candidates in the College of Cardinals.

3. He is deeply rooted in service, not politics.

An Augustinian missionary who worked for decades in Peru, Pope Leo XIV dedicated his life to the poor and the Gospel long before any political figure noticed him. 

His name honors Leo XIII, the Pope who championed workers’ rights and the poor during the Industrial Revolution, a tradition of Catholic Social Teaching that predates any modern political party.

4. The Pope’s role is prophetic, not partisan.

When the Pope speaks on peace, nuclear weapons, immigration, or the dignity of nations, he is fulfilling the mission of Christ, not opposing any government.

His first words as Pope were “Peace be with you all,”  echoing the Risen Christ (John 20:19).

A Pope who is silent on injustice would be failing his divine mandate.

5. Demanding a Pope “get in line” with a president contradicts 2,000 years of Church history.

From St. Peter before Nero, to St. Thomas More before Henry VIII, to John Paul II before Soviet communism, the Church has never existed to validate earthly power.

“We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 5:29)

As Catholics, we pray for all leaders, including President Trump.

But we stand firmly with our Holy Father.

Habemus Papam. And he answers to God alone.

[Maria Dubovikova @politblogme]

One of the most heartbreaking examples of nonverbal communication to emerge from Iran.
I cannot call this a mere propaganda piece. It is the unbearable truth, laid bare through the profound art of cinematography and animation.

[Bark @barkmeta]

Let me explain what just happened 👇

5 minutes before the President announced a halt to attacks on Iran… someone placed a $1.5 BILLION bet on stocks going up and dumped $192 million in oil.

5 minutes…

These trades were 4 to 6 times larger than anything else in the entire market. Whoever did this wasn’t guessing. You don’t risk $1.5 billion on a hunch.

There was zero public indication this announcement was coming. No leaks. No press. Nothing. The only people who knew were in the room when the decision was made.

Someone in that room picked up a phone.
And within minutes they made more money than most Americans will earn in a thousand lifetimes. In a single trade. On a war that cost you $4+ a gallon gas and $16 billion in tax dollars.

American citizens funded this war. Politicians are profiting from it.

This is not the first time. Every major announcement from this administration has had massive suspicious trades right before it dropped. Tariff reversals. Policy shifts. War decisions.

This is the most blatant insider trading operation in the history of American politics. It’s not even close. And it’s happening over and over in broad daylight.

You would go to federal prison for trading on a tip from your cousin. These people are front running war decisions with billion dollar bets and nobody will ever ask a single question.

Nobody will be investigated. Nobody will be charged. By tomorrow this will be buried under the next satisfying headline. Just like last time. And the time before that.

The game is rigged. And they’re not even trying to hide it anymore…

[MFWitches @MFWitches]

This is a great essay. Beautiful writing.

But your one mistake in it is believing the rest of the world is only just now starting to be alarmed and disgusted by America, and is only just now starting to, as you say, grieve.

Because that’s not true at all. We in the rest of the world have watched on for many years as the bullies in America bombed and coerced sovereign countries which didn’t deserve it, for oil and power and blood lust and because you had the most guns and bombs and because you could.

Trump is just the symptom of that hubris, exceptionalism, and underserved power gone extra-extra mad in recent years, but the actual fact of the hubris, exceptionalism and underserved power has been there for decades. So the very fact that you don’t seem to be aware that the rest of the world has known a lot of what you’re saying for many years is concerning, as it proves not much has changed and that you still believe there’s been much for a long time in America for the rest of the world to admire or grive.

You have to give that up, you know. You have to give up the idea that America was widely admired and loved to be able to accept the full weight of the depraved lot of bullies and over-entitled brats most (not all) Americans still are. This might be an inappropriate thing to say on the thread you just wrote, but your idea the rest of the world is only just starting to grieve America can’t go past without comment or push-back.

America has been broken and hated by many other countries for decades, but your leaders managed to paper it over by pretending it wasn’t happening for a long while. All Trump has done is openly expose the cruelty and complete moral collapse. He didn’t start it, he just held up a mirror. Americans will need to look very hard into that mirror if there’s any chance of becoming the country you think you once were.

[Meidas_Charise Lee @charise_lee]

His anger & frustration is legit‼️

[Marc Botenga MEP @BotengaM]

Iran: From the young girls in an elementary school to the millions of people in Tehran breathing toxic smoke, Trump and Netanyahu don't bring democracy. They bring chaos and death. Europe needs to stop supporting their criminal war.

[Gianl1974 @Gianl1974]

“Why do some British people not like Donald Trump?” Nate White, an articulate and witty writer from England wrote the following response:

A few things spring to mind. Trump lacks certain qualities which the British traditionally esteem. For instance, he has no class, no charm, no coolness, no credibility, no compassion, no wit, no warmth, no wisdom, no subtlety, no sensitivity, no self-awareness, no humility, no honour and no grace – all qualities, funnily enough, with which his predecessor Mr. Obama was generously blessed. So for us, the stark contrast does rather throw Trump’s limitations into embarrassingly sharp relief.

Plus, we like a laugh. And while Trump may be laughable, he has never once said anything wry, witty or even faintly amusing – not once, ever. I don’t say that rhetorically, I mean it quite literally: not once, not ever. And that fact is particularly disturbing to the British sensibility – for us, to lack humour is almost inhuman. But with Trump, it’s a fact. He doesn’t even seem to understand what a joke is – his idea of a joke is a crass comment, an illiterate insult, a casual act of cruelty.

Trump is a troll. And like all trolls, he is never funny and he never laughs; he only crows or jeers. And scarily, he doesn’t just talk in crude, witless insults – he actually thinks in them. His mind is a simple bot-like algorithm of petty prejudices and knee-jerk nastiness.

There is never any under-layer of irony, complexity, nuance or depth. It’s all surface. Some Americans might see this as refreshingly upfront. Well, we don’t. We see it as having no inner world, no soul. And in Britain we traditionally side with David, not Goliath. All our heroes are plucky underdogs: Robin Hood, Dick Whittington, Oliver Twist. Trump is neither plucky, nor an underdog. He is the exact opposite of that. He’s not even a spoiled rich-boy, or a greedy fat-cat. He’s more a fat white slug. A Jabba the Hutt of privilege.

And worse, he is that most unforgivable of all things to the British: a bully. That is, except when he is among bullies; then he suddenly transforms into a snivelling sidekick instead. There are unspoken rules to this stuff – the Queensberry rules of basic decency – and he breaks them all. He punches downwards – which a gentleman should, would, could never do – and every blow he aims is below the belt. He particularly likes to kick the vulnerable or voiceless – and he kicks them when they are down.

So the fact that a significant minority – perhaps a third – of Americans look at what he does, listen to what he says, and then think ‘Yeah, he seems like my kind of guy’ is a matter of some confusion and no little distress to British people, given that:

• Americans are supposed to be nicer than us, and mostly are.

• You don’t need a particularly keen eye for detail to spot a few flaws in the man.

This last point is what especially confuses and dismays British people, and many other people too; his faults seem pretty bloody hard to miss. After all, it’s impossible to read a single tweet, or hear him speak a sentence or two, without staring deep into the abyss. He turns being artless into an art form; he is a Picasso of pettiness; a Shakespeare of shit. His faults are fractal: even his flaws have flaws, and so on ad infinitum. God knows there have always been stupid people in the world, and plenty of nasty people too. But rarely has stupidity been so nasty, or nastiness so stupid. He makes Nixon look trustworthy and George W look smart. In fact, if Frankenstein decided to make a monster assembled entirely from human flaws – he would make a Trump.

And a remorseful Doctor Frankenstein would clutch out big clumpfuls of hair and scream in anguish: ‘My God… what… have… I… created?' If being a twat was a TV show, Trump would be the boxed set.

[DD Geopolitics @DD_Geopolitics]

🇨🇳🌍 While Trump builds military coalitions and bombs the Middle East, China just made its move.

Wang Yi announces: zero tariffs on 100% of African imports, effective May 1st.

Every single African export enters China duty-free. No conditions. No military bases required. No regime change demanded.

The U.S. is spending billions on interceptors, carrier strike groups, and bombs. China is opening the largest consumer market on Earth to an entire continent.

[Craig Mokhiber @CraigMokhiber]

My latest: Understanding the U.S. and Israel’s illegal aggression in Iran https://t.co/Mo4NnMpleJ

[James Tate @JamesTate121]

Definitely a must watch. We need to get Israel’s influence out of our government.

[CryptoWala @cryptowalax]

Why don’t European governments ever speak about Israel’s nuclear weapons? And how can they pretend to care about human rights in Iran, when they impose sanctions that hurt ordinary Iranians?

[Clash Report @clashreport]

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez on Iran:

Today more than ever, it is essential to remember that one can be against a hateful regime, as is the case with the Iranian regime, as is the whole of Spanish society, and at the same time be against an unjustified, dangerous military intervention outside of international law.

That one must be against a war initiated without the authorization of the United States Congress or the United Nations Security Council and, as I have said before, one that violates international law.

And that there is always room for a negotiated solution, instead of being dragged along by the devastation of arms as the only possible way out.

Therefore, I would like once again, as we have done since the beginning, to appeal for immediate de-escalation, for full respect for international law in all the conflicts we are unfortunately suffering, and for the urgency of resuming dialogue as soon as possible.

That is where Spain will be, and that is where I believe the whole of the European Union should be.

[China pulse 🇨🇳 @Eng_china5]

CHINA:

"The US is a war addict. Throughout its over 240-year history, it has been at war for all but 16 years.

The US has 800 overseas military bases in over 80 countries and regions.

The US is the main cause of international disorder, global turbulence, and regional instability."