Hujan batu di Kuala Lumpoq...

Hujan batu yang jarang berlaku serta banjir kilat melanda beberapa kawasan di ibu negara petang tadi.

Kejadian kira-kira 6 petang itu dilaporkan menyebabkan trafik sesak selain beberapa bangunan dan rumah kediaman di ibu negara mengalami kerosakan.

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur (DBKL) turut melaporkan menerima aduan sebanyak 35 kes pokok tumbang di sekitar ibu kota.

Pengarah Jabatan Penguatkuasaan DBKL, Mustafa Mohd Nor berkata skuad penyelamat dan tren tunda telah dikerah bagi melakukan kerja-kerja pembersihan.

Selain itu beberapa jalan utama iaitu Jalan Duta, Jalan Bangsar, Jalan Pantai Baru dan Lebuhraya Lingkaran Tengah 2 arah Tasik Bandar Selatan, Jalan Genting Klang dan Taman Melati, Gombak turut dilapor terjejas.

Menurutnya seramai 82 anggota pasukan Skuad Penyelamat DBKL telah dikerah ke semua lokasi tumpuan yang terjejas akibat banjir kilat.

"Daripada jumlah itu, 50 petugas trafik diarah mengawal keadaan trafik, 20 lagi menyelamat mangsa yang terkandas manakala 12 ditugas mengendali kren tunda," katanya kepada Bernama.

Sementara itu Ketua Pusat Gerakan Operasi Bomba dan Penyelamat Kuala Lumpur, Samsol Maarif Saibani berkata terdapat kejadian tiang elektrik tumbang di Lebuhraya Sungai Besi menghala ke Bukit Jalil sekali gus menyebabkan kesesakan lalu lintas di kawasan berkenaan.

Beliau berkata kerja-kerja mengalihkan tiang itu sedang dijalankan selain kawalan trafik dilakukan pihak polis.

Sementara itu warga ibu kota yang kebanyakannya sedang dalam perjalanan pulang ke rumah turut berkongsi pengalaman masing-masing dan gambar kejadian melalui media sosial.

Pengguna Twitter, 'faiqrusyaidie' menulis 'first time ever experiencing hujan batu...'.

Seorang lagi pengguna Twitter, 'dayahmayah' turut berkongsi gambar dengan menulis, 'MashaAllah. hujan batu at my sister's office. Area Sg Besi. Praying and hoping that everyone's fine,'.

'First hujan batu experience ever. Literally soaked for almost 20 minutes,', tulis pengguna Twitter 'FazaaMohamad'.

Pengguna Facebook 'Shahriza Mahmud', dalam pada itu turut berkongsi rakaman video kejadian berkenaan yang berlaku di Lebuh Raya Utara Selatan berhampiran Serdang. - bernama

Phantom voters and ghost candidates...

GE-13 was one of the strangest in our election history. Independent observers complained about phantom voters, voters who had risen from the dead and were around 200 years old. Now, BN has adopted a new election strategy, in which they nominate ghost candidates to stand for election. What next? Governing by remote control?

The former MP for Kuala Kangsar,  Datuk Wan Mohammad Khair-il-Anuar Wan Ahmad, was killed in a helicopter crash last month.

Standing in the by-election, to represent Umno/ BN, is his 55-year-old widow. Datin Mastura Mohd Yazid.

The new BN election strategy, mentioned by the Deputy PM, Zahid Hamidi, excuses Mastura from public view, because she has to observe a period of mourning. How convenient!

BN will broadcast her speeches, but this is akin to cheating. It is similar to an examination candidate who avoids the rigorous oral and written test, under exam conditions, but instead, gives the examiner a perfect pre-prepared copy of her work.

With the unlimited resources of Umno available, all the topics from education to employment, commerce to child-care, can be covered by experts in their respective fields. Mastura needs only to read a prepared text.

No! Doesn't BN realise that the electorate wants to assess the candidate in the flesh, to field questions and see how she performs under pressure. They want to see how she reacts to controversial topics, how she fudges, and how she interacts with the rakyat.

Accepting the candidacy makes Mastura fair game for criticism. A wannabe politician must accept the rough with the smooth.

Most normal working women are not granted the favour which has been accorded to Mastura, to disappear from public life, and observe the mourning period of 40 days.  If women in both the private sector or public life were to excuse themselves to mourn, industry, commerce and the education sectors would grind to a halt.

Despite the claims that Umno has consulted Muslims scholars and the divisive Perak Mufti, Tan Sri Harussani Zakaria, who have excused Mastura's absence during campaigning, their reasons are not acceptable.

Excusing Mastura from public campaigning, will not show the public that she is pious. It just shows that she belongs to an elite group of people, who can escape the realities of providing for a family and avoid the responsibilities of their job.

How many companies could afford to lose several working days, from each female employee, whose husband has died?

Mastura may have apologised for her absence, but she has already shown that she is different from the rakyat. Isn't one of the concepts of being an MP, to show that you empathise with the rakyat?

So, why is Umno using emotional blackmail for this by-election? They appear not to have any other suitable candidate, and perhaps hope to secure a win, from the sympathy vote, especially as Mastura is a widow.

Conveniently, Umno also said that Mastura need not be present during the nomination period, because they say that the Election Commission (EC) rules do not stipulate this requirement.

The ludicrous Zahid claimed that Mastura is very experienced in national politics, because she mixes around in the constituency, when her husband was the Bukit Chandan state assemblyman from 2004 to 2013, and the Kuala Kangsar MP after GE-13.

It is like saying Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak's spouse, the self-styled, First Lady of Malaysia (FLOM) is a suitable candidate for MP or PM, just because she fraternises with the rakyat, by virtue of her husband's interactions with the public.

It will not be the first, or last time, that emotional blackmail has been used in an election. Linda Tsen, the widow of the former Batu Sapi MP, Edmund Chong, was the BN candidate for the by-election in 2010.

It is deplorable of Umno to stoop this low, and use Mastura for emotional blackmail. Of course, they will deny this strongly. Why can't they let Mastura grieve in peace? Why use her for political purposes? - Mariam Mokhtar

Korang nampak tak apa yang aku nampak...

cheers.