Mr. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak,
I have observed that Anwar has blamed Beng Hock tragic death on MACC with the real intention to smear you politically. At this moment, I think the 64% favorable rating that you enjoyed just last week has plummeted to 40% or so, and might go further down. This certainly seems very unfair to you.
You see, MACC and PDRM have employed hundreds of thousand law enforcement officers. You are not a superman who can ensure every one of them is good and complying with the law. Anwar keeps you busy with every single problem pops up, and you are so busy with fire-fighting all the time that you have no time to prevent future problems.
I think they might hide from you an easy solution that can solve all you headache. What if we can shift some of the blame due to future MACC/PDRM misdeeds onto Pakatan? I think there is a way, but they won't tell you, because they just want to kick your ass for every problem ever appears in government institutions. Their intention is so obvious that even a 10 year-old can tell. We know no government institution is perfect, not even in USA, the oldest democracy on earth. So, it is not possible to create a perfect MACC/PDRM. So, I think you need a strategy that is not relying on perfect MACC/PDRM to counter the nastiest opponent of the entire Malaysia history.
How can you make PR bear some blame for the future misdeeds of MACC and PDRM? The key is to send a mutated "Trojan Horse" in the form of power sharing. In particular, you pretend to share power by allowing Pakatan to conduct confirmation hearing and vote on the appointment and re-appointment of MACC/PDRM heads. You of course maintain the power of selecting candidate to be confirmed and enjoy more than 50% votes in the parliament. You can pass law that requires two-thirds majority votes in Parliament to confirm a candidate, so that you look fair and Pakatan can participate the confirmation with their votes, which is less than 40%. When MACC makes their next mistake, which will surely soon happen since it is not so clean to start with, for every two fingers pointing to you, you can point at least one to Pakatan. After all, Pakatan has confirmed the MACC leaders. Actually, you can take the offensive by taking the initiative to sack the top brass with minimum injury to yourselves. With that disguised power sharing, you will look magnanimous and give an extra meaning to the 1-Malaysia concept. You see, Anwar won't get a lot of brownie points for future MCAA/PDRM misdeeds or crime, and his Putrajaya dream can never be realized.
But you lose 100% control on MACC and PDRM? Don’t worry. There are much more thing you can do as a prime minister. Just like a chess game, what is a big deal to sacrifice a pawn in order to keep the King. After all, you keep one more trophy for the very concept only you can conceive of: 1-Malaysia.
You see your opponent is very sinister. They want to keep you feel you are in control when things are smooth. But it is that very perception that you are in control that they use to kick your ass when something go wrong.
On top of all the above criticism throw your way over Mr Teoh's death, they have time and again ridiculed you being a womanizer and of a lesser man.
After seeing every angle possible, I think you have been challenged by Anwar for a duel. You must take the challenge, and don't send emissaries to deal with such an outrageous challenge. If you don't take up the challenge, you lose not only your manhood, but also any chance of re-election.
I believe what I put down here is truth as I perceive the situation. I believe I am your genuine supporter.
Your True Supporter,
Shiou Loh
--------------
Mr. Anwar Ibrahim,
At Pakatan, we all are committed to democracy. Just like any healthy democracy, appointment of important positions such as heads of MACC/PDRM requires confirmation hearing in the assembly where both the current administration and opposition can question the candidate for his suitability for the job. If this type of confirmation hearing and the subsequence voting are executed, I am pretty sure we can vet out horrendous candidates such as Syed Hamid Akbar.
To my chagrin, you are not given any say to the appointment of key positions such as MACC/PDRM heads even though you are handed 82 MPs-strong mandates in the last election. You have almost 40% of seats in parliament and close to 50% of popular votes. I think Najib has intentionally humiliated you by ignoring what you have gain in the last election. He hopes by humiliating you, you will look weak and does not looks like a viable candidate for future prime minister. I think such humiliation is outrageous.
I can imagine Najib, the worst prime minister ever exists in Malaysia history, sneering with Berita Harian's devilish smile (Senyum Kambing) at your effort to garner 10 thousand plus supporters at Kelana Stadium over Mr. Teoh death. Through ignoring the support that you got, he virtually uses his giant thumb squashing the supports from Kelana Stadium and mandate from 82-MPs just like I squashed that annoying fly over lunch just now. The fly didn’t even give a beep when I squashed it. When I imagine Najib does that, it make me irate like hell.
I know you know that leaders in a democracy system must and should willingly subject to the judgment of the people through taking tough position on issues. Then people select the best presenters to be their leaders. All leaders in democracy must take that risk of taking position just to make democracy to work. If you are not willingly to make a position (for or against) on MACC reform that is consisting of having PR to bear partial responsibility in appointing top brass of MACC, you are not submitting yourself to democracy principle. You see, now even the fence sitters suspect your commitment for democracy.
After you participate in confirming MACC/PDRM leaders, what if they blame you now when something goes wrong with MACC/PDRM? Don't worry. For every finger pointing your way, you still can point two fingers to your opponent since they propose the candidate and have more than half votes. But the good part is once you chirp away his power, even though by a little, you are closest to Putrajaya since you last became DPM.
On top of all the belittling on the mandate that you got, many people accuse you for “playing from behind” and suspect your manhood. Mind you, it is not only Najib's supporters who accuse you, even now the fence sitters suspect your manhood if you don't fight from the "front" in an open field over MACC/PDRM reform.
After seeing every angle possible, I think you have been challenged by Najib for a duel. You must take the challenge by yourself, and not sending any emissaries because this is such an outrageous challenge. How can you let the 10 thousand people attending the Kelana Stadium under Pakatan call to be insulted? Once you are humiliated and not fight back, your chance to remain a viable Prime Minister is slipping away.
I believe what I put down here is truly reflecting the situation, and I believe I am your genuine supporter. Most Malaysians go berserk or crazy when they read up to this point because they have difficulty to put two opposing ideas in their brains simultaneously. They might start using the infamous snake comparison and say "if you see a snake with one head and another with two heads, which one you will kill first". I believe what I put down here is neither sarcastic nor funny, but some might think so.
Your True Supporter,
Shiou Loh
-------------------------------
Should Najib and Anwar to Have a Duel?
Take the poll at the right hand side.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Anwar, We Want Real Result This Time for Mr. Teoh
Dear Mr. Anwar Ibrahim,
In ancient societies ruled by the feudal system, their helpless subjects could only kneel and express their grievances through petitions to the kings. Prior to March 8 2008, Malaysia opposition, often with only a handful of seats in Parliament, considered Royal Commission of Inquiry as the ultimate political weapon because that was what was available for them. After March 8 2008, with 82 MPs in their wing, should Pakatan still rely only on the same political weapons to make sure late Mr. Teoh Ben Hock does not die in vain?
Establishing Royal Commission of Inquiry and petitioning to Agong are probably political necessity and will satisfy many older generations. However, does anyone, from old or new generation, hold any illusion that Royal Commission of Inquiry and Petition alone are going to produce genuine reform of our political system? The answer is obviously a vehement “NO”. We need Royal Commission of Inquiry and petition, but we need more than that.
I would like to applaud you and Pakatan for providing voices to the masses through organizing “Justice for Beng Hock Solidarity Gathering” in Stadium Kelana Jaya at 4:30 PM this Sunday. We know many will attend by just mentioning the time and place of the event, but even more will stay home. May you, as the leader of opposition, challenge this docile society in no uncertain terms that what you are going to do depending on response of Kelana gathering. I wish you can say something in the line of “If the Kelana gathering attracts only lukewarm response with attendees less than 10,000, I will plod along with the same old Royal Commission and petition and sporadic protest. However, if the response is overwhelming with number of attendees exceeds 50,000, I will immediately seek audience with Najib negotiating a concrete MACC/PDRM reform which consists of law requiring two-third approval in parliament for any appointment of top leaders in MACC. After all, 82 MPs is a substantial percentage of the whole parliamentary seats, and should have substantive say of those important appointments. However, citizens of this nation, please show me your number first in Kelana Stadium”. Put your message in YouTube, we will send it far and wide.
Despite BN-UMNO lost their two-thirds majority, the power of many government institutions is still as concentrated to BN administration as it was before. Such power concentration is especially obvious in police force. I cannot help but hold you to task for chirping off the BN power base and removing the relic of pre-March 8 era. After all, that is what we ask you to do when we give you the mandate of 82 MPs – the biggest mandate ever given to opposition camp.
With a nation in shock over Mr. Teoh’s death, you have become empowered negotiator on behalf of many concerned citizens. We expect you to wrestle power from BN administration through tough negotiation in accordance to the level of mandate you got from the people. We also expect you to leverage your years of political experience to force concession from current administration. I would have said something like this over negotiation table to Najib: “See it is of BN advantage to have Pakatan to share some blame of the future MACC misdeeds. You can have Pakatan to share some blame if Pakatan is included in confirming the appointment and re-appointment of tops leaders in MCAA/PDRM. After all we have 82 MPs and 50,000 attendees in Kelana gathering yearning for such a reform”.
If Najib refuses to concede, could you please bluntly tell us to our faces that “Your prime minister don’t give a shit for voices of 50,000. Your prime minister said 82MPs should not be given any real authority to influence the appointment MCAA/PDRM leaders.” Then you could challenge the previously docile citizens if they can stomach the insult from their prime minister. We can then ready for an even bigger gathering. Further rejections from the prime minister will add even more salt to the wound. You know what I mean from the examples and illustration above. You certainly can do better than what I describe above, but I want to show you many among us are ready to be led. We are looking for a genuine leadership to move the nation forward. You are tasked to do that.
Before I sign off, let me add something about the upcoming Kelana gathering. We come to Kelana Stadium not to show how strong we can be in front of water canons, tear gas, and police. We come here so that you can be our proxy to fight for our right as citizens, one of which has fallen. We come to Kelana Stadium not for only political stunt, but for real result. Were it only political stunt that we were looking for, we could have elected you or Mr. Lim Kit Siang as the sole opposition MP, not the 82 MPs. Show us what you can do with 82 MPs-strong mandate, then we can decide if you deserve the premiership next time.
Regards,
Shiou Loh
In ancient societies ruled by the feudal system, their helpless subjects could only kneel and express their grievances through petitions to the kings. Prior to March 8 2008, Malaysia opposition, often with only a handful of seats in Parliament, considered Royal Commission of Inquiry as the ultimate political weapon because that was what was available for them. After March 8 2008, with 82 MPs in their wing, should Pakatan still rely only on the same political weapons to make sure late Mr. Teoh Ben Hock does not die in vain?
Establishing Royal Commission of Inquiry and petitioning to Agong are probably political necessity and will satisfy many older generations. However, does anyone, from old or new generation, hold any illusion that Royal Commission of Inquiry and Petition alone are going to produce genuine reform of our political system? The answer is obviously a vehement “NO”. We need Royal Commission of Inquiry and petition, but we need more than that.
I would like to applaud you and Pakatan for providing voices to the masses through organizing “Justice for Beng Hock Solidarity Gathering” in Stadium Kelana Jaya at 4:30 PM this Sunday. We know many will attend by just mentioning the time and place of the event, but even more will stay home. May you, as the leader of opposition, challenge this docile society in no uncertain terms that what you are going to do depending on response of Kelana gathering. I wish you can say something in the line of “If the Kelana gathering attracts only lukewarm response with attendees less than 10,000, I will plod along with the same old Royal Commission and petition and sporadic protest. However, if the response is overwhelming with number of attendees exceeds 50,000, I will immediately seek audience with Najib negotiating a concrete MACC/PDRM reform which consists of law requiring two-third approval in parliament for any appointment of top leaders in MACC. After all, 82 MPs is a substantial percentage of the whole parliamentary seats, and should have substantive say of those important appointments. However, citizens of this nation, please show me your number first in Kelana Stadium”. Put your message in YouTube, we will send it far and wide.
Despite BN-UMNO lost their two-thirds majority, the power of many government institutions is still as concentrated to BN administration as it was before. Such power concentration is especially obvious in police force. I cannot help but hold you to task for chirping off the BN power base and removing the relic of pre-March 8 era. After all, that is what we ask you to do when we give you the mandate of 82 MPs – the biggest mandate ever given to opposition camp.
With a nation in shock over Mr. Teoh’s death, you have become empowered negotiator on behalf of many concerned citizens. We expect you to wrestle power from BN administration through tough negotiation in accordance to the level of mandate you got from the people. We also expect you to leverage your years of political experience to force concession from current administration. I would have said something like this over negotiation table to Najib: “See it is of BN advantage to have Pakatan to share some blame of the future MACC misdeeds. You can have Pakatan to share some blame if Pakatan is included in confirming the appointment and re-appointment of tops leaders in MCAA/PDRM. After all we have 82 MPs and 50,000 attendees in Kelana gathering yearning for such a reform”.
If Najib refuses to concede, could you please bluntly tell us to our faces that “Your prime minister don’t give a shit for voices of 50,000. Your prime minister said 82MPs should not be given any real authority to influence the appointment MCAA/PDRM leaders.” Then you could challenge the previously docile citizens if they can stomach the insult from their prime minister. We can then ready for an even bigger gathering. Further rejections from the prime minister will add even more salt to the wound. You know what I mean from the examples and illustration above. You certainly can do better than what I describe above, but I want to show you many among us are ready to be led. We are looking for a genuine leadership to move the nation forward. You are tasked to do that.
Before I sign off, let me add something about the upcoming Kelana gathering. We come to Kelana Stadium not to show how strong we can be in front of water canons, tear gas, and police. We come here so that you can be our proxy to fight for our right as citizens, one of which has fallen. We come to Kelana Stadium not for only political stunt, but for real result. Were it only political stunt that we were looking for, we could have elected you or Mr. Lim Kit Siang as the sole opposition MP, not the 82 MPs. Show us what you can do with 82 MPs-strong mandate, then we can decide if you deserve the premiership next time.
Regards,
Shiou Loh
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Speaker Sivakumar, Encore! Encore!
Mr. Speaker Sivakumar, the head of State Legislative Assembly,
Many Malaysians cried when they witnessed you being dragged out of the State Assembly like a sack of potatoes. Many more have considered you as their hero, not the ones in kung-fu films, but in real life. It is one level of bravery to give punches to those who physically violating you, it is definitely another level of bravery when you show courage to stand your ground as the speaker and still humble enough not to physically lash out at others or resorting to other power abuses. I, just like many others, salute your principled bravery.
However, the main reason I write to you is not for saluting your bravery and sacrifice, which everyone can see themselves. I write to you to urge you to keep standing your ground as the head of the state legislative, and repeat what you have done on May 7, 2009. Yes, I propose you do, more or less, as what you had done. This is an "encore" call.
As ancient warfare strategist Sun Tze pointed out, it is very important for us to know ourselves and our rival before we engage in a fight. We need to know our weakness and strength, as well as those of our rivals. Our main strengths are our ideals, our numbers, and our connectedness through Internet. Our main weaknesses are our susceptibility to physical force and our inherent race-based sentiments. In the other hand, our rival, as defined as BN-UMNO, has shown their weaknesses as lacking the idea and ideal and fast shrinking approval rating from common people. However, we should not cheat ourselves by ignoring our rival strength in having almost complete control of police, military forces, money, and other state machinery. Our rival is also well-trained for exploiting our racial affinity in order to "divide and rule" us the common people (Yes, it is a strength, albeit an evil one).
I urge you to repeat the 0507 because it works to our advantage when you considers our and our rival's strength and weaknesses. By repeating 0507, it means we hold to our ideal of supporting the separation of powers and supporting the Article 72, Clause (1) of the Federal Constitution which clearly states that "the validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court." Repeating 0507 also means we further leverage the Internet connectedness to reach masses including those ever-important fence sitters. Even though 0507 shows interference from police personnel, our rivals actually dare not to use water cannon, tear gas, and guns in the state assembly hall. Thus repeating 0507 is a way to avoid the brute of physical force actually available to our rival outside the assembly. More important to note is that our rival has no use of their well-trained skill on "divide and rule" when we are in the assembly hall - they simply cannot show their below-the-belt blow when we have media over them. In short, repeating 0507, although might cause common people emotional anguish, is of our advantage because it sets the battlefield on our terms, not our rival terms. As Sun Tze said, if a fight is inevitable, we must set the battlefield on our terms.
Many would like to describe Perak political entanglement as constitutional crisis. I would like to dispute such characterization. The constitution is very clear in upholding the separation of powers between judicial, legislative, executive, monarchy. Even the Chief Minister as head of state executive is just simply a member of the assembly when he is in the assembly hall, where the speaker calls the shot. There is even specific clause such as Article 72 (Clause (1)) which specifically prohibits any court to question the validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly. While the content of the constitution is rectified around the Independence of the nation, it is actually derived from common human history. The doctrine of the separation of powers is firmly enshrined in our constitution as the wisdom of not only this nation's forefathers but also founders of other great nations such as Roman and United States of America. Since the constitution is clear and sound, then it is not a constitutional crisis. It is at worst a political crisis which is itself a process for all us to align with the constitution which includes the doctrine of the separation of powers. As the political crisis gyrates, business activities in Perak still proceed without much interruption at least for short term. Political entanglement needs time to unfold in the political sphere, and there is no need for "babies" to cry for the help of big "Daddy" represented by the police forces and military. You are the "first actor" to unfold this political entanglement.
What you had done in 0507 is very much perfect, and probably, in my humble opinion, needs only small modification for the next round. Since you call the shot in the assembly, you might want to consider to hire your own sergeant-at-arm, state secretary, as well as bring your own hand-held bull-horn voice amplifier. With the help of your sergeant-at-arm, one of the first thing is to make sure you sit at the speaker chair, and then you could replay the "acts" just like what we had witnessed in 0507. Yes, you need one or more strong sergeant-at-arm with the ability to maneuver the crowd on your behalf.
If the people of Malaysia do not understand what it means to be assertive leader of the legislative, now it is the second time you can show them the way. You can have the strongest Sergeant-at-arm, and still comply with the demand of constitution. If the Malaysians don't understand why you can do that, then please have a new conference to declare and rule that the assembly we had on 0507 is unconstitutional on procedural ground. Act likes you are still the valid speaker since you are. Malaysians might be slow learners, but I think they will get it.
Will people perceive you as arrogant and abusing the power if you repeat 0507? I think the degree of assertiveness and humility you had shown in 0507 is a prefect mix. You are doing what the constitution "script" has asked you to do -- i.e. to run the state legislative as elected representative. Besides leading the assembly to create state law, you enforce the assembly rules to facilitate the proceeding. You are the boss within the boundary of the assembly, and you decide how to enforce the rules. In case the people of Malaysians don't get it, please do explain that your speaker power is not absolute because you don't enforce rules outside the assembly. ADUNs can protest and run back to Chief Minister to complain about your actions. Chief Minister has the power bestowed by constitution to counter your power by requesting the Sultan to resolve the assembly. Your power as speaker is not to be taken away by physical force, but by constitutional means. We need your help by repeating 0507 to get many fence-sitters to sink in what is separation of powers and how their rights are protected by the doctrine.
0507 is a good "show". Encore! Encore! And see if the secondary actors (i.e. BN-UMNO) are cooperating to "act" along. Despite many complaint about being tired of the Perak events, people inherently and sometime unconsciously love heart-wrenching drama especially those involves no real bloodshed. This one is actually educational.
Many Malaysians cried when they witnessed you being dragged out of the State Assembly like a sack of potatoes. Many more have considered you as their hero, not the ones in kung-fu films, but in real life. It is one level of bravery to give punches to those who physically violating you, it is definitely another level of bravery when you show courage to stand your ground as the speaker and still humble enough not to physically lash out at others or resorting to other power abuses. I, just like many others, salute your principled bravery.
However, the main reason I write to you is not for saluting your bravery and sacrifice, which everyone can see themselves. I write to you to urge you to keep standing your ground as the head of the state legislative, and repeat what you have done on May 7, 2009. Yes, I propose you do, more or less, as what you had done. This is an "encore" call.
As ancient warfare strategist Sun Tze pointed out, it is very important for us to know ourselves and our rival before we engage in a fight. We need to know our weakness and strength, as well as those of our rivals. Our main strengths are our ideals, our numbers, and our connectedness through Internet. Our main weaknesses are our susceptibility to physical force and our inherent race-based sentiments. In the other hand, our rival, as defined as BN-UMNO, has shown their weaknesses as lacking the idea and ideal and fast shrinking approval rating from common people. However, we should not cheat ourselves by ignoring our rival strength in having almost complete control of police, military forces, money, and other state machinery. Our rival is also well-trained for exploiting our racial affinity in order to "divide and rule" us the common people (Yes, it is a strength, albeit an evil one).
I urge you to repeat the 0507 because it works to our advantage when you considers our and our rival's strength and weaknesses. By repeating 0507, it means we hold to our ideal of supporting the separation of powers and supporting the Article 72, Clause (1) of the Federal Constitution which clearly states that "the validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly of any State shall not be questioned in any court." Repeating 0507 also means we further leverage the Internet connectedness to reach masses including those ever-important fence sitters. Even though 0507 shows interference from police personnel, our rivals actually dare not to use water cannon, tear gas, and guns in the state assembly hall. Thus repeating 0507 is a way to avoid the brute of physical force actually available to our rival outside the assembly. More important to note is that our rival has no use of their well-trained skill on "divide and rule" when we are in the assembly hall - they simply cannot show their below-the-belt blow when we have media over them. In short, repeating 0507, although might cause common people emotional anguish, is of our advantage because it sets the battlefield on our terms, not our rival terms. As Sun Tze said, if a fight is inevitable, we must set the battlefield on our terms.
Many would like to describe Perak political entanglement as constitutional crisis. I would like to dispute such characterization. The constitution is very clear in upholding the separation of powers between judicial, legislative, executive, monarchy. Even the Chief Minister as head of state executive is just simply a member of the assembly when he is in the assembly hall, where the speaker calls the shot. There is even specific clause such as Article 72 (Clause (1)) which specifically prohibits any court to question the validity of any proceedings in the Legislative Assembly. While the content of the constitution is rectified around the Independence of the nation, it is actually derived from common human history. The doctrine of the separation of powers is firmly enshrined in our constitution as the wisdom of not only this nation's forefathers but also founders of other great nations such as Roman and United States of America. Since the constitution is clear and sound, then it is not a constitutional crisis. It is at worst a political crisis which is itself a process for all us to align with the constitution which includes the doctrine of the separation of powers. As the political crisis gyrates, business activities in Perak still proceed without much interruption at least for short term. Political entanglement needs time to unfold in the political sphere, and there is no need for "babies" to cry for the help of big "Daddy" represented by the police forces and military. You are the "first actor" to unfold this political entanglement.
What you had done in 0507 is very much perfect, and probably, in my humble opinion, needs only small modification for the next round. Since you call the shot in the assembly, you might want to consider to hire your own sergeant-at-arm, state secretary, as well as bring your own hand-held bull-horn voice amplifier. With the help of your sergeant-at-arm, one of the first thing is to make sure you sit at the speaker chair, and then you could replay the "acts" just like what we had witnessed in 0507. Yes, you need one or more strong sergeant-at-arm with the ability to maneuver the crowd on your behalf.
If the people of Malaysia do not understand what it means to be assertive leader of the legislative, now it is the second time you can show them the way. You can have the strongest Sergeant-at-arm, and still comply with the demand of constitution. If the Malaysians don't understand why you can do that, then please have a new conference to declare and rule that the assembly we had on 0507 is unconstitutional on procedural ground. Act likes you are still the valid speaker since you are. Malaysians might be slow learners, but I think they will get it.
Will people perceive you as arrogant and abusing the power if you repeat 0507? I think the degree of assertiveness and humility you had shown in 0507 is a prefect mix. You are doing what the constitution "script" has asked you to do -- i.e. to run the state legislative as elected representative. Besides leading the assembly to create state law, you enforce the assembly rules to facilitate the proceeding. You are the boss within the boundary of the assembly, and you decide how to enforce the rules. In case the people of Malaysians don't get it, please do explain that your speaker power is not absolute because you don't enforce rules outside the assembly. ADUNs can protest and run back to Chief Minister to complain about your actions. Chief Minister has the power bestowed by constitution to counter your power by requesting the Sultan to resolve the assembly. Your power as speaker is not to be taken away by physical force, but by constitutional means. We need your help by repeating 0507 to get many fence-sitters to sink in what is separation of powers and how their rights are protected by the doctrine.
0507 is a good "show". Encore! Encore! And see if the secondary actors (i.e. BN-UMNO) are cooperating to "act" along. Despite many complaint about being tired of the Perak events, people inherently and sometime unconsciously love heart-wrenching drama especially those involves no real bloodshed. This one is actually educational.
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