Month: November 2010

by Hafidz Baharom
The Malaysian Insider
November 07, 2010

So the United Malay Nationalists met up the other day for what seemed to be a dressed-up annual general assembly that brought nothing new since they re-formed in 1988 supposedly as the new Umno.

Yet another rebranding procedure then, no doubt. But then again so is 1 Malaysia, right?

Meanwhile, all of us Malaysian nationalists looked on at hour upon hour of nothing more than a repeat of their best hits and misses. The usual same old, same old was all there; don’t mess with Malay rights, don’t question the Malay privileges in the Constitution and, of course, ban all sanitary pad commercials from television for promoting perverted thoughts.

That was, of course, from the firebrand bimbo wing. Permit me to say this; this was the dumbest strategy to win back the female Malay Muslim votes. Even Muslimah PAS were rolling their eyes under their burqas.

Meanwhile, the Umno chairman decided that it was necessary to tell off the Malaysian Chinese Association leader for questioning Malay rights. Is it just me, or does the term Malay rights mean the Malay race are superhuman, or something, in comparison to us other human beings?

In addition to this, there was even a call from the Perlis Umno delegate to create an ulama wing within Umno. Because there’s nothing really bad about politicising religion, right? What could happen? Continue reading “Welcome to the feast of fools”

Letters
by Goh Keat Peng

As I read a sports commentary on England vs NZ All-Blacks, it becomes quite clear how the view from an onlooker looking down from his seat in the terraces of Twickenham Stadium and that of a player on the field is really very different.

“…a fast flat pass left from Youngs then put Mike Tindall in space on the Kiwi 22, the old battering-ram hesitated, dawdled inside and then threw a change-of-heart pass behind Lewis Moody on the outside. Chances made, chances lost,” writes Tom Fordyce, the famous sports commentator featured on the BBC website.

This to me sums up quite well the difference in viewpoints within the same arena. Both commentator and player were in the same stadium at the same time engrossed in the same game. But one was up there on the terrace able to see at once the entire field and all the 30 men plus three match officials; the other was on the field where the match is in ongoing progress. The two men literally have two very different points of view, not just in terms of sight but also insight. Understandably so.

Almost at once as I read Tom Fordyce’s insightful commentary on a rugby test match between two giant teams, I am brought back from faraway Twickenham to the present-day realities of Malaysian politics.

It becomes for me like a parable as to how we view the going-ons of the national political scene. Depending on which side we are rooting for, we are filled with a mixture of emotions- hope? foreboding? glee? despair? humour? disgust? Just like the team you support in the Premiership, or Super Bowl, or Tri-Nations. Real matches and games are being played out before us (on television) the outcomes of which may send us into ecstasy or embarassment or, as in politics, sedition charges! Continue reading “The thing about viewpoints”

Letters
from Sheela R

I am a mother with three school going children. My children who have greatly benefited from the PPSMI (policy for teaching Science and Maths in English) are alarmed at the impending switch to Bahasa Malaysia.

They have been in school for some years now and the prospect of changing a language midstream is “nothing short of disastrous” to them. (I have quoted them verbatim).

There has been a great hue and cry on this issue but the government has continued to maintain a maddening silence. The reasons for continuing the PPSMI have been well elucidated in other websites and it is not my intention to reproduce them.

Instead, could you please highlight through your blogs or other means, the Ministers and politically connected persons’ children who are being educated at international schools and overseas, who have access to quality education in English? Continue reading “Hypocrisy of Ministers – appeal to rescind PPSMI policy”

OPEN LETTER TO ASEAN LEADERS

Your Excellencies,

The 17th ASEAN Summit has concluded, and, as elected representatives of the peoples of ASEAN, we are disappointed by its outcome and by your passivity in the face of this weekend’s election in Myanmar.

The election is about to be conducted under a new constitution, enacted in 2008, which was drafted by an assembly whose members were handpicked by the country’s current ruling military regime and conducted without open and inclusive input from the people of Myanmar. The constitution is designed to assure the continued dominance of the military regime under the guise of a democratically elected civilian government, notably reserving one-quarter of seats in parliament for the military.

Additionally, five electoral laws and four decrees promulgated earlier this year violate democratic principles by restricting current political prisoners, including Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi and other key leaders of the country’s democracy and ethnic movement, from participating in the polls.

In light of this, Myanmar’s general election can in no way be acknowledged as conforming to internationally accepted standards of freedom and fairness. They are a farce and a non-election for the country’s people. Your hopes that Myanmar will open up the process and create conditions conducive to free and fair elections less than a week before they are due to take place are therefore misguided. Continue reading “Support a UN Commission of Inquiry into international crimes in Myanmar not next weekend’s general election”

(Thanks to “Ewe Paik Leong, The Wordslinger ” for forwarding the following blog):

Thursday, November 4, 2010
Lim Kit Siang’s blog tops in number of hits

“Cubestat [cubestat.com] is a free and perfect tool for website value calculation, estimations and information. How does it work? You simply enter the domain url [in the box], our unique algorithm will calculate and estimate the website worth, daily pageviews and daily ads revenue of the present domain.”

Out of curiosity, one evening, I reckoned the number of hits for the blogs of our country’s more vocal politicians selected at random. Here are the results in descending order of pageviews:

No. 1
Name: Lim Kit Siang
Website Address: limkitsiang.com
Site age: 4 years
Website Worth: $44,472.33
Daily Pageviews: 20,307
Daily Ads Revenue: $60.92

No. 2
Name: Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad
Website Address: cedet.co.cc
Site Age: N/A
Website Worth: $26,028.15
Daily Pageviews: 11,885
Daily Ads Revenue: $35.66

No. 3
Name: Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahin
Website Address anwaribrahimblog.com
Site Age: 4 years
Website Worth: $25,699.65
Daily Pageviews: 11,735
Daily Ads Revenue: $35.21

No. 4
Name: Dato’ Sri Mohd Najib Tun Abdul Razak
Website Address: www.1malaysia.com.my
Site Age: N/A
Website Worth: $13,210.08
Daily Pageviews: 6,032
Daily Ads Revenue: $18.10 Continue reading “Lim Kit Siang’s blog tops in number of hits”

Letters
by Dr Kamal Amzan

We are a nation that defines race in our constitution. Well, there is nothing wrong with that. But we should know that we are in the league with countries like South Africa and Israel.

Other countries have their own definition of race, but very few take pride enshrining it in their constitution.

Whatever your stand on that, let us admit one thing, we are not in the best of companies.

Religion teaches us that God created us as equals, and some even say that we are all related (albeit distantly). Say what you want, twist and cite all the verses in every holy scriptures you can, but the crux of the matter is that we are all the same before Him, we are all related even.

Yes people, that makes us brothers, sisters, first cousins, second cousins and distant cousins if you must.

In my opinion, 1Malaysia was a long and overdue call. A battle cry, after years of trouble. However, being a sceptic that I am, it was a call that sounded too good to be true. Continue reading “I am a Malaysian first, second, and last”

Free Malaysia Today
05 Nov 2010

GUA MUSANG: Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah believes that loyalty has no expiry date so long as the candidate does not go back on his promises.

This was reflected in Galas when Barisan Nasional (BN) wrested the state seat from PAS by a bigger majority of 1,190 votes, nearly double the majority PAS won in the 2008 general election.

Leading the charge was Razaleigh, fondly known as Ku Li, who is no alien to the voters in Galas, which comes under his Gua Musang parliamentary seat.

He has proven to the BN, particularly Umno, that the party need not spent money to win votes, need not promise the stars and the moon to convince the people, and need not show its power by implementing projects.

Razaleigh showed that the only way to win over the hearts and minds of the voters is by being loyal and sincere to the people. Continue reading “Ku Li delivers, what has Umno to offer?”

by Bakri Musa

Chapter 5: Understanding Globalization (Cont’d)

The Corollary to Globalization

A corollary to globalization is the development of a common acceptable standard, or to use the language of computers, a common platform, or at least a compatible operating system. In the computer industry, a common platform enables my computer to link and communicate with thousands of other computers. One of the common platforms of globalization is language. There is a need for a common language to facilitate communication. By default English is now assuming that role. This is not a dictate from Britain or America but simply the result of an evolving pattern.

Another imperative would be a common currency. At present there is no single currency that has successfully assumed the role of a global currency. In pre-Breton Wood days when the dollar was tied to gold, it could probably be acceptable as a world currency. And indeed it was. Currently the dollar is like any other currency, backed only by the confidence consumers and investors have on the underlying American economy. When that confidence is high, the value of the American dollar shoots up; when America runs chronic deficits and its financial house in disarray, the dollar plummets. It has ranged from over 300 yen to under 80, all within a few decades.

It is more likely that eventually the world would settle into a few major currencies, with the others tied to one of them. Western Europe has dispensed with its multitude of currencies into the euro. The dollar is fast becoming the currency of choice in the Western hemisphere. Continue reading “The Corollary to Globalization”

By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
04 November 2010

I HAD a good cackle the other day – over a caption that appeared in an article of a mainstream newspaper. It was for photographs of four Malaysian singers who had appeared as the opening acts for George Benson when he performed in Kuala Lumpur on Oct 29.

The caption named them as “Datuk Sheila Majid, Datuk Siti Nurhaliza, Datuk David Arumugam and Datuk Khatijah Ibrahim”. Another one whose picture was not included but mentioned in the article is “Datuk Yusni Hamid”.

Five datuks performing as a prelude to Benson’s entrance. Wow! He might have been bowled over if he had known. But then again, it might not have mattered a mite to a citizen of the American republic that upholds egalitarianism.

To him, it might have seemed that datuks in Malaysia are a dime a dozen. And that only Malaysians seem to take such titles seriously. If Cliff Richard, Elton John, Paul McCartney and Mick Jagger performed on the same stage and their photographs appeared in a British newspaper the next day, the caption would not read: “Sir Cliff, Sir Elton, Sir Paul and Sir Mick.” You can bet they would be simply referred to as Richard, John, McCartney and Jagger. Or just by their first names. Continue reading “Send In the Datuks”

Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
Nov 5, 10

The BN deservedly should claim and savour yesterday’s victories. The combined gains in Galas and Batu Sapi show significant swings across ethnic minorities, which proved to be decisive in determining the final outcome.

This is the first major turning point in the political stalemate between the BN and Pakatan Rakyat among all of the 13 by-elections since March 2008.

From the ground, it was clear that the BN had the advantage in both seats, and I expected both wins. The results, however, are even larger than expected. Continue reading “Eight reasons why Pakatan lost”

Kee Thuan Chye
Nov 5, 10
Malaysiakini

COMMENT

The results of the two by-elections yesterday are portentous. No matter what analysts may say of their being isolated cases, or their being local stories with no bearing on the national saga, the implications could be deeper than some would care to admit.

Despite the decayed and fallen bridges in their villages, Sabahans stood squarely behind BN and returned its candidate to the parliamentary seat of Batu Sapi with an even bigger majority than in 2008.

They rejected the opposition candidates, one of whom was a former Sabah chief minister. He came off with the least number of votes and ended up a poor third to the PKR man. His Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) hoped to be a viable challenger to BN at the next general election, but after this defeat, it looks pretty unlikely.

It didn’t seem to matter to the Sabah electorate that the rotten bridges might reflect a rotten system. They were happy with the status quo.

And from the way it looks, they’ll be happy with it too at the next general election. By then, you can bet that those bridges would have been repaired.

In Kelantan, PAS lost its state seat of Galas to Umno, and that result was a definite letdown. Losing by a margin of 1,190 brought it close to a disaster. It looked like the Malays were flocking back to Umno, thanks perhaps to the rhetoric of the recent Umno general assembly. And the Chinese too, which was rather unexpected. Continue reading “When the people are high on peyote…”

by Goh Keat Peng

This we have to admire about the more established democracies: that there is no monopoly about which party will form the government of any level. The two or more main parties or coalitions of parties have reasonable chance. The people are not saddled effectively with just one choice. In recent times, the world has witnessed a change of government in Britain and just days ago, the House of Representatives in the US has changed hands. Just two years after a very popular president was swept into office, Congress is now in the hands of the opposition.

This should be the case in most things in life. An exception being family. We can of course choose who to marry or whether to marry at all. But we cannot choose which family we wish to be born in. This is of course because you can’t make choices before you have come into existence in the first place!

You go to a neighbourhood grocer’s and there is not just one brand of toothpaste or, for that matter, toothbrush. With multiple choices for any product or service, an alternative is available. So a decision becomes necessary on your part. It could be that you walk into a megastore of today with ten choices of anything and still only stick to one brand of anything. That’s your prerogative.

Choice is on the whole healthy for human beings. To have the prerogative of choice is what you and I must have. Continue reading “The prerogative of choice”

Letters
by The Ampas Man

Question: Di Mana Kan Ku Cari Ganti?

Answer: Not in Malaysia

Those who watched the heart-wrenching P. Ramlee documentary on the History Channel on 31st October 2010 must have gone to bed with a heavy heart. It transpires that Malaysia’s one and only film icon had died penniless and shunned by the public including his own colleagues. And the way it was done appears to have uncanny resemblances to what’s happening today in Malaysia, almost 45 years after Ramlee returned to Malaysia.

The documentary, narrated by British actor, Timothy Watson and 12 years in-the-making included precious interviews by some of his friends, actors and actresses who had passed on. The underlying tone was one of profound melancholy.

Ramlee, born out of poverty along Caunter Hall Road at an Achenese community in Penang , had to endure a brutal Japanese occupation whose schools incidentally inculcated a certain discipline in him. In his formative years then, this discipline proved crucial as a founding platform for his eventual brilliance, creativity and innovation in film and music.

He subsequently gained phenomenal success at Shaw Brother’s Jalan Ampas studios in Singapore. His success at Jalan Ampas was the apparent result of the studio’s incredible milieu of experienced film crew, choreographers and directors which the Shaw Brothers had assembled from India, Hong Kong and Indonesia. With the load of management and finance off his shoulders, Ramlee was able to thrive and focus on his talent of creating music, acting and eventually direction, screenplay and editing. Continue reading “Broke and broken – should P. Ramlee have come back?”

Wishing Happy Deepavali to all Malaysian Indians.

Despite obstacles and setbacks, the battle of good against evil and light against darkness must be unremitting and unceasing.

Take courage for the night is darkest before dawn

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Lim Kit Siang is going ahead to sue Berita Harian for saying he remarked “orang Umno kafir” or infidels, saying he remained unconvinced with the Umno-owned Malay daily’s admission of error.

The DAP adviser claimed that the “correction” by the Umno daily did not amount to any apology but instead added “insult to injury”.

Berita Harian admitted today that it had made an error over remarks which it had attributed to Lim (picture) during a PAS ceramah at Sungai Terah, Gua Musang on Monday.
The daily, under the vast Media Prima Berhad group, had yesterday accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” in today’s Galas by-election. The results of the by-election will be known tonight.

“I cannot figure out how ‘silap tulis’ can be used as a defence, excuse of justification for such a malicious, irresponsible, defamatory and seditious report, seeking to incite racial and religious hatred in a multi-religious and multi-racial country.

“Berita Harian has not made any apology and has added insult to injury by implying without producing any proof that Ali Rustam was right in accusing a DAP national leader of having called Umno Malays as kafirs,” Lim told reporters today. Continue reading “An unconvinced Kit Siang to sue Berita Harian”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
November 04, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Berita Harian admitted today that it had made an error over remarks which it had attributed to DAP’s Lim Kit Siang during a PAS ceramah at Singai Terah, Gua Musang on Monday.

The Umno-owned daily had yesterday accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” during the now ongoing Galas by-election.

The article quoted Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as saying that Lim’s alleged remarks were made in the presence of PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a ceramah in Sungai Terah.

However, in an about-turn today, Berita Harian claimed the Melaka chief minister’s remarks were taken from his speech during a ceramah, and that Ali Rustam’s remarks was not made in reference to the DAP advisor. Continue reading “Berita Harian admits error over Lim’s ‘seditious’ remark”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
November 03, 2010
Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3- The DAP said today that it will initiate legal action against Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as well as Umno-owned daily Berita Harian for making false allegations against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh demanded that Ali Rustam as well as Berita Harian “ retract and apologize unconditionally” for claiming that Lim had uttered seditious remarks during a PAS ceramah in Sungai Terah, Gua Musang.

“In lieu of the seriousness of the allegations made against Lim Kit Siang, I’ve been instructed as the party legal advisor to take action against Berita Harian and the CM of Melaka, Ali Rustam. It’s a very serious matter in that it adverts to something is very sensitive and something which can be abused… Berita Harian should be responsible. In fact a police report will be lodged against Berita Harian for publishing false news. This is an offence under the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984,” Karpal told reporters today.
Continue reading “DAP: To sue Melaka CM, Berita Harian over sedition accusation”

By S Pathmawathy | Nov 3, 10 1:45pm
Malaysiakini

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has denied a news report that he had dubbed bitter rivals Umno as kafir (infidels) during a ceramah (political talk) in Gua Musang, pointing out that he was not even present at the event.

“It is a slanderous report… I have never been there. This is very irresponsible and they are doing it to propagate hatred,” Lim told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Malay-language daily Berita Harian had claimed that Lim made the remark during a ceramah on Monday in Kampung Baru Hulu, Sungai Terap while campaigning for the Galas by-election in Kelantan.

PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim were said to have been at the event as well.
Continue reading “Kit Siang denies ‘Umno kafir’ remark”

By Philip Bowring
Malaysiakini

The result of the 12th by-election since the tumultuous general elections in 2008 is in practical terms irrelevant. Whether or not PAS retains the state seat of Galas in tomorrow’s by-election will make no difference to the Islamic party’s control of the state legislature. (PAS captured 38 of the 45 state seats in Kelantan, while ally PKR picked up one and Umno, six)

But it will be a test of the influence of Umno’s most distinguished internal dissident, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and his calls for sweeping reform of Umno. Galas is part of Razaleigh’s federal parliamentary constituency and is centred on his hometown of Gua Musang in the south of Kelantan. And, together with a federal seat by-election on the same day, the election is expected to play a role in whether Prime Minister Najib Razak will go to national polls in early 2011.

But interpreting the Galas result will not be easy. The 73-year-old Razaleigh, usually known as Ku Li, is between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the Kelantan aristocrat knows that his calls for reform of Umno are unlikely to make much progress if the erosion of support for the Umno-led BN ruling coalition that was seen both in the 2008 federal election and in subsequent by-elections is stemmed or reversed.
Continue reading “Ku Li caught in an Umno trap?”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
November 03, 2010
Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — An outraged Lim Kit Siang denied today uttering seditious remarks during a ceramah in Sungai Terah, Gua Musang, saying that he was not even present at the function.

“This is a slanderous accusation…I never said this and I was not even there (at the ceramah). This is a twisted and irresponsible plot to spread racial and religious hatred,” Lim told reporters.

Umno-owned daily Berita Harian, in a news report dated yesterday had accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) during a PAS ceramah in Sungai Terah, to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” for the Galas by-election.

The article quoted Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as saying that Lim’s alleged remarks were made in the presence of PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) spiritual advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a ceramah in Sungai Terah.
Continue reading “Kit Siang rejects Gua Musang ‘sedition’ accusation”