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Deny BN 2/3 majority in Sarawak polls to send powerful message to all Sarawakians and Malaysians – “Tomorrow can be better!”

Sarawak general elections eve of Polling Day message

Tomorrow is the polling day for the 10th Sarawak state general elections – the most important Sarawak general elections in 48 years since 1963.

It is also the first time that a state general elections will have a powerful, immediate and direct impact on national politics and policies – thanks to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who “closed down” Putrajaya for six days and directed the entire Cabinet to campaign in Sarawak!

As a result, Najib has added a new dimension to the April 16 polls – giving Sarawakians the unprecedented opportunity to pass verdict not only on the performance and record of the Chief Minister and Sarawak Barisan Nasional but also on the Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional Malaysia-wide.l

Sarawak voters tomorrow have a double-barrelled challenge – at minimum to deny the Barisan Nasional two-thirds majority in the Sarawak State Assembly majority to send two clear and unmistakable messages, viz:

• firstly to Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud that he should step down as Chief Minister not “in a few years time” but by tomorrow itself; and

• secondly to Najib that his signature policies of 1Malaysia, Government Transformation Programme and New Economic Model have failed to pass the test as they are just empty slogans bereft of real substance of reforms.

Continue reading “Deny BN 2/3 majority in Sarawak polls to send powerful message to all Sarawakians and Malaysians – “Tomorrow can be better!””

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On the Ubah campaign trail (7)

Tweets @limkitsiang :

DAP releases postal vote tampering video By Sheridan Mahavera http://ow.ly/4z8UW
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 6:16:44 PM

Another Najib-Peh Moh clash? PM not sure but Peh Moh very sure of 2/3 BN majority. Who is running the Swak BN election campaign?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 6:18:05 PM

But more imp Q – can Najib give undertaking he will fully respect Swak BN defeat in polls n honour all pledges/projects anncd by PM DPM?
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 6:23:04 PM

Haris Ibrahim denied entry into Sarawak. Peh Moh sending him back 2KL
Wednesday, April 13, 2011 7:02:43 PM
Continue reading “On the Ubah campaign trail (7)”

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Final countdown in BN ‘fixed deposit’ state

By Dr Bridget Welsh

A loss of its two-thirds majority in Sarawak was unthinkable less than 10 days ago, but now the focus centres around this key marker.

The last day of the campaign has started and for the past few days, it has been ratcheted up to fever pitch on both sides.

Larger crowds in the towns for the opposition have coincided with extensive, almost frenzied, visits by BN cabinet ministers far and wide throughout the state.’

Make no mistake about this – the stakes are high. This is a campaign that has national implications as BN’s hold on power is at stake. A loss of the two-thirds majority in Sarawak was unthinkable less than 10 days ago, and now the focus centres around this important marker.

It has been made clear that Sarawakians have the power to set the political direction for the country.

Three decisive groups

The situation on the ground remains very fluid with an unprecedented undecided voters, especially among the state’s largest group, the Dayak.

The range of possible outcomes moves from a minimum of 10 seats for the opposition to a maximum of 32, on the heels of a change in government. The reason for this wide range lies with the high degree of unknowns and the small swing needed to change results in tight seats. Continue reading “Final countdown in BN ‘fixed deposit’ state”

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On the alleged ACS statement re closed door meeting with PR

By Teresa Kok

I’m surprised that The Star reported yesterday that the Association of Churches Sarawak (ACS) has expressed regret at Pakatan Rakyat regarding our closed door meeting. The Star’s report is intentionally incomplete, and is politically-motivated to paint Pakatan Rakyat leaders in a negative light and a desperate last-ditch attempt to mislead the public for tomorrow’s Sarawak state elections.

I wish to clarify what happened.

ACS leaders had agreed to meet Pakatan Rakyat leaders in a closed door meeting with the requests that

a) they would not hold any press conference together with us, and that
b) we would not allow members of the media to come into the room to photograph our meeting, which Pakatan Rakyat fully complied with.

ACS leaders saw the presence of the media when they arrived at the venue. They also saw Pakatan Rakyat not allowing the media to enter the room to take pictures of us.

ACS leaders were aware that the media were waiting outside the venue. They never forbade us from speaking to the media. And we Pakatan leaders could not have been expected to ignore the media after the closed door dialogue session when the media had been waiting outside all the while. It was understood that Pakatan would speak with the reporters after the meeting ended. Continue reading “On the alleged ACS statement re closed door meeting with PR”

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Epistle to the Church in Malaysia

By Thomas Lee Seng Hock

Dear sisters and brothers in the faith,

Greetings in the Name of our beloved Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ. His love, grace, peace, joy and blessings be upon all of you who love, honour and obey him.

I write this open letter as a fellow believer and as a humble servant of the Almighty God to make a clarion call to my sisters and brothers in the faith to unite in solidarity of vision and mission to bring about a moral and spiritual transformation of our beloved nation, by our individual prayers and united corporate intercession, and through our vocal articulation and visible demonstration of our life and faith beyond the walls of our comfort zone within our churches. The time has come for us to wake up from our spiritual slumber, and stand up, without fear or favour, and be counted for the Lord Jesus.

Most, if not all, of you are surely aware and concerned that our beloved country is currently going through a very critical and uncertain time, during which various delicate and sensitive matters are being exploited and abused by the evil forces out to destroy the peaceful and harmonious co-existence of our multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural, multi-ideological and multi-lingual nation. It is during such a time as this that we as followers of the Lord Jesus Christ need to go on our knees before the throne of grace to seek forgiveness, mercy and divine intervention to save our nation from disintegration and destruction.

The Church and State

One of the most heretical deceptions that the Christian community has been infused with by misguided western missionaries is the so-called separation of the church and state, meaning that Christians should not be involved in matters of the state, or take any stand on political issues. This teaching is based on a distorted exegesis of the statement by the Lord Jesus on the issue of paying tax: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21). Continue reading “Epistle to the Church in Malaysia”

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Christians of Sarawak, be a Catalyst of Change!

by Martin Jalleh

Christians of Sarawak, your hour has come! May you have the courage to respond to the clarion call of leading the charge of change in your State and country.

May your vote convince the PM that the religious freedom of Christians and other faiths cannot rest merely on his sudden goodwill conveyed at cordial, congenial and courteous close-door meetings.

May your choice reflect the earnest prayer of Christians that the government honor and respect our basic constitutional rights, and not subject them to changes according to political expediency of the moment.

May your courage bring to the fore the problems related to religious harmony which the BN Government has created or is complicit to, its conceited responses and ad-hoc solutions which contradict its very own policies!

The challenge before you goes far beyond that of the recent Bible controversy. It is to express distinctly to the PM the deep disappointment and discontent of Christians being discriminated against over the years. Continue reading “Christians of Sarawak, be a Catalyst of Change!”

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DAP’s tilt at inclusiveness

By Hafiz Noor Shams
April 15, 2011

APRIL 15 — There is a common denominator to any kind of respectable democratic system. The side with the most votes generally wins. There lies the importance of inclusive politics in a diverse society typical in Malaysia.

It is not enough to appeal to only one specific community in a competitive democracy as a whole. There is always an extra vote somewhere outside of the community that can make a difference. The communal divides have to be crossed just because those who fail will lose the democratic competition.

One of those divides in this country is language. There is no doubt that this divide exists in Kuching.

I have been in the Sarawak capital for nearly two weeks now and I have been trailing the state election campaigns of the DAP very closely. This gives me the opportunity to observe the party’s strategies and operations firsthand with respect to the election.

Kuching of the south bank — Padungan, Pending, Kota Sentosa and Batu Kawa — are Chinese-majority areas. In two of those areas, the Chinese make up no less than 90 per cent of the total voters.

At the same time, it is inevitable for an impartial observer to conclude that the DAP is primarily a Chinese-based party. It is ethnically more diverse than any other political parties in Malaysia, with the exception of its Pakatan Rakyat partner PKR.

That does not negate its Chinese characteristic, however. This statement cannot be any further than the truth in Kuching, where its active membership reflects the demography of the city.

The composition of Kuching makes it only natural for Chinese to function as the primary language in the city. It is not a wonder that the DAP had used only Chinese for its political communication here in the past. There were not too many reasons for the local chapter to change. Continue reading “DAP’s tilt at inclusiveness”

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“Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” – Taib gives another illustration with entry ban of Bersih2 Chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan

“Power tends to corrupt. Absolute power tends to corrupt absolutely.” Sarawak’s 30-year Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud has this morning given another illustration to prove the truism of this famous aphorism by British historian Lord Acton.

Bersih2 Chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasan was barred from entering Sarawak when she flew into Kuching from Subang in Firefly flight at 9 am and was forcibly repatriated to Kuala Lumpur by 10.40 am MAS flight as she is on Taib’s blacklist.

What has Taib to fear from Ambiga and Bersih2 when all she and Bersih2 wanted was to monitor the 10th Sarawak state general elections to ensure that the polls tomorrow are fair, free and clean.

Is Taib preparing for the dirtiest Sarawak state general elections tomorrow so that it will be the most fraudulent in the nation’s history to allow Taib to subvert, impede and defeat the greatest political awakening of Sarawakians of all ethnic groups since the formation of Malaysia in 1963 and in their demand for change? Continue reading ““Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts absolutely” – Taib gives another illustration with entry ban of Bersih2 Chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan”