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A single spark starts the prairie fire?

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 11, 2011

DEC 11 — Dengar cerita CEO NFC (suami Sharizat) dpt gaji 100k sebulan, anak sulung (age 31) dpt gaji 45k sebulan, anak kedua (age 27)dpt 35k sebulan, anak ketiga (age 25) dpt 35k sebulan. Jika ini betul, ia sesungguhnya memalukan. Ambil duit rakyat buat bayar gaji besar.

Anak saya pun graduate juga. UPSR, PMR, SPM dapat semua A. Umur 24 tahun. Kerja swasta. Dia pun work hard. Balik kerja paling awal jam 9 malam. Kadang2 sampai 1 pagi. Gaji dia RM2,700/sebulan. Adakah anak saya akan sokong BN/Umno kalau begini keadaannya? Saya dah tahu jawapannya. Umno tak boleh kelentong orang cerdik. Umno is not capable of changing, not with the current leaders.

When more than 50 per cent of our working population is earning less than RM2k/month, tak tahu malu ke mereka-mereka ini. Merompak siang dan malam, 7 hari seminggu. Perompak Ali Baba P. Ramli pun ada cuti hujung minggu.

8 December 2011 15:12

Even if we refuse to admit it, the above is an outpouring of bitterness. Although Umno people will wish it’s confined, it’s personal anecdotes such as this that strikes fear in Umno. Maybe it’s already that single initial spark that has ignited the prairie fire.

Shahrizat Jalil can huff and puff and weave her tales as her mythical namesake did in 1,001 Nights. While she can fool Umno delegates by employing attack as the best form of defence, her actions are only an exercise in futility. For her, the writing is already on the wall. Whatever she does will not extinguish her blackened image. Continue reading “A single spark starts the prairie fire?”

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Umno/BN no joy for babies

Dean Johns | Dec 7, 2011
Malaysiakini

I’ve always had a soft spot for babies, and thus have found the fathering and nurturing of several in the course of my somewhat chequered marital career to be life-enhancing experiences.

So I was far from surprised that, of all the lovely people I was privileged to meet at the Saya Anak Bangsa Malaysia dinner in KL last Saturday night, the new acquaintance I found most utterly enchanting was the youngest ‘member’ or at least attendee, a three-year-old aptly named Joy.

There were two reasons why my heart went out to this delightful little sprite. Firstly, her spirit of frolic and fun that inspired me to play so many silly games with her that I ended up limp with exhaustion and soaking with sweat, while she was still as fresh as the proverbial daisy and ready for more.

And secondly, she reminded me of my own similarly joyful daughter Sammie, whose birth in Malaysia 16 years ago transformed me from an appalled but passive expatriate observer of the local political scene to an outraged critic of the evils I saw her as having to face if she stayed in Umno/BN’s Bolehland.

Happily she’s been spared most of such problems, thanks first to the efforts of her mother, maternal grandparents and some very good teachers in Malaysia, and also her subsequent relocation into the admittedly far-from-perfect but at least somewhat more progressive Australian educational system. Continue reading “Umno/BN no joy for babies”

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Nationwide protests under way in Russia

Aljazeera
10 December 2011

Moscow rally against “poll fraud” by ruling party attracts tens of thousands, with protests in many other cities.Last Modified: 10

Protests in Russia are taking place against Vladimir Putin’s 12-year rule amid signs of swelling anger over a poll won by his ruling United Russia party with the alleged help of widescale fraud.

More than 20,000 people have already gathered on a square across the river from the Kremlin on Saturday, after receiving permission from the Kremlin for the event.

Authorities had detained about 1,600 activists over the past few days who had joined unsanctioned rallies against the December 4 vote.

The opposition is also organising rallies in at least 14 other major cities in a rare outpouring of mistrust in a system put in place by Putin when he first became president in 2000.

Protests have already begun elsewhere, with several hundred marching in Vladivostok, seven timezones to the east of Moscow.

A 30,000-strong demonstration would be the largest to hit the Russian capital in 20 years, in what some see as the first warning bell for the former foreign agent and his secretive inner circle of security chiefs. Continue reading “Nationwide protests under way in Russia”

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Friends

by Allan C.F. Goh

Friends, I am glad to have found you,
Who have added much to life’s hue.
Our friendship remains in my core;
It’s getting richer, more and more.
The sun may rise and set each day,
Friendships never set nor delay.
You are there with extended hand,
When I am down in troubled land. Continue reading “Friends”

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Umno Baru at a crossroads again

— Nur Jazlan Mohamed
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 10, 2011

DEC 10 — The recently concluded Umno General Assembly came and went and offered little in terms of the new manifesto of the party. The public were disappointed with the lack of new policy initiatives. Many Umno delegates who had to sit through many stale and uninspiring speeches were left with little enthusiasm to return to their respective constituencies to rally their fellow members in preparation for the impending 13th General Election soon.

The uninspiring lack of ideas put forward by the members best describes the state of the party at the moment. Umno has the largest base of members and voters of any political party in the country. It is the party that claims to have the most support from the Malay population which is the largest ethnic group and expected to be about sixty per cent of the population by 2020.

But as a party that claims to represent the majority race in the country , it doesn’t seem to able to break away from the “Malay under siege mentality” rethoric it has used since the fight for independence to attract support from the public. The party is frozen in time and is paralysed to steer the nation through a more challenging future.

The party has failed to offer new ideas to attract the young Malays to support its idealogy which in recent years has drifted more to the right. The Prime Minister, Dato Seri Mohd Najib Tun Razak, through the concept of One Malaysia has tried to bring Umno back to the centre space of national politics where race and religious tolerance is at equilibrium. Continue reading “Umno Baru at a crossroads again”

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Human Rights Day 2011

Message from Aliran
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 10, 2011

DEC 10 — This year has been a memorable year for Malaysians in our struggle for democracy and recognition of human rights in our country.

The July 9 rally for clean, free and fair elections was an event all generations of Malaysians will cherish in history. It was the day ordinary Malaysians showed courage and grit in opposing violence and repression by sections of riot police armed with tear-gas and water cannon.

Besides the brave leaders of the Bersih 2.0 movement led by former Bar Council president Ambiga Sreenevasan and leaders of Pakatan Rakyat and civil society groups who came out in support of the movement, ordinary Malaysians including elderly, disabled persons and youth braved tear gas and water cannon to demand that elections be clean, free and fair.

The run-up to the July 9 rally was equally dramatic and tortuous with the unjustified arrests of Parti Sosialis Malaysia activists. The PSM 30 were initially accused of waging war against the King for no apparent reason. Six of them, all key members including Sungai Siput MP Dr Jeyakumar Devaraj, were later detained under the Emergency Ordinance. It was perhaps too much for reasonable and fair-minded members of the public to swallow. Thankfully, the EO 6 are now free and all charges have been dropped against the PSM 30. Continue reading “Human Rights Day 2011”

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Not too late for Najib to heed opposition to Peaceful Assembly Bill, withhold it from Senate and set up instead a PSC to conduct full consultation on Bill

After the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s boast and claim during Malaysia Day celebrations this year to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”, Malaysia should stand tall today to celebrate the International Human Rights Day.

But this is not the case.

Just like yesterday’s International Anti-Corruption Day, the Malaysian Government is quite sheepish and quite guilty-conscious about the event.

Result: no word or message by Najib whether on International Anti-Corruption Day or International Human Rights Day! Continue reading “Not too late for Najib to heed opposition to Peaceful Assembly Bill, withhold it from Senate and set up instead a PSC to conduct full consultation on Bill”

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Civil service as Umno’s fixed deposit or game buster

— Dr. Lim Teck Ghee
CPI
9th December 2011

Commentary

The new civil service remuneration scheme recently announced by the government provides civil servants pay rises of between seven and 13 per cent. Coming just before the elections expected soon, it is clearly intended to influence the outcome of the elections. Umno leaders see members of the civil service not only as their fixed deposit but also as the key game changer in the elections.

Will the generous pay rise make a difference in voting patterns of civil servants in the country? At first glance, it appears a politically astute move given the disproportionate weight of civil servants in the voting population and the high voting rate that has been associated with this segment of voters.

If we add up the 1.2 million civil servants and family members and assume that there is an average of three to four voters per civil servant household, this provides a total of between four to five million voters out of the 12 million registered voters. The fact that over 80 per cent of civil servants are Malays means that whichever party can win over the Malay civil service vote will take over the reins of political power in the country.

Will this group of voters fall for what appears to be an extra large carrot being dangled in front of them? Already the mainstream papers are carrying the mandatory follow up reports of how appreciative the teachers, police and other government staff are with this government recognition of their contribution to the country’s development and progress through the new salary scheme. This, together with the earlier sustained bashing of DAP Tony Pua’s suggestion that the number of civil servants be reduced, appears to have given a decisive edge in the battle for civil service votes to Umno and Barisan Nasional (BN). Continue reading “Civil service as Umno’s fixed deposit or game buster”

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Russians fight Twitter and Facebook battles over Putin election

Miriam Elder in Moscow
guardian.co.uk
Friday 9 December 2011

Protests against president’s party escalate across social media with flood of automated counterattacks and alleged hacking

Protest against Vladimir Putin United party over elections have escalated across social media, including Twitter and Facebook, with a flood of automated counterattacks.

Russians have flooded Facebook and Twitter as they organise unprecedented protests against Vladimir Putin’s United Russia party. But they are not alone. Thousands of Twitter accounts appear to have been created with the sole purpose of drowning out opposition voices by flooding the service’s hashtag search function.

The automated attacks have dumped a blizzard of meaningless tweets with hashtags such as #Navalny, on which tweets about Alexei Navalny are collated, making it impossible to follow the flow of news about the arrested opposition leader. Many of the so-called “Twitter bots” have now been shut down. Continue reading “Russians fight Twitter and Facebook battles over Putin election”

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“Big results” delivered by anti-corruption NKRA in past 32 months are all negative

Today is International Anti-Corruption Day – a day designated by the United Nations General Assembly on 31st October 2003 when it adopted the United Nations Convention Against Corruption.

When Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister in April 2009 and announced the first of his 1Malaysia Transformation Plans – the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) – top priority was given to the war against corruption, which was listed as one of the seven NKRAs (National Key Result Areas).

What has Malaysia got to show on the anti-corruption front on the 8th International Anti-Corruption Day, bearing in mind Najib’s assurance that GTP is aimed at delivering big results fast in the public service that were most important to the people.

What are the “big results” on the anti-corruption NKRA that had been delivered in the past 32 months of the Najib administration? Continue reading ““Big results” delivered by anti-corruption NKRA in past 32 months are all negative”

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A conversation at the hospital

By Zairil Khir Johari | 7 December, 2011
The Rocket

The most noticeable difference in experience between a private and a public hospital is the fact that in the former, the waiting room is air-conditioned. Other than that, the unavailability of parking lots, infinitesimal queue numbers and staff members adept at ignoring your eye contact are all characteristic of Malaysian hospitals, no matter how much you pay.

“Sometimes I wonder why we pay more for such service?”

I turned towards the source of the unsolicited comment. He was middle-aged, middle-class and probably undergoing a mid-life crisis judging from the way his hair was carefully combed to cover a bald patch. I smiled.

“My wife is here for a check-up,” he said, glancing in the direction of a neatly-dressed lady with an exasperated expression that said there he goes again.
Continue reading “A conversation at the hospital”

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TI CPI – Not just lose out to China in 4 years’ time, but also left behind by more OIC and African countries in future

The shocking results of Transparency International’s (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) 2011 with Malaysia plunging to the worst ranking in 17 years from No. 23 in 1995 to No. 60 in 2011 as well as the worst score of 4.3 has raised many questions about the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s transformation programme and the Corruption NKRA (National Key Result Areas).

I warned yesterday that based on TI CPI trend in the past 17 years, Malaysia risks being overtaken by China as a less corrupt country in four years’ time by 2015, leaving Malaysia around the 80th ranking with a score below 4.

But Malaysia also face other risks as in forfeiting our position as the leading OIC country in development, rule of law, accountability and transparency.

Malaysia is not only backsliding in anti-corruption efforts when compared to other countries in the Asia-Pacific, we are also been overtaken by countries in other parts of the world including the OIC countries.

A decade ago, Malaysian leaders pride themselves as leading the most technologically advanced and most industrially developed country in the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), towering head and shoulders over other countries in the OIC on the rule of law, accountability, transparency and integrity.

This leading position of Malaysia was acknowledged in the early annual TI CPIs.

In the 1996 TI CPI, where Malaysia was ranked No. 26 out of 54 countries with a score of 5.32, Malaysia was ahead the other three OIC countries cited, viz Jordan (No. 30 with score 4.89), Turkey (No.33 with score 3.54) and Egypt (No. 41 with score 2.84).

However, 16 years later, Malaysia is ranked behind six OIC countries in the TI CPI 2011, even behind Jordan and just one step ahead of Turkey, viz: Continue reading “TI CPI – Not just lose out to China in 4 years’ time, but also left behind by more OIC and African countries in future”

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Demonising the opposition

Jeswan Kaur | December 8, 2011
Free Malaysia Today

Instead of using the opposition as its punching bag, Umno has to wisen up and engage in some soul-searching, that too if there is any of it left.

COMMENT

The recently concluded Umno general assembly had the trappings of all things fake, from the speech and rhetorics of its president-cum-prime minister Najib Tun Razak to the personal hidden agendas of the delegates.

For Najib and the rest, the 62nd annual general assembly was nothing more than a misused platform to do the despicable – condemn and ridicule their adversaries, i.e. the opposition led by dethroned former deputy premier Anwar Ibrahim.

Such immature acts of trying to so very hard to make an impression among the people that Umno has everyone’s interest at heart is pure gibberish. The truth is that Najib in all his desperation is playing to the gallery for the sake of his political survival.

Using the Umno general assembly to announce that the 13th general election is just round the corner is not going to win Najib and Barisan Nasional the rakyat’s votes, going by the track record of the premier, Umno and BN.

To childish attack on the opposition for one reason or another merely reflects Umno’s desperation and BN’s anxiety at the fate that awaits them at the coming national polls. Continue reading “Demonising the opposition”

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Umno in the fierce light of day

— Rama Ramanathan
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 08, 2011

DEC 8 — I am restless. I slipped into this condition when I started observing the Umno general assembly last week.

The word which best describes the theme, tone and thrust of the assembly is racism (of the Malay superiority variety).

I shudder when I think of Umno leaders: Prime Minister Najib, Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin, Home Minister Hishammuddin, de facto Law Minister Nazri. They spew racism. They speak as if Malay means Umno. They methodically attack other Malay parties, PKR and PAS, saying the latter will sell their racial privileges. Meritocracy. Many years ago I believed fear of meritocracy was the primary engine of Umno’s racism.

In “The Malay Dilemma”, probably the most racist book I’ve read, our former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir even suggested Malays are dim due to inbreeding! Mahathir, of course, has been proved wrong. Malays now dominate the civil service, the judiciary, the armed forces and the majority of large Malaysian public companies. You don’t dominate by being dim. You dominate by using power and threats.

Egotism. Prior to the Umno assembly, I thought the primary engine of Umno’s racism was egotism, i.e. a grand sense of self-importance, with boastfulness. What did they boast about? They boasted about remaining entrenched, sustaining the “special position” of the Malays, maintaining “national security” and retaining Islam as the official religion (as if it was ever under threat); boasts which are more implied than spelt out. The venue, dress, food, cars, etc helped reinforce the wealth of Umno leaders. Continue reading “Umno in the fierce light of day”

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The oxymoronic world of Umno’s politics

by Edwin Yapp
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 07, 2011

DEC 7 — Oxymoron.

That’s the word that has been on my mind of late. Why? Because that’s exactly what we, Joe Public, are being fed on a daily basis.

Etymologically speaking, the word is derived from the fifth century Latin “oxymoron”, which in itself is derived from the ancient Greek to mean “sharp, dull,” according to Wikipedia. The noun describes “a figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction.”

And therein lies the connection — such is the frequency of contradictory ideas and terms used in today’s local political sphere that it’s almost as if our government has nothing else to worry about.

Case in point: The highly controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill passed last week in Parliament, and our Prime Minister’s declaration that the Bill is “revolutionary,” and that the amendments follow international norms. That’s oxymoronic.

Also, the war cries of one Umno leader last week that labelled those who support opposition parties as “bangsat” (bastards) and that a vote for DAP is a vote for the destruction of Islam. Hmm… that’s another one.

And finally the PM’s quote in his closing speech, “When I started 1 Malaysia, I did not say — let’s neglect the Malay agenda.”

I can go on, but I’m sure you get my drift. Continue reading “The oxymoronic world of Umno’s politics”

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Zaid is spot-on – UMNO GA speeches portend dangerous trends in the nation’s politics as they make nonsense of Najib’s 1Malaysia, NEM and proposal for a “Global Movement of Moderates”

Datuk Zaid Ibrahim is right and spot-on. Recent statements from UMNO leaders about the Opposition parties at the UMNO General Assembly are both regrettable and worrying.

They portend dangerous trends in the nation’s politics as they make nonsense of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia call, New Economic Model and his proposal for a “Global Movement of Moderates”.

Has Najib decided to cancel his initiative to launch “the Global Movement of the Moderates” in Kuala Lumpur with an inaugural International Conference of the Global Movement of Moderates from Jan 17 to 19 as his speeches and those of UMNO leaders at the UMNO General Assembly are completely antithetical to any acceptable definition or concept of “moderates” or “moderation”.

I challenge Najib to conduct a public opinion poll whether he is perceived by Malaysians as speaking for 1Malaysia and for all Malaysians, as well as whether he is speaking as a “moderate”, in his UMNO Presidential Address, or just for UMNO and in particular UMNOputras? Continue reading “Zaid is spot-on – UMNO GA speeches portend dangerous trends in the nation’s politics as they make nonsense of Najib’s 1Malaysia, NEM and proposal for a “Global Movement of Moderates””

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A letter to the PM

— Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 07, 2011

DEC 7 — We tell our children that more important than whether they win at football or netball is how they play the game. They must play it with sportsmanship, empathy and fairness.

Our parents used to implore us to study and excel at examinations, but also to do it the correct way; not by cheating but by hard work.

All the major religions tell us to stay on the right path always; to do the right thing, not to take short cuts, not to justify the ends by the means.

I raise all these points because as Prime Minister Najib Razak embarks on the final stretch of his first election as the PM, I cannot shake off the feeling that every method — kosher or not — is being used to achieve victory. It greatly troubled me that he spoke the fighting language of a Malay chauvinist at the Pekida gathering a couple of days ago. Continue reading “A letter to the PM”

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Malaysia among most vulnerable to euro crisis, says Nomura

By Lee Wei Lian
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 07, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 7 — Malaysia will be hit harder than its Asian peers by the economic crisis in Europe due to its relatively weak public finances and dependence on commodities, said Nomura International today.

Its chief economist for Asia ex-Japan, Robert Subbaraman, said that unlike most countries in Asia, Malaysia will be negatively affected by an expected drop off in commodity prices while the government will also find it difficult to keep up stimulus policies.

“Malaysia is one of the economies that will weaken the most; it is in the weaker group of economies,” said Subbaraman at a media briefing here today.

Nomura economist for Southeast Asia Euben Paracuelles said Malaysia’s growth in the first three quarters of this year was largely led by government spending, but as public finances were relatively weak, he doubted that it would be sustainable.

Subbaraman also noted that Malaysia ranked third in Asia ex-Japan in terms of exposure to European bank claims, after Hong Kong and Singapore, which could mean a drying up of liquidity should European banks start to cut their exposure to the region. Continue reading “Malaysia among most vulnerable to euro crisis, says Nomura”

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Political Islam poised to dominate the new world bequeathed by Arab spring

The Muslim Brotherhood’s success in the first round of Egypt’s elections has added to western fears of an Islamist future for the Middle East. But this does not necessarily mean that democracy and liberal policies face extinction

by Peter Beaumont
foreign affairs editor
guardian.co.uk
3 December 2011

Among the potent symbols of the Arab spring is one that has been less photographed and remarked on than the vast gatherings in Tahrir Square. It has been the relocation of the offices of the Muslim Brotherhood, the once banned party, now set to take the largest share of seats in Egypt’s new parliament.

Before May this year they were to be found in shabby rooms in an unremarkable apartment block on Cairo’s Gezira Island, situated behind an unmarked door. These days the Brotherhood is to be found in gleaming new accommodation in the Muqatam neighbourhood, in a dedicated building prominently bearing the movement’s logo in Arabic and English.

Welcome to the age of “political Islam”, which may prove to be one of the most lasting legacies of the Arab spring. It is not only in Egypt that an unprecedented Islamist political moment is playing out. In the recent Tunisian elections the moderate Islamist Ennahda party was the biggest winner, while Morocco has elected its first Islamist prime minister, Abdelilah Benkirane.

In Yemen and Libya, too, it seems likely that political Islam will define the shape of the new landscape.

None of which should be at all surprising. Indeed, if elections in Egypt and Tunisia had been held at any other time in the past two decades, the same result would almost certainly have ensued, reflecting both the levels of organisation of Ennahda and the Brotherhood and the countries’ cultural, economic and social dynamics. Continue reading “Political Islam poised to dominate the new world bequeathed by Arab spring”

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From present TI CPI trend, China will overtake Malaysia as less corrupt country in 4 years’ time by 2015

In 2004, former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi announced with great fanfare the National Integrity Plan with the five-year target to improve Malaysia’s Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index (CPI) from 37th place in 2003 to at least 30th position in 2008 and the 5.2 CPI score for Malaysia in 2003 to at least 6.5 by 2008.

In 2008, Malaysia deteriorated in both TI ranking and score as compared to 2004, placed in the lowest-ever ranking of No. 47 out of 180 countries with a CPI score of 5.1.

When Datuk Seri Najib Razak became Prime Minister in April 2009, he abandoned the National Integrity Plan and announced instead a series of national transformation plans, beginning with the Government Transformation Plan (GTP) with “Fighting Corruption” as one of the six key NKRAs (National Key Result Areas).

The 1Malaysia GTP Roadmap released in January 2010 admitted that the perception of corrupt practices in Malaysia had risen in recent years, estimated that the “significant” cost to the nation of corruption was as much as RM10 billion a year or 1-2% of GDP and announced the target to increase by 2010 “our CPI score from 4.5 to 4.9”.

In the event, the anti-corruption NKRA target was another colossal failure as it was completely wide off the mark, as Malaysia’s CPI score for three years from 2009 to 2011 was 4.5, 4.4 and 4.3, all three the lowest scores ever registered by Malaysia. There had only been two previous years since 1995 when TI CPI started its annual ranking when Malaysia’s score fell below 5, viz 4.8 in 2000 and 4.9 in 2002. Continue reading “From present TI CPI trend, China will overtake Malaysia as less corrupt country in 4 years’ time by 2015”