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Not surprising that Bersih 3.0 is allowed to go on

— Pak Man
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 10, 2012

APRIL 10 — Are you surprised that the Najib government has agreed to allow the Bersih 3.0 sit-in to go on? I am not. You shouldn’t either.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his aides have learnt their lesson from Bersih 2.0. They have also instructed their pro-government newspaper editors in the mainstream media to treat Bersih 3.0 differently from Bersih 2.0. That it is not a security threat that Bersih 2.0 was deemed by the security agencies.

Bersih 2.0 on July 9 was a seen as a security threat at the same level as Tahrir Square. That explains why Kuala Lumpur was locked down with phalanxes of policemen ringing the city. Police said only 5,000 turned up but they held nearly 1,700 people. How’s that for efficiency and effectiveness?

Despite all that, the Najib government’s handling of Bersih 2.0 was seen as a failure. He flip-flopped on giving them a stadium. He allowed his security advisors to get the upper hand but not this time. Najib cannot afford the fallout that Bersih 2.0 generated back then. Continue reading “Not surprising that Bersih 3.0 is allowed to go on”

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Jalan ke syurga penuh dengan onak dan duri

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 09, 2012

9 APRIL — Rakyat khususnya orang Melayu sudah sampai masanya untuk berfikir jauh diluar kotak. Sampai masanya rakyat memilih untuk memulakan pembetulan dengan merubah keadaan negara dari mula.

“We have to start anew”. Cara berfikir yang usang patut dibuang kerana kita orang Melayu yang sudah kononnya dibela oleh parti Melayu, Umno selama 54 tahun tidak berdaya untuk membantu bangsanya duduk sama rendah dan berdiri sama tinggi dengan bangsa lain walaupun perlembagaan telah memperuntukkan keistimewaan untuk orang Melayu.

Jika selama 54 tahun Umno gagal menaikkan taraf “competitiveness” orang Melayu, apa pula alasan pimpinan kita untuk meminta orang Melayu untuk terus menyokong Umno dalam pilihanraya yang akan tiba ini. Peluang untuk mendapat hasil yang sama juga adalah besar… walhasil balik asal.

Kalau kita berikan mandat lagi kepada Umno keadaan Melayu akan lebih teruk lagi. Yang pasti akan berterusan dan berkesinambungan ialah bertambahnya gejala rasuah dan menyalahgunakan kuasa akan bertambah besar lagi.

Kita tidak boleh lagi memberikan harapan kepada Umno kerana jika selama lebih lima dekad parti itu telah gagal masakan kali ini dengan kepimpinan yang lebih tidak senonoh ini akan memperbaiki keadaan orang Melayu. Umno dan kegagalan adalah dua perkataan yang sinonim. Umno itu kegagalan, kegagalan itu adalah Umno. Jangan malu-malu untuk mengakuinya. Continue reading “Jalan ke syurga penuh dengan onak dan duri”

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400,000 dubious voters may decide 35 seats, GE winner, says polls analyst

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 10, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 — Over 400,000 dubious voters are on the electoral roll, enough to swing 35 federal seats either way and decide if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can capture Putrajaya or Barisan Nasional (BN) reclaim its customary two-thirds supermajority in Parliament, according to a polls analysis.

Independent political analyst Ong Kian Ming said his Malaysian Electoral Roll Analysis Project (MERAP) found some 100,000 problematic names and combined with other previously highlighted issues, would “easily amount to over 400,000 dubious voters.”

Cleaning up the electoral roll is a key demand by the opposition and activist groups although BN say PR’s five-state victory in Election 2008 is proof there is no irregularity.

Ong told The Malaysian Insider this is likely “just the tip of the iceberg” as there may be other discrepancies that have not yet been uncovered by various parties who have combed through the gazette of over 12 million voters.

“If you divide 400,000 between 222 federal seats, it would average to about 1,800 voters. This is enough to potentially decide 35 seats,” he said, referring to the seats that had slim victories for either coalition.

“If voter sentiment is the same as 2008, then this can add the 30 seats PR needs to form federal government or the eight more BN needs to regain two-thirds,” said the political analyst. Continue reading “400,000 dubious voters may decide 35 seats, GE winner, says polls analyst”

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When Malay silence is not golden

Mariam Mokhtar | Apr 9, 2012
Malaysiakini

The average human brain weighs about 3 lbs and is 80 percent water. When Einstein’s brain was set aside for research, people were surprised that it was not unusually large. Perhaps, we have to remind ourselves that it is not size that matters, but what we do with our brain that really counts.

If there was an opportunity to dissect Malay brains, and separate the brains of extremist Malay/Muslims from the moderate Malays, would we find any differences in the pathological specimens?

Would the extremist brains be abnormally heavy because they were weighted down by the condition known as Ketuanan Melayu? Would the moderate brains show lesions on the lobes which govern speech?

It is a simple question, but no one has been able to answer it: where are the moderate, smart Malays who should speak up about issues which affect all Malaysians?

I pose the question because extremist Malays appear to dominate the affairs of Malaysia. Are the moderates consumed by apathy? Are they afraid of drawing attention? A few may think they are not articulate, or that their views do not matter. Perhaps, the moderates are content to carry on as we have done for the past 54 years; hence their silence.

If they are as disgruntled as the rest of the nation, they must speak out now because their opinions would send a clear message to Umno, that enough is enough. Continue reading “When Malay silence is not golden”