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To vote or not to vote?

— Mohd Iqbal (loyarburok.com)
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 19, 2012

APRIL 19 — The Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms (“PSC”) recently completed its report on the improvement and reform of the parliamentary process in Malaysia. This report was tabled and passed by the august House on April 2, 2012, alas, without any debate due to a commotion caused by the opposition during the proceedings. The main grievance of the opposition was that the Speaker had rejected their motion to table a minority report on the PSC. Sadly, despite various international precedents on this procedure of presenting a minority report, the Speaker decided to ignore this motion.

What perhaps started as a new hope for Malaysians when the establishment of the PSC was announced by the prime minister in August 2011 as part of his political transformation programme has turned out to be a huge disappointment. Immediately, the Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih) dismissed the report, inter alia, on the ground that only one out of their eight demands was addressed.

Bersih also announced that it will organise a sit-in protest on April 28,2012 across the country, and in various locations worldwide. The main venue for the sit-in protest will be at Dataran Merdeka with the title “Duduk Bantah”. Continue reading “To vote or not to vote?”

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Captain Ahab, Pequod vs Moby Dick

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 18, 2012

APRIL 18 — We like it when Dr Mahathir speaks as often as he wants to. While I have often described him as the man who can walk on water, in this article he is Captain Ahab to Najib’s Starbuck as far as the Umno mother ship is concerned. The Umno ship is the Pequod which sails out under Captain Ahab seeking revenge on the sperm whale Moby Dick. Captain Ahab is completely consumed by revenge to seek out and kill off Moby Dick. Because Moby Dick has bitten off a portion of one of his legs.

What’s with Dr Mahathir really? The ghosts of misdeeds past are haunting him? Have we the people bitten off part of his left leg? Right leg? Well, we know eventually the ship went down bringing along Ahab to his watery grave.

Please don’t stop him. We want Dr Mahathir to speak more about Malaysian politics. The more he says, the faster is the demise of Umno. Apparently he has forgotten why Pak Lah in 2004, got the largest majority in the history of BN. Dr Mahathir and NOT Pak Lah was the main factor giving BN the largest mandate.

Not that the people thought Pak Lah would be a good PM. He turned out to be a sleepy head on the many issues facing the country. History will probably remember him as the PM we got as a result of a mistake.

The main reason why Pak Lah got the biggest majority was that the people were rejoicing at the exit of Mahathir. Malaysia is today what Africa was 20 years ago. Malaysia is fast becoming a frontier town with gunslingers around.

Since 1981 to be exact, Umno has changed in character completely. It has evolved into an evil empire devouring the wealth of the country through a complex network of cronies and a labyrinth of shady deals leading back eventually to the upper reaches of the Umno leadership. The buck does indeed stop there. Continue reading “Captain Ahab, Pequod vs Moby Dick”

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Bullying is cowardly, is this the kind of leadership our young will inherit?

— May Chee Chook Ying
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 19, 2012

APRIL 19 — Read that at 3 this morning, the university students and protesters at Dataran Merdeka were attacked by 40-50 thugs. Their tents and supplies were torn down. They were both physically and verbally abused. Some women were kicked in the faces while fast asleep, many injured and one reportedly hospitalised.

No second guesses to whom these thugs are beholden to. Raiding in the middle of the night, at 3am? If they dared to flash the colour of their shirts, why didn’t they justify their actions in broad daylight? This is not the first time our courageous young people have been attacked or needed to seek medical treatment after being attacked. Is “lawlessness” acceptable by the powers-that-be but not peaceful assemblies? This is senseless! Continue reading “Bullying is cowardly, is this the kind of leadership our young will inherit?”

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Time to separate govt and political party

By Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | April 18, 2012

A political party does not own the government. A political party may legislate but the implementation is carried out by civil servants who are beholden to the constitutional ruler.

We should be able to separate government and political party.

Development is not something unique to Umno. Every party that has power can carry out development.

As such, Umno can’t go around claiming only they can bring on development. The governments in Penang, Kelantan, Selangor, and Kedah also carry out development, indeed the development there has been achieved on more meritorious grounds.

These states have better reserves, operated and achieved surplus budgets and have been able to avoid wasteful spending. Those are sterling qualities of good governments.
Continue reading “Time to separate govt and political party”

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It’s not about BN or PR — it’s about changing the system

by Pak Sako
CPI
Monday, 16 April 2012

“If a factory is torn down but the rationality which produced it is left standing, then that rationality will simply produce another factory. If a revolution destroys a government, but the systematic patterns of thought that produced that government are left intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves.” – Robert Pirsig, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.

“[T]o dissolve the unholy alliance between corrupt business and corrupt politics, is the first task of the statesmanship of the day… This country belongs to the people. Its resources, its business, its laws, its institutions, should be utilized, maintained, or altered in whatever manner will best promote the general interest… “The people” are absolutely to control in any way they see fit, the “business” of the country.” – Theodore Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States of America, An Autobiography.

The million-dollar question for the voting public is not about choosing between a Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat government based on who is more generous, holier or less corrupt.

It should be what to do to shake up the system.

That should be the prime concern of the voting public.

That should be the focus of political analysis and commentating.

The system is where the problems that bedevil the people originate, and it there where the seeds of real change lie.

If there is no intention to review and alter the system, all talk of ‘reformasi’ or ‘transformation programmes’ is meaningless. Continue reading “It’s not about BN or PR — it’s about changing the system”

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Blogger Ipohgal’s review of No More Bullshit

by Ipohgal
April 15, 2012

Book review
Title: No more bullshit, please, we’re all Malaysians
Author: Kee Thuan Chye
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Price: RM39.90 (West & East Malaysia)
Available at: Kinokuniya, Borders, MPH, Popular and Times nationwide

The air is thick with rumors that PRU 13 is coming our way anytime this year. While most Malaysians have already decided whom to vote for, there are still some fence-sitters out there, undecided and left things to the last-minute. This does not bode well for the nation because their hazy decisions will either make or break the hopes of many to see some positive changes for this beloved country of ours.

In his new book, “No more bullshit, please, we’re all Malaysians”, well-known writer Kee Thuan Chye, has put together a compilation of previously published articles to help these undecided voters make up their mind. These articles chronicled recent political developments in Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak. Poems as well as excerpts from his plays were included to show the readers how those in power, past and present, were caught in the same net of deceit – greediness, selfishness and their desperation to stay on beyond their shelf lives. Continue reading “Blogger Ipohgal’s review of No More Bullshit”

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Bersih 3.0: A double-edged sword

— Vivek V. Velan
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 17, 2012

APRIL 17 — Nine months have passed since thousands of Malaysians from all walks of life went to ground in anger and hope, tired of the continued deceit, fraudulent politics and false promises of the current regime. Their actions in some way can be derived from the somewhat lack of faith even in the opposition for it takes more than mere economic scandals and backhanded politics to stir up the emotions of the common man to take to the streets. And take to the streets they did for in their hearts they believed that the time for change has come. The Bersih sterling committee headed by Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Datuk A. Samad Said as chairpersons could not have envisaged the sheer magnitude of response that would follow when Pakatan Rakyat threw its support behind the movement.

In a simpler context, Bersih’s aim was to push for cleaner elections wherein dirty politics is to be abhorred and the entire election system is to be overhauled either by reforms or revamping current systems. The Najib Razak administration’s gross mishandling of the rally where police force was used against unarmed protestors, tear gas shot at hospitals and the unlawful arrests of hundreds of protestors have been highlighted both locally and internationally.

Without going into detail, Barisan Nasional’s ratings fell drastically and the government was under pressure to rectify its mistakes for the people were enraged at the government’s stance in handling what was supposed to be a peaceful protest. Continue reading “Bersih 3.0: A double-edged sword”

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A Pakatan Rakyat government in Putrajaya will set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal

Firstly, I thank the organisers for inviting me to this book launch for Dato’ Lee Hwa Beng’s publication “PKFZ: A Nation’s Trust Betrayed” (written with co-authoress Lee Siew Lian) in the company of Datuk Ong Tee Keat, one of the early “transformation” ministers in the “transformation” Cabinet of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

I commend Dato’ Lee Hwa Beng for his book on his three-year “national service” as Port Klang Authority Chairman after the 2008 general elections to try to pry open the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal to promote a culture of accountability, integrity and good governance.

Unravelling the full horrors of the PKFZ scandal – which I have described as not only “a can of worms” but “a swamp of crocodiles” – and bringing to justice those responsible for this “heinous crime” against the nation is, however, a still very uncompleted work.

The PKFZ scandal was one of the dominating issues in Parliament before and after the 12th general elections on March 8, 2008.

On 27th November 2007, I moved a censure motion in Parliament by way of a token RM10 salary cut against the then Transport Minister, Datuk Chan Kong Choy for the consistent wall of denial, equivocation and prevarication in refusing to give full and proper parliamentary accounting for the PKFZ scandal. Continue reading “A Pakatan Rakyat government in Putrajaya will set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal”

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Suhakam joins call for review of ISA replacement law

By Anisah Shukry
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 16, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The newly-proposed security law to replace the Internal Security Act (ISA) must be reviewed to ensure it is in line with human rights principles, the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (Suhakam) said today.

Suhakam highlighted that the Bill did not provide for judicial oversight in the extension of the detention period for up to 28 days, and expressed concerns over how it gave police the power to deny detainees immediate access to legal representation.

It added that the power to intercept communications under Clause 4(6) should be exercised through a court order rather than by the police, as it could “infringe personal liberty and the right to privacy”.

“The provisions in the Bill as well as the amendments to the other relevant laws must strike a balance between national security and fundamental liberties and human rights,” Suhakam Chairman Tan Sri Hasmy Agam said in a statement today.

“The Commission looks forward to further and continuing engagements with the government agencies… to ensure that obsolete and irrelevant laws are abolished and replaced by laws that are consistent with universally accepted human rights principles,” he added. Continue reading “Suhakam joins call for review of ISA replacement law”

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What a load of rubbish

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 16, 2012

APRIL 16 — This is what we learnt today. We learnt that Najib Razak is in his element when making promises. He will sound like a true believer when you give him the floor, as they did in Parliament today.

He promised “more reforms”. I love it that he assumes that his replacement laws are reforms and that Idris Jala’s sleight of hand EPP, ETP and GTP qualify as real change.

He will do away with the Publishing and Printing Presses Act and amend the Sedition Act, he said, but left out a time frame. This is a superb tactic given that it is likely this is the last Parliament session before the polls!

Najib is a prime minister who will say anything and pretend to do something to win our votes. He said today that the era of the “government knows best” is over. Are you sure? Continue reading “What a load of rubbish”

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Guan Eng: BN apology needed for ISA closure

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 16, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — Lim Guan Eng today pushed the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) to issue a public apology to all “victims of the ISA (Internal Security Act)”, insisting that this was the only way to prove the government’s sincerity in repealing the controversial preventive law.

Lim, who was himself an ISA detainee during Operasi Lalang in 1987, told the Dewan Rakyat today that so long as BN refuses to apologise, its proposed repeal of the Act would be merely be a “evil ploy” to continue wielding the law’s powers under a different guise and form.

The DAP secretary-general noted that many provisions in the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill still infringe basic human rights although the element of “detention without trial” is scrapped.

“Is BN ready to openly apologise to all victims of the ISA?

“As long as it refuses to do so to seek closure, it raises doubt that abolishing the ISA today is merely a game and an evil ploy to continue using the Act but in a different guise and form,” he told the House when debating the Bill.

“This black mark of the ISA in our history must be buried forever and this cannot be done if the government does not apologise and guarantee that such iron-fisted laws like the ISA will not be repeated,” he added. Continue reading “Guan Eng: BN apology needed for ISA closure”

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DAP says MCA minister dismantling steps to uncover PKFZ scandal

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 16, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 16 — The DAP today accused Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha of conspiring to reverse previous efforts to reclaim losses from the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal.

Publicity chief Tony Pua claimed the Port Klang Authority (PKA), which comes under the Transport Ministry, has decided to withdraw all legal action against turnkey developer Kuala Dimensi Sdn Bhd (KDSB) for failing to carry out RM1.6 billion in work.

He said the MCA secretary-general “is doing everything in his means to dismantle and reverse all painstakingly agreed steps to get to the bottom of the scandal and cover up for all guilty parties.”

The Petaling Jaya Utara MP said in a statement the suits related to “double and fictitious billings for works never carried out and excessive charges to PKA.”

Pua claimed that PKA has agreed to proceed to arbitration instead despite the “obvious criminality of the alleged offences” by KDSB, whose then chief executive was Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing, the current Barisan Nasional (BN) backbenchers’ chief.

“Kong and new PKA chairman Datuk Teh Kim Poh have conspired to reverse the decision as well as many other decisions which were taken previously by PKA,” he said. Continue reading “DAP says MCA minister dismantling steps to uncover PKFZ scandal”

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Pemansuhan ISA Tidak Bermakna Kerana Kuasa Tahanan Luasnya Digantikan Dengan 3 Rang Undang-undang

(Ucapan Setiausaha Agung DAP Dan Ahli Parlimen Kawasan Bagan Lim Guan Eng Di Parlimen Semasa Membahas Rang Undang-undang Kesalahan Keselamatan (Langkah-langkah Khas) 2012 Di Dewan Rakyat Pada 16 April 2012)

Dengan pemansuhan Akta Keselamatan Dalam Negeri (ISA) maka berakhirlah satu era penindasan rakyat oleh Kerajaan BN. Berakhirlah satu sejarah hitam buat negara kita, di mana sepanjang 52 tahun pelaksanaan ISA dijangka lebih 10,000 orang mangsa telah ditahan tanpa bicara di bawah akta tersebut.

Tetapi adakah kita rakyat harus rasa gembira?

Saya rasa ini bukannya masa untuk diraikan kegembiraan dengan membaca Al-Fatihah kepada ISA kerana ia masih belum benar-benar meninggalkan tanah air Malaysia. Di samping itu keengganan kerajaan BN mengambil tanggungjawab ke atas kezaliman yang diperlakukan ke atas mangsa-mangsa ISA dengan meminta maaf secara terbuka atas tahanan tanpa bicara yang melanggari segala asas perikemanusiaan serta lunas undang-undang hak asasi manusia dan due proses.

Setengah mangsa yang tidak bersalah mahupun berdosa terdiri daripada Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Menteri-menteri, ketua pembangkang aktivis sosial dan rakyat biasa. Apakah kesalahan sehingga boleh memudaratkan keselamatan negara selain daripada menentang pemimpin BN yang rasuah dan menggugat monopoli kuasa rakus BN daripada terus menindas rakyat.

Apakah kesalahan Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Kit Siang, Karpal Singh, Mat Sabu yang selalu ini menegakkan kedaulatan undang-undang dan sistem perlembagaan beraja sehingga perlu merengkok dalam tahanan di bawah ISA tanpa bicara dan dituduh melakukan kesalahan dengan sewenang-wenangnya tanpa bukti langsung. Malah mereka yang buat tuduhan palsu bukan sahaja tidak dikenakan tindakan sebaliknya dinaik pangkat dan diangkat ke jawatan yang tinggi. Continue reading “Pemansuhan ISA Tidak Bermakna Kerana Kuasa Tahanan Luasnya Digantikan Dengan 3 Rang Undang-undang”

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Reforming Education: Part 4 of 6: Enhancing Residential Schools

By M. Bakri Musa

Fourth of Six Parts

My first three essays dealt with the challenges facing kampong schools and how we could leverage technology to alleviate those problems. I discussed enhancing the educational opportunities through improving the schools, recruiting superior teachers, and enriching the curriculum. Failure to do so would doom these unfortunate students to perpetual mediocrity and poverty, with dire consequences for them as well as the rest of Malaysia. This essay explores ways of maximizing the potential of residential schools. Again here as with kampong schools, we are dealing primarily with Malay students.

Our residential schools get the top students, have the best teachers, and consume more than their fair share of resources. Yet their aggregate performance has been underwhelming. When I visit top American campuses, the Malaysians I meet there are from other than our supposedly elite residential schools. That is the most telling indicator.

Malaysia’s oldest residential school, Malay College Kuala Kangsar, only recently (June 2011) started a matriculation program, the International Baccalaureate. Despite the luminaries on its board and the institution’s special status, it took a full decade to implement the program. Imagine the glacial pace at lesser institutions!
Continue reading “Reforming Education: Part 4 of 6: Enhancing Residential Schools”

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‘We won’t cower to BN’s scare tactics’

by Joseph Tawie| April 15, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Twelve windscreens of cars belonging to DAP members were smashed in Mas Gading constituency whilst the owners were attending a campaign dinner.

BAU: Sarawak DAP’s launch last night of its campaign to wrest the Mas Gading parliamentary seat, which is a Bidayuh-majority constituency, was marred by a group of motorcyclists who smashed the windscreens of 12 cars while the owners were attending a party dinner at Kampung Sg. Pinang.

Local and national DAP leaders were addressing more than 1,000 people at the dinner when a group of motor cyclists were seen smashing the windscreens of the cars which were parked quite a distance from the venue.

Commenting on the incident, visibly upset Sarawak DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen said: “Obviously it was a sabotage work by BN members or their supporters.

“Such behaviour only goes to show they are afraid of us. Only cowards do that sort of thing; only someone who is in fear will do a dirty tactic trying to scare the people,” he said.

Chong added that neither the car owners nor the crowd were perturbed by the attacks, as they had come to terms with such ‘scare tactics’ by the ruling regime. Continue reading “‘We won’t cower to BN’s scare tactics’”

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Let’s be adults, YAB

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012

15 APRIL — Merasakan diri sendiri itu sebagai hebat dan “invincible” itu merupakan kesilapan yang susah hendak diperbaiki oleh seseorang yag mempunyai sifat itu. Jika mereka yang jenis ini menjadi pemimpin mereka akan dianggap sebagai pemimpin sombong dan selalunya pemimpin seperti ini akan memandang rendah orang lain dengan begitu mudah. Hasilnya akan timbullah masalah kepimpinan (leadership crisis) yang tidak sepatutnya berlaku.

Krisis ini sememangnya boleh diatasi hanya dengan menjadi pemimpin yang merendah diri. Saya tidak dapat mencari sebab kenapa seseorang itu apabila menjadi pemimpin dia menjadi sombong dan tidak mahu merendahkan diri dihadapan rakyat pimpinannya. Orang lain semuanya bodoh dan dia sahaja yang betul dan benar.

Di negeri saya, Negri Sembilan, ada pemimpin besar yang tidak mahu merendah diri kerana pangkatnya besar dan wang ringgitnya banyak, walhal “it doesn’t cost him even 10 cents to be humble”.

Beliau ini merasakan dirinya itu datang dari syurga (paradise). Jika ada yang tidak bersetuju dengannya dia akan menjawab dengan sombong, “ah, dio tu bukan boleh mendalamkan air pun”. Semua orang lain tidak boleh mendalamkan air. Ramai juga yang datang memberitahu saya yang beliau menganggap saya sebagai pemimpin nyamuk sahaja. Continue reading “Let’s be adults, YAB”

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Dr M: Now a good time for polls

The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak should call for a general election while he is confident of victory, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.

The former prime minister also said that time was running out before Najib would be forced to hold national polls mandatorily.

“If we think we can win, we can call the election. If the people give us a good support, that’s the time to call the election,” Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying in a Bernama Online report.

“Even now, it looks good,” he continued. Continue reading “Dr M: Now a good time for polls”

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Bersih 3.0 wants to sit down and protest

by Dahlia Martin
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012

APRIL 15 — Malaysian election watchdog Bersih 2.0 (Bersih) announced that 28 April 2012 is the date for a third gathering for clean and fair elections, but already a succession of politicians and officials have criticised the move. So far, though, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has kept mum.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s department (and de facto Law Minister) Nazri Abdul Aziz was the first to attack the sit down protest plans, saying that the proposed venue Merdeka Square had “not been gazetted as an area for peaceful gatherings”.

One politician from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) labelled it a “ploy” by the Opposition, and Electoral Commission (EC) deputy chairman Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said Bersih’s plans were “rushed, hasty and troublesome to people.”

The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms, formed in response to the second Bersih gathering in July 2011, had only just released a report, Wan Ahmad said, and the EC had yet to study the report’s 22 recommendations. Continue reading “Bersih 3.0 wants to sit down and protest”

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Chua Soi Lek keletihan kerana kaum Cina telah muktamad menolak MCA

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012

15 APRIL — Chua Soi Lek semasa berada di Johor Bahru semalam telah menzahirkan perasaan kecewa beliau kerana kaum Cina tidak menyokong MCA sedangkan MCA telah begitu banyak berjasa kepada bangsanya selama ini. Orang Cina katanya, memilih untuk memberikan pujian dan sokongan terhadap pembangkang yang kata beliau tidak ada jasa kepada negara selama ini.

Bagi saya, Chua Soi Lek (CSL) begitu naïf pandangannya terhadap politik dan sejarah yang melatar belakangkan keadaan ini. Pada asasnya orang Cina memang sudah lama tidak menyokong PERIKATAN dan seterusnya selepas Perikatan di ambil alih oleh BN pada tahun 1974 dahulu. Orang Cina hanya memberikan sokongan terhadap parti kerajaan semasa pilihanraya 1955 sehingga PRU 1965 sahaja. Continue reading “Chua Soi Lek keletihan kerana kaum Cina telah muktamad menolak MCA”

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Keep Bersih 3.0, Bersih!

Letters
by Beh Sai Kong
15/04/2012

Dear brave friends,

Malaysians as a whole are fair-minded people. Our penchant for neutrality is admirable. We do whatever we can to preserve and promote the virtue of neutrality and have repeatedly shown that we were prepared to do battle with whomever or whatever to prove our sense of neutrality.

But as with many other virtues, we can be neutral to a fault. There is a time and place for any virtue which ordinarily should be upheld and welcome for the good that it brings to a given situation. But a virtue that is invoked and deployed under certain circumstances may cease to be virtuous and can become a fault instead.

As an ardent supporter of BERSIH 1.0, BERSIH 2.0 and now, BERSIH 3.0, I wish to say that BERSIH as a brand name is presently walking into a trap that is not surpising but nevertheless fatal.

Good people can and sometimes do paint themselves into a corner in much the same way as some participants of BERSIH 2.0 found themselves cornered by the riot squard where to escape the optimum effect of tear gas they had to try to make a dash for open space. Continue reading “Keep Bersih 3.0, Bersih!”