Day: May 21, 2012

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
May 21, 2012

21 MEI — Apa yang dikatakan oleh Dr Mahathir Mohamad di Jitra semalam mendapat perhatian saya. Beliau meminta supaya pemimpin Umno serta ahli-ahli partinya tidak sabotaj Umno dalam pilihanraya nanti. Beliau berkata yang beliau yakin Barisan Nasional akan menang jika semua pihak dalam Umno membuang sikap suka mensabotaj parti.

Kenyataan Dr Mahathir ini membuktikan yang apa yang saya katakan selalu yang pada PRU yang lalu lebih dari 1.5 juta ahli Umno telah mengundi parti-parti pembangkang dan telah menunjukkan kepada semua yang Umno sudah tidak lagi boleh mengaku yang parti itu adalah parti yang mewakili orang Melayu dalam politik negara.

Beliau pastinya memahami keadaan sabotaj menyabotaj dalam Umno itu adalah satu kenyataan yang hakiki. Ini ialah kerana beliau sendiri merupakan penyabo kepada Umno dalam pilihanraya dahulu ketika Umno sedang membuat persiapan untuk menghadapi pilihanraya ke-12 pada tahun 2008 dahulu.

Sabotaj yang dilakukan oleh Dr Mahathir sendiri merupakan salah satu dari banyak sebab kenapa ramai calon-calon Umno jatuh tersembam dalam pilihanraya umum itu. Dr Mahathir telah keluar dari Umno di saat Umno memerlukan penyatuan di antara semua ahli-ahli dan pemimpinnya. Continue reading “Najib jangan takut keluar dari Putrajaya”

— Gomen Man
The Malaysian Insider
May 21, 2012

MAY 21 — Let me put an end to the fastest-growing cottage industry in Malaysia: attacking and demonising the likes of Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Ambiga Sreenevasan.

Millions of ringgit are being earned by bloggers, phantom writers, politicians, operatives, PR agencies and anyone with a plan or video or story to “damage” Pakatan Rakyat or Bersih leaders. The thinking from Putrajaya is that if these leaders are “killed off” then the momentum behind the opposition and those behind the call for electoral reform will be ended.

That is why the mainstream media has sunk to the lowest of low with lies and that is why the likes of Hasan Ali and Tunku Aziz Tunku Ibrahim are being given unparalleled coverage by the Media Prima media group to hammer their former political colleagues.

But let me tell the patrons of videos, bum exercises, threats, etc the reality: the awakening of Malaysia’s middle class and urban population does not depend on whether Anwar is around or whether Ambiga is leading Bersih. Continue reading “It’s not about Anwar or Ambiga”

By T L Cai | May 21, 2012

In my mind, April 28 was not going to be an ordinary day when I woke up just before noon. I had slept late after finishing work at midnight and spent some hours reading and pouring over Google maps to find the best parking space and plan my walking route to Dataran Merdeka.

I was full of enthusiasm for my first Bersih rally. It really felt good that I could add to the numbers. All week I was hoping that, in terms of participation, Bersih 3.0 would exceed the previous Bersihs. As it turned out, it was a resounding success and the rakyat delivered an equivocal message to the Barisan Nasional government.

I felt so good that even the usual transgressions on the road which, usually riled me, did not perturb me! I drove down Jalan Ipoh to try to reach Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, hoping to park in one of the many lorongs there but it was cordoned off.
Continue reading “My ‘yellow’ tale”

Last Thursday, I had called for the restoration of decency and civility to politics and public life in Malaysia.

I had expressed concern at the rise of incidents of immoderate and even “uncivilized conduct” citing three examples within a week – the Perkasa “funeral rite” in front of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s house in Penang, the setting up of a burger stall in front of the house of Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan at Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur and the utterly insensitive and deplorable “butt” dance by a group of armed forces veterans in front of Ambiga’s house.

The subsequent double cancellation by NGO WargaAMAN of a thosai stall outside the house of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Datuk Seri Khalid Abu Bakar and the proposal by Ikhlas representing small traders to hold another protest outside Ambiga’s house were most encouraging, indicating that good sense and sanity were beginning to prevail in Malaysian politics and public life.

Unfortunately, this momentum for the restoration of decency and civility in politics and public life was broken by two incidents, viz: Continue reading “Let restoration of decency and civility to politics and public life be top of the Cabinet agenda on Wednesday”

The Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein started his interview on Bersih 3.0 with Sunday Star yesterday entitled “The search for the real story” with the following statement:

“Now that the temperature has lowered and emotions have subsided, we should look at the incident in a more rational manner”.

I studied Hishammuddin’s interview but could not find any evidence that the government or Hishammuddin at least is prepared to view the Bersih 3.0 demonstration in “a more rational manner” so that Malaysians, the government, police, civil society and the ordinary citizenry, can learn the right lessons from Bersih 3.0 and reach a closure with Malaysia taking one giant step towards the objective of “the best democracy in the world” – a goal purportedly espoused by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak himself.

In the past three weeks, the government failed to assure Malaysians and the world both by word and deed that there would be an independent, credible, thorough and legitimate investigation to find out the truth of what went wrong on April 28, the facts and causes of the incidents of violence and brutality, regardless of whether the victims were police personnel, media representatives or peaceful protestors.

These incidents of violence and brutality marred the Bersih 3.0 rally in Kuala Lumpur from being the most historic, momentous, unifying and empowering experience for Malaysians regardless race, religion, region, class, age or gender who gathered in peace and patriotism to support a common national cause for clean elections and a clean Malaysia. Continue reading “End the charade of an Hanif “independent” probe which is part of the “demonization” campaign of Bersih 3.0 as proven by Hanif’s anti-Bersih comments”

By M. Bakri Musa

It is incomprehensible that with the Ministry of Education still in the midst of its review of our schools, the Minister and his Deputy saw fit to announce two decisions that could potentially have a profound impact on the system. The first, announced by the Minister, would resurrect the old Kirby/Brinsford Lodge program of the 1950s, and the second, announced by his Deputy, would remove the current quotas on local enrollment in international schools.

Before analyzing the two decisions, it is worth pondering as to why they were made before the completion of this “exhaustive review.” A cynical interpretation would be that the current “review” is nothing more than a charade rather than a serious deliberative process. If that were to be so, then it would be a terrible insult to those distinguished Malaysians who have been co-opted or have volunteered to serve on the panel. On a moral level, it would also be an unconscionable fraud perpetrated upon citizens, especially parents who have been banking on the review to improve our schools.
Continue reading “Resurrecting Kirby Is Fiscally Irresponsible”

The Malaysian Insider | May 21, 2012

MAY 21 — It would appear strange that the panel investigating the Bersih 3.0 violence is getting criticised before they even start their work. Especially because it is helmed by Tan Sri Hanif Omar, the respected and longest-serving police chief in Malaysia.

Yet, it is because of him that the panel is getting stick.

Hanif did not do himself any favours by talking about Marxist elements in Bersih. This is akin to a judge commenting on a case before it is even heard. And no matter how much that judge can argue about his impartiality, his comments have already influenced people about his handling of the case. Just like what Hanif did.

The former IGP had reportedly made several anti-Bersih comments before the panel was set up, such as the coalition intended to “topple the government” and that it had been “infiltrated by communist sympathisers”.
Continue reading “Why the Hanif panel is getting stick”

Author: Vikram Nehru, Carnegie Endowment | May 17th, 2012
East Asia Forum

There is growing speculation that the 13th Malaysian general elections will be held in June this year, the prospect of which is raising political temperatures.

But massive demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur on 28 April organised by Bersih, a civil society coalition for clean and fair elections, may have thrown a spoke in the government’s wheels. The demonstrations ended in tear gas and pitched street battles, and some 380 people were arrested. The inevitable finger-pointing that followed between Bersih and the police masks a more important point relating to the popular belief that Malaysia’s election system is rigged in favour of the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition.

Malaysia’s Election Commission has been at pains to announce that it has implemented many of the recommendations of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reforms, which conducted a genuine and nationwide consultative process. One recommendation being implemented is the use of indelible ink to prevent voter fraud — a recommendation put forward by Bersih itself. The Election Commission also scrutinised the electoral rolls and found few irregularities, but public distrust in the electoral process is so deep that this result appears to carry little credibility. The accuracy of the electoral poll in Malaysia is indeed a critical matter that must be beyond reproach. There are several swing states where small margins can change the national result significantly.
Continue reading “Malaysia: the electoral race gets tighter”

By Sakmongkol AK47 | May 21, 2012
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 21 — When you travel along the Seremban highway you will see so many large posters of Najib exhorting the people with his usual sloganeering — Sejuta Impian, Seribu Keriangan. For slogans he got an A++ from Tun Daim. Translated loosely it says, “A Million Dreams, A Thousand Happiness”.

Where do these dreams and happiness come from? Look at the posters closer. The posters tell of the basic building block on how Umno sees itself. Umno sees itself as the omnipotent being from where all providence spring from. Hence Umno wants to be deified to whom the people, rakyat, owe complete loyalty and allegiance to. It therefore doesn’t understand why people, most notably Malays find Umno revolting.

This is what Najib doesn’t understand. People no longer accept ascriptive stature without demanding more than just your name and position. Beyond your name and position, people want to know what can be achieved. People look out for achieving qualities. What have you achieved and what policies can you offer to achieve the greater good. Otherwise, you can put all the behemoth-sized posters along highways, people will just regard them as another way the government spends money like it’s theirs.
Continue reading “Umno and the captive Malay mind”