Month: July 2012

I have just returned from a four-day visit to Myanmar and I am most intrigued by the statement by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad saying he did not know why I hated him so much.

Let me assure Mahathir that I do not hate him at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and Tun Abdullah and the majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13th general election.

Mahathir cannot be more wrong when he claimed that Abdullah was rejected by voters for “mistreating” him, asserting:

“Last time when Abdullah wasn’t good to me, the people did not support BN. So some people still have some sympathy for me.”

The reason why Abdullah suffered the worst UMNO/BN electoral defeat in the 2008 general election is because he failed to live up to his promise in the landslide 2004 general election victory to begin the serious task to dismantle the Mahathirish legacy of corruption, cronyism and abuses of power. Continue reading “I do not hate Mahathir at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein, Tun Abdullah and majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13GE”

— Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 07, 2012

JULY 7 — How often have you heard this statement? Those who do evil and wicked things in Malaysia seem to prosper but the good-intentioned are jailed, demonised and subject to continuous harassment by the mainstream media and authorities.

Or this line? It is so unfair that the crooked politicians can get away with anything.

These statements are often then followed with a burst of anger and frustration, and a despairing rant about how little we can do to bring the wicked to justice and bring about change in Malaysia.

But there is no reason to despair. I am a Catholic and I also sometimes find myself wallowing in the cycle of “nothing can be done”. Continue reading “We shall overcome”

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 06, 2012

6 JULAI — Terlalu banyak spekulasi tentang pilihanraya umum yang telah tertangguh sebegitu lama. Najib akhirnya merupakan satu-satunya PM dalam sejarah negara yang tidak memanggil pilihanraya untuk mendapatkan mandat dan ‘endorsement’ tentang kepimpinannya. Sekali gus Najib merupakan seorang PM yang paling lemah dalam sejarah negara merdeka kita.

Selemah-lemah Pak Lah, beliau berani memanggil pilihanraya dalam tempoh lima bulan untuk mendapatkan ‘endorsement’ rakyat dan beliau telah mendapat meraih 90% sokongan dalam Dewan Legislatif semasa pilihanraya yang ke11 yang lalu. Peratusan itu hampir sama dengan pilihanraya 1955 dalam mana Perikatan hanya kalah satu kerusi di Pulau Pinang yang ditandingi oleh Sulaiman Palestin.

Mandat yang ada pada hari ini merupakan mandat Pak Lah. Baik buruknya Pak Lah mempunyai kredibiliti yang lebih baik dari Najib sekarang ini. Pak Lah seorang yang berani memanggil pilihanraya walau pun beliau dalam ‘tidur’. Setidak-tidaknya Pak Lah dapat mempertahankan kuasa BN walaupun kehilangan kemenangan tradisi 2/3 di Dewan Parlimen. Continue reading “If you want to break anything, give the job to Umno”

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 05, 2012

JULY 5 — In practical sense, the term rent-seeking or rent-seeker or rentier classs, refers to the activity by some people in capturing offices of state and using the power of the state to capture economic benefits.

So, the rentier class consists of the people making use of their official and political positions to capture economic benefits. They get these benefits not by actually providing or actually producing a service or product, but by virtue of holding a political or bureaucratic position.

So what? So the above arrangement leads to disparities in income not due to natural abilities or difference in character. Such arrangement becomes objectionable and unconscionable when the disparities in income do not arise because of abilities or character.

The lazybones and laggards get ahead of the industrious and those more clever because they have found a way to cut corners by earning state positions. And so because of the positions they hold, in the offices of state, political positions and being proximate to the corridors of power allow them to get ahead of others.

Generally speaking, that is why some people are very critical of the New Economic Policy because it allows and perpetrates such “economic arrangements”. Those who get ahead are those having political and bureaucratic powers and their cronies and fronts. Continue reading “Chief of the rentier class and his economic transformation”

Azrul Mohd Khalib
The Malaysian Insider
July , 2012

I was quite disappointed to read of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s prediction that the upcoming general election would be more focussed on race and ethnic issues than ever before.

I think you are wrong, Dr M. Speaking as a product of your policies and far-sightedness in the creation of a Vision 2020 generation, I am happy to inform you, Dr M, that you have actually wildly succeeded in pushing us towards the formation of a more united, integrated and mature democratic Malaysian society (remember the Vision 2020 concept document?).

Through the programmes put in place under your leadership, the opportunities for education and learning provided by your administration, and through the shared experiences, heartache and pain that we have had over the past three decades, you have much to be responsible for the current state of affairs which resulted in the evolution of our people.

And the evolution is a good one. When you look at the young people today below the age of 35, there is much to be proud of. We used to gripe about how apathetic Malaysians in general were about the state of the country, how they often took for granted that which they are able to benefit from, and did not really want to participate in the political process. Well, things, as you well know, certainly have changed. Continue reading “Dr M, you are wrong”

Dr Kamal Amzan
The Malaysian Insider

JULY 4 — Some say DAP is an ally of the PAP. Even if it is true, so what?

Yes, I am aware that PAP championed Malaysian Malaysia back in the 1960s, and was blamed for Singapore’s expulsion from the Federation of Malaysia. I also understand the politically correct term now is not Malaysian Malaysia, but instead a totally different, not straightforward meaning, not fully embraced concept of 1 Malaysia.

I am also very well aware that PAP led a Chinese-majority republic as opposed to an Umno-led majority Malay Malaysia.

Now, why is that a problem to us? Why did one newspaper dedicated its last weekly column to painting a racist picture of PAP, also insinuating a repeat of August 1965 in Penang?

Okay, first let us assume that PAP is racist and DAP is also racist by association, but which political party here isn’t? 1 Malaysia Barisan Nasional or the Muslim-Malay majority PAS who is bent on implementing hudud? Or perhaps MCA, MIC? Continue reading “Enough with the conspiracy theories”

Oleh Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
July 02, 2012

2 JULAI — Sesiapa pun, apabila dalam keadaan lemah dan tidak sihat akan mudah merasa miskin di jiwa dan memandang semua dikelilingnya dengan perasaan takut. Memang ramai orang takut kerana “creativity”nya sendiri. Dikampung-kampung hingga sampai masa kini masih ada yang takut kepada setengah pokok yang rimbun kerana kononnya pokok itu berhantu. Oleh kerana terlalu percaya yang pohon rimbun itu berhantu maka akhirnya hantu itu akan timbul.

Kita lupa yang jika kita masih berbentuk Muhamad (mim ha mim dal) tidak ada apa elemen yang lain boleh mengatasi kita. Tetapi apabila kita lemah maka yang tidak berhantu itu pun dianggapnya ada hantu. Hantu dan syaitan itu sebenarnya takut dan tidak akan dapat mengatasi kita kerana kita adalah makhluk yang secantik-cantik kejadian. Manusia itu lebih mulia dari malaikat tetapi oleh kerana ada manusia yang lemah jiwanya maka yang mereka tidak sepatutnya takut pun mereka akan takut.

Dalam politik pun begitu juga. Umno sekarang amat takut jika ditewaskan oleh pembangkang dalam pilihanraya untuk menguasai kerajaan persekutuan. Rasa takutnya begitu jelas dan menonjol sehinggakan media yang menyokongnya seperti Utusan Malaysia mencari jalan untuk membantu BN dengan menulis perkara-perkara yang berunsur menakut-nakutkan rakyat. Awang Selamat dalam tulisannya semalam menulis tentang PAP Singapura yang kononya berkait rapat dengan DAP. Continue reading “Awang Selamat terus menghasut”

Comment By Kee Thuan Chye
Free Malaysia Today
July 3, 2012

SINGAPORE’s ruling party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), is conniving the downfall of the Barisan Nasional government in Malaysia, and it’s doing it through its local proxy, the Democratic Action Party (DAP).

This is the most preposterous thing anyone has heard about what could happen at our upcoming 13th general election. The leaders of the PAP must be rolling on the floor with laughter.

That this piece of nonsense came out of Utusan Malaysia truly speaks badly of the Umno-owned newspaper. It is bandied about without any shred of evidence to support it. Instead, it comes with a wild allegation that the PAP has been waiting 48 years to achieve its “dream” in Peninsular Malaysia.

What “dream”? What would it benefit the PAP to see the fall of BN? And after that, what?

Whoever wrote that article (under the pseudonym of Awang Selamat) has no sense of logic. If Pakatan Rakyat wins the 13th general election, does it mean the DAP can invite the PAP to come into Peninsular Malaysia? It’s that easy, is it? The DAP’s coalition partners, PAS and PKR, would welcome the PAP with open arms? Continue reading “Awang Selamat gets an ‘F’”

Tun Dr. Mahathir’s recent statements that the ‘Chinese are the kingmakers’ in GE13 and that ‘GE13 will be about race’ shows that he and the BN are increasingly afraid that a majority of the 3 million newly registered voters will cast a decisive vote against the BN and end 55 years of cronyism, corruption and abuse of power under the BN.

Increasingly, we are seeing a new generation of Malaysians who are rising up to reject the old style politics of the Mahathir era. We saw this in the Reformasi movement in 1998. We saw this in the GE 2008 political tsunami which swept away the BN governments in the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor as well as 2/3rds control of the parliament.

We saw this in the first Bersih public rally on the 10th of November, 2007. We saw this in Bersih 2.0 on the 9th of July, 2011. And we saw this most recently on the 28th of April 2012 when hundreds of thousands of Malaysians of all races, backgrounds and age groups flooded the streets around Dataran Merdeka to demand for free and fair elections. Continue reading “Newly registered Malaysian voters should unanimously reject the return to ‘Mahathirism’ and end 55 years of cronyism, corruption and abuse of power under the BN”

Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
02 July 2012

Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa Malaysia (Perkasa) is getting out of control. Its latest brush with Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that resulted in a scuffle is testimony to its growing tendency towards verbal and physical violence. More than that, it seems to be presuming that it is above the law and can say and do what it likes with impunity.

It was reportedly holding a demonstration in Telok Bahang at the same place where Guan Eng was visiting the local residents. The scuffle broke out when the group of 50 Perkasa members threw anti-Guan Eng posters at him and his delegation, and then one of them reportedly charged at him.

Penang Perkasa leader Mohd Rizuad Mohd Azudin claims that the fracas was orchestrated by Guan Eng’s people to make Perkasa look bad to the Telok Bahang residents. But in the first place, why did Perkasa choose to hold the demonstration where Guan Eng would be? Why did they come armed with anti-Guan Eng posters and even paste them all over at least one of the shops there? Who was orchestrating what? Continue reading “The Police Must Act Against Perkasa”

— Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 02, 2012

JULY 2 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was today slapped with an additional charge in addition to two existing ones over the April 28 Bersih rally.

Fifteen years ago today, on July 2, 1997, the Thai government was forced to float the Thai baht after failing to defend it from attacks, sparking an unprecedented Asian-wide crisis. Contagious free falls in Asian currencies led to economic meltdowns and political crises subsequently.

Hence the start of the Malaysian epic tragedy of political and economic stagnation. It was the beginning of the end of sort for Barisan Nasional’s political monopoly. It exposed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s emperor-with-no-clothes game.

After a painfully long 15 years, Malaysia is now a nation in waiting for change. And, we are walking the last mile of a long, tedious journey. Continue reading “The last mile”

The CIMB Group chief, Datuk Seri Nazir Razak and younger brother to the Prime Minister hit the nail on the head when he told Financial Times that Malaysia must overcome corruption if it is to move up from being a middle-income economy.

In fact, Nazir could be faulted for erring on the side of caution and holding his punches for Malaysia, under Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s premiership for 39 months, is not only more corrupt than under the two previous Prime Ministers Tun Dr. Mahathir and Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, but is heading towards the dubious honour of being the only Asian-Pacific country to slip in both Transparency International (TI) Corruption Perception Index(CPI) ranking and score since the introduction of the annual assessment 17 years ago in 1995.

In the first TI CPI in 1995, Malaysia was ranked No. 23 out of 41 countries or the 6th highest-ranked nation in the Asia-Pacific after New Zealand -1, Singapore – 3, Australia – 7, Hong Kong – 17 and Japan – 20, with a CPI score of 5.28. (10 stands for “highly clean” and 0 for “highly corrupt”)

Seventeen years later, after numerous anti-corruption campaigns, two major anti-corruption legislation, the “elevation” of the former Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) into Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), the National Integrity Plan, the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme with massive infusion of public funds and increase of staffing, Malaysia has now fallen to the lowest TI CPI ranking in 17 years in 2011, viz: No. 60 with the lowest CPI score of 4.3. Continue reading “Under Najib, Malaysia is not only more corrupt than under the two previous Prime Ministers but is heading towards the dubious honour of being the only Asian-Pacific country to slip in both TI CPI ranking and score since 1995”

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | July 2, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Felda Global Venture is a rush job and has all the hallmarks of becoming a minefield for Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

COMMENT

With a bottomless pit of scandals and irregularities, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak must be off his rockers when he says he will win 14-0 in the next election.

But I know, the only time he has to say something like that, is when he knows the chips are down.

We know when Najib says he will win 14-0, it means Umno and Barisan Nasional are finished. Otherwise, with a score of 14-0, Najib should have declared election yesterday.

Let’s talk about the Felda Global Venture (FGV) which was listed on June 28.

Najib wants to rake in RM6 billion to pay his way through the next general election.

But did you know that know that only 20% of Felda top management supported the idea of FGV’s initial public offering (IPO)? Some 65% of the FGV staff thought FGV simply isn’t ready to list. Continue reading “Felda listing: A ‘house of lies’”

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 02, 2012

2 JULAI — Insiden yang mengasari Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang di Telok Bahang semalam membuktikan yang Barisan Nasional amat sengsara apabila kalah di dalam pilihanraya 20008 yang mengakibatkan BN jatuh tersembam di Pulau Pinang dalam PRU yang lalu.

Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat yang di ketuai oleh DAP itu telah melakukan yang terbaik dan telah pun membuktikan yang sesebuah kerajaan itu boleh ditadbir dengan baik jika pimpinannya telus, jujur, dan sebenarnya rasuah boleh dielakkan.

Jika Pulau Pinang kini mempunyai pentadbiran yang hampir sama dengan prestasi BN, tentulah BN mempunyai peluang untuk kembali berkuasa di Pulau Pinang selepas pilihanraya yang akan datang.

Tetapi Lim Guan Eng dan barisan pimpinan kerajaan Pulau Pinang telah menunjukkan perbezaan ketara dengan membuktikan yang PR memang lebih berkemampuan untuk mentadbir dari BN yang telah menguasai Pulau Pinang dari 2008 dahulu.

Justeru kata-kata pemimpin-pemimpin BN yang mengatakan mereka (BN) akan mengambilalih Pulau Pinang di dalam PRU 13 ini hanyalah merupakan kenyataan untuk menyedapkan hati sendiri dan tindakan psikoloji sahaja. Keputusan PRU 13 sebenarnya sudah ditentukan. Pulau Pinang akan tetap berada ditangan PR, malahan lebih kuat lagi selepas PRU itu nanti. Continue reading “Rebahnya BN kerana salah sendiri, bukannya kesalahan orang”

— The Malaysian Insider
Jul 01, 2012

JULY 1 — Tan Sri Abu Bakar Abdullah is paying the price for the government’s New Remuneration Scheme that caused an uproar earlier this year. The ambitious scheme to reward the 1.4 million-strong civil service crumbled when unions pointed out that they were getting pittance while some 5,000 senior officers were getting stratospheric pay rises.

Putrajaya was forced to scrap the scheme, and in the process, also the move to get top people from the private sector to join the civil service at the top levels. After all, the new pay for the senior officials was benchmarked at the wages given for top white-collar professionals and managers.

While the Cabinet had approved the scheme and even announced it in Budget 2012 last year, they didn’t go through the proposals line by line. The resulting kerfuffle, to put it mildly, was squarely blamed at three men and one of them was Abu Bakar who is the Public Services Department (PSD) director-general.

It is understood the other two were former Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, and Treasury secretary-general Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah.

Yet, Abu Bakar is the biggest loser. He was tipped to replace Mohd Sidek but the new pay scheme’s failure cost him that job. And he refused to go away quietly, sources said, insisting that if he was to be blamed for the salary fiasco, then so to must Sidek as it takes two to tango. And Wan Abdul Aziz for agreeing to the scheme. Continue reading “Paying the price for a fiasco”

Utusan Malaysia is living up to its reputation as “lies-paper” when its Awang Selamat in Mingguan Malaysia today alleged “Lim Kit Siang adalah antara orang kepercayaan Kuan Yew ketika dalam PAP. Beliau juga adalah bekas Setiausaha Akhbar Kuan Yew sewaktu zaman muda nya.”

These are downright lies, as I was never ever involved in PAP during my years as a reporter in Singapore from 1961-1964, although I was active in Singapore National Union of Journalists, serving as its Secretary-General 1962-1963.

Furthermore, I was never press secretary to Kuan Yew although I worked for a period in the press section of the Ministry of Culture.

But more pertinent than Utusan Malaysia again proving itself to be a “lies-paper” instead of being “newspaper” is the intensification of the unscrupulous and unprincipled campaign of lies, falsehoods and demonization against DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, especially with the realization by the UMNO leaders and strategists that UMNO/Barisan Nasional are not as confident of facing the 13th general election as they had once thought despite the recent boast by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of a “14-0” BN thrashing for PR!

This has resulted in Najib further putting off the 13th general election date because of his worry that the “RAHMAN” political prophecy might come true – that RAHMAN stands for the first six UMNO Prime Ministers, namely Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and “N” for Najib also signifying the last and “the end” of the UMNO line of Prime Ministers. Continue reading “Utusan Malaysia living up to its reputation as “lies-paper” when its Awang Selamat alleged that “LKS adalah antara orang kepercayaan Kuan Yew ketika dalam PAP” and that I was Kuan Yew’s press secretary”

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 01, 2012

UALA LUMPUR, July 1 — All eyes are now on the DAP’s Lim Guan Eng as the Penang chief minister struggles to fend off concerted attacks against him ahead of general elections due within a year.

The pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) mainstream media today published lopsided reports of the federal opposition leader’s run-in with members of Perkasa, a right-wing Malay organisation, at the Teluk Bahang market in Penang yesterday.

The reports, which related the incident from the viewpoint of the Perkasa members, appear to indicate a concerted effort by the ruling federal coalition to reclaim Penang, a key economic state under BN control until four years ago.

“The failure by police to immediately arrest Perkasa members involved in violence not just against members of the public and reporters but also make direct threats against my personal safety has only confirmed fears that Perkasa can do no wrong because they are supported by Umno and BN,” Lim said in a media statement today.

“[The] Police should review their hands-off approach towards Perkasa to avoid public perception that they condone the violent tactics by Perkasa to intimidate PR leaders,” he added, referring to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact formed in 2008 after their landmark win in the polls. Continue reading “Attacks against Guan Eng intensify ahead of GE13”

Malaysiakini
Jul 1, 2012

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the police have once again failed to protect him from Perkasa activist, who often hound him in public.

Refering to the incident at the Teluk Bahang markets yesterday, Lim said the police took action too late, thus allowing Perkasa members to hurl projectiles at him.

“The inaction by the police probably emboldened a Perkasa member to suddenly charge up behind me and succeeded in brushing hard against me.

“I escaped injury. But if not for a PR local leader bravely dragging the Perkasa member away, I could have been injured,” said Lim in a press release today.

Lim said that while it was bad that the police failed to protect him, it was more disappointing that the police did not arrest the would-be assailant.

“Just imagine how harsh police reaction would have been if this had involved the Prime Minister and not the Chinese Pakatan Rakyat chief minister,” said Lim. Continue reading “Guan Eng: Cops failed to protect me from Perkasa”

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2012

JUNE 30 — My wife and I pay our taxes on time and we are assessed at the highest tax bracket. We never avoided or evaded taxes and viewed it as a moral duty.

But let me put in a caveat. I believe the time has come for us taxpayers (and this excludes 90 per cent of civil servants, Umno politicians and their nominees as well as rent-seekers) to consider a campaign of civil disobedience against paying taxes until the government of the day can show that it can utilise this revenue in a responsible way.

I am not talking about the world record holidays/trips abroad taken by the prime minister and the first family or his cabinet ministers. I am referring to the over-the-top spending by the Barisan Nasional government to stay in power.

It seems like every day is Christmas for this prime minister. Tyres for taxi drivers, cash for Malaysians, a few million for this group and another few million for that group. Continue reading “Should we continue paying taxes?”

— Ooi Kee Beng
The Malaysian Insider
June 30, 2012

JUNE 30 — A dialogue about something as serious as regime change in Malaysia must examine at least two vast subjects.

Firstly, a thorough and open discussion about the historical conditions under which the Federation of Malaya, and then Malaysia, was constructed is vital to any deep and practical understanding of the strengths and failings of the political structure as it exists today.

Political solutions in times of inevitable change — as was the case in the region in the 1940s and 1950s — are about settlements between those wishing to cut losses and those seeking to maximise benefit. Those less able to make their voices heard were, simply put, left unheard. In such times, negotiations happen under threat, stress and duress; and the solution is a mixture of ad hoc measures and meticulous planning; and a blend of concession and conflict. Continue reading “Malaysia after regime change”