Month: December 2012

Dr Chris Anthony
Malaysiakini
Dec 3, 2012

The just concluded 66th Umno general assembly was the last opportunity for the party to convince the people of its willingness to change – a promise it made four years ago after its unprecedented losses at the March 8 election of 2008.

Unfortunately it appears that Umno had missed that opportunity going by the proceedings at the assembly, the last before 13th general election.

It was pathetic to see a party in power for 55 years, having led the fight for independence and developing the nation to a level to be admired by many, resorting to three misguided strategies to win the crucial 13th general election that is seen as a threat to unseat it.

They are:

1. Over-boasting of its experience in governance and achievements while failing to address all its glaring misdeeds.

2. Threatening of riots and unrest if it loses.

3. Opposition bashing and ridiculing the opposition as an unholy alliance, its inexperience in governing and unrealistic populist policies which will only lead the country to bankruptcy. Continue reading “Umno assembly – final chance for change missed”

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Dec 3, 2012

Malaysians need not fear that we will become like Afghanistan because Afghanistan has learnt from us and has become like us.

A New York Times report headlined ‘Audit says Kabul Bank began as Ponzi scheme’ bears a striking resemblance to the way Umno runs this country.

Investigators have claimed that the Kabul Bank has been fraudulently obtaining hundreds of millions of dollars and siphoning it off to a few individuals connected to President Hamid Karzai (left).

The war-torn country is trying to get to grips with the concepts of western democracy and banking, but public trust and confidence in the government has been shattered by the revelations of crony capitalism and corruption on a massive scale.

Governments around the world are shocked at the Kabul Bank scandal but are turning a blind eye to similar events in Malaysia, where institutions routinely siphon off money to Umno and its cronies.

An audit by the Kroll investigative firm has revealed that the Kabul Bank’s financial duplicity was mired in controversy and cover up. There was a political conspiracy involving those at the very top of government to stall the investigations.

This is no different from Malaysia. Recent cases are the political interference concerning Tajuddin Ramli’s involvement in the Malaysia Airlines scandal, the Sabah Umno and Michael Chia fiasco and the National Feedlot Corporation case. Continue reading “Umno’s Ponzi scheme”

by Tay Tian Yan
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 03, 2012

DEC 3 — Umno’s morale has been boosted after its general assembly and even its goal has changed.

Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak set retrieving two-thirds of parliamentary seats as the new goal. As the prime minister, he must have a certain degree of confidence to say so or he would have to face both internal and external pressure once he fails to achieve the goal.

Najib is very clear that he is just a “transition prime minister”, who received the regime directly from Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. In other words, he has not received a formal mandate from the people.

To be a strong leader, he must lead his team and win the election. And he understands that if Barisan Nasional just barely wins, the regime will be inevitably unstable while his personal reputation will also be very low.

Abdullah’s experience showed that Umno needs a powerful regime instead of a simple majority ruling.

Umno’s demand is very clear, namely to win two-thirds of the parliamentary seats and retrieve Selangor. Only that will be called the true victory of Umno and the BN coalition. Continue reading “Can BN regain its supermajority?”

In his winding-up speech at the 66th UMNO General Assembly on Saturday, the UMNO President and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak ended with the flourish urging UMNO members to work harder to convince the people to support Barisan Nasional as a vote for DAP is a vote for the oppression of the Malays.

But this is the exact opposite of what MCA leaders like the MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek is telling the Chinese up and down the country, that a vote for the DAP is a vote for the oppression of the Chinese.

It is clear that when Najib says that a vote for DAP is a vote for the oppression of the Malays while Chua Soi Lek declares that it is a vote for oppression of the Chinese, the time has come to save Malaysia from such dishonest, deceitful, unprincipled and immoral UMNO/Barisan Nasional government.

What credibility and legitimacy has a political coalition like Barisan Nasional, which is capable of such blatant deceit and dishonesty, plumbing the depths of lies and falsehoods to entrench itself in power, to dare claim that it has the credentials and moral high ground to continue to govern multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-religious and multi-cultural Malaysia when it is in fact actively aggravating racial and religious polarisation in the country? Continue reading “When Najib says that a vote for DAP is a vote for oppression of Malays while Chua Soi Lek declares that it is a vote for oppression of Chinese, time has come to save Malaysia from such dishonest, deceitful, unprincipled and immoral UMNO/BN govt”

Menteri Pertahanan dan Naib Presiden UMNO Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi telah mengatakan bahawa beliau akan menjawab dakwaan yang dibuat ahli perniagaan Deepak Jaikishan terhadap keluarga Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang turut melibatkan kes pembunuhan berprofil tinggi seorang warga Mongolia Altantuya Shaariibuu.

Bukan Zahid tetapi Najib sendiri yang sepatutnya menjawab dakwaan itu di dalam ucapan penggulungan pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO ke-66 esok atas tiga sebab.

Pertama, dakwaan Deepak melibatkan keluarga Najib, yang mana dia telah membayar sejumlah wang yang tidak didedahkan untuk campurtangan Perdana Menteri bagi membolehkannya menjadi satu pihak dalam satu projek Kementerian Pertahanan pada 2005 yang bernilai RM100 juta sewaktu Najib merupakan Menteri Pertahanan – membuat perjanjian dengan syarikat ketua Wanita UMNO Selangor yang membolehkannya menyertai sebagai pihak ketiga. Memandangkan Najib bukan sahaja hadir tetapi juga mengepalai UMNO, beliau sepatutnya menjawab kerana apa sahaja yang dikatakan Zahid tidak lebih sekadar khabar angin dan tidak mempunyai kewibawaan dan legitimasi. Continue reading “Najib yang sepatutnya menjawab dakwaan serius Deepak pada Perhimpunan Agung UMNO esok bukannya Zahid”

Dalam Ucapan Dasar Presiden UMNO pada Khamis lalu, Perdana Menteri dan Presiden UMNO Datuk Seri Najib Razak kembali kepada topik kitar semula yang mempersoal bagaimana Pakatan Rakyat yang terdiri daripada PKR, PAS dan DAP akan membentuk kerajaan perikatan kerana terdapat perbezaan pada isu asas yang memisahkan mereka.

Tentu Najib tahu walaupun PKR, PAS dan DAP mempunyai perberzaan ideologi, kami telah bersetuju untuk membentuk Pakatan Rakyat dan mengikat diri kami dengan Kerangka Dasar Bersama dan Buku Jingga untuk Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 dan PR akan dipandu oleh apa yang menyatukan kami dan bukannya apa yang memisahkan kami – akan tetapi itu adalah untuk kenyataan yang lain.

Apa yang ingin saya tunjukkan sekarang adalah Najib telah betul-betul menggambarkan apa yang menjadi punca masalah walaupun itu bukanlah niat beliau – sepertimana yang beliau dedahkan sebenarnya Barisan Nasional telah hilang moraliti dan legitimasi untuk mentadbir Malaysia yang berbilang kaum, berbilang bahasa, berbilang budaya dan berbilang agama apabila UMNO dan MCA tidak dapat bersepakat pada isu asas sama ada Melayu atau bukan Melayu yang akan kecundang sekiranya Pakatan Rakyat memenangi pilihan raya ke-13. Continue reading “Najib benar – apabila UMNO dan MCA tidak boleh bersetuju dengan isu asas, BN telah hilang moraliti dan legitimasi untuk memerintah Putrajaya”

— Ahmad Ashraf
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2012

DEC 1 — When it comes to talk, very few can match Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin. After all, he used to host a talk show. And today, he displayed his prowess when saying Umno is winning the battle for the hearts and minds of Malaysian youth.

However, the country’s “richest unemployed young man,” as dubbed by Lim Kit Siang, is just talking up his achievements.

Is Umno popular among the young? Khairy says results of the recent campus elections reflects youth acceptance of Umno, where 18 out of 20 elections were won by the pro-government Pro-Aspirasi groups.

Well, the government-backed undergraduates won in elections where rules were stacked against those linked to opposition. In Universiti Malaya and the International Islamic University, where attempts to influence results failed, the pro-opposition candidates swept to power.

Care to explain that, Khairy? Continue reading “Umno Youth’s delusions”

Kee Thuan Chye
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 2, 2012

COMMENT

The Umno general assembly has often come across as reality comedy. Its ‘performers’ unwittingly amuse us with their unintentionally comic turns. This year, they didn’t disappoint.

Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, whose family is embroiled in the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal that forced her not to renew her senatorship, says that for the upcoming general election, she is a winnable candidate. God help her.

Indeed, God was invoked on several occasions throughout the general assembly, sometimes for the sake of seeking his help.

President Najib Abdul Razak urged Umno members to pray hard to God in order to win the general election. “Let us pray so that with His blessings, we will continue to be the country’s ruling party,” he said.

The subtext of that smacked of a loss in confidence. Continue reading “God, comedy and the Umno general assembly”

UMNO’s “war” 66th General Assembly has ended with UMNO leaders confident and euphoric, with the UMNO Secretary-General Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor and other UMNO leaders declaring that UMNO will not only triumph in the next general elections, but will win back the two-thirds parliamentary majority as well as all the four Pakatan states including Kelantan and Penang.

However, “Man proposes, God disposes”.

The possibility of Barisan Nasional wresting back the four Pakatan Rakyat states of Penang, Kelantan, Selangor and Kedah or blocking Pakatan Rakyat from winning back Perak State Government cannot be dismissed completely.

At the national level, the 13GE is going to be a nail-biting finish, with the outcome a toss-up as it could go either way with Barisan Nasional returned to Federal power in Putrajaya or Pakatan Rakyat replacing BN as the new Malaysian government breaking UMNO political hegemony.

The 13GE will be faced with a new Malaysian political demography – with the majority of the 29 million population of today born after Malaysia Day, with nearly 70 per cent living in the urban areas, eighty per cent are under the age of 45 while half of our people under the age of 25.

Who wins Putrajaya in the 13GE will not be decided by the BN or PR hardcore but the middle ground voters, comprising some 30 per cent of the 13.1 million, i.e. 4 million, registered electorate. Continue reading “Greatest Najib disappointment at the 66th UMNO GA – failure to declare all-out war against corruption which is proof that UMNO incapable of change so long as it remains corrupted in the corridors of power”

In his UMNO Presidential Address on Thursday, the Prime Minister and UMNO President Datuk Seri Najib Razak returned to the oft-repeated UMNO theme asking how Pakatan Rakyat comprising PKR, PAS and DAP are going to form a coalition government because of the differences on the core issues separating them.

Surely Najib knows that although PKR, PAS and DAP have our ideological differences, we have agreed to form Pakatan Rakyat and committed ourselves to a Common Policy Framework and the Buku Jingga programme of action for the 13th General Election and PR will be guided by what unites us and not by what divides us – but that is for another statement.

What I want to point out now is that Najib had hit the nail on the head although this was not his intention – as he has exposed the fact that Barisan Nasional has lost the morality and legitimacy to govern multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious Malaysia when UMNO and MCA cannot agree on the core issue whether Malays or non-Malays would be the losers if Pakatan Rakyat wins the 13th general election. Continue reading “Najib is right – when UMNO and MCA cannot agree on the core issue whether Malays or non-Malays would be the losers if PR wins in 13GE, BN has lost the morality and legitimacy to rule in Putrajaya”

— Boo Cheng Hau
CPI
30 November 2012

DEC 1 — The recently announced National Education Blueprint contains nothing new. And it shows the powers-that-be have no real intention to listen to the public or make any bold reforms to our ailing education system.

It is a repetition of the sad old story about racial prejudice, not much different from the so-called “National” Education Policy which was largely based on Umno’s Malay nationalist belief that the national language should be the sole medium of instruction.

Proponents of the Malay-medium-only policy also emphasise the Malay nationalist perspective of history that having one common language — such as in our neighbours Indonesia and Thailand — can save Malaysia from disintegration.

Racial prejudice and political demagoguery as the basis for our nation’s education agenda of true unity will not get us far. Let me prove how discriminatory is our education system and the false impressions that it projects. Continue reading “Is interracial integration more possible under convergence or divergence?”

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Umno is confident of wresting back all four Pakatan Rakyat-led (PR) states and even recapturing its two-thirds parliamentary majority in the coming polls, buoyed by a strong belief that the Najib government’s reformist measures have successfully impressed the Malaysian electorate.

Several leaders told The Malaysian Insider that Umno is now fully prepared to march to the battle lines, having struggled through four years of heavy transformation from the party’s administration to the mindsets of its over three million members.

Emerging fully charged after the second day of the party’s assembly here yesterday, the leaders wasted no breath in declaring that achieving two-thirds is no longer an aspiration for Umno but a comfortable reality.

“Of course,” Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said, when asked if the party was confident it would once again occupy two-thirds of Parliament’s 222 seats after the polls.

“I believe that we will win back two-thirds and we will get back at least all the four Pakatan states… including Kelantan and Penang,” he added. Kelantan has been in PAS’s hands since 1990. Continue reading “BN will recapture all Pakatan states, win two-thirds majority, say Umno leaders”