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Is Malaysia’s monarchy “above politics”?

by Pak Sako
CPI
01 February 2013

Speaking at the launch of a book on the Malaysian monarchy, Malaysian prime minister Najib bin Razak said that the Malay Rulers “are above politics” (see ‘Najib: Constitutional monarchy fosters stability, prosperity’, The Malaysian Insider, 30 Jan 2013).

He said that the Malaysian monarchy “provides a solid foundation” for turning Malaysia into a high-income nation.

To be above politics means to not interfere in the political workings of the country and to take no sides in party politics.

To act as a foundation to the economy so that Malaysian citizens enjoy high incomes means abstaining from and disapproving the undemocratic use of the public’s wealth and resources.

So is the prime minister’s statement about the Malaysian monarchy true?

The evidence paints a different story. Continue reading “Is Malaysia’s monarchy “above politics”?”

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No homecoming for Chinese New Year

– George Lee
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 02, 2013

FEB 2 – Today I made a difficult decision not to return to Malaysia for the upcoming Chinese New Year. It is an inevitable sacrifice I have to make. There will be no family reunion dinner on Chinese New Year eve. I will miss the rare opportunity to meet up old friends from elsewhere as some only return to Malaysia during this festival period.

My ageing parents are longing for their favourite son to come home but it is not to be. I hope they understand my choice. I am going to miss all the fun, joy and get together. It saddens me for not able to be with my family but my love for my country Malaysia and the aspiration to carry out changes make the sacrifice a worthwhile endeavour.

In a nutshell, I am forgoing this once a year Chinese New Year festivity so that I can return on a later date for the upcoming general election. Continue reading “No homecoming for Chinese New Year”

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“Psy”

Tweet:

Najib’s secret weapon to get 60k people for his CNY open-house in Han Chiang Penang on 11/2 – invite South Korean superstar Psy to perform Gangnam style

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68-Day Countdown to 13GE – Chua Soi Lek’s increasing irrelevance and hysteria with the approach of 13GE is really pathetic

It is really pathetic to witness the increasing irrelevance and hysteria of the MCA President, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek, to the extent that he has to publicly plead for MCA members to give “claps and applauses” to his speeches and those of other MCA leaders at MCA public functions like the recent MCA “mega dinners” held all over the country.

Chua made this plea at the Federal Territory 64th MCA anniversary celebrations luncheon in Kepong yesterday but to little effect, as all he got from MCA members attending the luncheon was a very tepid and half-hearted response despite his repeated pleas for applauses to his speech.

Chua even tried to mislead MCA members to fortify his plea –asking MCA members to emulate DAP by claiming that when DAP leaders speak on stage, DAP members on the floor would respond with ceaseless applauses to give the impression that what the speakers said were right. Similarly, he asked MCA members to do the same by giving warm applauses to MCA leaders when speaking on stage so as to create confidence in MCA.

Firstly, let me state that in my 47 years of political work, I had never pleaded for claps and applauses for my speeches – and that goes for all other DAP leaders as well.

Secondly, the simple answer to Chua is that it is not only the ordinary public, but also MCA members who are antagonized and alienated by the present role played by the MCA leadership as purveyors of falsehood and prophets of doom to help UMNO to frighten and stampede the Chinese voters to support the Barisan Nasional in the 13th general elections. Continue reading “68-Day Countdown to 13GE – Chua Soi Lek’s increasing irrelevance and hysteria with the approach of 13GE is really pathetic”

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69-Day Countdown to 13GE – Mahathirism rides again with all its attendant horrors and monstrosities

Mahathirism rides again, with all its attendant horrors and monstrosities intact.

The latest manifestation of the full-throttled return of Mahathirism is one of the wildest accusations in Malaysian politics – that Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was the real mastermind in the “citizenship-for-votes” scams in Sabah in the nineties known as “Project M”.

When did former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad discover that Anwar was the mastermind of the project named infamously after him as “Project M”?

Clearly not on January 16, 2013 when revelations at the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) on illegal immigrants implicated two of Mahathir’s closest confidantes, former Deputy Home Minister, Megat Junid Megat Ayub and former political secretary Abdul Aziz Shamsuddin in the “Project M” scams from 1990 – 1995 to issue hundreds of thousands of fake blue identity cards and false letters of approval for birth certificates in exchange for votes to illegal immigrants.

Nor on the following day on January 17 when for the first time in two decades, Mahathir publicly admitted the existence of “Project M” but defended it as lawful on the ground that the Filipino illegal immigrants could speak Malay and “have the right to be citizens”, while casting a serious slur on the memory and good name of Tunku Abdul Rahman by alleging that Bapa Malaysia had done worse by giving citizenship to one million unqualified people before Merdeka, lamenting that no one had made it an issue.

Nor for the next two weeks until January 31 when Mahathir suddenly announced that Anwar was the real mastermind of “Project M” responsible for the “citizenship-for-votes” scam in Sabah, although admitting having no proof to back his claim. Continue reading “69-Day Countdown to 13GE – Mahathirism rides again with all its attendant horrors and monstrosities”