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Speaking up on Lahad Datu is patriotism

Stan CH Lee
Malaysiakini
Mar 9, 2013

First off, I wish to put on record my heartfelt sympathies and condolences to the families of the soldiers who laid down their lives for the country. I do not for one moment doubt your courage and commitment to the defence of our country. Malaysians of all backgrounds owe you a debt that can never be repaid.

Defence of the country’s sovereignty is the duty of all Malaysians who love the country. National defence is not something that most people wear on their sleeves. However, this duty extends beyond the physical defence of the country, which is the job of the armed forces.

It should and must include speaking up when things are not right. This is something that we as a people have not done for so many years, having left that to our elected representatives in parliament.

However, the Lahad Datu Invasion weighs heavy on my mind, as it does that of many, many concerned Malaysians. This is not to denigrate nor trivialise the sacrifices made by our armed forces. The dangers are real. Bombs and bullets do fly. Continue reading “Speaking up on Lahad Datu is patriotism”

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Probe Umno links to Sulus

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | March 12, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

The bigger fear among Umno leaders is that any drastic military action would have destroyed the reservoir of potential voters among the Filipinos with Malaysian Identity Cards.

COMMENT

Umno Baru godfather Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government misread the situation in Lahad Datu.

He said: “At first we did not think the intrusion was as an external threat for they [Sulu gunmen] were on our shore. But now that it is clear that the invasion is an attack from outside, the military was ordered to move in.”

Since this was an invasion by a group of foreign nationals threatening the safety of our country and citizens, the army should have stepped in from the very begining.

Why was the Malaysian government dilatory in dealing with the Sulu invaders?

Mahathir claims the government “acted cautiously” because the intruders were Muslims.

But the likelihood is greater that the bigger fear among Umno leaders was that drastic military action would have destroyed the reservoir of potential voters among the Filipinos with Malaysian Identity Cards, beneficiaries of Mahathir’s “Project IC” in Sabah.

To unleash our military might would be to destroy a fixed deposit that has kept Umno-Barisan Nasional in power here for decades. Continue reading “Probe Umno links to Sulus”

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Should Malaysia be saved from Dr Mahathir?

— Bangsa Malaysia
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 11, 2013

MARCH 11 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad may not be standing for elections anymore but ultimately he is just like any politician who will do or say anything to stay in power.

As evidence just take a look at his latest remarks about saving the Malays from the opposition.

As reported in The Malaysian Insider yesterday he has dropped all pretense for a Bangsa Malaysia and has gone for the Malay vote and slammed the Opposition for listening and accommodating the views and needs of the non-Malays.

State news agency Bernama quoted the country’s longest-serving prime minister as saying that Selangor must be saved from the opposition to ensure the rights and position of the Malays and Bumiputeras are maintained in the state.

Really? The Malays and Bumiputeras need saving? Continue reading “Should Malaysia be saved from Dr Mahathir?”

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If security forces given free hand to deal with Sulu gunmen as militants instead of as “intruders, neither militants nor terrorists”, Sabah Sulu crisis would have ended faster and without loss of lives of eight police personnel

Thirty days after the invasion of the east coast of Sabah by a ragtag group of armed militants and terrorists, resulting in the death of eight police personnel in Lahad Datu and Semporna some three weeks later accompanied by the most gruesome, barbaric and savage mutilation of some of the police personnel who were still alive, including finger-chopping, eye-ripping and beheading, the Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Musa, who is also the chairman of the Sabah Security Committee, suddenly realized that the ragtag group of Sulu killers were not “intruders” but “terrorists”!

From yesterday, the media were directed by Musa to stop using the term “intruder” and to use “terrorist” instead.

But what is very strange is that it is not just the media who are guilty of the misnomer, all the top guns in government from political to security leadership, from the three Ministers who drop in and out of Sabah during the duration of the crisis, namely Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, Defence Minister Zahid Hamidi and Foreign Minister Anifah Aman, to the security chiefs including the Inspector-General of Police Ismail Omar and the Armed Forces Chief Gen Zulkifeli Mohd Zin were all guilty for more than four weeks in using the misnomer.

Even the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak when he finally visited Lahad Datuk on March 7, some 26 days after the first landing of Sulu terrorists on Feb. 9, also continued to talk about “intruders” instead of “terrorists” – betraying a serious problem of mindset of those responsible for managing the Sabah Sulu crisis.

There will be many unforgettable photographs preserving for posterity some the bloody and gruesome vignettes from the hitherto 30-day Sabah Sulu crisis. Among these unforgettable pics will be one showing the Home Minister in his first visit to Lahad Datuk on Feb. 18, peering at Kampong Tanduo through his powerful binoculars to survey the armed Sulu group and declaring that although the group was armed, they were “neither militants nor terrorists”. Continue reading “If security forces given free hand to deal with Sulu gunmen as militants instead of as “intruders, neither militants nor terrorists”, Sabah Sulu crisis would have ended faster and without loss of lives of eight police personnel”

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30-Day Countdown to 13GE – Open Letter to Najib proposing Cabinet decision tomorrow to convene special Parliamentary session within a week on Sabah Sulu crisis

I am today issuing this Open Letter to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak:

“YAB Datuk Seri Najib Razak,
Prime Minister,
Malaysia.

YAB Datuk Seri,

Cabinet decision tomorrow to convene special Parliamentary session within a week on Sabah Sulu crisis to condemn cruel, inhuman and barbaric killing of Malaysian policemen by Sulu terrorists and call to Philippines Government to officially drop all claims to Sabah
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I am still reeling from shock, horror and revulsion from the Chinese media reports yesterday about the cruel, inhuman and barbaric killings of Malaysian policemen by Sulu terrorists in the water village, Kampung Simunul in Semporna on March 2 as revealed by the Defence Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi in Ipoh on Sunday – sadistic and savage atrocities like cutting off of fingers, ripping of eyes and beheading when our fallen heroes in Semporna were still alive.

To my knowledge, this is the first time there is official confirmation of such unspeakable atrocities committed by the Sulu terrorists against members of our security forces in Semporna although there had been rumours and later confirmation of uncivilized mutilation and beheading of corpses .

I am addressing this Open Letter to you to urge the Cabinet tomorrow to take an decision of great national importance – to convene a special session of Parliament as the eight fallen national heroes from the police forces in Lahad Datu and Semporna, as well as all the security forces personnel who had suffered injury in the Sabah Sulu crisis, deserve no less than a fulsome tribute and recognition from all Ministers and Parliamentarians, regardless of political party, race, religion or region, in a special Parliamentary session.

On 12th January last year, a special Parliamentary session was convened where all MPs condemned in unison the Israeli atrocities on Palestinians in the Gaza.

YAB Prime Minister’s Cabinet and the 12th Parliament will be seriously remiss in their duties if they are not equally prepared to convene a special Parliamentary session to condemn the atrocities on the Malaysian security forces by Sulu terrorists in Lahad Datu and Semporna. Continue reading “30-Day Countdown to 13GE – Open Letter to Najib proposing Cabinet decision tomorrow to convene special Parliamentary session within a week on Sabah Sulu crisis”

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M’sian caped crusader?

by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Mar 11, 2013

Malays could be the masters of their own destiny, but decades of spoon-feeding, reinforced by an unhealthy belief that they are morally and spiritually superior, has robbed many Malays of the power of critical thought and analysis. It is as if the strain of thinking for oneself, is too great a challenge.

When a Malay criticises the ruling party, he is seen as ‘ungrateful’. He is told that he should be appreciative for all that Umno has done for him – all the opportunities for education and work. It is conveniently forgotten that not all Malays benefit from the New Economic Policy (NEP).

Many middle-class Malay families complain that scholarships or study loans go to the children of well-connected parents. In businesses, and especially in government tenders, the same applies – connections count more than skills or expertise. Many senior politicians and their wives are more commonly known as Mr or Mrs “Ten percent”.

Conversely, Malays have not realised that receiving an education or business opportunity via the affirmative action policies, should not deprive them of a voice. Malays must learn that keeping the government on its toes does not mean that they are unappreciative or disloyal.

Some Malays have a child-like version of the world. In a discussion with a non-Malay, the Malay who cannot present his facts in a logical manner may invariably blurt out, “Go back to where you came from”. It is like the frustrated child who does not get his way and threatens his sibling with, “I’ll tell father what you did”. He does not care about the consequences. He just wants to hurt and get retribution.

When our leaders act in the same manner, this presents a very poor example for the Malays. As an example, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad had encouraged the stripping of Ambiga Sreenevasan’s citizenship because she wanted true democracy. Continue reading “M’sian caped crusader?”

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Who will win the 13th general election?

— Lee Hwa Beng
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 11, 2013

MARCH 11 — The coming 13th general election will be interesting as nobody can say for sure which coalition will win Putrajaya. However, one thing that we can all agree on is that Barisan Nasional (BN) can no longer win a two-thirds majority and whoever wins, the margin of victory will be narrow.

Many analysts have been making forecasts recently but (in my humble opinion), most of these articles are political spin to make their paymasters look good.

As a disclaimer, I have no agenda in providing the below. I have drafted a list of what I think are thought-provoking questions for the astute reader to use in order to come to an informed conclusion on whether Pakatan Rakyat (PR) can improve their GE12 performance.

In my analysis, I have relied on the results of the last elections and sparingly highlighted the results of the by-elections, crossovers and those MPs who have become independents since GE12.

In the last elections, BN won 140 seats and Pakatan 82 seats in Parliament. In Peninsular Malaysia, BN won narrowly with 85 seats to Pakatan’s 80 seats. However, in east Malaysia, Pakatan won only two seats, one each in Sabah and Sarawak, while the rest of the parliamentary seats were won by BN. Continue reading “Who will win the 13th general election?”

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PR leaders are second to none in being patriotic and loyal to Malaysia

– Dr. Chen Man Hin
Life advisor DAP
11th March 2013

The Sulu loyalists to the self appointed Sultan of Sulu, Jamala Kirim III invaded Sabah on the 12th February 2013, the second day of the Lunar New Year.

Soon after Lim Kit Siang MP visited Sabah and travelled to Tawau, Lahad Datu and Felda Sahabat. Despite the hue and cry and the dangers of an invading force, Lim Kit Siang was in Lahad Datu and Felda Sahabat to assess the situation. Incidentally, Kit Siang was in Sabah from the 20th February, while PM Najib went to Sabah on the 2nd of March.

I too was in Sabah for three days last week, against the advice of well meaning supporters.

We went to Lahad Datu out of a sense of duty and loyalty to our country. Armed foreign invaders have landed on the coasts of Sabah. Our country was in danger. Every loyal citizen must help, especially political leaders. Continue reading “PR leaders are second to none in being patriotic and loyal to Malaysia”