Day: April 23, 2013

Yesterday, I was on a 20-hour 700-km four-state campaign trail, from Gelang Patah to Malacca, Rasa in Ulu Selangor parliamentary/Kuala Kubu Baru state assembly constituencies in Selangor, then to the three Parliamentary constituencies in Perak in Teluk Intan, Lumut and Bruas, ending in Ipoh.

Wherever I went, there were large throngs of Malaysians from all races and religions, representing the Malaysian microcosm of a plural society, united and excited by the common hope and aspiration that the country undertake the greatest political enterprise in the nation’s 56-year history – a peaceful and democratic change of the Federal Government in Putrajaya.

Although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak want Malaysia to become the world’s best democracy, we still have to establish the preconditions for Malaysia to become a normal democracy before we can really aspire to be the world’s best democracy.

One of these pre-conditions of a normal democracy is the peaceful and democratic alternation of power in general elections, where voters exercise the final and undisputed right to decide whether it is the incumbent or the Opposition which should form the government of the country for the next four or five years until the next national polls!
Continue reading “If Najib cannot implement his Transformation Agenda with a strong 58-MP majority, there is no hope that he could ever “walk the talk” in transforming Malaysia after the 13GE”

MCA cuba memancing undi dengan menghina umat Islam di Malaysia dan UMNO pula berdiam diri membiarkan Islam dihina. Inilah kerjasama MCA dan UMNO dalam Barisan Nasional yang telah pun dan akan terus memecahbelahkan perpaduan kita sebagai rakyat Malaysia.

Saya kesal dengan tindakan MCA yang menggunakan akhbar The Star yang dikuasainya untuk menyiarkan iklan-iklan politik yang menghina orang Melayu dan mempermainkan agama Islam.

MCA sengaja berbuat demikian untuk menunjukkan kepada kaum Cina bahawa ia tidak akan tunduk kepada orang Melayu dan Islam.

Manakala UMNO pula berdiam diri dan tidak berani mempertahankan Islam dan Melayu kerana mahu membiarkan MCA memperolehi undi kaum Cina melalui cara yang kotor dan keji ini.

Dalam iklan The Star hari ini di muka surat 25, iklan bertajuk “Why is DAP silent?” (Mengapa DAP berdiam diri?) mengutuk kerajaan negeri PAS-Pakatan Rakyat Kedah yang didakwa merobohkan tempat menyembelih haiwan, mengharamkan panggung wayang, mengharamkan persembahan seni oleh wanita dan mengharamkan sambutan Hari Valentine.
Continue reading “12-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: MCA cuba pancing undi dengan menghina Islam – UMNO berdiam diri membiarkan Islam dihina”

By P Gunasegaram | 4:26PM Apr 19, 2013

QUESTION TIME It looks like other Malaysian bodies besides those responsible for curbing corruption are being “naughty and dishonest”, the latest being the Registrar of Societies (ROS) which has draconian powers to oversee societies, including political parties.

Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud famously (notoriously?) labelled the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) investigation of himself for graft as “victimisation”, and reserved his cooperation because he believed that they have been “naughty and dishonest”.

“They (MACC) don’t deserve my cooperation because they have been naughty… and they have not been honest,” he said recently.

Change some names, and the DAP is now a victim of “naughty and dishonest” investigation by the ROS. This is likely closer to the truth than the MACC allegations by Taib who continues unscathed despite everything. What’s more, delve deeper into the latest issue and you will wade deep into a conspiracy theory to rival any book by Jeffrey Archer.

The DAP – yes, to its discredit then – had a “technical glitch” during its December elections for the central executive committee (CEC) which resulted in a minor revision to its election results. The studious ROS began investigations, but only decided not to recognise DAP’s CEC several months later, yesterday – just two days before nomination day. How convenient.
Continue reading “Naughty, dishonest ROS”

By William Pesek | April 22, 2013 10:00 PM EDT
Bloomberg

In his bid for re-election, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak has dispensed with all shame. Vote for me, he has essentially declared, or Malaysia will suffer “catastrophic ruin” and an “Arab Winter” of the kind that has undone economies from Egypt to Libya.

Both warnings are ludicrous — signs of how worried Najib’s National Front coalition is of losing power for the first time since 1957. They speak to the desperation of a government that has come to serve itself, not Malaysia’s 29 million people. And they are emblematic of a leader whose talk of bold change hasn’t been matched by action.

Najib’s claim is this: Giving the opposition, led by former Finance Minister Anwar Ibrahim, a chance to lead on May 5 would reverse all the gains Malaysia has made since the 2008 financial crisis. The economy would crater, stocks and the currency would plunge, and chaos would reign.

Change through the ballot box in a democracy should never be disruptive or chaotic, and rhetoric suggesting otherwise is disingenuous. Najib likes to say: “The time has come for Malaysians to make a decision.” Actually, the time has come for Malaysia’s government to grow up.
Continue reading “Malaysia Needs to Get Off the Road to Mediocrity”

Press statement of Group of Concerned Citizens on the General Election
CPI ASIA

We are a group of Malaysians from diverse ethnicities, religions and backgrounds including military, academic, business, professional and the not-for-profit sector. We have been drawn together by our love for our country and our concern that this general election may see further setbacks in our aspiration for a better society.

Malaysians need a better government and good governance, especially in these tumultuous times of heightened racial discord and religious hatred and extremism.

If we succeed, we can be a modest example for the rest of the world in the way we tackle our racial and religious differences and in our resolve and actions to ensure social justice and the fair distribution of the wealth of our land.

Past governments and politicians have too often failed us by abusing the public treasury for private gain, by concentrating wealth and power in the hands of a few, and by debasing our democratic rights. For some years now, we have been one of the top countries in the world in terms of illicit outflows of money. According to Global Financial Integrity, the total 10-year estimate of financial outflow for Malaysia was RM871.4 billion for 2000-2010. No country in the world can afford such a high level of capital flight.
Continue reading “Vote to ensure a better Malaysia”

BY IDA LIM, MOHD FARHAN DARWIS AND DEBRA CHONG
APRIL 22, 2013
The Malaysian Insider

JOHOR BARU, April 22 — While Pakatan Rakyat (PR) leaders on their campaign trail have been feted like rock stars in the Chinese-majority areas across Johor, the muted response from the Malay-dominant neighbourhoods shows the opposition has a long and uphill road to victory in the May 5 polls.

Several PR leaders have acknowledged so.

“I’m seeing positive signs but Ghani still has the advantage,” DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang told The Malaysian Insider last night after wrapping up a night ceramah in Pulai Perdana, a fringe Malay residential neighbourhood chock-a-block with car service workshops.

The 72-year-old Gelang Patah MP candidate is up against four-term Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman in the parliamentary constituency where Chinese make up 52 per cent, while Malays and Indians account for 34 per cent and 12 per cent of the registered voters there.
Continue reading “Still uphill for Johor Malay vote, admit Pakatan leaders”

The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — On Saturday, Ong Ai Sam, 52, fended off two robbers in a desperate bid to buy her daughter time to escape. She succeeded, but paid for it with her life.

This is the message her daughter wishes she could hear.

My mother, my hero

I remember. I remember everything.

A few months ago in English class, my teacher asked us to write about the person who we admire. I wrote about my mum. A month ago for my English March Test paper, the topic I wrote about was “My Hero”. I wrote about my mum. During my test, I had writer’s block so I simply wrote out everything i knew about my mum: her childhood, achievements, etc. My mum is my hero. She always has been, she always will be.

20th April 2013.

Mama left early in the morning for some event her Kiwanis Club’s K-Kids had planned. She came back home with lunch for me and Milo ais. I remember grumbling to her because I didn’t want to follow my parents jungle trekking. I did anyway. We had to set up a trail for my father’s running group so mama was carrying a bag with just plain paper in it. I remember grumbling to my mum as we went up and down the hills of Gasing. She told me we’d be out soon. After two hours of trekking in the jungle, we finally hit the road. It was the road in Gasing leading up to the temple. We decided to walk back down to the car.
Continue reading “In cyberspace, a daughter remembers ‘mother, hero’”

Stuart Grudgings, Reuters
8:50AM Apr 22, 2013

Lim Guan Eng, the hyperactive caretaker chief minister of Malaysia.s Penang state, is not the type to miss a good photo-opportunity, so there were plenty of witnesses when he handed over the keys to his government Mercedes ahead of a May 5 general election.

Integrity is a central battle cry for Malaysia’s disparate three-party Pakatan Rakyat opposition as it pursues its best chance of ending 56 years of rule by the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

“The official cars should not be misused for our own personal use,” Lim, a 52-year-old ethnic Chinese, told reporters as his administration shifted to caretaker status this month. “This is the integrity held by the state administration.”

Five years after the opposition took control of four state governments, northwestern Penang will be Exhibit A in its case that it can make South-East Asia’s third-largest economy cleaner and more competitive.
Continue reading “Pakatan sees state model guiding path to power”