Month: May 2013

The statement by the director-general of Registry of Societies (RoS) Datuk Abdul Rahman Othman that many DAP members who were eligible to attend its national congress on December 15 last year did not receive notice to do so is both baseless and most unprofessional.

It is a “political twist” to the RoS investigations into the DAP and I see a political “black hand” behind it – all the way to the new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Zahid Hamidi.

Since becoming the new Home Minister a forthnight ago, Zahid had tried to politicise all the departments under him.

Firstly, being the most “political” Home Minister in partnership with the most “political” Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, he has created mayhem to police priorities, allowing crime and the fear of crime among Malaysians to run riot because he is obsessed with using police powers to crack down on Pakatan Rakyat leaders and social activists – not having said a single word on the primary duty of the police to keep crime rate low as well as to eradicate the people’s pervasive fear of crime.

As a result, Zahid’s two-week term as Home Minister takes on the hues of a return of Mahathirism, with arrests and prosecution of Pakatan Rakyat leaders and social activists while Umno/BN leaders and their kind enjoy immunity and impunity for the most sedious and racist utterances. Continue reading “Zahid may want to be an UMNO “hero” for the upcoming UMNO party elections by being a macho and belligerent Home Minister who dare to declare DAP unlawful even if it is gross abuse of power”

By Terence Toh | May 30, 2013
Poskod.My

“Great Dessert War” originated over a fight over which side was more delicious, soldier reveals.

SUNGAI NIBONG: The so-called Red Bean Army was formed to launch a secret invasion on the Tau Foo Fah Kingdom, a soldier revealed yesterday.

In an exclusive interview, Sergeant Bobo Cha Cha, 43, shared that the army had drafted over 40,000 cyber-troopers, storm troopers, paratroopers and super troopers in a non-stop attack on the Kingdom.

“We were just boys when they recruited us.” A visibly emotional Bobo said. “Barely out of school. They took away our books, and pressed bean rifles and sweet potato grenades into our hands.”

“I’ve seen some horrible things. I wake up screaming in the night, remembering my friends, who were caught in the ruthless gula melaka bombings. One time, we were ambushed by syrup canons. We were forced to retreat.. and we ran right into their atapchi mines. Prisoners of war were forced to endless portions of tau foo fah.”

Bobo added that while their enemies were vicious, it was their superiors whom he and his fellow soldiers particularly hated, due to their utter disregard for their troopers’ well-being. Bobo then rolled up his trouser leg to reveal a prosthetic left foot.
Continue reading “Bawang: Red Bean Army reveals secret battle with Tau Foo Fah”

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s condolences yesterday to the bereaved families who lost their loved ones in the Belaga boat disaster is most appropriate although made two days after the tragedy and after I had made adverse comments on the “silence and indifference” of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister as they “had not said a single word on the Belaga boat disaster in the past two days”.

However, I am very disappointed that apart from calling for “a detailed investigation to determine the cause of the boat tragedy in Sungai Rajang, Sarawak on Tuesday”, both the Federal and Sarawak State governments have continued to ignore the problem of rural road access in Sarawak especially to Kapit and Belaga – which is the root cause of the tragedy of express boat disasters in upriver areas of Sungai Rajang.

The Women, Family and Community Development Minister, Datuk Rahani Abdul Karim yesterday visited Belaga to convey the condolences of the Prime Minister to the families of victims of the Belaga boat tragedy, and a Bernama reported quoted her as saying:

“Yesterday, during the weekly meeting of the Cabinet, the prime minister was so sad over the incident, and he directed me to come (today) as a representative of the federal government.”

This raises the question why Najib or the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin or the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the Malaysian Security Council (MKN) Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim had not visited Belaga themselves to get first-hand information of the Belaga boat tragedy – which they would have done if the Belaga disaster had occurred before the 13GE polling date on May 5.

Why should a difference of 23 days between May 5 and May 28 when the Belaga boat tragedy occurred make such a great difference as to whether the PM, DPM or the Minister in the PM’s Department, would have made a personal trip to Belaga themselves?

In fact, if the tragedy had happened before May 5, even the Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud would have personally visited Belaga himself, instead of just leaving it to Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang. Continue reading “The right of rural communities in Sarawak to equitable development after 50 years of formation of Malaysia, particularly rural road access to Kapit and Belaga, should be one of the main issues of the 11th Sarawak state general elections expected in 18-24 months”

The 13GE UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists thought the rakyat are suckers who could easily fall victim to their lies and falsehoods concocted about the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat, but it is UMNO/BN leaders like the UMNO Vice President and new Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr. Zahid Hamidi who prove to be the real “suckers”.

Before I am accused of using foul or indecent language, let me give one definition of “sucker” which is “Informal. a person easily cheated, deceived, or imposed upon.” http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/suckers?s=t

A case in point is the lies the UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists concoct and weave about the DAP’s so-called “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers to demonise the Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders.

The trouble about the allegations about the so-called DAP’s “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers is that they are so wild and reckless that there is no effort on the part of the UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists to present a consistent and credible version. Continue reading “UMNO/BN “war room” strategists and propagandists thought rakyat are suckers but it is UMNO/BN leaders like Zahid who prove to be real “suckers””

1. “Minister’s daughter injured when victim to snatch thieves” (Sin Chew)

2. “Retired teacher loses her life and jewellery in house break-in” (Star)

3. “Elderly Ipoh woman killed in house robbery” (New Straits Times)

If anybody in Malaysia needs to be convinced that there is a rife, rampant and runaway crime situation in the country, these three headlines in today’s printed media should be adequate and convincing proof, as they are about (i) the 26-year-old daughter of the Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek who lost cash and personal belongings amounting to RM8,000 to two snatch thieves near a hypermarket in Ampang and was slightly injured on her right knee in the 11.50 a.m. incident yesterday; (ii) retired primary school teacher Khalijah Abu Samah, 74, who was killed during a robbery at her home at Kampung Sungai Jai, Beranang, Kajang and (iii) elderly citizen, A. Sampuranan, 75, who was killed in a robbery in her house in Ipoh.

But there is one person who does not seem to be convinced that Malaysians are suffering from an unacceptable and intolerably high rate of crime and prevalent fear of crime – and that person is the new Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar, even though in the first week of his appointment as the No. 1 top police officer, his own sister was victim of a break-in in her bungalow in Mantin in Negri Sembilan and the sister of the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin was also victim of a house break-in in her double-storey bungalow in Petaling Jaya!
Continue reading “Khalid should resign as IGP if he is not prepared to give top priority to roll back the wave of crime in the country instead of carrying out his obligations to his political masters in UMNO/BN”

The questions that should be uppermost in the minds of Malaysians when the Dayaks celebrate Dayak Gawai is whether the Belaga boat disaster on Tuesday, with 179 survivors while 11 others are still missing, was on the agenda of the Federal Cabinet yesterday.

The second question is whether and what did the Cabinet decide to rectify the 50-year failure in equitable development in Sarawak by ensuring road access to Kapit and Belaga.

If the answers are negative to one or both, the third question is what difference has the appointment of seven full ministers and four deputy ministers from Sarawak to the Federal Cabinet made to the thrust of national socio-economic and infrastructure development so as deliver belated socio-economic justice to the rural populace in Sarawak?

In fact, if the tragic Belaga boast disaster had happened before May 5 – the polling day of the 13th general election – either the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister would have visited Belaga with 24 hours to personally convey the condolences of the Federal Government, as compared to the indifference shown by the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, who have not said a single word on the Belaga boat disaster in the past two days.

It is heart-wrenching that despite the express boat tragedy in the middle of the Balui River which is feared to have claimed 11 lives, the Kapit jetty yesterday was as crowded as ever with people desperate to go home for the Dayak Gawai harvest festival this weekend.
Continue reading “Was the Belaga boat disaster on the agenda of the Federal Cabinet yesterday and did the Cabinet take any decision to rectify the 50-year failure in equitable development in Sarawak by ensuring road access to Kapit and Belaga?”

Dakwaan Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar bahawa pihak polis “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dalam menjalankan tugas dan “mereka yang melanggar undang-undang harus berdepan dengan tindakan” adalah tidak masuk akal dan keterlaluan hinggakan mereka tidak boleh bertahan walau seminit penelitian oleh warga biasa.

Sebagai permulaan, bolehkah KPN jelaskan mengapa polis berat sebelah tidak menguatkuasakan undang-undang ke atas bekas hakim Mahkamah Rayuan, Mohamad Noor Abdullah kerana membuat satu kenyataan terbuka yang paling rasis dan menghasut dalam tempoh 44 tahun ini  dan bekas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan,  Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Rahman Arshad  kerana melakukan hasutan dengan menyeru ditutup sekolah rendah kebangsaan Cina dan Tamil?

Jika kita mempunyai pasukan polis yang “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dan yang menguatkuasakan undang-undang tanpa rasa takut atau memihak, kedua-dua Mohd Noor dan Abdul Rahman telah disoalsiasat oleh polis, ditahan dan didakwa di mahkamah di bawah Akta Hasutan.

Biar Khalid menjawab pertanyaan tentang layanan istimewa yang diberikan kepimpinan polis kepada bekas Hakim Mahkamah Rayuan dan bekas  Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan sebelum mengulang kenyataan yang tiada makna seperti pihak polis “adil dan tidak berat sebelah” dalam menguatkuasakan undang-undang.

Adakah pihak polis pernah diberi arahan, secara langsung atau tidak langsung, oleh kepimpinan tertinggi kerajaan dan politik supaya tidak “menyentuh” bekas hakim Mahkamah Rayuan dan bekas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan meskipun terang-terang melakukan kesalahan hasutan? Continue reading “Bolehkah KPN jelaskan mengapa polis berat sebelah tidak menguatkuasakan undang-undang ke atas bekas hakim Mahkamah Rayuan dan bekas Ketua Pengarah Pendidikan meskipun mereka melakukan kesalahan menghasut?”

The claim by the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar that the police are “fair and unbiased” in carrying out their duties and that “those who break the law have to face the music” are so ridiculous and outrageous that they cannot even bear a minute of scrutiny by the ordinary citizenry.

For a start, can Khalid explain police double-standards in not enforcing the law against the former Court of Appeal judge, Mohamad Noor Abdullah for making the most racist and seditious speech in public in the past 44 years and the pro-chancellor of UiTM and former Director-General of Education, Tan Sri Dr. Abdul Rahman Arshad for committing sedition in calling for the closure of Chinese and Tamil primary schools?

If we have a police force which is “fair and unbiased” and which enforces the law without fear or favour, both Mohd Noor and Abdul Rahman would have been questioned by the police, arrested and charged in court for under the Sedition Act.

Let Khalid answer the queries about the special treatment which the police leadership had given to the former Court of Appeal judge and the former Education Director-General Education before repeats meaningless statements like the police being “fair and unbiased” in enforcing the law/

Was the police ever given directives, directly or indirectly, by the top government and political leadership not to “touch” the former Court of Appeal judge and the former Education Director-General despite their blatant and flagrant crimes of sedition? Continue reading “Can IGP explain police double-standards in not enforcing the law against former Appeal Court judge and former Education Director-General despite their offences of sedition?”

by John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
May 29, 2013 10:49AM UTC

National elections on May 5 haven’t cooled political and racial tensions, writes Asia Sentinel’s John Berthelsen

Any hope that May 5 national elections in Malaysia would cool the political atmosphere appears to have been misguided, leaving a country entangled in deepening racial problems and creating the risk of a real threat to the legitimacy of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s reign.

While not calling for Najib’s removal, the prime minister’s most potent critic, former Premier Mahathir Mohamad, damned him with faint praise, telling Bloomberg News in an interview in Tokyo last week that the United Malays National Organization will continue to support him “because of a lack of an alternative.” Continue reading “Malaysia’s deep divides”

by Erna Mahyuni
The Malaysian Insider
MAY 29, 2013

“To boldly go where no man has gone before.” I still get the shivers when I hear that old Star Trek line.

Looking back, things we take for granted now like telepresence conferences, virtual reality and touch screens were mere fantasy, fancies of the imagination.

Dreams matter. But what has happened to our own abilities to dream? The problem, I think, with Malaysians and their leaders is that we set our sights too low.

An educationist told me our English syllabus is so infantile as we must “follow the standards of Malaysian students.”

We want our children to fly and yet assume that all they can do is crawl. Continue reading “Where is the Malaysian Dream?”

by Kong See Hoh
The Sun
28 May 2013

PETALING JAYA (May 28, 2013): Former deputy higher education minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah borrowed the expression “Liu Bei borrows Jingzhou” (… never to return) from the classic Chinese novel Romance Of The Three Kingdoms to illustrate the reason for the Chinese response when MCA “loaned out” Gelang Patah in the 13th general election.

He said the Chinese anger over the move was one of the reasons for MCA and Gerakan’s electoral rout that forced both to stay out of the cabinet.

“I know the Chinese saying (Liu Bei borrows Jingzhou) means borrowing something without ever returning it.

“Regardless of whether Chinese voters agreed with DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, they felt the MCA chief himself should have taken on Lim in Gelang Patah,” Saifuddin, who is an Umno supreme council member, told China Press in an interview published today. Continue reading “Chinese upset that MCA ‘loaned out’ Gelang Patah”

Pengumuman oleh pengarah pengurusan Bukit Aman Mortadza Nazarene bahawa pihak polis akan menubuhkan satu jawatankuasa khas diketuai oleh Ketua Polis Negara Tan Sri Khalid Abu untuk membendung insiden melibatkan kematian di dalam lokap polis amat tidak memuaskan dan tidak boleh diterima, memandangkan apa yang rakyat Malaysia mahukan adalah Suruhanjaya Aduan dan Salahlaku Polis (IPCMC) seperti mana yang dicadangkan oleh Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Polis Dzaiddin lapan tahun lalu pada 2005 bagi menamatkan terus peristiwa kematian dalam tahanan polis yang memalukan dan tidak berkesudahan.

Selepas menunjukkan dirinya sebagai KPN paling “bersifat politik” dalam sejarah pada minggu pertamanya dengan meletakkan keutamaan tertingginya adalah untuk melindungi rejim berbanding keselamatan rakyat Malaysia daripada jenayah dan kebimbangan terhadap jenayah, dengan tidak begitu mengambil kira hak asasi kebebasan bersuara dan berhimpun secara aman rakyat Malaysia, rakyat Malaysia tidak yakin terhadap KPN atau mana-mana jawatankuasa khas polis sekalipun diketuai KPN untuk menamatkan insiden kematian dalam tahanan polis.

Khalid telah menjadi timbalan KPN sejak April 2011 dan rakyat Malaysia berhak untuk tahu apa yang telah dia lakukan sepanjang dua tahun lalu sebagai orang No.2 di dalam pasukan polis dalam menamatkan insiden kematian dalam tahanan polis, satu perkara keji dan memalukan yang ditonjolkan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja Polis Dzaiddin lama dulu pada tahun 2005? Continue reading “Rakyat Malaysia mahu IPCMC menamatkan insiden kematian dalam tahanan memandangkan mereka tidak yakin terhadap sebarang jawatankuasa khas walaupun diketuai oleh KPN sendiri”

DAP terkejut dan kesal dengan tragedi bot Belaga pagi semalam yang mana sebuah bot ekspress karam di Sungai Rajang, dengan 23 penumpang masih hilang ketika operasi mencari dan menyelamat berhenti semalam disebabkan waktu malam.

Setakat ini, 181 penumpang berjaya untuk berenang ke tempat selamat selepas bot ekspress yang dinaiki karam di kawasan Jeram Tukok/Jeram Bungan, lebih kurang empat jam perjalanan dari Sibu.

Siasatan awal menunjukkan bahawa bot ekspres itu telah melebihi kapasiti 67 tempat duduk dan dipercayai terlebih muatan dengan 200 penumpang pulang dari pesta Gawai Dayak, kemudian menghadapi masalah enjin gagal berfungsi sebelum merempuh batu dan karam.

Pengerusi Lembaga Sungai Sarawak (SRB) Datuk Roland Sagah telah mengumumkan satu siasatan penuh akan diadakan terhadap insiden tragis itu, memberi amaran tindakan akan diambil terhadap operator bot kerana gagal mengikut nasihat supaya tidak membawa lebih muatan atau membenarkan penumpang memanjat bumbung apabila kapal terlalu penuh ketika menyelusuri di sungai.

Malangnya, siasatan sedemikian tidak akan mengembalikan nyawa mereka yang telah terkorban di dalam insiden kemalangan bot di Sarawak.

Dua tahun lalu, 13 penumpang terkorban di dalam tragedi bot yang serupa di kawasan Tatau berhampiran pekan Bintulu.

Kemalangan bot Belaga sepatutnya dianggap sebagai bencana negara kerana itu merupakan bukti tragis kegagalan 50 tahun pembangunan di Sarawak yang masih tidak mempunyai akses jalanraya ke kawasan pedalaman. Continue reading “Kemalangan bot Belaga sepatutnya dianggap sebagai bencana negara kerana itu merupakan bukti tragis kegagalan 50 tahun pembangunan di Sarawak yang masih tidak mempunyai akses jalanraya ke kawasan pedalaman”

DAP is shocked and outraged at the tragic Belaga boat disaster yesterday morning where an express boat sank in the Rajang River, with 23 passengers still missing when search and rescue (SAR) operations stopped yesterday because of nightfall.

So far, 181 passengers managed to swim to safety after the ill-fated express boat sank at the Jeram Tukok/Jeram Bungan area, about four hours’ journey upriver from Sibu.

Initial investigation indicated that the express boat had exceeded its capacity for 67 seated passengers as it was believed to be overloaded with over 200 passengers returning home for the Gawai Dayak festivities, and had encountered engine failure before crashing into a rock and sank.

The Sarawak Rivers Board (SRB) Chairman Datuk Roland Sagah has announced a full investigation into the tragic accident, warning of appropriate action against the express boat operator for failing to heed the advice not to overload or allow passengers to climb on the roof when the vessel was too full while plying the rivers.

Unfortunately, such investigations are not going to bring back to life those who have perished in the latest boat disaster in Sarawak.

Two years ago, 13 passengers died in a similar express boat tragedy in Tatau district near Bintulu town.

The Belaga boat accident yesterday should be regarded as a national disaster as it is tragic proof of failure of 50 years of equitable development in Sarawak with still no road access to rural districts. Continue reading “Belaga boat accident should be regarded as a national disaster as it is tragic proof of failure of 50 years of equitable development in Sarawak with still no road access to rural districts”

by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
May 27, 2013

It is simply ironic; Umno Baru’s Najib Abdul Razak, has urged the BN coalition to adapt so that it can maintain its relevance in the future – but behind closed doors, all the Umno Baru politicians fear change.

Why? They fear that Umno Baru will cease to exist because of Meritocracy, Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (MATI) – qualities which no Umno Baru politician displays or can ever hope to attain.

It is alleged that Umno Baru politicians laugh at this MATI joke because they realise the significance of adopting the MATI principles, as MATI means ‘death’ in Malay.

Umno Baru tyrants have exploited the rakyat for their own ends, but anyone who has met Najib or former PM Dr Mahathir Mohamad (left) will be struck by their apparent friendliness and kindly manner. They will be surprised that despite what is written about them; their alleged arrogance and the alleged corruptions carried out on their behalf, they are very different in person.

That is why it is important for members of the rakyat, to understand that the public persona of these men is just a facade. Behind the public masks, lurk other people – men who are responsible for dividing the rakyat and plundering the nation. Continue reading “Umno Baru ‘takut MATI’”

The announcement by the Bukit Aman management director Mortadza Nazarene that the police will be setting up a special committee headed by the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar to curb incidents involving deaths in police lock-ups is totally unsatisfactory and completely unacceptable, as what Malaysians want is an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) as recommended by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry eight years ago in 2005 to put an end once and for all to the scandalous and endless spate of deaths in police custody.

After demonstrating himself in his first week as the most “political” IGP in history whose first priority is to protect the regime rather than the safety of Malaysians from crime and fear of crime, with scant regard to the human rights of Malaysians to freedom of speech and peaceful assembly, Malaysians have no confidence in the IGP or in any police special committee even if it is headed by the IGP to put an end to deaths in police custody.

Khalid had been the Deputy IGP since April 2011 and Malaysians are entitled to know what he had done the past two years as the No. 2 in the police force to put and end to deaths in police custody, a scandalous state of affairs which had been highlighted by the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry way back in 2005?

Even now, despite another two deaths in police lockups – N. Dharmendran, 32, at the KL police headquarters on May 21 and R. Jamesh Ramesh 40 at the Penang police headquarters on May 26 – the police announcement appears to be more of a PR or public relations exercise, as the setting up of the special police committee had not been done but is still in the future tense!

How many deaths in police custody have occurred in the past eight years since the report and recommendations of the Dzaiddin Police Royal Commission of Inquiry in 2005? Continue reading “Malaysians wants IPCMC to end deaths in custody as they have no confidence in any police special committee even if it is headed by the IGP himself”

The new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi is the best example of being “own victim” of the lies of UMNO/BN 13GE “war room” about DAP spending more than a billion ringgit in past six years to employ a 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers to demonise him and other UMNO/BN leaders.

This is again illustrated by today’s Utusan Malaysia, one of the chief instruments of UMNO/BN propangada in the 13GE, which carried a report headlined “Red Bean Army serang kerajaan – Ekoran DAP gagal peroleh kuasa di Putrajaya”, which states:

“Kuala Lumpur 27 Mei – Kecaman serta penghinaan berterusan yang dihamburkan oleh Red Bean Army terhadap kerajaan jelas membuktikan tentera siber DAP itu gagal menutup rasa kecewa kerana tidak berjaya memperoleh ‘kuasa’ di Putrajaya.

“Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata, walaupun beliau sendiri tidak terlepas daripada serangan tentera siber berkenaan, perkara itu adalah lumrah bagi mereka yang bergelar ahli politik.

“Meskipun tidak menyatakan bentuk tindakan yang akan diambil terhadap pihak terbabit, beliau dengan nada sinis memberitahu, mereka merupakan jenis manusia yang hanya tahu menyalahkan pihak lain berbanding diri sendiri.”

I do not believe Zahid suffers from any hallucination about the DAP spending more than a billion ringgit in the past six years to employ a 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” of cybertroopers to demonise him and other Umno/BN leaders.

The kindest thing one can say about Zahid is to regard him as an “own victim” of UMNO/BN 13GE “war room” lies about DAP spending more than a billion ringgit in the past six years to employ 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” cybertroopers to demonise him and other UMNO/BN leaders. Continue reading “Zahid best example of being “own victim” of UMNO/BN 13GE “war room” lies about DAP spending more than a billion ringgit in past six years to employ 3,000-strong “Red Bean Army” cybertroopers to demonise him and other UMNO/BN leaders”

― Tessa Houghton
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2013

May 27 ― Dear EC Deputy Chairman Datuk Wan Ahmad Wan Omar,

I wish to comment on your recent statements in an interview reported in The Malaysian Insider, dated May 27, 2013 (reproduced below):

According to Wan Ahmad, the electoral system used in Malaysia is also used by developed countries that have been practising democracy for a long time.

“Britain, already a few hundred years practising democracy, until now it uses first past the post… Australia, first past the post. New Zealand first past the post mixed a bit with the proportional representation (PR) system. India, the largest democratic country in the world, 800 million voters, first past the post,” he said.

The EC deputy chairman said it would not be possible for PR to win so many seats, including a few states, if the “first-past-the-post” system was unfair.

New Zealand does not, as you state, utilise FPP “mixed a bit” with PR. It utilises the Mixed Member Proportional system (MMP), which is distinct from simple/’single winner’ FPP. New Zealand used to suffer under the same simple FPP system as Malaysia currently suffers from, which resulted in the right-wing National Party consistently gaining power despite a majority of New Zealanders voting for the left-wing Labour Party, and in a lack of recognition of smaller parties. Wide-scale electoral reform was undertaken in 1992 in response to huge dissatisfaction with the system, through a referendum that allowed NZ citizens to decide on their preferred voting system.

Almost 85 per cent of New Zealanders voted to throw out FPP, with over 70 per cent voting to replace it with MMP. A 2011 referendum held to re-gauge New Zealander’s voting preferences found almost 60 per cent of New Zealanders in favour of retaining MMP, and less than half of the 42 per cent wanting change expressing a desire to return to FPP.

As such, your claim that NZ “uses FPP” and conflation of the two systems is a grave misrepresentation of New Zealanders’ opinions on the system of FPP used in Malaysia. Continue reading “Open letter to the EC”

Lim Ka Ea
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2013

Lim Ka Ea is a traveller who sees travel as the answer to all the world’s woes. Writing is a grand love. Ka Ea has had NGO and legal experience.

MAY 27 — There was no cry of jubilation. Neither were there tears of joy.

If you had been in a coma during the past few weeks and were suddenly awakened to the image of the Barisan Nasional’s victory speech on television, you would have thought that someone important had died and the whole nation had gone into mourning mode. Why wouldn’t you when Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his sidekicks looked as if the apocalypse was upon them?

Before you could even make out the hazy details that had preceded such collective sombreness, you found yourself being hit by a train of confusion. “Chinese tsunami” quickly followed by “national reconciliation” — two terms coined together only mere minutes after the announcement of the election results were enough to make me want to crawl back into that coma. Ignorance is after all bliss during moments like this.

As I begin to hear comments pouring in from different public figures and the public, of what they thought of the proposed national reconciliation, I felt sheepishly stupid. Am I the only one who doesn’t understand what it means or what it’s for?

The coma must have impaired my intellectual capacity. Full stop. Continue reading “National reconciliation or retaliation?”

I invite the people of Johor who wish to have questions put up to Ministers in Parliament to email them to the five Pakatan Rakyat MPs in Johor, including email to me at [email protected] .

The proposed questions should reach us by June 3 as the deadline for MPs to submit questions for the first meeting of the 13th Parliament is 5th June 2013.

The 13th Parliament will meet for 16 days from June 24 to July 18, with the swearing-in of the 222 new MPs elected on 5th May on 24th June, the official opening of Parliament by the Yang di Pertuan Agong on 25th June and the working session of Parliament starting with the debate on the Royal Address on 26th June 2013. Continue reading “Johor people invited to submit questions they want to put up in Parliament either to email to five PR MPs by June 3”