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The Dream Lives On

By Allan CF Goh

The Dream Lives On

Election Day has now come and gone.
But our hopes have not been left alone.
Though BN won half of Malaysia,
Pakatan wins the ambrosia.
PR has won the plurality
With a national majority.
Pakatan ‘has won’ the election
By increasing its representation.

BN won by ways dark, secretive;
Losing its moral imperative.
Though it has won the seats of office,
Pakatan has won folks’ hearts, notice.
The wind of change is still blowing strong,
Most Malaysians still for “ubah” long.
The dream of citizens still lives on…..
For a true democracy to dawn.
Continue reading “The Dream Lives On”

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Disturbing questions surrounding GE13 polling

By Bridget Welsh | 12:05PM May 7, 2013
Malaysiakini

GE13 SPECIAL The GE13 results are in and the BN has managed to hold only power, winning by a 22-seat majority. This result is the worst performance for BN in Malaysia’s history.

For the first time, the incumbent government has lost the popular vote nationally (in 2008, it was only on the peninsula). The BN coalition has still managed to hold onto power. This piece, in a series analysing the election results, looks at the concerns raised regarding the electoral process and the potential impact these issues may have had on the final results.

In analysing the fairness of any polls, one asks whether the irregularities in the process could have affected the final outcome. Were the problems enough to change which coalition would have formed government? These issues will be debated and assessed in the days and weeks ahead. Let me share some preliminary observations that suggest that in this election, some things appear not to be quite right.

Integrity of electoral roll

This was the longest wait for an election, and both sides were extremely active in registering new voters, especially in the urban areas where the party machinery was well honed.
Continue reading “Disturbing questions surrounding GE13 polling”

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BN’s victory ‘superficial’

Jeswan Kaur| May 7, 2013
Free Malaysia Today

BN’s dirty tricks to win the 13th general election will never be forgotten; the time for retribution will come slowly but surely.

COMMENT

Ruling coalition Barisan Nasional has little reason to gloat over its win in the May 5 general election.

Violence, phantom voters and the unreliable indelible ink were only part of the shenanigans BN resorted to in its bid to secure Putrajaya.

Victory however was far from sweet for BN; not only did it fail to reclaim a two-third majority, the 13th general election also sent home the message that the rakyat, in particular the ‘thinking’ generation want “representatives” who respect them, their faiths and who ‘walk the talk’.

Despite BN’s extensive propaganda, good sense thankfully prompted voters to reject candidates such as Malay extremist party Perkasa president Ibrahim Ali who was knocked out by PAS’ Nik Abdul Nik Aziz in Pasir Mas, Kelantan. Continue reading “BN’s victory ‘superficial’”

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Malaysia GE13 an urban, not Chinese swing, say analysts

By Boo Su-LynThe Malaysian Insider
May 07, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 — The outcome of Election 2013 was not simply the result of a “Chinese tsunami” as Datuk Seri Najib Razak has claimed but a major swing in the urban and middle-class electorate that saw Malaysia’s urban-rural rift widen, analysts have said.

In their preliminary reading of the vote trend, analysts noted that despite the increase in Chinese support for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the political tsunami had also swept with it “large numbers of the Malays”, many among them forming part of the country’s middle- to upper-class voters.

“They received Malay middle-class support, especially in urban areas,” political analyst Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin told The Malaysian Insider, referring to PR.

“So the DAP majority increased because of disgruntled Malay young voters’ support… in conclusion, to label racial polarisation is too easy. Two other factors operate simultaneously with race: class (rich-poor, middle class) and spatial (urban and rural),” said the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) founding director of Institute of Ethnic Studies (KITA). Continue reading “Malaysia GE13 an urban, not Chinese swing, say analysts”

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Far from a black day

— Alexandra Wong
The Malaysian Insider
May 06, 2013

MAY 6 — The day after GE13 I woke up to see all-black Facebook profile pictures.

I see something wrong with the picture here. I cast my vote based on the belief that a better Malaysia meant a more effective system of check and balance.

Post-election, I feel we’re still missing the point: we’re not focusing on the real stumbling blocks, the game-changers so to speak.

1) A disconnect with the rural voters, who either don’t care or don’t know about a better Malaysia. As far as they’re concerned, it’s more important to feed their families. If the urban supporters don’t acknowledge and address that, the opposition will always remain opposition. How many urban voters understand that a big part of the real Malaysia lies in the rural areas? How many have even been to a rural village? I have. And it smote me that they were so poor. I visited a Sarawak longhouse once and when I gave a grandma RM100 as a thank-you token, the look of shock and gratitude in her eyes haunted me for a long time afterwards. I found out later that’s how much they earn in one month — to feed one whole family.

2) Our real bogeyman was gerrymandering. As a friend put it, one vote in a Sarawak urban constituency equals six rural votes. Why was it not addressed before the election? That was the deal-breaker. Why were so much resources dedicated to the urban constituencies which were foregone conclusions? At this point, there is no conclusive evidence voting was rigged in some constituencies though I am sceptical of the manner in which some were won but “magic” alone couldn’t have orchestrated so many wins. While all eyes were on the cities with 100k voters, the sub-10k constituencies were quietly narrowing the gap.

The kampung folk were the real king makers. Continue reading “Far from a black day”