Day: June 29, 2013

– Sakmongkol
Malaysiakini
June 29, 2013

A non-issue has become a contentious point by some BN MPs. Debates and opposing views on the King’s Speech are to be treated and judged the same as the slurs made against the King outside parliament – as rebellion against the King. What is happening here?

The standards of mob or crowd judgement –hysterical, unreasonable and clueless are being adopted by mob leaders inside parliament.

The leaders are easily identified- they shout the loudest in parliament and appoint themselves as leaders and spokesmen for the mob outside.

Since Independence, Royal Addresses have always been followed up by adversarial debates.

That has been the practice of parliamentary democracy.

We come to the House to debate on issues – the agenda for ensuing debates being set down by the Royal Addresses. Continue reading “The King’s speech and mob judgment”

The Jonker Walk outrage in Malacca, where the Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Idris Haron is seeking to close down the Jonker Walk night market by some 300 traders on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, by opening up the area to traffic, is among the worst examples of political vindictiveness and retaliation by the Barisan Nasional after the 13th general election.

The claim that the Jonker Walk market is among the causes of a four-hour traffic snarl that stretches up to the Ayer Kerol toll plaza is utterly baseless.

It can probably serve three petty objectives – to take vengeance against the people of Malacca for not supporting the Barisan Nasional in the 13th general election, continuation of the Chinese-bashing indulged by chauvinist UMNO elements like the irresponsible Utusan Malaysia’s “Apa Lagi Cina Mahu” rhetoric, and to make Idris Harun an instant hero and top vote-getter in the UMNO party elections at the end of the year. Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat governments must never commit undemocratic vengeance or vindictiveness like Jonker Walk outrage in Malacca which is nothing but national retaliation”

P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Jun 28, 2013

QUESTION TIME The closing down of the Jonker Walk night market in Malacca’s Chinatown is yet another reflection and manifestation of the hard stand that some people within Umno are taking against the so-called ‘Chinese tsunami’ in the last general election.

While common sense may have prevailed to stop this totally short-sighted move by the new chief minister of Malacca, who is now vigorously backpedalling after his earlier outbursts and his highly irrational justification of the closure, that something like this can happen is a major cause for concern.

Various quarters – and especially Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia – have systematically attempted to fan Malay hatred against the Chinese by perpetrating half-truths, portraying the swing of Chinese votes away from BN as a plot by the community to take over political power.

Although such an assertion cannot be true simply because Chinese voters only form some 28 percent of the total, and the opposition which also has Malay-based parties such as PKR and PAS for whom the Chinese voted, no major Umno leader has come out to openly condemn such blatantly racist and possibly seditious remarks aimed at inciting racial tensions. Continue reading “Going bonkers over Jonker Walk”