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Three slaves and the rakyat

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Nov 25, 2013

The three women in London who were imprisoned as slaves have much in common with the Malaysian rakyat. Their escape plan was hatched in secrecy but their story, which is slowly unfolding, has shocked the world. It is doubtful if many Malaysians realise the similarities between themselves and these three women.

For the past 30 years, the women were forced to serve a married couple from India and Tanzania. The oldest woman was a 69-year-old Malaysian who was denied medical treatment when she suffered a stroke, another was a 59-year-old Irish woman, and the youngest was a 30-year-old, who grew up in this family.

The women cleaned, cooked, shopped, ran errands and cared for their masters. As punishment, they would be beaten but despite their treatment, were too terrified to escape when an opportunity to flee presented itself.

The women were imprisoned for three decades, but the Malaysian rakyat have been metaphorically imprisoned for the most part of 56 years. The women were described as having been shackled by “invisible handcuffs”, just like the Malaysians.

Despite being aware of the injustices and abuse of power, older Malaysians are reluctant to embrace change. The married couple are just like the leaders of Malaysia. The tools of control for both the London slaves and Malaysian rakyat, are a combination of threats and emotional blackmail. Police said that the mental hold on the women was strong and “cult-like”.

Umno Baru leaders know how to pitch their stories. For instance, older and more conservative Malays are told that a vote for the opposition would mean that the Chinese and Christians would overrun Malaysia. Continue reading “Three slaves and the rakyat”

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DAP, PAS dan PKR mencapai keputusan terbaik di peringkat parlimen dan negeri menerusi kerjasama ketiga-tiga parti dalam pilihanraya umum tahun 1999, 2008 dan 2013

Dalam pilihanraya umum tahun 1999, ketika berdepan dengan cabaran empat parti Barisan Alternatif yang terdiri dari DAP, PAS, PKR, dan Parti Rakyat, juru strategi dan propaganda Umno/BN menggunakan pendekatan lidah bercabang dalam kempen mereka dengan memberi amaran kepada orang Melayu bahawa “DAP + PAS = Islam Hancur” dan pada masa yang sama mereka memberitahu Cina bahawa undi untuk DAP sama dengan undi untuk PAS dan Negara Islam, sebuah negara yang tidak mempunyai babi, alkohol, kuil, gereja, karaoke, dan sekolah Cina; semua perempuannya perlu menutup kepala; perempuan cantik tidak akan mendapat kerja; dan hukuman potong tangan dan kaki akan dilaksanakan.

Umumnya, pengundi Melayu dalam pilihanraya tahun 1999 tidak terpedaya dengan helah tersebut, sedangkan pengundi Cina menjadi mangsa pembohongan dan gertakan Barisan Nasional. PAS lalu muncul sebagai pemenang terbesar dalam Barisan Alternatif apabila ia berjaya memenangi 27 kerusi parlimen, 98 kerusi negeri, dan membentuk kerajaan negeri Terengganu selain Kelantan yang memang telah dikuasainya, manakala DAP berdepan kekecewaan besar apabila berjaya mendapatkan hanya 10 kerusi parlimen dan 11 kerusi DUN. PKR memenangi 5 kerusi parlimen dan 4 kerusi DUN.

Dalam Pilihanraya Umum 2013, berdepan dengan cabaran Pakatan Rakyat, penyusun strategi dan propaganda Umno/BN kembali menggunakan pendekatan lidah bercabang dan menyebarkan pembohongan. Mereka mengingatkan Melayu bahawa PAS akan menjadi boneka DAP, manakala Cina pula diingatkan bahawa DAP akan menjadi alat PAS.

Tidak seperti Pilihanraya Umum 1999, pengundi Cina tidak termakan umpan Umno/BN dalam pilihanraya tahun 2013. Bagaimanapun, tidak seperti Pilihanraya Uum ke-10, pembohongan yang disebarkan oleh Umno telah memberi dampak pada pengundi Melayu.
Continue reading “DAP, PAS dan PKR mencapai keputusan terbaik di peringkat parlimen dan negeri menerusi kerjasama ketiga-tiga parti dalam pilihanraya umum tahun 1999, 2008 dan 2013”

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Rosmah oh Rosmah … Ready, Get Jet, Go!

By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
Nov 24, 2013

Rosmah oh Rosmah, you are so endearing that Malaysians love you. So much that they are questioning why you used the Government’s jet to fly to Qatar for the International Business Women Forum earlier this month. And why you took with you the MP Azalina Othman, your hubby’s special adviser Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and several ministers’ wives.

Minister Shahidan Kassim said you went on “official business”, and that the Cabinet approved your use of the jet. Your own special officer Siti Azizah said you went to Qatar in the national interest.

She even explained what she meant: “It was not for personal reasons. … [Rosmah] does not represent the Government, but she went there for the sake of the Government’s interest. She is the prime minister’s wife, she went to give the keynote address [at the forum]. So she made the address not as a government representative, but in the national interest.”

Not a government representative and yet doing it in the national interest? Hmmmm … can what, right? Why not? Even many ordinary Malaysians go overseas to do things in the national interest without their even knowing it what, right? Like when they go on holiday and tell the foreigners they meet what a nice country Malaysia is or how delicious Malaysian food is. That’s in the national interest. That’s boosting tourism. Continue reading “Rosmah oh Rosmah … Ready, Get Jet, Go!”

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Impian Sabah – like Impian Sarawak is an integral part of DAP’s commitment in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream to create a Malaysia for all Malaysians

In the 13th General Election, Pakatan Rakyat had targetted 33 seats from the 3 UMNO-BN “fixed deposit” states of Johor, Sarawak and Sabah. We failed to achieve our targets and won only 14 seats, with Sabah winning the least – 3 parliamentary seats – Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Penampang.

We were however able to “destroy” the “fixed deposit” moniker for Johor and Sarawak, by increasing our votes received significantly. For Johor, Pakatan Rakyat was able to increase our popular votes by 10.3% to 45%, while for Sarawak, we increased by 8.9% to 37.3%.

However, for Sabah, we were only able to increase our votes by 3.4% to 35.9%.

Hence it is undeniable that Pakatan Rakyat must pull out all stops to increase our electoral support in the state with 26 parliamentary seats (including Labuan).

Sabah should logically be the state most ripe for change given the degree of corruption and mismanagement, the poverty level and the lack of employment opportunities as well as the infiltration of illegal immigrants with the associated social and security problems.

Despite being among the richest state in natural resources, as well as being the richest state per capita income in the early 1970s, Sabah is now the state with the highest poverty rates in the entire country. As late as 2010, 43% of Sabahan households do not have access to clean or treated water while nearly 20% do not have access to electricity.
Continue reading “Impian Sabah – like Impian Sarawak is an integral part of DAP’s commitment in pursuit of the Malaysian Dream to create a Malaysia for all Malaysians”

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DAP, PAS and PKR achieved their best parliamentary and state assembly results during their tripartite co-operation in the 1999, 2008 and 2013 General Elections

In the 1999 General Elections, faced with the challenge of the four-party Barisan Alternative comprising DAP, PAS, PKR and Parti Rakyat, UMNO/BN strategists and propagandists launched a fork-tongued campaign, warning the Malays one the one hand that “DAP Plus PAS Equals Islam Hancur (destroyed)” while on the other hand warning the Chinese that a vote for DAP was a vote for PAS and an Islamic State where there would be no pork, no alcohol, no temples, no churches, no karaokes, no Chinese schools, women would have to cover their heads, beautiful women could not find jobs and that there would be the chopping of hands and feet.

By and large, the Malay voters in the 1999 general elections did not take the bait but the non-Malay voters, particularly the Chinese voters, fell victim to the campaign of falsehoods and fear generated by the Barisan Nasional, resulting in an outcome where PAS was the biggest winner in the Barisan Alternative as the largest parliamentary opposition with 27 MPs and 98 State Assembly representatives, capturing Terengganu state government in addition to Kelantan while DAP suffered severe setbacks, securing only 10 parliamentary and 11 state assembly seats. PKR won 5 parliamentary and 4 state assembly seats.

In the recent 2013 General Elections, faced with the challenge by Pakatan Rakyat, Umno/BN strategists and propagandists returned to their traditional fork-tongued campaign of lies and falsehoods, warning the Malays on the one hand that PAS would be a puppet of DAP while warning the Chinese on the other hand that DAP would be a stooge of PAS.

Unlike the 1999 General Elections, the Chinese voters did not take the Umno/BN bait in the 2013 polls. However, unlike the 10th General Elections, the UMNO campaign of lies and falsehoods made some impact on the Malay voters.
Continue reading “DAP, PAS and PKR achieved their best parliamentary and state assembly results during their tripartite co-operation in the 1999, 2008 and 2013 General Elections”