Day: January 13, 2014

Yesterday, I titled my blog piece “The Empire strikes back – the plot for a putsch by reactionary anti-democratic forces thickens with the call for a return of Dr M to Putrajaya”.

The online Star today carried an interesting item which is not unrelated to the tale of “The Empire strikes back”.

The online Star report by Martin Carvalho titled “Hasan Malek denies again rumours of resignation” states: Continue reading “Knives are being sharpened for the Night of Long Knives in the conspiracy by Umno reactionaries/anti-democratic forces to remove obstacles in the way of their putsch”

– Richard Loh
The Malaysian Insider
January 13, 2014

Is this equation true:

90% positive + 10% negative = 90% negative + 10% positive

With Malaysia claiming that its education system is among the best in the world there can be no argument that many educated Malaysians would say that this is true.

The above equation is an example of Malaysians learning when they see the 10% of Pakatan Rakyat’s negative performances as equal to Umno-BN’s 10% positive performance – hence terming PR no difference from Umno-BN. The 90% positive performance against Umno-BN’s 90% negative performance is ignored.

Malaysians are using the Selangor Assembly salary hikes, the Jais raid and Penang Chief Minister’s Mercedes-Benz to justify and conclude that PR is no difference from Umno-BN. You have the right to argue that the three issues were wrong, depending on how you judge them and from whose point of view you are hearing and reading from.

There is nothing wrong with the Selangor Assembly salary hike and the Penang Chief Minister’s Mercedes-Benz which I have given my point of views in my earlier two articles here and here. Continue reading “Is Pakatan no different from Barisan?”

Yesterday, the DAP Johore State Convention decided on a twin-engine turboprop Johor DAP state leadership led by Liew Chin Tong as Johore DAP State Chairman and Dr. Boo Cheng Hau as Johore DAP State Assembly Opposition Leader to continue to position Johore as the front-line state of Pakatan Rakyat in Peninsular Malaysia in the 14th General Elections to ensure Pakatan Rakyat’s victory in Putrajaya to form the federal government of Malaysia.

The immediate task of DAP’s twin-engine turboprop Johore leadership is to work out a strategy with Johore PAS and PKR to achieve the first step in Pakatan Rakyat’s Battle of Putrajaya in GE14 – to win over Barisan Nasional’s eight marginal parliamentary and eight marginal state assembly seats in Johore.

Marginal Seats are defined as seats which are won by 55% or less votes.

Based on the 2013 General Elections results and present constituency redelineations, the Barisan Nasional eight marginal parliamentary seats are Labis, Pasir Gudang, Segamat, Muar, Tebrau, Ledang, Sekijang and Pulai. Continue reading “14 GE: Towards Putrajaya! Towards Nusajaya!”

Dr Azly Rahman | 6:00PM Jan 11, 2014
Malaysiakini

What we are seeing in Malaysia these days is a path towards destruction unfolding as a red carpet of a Hollywood show of a movie called ‘Wolves of Putrajaya’. We are seeing hell freezing over – of our own American polar vortex of the failure of our educational, cultural, and political system to mediate dangerous contradictions which may bring us down, tsunamied by the acts of those paid to search and destroy this imagined community of peace-loving Malaysians.

Borrowing a Socrates maxim, at the core of the issue is ignorance and the will to be stubborn to remain ignorant.

We need a multi-culturalist, multi-vocalic, multi-accepting, and multi-diverse brand of liberal democracy to save us. We need the entire nation to embrace what many are fearful of: liberalism. Liberalism will remove the glass coconut shell that has become a comfort zone, especially for the Malays and particularly of the Malay Muslims.
Continue reading “Will liberalism cure malaise-ism?”

By Kee Thuan Chye
Free Malaysia Today
January 13, 2014

Come 2020, Najib – if he’s still PM then – might have the dubious honour of proclaiming Malaysia an advanced nation, but the reality could be far from that.

COMMENT

As we begin the new year and realise that we are only six years away from the magical 2020, when – as Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak has promised – we will become an advanced nation, it might be apt to speculate whether we are ready for it.

From where we stand today, it doesn’t look likely that Malaysia can meet the per capita income and GDP criteria to be considered an advanced nation by then, but if – by some miracle – we manage to, does it mean that, economics aside, we will truly meet the grade of what being an advanced nation is?

I’m looking at it from the layman’s point of view, and what I see now doesn’t convince me that we will. Where we will fail miserably is in the socio-cultural aspect.

We are too tidak apa (in the Malay sense), too chhin chhai (in the Chinese sense), too lax. And while this may be a virtue when it comes to personal relations and avoidance of bickering over trivialities, it is a failing when it comes to performance, achievement and continued success.

We also prefer to take the easy way out, also to avoid conflict. And we generally like to lepak, some even to ponteng. Continue reading “M’sia as advanced nation: Are we ready?”