Day: May 24, 2014

(Media Statement in Teluk Intan on Saturday, May 24, 2014)

On the sixth day of the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election since Nomination Day on May 29, there has been no let-up but intensification of the UMNO/BN campaign to break DAP/Pakatan Rakyat candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud’s political will and fighting spirit with lies, falsehoods and calumnies.

BN candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong talks about wanting to have clean and honest campaign but Dyana is being subject to incessant personal attacks and even character assassination, not only by UMNO Ministers and leaders, but also by Gerakan leaders like Chang Ko Youn and Liang Teck Meng.

These Gerakan leaders want to take the high moral ground of clean elections but they do not hesitate to indulge in gutter politics!

Even before Dyana’s candidature was announced, she was the target of a vicious attack on the social media, with several UMNO cybertroopers posting a photograph allegedly of Dyana in a pink bikini in an attempt to question her character with regard to being a Muslim and wearing such revealing outfits.

In actual fact, it was a photograph of Filipino actress Pauleen Luna. Continue reading “No let-up but intensification of UMNO/BN campaign to break Dyana’s political will and fighting spirit with lies, falsehoods and calumnies with surfacing of Filipino actress’ bikini photo claiming to be Dyana”

(Media Statement in Penang on Saturday, May 24, 2014)

The voters of Bukit Gelugor tomorrow and the voters of Teluk Intan next Saturday should cast every available vote to defend democracy and reject in unmistakable and unequivocal terms the mobocracy advocated by political hooligans in UMNO who stormed the Penang State Assembly, the DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur and the DAP Kuantan branch yesterday.

The various incidents of political hooliganism in the past few days, on the back of the rise racial and religious extremism in the past year since the 13GE last May, with unchecked increase in the volume and intensity of hate-speech and growing intolerance of a moderate approach and a plural society must be stopped immediately and powerfully before they destroy the very fabric of Malaysia’s multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation.

What all right-thinking Malaysians, whether in Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, whether in government, private sector or civil society, must unite and deplore in the strongest terms is the rise of political hooliganism and breakdown of civility in the political arena.

Clearly, Barisan Nasional leaders have lost the art of the founding generation of of Umno, MCA and MIC leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun V.T. Sambanthan “to agree to disagree agreeably” – practise “gentleman politics” without resort to lies, falsehood and calumny or the most corruptive influence of the politics of money.

What is most deplorable is that there is official encouragement and even patronage of such political hooliganism, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassim has emerged as one of the patrons of political hooliganism when he said that it was “natural reaction” by UMNO Youth members to storm the DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur when their party had been challenged. Continue reading “Call on Bukit Gelugor voters tomorrow and Teluk Intan voters next Saturday to punish the political hooligans and cast every available vote to defend democracy and reject mobocracy advocated by political hooligans in UMNO who stormed the Penang State Assembly, the DAP Hqrs in KL and DAP Kuantan branch yesterday”

by TOMMY THOMAS
KiniBiz
May 9, 2014

MH370 AzlanLike billions of people across the globe and millions of Malaysians, I have been following with deep interest the saga of flight MH370 from the morning of Saturday, 8th March when it vanished into thin air. The public relations disaster that ensued, with different authorities contradicting each other and positions shifting daily has embarrassed the nation and MAS beyond repair, at least in the short term. Unfortunately, the release of a Preliminary Report by the Chief Inspector of Air Accidents, Ministry of Transport does not provide any comfort in ascertaining the full truth and restoring credibility. Continue reading “MH370: An avoidable tragedy”

— Ong Kian Ming
The Malay Mail Online
May 24, 2014

MAY 24 — I have the privilege of knowing Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, DAP’s candidate for the parliamentary seat of Teluk Intan, for more than a year. During this time I have found her to be a resourceful, intelligent, diligent and very capable young lady with a bright future ahead of her. I have been inspired by her youthful idealism and energy. I am confident that if elected, she will make the Teluk Intan voters proud to have her as their Member of Parliament. Here are three reasons why I support her candidacy in Teluk Intan.

Firstly, she has shown her ability to think critically and independently on a number of important national issues. And she has demonstrated her ability to defend these her positions despite facing vicious attacks from her detractors. For example, in September 2013, she suggested that poor non-Malays should be given an opportunity to study in a tertiary institution that is similar to UiTM, which was set up with the specific purpose of helping Bumiputeras from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education opportunities. Even though she did not ask for UiTM to be opened up to non-Malays, she was attacked by many high ranking officials and politicians including an Umno Selangor leader and former Minister, Datuk Noh Omar, and the Vice Chancellor of UiTM, Tan Sri Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar.I doubt that many MPs would have stood their ground the way Dyana did in the face of all these attacks. She remained unfazed and steadfast.

Later on, she was not afraid to point out the ludicrousness of a proposal to make UiTM into a ‘Royal’ university in order to ‘protect’ its Bumiputera status especially since one arm of UiTM – INTEC – is already open to non-Bumiputeras.

She is clearly not afraid of calling out top BN-Umno leaders whether it is asking Home Minister, Zahid Hamidi, not to make Malaysia a laughing stock when accusing Mat Sabu of being involved in the Shia movement with any concrete evidence or reminding the former IGP, Tan Sri Hanif Omar, that Dr Mahathir himself had questioned and criticized the Malays. Continue reading “Why I support Dyana Sofya”

by Boo Su-Lyn
The Malay Mail Online
May 24, 2014

TELUK INTAN, May 24 ― While paparazzi had hounded Princess Diana to death, DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud has been tailed by voters in Teluk Intan clamouring to take photographs with her instead.

At walkabouts in night markets at Taman Manik and Taman Desa Bakti in Changkat Jong yesterday, the 26-year-old candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election was stopped almost every few minutes by people of all ages and races wanting to take pictures and selfies with her.

“She’s awesome! She’s beautiful! She’s good!” Syuhada Wandi, a 24-year-old clerk, gushed to The Malay Mail Online at the Taman Desa Bakti night market after posing with Dyana Sofya for a picture.

Dyana Sofya with her rosy apple cheeks and long black hair, was accompanied by DAP members who handed out posters detailing her past experience as a law graduate from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and political secretary to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, as well as her political philosophy.

DAP campaign workers also gave out round stickers bearing various images of Dyana Sofya, such as one of her in a party uniform, hair uncovered, and another of her donning a purple selendang and baju kurung.

Many people at both night markets, which were patronised mostly by Malays, could be seen wearing the stickers on their shirts.

After taking a photograph with Dyana Sofya, machine operator Gurmit Kaur told The Malay Mail Online that the DAP candidate was a talented young woman.

“We like her,” Gurmit told The Malay Mail Online. Continue reading “In Teluk Intan, everyone wants a piece of DAP’s Dyana (VIDEO)”

by Boo Su-Lyn
The Malay Mail Online
May 24, 2014

TELUK INTAN, May 24 ― Fear of ceding even a little of its Malay support to DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud has pushed Umno to work feverishly on convincing the community ― often deemed a secure Barisan Nasional (BN) vote bank – that the young Malay woman’s physical appeal is not what Teluk Intan needs.

The Chinese-majority federal seat has just under 22,000 Malay voters, or 38 per cent of the electorate, but losing Malay votes to the Chinese-dominated DAP could prove an embarrassing defeat for the ruling party that has now poured much of its resources into the historic Perak township.

Changkat Jong assemblyman Datuk Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin, who also heads the Teluk Intan Umno division, said the party machinery has been working till 3am for the past few days in the Malay-majority Changkat Jong state seat.

“I don’t deny that the youth or the Malays may be influenced by the DAP candidate,” Azhar told The Malay Mail Online in an interview at his service centre here.

“Young people are inconsistent. Sometimes, they’re interested in attractive candidates, at other times, responsible candidates. So we must tell them that if they choose wrongly, they’ll suffer because it’ll be very difficult to get development and job opportunities,” he added.

At 38 per cent, the Malays of Teluk Intan are considered a sizeable vote bank behind the Chinese, who form 42 per cent of the 60,349-strong electorate. The Indians make up 19 per cent. Continue reading “Fearful of losing Teluk Intan Malays, Umno works to counter Dyana’s charm (VIDEO)”

– Shamiel Fikri Ishak
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2014

Jika cinta digambarkan sebagai buta. Tidak memandang pada nama, warna, dan darjat. Demikian dimensi baru yang digambarkan oleh politik Malaysia.

Sejak nama Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud muncul sebagai salah satu watak dalam parti politik DAP, dan negara Malaysia amnya, politik baru yang tergambar adalah politik yang buta.

Buta pada perbezaan, buta pada darjat, buta pada penilaian bangsa, buta daripada sikap perkauman. Maka buta sebegini lebih mulia daripada celik. Celik yang menilai kemuliaan dengan bangsa, celik menilai parti dengan sikap perkauman, celik yang memandang pada perbezaan dan kelemahan.

Kata seorang penulis dan tokoh pemikir Amerika, Mark Twain:”Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”

Ya, kebaikan mampu didengari oleh orang yang pekak, hatta bisa dilihat oleh seorang manusia yang buta.

Watak Dyana Sofya yang muncul dalam parti DAP menggambarkan satu dimensi politik baru. DAP yang terkenal dengan parti rakyat berbangsa Cina rupanya tidak pandang pada bangsa. Manakala calon BN yang bertanding di Teluk Intan bersamanya, Datuk Mah Siew Keong sendiri inginkan politik dan persaingan yang matang. Continue reading “Dyana Sofya, dimensi politik baharu”

Josh Hong
Malaysiakini
May 23, 2014

DAP’s decision to field Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as the candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election is not only bold, but epoch-making. More than merely a window-dressing to showcase the party’s multi-racial credentials, the move has changed the dynamics of the campaign in that the party is now directly competing against Umno, the Barisan Nasional’s lynchpin and a world-renowned racist entity, relegating the (even more) Chinese-based Gerakan to insignificance.

In many ways, DAP remains very much rooted in its Chinese constituency – just look at the rousing public speeches – albeit imbued with populism – by Hew Kuan Yew, popularly known as Superman, and the triumphal reception that greets him in Chinese-majority areas.

But the party has begun to demonstrate more and more resolve to become a broad church (I bet some ill-educated and incurious Umno members would scream at the word ‘church’ and the idiom), and now boasts an army of young blood, of whom many are also female professionals, Dyana being just the latest addition.

Moreover, DAP has always maintained the loyal support of the Indian community to a considerable extent, thanks perhaps to the late P Patto, V David and Karpal Singh who did much to prevent the party from becoming parochial and ethnicised.

Dyana is of course not the first Malay candidate on a DAP ticket, but her being a young woman usually without a tudung and, most shocking to Umno, hailing from a true-blue Umno family background, has been portrayed as an original sin by the Malay press.

All hell broke loose and we have seen a stunned Umno dispatch its ruffians to wreak havoc at DAP. Expect more to come as the by-election campaign is gearing into full force in the coming week. Continue reading “Can the Dyana phenomenon last?”