Day: May 28, 2014

OLEH HASBULLAH AWANG CHIK
The Malaysian Insider
May 28, 2014

Lim Kit Siang menyifatkan Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud mampu menangkis serangan pemimpin Umno dengan ciri 3B yang dimiliki calon DAP itu bagi bertanding dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Teluk Intan Sabtu ini.

Ketua Parlimen DAP itu berkata, ciri 3B yang ada pada Dyana bukan sahaja membuktikannya seorang yang cantik tetapi berani melakukan perubahan kepada landskap politik di Malaysia.

“Pemimpin Umno kata apa guna undi seseorang yang memakai gincu. Seorang lagi kata Dyana bukan terlalu cantik dan tidak seperti dalam gambar.

“Semua ini jatuhkan politik kepada satu tahap yang sangat rendah. Saya ulangi Dyana ada 3B. Dia ada beauty (kecantikan), brain (kecerdasan) dan bravery (keberanian),” katanya ketika berucap di depan ribuan pengundi Teluk Intan di Jalan Mahkota, malam tadi. Continue reading “Dyana ada 3B tangkis serangan Umno, kata Kit Siang”

Polling day on May 31 is a rare opportunity for Teluk Intan voters of all races to demonstrate that they are more patriotic and better Malaysians than UMNO and Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders.

Dyana Sofya’s candidature on behalf of DAP/Pakatan Rakyat in the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31 has brought unprecedented focus on Teluk Intan which boasts of a history going back to the early 16th century of some 500 years.

The national and international attention enjoyed by Teluk Intan in the past 11 days since the announcement of Dyana’s candidature exceeds all the attention which Datuk Mak Siew Keong could bring to Teluk Intan in his two decades of public life, which includes one term as Pasir Bedamar Assemblyman and two terms as Teluk Intan Member of Parliament, which includes a Deputy Ministership.

I do not think anybody could contradict me even if I say that Teluk Intan had never received so much national and international attention in its 500-year history than in the past 11 days because of Dyana’s candidature in the Teluk Intan by-election. Continue reading “May 31 a rare opportunity for Teluk Intan voters of all races to demonstrate that they are more patriotic and and better Malaysians than UMNO and Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders”

Ram Anand
Malaysiakini
May 28, 2014

ANALYSIS After nine days of campaigning, the fate of the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election could ultimately be decided by voters not even residing in the constituency itself.

A return of these outstation voters would likely result in a DAP victory, while a low turnout could well work in BN’s favour.

Like many small towns in Perak, a large population of Teluk Intan’s registered voters are residing outside the town, mainly working in the Klang Valley.

By BN’s candidate Mah Siew Keong’s estimate, almost 30 percent of registered voters live away and need to return to Teluk Intan to vote, most of whom are young people inclined to the opposition.

This is why DAP has launched a Jom Balik Undi campaign, to urge voters to return to Teluk Intan this Saturday, while its leaders consistently stress the need of a high turnout for the party to confidently win the by-election.

In the last general election, Teluk Intan registered a 80 percent turnout, the highest ever recorded in the constituency.

But with the aim to takeover Putrajaya no longer feasible a year on, it remains to be seen if the outstation voters would return in droves to vote in this by-election. Continue reading “Outstation voters to decide Teluk Intan’s fate”

– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
May 28, 2014

Today, DAP is a much-envied party. Its political ideals and more important, the resolute leadership qualities have gained new adherents.

Young and open-minded Malays are not easily taken by the simple labelling of DAP as a racist and chauvinist party. It is seen as a champion for the underdog, champion for rule of law, for good governance, for the pursuit of policies that are fair and just.

It is fully committed to making changes through the ballot box. It is not a militant group. These are causes that gain traction among Malaysians of all races.

A practical and strategic choice

The choice of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as its candidate for Teluk Intan is both practical and strategic. It was not a choice that went down easily among the DAP grassroots initially.

Eventually, as I have noticed over and over again, the wisdom by the DAP’s CEC prevailed. Continue reading “DAP and the Malay voters of Teluk Intan”

A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2014

Tidak syak lagi Pilihan Raya Kecil Parlimen Teluk Intan pada 31 Mei ini akan menarik perhatian umum kerana ia amat mempunyai signifikan, terutama kerana ia ditandingi oleh seorang calon muda, professional, cerdas – Dyana Sofya daripada DAP.

Lawannya ialah seorang ahli politik veteran daripada Gerakan, Datuk Mah Siew Keong.

Mengapa pertarungan di Teluk Intan ini mempunyai makna yang besar dalam arena politik tanah air?

Untuk pertama kali, DAP/Pakatan Rakyat mengemukakan seorang gadis Melayu profesional untuk bertanding di kawasan itu.

Sekiranya dia menang, maka untuk pertama kali dalam sejarah kawasan itu akan diwakili seorang Melayu dalam Parlimen Malaysia.

Kedua, calon DAP/Pakatan Rakyat ini adalah daripada kalangan ahli politik generasi baru, menentang calon generasi lama.

Berdasarkan demikian ramai pengundi baru seperti yang dilihat dalam pilihan raya umum yang lalu, maka DAP/Pakatan Rakyat merasakan ada keperluan yang amat sangat untuk meletakkan calon muda untuk bertanding di situ.

Maka, saya kira, Dyana Sofya dipilih untuk bertanding mewakili generasi baru, bukan kerana cantiknya, tetapi kerana melihat potensinya untuk menjadi ahli politik yang berjaya. Continue reading “Pertarungan dua generasi di Teluk Intan”

Malaysiakini
May 27, 2014

COMMENT She is no mummy’s girl.

But, as the daughter of Yammy Samat, an Umno loyalist, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud who is contesting a by-election in the northern state of Malaysia is a roaring tiger.

Although soft-spoken, Dyana is the kind of ‘no holds barred’ young woman who would challenge Umno, which has been the backbone of the ruling party since 1951.

As a Malay candidate for the predominantly Chinese DAP, where 41.9 percent of its voters are Chinese, Dyana has a tough battle ahead to woo voters in Teluk Intan, dominated by three major ethnic communities – with a total of 25,310 Chinese, 23,301 Malays and 11,468 Indian voters.

Traditionally, a seat held by Gerakan, from the ruling BN, her DAP predecessor, Seah Leong Peng, was able to win the seat in last year’s general election with a majority of 7,000. Seah’s unexpected departure on May 1 due to cancer left the seat vacant.

Dyana is up against the 53-year-old Mah Siew Keong, who is both Gerakan party president and a two-term MP for the constituency, before losing to DAP’s M Manogaran in 2008. Continue reading “Will ‘David’ beat ‘Goliath’ in Teluk Intan?”

Shahrulazwad Ismail
The Malay Mail Online
May 27, 2014

26 MEI — Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) sering diperdebatkan baru-baru ini semenjak pencalonan calon parti politik DAP, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud untuk kerusi Parlimen Teluk Intan. Pada tahun lepas, Dyana yang merupakan seorang graduan Fakulti Undang-Undang UiTM telah mencadangkan agar sebuah institusi seperti UiTM dibuka kepada golongan bukan bumiputera yang berpendapatan rendah.

Sesetengah pihak menganggap Dyana mahu UiTM dimansuhkan ataupun paling tidak dibuka kepada semua kaum. Dyana turut juga membangkitkan kepincangan dalam pengambilan pelajar apabila golongan Bumiputera yang kaya diterimamasuk sebagai pelajar lantas telah mengambil hak golongan bumiputera yang miskin untuk belajar di situ.

Sekurang-kurangnya satu kesan positif yang timbul daripada isu panas ini ialah timbul kesedaran tentang peranan UiTM dikalangan rakyat walaupun diiringi dengan pelbagai kritikan, prasangka dan juga hinaan dan cacian secara terbuka di media-media. Saya yakin ramai sudah maklum serba sedikit tentang sejarah dan matlamat penubuhan institusi ini dan tidak kurang juga tentang Artikel 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Pelbagai hujahan telah ditulis oleh pelbagai pihak baik dari pihak UiTM, para graduan UiTM (selain Dyana), para majikan dan tidak kurang juga golongan awam. Eloklah kita ambil kesempatan ini untuk menilai tahap kejayaan UiTM ketika ini dan mengenalpasti halatuju selanjutnya.

[Harap maklum bahawa penulis juga merupakan graduan Fakulti Undang-Undang UiTM sejak sepuluh tahun yang lepas.] Continue reading “UiTM, antara tanggungjawab sosial dan kecemerlangan”

John R.Mallot
Malaysiakini
May 27, 2014

In ancient days, kings claimed that they had a divine right to rule, and that they were accountable only to God. They thought that they and the country were one and the same, and that everything and everyone belonged to them.

They could confiscate your lands and wealth, or they could give you property and riches. They could lock you up in the Tower, or make your dreams come true. It was all up to them. King Louis XIV, who ruled France for 72 years, famously said, “L’etat, c’est moi” – I am the country.

And so it is with Umno. Because it has ruled Malaysia continuously since independence in 1957, Umno has come to believe that it, the government, and the nation are all one and the same.

Because it is the self-proclaimed defender of the Malay race – a people whom Umno says are still constantly under threat despite 57 years of protecting their interests – Umno thinks that all Malays should support it.

If a Malay does not, then they risk being denied business and educational opportunities, tried for sedition, or even branded as a “traitor,” as Umno Wanita leader Shahrizat Abdul Jalil brazenly suggested DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was one last week. Continue reading “Teluk Intan and the divine right of rulers”