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Open letter to the people of Teluk Intan

By Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud | MalayMailOnline
May 29, 2014

To the good people of Teluk Intan,

It has been an exhausting but exhilarating two weeks since I was nominated by my party to be the candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election. I have experienced more in the last two weeks than any time in my 27 years of age.

Suddenly, I became the centre of attention of UMNO Ministers who could not resist taking digs at my looks. Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan asked voters not to support me just because I put on “lipstick”. Datuk Zahid Hamidi remarked that I am “not so pretty in person”. Datuk Ahmad Maslan stressed that even his wife, or Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s, would win if it were a beauty contest.

My looks and appearance are not important at all in this very important by-election. I did not sign up with DAP to take part in beauty pageants. I call upon the voters of Teluk Intan to judge me for my ideals, my principles and my dreams for a better Malaysia. I want to win this election not because of my appearance, but because of my ability to make a difference in the Malaysian political landscape in the highest legislative institution of the country.

My opponents have attacked me viciously behind nameless blogs aligned to Barisan Nasional (BN), as well as anonymous leaflets denigrating me with fake pictures and spurious allegations of my moral ethics. During the visits to some evening markets, there were UMNO bullies who heckled, disrupted and attempted to block the campaign trail. Continue reading “Open letter to the people of Teluk Intan”

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Vote for Mah? Uhmmm no!

By Gayatri Unsworth | The Malaysian Insider
MAY 30, 2014

Just a little over a year ago, Malaysia stood quivering at the prospects of a new dawn. Millions thronged to the polling booths, to have their fingers stained with special ink that was about as ineffectual as Ridhuan Tee’s sense of logic.

Anyhow, this not-so-indelible ink, which we paid a fortune for by the way, because as a country we are so exceedingly wealthy that we can afford to spend gazillions on things which don’t really work such as non-sinking submarines and 1Malaysia campaigns, was only the first in a very long list of vexations to come out of last year’s general election.

Though a record number of Malaysians turned up to give the Election Commission the finger (I only meant for the applying of the ink of course) and to make our downtrodden voices audible, our collective despondency was no match for a system so skewed, that I’m really beginning to suspect that somewhere along the way, we simply got terribly confused and started mistakenly spelling D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y for D-I-C-T-A-T-O-R-S-H-I-P.

And truth be told, that would be perfectly understandable, considering our stellar record as far as English language education goes. Continue reading “Vote for Mah? Uhmmm no!”

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UMNO/BN pulling out all the stops to launch the dirtiest last 24 hours of a by-election campaign in Teluk Intan

(Media Statement in Teluk Intan on Friday, 30th May 2014)

The Gerakan President and Barisan Nasional candidate for Teluk Intan by-election, Datuk Mah Siew Keong, hit the nail on the head yesterday when he described the Teluk Intan by-election as the dirtiest in Teluk Intan.

He is right except that it is UMNO/BN “hired guns” who are responsible for making the Teluk Intan by-election the dirtiest in history.

In fact, Mah must accept responsibility for this deplorable state of affairs as all the dirt of lies, falsehoods, personal attacks and character assassination especially on the DAP/PR candidate Dyana Sofya emanate from the UMNO/BN quarter, and it is just not acceptable for Mak to disclaim responsibility or pretend ignorance about such a major political and electoral scam.

When asked by reporters, Mah has struck a pose of ignorance and innocence, claiming ignorance of the various election promises made by UMNO Ministers and Deputy Ministers (which are violations of the election laws) or the massive vote-buying whether through money or the free distribution of hampers.

But how long can Mah keep this stance of ignorance when he should bear responsibility for the entire UMNO/BN by-election campaign as the candidate, instead of pretending innocence on the ground that he did not hear or was not present when Umno Ministers and Deputy Ministers violate the election laws making promises to induce voters to vote for him tomorrow. Continue reading “UMNO/BN pulling out all the stops to launch the dirtiest last 24 hours of a by-election campaign in Teluk Intan”

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DAP dakwa risalah fitnah bertaburan di Teluk Intan

Oleh Hasbullah Awang Chik
The Malaysian Insider
May 30, 2014

Menjelang tempoh berkempen yang akan tamat tepat jam 12 tengah malam ini, pelbagai risalah ditaburkan di sekitar bandar Teluk Intan bagi memburuk-burukkan parti DAP dan calonnya Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang mengakui apa yang dikatakan calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Datuk Mah Siew Keong mengenai kempen di Teluk Intan paling kotor itu benar tetapi ia bukanlah angkara DAP atau Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“Kita lihat dalam tempoh 24 jam pelbagai risalah dibanjiri di Teluk Intan dengan pelbagai bahasa, fitnah, dusta dan pembohongan. Antara fitnah yang dilemparkan adalah agenda tersirat DAP jika diberikan kuasa menerusi kemenangan Dyana, mengatur strategi mengusir keluar orang Melayu.

“Siapa yang mahu bertanggungjawab? DAP, Pakatan atau Umno BN? Mah boleh kata dia tak tahu. Semua pun tak tahu. Politik seksis, serangan hamper, politik wang, serangan politik Umno. Semua tak tahu. Ini pun dia tak tahu,” katanya pada sidang media di Pusat Operasi DAP di Teluk Intan, hari ini. Continue reading “DAP dakwa risalah fitnah bertaburan di Teluk Intan”

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LETTER: Smear campaign against Dyana Sofya exposes backward collective mindset

by Joshua Teh Honguan
fz.com
May 29, 2014

THE response to the nomination of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the vacant Teluk Intan parliamentary seat has shone an uncomfortable light upon our society and the way in which we view women.

The smear campaign, the cat calls, wolf whistles, labels of ‘pretty face’, ‘cheap candy’, and ‘puppet’ are symptomatic of the deep running sexism prevalent in Malaysian politics and society as a whole.

In objectifying women and refusing to perceive a woman as something more than a pretty face, we disregard her intellectual capability and personal worth. As long as we continue to judge women solely on their looks, we will never be able to embrace their true value.

The uncouth reaction towards Dyana Sofya coupled with an inability or refusal to see beyond her appearance does her a disservice as an individual and as a political candidate. Worse, it exposes a backward collective mindset that we should be ashamed of. Continue reading “LETTER: Smear campaign against Dyana Sofya exposes backward collective mindset”

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Awful but True: Pings Were Not From Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Clive Irving
The Daily Beast
05.29.14

Australia called off the search Thursday, implying the stunning news the sounds heard in the Indian Ocean were not from the black boxes.

Expectations that the remains of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 would be found soon have been dashed. The Australian leaders of the operation have announced the end of the search of an area extending over 329 square miles of the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles northwest of Perth, Australia. “The area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370,” the Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre said Thursday.

Early in April this area was said to be the most-promising target for the search. The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, tracking along a 205-mile arc, reported detecting four separate sets of ping signals believed to be coming from the missing Boeing 777’s flight recorders. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said “We are confident that we know the position of the black box flight recorder to within some kilometers.”

The Australians did not confirm Thursday, in so many words, what CNN first reported, that a U.S. Navy official has said that the pings were not, in fact, from Flight 370’s recorders—although that is implicit in Australia’s statement announcing the end of the search in that area. CNN quoted Michael Dean, the Navy’s deputy director of ocean engineering, saying of the pings that “our best theory at this point is that they were likely some sound produced by the ship…or within the electronics of the Towed Pinger Locator.” Continue reading “Awful but True: Pings Were Not From Malaysia Airlines Flight 370”