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Dyana wins our hearts

– Amar Singh & Lim Swee Im
The Malaysian Insider
June 01, 2014

Dear Dyana Sofya,

You may have lost this small election but you have won the hearts of many, many Malaysians. Despite the ugly ways and attempts to shame or demonise you, we are pleased you did not sink down to the level of those who were shameless in their behaviour.

We know you are ethnically Malay, but throughout this campaign it was clear you are first a Malaysian and stand for all Malaysians. So we seldom think or see you as a Malay, but more as our fellow sister and Malaysian.

It is vital that all of us move away from any form of ethnic politics, ethnic decision-making, ethnic criteria in selection, etc., as this just divides us further. So we are delighted with your stand of inclusiveness.

We want to assure you that you did not lose but won many heart. Continue reading “Dyana wins our hearts”

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The cost of MH370 search efforts

Tom Burns
Aljazeera
30 May 2014

Why are countries spending millions of dollars in search of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane?

Two months and too many conspiracy theories ago, Malaysia Airlines Flight 370 from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing lost contact with air traffic control and prompted the largest air-sea search in history.

Satellite data provided investigators with two possible corridors along which the missing plane may have sent out its final communications. The northern corridor extended from northern Thailand across the Asian continent to the border of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan while the southern corridor stretched from the western islands of Indonesia to the remote southern Indian Ocean.

Developments in the search lead to a specific focus on the southern corridor, particularly areas of the southern Indian Ocean, about 2,000 kilometres west of the Australian coastal city of Perth.

Throughout the search, families of the 239 people aboard have endured a rollercoaster of emotions as lead after lead has failed to confirm the exact location of the aircraft and the nature of its likely demise.

It was to these families that officials from Malaysia, China, and Australia, pledged in early May that they would not give up the search. Continue reading “The cost of MH370 search efforts”

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Lose the battle, win the war in Teluk Intan

– Raymond Lim
The Malaysian Insider
June 01, 2014

This phrase was written in one of the most popular war strategy book used by global top management schools for business strategies classes and it is called “The Art of War” by General Sun Tzu in 600BC. Yes, Dyana lose in the battle but the result and experiences will definitely be crucial in moulding future political strategies particularly in the next GE14, the war. Why is this so?

To me, the final result should be more devastating to Mah/BN even though Dyana/Pakatan had lost. For Dyana, a non-resident and a political novice to have such close fight (losing only 238 votes compare with a political heavyweight, the number one from Gerakan, born and was well known in Teluk Intan) also reinforces BN’s initial fear that there is now an undercurrent of fast changing political scenario that will not be easily controllable by any political parties in the next GE.

Yes, the Chinese may still support the Chinese or the Malay may still support the Malay and so forth. But, for this young Malay lady, who was given the opportunity to stand with a party such as the well-known Chinese chauvinist-dominated party, DAP, it had without doubt help to open up an era of endless possibilities for those progressive modern Malay who are fearless in their pursuit of what Malaysia should be. Continue reading “Lose the battle, win the war in Teluk Intan”

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The rise of Pakatan’s third-liners

by Sheridan Mahavera
The Malaysian Insider
June 01, 2014

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud did not win the Teluk Intan by-election last night but she still followed in the footsteps of her party’s elders while at the same time breaking from some of its traditions.

Like her boss, Lim Kit Siang, Dyana Sofya is making her first attempt at elected office in her mid-20s. Lim who is now 73, was 28 when he was first elected in 1969 for the parliamentary seat of Bandar Melaka.

Unlike Lim and many of the DAP’s leading lights such as Lim Guan Eng, Anthony Loke and Liew Chin Thong, Dyana Sofya is not from the Chinese working and middle classes that the party draws its support and members from.

The former UiTM law graduate represents a growing number of Malay-Muslim youths who are joining the DAP and who are making up an important third-line of members and leaders that are different from their elders.

But they and the DAP are not alone. Across Pakatan Rakyat (PR), a new generation of youth are forming a crucial third vanguard in PAS and PKR as their parties’ second-line move into more senior positions. Continue reading “The rise of Pakatan’s third-liners”

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Dyana Sofya tewas di Teluk Intan, tetapi DAP menang

Amin Iskandar
The Malaysian Insider
June 01, 2014

Kekalahan Dyana Sofya dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK)‎ Teluk Intan kepada Presiden Gerakan, Datuk Mah Siew Keong dengan majoriti tipis 238 undi membuktikan ramalan Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang minggu lalu ada benarnya.

Lim sebelum ini menghantar mesej kecemasan (SOS) kepada semua pengundi luar PRK Teluk Intan agar pulang bagi membantu kemenangan setiausaha politiknya.

Lim juga menyeru agar pengguna Internet datang ke Teluk Intan membantu kempen ‎Dyana Sofya sehingga menang.

Sebagai orang lama dalam politik, sudah tentu mudah bagi Lim untuk membaca sentimen di Teluk Intan.

Satu dua lawatan bertemu dengan rakyat Teluk Intan sudah cukup bagi Lim untuk mengetahui sama ada DAP mendapat sokongan atau tidak. Continue reading “Dyana Sofya tewas di Teluk Intan, tetapi DAP menang”

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Teluk Intan and all that jazz

Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
May 30, 2014

What is promised to our youth in this by-election that is pitching the old versus the young? What do we need to see radically changed in our society? Here are my thoughts, especially today.

I am very sad today, reading about rape cases involving minors – gang-rape, to be exact, of ten, twelve, thirty young kids destroying each other! Madness. No-nonsense parenting is key here, folks.

Just when I had finished writing this first draft for this column, I read about a two year-old girl taken away from a shopping mall and later found with her head severed and her body dumped near the Klang River. Madness.

Days earlier we read about the early morning robbery of two nuns in Seremban, of which one of them died of serious head injuries. Almost daily we still read about snatch thefts resulting in the victims injured. An endless cycle of violence we are living in. Madness.

Back to what is happening to our youth. Continue reading “Teluk Intan and all that jazz”

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Dyana Sofya’s real victory: Unmasking political hypocrisy

Zurairi AR
The Malay Mail Online
June 1, 2014

JUNE 1 — By the time you read this, the result for the Teluk Intan by-election is already known and to whoever won it, I only have this to say: “I told you so.”

Meanwhile, at the time of writing, it is at the final hours of campaigning. Two weeks of an exhilarating ride that a lot of us did not really expect.

Despite that, the Teluk Intan by-election must have been a horrible nightmare for conservative Malay-Muslims.

On one side is Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud. A seemingly “liberal” Malay woman who had joined, of all parties, the opposition DAP: usually seen as synonymous with anti-Malay and anti-Islam. Undeservingly so but that is another story.

On the other side, an infidelic non-Malay: Mah Siew Keong.

Whether Dyana did win or lose yesterday — or tomorrow for me — her biggest victory might have been this: unmasking political hypocrisy on both sides of the political divide. Continue reading “Dyana Sofya’s real victory: Unmasking political hypocrisy”

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If 400 outstation voters, or one per cent of the voter turn-out, had returned to Teluk Intan to vote, Dyana Sofya would today be the MP for Teluk Intan

If 400 outstation voters, or one per cent of the 40,236 voter-turnout in the Teluk Intan by-election (66.7%) yesterday, had returned to Teluk Intan to vote, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud would today be the Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan.

Or if the Teluk Intan by-election polling had been held today, a Sunday, which would enable more outstation voters to make the journey back to Teluk Intan to vote, the result would have been very different.

But these are all water under the bridge.

We must learn from the lessons of the by-election and move on.

I congratulate Datuk Mah Siew Keong as the new MP for Teluk Intan. Continue reading “If 400 outstation voters, or one per cent of the voter turn-out, had returned to Teluk Intan to vote, Dyana Sofya would today be the MP for Teluk Intan”

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Victory in defeat

– Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud
DAP candidate for Teluk Intan

So near, yet so far. It has been a whirlwind campaign over the last two weeks, and although we may not have achieved our ultimate goal of winning this by-election, I don’t think anyone can deny that we have given our all against the might of the entire Federal government machinery.

Despite the negative and malicious campaigning, the people of Teluk Intan have shown their strong support for the ideas, struggles and principles that my party and I stand for.

Nonetheless, I congratulate Dato’ Mah Siew Keong on his victory.

I believe that this result is a great achievement for me personally, as well as a progressive step forward for the party. In spite of the tremendous odds stacked against us, we managed to knock down barriers previously thought impossible, and that is the real victory. Continue reading “Victory in defeat”