Day: June 2, 2014

YourSay
Malaysiakini
Jun 2, 2014

YOURSAY ‘A lesson to learn is that changes come in baby steps, not giant strides.’

Delving into DAP’s shock defeat

Fair Play: For DAP, a lesson to learn in the Teluk Intan by-election is that changes come in baby steps, not giant strides. The road ahead is often fraught with uncertainties, obstacles and frustrations and takes a pathway of ‘one step forward, two steps backward’ approach.

A good start would be to identify young and qualified right-thinking Muslim Malaysians as political secretaries to key DAP politicians and train them as future leaders. Do not forget young and qualified Indian Malaysians too.

DAP has to break the political mold (perception) that it is a Chinese Malaysian political party. For almost all Malaysians, perception (how they see thing) is reality.

Examples like Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is a good start, but need more fine-tuning and adaptation. Be patient and plan for the long haul. If there is hope, there is a future. Continue reading “BN’s racial politics still work, but not for long”

— Joshua Wu
The Malay Mail Online
June 2, 2014

JUNE 2 — I could not agree more with the newly-elected Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan, Mah Siew Keong when he said that the future of Malaysian politics is in multi-racial parties instead of single race entities.

However, he seems to be preaching to the choir. What he should be doing is addressing this to his partners in Barisan Nasional (BN). After all, UMNO, MCA and MIC are race based political parties.

After 56 years (approaching 57 years of independence), one has to wonder if race based political parties can still propel the country forward or have been contributing to the significant division between the many races in Malaysia.

Political parties like DAP, PKR, and Gerakan are multi-racial parties which best represent the new generation of Malaysians who see themselves as Malaysians before identifying as Malays, Chinese, Indians, or others.

In the past, Dato Seri Onn bin Ja’afar called for Umno party membership to be opened to non-malays and for the party to be renamed the United Malayans National Organisation.

However, the idea was shot down by many. He then left Umno to form the Independence of Malaya Party, and subsequently, Parti Negara. Continue reading “The Way Forward”

The Malay Mail Online
June 2, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 ― An expert has said that the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines plane, flight MH370 is not becoming more complicated and that the search and rescue (SAR) team was looking in the wrong area.

New Zealand-based space scientist and physicist, Duncan Steel, made the remarks in an email interview with Bernama following the latest announcement by the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB), which discounted the vicinity of acoustic signals detected previously.

“They were never leads (the claimed acoustic detections). Having discounted them is a good thing, in that it enables other possibilities to be considered,” said Steel, who is also a visiting Professor of Astrobiology at the University of Buckingham, England and a space scientist at NASA-Ames Research Centre in California, USA.

According to him, the sonic pings in the Indian Ocean were obviously (to a physicist) not from the MH370 emergency locator beacon and that ATSB’s announcement was entirely disconnected from the satellite-derived information.

He believed that based on available information from the released raw data, it was most likely that the aircraft headed south at near 500 knots, and ended up much further south than the current search area. Continue reading “Expert: Search for MH370 not becoming more complicated”

Jamie Freed
Sydney Morning Herald

June 2, 2014

Emirates president Tim Clark says missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 would have in most countries been intercepted by fighters if it flew off course, and says the industry should not change aircraft tracking until it has more facts about the disappearance.

“In my view we are all plunging down a path that [says] ‘we have got to fix this’,” he said on the sidelines of the International Air Transport Association annual meeting in Doha, Qatar.

“This is the door closing after the horse has gone 25 miles down the track. We need to know more about what actually happened to this aeroplane and do a forensic second by second analysis of it. I think we will find it and get to the bottom of it.”

Emirates is a major operator of Boeing 777s, the aircraft type of MH370. The aircraft has been widely considered one of the safest ever built.

Mr Clark questioned why MH370 wasn’t circled by fighter jets after it was spotted by Malaysian’s military on primary radar. Continue reading “Malaysia Airlines flight MH370: Where were the fighters, asks Emirates chief”

– Philip Yong
The Malaysian Insider
2 June 2014

So Dyana Sofya, the DAP candidate for Teluk Intan’s by-election, lost to Gerakan president Mah Siew Kong. It was a close fight. I am sure it was heartbreaking for her and many other opposition leaders, volunteers and caring Malaysians who campaigned day in day out. This article is written especially for those who have fought hard in this battle.

There are already so many articles out there that are negative, so I thought I should write something that will uplift the spirits of all who strive for a better Malaysia.

Well, Dyana, if I am a voter in Teluk Intan, I would have voted for you. For very logical reasons.

1. I personally believe that DAP made the right choice by fielding a young lady like you. You are educated, smart, energetic, clean and most importantly you embody a true Malaysian. A Malaysian who fights for all Malaysians. A Malaysian who cares for all Malaysians. Continue reading “The Dyana effect”

— Christine SK Lai
The Malay Mail Online
June 02, 2014

JUNE 2 — So after all the analysis, post-mortems and opinions, where does it leave us? Everyone has their favourite theory on why Dyana Sofya lost in Teluk Intan.

But that’s not really the issue, or is it? In fact I am pretty sure there are many who will ask ‘Dyana who?’ despite the fact that she has catapulted to celebrity status and is everyone’s fave target for group selfies. Outside of Teluk Intan, I hazard a guess that there are probably many who don’t even know there was an election there. There is such a thing called ignorance, apathy, indifference, complacency — all same category. But I am not pointing fingers, I hasten to confess I am guilty of all that at some time or another.

When I first saw that pretty young face splattered all over on-line news ( there is no denying she is pretty and she is young), mentally I saluted the old man behind her — it takes foresight and guts to do what Lim Kit Siang did, pushing this novice up the way he did, and kudos to the party who dared take a chance to lose. I have to admit though I was a bit tired of all the politicking that seems to be going into over-drive not only in the small town of Teluk Intan but seemingly every where, and not just during a by-election but almost every other day. One time it’s why only certain people can call God a certain name. The next it’s hudud. Then it’s chocolates. Wonder what it will be tomorrow. And oh by the way, it’s not confined to the peculiar species called politicians. NGOs, bloggers, big shots, small shots… everyone can say anything and everything is fair game. Guess that’s the price of democracy. So I kind-of ‘tune off’ these days. It’s very easy to grow tired of it all. Like I said, apathy… Continue reading “Taking Chances”

My first electoral experience as a candidate was the Serdang State Assembly by-election in Selangor on 7th January 1969, when I was 27 years old and I lost the Opposition “blue-ribbon” seat by a small majority of 607 votes because of split votes in a three-cornered contest.

Four months later, in the 1969 general elections, DAP won the Serdang state assembly state seat with a 3,314-vote majority, one of the 13 Parliamentary and 31 State Assembly seats won by the DAP in the party’s first general election contest.

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is 26 years old and she lost the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election with a wafer-thin majority of 238 votes.

Worth noting is the electoral experience of the Selangor Menteri Besar, Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim who lost heavily in his first electoral foray in the Ijuk State Assembly by-election in Selangor in April 2007, but in less than year, Barisan Nasional lost the Selangor State Government for two consecutive general elections to Pakatan Rakyat. Continue reading “Call on Malaysians not to lose faith but to ensure the wafer-thin by-election loss in Teluk Intan becomes the stepping-stone to national victory for a new Malaysia tomorrow”

by Pathma Subramaniam
The Malay Mail Online
June 2, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, June 2 — By going against the current, the DAP challenged a pattern of communal voting that has been ingrained for decades.

It lost the contest for Teluk Intan, but it remains to be seen if the gambit of fielding the likes of 26-year-old Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud will work out in the next general election in which political analysts say the makeup of voters and issues will vary.

“It is work in progress and DAP has taken the lead,” said Ibrahim Suffian who heads Merdeka Center. “I’m confident that in the long run people will vote for policies and no longer just for one’s skin colour.”

The head of the independent pollster noted that while it is tempting to blame DAP’s loss on racial silos, the result may also be skewed as by-elections are generally “tougher” for the opposition as it cannot match the might of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) federal strength.

“[By-elections are] unlike in a general election, [where] the resources of both sides are spread out thinly so that allows a smaller party to ride on the national sentiments and issues,” said Ibrahim who heads independent pollster Merdeka Center. Continue reading “Too soon to write off DAP’s Teluk Intan wager, analysts say”

Lam Choong Wah
Malaysiakini
Jun 2, 2014

COMMENT In the 13th general election (GE13), DAP achieved its best ever electoral results by winning 38 parliamentary seats and 95 state assembly seats out of the 51 parliamentary and 103 state seats contested, becoming the second biggest party after Umno in terms of seats in the new parliamentary term.

After GE13, Utusan Malaysia, the mouthpiece of Umno, immediately pinned the blame for Najib Abdul Razak’s electoral disaster on the Chinese, accusing the Chinese voters of causing the political tsunami that saw BN being rejected in terms of popular votes. In the process, MCA and the other non-Malay BN component parties suffered major defeats.

Utusan’s intention was to link BN’s poor electoral results with racial conflict arguments and provoke racial protests to divert the attention away from people’s rejection and aversion of Umno.

“Apa lagi Cina mahu” (What more do the Chinese want?) became the prologue to start Umno’s ethnic confrontation tricks after GE13. However with news of the impending goods and services tax (GST) implementation, the hasty passing of the Prevention of Crime Act in Parliament and the surfacing of numerous electoral fraud cases during the 13GE, the provocation failed to materialise.

The tried and tested racial card played by Umno, MCA and MIC in the last 50 years has begun to flounder. There are many complex reasons for that, but one of the significant causes for deflecting the racial provocation by BN is the Chinese-based DAP’s refusal to fall into BN’s race-baiting rhetoric.
Continue reading “‘Malaysian seats’ are the future of DAP and Pakatan”

oleh Shahbudin Husin
The Malaysian Insider
1st June 2014

Sebagaimana yang sudah diketahui umum, BN berjaya merampas kembali kerusi Teluk Intan yang kali terakhir pernah dimenanginya pada 2004 dahulu. Dalam keputusan yang diumumkan tadi, calon BN, Mah Siew Keong berjaya menewaskan calon DAP, Dyana Sofya dengan majoriti 238 undi.

Dengan peratusan keluar mengundi begitu menurun iaitu hanya sebanyak 66.5 peratus, Mah memperolehi undi sebanyak 20,157 manakala Dyana Sofya meraih sebanyak 19,919 undi. Undi rosak pula sebanyak 550.

Walaupun tewas dan percubaan DAP meneroka aliran politik yang merentasi batas perkauman ditolak oleh pengundi Teluk Intan, tetapi haruslah juga diakui bahawa ini merupakan permulaan yang baik bagi Dyana untuk mengembangkan lagi potensinya sebagai ahli politik masa depan.

Kalah kali pertama tidak bererti akan kalah selamanya.

Beliau secara umumnya diterima sebagai ikon orang muda dan percubaan kali pertama dalam usia 27 tahun ini tentunya memberi banyak pengajaran dan pengalaman kepadanya. Namun sebagai orang luar Teluk Intan yang kali pertama bertanding dan lawannya pula merupakan presiden parti keempat terbesar dalam BN, kejayaan memberi cabaran sengit kepada BN masih boleh dikira membanggakan. Continue reading “Kalah Tapi Permulaan Yang Baik Bagi Dyana”

Timmy Say
The Malaysian Insider
2 June 2014

Di PRU13, Mah Siew Keong mendapat 20,086 undi di Teluk Intan. Di PRK Teluk Intan baru-baru ini, Mah mendapat lebihan 71 undi kepada 20,157 undi.

Lebihan 71 undi membawa nasib berbeza untuk Mah, di mana beliau berjaya mengalahkan calon popular, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud daripada DAP dan menguasai semula kerusi Parlimen Teluk Intan yang pernah dimilikinya sebelum 2008.

Jadi, di mana 7,242 undi (mantan ahli Parlimen Teluk Intan Seah Leong Peng menang dengan 7,313 majoriti, dan penulis menganggap terdapat 71 undi yang berpaling tadah ke Mah) yang sepatutnya memenangkan Dyana Sofya di Teluk Intan?

DAP berusaha habis-habisan untuk memenangkan Dyana. Tetapi mengapa penyokong mereka tidak kembali untuk mengundi? Continue reading “Siapa yang tidak mengundi Dyana?”

by Tony Pua
The Malaysian Insider
2nd June 2014

I spent 17 consecutive days camped in Teluk Intan as the Campaign Director for the recently concluded by-elections where DAP’s candidate, Dyana Sofya lost by a fractional 238 votes.

Understandably, the analysis and criticisms has been published hard and fast, and more will come over the next few days. Many were surprised we lost. Some argued that we have been complacent and arrogant. Of course, some believed that we made strategic mistakes.

There is no question that the campaign execution has plenty of room for improvement, and the team will certainly be carrying out our postmortem over the next few days to ensure that future campaigns can be even better.

However, we certainly never expected an easy campaign. The very fact that it took the party leadership “forever” to decide on the candidate was precisely because we knew that the risk of losing the seat was extremely high.

Regardless of the candidate, the Teluk Intan by-election was never going to be a walk in the park like Bukit Gelugor, where Barisan Nasional did not even have the courage to put up a fight.

Even before the candidate decision, the Party was well briefed by our grassroots that the word on the street was that many in the Chinese community will give their vote to Gerakan President, Mah Siew Keong. The argument was compelling. Continue reading “Teluk Intan: A Battle Lost but a War to be Won”