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Wolf in sheep’s clothing

Mariam Mokhtar| January 9, 2015
Free Malaysia Today

The greatest threat to the Malays comes from bigots like Abdul Hamid Mohamad, Umno Baru and extremist Muslim NGOs.

COMMENT

Former Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad has dishonoured his profession. He is a disappointing role model to Malaysians and a disgrace to his Muslim brethren. Whilst many Malaysians are trying to rebuild their lives after the devastating floods, it appears that Hamid is keen to sow seeds of hatred and create racial disharmony. There must be a reason for Hamid’s racial attack. His reappearance comes just as the nation is questioning the lack of preparedness of the government and the attitude of the ministers in dealing with the flood crisis in Kelantan.

It is perplexing that Hamid’s inflammatory remarks on race and religion continue to escape censure by the authorities. His comments have come at a time when the rakyat is demanding answers to many problems besetting the government.

Is Abdul Hamid colluding with the government to distract the Malaysian public from issues like 1MDB, the Kassim Ahmad trial and the appeal against the acquittal of the two men implicated in Altantuya’s murder? Or is he acting to divert attention away from the negative publicity generated by the flooding?

According to news reports on January 3, Hamid wrote a letter to Utusan Malaysia to voice his support for a PAS-Umno unity government. The greater strength would enable Malays to stem the rise of Chinese political power, he reportedly said. He said Malay loyalties were divided between PAS and Umno Baru, thus giving the Chinese ample opportunity to exploit the political situation.

He said that after the tsunami in Aceh, the provincial government worked together with the central government in Jakarta to rebuild the county. He strongly hinted that Kelantan should emulate Aceh to form the unity government of PAS and Umno-Baru. He said, “Isn’t there a lesson to be learnt from Aceh? Hasn’t the disaster taught them to repent and start prioritising something bigger like religion and race instead of party interests?” Continue reading “Wolf in sheep’s clothing”

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Razak’s NEP both a success and a failure, says ex-aide Abdullah Ahmad

BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
Published: 15 January 2015 6:59 AM
The Malaysian Insider

A close confidante of Malaysia’s second prime minister, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, has rated the country’s controversial affirmative action-based economic policy created by his boss as both a “great success and great failure”, 45 years after it was first implemented.

Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad, who was Razak’s political secretary, said the New Economic Policy (NEP) had done well to lift the Malays out of poverty and increase the number of Malay professionals in all sectors.

But it has failed in its other objective of eradicating poverty regardless of race, Abdullah, better known as Dollah Kok Lanas, told The Malaysian Insider in an interview as part of a series to commemorate the 39th death anniversary of Razak who died on January 14, 1976.

Abdullah also noted what economists have been telling Putrajaya in recent times, that wealth inequality is no longer between races, but within each race, and in the case of the Malays, concentrated within an elite class.

“Some might argue that the enlarged national economy is indeed being shared across the three main races of the Malaysian society, but (this is) among the 1% or less. I have sympathy with this view.
Continue reading “Razak’s NEP both a success and a failure, says ex-aide Abdullah Ahmad”

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Why BN does not want more Parliament seats

By Ong Kian Ming | 11:10AM Jan 13, 2015
Malaysiakini

MP SPEAKS The fact that no new no Parliament seat was added in Sarawak by the Election Commission is a very good indication that the yet-to-be revealed peninsular Malaysia and Sabah delimitation plans will also not include parliamentary seat increases.

With 31 out of 222 seats, Sarawak currently has 14 percent of the total Parliament seats. This figure would be diluted further if parliamentary seats are added in peninsular Malaysia and Sabah but not in Sarawak.

Any Sarawak chief minister would not have agreed to the new Sarawak delimitation plan if there was no assurance from the BN at the national level that no parliament seat will be added in either peninsular Malaysia or Sabah. This way, the current distribution of parliamentary seats and power at the federal can be maintained.

The delay in revealing the new delimitation plans for peninsular Malaysia and Sabah also indicates that a decision has been made to present plans without any increase in Parliament seats.
Continue reading “Why BN does not want more Parliament seats”

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Malaysia’s international reputation has been sullied enough by Zahid’s infamous letter to FBI and Najib must step in to clean up the mess or he would be no different from “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns”

On 5th January 2015, I said “The strange case of the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi writing a letter to the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) vouching for the integrity of an alleged gambling kingpin has become ‘curiouser and curiouser’”.

I do not think anyone would have expected that ten days later, this strange case of Zahid’s letter to the FBI and the Zahid-Phua-Shafee-Khalid quadrilateral tangle would become “curiouser, curiouser and even more curiouser”!

There was first the attempted clarification by Zahid claiming that his infamous letter to the FBI vouching for the character of the alleged gambling kingpin Paul Phua Wei Seng – asserting that Phua was a national asset for having helped the Malaysian government on “projects affecting our national security” and pleading for Phua’s release as “we continue to call upon him to assist us from time to time and as such, we are eager for him to return to Malaysia” – was merely to confirm that the “14K triad” did not exist in the country.

As I said at the time, Zahid would have failed his comprehension test in school if he really believed what he said about his infamous letter to the FBI.

Furthermore, all who believed Zahid’s infamous letter to the FBI was merely to confirm that the “14K triad” did not exist in the country would have also failed their comprehension tests in school as well.

In fact, Zahid has raised more questions than answers. Continue reading “Malaysia’s international reputation has been sullied enough by Zahid’s infamous letter to FBI and Najib must step in to clean up the mess or he would be no different from “Nero playing the fiddle while Rome burns””

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Razak’s young Turk talks about his mentor

by Md Izwan
The Malaysian Insider
14 January 2015

To commemorate the 39th death anniversary of Malaysia’s second prime minister and “Father of Development” Tun Abdul Razak, The Malaysian Insider is running a series of interviews with his colleagues and close associates who, with Razak, steered Malaysia through the early days of rebuilding following the race riots of May 13, 1969.

Earlier today, we heard from four of Razak’s sons on his legacy and their personal memories of their father.

In this article, former deputy prime minister Tun Musa Hitam speaks about Razak’s leadership style and of his experience working with the man who brought him back to Umno after his expulsion. Musa had been expelled from Umno after the race riots over a fall-out with the then prime minister and Umno president, Tunku Abdul Rahman.

Readmitted to the party by Razak, Musa went on to rise in Umno and also held the post of Minister of Primary Industries in Razak’s cabinet.

Despite the political tension surrounding Tunku’s departure and Razak’s ascension as prime minister, Musa remembers his mentor for his gentleness, patience and consultative approach, coupled with his firmness to see a decision through once it was made. These were values, Musa says, that Razak knew were needed to manage a multireligious and multiracial country like Malaysia.

TMI: What kind of person was Tun Razak to you? As a leader, a friend or a colleague?

Musa: Tun Razak was a national leader in the true sense of the word. He had vision and perception. He understood the priorities of our country on attaining independence. The long term interest of the nation, to him, was a united Malaysian nation based on the principle of unity within diversity. Continue reading “Razak’s young Turk talks about his mentor”

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Malaysians should remember the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku, Razak and Hussein as under them, there was no question whatsoever that Malaysia is a liberal, democratic, multi-racial, secular state with Islam as the religion of Federation

Banker Datuk Seri Nazir Razak, the youngest son of our second Prime Minister Tun Abdul Razak, has said that his father would be shocked 39 years after his death – 57 years after Merdeka and 51 years after Malaysia – that race and religion divide Malaysians even more today than during his time.

It is against this sombre backdrop of nation-building after five decades that we are gathered here to remember Tun Razak and his legacy to the country.

Last year, Malaysia was bedevilled by a host of disasters and misfortunes like Continue reading “Malaysians should remember the first three Prime Ministers, Tunku, Razak and Hussein as under them, there was no question whatsoever that Malaysia is a liberal, democratic, multi-racial, secular state with Islam as the religion of Federation”