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Race, religion, royalty, reality and MAS

By Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jun 1, 2015

MAS is not a commercial enterprise, but an offshoot of a government department, and run along government lines. It takes its orders from politicians, it bows to various political demands, it can never be re-structured unless the torrid cocktail of political patronage and building personal empires is eliminated.

After years of Ketuanan Melayu and Biro Tata Negara (BTN) spewing division, with claims that the Malays are God’s chosen people, it is ironic that the saviour of MAS is a German, Christoph Mueller.

What a slap in the face of the rakyat, the planes in the fleet are being sold off, to save some money, and yet Najib Abdul Razak and the self-styled First Lady of Malaysia (Flom) wastes millions of ringgit on a new aeroplane for ministerial junkets.

Our politicians bled MAS dry and now Mueller wants to perform a cull and punish the employees, instead of the politicians and fat cats, who sit on the management board.

It is outrageous that the people in positions of authority refuse to take any responsibility for their failures, and will probably be retained with a more lucrative package. Continue reading “Race, religion, royalty, reality and MAS”

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What’s at stake in the PAS election?

– Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
2 June 2015

The fault lines in PAS election this Thursday (June 4) are very stark. Incumbent president Datuk Seri Hadi Awang has asked members to choose between his loyalists and what his camp dubbed as “DAP sympathisers”, and in reply, former Perak menteri besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin has said in jest that the choice was actually between DAP sympathisers and Umno puppets.

Last Saturday, I was speaking at a forum with Nik Omar Nik Aziz, the eldest son of Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat. It just struck me that even within the family of the former PAS spiritual leader there are some different views: Nik Abduh claimed that his father was never against working with Umno while Nik Omar held a contrasting view.

The lines are drawn between those who aspire to win Putrajaya and those who only want to keep Kota Baru; between those who are prepared to work with other opposition parties to topple an already corrupt and monolithic Umno in the next general election for broader reforms and those who want to work with Umno for immediate implementation of hudud; and between those who see Malaysia as a multiethnic/multi-religious project and those who think of Malaysia as a single ethnic/religious entity.

The party poll is unlikely to end the conflict as it is too deep-seated, at least dating back to events unfolded in 1998. This Thursday could be a fresh beginning for PAS, for better or worse. Continue reading “What’s at stake in the PAS election?”

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What my proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition is and is not

As my proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition continues to be the subject of controversy and misunderstanding, deliberate or otherwise, let me clarify what the proposal “is” and “is not”, and the background for such a proposal.

Firstly, I had said that the proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition is based on the premise that the two existing political coalitions in the country, Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, have lost all public trust, credibility and legitimacy, in which case, Malaysians must think the unthinkable and move beyond the present political scenario dominated by two political coalitions in a post-BN, post-PR phase of Malaysian politics.

We need not tarry here as to why and how the two political coalitions, BN and PR, could lose all public trust, credibility and legitimacy.

Clearly, if anyone of the two political coalitions, BN or PR, can continue to command public trust, credibility, legitimacy and support of Malaysians, then we have not arrived at the post-BN, post-PR phase of Malaysian politics. Continue reading “What my proposal for a post-BN, post-PR “Save Malaysia” grand coalition is and is not”

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Nik Aziz percaya Pakatan wadah terbaik mencapai objektif politik PAS

– Zairil Khir Johari
The Malaysian Insider
2 June 2015

Pada Sabtu, 30 Mei 2015, Penang Institute menganjurkan forum peringatan bagi mengenang jasa dan legasi seorang tokoh besar dalam politik Malaysia, Allahyarham Datuk Bentara Setia Tuan Guru Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, atau lebih dikenali dengan panggilan Tok Guru.

Forum yang bertempat di The Light Hotel, Seberang Jaya ini menghadirkan tiga orang ahli panel, iaitu ahli Parlimen Kluang Liew Chin Tong, ahli Parlimen Parit Buntar Datuk Dr Mujahid Yusoff Rawa dan Ustaz Nik Omar Nik Abdul Aziz, pengetua Maahad Darul Anuar dan juga anakanda kepada Tok Guru. Forum dikendalikan saya selaku moderator.

Topik yang diwacanakan dalam forum adalah “Islam dan Kepelbagaian,” dan perbincangan malam itu mengupas dengan lebih mendalam keperibadian Tok Guru, khususnya berkenaan persoalan hubungan kaum dan agama serta hubungan parti-parti politik dalam dan luar Pakatan Rakyat. Continue reading “Nik Aziz percaya Pakatan wadah terbaik mencapai objektif politik PAS”

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Ministers should redeem themselves at their meeting tomorrow to prove that Cabinet is not a magic show for a David Copperfield to perform the hat-trick of producing a rabbit from an empty hat

The Malaysian Cabinet is being held in even lower esteem among Malaysians after last Friday’s Cabinet meeting for two reasons:

Firstly, for giving approval to a 1MDB Roadmap when it is clear that no Minister has any clue how 1MDB and the Malaysian Government is going to be saved from 1MDB’s RM42 billion loans scandal; and

Secondly, no resignation by any Minister although the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that Ministers can resign if they do not support him on the 1MDB issue.

It is simply incredible that the Malaysian Cabinet has degenerated into a magic show for a David Copperfield to perform the hat-trick of producing a rabbit from an empty hat, with no Minister daring to expose the illusion of the whole exercise!

The reason why the UMNO Vice President and Minister for Rural and Regional Development Minister, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal had objected to the application of the principle of collective Ministerial responsibility on the 1MDB scandal was that although Ministers had asked questions about the strategic investment firm during Cabinet meetings, Ministers are just unclear as the public over the firm’s opaque deals.

Shafie had said that Ministers wanted answers to the 1MDB scandal as they wanted to know, not for their own benefit, but to explain to the people at large. Continue reading “Ministers should redeem themselves at their meeting tomorrow to prove that Cabinet is not a magic show for a David Copperfield to perform the hat-trick of producing a rabbit from an empty hat”