Five tests whether International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates is meaningful and Najib qualifies to be regarded as the voice of moderates in Malaysia

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is to launch and institutionalize “the Global Movement of the Moderates” at the inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderates in Kuala Lumpur tomorrow.

In international conferences in the past two years, whether at the United Nations General Assembly or in Europe, Najib had kept to the theme calling on the moderates of the world to unite against extremists.

However, when he returns to Malaysia, he has allowed the forces of extremism, unreason and falsehoods a field day to the extent that Malaysia had never been more polarised on ethnic and religious grounds in the first three years of a Prime Minister than under him in the history of the nation.

Tonight, I want to put forth five tests to determine whether the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates is meaningful or an exercise in hypocrisy and double-talk and whether Najib qualifies to be regarded as the voice of moderates in Malaysia.

Firstly, Najib must salvage his signature 1Malaysia policy, which he promulgated on becoming the sixth Prime Minister – to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first, and his race, religion, geography and socio-economic status second.

In March 2010, in response to my challenge in Parliament, the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin rubbished Najib’s 1Malaysia policy, declaring that he is Malay first and Malaysian second.

If after two years, Najib is unable to bring his Deputy Prime Minister into line to unequivocally and unconditionally support his signature 1Malaysia policy, it is a terrible reflection of his failure as Prime Minister and as voice of moderation in Malaysia.

Secondly, let him declare at the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates tomorrow that he will spearhead a national campaign to end gutter politics and the politics of lies, falsehood and incitement which have seen their worst manifestation in 54 years of Malaysian nationhood in the 33 months he became Prime Minister.

DAP for instance is accused by UMNO leaders and apparatus as anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Rulers when these are downright lies and falsehoods.

Is Najib prepared to be the voice of moderates against the forces of extremism to end gutter politics and the politics of lies, falsehoods and incitement in Malaysia?

Third, let Najib declare at the International Conference of Moderates tomorrow that Utusan Malaysia, the official mouthpiece of UMNO, will immediately be transformed into a Voice of Moderation instead of being the strident voice of extremism and lies, undermining Malaysian nation-building in the process.

Fourthly, let Najib announce that he and all UMNO leaders will not use the threat of May 13 in the forthcoming 13th general elections or any future general elections to create fear and distrust among the voters.

Fifthly, let Najib make a public commitment that as a moderate to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”, he and all UMNO leaders will fully and peacefully accept the electoral verdict of Malaysians in the 13th general elections, including a change of government in Putrajaya and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the seventh Prime Minister to head a Pakatan Rakyat federal government.

He should retract his “crushed bodies, lives lost” declaration (“walau berkecai tulang dan juga badan, walau bercerai jasad dari nyawa”) to the Umno General Assembly two years ago to defend UMNO in Putrajaya, as a moderate will not conceive of any “crushed bodies, lives lost” in a peaceful democratic general elections where the will and verdict of the electorate is regarded as supreme and sacred.

[Speech at the Negri Sembilan Pakatan Rakyat Public Ceramah in Gemas to launch the PR Negri Sembilan Manifesto on Sunday, 15th January 2012 at 10 pm]

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29 Replies to “Five tests whether International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates is meaningful and Najib qualifies to be regarded as the voice of moderates in Malaysia”

  1. Pls remind NR n HH 2 DISPLAY at d venue n stage HUGE fotos of them FOAMING at the mouth (like rabid dogs), yelling 4 nonMalays’ blood, n raising UNSHEATHED KERIS – 2 show off 2 d world dat they r model examples of MODERATES

  2. “Moderate” means one who subscribes to and practises the universally accepted code of good behaviour.

    “Universally accepted code of good behaviour” means the code of good behaviour as expounded by the lift fork of the “W”.

    “W” means the forked tongue of jibby the jib.

    “Jibby the jib” means the loyal husband of the prime minister of malaysia.

    “Prime Minister of malaysia” means fat mama ros.

    So you understand sherrif? The meaning of “moderates”?

  3. That fella is the most insincere bugger….appointed as PM by his party.
    For 3 years we heard and keep hearing and get sick of his sweet nothing promises…his threats…his provocations..his wheeling dealing style to get votes….his flip flopping…and you name it…he did it all.
    He is giving a speech on the subject..”Global Movements of Moderates”???
    I bet you….many who know him like we do will be have to control their emotions and stomachs from laughing.
    He is a joke to Malaysians….the first so call PM…who talk alot and dare not declare 13th GE…with all sorts of idiotic reasons….keeping trying to fool Malaysians.

  4. YB LKS, do u truly expect that guy who brandished a keris in Kg Baru some years back to repent and be a moderate?

    Wishful thinking.

    Good luck.

    U did right though to make him commit that he would not do a harakiri on himself or others if BN loses. But how do u get such a commitment from unprincipled gangsters, for instance. There is no honour amongst thieves and brigands as u know.

  5. The International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates ?

    There has been a minor mistake. It should be ” The International Conference on Global Movement of Sodomites “. By the way he chairman of conference is Saiful Bukhari….

  6. Moderate can also mean you make sure I am doing the right thing. Words can dance. Malaysia is still moderate despite of jihad, hudud and others. This is because of the many voices of moderates that keep the country in a sane path. In fact, it has been these moderates that Malaysia is still standing alive. You can fool people that many times. In the end, people know that it is just a movie; a blockbuster even. In fact all the crushed bodies thingy; if you are a commander, you will have to stand in front of all the crushed bodies, lives lost in a battle. With the internet, people can search around until they make some sense of a situation.

  7. Mr Lim, I think that the BN has been throwing up issues
    in this country just to fritter away PR’s attention from the
    REAL issues.
    Issues like concentrating on the forthcoming 13th GE.
    It’s good to whack them for their stupidity but at the same
    time valuable time MUST NOT be wasted on such issues.
    The top echelon of the PR must concentrate all their
    resources and efforts on 13th GE!
    Which can be ANYTIME NOW!!
    Don’t let BN spring a surprise.
    There’s absolutely no time to waste!!!!

  8. MACC has the authority to determine whether there were misappropriation of funds in the cow-gate project where money for the project did not mean for real estate investments were diverted for such use.

    But the more important issue Malaysians are concerned is whether the cow-gate project was part of NEP. If it was how has the sum of a quarter billion ringgit given to one family achieved the objective of NEP target to alleviate poverty. Clearly the family of a Cabinet minister cannot be defined as poor. Concentrating money to help one family of even true Malay is never the objective of NEP.

    If it was not for NEP, has the government chosen the worst approach to achieve the target mooted by the project. Was the target worth the government funds? What feasibility studies had been conducted to convince the government to invest 300 billion ringgit in the cow-gate project? More importantly how has the family which had no track records relevant to the project been selected? Was the government prepared to write off the project right from the beginning since there was no clear indications on the schedule of money repayment to the government beyond a mention of interest rate at 2%.

    What other government projects bear similar features of a grant rather than a project procurement? A RCI on government procurement should be convened if Najib believes in reform. He should first reverse all decisions made by Mamakthir and resurrect the rules and regulations of government procurement until Mamakthir came into power. Mamakthir is the father of corruptions in the country.

  9. ///In international conferences in the past two years, whether at the United Nations General Assembly or in Europe, Najib had kept to the theme calling on the moderates of the world to unite against extremists.

    However, when he returns to Malaysia, he has allowed the forces of extremism, unreason and falsehoods a field day to the extent that Malaysia had never been more polarised on ethnic and religious grounds in the first three years of a Prime Minister than under him in the history of the nation.///–Kit

    Najib either is himself an extremist that he had not bothered to try stopping extremism in the country, for he had the extremist credential by his keris action swearing to soak Chinese blood in his keris some years ago, or he is not able to contain extremism in the country. For fear of having to answer past actions Najib chose to divert attention to racial polarization in the country by pretending that he was a moderate through his appeal for moderation. Words are cheap especially to people who never bother to keep any promise even of the promise made by his late father who could not become alive again to honour it. \

    Declaring the virtue of moderation does not equate to practicing it, and for Najib he found making the quarter hour speech to earn a wrong perception that he was a moderate well worth the efforts with no obligation. He would repeat similar speeches and do nothing at home. Only the person who ascended the presidency through experience as community organizer would be taken in by those insincere words. If the General Election is held before September, Najib would not have to repeat the stale call for moderation.

  10. The Conference’s main theme is religious extremism (flashpoint being 911). Samuel Huntington explains a ‘clash of civilizations.’ Post 911 & Osama’s demise, terrorism and bombings of innocents (whether suicide or otherwise) persist – in Bali, Pakistan, Egypt Norway, and most recently Nigeria (often radical Muslim sect against perceived Western targets and other times against govt’s or other sect’ targets). Against this backdrop Najib (maybe prompted by Razali) thought a Malaysian initiative to rally moderates against extremists would be a topical theme to provide him and Malaysia our share of ‘60 mins’ fame and relevance on global stage! The issue of Global Islamic radicalism and religious extremism is not directly but tangentially related to issue of political democracy on our domestic front because much of the issue springs from extremists fomenting Muslim alienation with Western ways, including its political (liberal/democratic ways). That is why an Acquittal verdict for Anwar without appeal is necessary for us to address this Conference – lest it be turned to a joke- and also why post that the PM told Wall Street Journal that democracy and Islam are compatible, which Malaysia (led by him) could showcase by “center-ground” politics!

  11. If one wants to find contradictions – what may be described as hypocrisy- between what Najib preaches and what is felt experience at home, there is of course no shortage of examples/materials : besides the 5 points raised by Kit, the background of moral policing and various religious strictures, cow head protest in Shah Alam, the Kitab’s issue, accusations of Christian proselytisation etc. The strongest criticism against hypocrisy is this: we cannot urge or push others to accept moderation without embracing it ourselves! But alas politics (whether domestic or international) is hypocrisy (what’s new!) and such international conference is for politicians of all shades and pretensions to syiok sendiri. Najib would have scored even more brownie political points had he the imagination to invite (besides TDM) the common protagonist & recently acquitted Anwar Ibrahim to speak at the conference. And why not?

  12. But speaking of political hypocrisy (whether domestic or international), the mother of it is power and with it wealth, the raison de etre why ruling politicians (ours definitely included) are all out to win or preserve political power! But looking at the global context: the conflict arises from Muslim alienation in large swathes of the Arab world with Westerners (led by Americans) and their ways – the primary threat from the West is not just political or economic (eg support of Israel or military interference in Muslim lands from Afghanistan to Iraq) but also cultural [for eg respect of LBGH’s rights that is said will contradict or subvert the so called faith and identity of the worldwide Islamic community (ummah]! It has to be pointed out that this conservative and strict anti Wahhabism or Salafismis driven by Islamic resurgence since mid-1970s (culminating in Khomeini’s taking over from Shah of Iran) is basically disseminated by religious institutions and maddrassas funded by Saudi’s oil petro monies by a dictatorial regime propped up by American Marines for the same reason – Oil!

  13. Continuing from preceding post (under moderation) – The oil that funds 90% of faith of extremist sects that attack American Interest globally is the very same oil that makes the US support the very Saudi Arabian regime that funds her detractors. What irony? But this kind of antagonism is no beef to the Americans as it provides them the pretext to fight an eternal war against Islamic extremism and justify their military incursions into Muslim countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, without which they cannot generate business for their defence contractors or other contractors to rebuild cities that American weapons of destruction wrought or to control the oil fields, pipelines and canals through which oil tankers ply- and more importantly the control of international trade through oil, and the hegemony of the Green back as the dominant Federal Reserve Currency enabling them to forever print money to finance their deficit and debt never mind the havoc wrought in rest of the world including their NATO allies in Europe! Just an example relating to Question of who is not hypocritical when it comes to power and money? Even that champion of democracy , citadel of Freedom!

  14. ///Define ‘moderates’///- #1sheriff singh.

    Thats correct. No point talking about moderates versus extremism without knowing what each term exactly means.

    For example in view of the United Nations General Assembly’s Declaration of 8th Dec 2008 that human rights upheld by UN must be applied to all human beings regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity, what is Malaysia’s position in this inaugural International Conference on the Global Movement of the Moderate, and is it “moderate” or “extremist” to enforce section 377B of the Penal Code, prosecuting consensual sodomy??

  15. Ask. Why would I want to be extreme ? Why would you want to be extreme ? Back to the crushed bodies and lost lives thingy, will you be the last one standing ? I doubt. You will be the first one to leave the country, first class even. The ethical, moral leader will be the last one standing because he has to show that he is the leader.

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