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Call on new MCA leaders like Liow Tiong Lai and Wee Ka Siong not to be xioren 小人 but dare to speak truth to power by declaring that Teresa Kok’s video is not anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-royalty

I am really intrigued as to how at least five UMNO Ministers could be tricked and fooled by the Chinese leaders in Barisan Nasional in MCA and Gerakan into believing that DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok’s “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” video is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Rulers as to publicly launch a ferocious attack on Teresa Kok and the video – when there is nothing anti-Islam, anti-Malay or anti-Rulers in the video.

For the past two weeks, I have challenged the detractors of Teresa Kok’s video to produce evidence that the video is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Rulers, promising to get Teresa to retract and apologise for the video if there is any such evidence, but there had been no takers by any Barisan Nasional leader, whether UMNO, MCA or Gerakan.

This is an “expensive” lesson to UMNO Ministers and leaders not to be so gullible as to believe everything the Chinese leaders in Barisan Nasional, whether MCA or Gerakan, tell them about the DAP is true, or it is their credibility which will be the biggest victims. Continue reading “Call on new MCA leaders like Liow Tiong Lai and Wee Ka Siong not to be xioren 小人 but dare to speak truth to power by declaring that Teresa Kok’s video is not anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-royalty”

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It is not Teresa Kok who should apologise for her “Onederful Malaysia” as nobody could prove the video is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty but Abdul Rahman Dahlan who must apologise for his racist tweets which showed he is not Minister for all Malaysians

In the Chinese folklore, there is a magic mirror which reveals goblins 照妖镜 [zhào yāo jìng] which now also applies to exposing conspiracies and other nefarious designs.

DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok’s “Onederful Malaysia CNYT 2014” has the effect of a 照妖镜 or a magic mirror exposing the goblins in the Malaysian political landscape.

One of the “goblins” exposed by Teresa Kok’s “magic mirror’ of the “Onederful Malaysia CNYT 2014” is none other than the UMNO Housing and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan who gave full backing to the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi when the latter embraced the law of the jungle instead of upholding the rule of law when he said there was no need for the police to investigate a group of Muslim NGOs who offered a reward of RM500 later increased to RM1,200 for anyone who slapped Teresa Kok, as well as indulged in a “chicken slaughtering and blood-smearing” demonstration against DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

In his series of tweets, Abdul Rahman said Teresa Kok should not play victim when threatened by Muslim groups. Continue reading “It is not Teresa Kok who should apologise for her “Onederful Malaysia” as nobody could prove the video is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Royalty but Abdul Rahman Dahlan who must apologise for his racist tweets which showed he is not Minister for all Malaysians”

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If senior ministers and legislators publicly demonstrate that they cannot differentiate right from wrong, what type of a bad example are they providing not only to citizens but the young generation of Malaysians in schools, colleges and universities?

I welcome the Islamic Consumer Association of Malaysia (PPIM) distancing itself from the offer to “slap” DAP woman MP Teresa Kok at a disgraceful “chicken-slaughtering and blood-smearing” demonstration by self-styled “Council of Islamic NGOs” in Kuala Lumpur last Thursday.

PPIM secretary-general Dr Ma’amor Osman has clarified that PPIM was not directly involved in making the initial offer of RM500 for anyone to slap the Seputeh MP over her controversial Chinese New Year satirical video. The offer was later increased to RM1,200.

I fully agree with the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Tan Sri Joseph Kurup that the bounty to slap Teresa Kok could only be made by people who are of “unsound mind”.

Dr. Ma’amor’s repudiation of the disgraceful “slap offer” and “chicken-slaughtering and blood-smearing” episode shows that sanity is returning to groups who were targeted by dubious but highly irresponsible characters bent on inciting racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension based on lies and falsehoods. Continue reading “If senior ministers and legislators publicly demonstrate that they cannot differentiate right from wrong, what type of a bad example are they providing not only to citizens but the young generation of Malaysians in schools, colleges and universities?”

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UMNO Vice Presidents and Ministers will be even more irresponsible and reckless if their attack on Teresa Kok’s video as anti-Malay and anti-Islam is based on the video sub-titles which provide no cause whatsoever for such a rampage

I was yesterday reminded of the Chinese saying: 此地无银三百两（cǐdì wú yín sān bǎi liǎng), i.e .“there are no 300 pieces of silver here”, when I read a response to my statement that UMNO Ministers had been misled by Chinese BN leaders to spearhead the demonization campaign against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam.

The Chinese saying came from an interesting story.

There was this man named Zhang San(张三） who fancied himself to be clever, but he really was somewhat dull. He managed to collect 300 taels of silver. He didn’t want this tidy sum of money to be stolen, so he had to figure out what to do with it. After considering various plans, he decided to bury the silver in a corner of a wall behind his house. Of course, he did when it was dark so he could evade detection. After the silver was buried, Zhang San was concerned the silver would be discovered. So, he thought he arrived at what was a brilliant plan! He made a sign that said 此地无银三百两 “No 300 taels of silver buried here” at the precise location where he buried the money.

I thought of this saying when I read of the tweets by the Gerakan national youth chief Tan Keng Liang yesterday: Continue reading “UMNO Vice Presidents and Ministers will be even more irresponsible and reckless if their attack on Teresa Kok’s video as anti-Malay and anti-Islam is based on the video sub-titles which provide no cause whatsoever for such a rampage”

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Is Najib and Cabinet really seriously about national reconciliation and national consensus rising above partisan differences to end national drift and loss of leadership and direction?

I have addressed three Open Letters to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Cabinet before three Cabinet meetings in January last month urging the end of national drift and loss of leadership and direction in the past nine months since the 13th general elections last May.

I also appealed to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet to accept the olive branch offered by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership “to love and save Malaysia” by preserving and promoting national unity, harmony and tolerance in the country and to ensure that no nefarious and treacherous plot to cause racial chaos and religious conflagration could succeed in Malaysia.

After the January 29 Cabinet meeting, Najib announced a Cabinet green light for a Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit on national reconciliation and national consensus, claiming that he had first mooted the idea of national reconciliation after the last general election but various parties were not responsive to his appeals to come together.

For the past six months, Pakatan Rakyat leaders have been urging for Barisan Nastional/Pakatan Rakyat talks on national reconciliation and national consensus in view of the unprecedented slew of major national crises faced by the country, including the quintuplet of national crisis covering nation building and national unity, economic, educational, security and anti-corruption. The PR leadership never proposed the idea of “national unity” government. Continue reading “Is Najib and Cabinet really seriously about national reconciliation and national consensus rising above partisan differences to end national drift and loss of leadership and direction?”

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Cat out of the bag – MCA clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campagn against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam

Now the cat is out of the bag.

MCA is clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campaign against DAP National Vice Chairman and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video, “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, and therefore deserving not only downright condemnation by all right-thinking Malaysians but also the fullest punishment whether under the laws of the land or the law of the jungle.

I have come to this conclusion after reading the Bernama report of the statement by the MCA deputy president, Datuk Dr. Wee Ka Siong, at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner in Kota Kinabalu last night, where he advised Teresa to apologise for her video clip “for the good of Malaysians”.

Present at the Sabah MCA CNY dinner in Kota Kinabalu were the Sabah Yang diPertua Negeri, Tun Juhar Mahiruddin, Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman and Urban and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal.

What interested me was the presence of Apdal, the first UMNO/BN leader to open up the attack on Teresa on the video on the completely baseless grounds that the video “Onederful Malaysia” lampooned the Malaysian security forces and the Lahad Datu incursion tragedy. Continue reading “Cat out of the bag – MCA clearly behind the plot to mislead UMNO Ministers to spearhead the vicious demonization campagn against Teresa Kok falsely accusing her video as being anti-Malay and anti-Islam”

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Has Malaysia a Home Minister of “unsound mind” who could condone and absolve the criminal actions of people stoking racial tensions by declaring payment of RM1,200 to anyone who slaps woman MP Teresa Kok?

This morning the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of national unity, Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said those stoking racial tensions by offering a reward for slapping DAP National Vice Chairperson and MP for Seputeh Teresa Kok are people of “unsound mind”.

The more relevant and pertinent question is whether Malaysia has got a Home Minister of “unsound mind” who could condone and absolve the criminal actions of the self-styled “Council of Islamic NGOs” in stoking racial tensions by declaring payment of RM1,200 to anyone who slaps woman MP Teresa Kok.

The 30-odd people from six Muslim groups involved in the “slap Teresa” demonstration and the chicken slaughter and smearing of chicken blood on a banner featuring DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders are “sick” but what is shocking is whether we have a Home Minister who is equally “sick” as to be capable of defending and championing the “sick” actions of the ‘Council of Islamic NGOs’.

Thanks to the publicity given by the extremist NGOs and their sponsors in UMNO, Teresa’s video “Onederful Malaysia CNY 2014” has now exceeded over 450,000 hits on YouTube. Continue reading “Has Malaysia a Home Minister of “unsound mind” who could condone and absolve the criminal actions of people stoking racial tensions by declaring payment of RM1,200 to anyone who slaps woman MP Teresa Kok?”

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Interfaith forum blames education system, national schools for racial polarisation

by Jennifer Gomez and Shahirah Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
February 06, 2014

National schools are the breeding ground for racial polarisation and the education system is the root cause of the problem plaguing the country now, an interfaith forum was told yesterday.

Parents Action Group for Education (PAGE) chairman Datin Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim told an audience of about 65 at the interfaith forum titled “A dialogue for harmony”, that it was all about Malay supremacy in schools now.

PAGE was among 40 civil groups and non-governmental organisations at the forum in conjunction with World Interfaith Harmony Week, jointly organised by the Global Movement of Moderates and Promotion of Human Rights (Proham).

“The only solution is for the glory of national schools to be returned, which means we need more subjects in English in national schools, because right now, national schools are Malay schools and nothing more,” said Noor Azimah.

She said certain Muslim groups funded by Putrajaya were also the source of the problem.

Sisters in Islam executive director Ratna Osman also touched on the education system, saying her sons were told in school that they could not mix with non-Muslims.

“I was shocked when an ustazah told them they cannot be with non-Muslims because they are not like us, because we are supreme human beings.

“I am disgusted because that is not the kind of education which I received 30 years ago,” Ratna said. Continue reading “Interfaith forum blames education system, national schools for racial polarisation”

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In Nazir’s paean to dad, a call to action for all Malaysians

NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 14, 2014

It happens all the time. Whenever someone writes or talks about the golden generation of Malaysian leaders, it is a bittersweet experience for citizens of this blessed country.

There is pride that individuals such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Siew Sin, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman once charted the fortunes of Malaysia.

And there is deep longing for such men of integrity, principle and fairness.

Yet, there is also numbing sadness that such men no longer exists in government, replaced long time ago by inept individuals with a ravenous appetite for self.

Make no mistake, Razak and friends were flawed men, at times drive by political interests of their parties. But they loved this land above everything else. Above enriching their family members. Above nurturing crony capitalism. Continue reading “In Nazir’s paean to dad, a call to action for all Malaysians”

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Let Johore DAP State elections on Sunday be healthy, constructive and fraternal contest of ideas, ideals and vision avoiding personal attacks

When online Star carried a report this morning titled “Johor DAP polls: Dr. Boo versus the raiders from the North” with regard to Sunday’s DAP Johore State elections, my first thought was the 1981 Spielberg American fantasy-adventure film classic “Raiders of the Lost Ark”. But nobody is seeking the “Lost Ark” on Sunday which can make one invincible capable of levelling all armies. In fact, what is expected after Sunday is toil, more toil and even more toil until Pakatan Rakyat reahes Putrajaya in the 14th Genefal Elections.

From 1986 I was three terms MP for Tanjong from 1986 – 1999 and two terms MP for Ipoh Timor 2004-2013 but in those 22 years as MP for a “Northern” constituency, nobody described me as a “Raider from the South” although I am a Johorean born and bred in Batu Pahat.

But suddenly, I seemed to have become a “Raider from the North”!

In my 48 years of political work, I have always regarded myself as Malaysian first and last, prepared to fight the good fight for a Malaysian Dream whether in Malacca, Selangor, Penang, Perak or back in Johore.

All DAP leaders, cadres and members must be model Malaysians, first and last, whether from north, south, east or west in Malaysia – in search of the Malaysian Dream where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second. Continue reading “Let Johore DAP State elections on Sunday be healthy, constructive and fraternal contest of ideas, ideals and vision avoiding personal attacks”

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Open Letter to PM and Cabinet – the first Cabinet meeting today should send out a clear and unmistakable message to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation

Open Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers

I am taking full advantage of the Age of Information Technology which enables the instant communication of information with information travelling at the speed of light
to pen this Open Letter to the Prime Minister and all Cabinet Ministers just before they start this morning their first Cabinet meeting of the New Year of 2014.

I urge the Prime Minister and Ministers to send out a clear and unmistakable message in their first Cabinet meeting to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation.

The Cabinet cannot do better than start their first meeting by discussing and digesting the question eloquently posed yesterday by a Good Samaritan in Malaysia, Tan Sri Robert Phang who asked “Why are we quarrelling over God?”

Continue reading “Open Letter to PM and Cabinet – the first Cabinet meeting today should send out a clear and unmistakable message to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation”

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From the outside looking in

– Julian Tan
The Malaysian Insider
January 07, 2014

When it hit international news that “Malaysian Islamic authorities seized more than 300 Bibles from a Christian group in a raid last Thursday”, I found myself pegged at the centre of my lunchtime discussions with Cambridge colleagues from around the world.

“What’s happening in Malaysia?” inquired my Bengali friend, her eyebrows scrunched together in bemused curiosity.

I had just managed to peel open the plastic lid of some leftover pasta when I realised that all eyes were on me to explain the sad religious altercation that had transpired in my country – a country that spoke of moderation and unity, but in recent years, with almost meaningless banality.

“I… I don’t know,” I muttered under a debilitated sigh.

The truth was that I was tongue-tied, speechless about the raid.

The whole dispute seemed so ludicrous and absurd to the point that it felt surreal. Continue reading “From the outside looking in”

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Malaysians entitled to know after Cabinet meeting tomorrow whether Federal Government and BN-controlled State Governments have stopped all funding to extremist , racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa

It was inadvertently revealed a fortnight ago that the Federal Government had been funding the extremist, racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa through various agencies like National Security Council (MKN), the National Civics Department (BTN) and the Special Affairs Department (Jasa), allowing it to spearhead a systematic campaign to incite racial hatred and religious conflict to attack Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia signature policy.

It must be admitted that the Perkasa campaign against the 1Malaysia campaign with the support of former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had been quite successful, for in the seven months after the 13th General Elections on May 5, 2013, Najib has yet to enunciate or reiterate his 1Malaysia signature policy in any public platform.

Najib had continued the 1Malaysia gimmicry like Kedai Rakyat 1Malaysia and 1Malaysia clinics, but he has studiously avoided all references to the 1Malaysia objective to create a Malaysia where Malaysians regard themselves as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second.

Perkasa and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s “Malay first, Malaysian second” declaration seemed to have won the day in the Umno/Barisan Nasional government, to the extent that Perkasa even dare to talk publicly about the possibility of replacing UMNO in the future at its annual general meeting two weeks ago.

This was when in the exchange between Umno and Perkasa leaders over Perkasa’s threat to replace UMNO, it was inadvertently revealed that the government had been funding Perkasa in its series of anti-Najib activities and programmes. Continue reading “Malaysians entitled to know after Cabinet meeting tomorrow whether Federal Government and BN-controlled State Governments have stopped all funding to extremist , racist and Malay supremacist group Perkasa”

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When He’s Alone, What Does Najib Think About?

by Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
31.12.2103

I wonder, when Najib Razak has his private moments, what does he think about?

Does he think about what a liability his wife, Rosmah Mansor, is turning out to be? About the bad press that has been mounting against her and her allegedly extravagant spending and her use of the government jet to go to Qatar? And now her son’s purchase of a RM110 million condo in New York City?

Lavishing that amount of money at a time when Malaysians are being compelled to pinch pennies is obscene. It also shows up the glaring contrast between the lifestyles of the ruling elite and those of the common people. While the ruling elite forces us to tighten our belts in the face of rising prices, its own family members appear to be having a whale of a time.

It may be claimed that Rosmah’s son, Riza Aziz, came to great wealth through his own talent and initiatives, like investing successfully in Hollywood movies such as The Wolf of Wall Street, and is therefore entitled to his enjoyment of luxuries, but the next question that begs to be asked is: Why, in the midst of the brain drain Malaysia is suffering, does he not come back instead to contribute his talent and wealth to developing his own country? And helping his stepfather to achieve the goal of making Malaysia a high-income nation? Continue reading “When He’s Alone, What Does Najib Think About?”

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Cat out of the bag – Perkasa is the unofficial 14th member of the Barisan Nasional coalition with greater heft and more influence than “7-11” MCA and the other 12 BN component parties combined

The cat is out of the bag. The extremist and racist Perkasa is the unofficial 14th member of the Barisan Nasional coalition with greater heft and more influence than “7-11” MCA and the other 12 BN component parties combined.

We must thank the Perkasa President Ibrahim Ali for his hubris at the annual general meeting of Perkasa a week ago getting much too big for his shoes for this expose of this top Umno/BN secret for the past four years.

Clearly relishing the idea of being Prime Minister of Malaysia one day, Ibrahim toyed with the possibility of a political “reverse take-over” when he offered Perkasa as an alternative to UMNO, asserting that Perkasa is the “most structured political party in the country with 500,000 members”.

Claiming that Umno and BN will not be able to win in the recent general elections without Perkasa’s assistance, particularly in Perak and Kedah, Ibrahim said that although Perkasa supported BN during the last general election it is not guaranteed who it would side with in the future.

This prompted the riposte by UMNO veteran, former Minister and Negri Sembilan Mentri Besar and currently Felda Chairman Mohd Isa Abdul Samad who asked: “We protected Perkasa and it received plenty of benefits from us. How will it replace us?” Continue reading “Cat out of the bag – Perkasa is the unofficial 14th member of the Barisan Nasional coalition with greater heft and more influence than “7-11” MCA and the other 12 BN component parties combined”

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MCA’s reforms hollow without Umno’s, analysts say

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
The Malay Mail Online
December 22, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — MCA is unlikely to succeed with planned reforms to win back the Chinese community so long as Barisan Nasional (BN) lynchpin Umno continues to thrive on communal politics, said two political analysts.

Despite the winds of change blowing through the party that yesterday elected a new line-up of leaders, they said Umno’s dominance over government policies meant it was difficult for MCA to shake its seemingly subservient role to the Malay nationalist party that has disenchanted its traditional support base.

Since reinforcing its position by winning 88 of the 133 federal seats the coalition managed to retain in Election 2013, Umno has also gained a stranglehold over country’s administration by controlling 17 of the 25 ministerial posts in the government.

“Reform in MCA is dependent on Umno,” Prof James Chin, a political analyst with Monash University, told The Malay Mail Online yesterday.

“The reform would only go as internal party reform and not government policies,” Chin said of MCA’s planned transformation. Continue reading “MCA’s reforms hollow without Umno’s, analysts say”

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Hope From the Eyes of a Middle-Class Malaysian

— Cassandra Chung
The Malaysian Insider/Loyarburok.com
December 21, 2013

DEC 21 — Just yesterday, I was speaking to my father on the phone. It had been a long time since the both of us had had a one-to-one talk ever since I came to university. Most of my Skype conversations home involved one-to-one talks with my sister, and if I was speaking to my father, it was usually in the presence of my mother, relatives or family friends. As I spoke to him, he mentioned the toll and electricity price hike. The few times in the past he told me about the petrol price hike and goods and services tax (GST) implementation, he had said it in a rather factual manner. My conversation with him over the phone seemed different this time. I could hear the stress in his voice and I must say, for him to fail at hiding his stress is a pretty big deal, because most of the time, he can effectively conceal it.

I come from a middle-class family. We live in a modest terrace house which took my father 11 years to completely pay off. We have enough money to own two imported cars but they aren’t BMWs or Mini Coopers. My family had sufficient money to send me to one of the cheaper private colleges to do my pre-university studies and to the United Kingdom to start and finish my degree, but not enough to give me an international secondary and primary education. I got a public school one with lots of tuition classes instead. My sister and I had a short stint of piano and dance lessons at some point of time in our lives. In comparison to a lot of other middle-class families, I would say we are doing alright. Some of my friends could never afford dance classes. I have a friend who had to defer his entry into one of the most prestigious universities in the world because of insufficient funds. Another one simply had to give up such an opportunity.

But I think like most other families with our financial standing, we are reaching our boiling point. Continue reading “Hope From the Eyes of a Middle-Class Malaysian”

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Ku Nan: Playing race card at BN party meets is normal

Lawrence Yong
Malaysiakini
Dec 19, 2013

At the 67th Umno general assembly, delegates had also made some controversial statements including a suggestion that the 1Malaysia slogan be replaced with the 1Melayu slogan because people from the other races did not help Umno in Penang during the 13th general election.

Tengku Adnan said that to mitigate the problem, perhaps parties should stop giving “live” coverage rights of their meetings to reporters, whom he fingered as the real troublemakers.

The MCA elections kicked off today with the 48th MCA Youth national annual assembly and election at the party’s headquarters in Kuala Lumpur.

The Chinese-based party had seen its support eroded during the last general election, winning only seven seats in Parliament. It has opted not to accept ministerial posts in the cabinet.

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Despite Najib’s much vaunted 1Malaysia, Umno debates show otherwise, say analysts

by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
December 08, 2013

Two facts were established during debate time at the Umno general assembly – Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s much-vaunted transformation programme and his 1Malaysia dream have failed.

His party men clamoured for contracts and projects and continued to see everything through the prism of the Malay race.

From demands for government-linked companies to award public contracts to more Bumiputera firms to the re-examining of the BR1M cash handouts and calls for a 1Melayu slogan, the attitude at the Umno general assembly makes a mockery of the 1Malaysia slogan and talks of national reconciliation.

There was also nothing about inclusiveness in the debates. Nor was there any mention about corruption in the country, wastages, leakages or wrongdoings by those in power – concerns that are shared by other Malaysians.

“The tone of the debates reflected the sentiments of members on the ground and it is a sad situation,” said Institute of Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS) CEO Wan Saiful Wan Jan. Continue reading “Despite Najib’s much vaunted 1Malaysia, Umno debates show otherwise, say analysts”

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Reform of the civil service: The NUCC is its last hope

– Koon Yew Yin
The Malaysian Insider
November 29, 2013

To say that the newly established National Unity Consultative Council has been greeted with a big yawn by the public is too kind. Feedback so far especially over the uncensored internet has ranged from scepticism – “a political wayang” to the dismissive – “a waste of taxpayers’ money and time” and “expect NUCC to go the way of the 1Malaysia slogan”.

One reader has already predicted that “it will soon be known as the ‘No Use Consultative Council (NUCC)’”.

Part of the reason for the criticism is that among the group appointed to forge a new direction in national unity are some well-known apple polishers who have risen to where they are because of their prowess in flattering the Barisan Nasional.

On the bright side, those appointed could have been much worse – think of what outcome we will have if the Government had appointed Riduan Tee or Awang Selamat.

Another problem is the restricted terms of reference set up for the Council which can discuss only four subject areas – laws, the federal constitution, values and programmes. Why this limitation if not to prevent discussion of sensitive areas is the obvious conclusion to reach. Continue reading “Reform of the civil service: The NUCC is its last hope”