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Regardless of whether the BN candidate is Ghani Othman or other UMNO heavyweight, the Battle of Gelang Patah for a Malaysian Dream and to kick off a political tsunami from the south to complete the 2008 political tsunami is definitely on

Deputy Barisan Nasional (BN) Chairman and Deputy UMNO President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin predicted that I would be defeated in the BN fortress of Gelang Patah.

Muhyiddin said the BN is looking into the possibility of fielding Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah and that I am “trapped” as I had not anticipated an UMNO big-gun being deployed to contest in the constituency.

I admit that I had not anticipated an UMNO big-gun being deployed to contest in Gelang Patah, as who would have thought that MCA leadership could so openly admit that they don’t have a single MCA “big-gun” left for Gelang Patah or that MCA would have a President for the first time in MCA history who is prepared to give away parliamentary and state assembly seats to be contested by other BN parties, like Gelang Patah, Kuantan, Wangsa Maju and Tronoh as if conducting a “fire sale” of MCA assets. Continue reading “Regardless of whether the BN candidate is Ghani Othman or other UMNO heavyweight, the Battle of Gelang Patah for a Malaysian Dream and to kick off a political tsunami from the south to complete the 2008 political tsunami is definitely on”

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The hidden hand of underhanded tricks in GE13

By Jimmy Wong | APRIL 09, 2013
The Malaysian Insider

APRIL 9 — When did politics get so sneaky that Malaysian political parties start putting up fake banners of their foes or sending emails using fake identities?

Who are these hidden hands? The ones who put up banners and buntings using DAP and PAS leaders’ faces. The ones who keep flooding my inbox with lousy arguments against Pakatan Rakyat (PR)?

Why do political parties resort to such play instead of confronting each other on issues of the day? Instead, they resort to sneaky dirty tricks to make the other side look bad. Does it work? No.

What do they hope to achieve with such tricks? That we will believe how bad these parties are? Isn’t that stupid?

In the United States, both the Democrats and the Republicans regularly take out advertisements picking on and criticising each other’s policy points. Why don’t Malaysian political parties do this instead of anonymous attacks?
Continue reading “The hidden hand of underhanded tricks in GE13”

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Umno mulls straight fights with DAP, banks on Malay vote

BY JAHABAR SADIQ, EDITOR | APRIL 10, 2013
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 10 ― Umno plans on fielding their candidates either in all of the DAP seats or most of them as the Malay vote is more dependable than Chinese support, say strategists.

The Malaysian Insider understands the Barisan Nasional (BN) war room believes Umno candidates can beat back the DAP attack in Johor and other Malay-majority states rather than MCA hopefuls.

“Umno candidates have a better chance of keeping BN seats than the MCA, so we’re looking into pushing more Malay candidates,” a ruling coalition source told The Malaysian Insider.

DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang is spearheading the move into traditional MCA seat Gelang Patah while party strategist Liew Chin Tong is eyeing the Kluang seat. Johor PKR chief Datuk Seri Chua Jui Meng has also been named for the Segamat seat held by MIC.
Continue reading “Umno mulls straight fights with DAP, banks on Malay vote”

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From fixed deposits to kingmakers

By Oh Ei Sun | APRIL 09, 2013
The Malaysian Insider

APRIL 9 — Malaysia’s coming general election, widely characterised as a potential “watershed” event, will see many first-time voters play a decisive role in determining which way the country will go. Will they vote to retain the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition or opt for the opposition alliance, Pakatan Rakyat?

Carrying a critical weight in the outcome will be the east Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak.

Out of the 222 seats in Parliament, more than a quarter are in Sabah (with 25 seats) and Sarawak (31), leading some to label these states as kingmakers in the polls that are expected to be closely contested.

In Peninsular Malaysia, any potential loss by BN of its predominantly non-Bumiputera seats can be counterbalanced by gains in predominantly Bumiputera seats. This would give a net election result in Peninsular Malaysia like that in 2008, when BN only narrowly surpassed Pakatan. Had Sabah and Sarawak not brought in the 56 seats then, there could have been a change of government in Putrajaya.

THE SWING PHENOMENON
Continue reading “From fixed deposits to kingmakers”

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1Day Countdown to 13GE: Challenge to Mahathir to a series of seven public debates on his 22 years as fourth Prime Minister as Mahathir has made 13GE a double referendum on Najib as well as Mahathir premierships

When I started the 100-day countdown daily statements to the 13GE on 1st January 2013, I had not expected that I would have to complete the 100-day series as it was generally expected that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have mustered the courage to end his real-life Hamlet agonizing “To Be or Not To Be” during the Chinese New Year in February as to dissolve Parliament for the long-awaited 13th general elections to be held.

But his carefully-planned RM3.5 million Psy and Gangnam Style appearance for the Penang Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year Open House on Feb. 11 went kaput when it proved to be a political and public relations disaster of the first magnitude with tens of thousands of people shouting “Yes, Yes, Yes” to Najib’s first question of “Are You Ready for Psy?” followed by the thunderous and categorical “No, No, No” to Najib’s second question of “Are You Ready for BN?”.

This “No, No, No” episode has captured the imagination of Malaysians and entered the Malaysian political history and folklore – not to mention Najib’s other Psy embarrassments in Penang, like the five-minute futile wait by the Prime Minister and former Prime Minister of the country for Psy to join them to “Loh Yee San” or Psy’s refusal to dance with Najib, Rosmah and Ng Yen Yen for a premier rendition of “Gangnam 1Malaysia Style”.

Today is exactly the 100th Day of the “100-Day Countdown to 13GE” series, the day the Election Commission is to meet to announce the dates for nomination and polling for the 13GE – an acid test whether Najib will honour the Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M)’s Election Integrity Pledge to hold free, fair and clean elections! Continue reading “1Day Countdown to 13GE: Challenge to Mahathir to a series of seven public debates on his 22 years as fourth Prime Minister as Mahathir has made 13GE a double referendum on Najib as well as Mahathir premierships”

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Let’s Ubah!

By Allan CF Goh

For well over fifty years,
Parents have wept silent tears,
Over their children’s great dreams,
Wreaked by those foul racist screams.
Theirs is not to question why
To share not an equal sky!
They stand under the same sun,
But only as lesser sons.
Their destined education
Failed to come to real fruition,
Their abilities denied,
Their hopes promised, never neigh,
Because of vile racism,
And racial extremism.
Let’s ubah the sick regime.
Make Malaysia shine and glean!

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The favor has to be returned one day and the time is now, GE 13

By Richard Loh

Millions meant nothing to them when they can easily recoup billions just as fast.

Presenting Psy at a Chinese New Year function in Penang recently was a great success that brought joys to Penangnites but a total disaster for umno perkasa bn.

Millions were spent on Psy and it failed miserably to gain any traction for Najib. Are they disheartened, of course YES, what a great shame they faced but not a bit saddened on the humongous sum of money spent because they have a mountain support from behind, Hokkien call it ‘Aw Soew’.

The failure of Psy does not stop them from trying to bring more cheers to Penangnites and shame to umno perkasa bn.

Businessmen sleeping with the devil and making billions of evil dollars are very afraid that the devil may have to be kicked out of power at the federal level where their billions came from.

They can deny however they want, claiming that they are doing charity works by bringing in more celebrities to Penang.
Continue reading “The favor has to be returned one day and the time is now, GE 13”

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Mahathir should be a responsible “elder statesman” and stop race-baiting and inciting communal sentiments which is completely antithetical to his concept of Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has become the No. 1 campaigner for Umno/Barisan Nasional in the 13GE, even putting the Prime Minister/Umno President Datuk Seri Najib Razak in the shadows, as if Mahathir is fighting for his own political life.

This may in fact be the true picture, as the 13GE is not only a “life-and-death” battle for the Najib premiership, it is shaping up to be a “life-and-death” struggle for the 22-year Mahathir legacy.

This is why Mahathir has become the “campaigner extraordinaire” in the 13GE, and I don’t think he has ever campaigned as hard for Umno/BN even in the five general elections he had led as Prime Minister, namely the 1982, 1986, 1990, 1995 and 1999 general elections, spanning two decades.

Mahathir is fully within his rights to campaign all-out to protect the 22-year Mahathir legacy, but he must always act as a responsible “elder statesman” and not succumb to cheap and irresponsible tactics as race-baiting and inciting communal sentiments which is completely antithetical to his concept of Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020. Continue reading “Mahathir should be a responsible “elder statesman” and stop race-baiting and inciting communal sentiments which is completely antithetical to his concept of Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020″

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DAP’s agreement to let PKR contest Segamat parliamentary seat contingent on settlement of all DAP-PKR disputes on all seat allocations in Johore – DAP contesting seven parliamentary seats as well as contesting in 15 state assembly seats including Johor Jaya

On the announcement by Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim last night that PKR Johor Chairman, Datuk Chua Jui Meng is the PKR candidate in the Segamat parliamentry constituency, I wish to clarify the following:

1. The decision for my contesting in Gelang Patah parliamentary seat to kick off a political tsunami from Johore in the south in the 13GE so as to complete the 2008 “political tsunami” all the way to Putrajaya is a stand-alone decision and not made in exchange of any parliamentary seat between the DAP and PKR. Consequently, Segamat is a seat to be contested by DAP at that point in time.

2. DAP’s agreement to let PKR contest in Segamat parliamentary seat is contingent on the settlement of all DAP-PKR disputes on all seat allocations in Johore – DAP contesting seven parliamentary seats out of a total of 26 parliamentary seats as well as contesting in 15 state assembly seats (including Johor Jaya) out of a total of 56 state assembly seats. In both cases, DAP will be contesting in less than one-third of the total parliamentary and state assembly seats in Johor.

3. With Anwar’s announcement, it can be taken that the contingent conditions for the DAP’s agreement to let PKR contest in the Segamat parliamentary seat has been agreed upon by the PKR leadership, i.e. DAP will be contesting in seven parliamentary seats and 15 State Assembly seats (including Johor Jaya).
Continue reading “DAP’s agreement to let PKR contest Segamat parliamentary seat contingent on settlement of all DAP-PKR disputes on all seat allocations in Johore – DAP contesting seven parliamentary seats as well as contesting in 15 state assembly seats including Johor Jaya”

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BN says studying pros and cons of fielding Ghani against Kit Siang

By Syed Jaymal Zahiid
The Malaysian Insider
April 09, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Barisan Nasional (BN) is “looking” into the possibility of fielding Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Abdul Ghani Othman in Gelang Patah to face DAP heavyweight Lim Kit Siang, the coalition’s deputy chairman Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said today.

Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, claimed that grassroots support for the idea was positive, saying that Lim did not anticipate this and that the DAP stalwart “is now trapped there”, suggesting that the veteran lawmaker would likely be defeated in the BN fortress.

“We are taking into consideration the views of all quarters because we need to study the details thoroughly as there are pros and cons,” Muhyiddin told reporters after handing out gifts to SPM top scorers here.

“We have received much feedback from the grassroots; this is something Kit Siang did not anticipate. We see that he is now trapped there,” he added.

The caretaker deputy prime minister, however, noted it was ultimately up to BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak to decide if the move would be in the coalition’s best interest. Continue reading “BN says studying pros and cons of fielding Ghani against Kit Siang”

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2-Day Countdown to 13GE – The BN Manifesto: Old Wine in New Bottles

The two Manifestos put out by Pakatan Rakyat and the Barisan Nasional provide a basis for comparison shopping.

Part One of this article attempts to set out the key challenges that the nation faces and reviews the extent to which the BN Manifesto offers policies and proposals that would address these challenges. Part Two examines the specific elements of the BN Manifesto.

Part One – The Unmet Challenges

The much-touted BN Manifesto launched with great fanfare by the Chairman of the Barisan Nasional Coalition is largely an irrelevant document lacking vision, devoid of substance and offers little hope of change or an outline of actions that are urgently needed to meet the challenges faced by the nation at this momentous point in its history.

The BN Manifesto is a rather weak, uninspiring and stale document. The Manifesto is a disappointment as it fails to offer coherent programs to meet the grave challenges facing the nation.

The nation’s key challenges are grouped under three headings: Continue reading “2-Day Countdown to 13GE – The BN Manifesto: Old Wine in New Bottles”

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Megatrends of madness, Part I

Azly Rahman
Malaysiakini
Apr 8, 2013

We are at a critical juncture – at a dangerous crossroad of either a peaceful transfer of power or a descent into utter chaos. These few weeks we will see more drama unfolding – the ultimate aim is to win and win and win and kill and kill and overkill our critical sensibility.

We have not recovered from the shock of a Sulu incursion and we are ill-prepared for a general election that is plagued with all kinds of issues from many angles and manifesting in all kinds of dimensions. This is our megatrend of madness.

Crossroads

We have perfected Machiavellianism that lives in our world of Oriental Despotism. We live in a mediated world – of truth no longer can be discerned, in a world of perception management wherein politics is so complex yet cannibalistic.

In our society lies Italy’s Mussolini and Germany’s Hitler and Japan’s Tojo; of hegemonisers, of annihilators, and Asian-looking imperators. In these three-in-one deadly concoction of cultural contradictions lies the icing of the one-dimensionality of Malaysiana and that sloganism of ‘Truly Asia’. The show goes on. Continue reading “Megatrends of madness, Part I”

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Battle of Gelang Patah to fulfil the Malaysian Dream of an united multiracial Malaysian people rising above race which was envisioned by the great Johore Malay leader and founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaffar six decades ago

The battle of Gelang Patah is not just a battle for Lim Kit Siang, DAP or Pakatan Rakyat.

It is a battle for all Malaysians, the nation as well as future generations, with two portentous, unprecedented and far-reaching meaning and significance.

Firstly, the battle of Gelang Patah is to launch off a political tsunami in the 13th general elections from the south spreading all over the country, crossing the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak, to complete the unfinished business of the “political tsunami” of the 2008 general elections which saw the fall of Umno/Barisan Nasional in five states and the deprivation of the UMNO/BN two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time in Malaysian history.

The 2008 “political tsunami” emanated from the north in Penang, Kedah and Kelantan coming down south to Perak (although in less than a year there was an undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional “power grab” orchestrated by Datuk Seri Najib Razak and which await a restoration of Pakatan Rakyat Perak State government in the 13GE) and Selangor, fizzling out in Negri Sembilan and leaving the three fixed deposit states of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak virtually untouched.

However, the 2008 “political tsunami” has brought about a tectonic shift in the political landscape, as only five years ago it was completely unthinkable and impossible for anyone to hope or dream that there could be a change of federal government through the ballot box.
Continue reading “Battle of Gelang Patah to fulfil the Malaysian Dream of an united multiracial Malaysian people rising above race which was envisioned by the great Johore Malay leader and founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaffar six decades ago”

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3-Day Countdown to 13GE: BN’s Manifesto shows that it is fundamentally incapable of transforming, much less reforming, Malaysia

Despite having more than a month to thoroughly scrutinize the Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto – Pakatan Harap Rakyat – the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Manifesto, which was launched to great fanfare on the 6th of April, shows that it is a coalition that is fundamentally opposed to and incapable of introducing significant and much needed reforms in the country.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

While we have no problems with the BN trying to incorporate our ideas into their own manifesto, it is laughable to see that even this copying is half-hearted, like many of the so-called transformation initiatives of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The BN promises to reduce car prices by 20%-30% but stays absolutely silent on the unfair and opaque system of Approved Permits (AP) allocations that have been given to many BN cronies.

The BN promises to expand the Rapid Bus System to every state but does not allow the state governments or the local authorities to provide their own bus services.
Continue reading “3-Day Countdown to 13GE: BN’s Manifesto shows that it is fundamentally incapable of transforming, much less reforming, Malaysia”

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Should we pity MCA?

by Stanley Koh
Free Malaysia Today
April 8, 2013

A party strongman pleads for voters’ mercy, but some people believe that hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny are unpardonable.

COMMENT

Not for the first time in its recent history, MCA is now reduced to begging for votes.

“I hope the people will give us some votes. Don’t make us eat egg,” party vice-president Donald Lim said in a recent interview with Oriental News Daily, a Chinese language online newspaper.

He claimed that MCA, despite its disastrous showing in the 2008 election, had spent the last five years working hard to regain voter support, implying that it deserved pity, if not appreciation. Continue reading “Should we pity MCA?”

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Malaysia’s Multi-Ethnic Coalition Near Collapse

by John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
05 April 2013

UMNO may have to go it alone as Chinese, Indian parties crumble

Regardless of who wins Malaysia’s 13th* general election, expected to be held on April 27, the historic multi-ethnic coalition that has ruled the country since independence will have likely collapsed.

“Whatever the results, the Barisan coalition will cease to exist as we know it because the Malaysian Chinese Association, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian Congress will be wiped out,” a Kuala Lumpur-based businessman told Asia Sentinel. “Assuming UMNO forms the government with Sabah and Sarawak parties, there will be no Chinese and Indian representatives in the government. And that is not a good scenario to have.”

The Barisan and the opposition, made up of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat headed by Anwar Ibrahim, the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party and the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia are embroiled in what is being called the closest election in the country’s history, with both sides predicting victory. One opposition strategist said the race would probably come down to a margin of 10 seats either way in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, or parliament. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Multi-Ethnic Coalition Near Collapse”

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Academics call upon Barisan and Pakatan to declare policy positions on national finance and debt

CPIASIA

Recent financial crises have visited economic calamity upon ordinary citizens in the countries of the East and West alike. Experience tells us that there can be no complacency about a nation’s financial state.

Concerns voiced in various reports and the media call for special attention to Malaysia’s finances and their management. These concerns are:

  • A record-breaking capital flight out of Malaysia. Financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reported that a total of RM880 billion of funds were illegally transferred out of the country between 2001 and 2010.

  • A sharply rising trend in government debt. This debt almost doubled from RM274 billion at the beginning of 2008 to RM502 billion at the end of 2012. International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics expect it to grow by RM277 billion to RM779 billion in 2017.

  • Incomplete information about the Malaysian government’s full exposure to debt. The official figures for government debt exclude debts that are called contingent liabilities. These include off-balance-sheet borrowings and the debts of banks, government-linked companies and other private-sector enterprises that the government has guaranteed to pay off in the event that these entities default. One estimate of these hidden debts in 2011 placed it at RM117 billion.

    • Continue reading “Academics call upon Barisan and Pakatan to declare policy positions on national finance and debt”

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Malaysia’s independent radios jammed, sites hit by cyberattacks

The Malaysian Insider | APRIL 07, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 – Two independent radios, Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Free Malaysia, have been jammed in Malaysia and their web sites inaccessible due to cyberattacks, says its founder.

The two stations broadcast from London on short-wave frequencies and are available online through their websites and online database Soundcloud.

“There have been attempts at broadcast interference on both radio stations by jamming from different parts of the world over the past few days. These have had limited success so far and we have been working on tracing the perpetrators,” founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.

Coordinated cyberattacks on their respective web sites were recorded all yesterday; they “came from all over, it appears, but mainly from the US and Malaysia, and our servers had to close down”, she added.

The Sarawak Report web site, the first launched by Rewcastle-Brown, similarly came under attack but was holding out.
Continue reading “Malaysia’s independent radios jammed, sites hit by cyberattacks”

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Soi Lek declined facing Kit Siang, Ghani a possibility, say BN sources

BY JAHABAR SADIQ
EDITOR
APRIL 08, 2013
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was asked to face Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah but the MCA president declined the offer, leaving Barisan Nasional (BN) to consider its choices for the hottest battle in Umno’s home state, say ruling coalition sources.

The Malaysian Insider understands the MCA is pushing for caretaker Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman to fight the DAP adviser but an unsettled Malay ground and pro-opposition Chinese voters could scuttle those plans.

“Some in the BN war room thought it would be a titanic fight and that Dr Chua is strong enough to face Kit but the MCA president said no,” a BN source told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the veteran opposition leader by his moniker Kit.

“Now other choices are being considered as the final list must be ready by Tuesday,” the source added.
Continue reading “Soi Lek declined facing Kit Siang, Ghani a possibility, say BN sources”