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A stirring of discontent

— Christine SK Lai
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2012

NEW DELHI, Nov 13 ― The blurb on Facebook was catchy. “Come experience the Ubah Dream Machine”.

There were some interesting names bandied about, though no big-time personalities apparently. That suited me fine actually, because I didn’t fancy stomaching political ra-ra-ra speeches. I wanted to hear from ordinary folks like myself.

So for the first time in my 52 years of being a Malaysian citizen, I attended a “ceramah umum”.

It was awful timing, actually. Saturday nights are for enjoying with family and frens, partying, R-n-R stuff. Who would want to come and hang out at a car-park listening to more of the same-same things that have been said umpteen times already?

Add to that the unkind weather which literally washed out the whole idea of an open air gathering, and any smart event organiser will conclude it’s bound to be a PR disaster on your hands.

But I went anyway, more out of curiosity than anything else, since personally I am not a die-hard of any political party.

I didn’t expect any crowd as the rain was a real dampener, and indeed as I looked across to the car park grounds, it was miserably empty. Continue reading “A stirring of discontent”

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What is wrong with Najib’s promise of “no Batu Caves condo if BN regains Selangor”?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak today promised to scrap the controversial condominium project located next to the Batu Caves temple complex if BN retakes Selangor.

The immediate reaction of fair-minded and reasonable Malaysians is not one of outright welcome but the feeling that something is wrong or just not right with Najib’s promise.

Lets hear your response to Najib’s promise.

I have put up two tweets, viz:

1. What perfidy – after BN approving it in 2007! http://goo.gl/9v1Jg PM: S’gor BN 2scrap Batu Caves condo if we win – Koh Jun Lin (Mkini)

2. No apology 4BN approving it 2007? http://goo.gl/qyt66 Najib promises Indians no Batu Caves condo if BN regains Selangor – by Ida Lim (TMI)

I will issue a statement tomorrow. Continue reading “What is wrong with Najib’s promise of “no Batu Caves condo if BN regains Selangor”?”

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Sabah voters will be the “kingmakers” in the 13GE to decide who will form the Federal Government in Putrajaya and who will be the Prime Minister of Malaysia

After my latest visit to Sabah and three-day “DAP UBAH tour” of Papar (Kg Tamui), Kota Belud ( Kg Nahaba), Inanam, Matunggung (Kg. Pinaurat) and Kudat, with Sabah DAP leaders, it is clear that the Pakatan Rakyat Sabah’s RM7.28 billion Alternative Budget 2013 announced last month has “hit the marks” and put intense pressure on the Sabah Chief Minister, Datuk Seri Musa Aman and the Barisan Nasional Sabah leaders.

For instance, Musa was reported in the Sabah newspapers on Friday of handing over funds totaling RM30.9 million to 140 non-Islamic religious bodies and 266 schools including Chinese independent and missions schools in the state – made up of RM18 million to religious bodies including churches, Chinese temples and other non-Muslim places of worship and RM12.9 million to the schools.

Although Musa said that “the large allocation for non-Islamic religious bodies was reflective of the Barisan Nasional government’s commitment in upholding religious freedom in the country”, it was clearly in response though weak and inadequate to the fourth of five thrusts of Pakatan Rakyat Sabah’s Alternative Budget 2003 on “Empowering Local Communities”.

However the Sabah BN government has fallen far short of what the PR Sabah Alternative Budget proposed.
Continue reading “Sabah voters will be the “kingmakers” in the 13GE to decide who will form the Federal Government in Putrajaya and who will be the Prime Minister of Malaysia”

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Kalau terasa akan kalah, biarkan sahaja Parlimen terbubar dengan sendirinya

― Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 13, 2012

13 Nov ― Ada dua perkara yang saya hendak sentuh sekali gus hari ini. Yang pertamanya ialah tentang program UMNO Seremban yang mengadakan majlis parti di Kem Tentera Sikamat, Seremban, dan yang kedua ialah isu Himpunan Rakyat 1Malaysia yang dianjurkan oleh UMNO dan BN melalui penganjuran oleh beberapa NGO pada 24 hb November ini.

Saya tidak berapa perasan bila program itu diadakan tetapi yang nyata ada jemputan Dato’ Ishak Ismail kepada semua penduduk Sikamat untuk mereka hadir di majlis anjuran beliau di dalam kem Rejimen Ke-4, Artileri Di- Raja, Sikamat dan ini amat memeranjatkan banyak pihak kerana ia dibenarkan oleh pemerintah Kem tersebut untuk UMNO mengadakan majlis politik itu.

Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Menteri Pertahanan, yang berucap dalam majlis itu sepatutnya memberikan penjelasan kenapa UMNO mengheret tentera dalam politik dan jika tentera menjadi aktif dalam politik ini merupakan petanda buruk akan melanda negara dan tidak siapa akan dapat mengenali politik yang sebenarnya dalam tempoh yang terdekat ini. Ini merupakan satu fenomena baru di dalam UMNO dan ini hanya menunjukkan betapa terdesaknya parti yang telah memerintah negara sejak merdeka itu.

Jika tentera digiatkan dalam politik maka kita sudah tidak ada lagi sistem politik yang betul dan ia akan hanya membawa negara kepada keadaan dan situasi yang mana rakyat tidak akan tahu lagi yang mana satu sistem yang betul sebagai sebuah negara demokrasi kerana semua sistem dan tata cara bernegara itu sudah berkecamuk dan tidak menentu lagi. Anak-anak muda tidak akan lagi tahu siapa yang sepatutnya bergiat dan siapa yang sepatutnya duduk di tengah-tengah dengan ‘magnanimous’ kerana setiap rakyat sudah tidak tahu lagi yang mana yang sepatutnya mereka lakukan dan yang mana yang tidak boleh dan beretika untuk dilakukan.

Oleh kerana keadaan ini sudah mula berlaku ia sepatutnya menjadi pengukur kepada kemampuan untuk mempertahankan sistem demokrasi negara ini. Maka tidak boleh kita biarkan perkara seperti ini berlaku justeru pilihanraya inilah sebaik-baik masa untuk memperbetulkan apa yang tidak kena dalam negara kita ini. Continue reading “Kalau terasa akan kalah, biarkan sahaja Parlimen terbubar dengan sendirinya”

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Pakatan Rakyat’s 13GE call and objective is positive “Unite and Rule” unifying all races and religions while Umno and Barisan Nasional resort to the traditional polarising “Divide and Rule” tactics

For the first time in the nation’s history, voters in Sabah and Malaysia have become very impatient of waiting for the general elections as they have been waiting for more than two years for the most crucial and critical 13th General Elections.

Everywhere throughout Malaysia, whether in Sabah, Sarawak or the peninsular states, whether at ceramahs, dialogues or walkabouts, the question most frequently asked is: “When is the general elections?”

Although it has become the national guessing game for more than two years, only one man in the country has the answer – the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

But the greatest irony is that even Najib does not have the answer as he agonises for over two years on when to call for the 13th General Elections – not because of any high national consideration or reason of state but purely from the selfish standpoint of his own personal political survival.
Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat’s 13GE call and objective is positive “Unite and Rule” unifying all races and religions while Umno and Barisan Nasional resort to the traditional polarising “Divide and Rule” tactics”

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Why I have nothing much to say at the moment (Part 1)

By Clive Kessler | November 07, 2012
UPDATED @ 07:04:27 AM 08-11-2012
The Malaysian Insider

People are kind.

They have been writing to ask how I am.

I have not said or written anything serious for weeks.

And they are beginning to wonder.

The “Phoney War” Interlude

“What is the problem?” they ask.

The problem, I reply, is not me. It’s the situation.

The situation?
Continue reading “Why I have nothing much to say at the moment (Part 1)”

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Obama’s victory of hope over hate

by Bridget Welsh
Malaysiakini
Nov 8, 2012

COMMENT

When the presidential election was finally called, the results confirmed what most people expected – Barack Obama was returned to office for another four years.

It was not quite the nail-biter the media hyped it up to be, but there certainly were moments of uncertainty and anxiety on both sides.

In terms of the popular vote, Obama’s margin was extremely slim, although the electoral college system gave him a comfortable margin as he picked up the key swing states, including Florida (where I voted).

The election had a record turnout as Americans took their right to vote seriously (with some queuing for hours) and the process carefully monitored by observers.

The US 2012 election offers some simple lessons on understanding electoral behaviour and what can deliver political victory in close contests. Continue reading “Obama’s victory of hope over hate”

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In cleaning out Bersih and Suaram, Putrajaya soils itself

— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 07, 2012

NOV 7 — It is a government that has ruled since Merdeka, but it sure looks like the Alliance and its offspring Barisan Nasional (BN) has to learn some lessons early.

Take Bersih for example, kind sirs in Putrajaya.

What did the government achieve by demonising Bersih every step of the way, from its financing to its office-bearers to declaring it illegal and yet offering to work with the electorai reforms movement?

The answer is nothing, sir. Continue reading “In cleaning out Bersih and Suaram, Putrajaya soils itself”

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Rakyat berharap selepas pilihanraya ini mereka tidak dibohongi lagi

― Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 07, 2012

7 NOV ― Bila pilihanraya akan diadakan Tuhan sahaja yang tahu. Inilah kali pertama seorang Perdana Menteri belum lagi disahkan oleh rakyat sokongan mereka terhadap beliau. Mandat yang sekarang ini adalah mandat dan sokongan rakyat terhadap Abdullah Badawi.

Najib tidak berani membuat keputusan kerana beliau masih ragu untuk mengadakannya kerana rakyat semakin hari semakin menunjukkan sikap tidak berpuas hati dengan kerajaan pimpinan Najib yang meminjam mandat Abdullah Badawi.

Tetapi tidak mengapalah. Bagi pandangan ramai lagi ditangguhkan pilihanraya ini lagi mudahlah untuk menundukkan BN kali ini. Oleh kerana terlalu lama menangguhkan pilihanraya ini maka lagi jelaslah yang kerajaan hari ini yang mempunyai segala-galanya untuk memperkuatkan diri mereka tidak berdaya untuk menolak arus perubahan yang ingin dibawa oleh rakyat.

Apa yang pasti Najib akan terus keluar menjelajah ke seluruh negara kerana beliau terpaksa melakukannya disebabkan Umno di peringkat bawahan tidak bergerak dan tidak berdaya untuk berfungsi lagi.

Maka kita terpaksalah menanggung kos perbelanjaan penjelajahan Najib yang setiap kali lawatan itu memakan belanja yang berjuta jumlahnya. Semuanya itu adalah tanggungan rakyat belaka. Saya selalu berkata yang kita terpaksa menanggung perbelanjaan Perdana Menteri dalam siri kempen untuk menegakkan benang basah mereka. Continue reading “Rakyat berharap selepas pilihanraya ini mereka tidak dibohongi lagi”

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The strategy that paved a winning path

By Scott Wilson and Philip Rucker
The Washington Post
Wednesday, November 7

In early spring, President Obama’s veteran campaign staff in Chicago confronted the question that would ultimately determine the presidency: how to run against Mitt Romney?

The choice discussed on frequent calls between the White House and One Prudential Plaza was whether to campaign against Romney as a flip-flopper — a former centrist governor of Massachusetts who turned conservative to win his party’s nomination — or use his career as the head of Bain Capital to cast him as a protector of the privileged at the expense of the middle class.

“The most striking data we saw early on was on the ‘understands problems of people like me’ question,” said a senior White House official involved in the discussions. “Into the summer, Romney was in the teens in this category.”

The choice was made. The onetime campaign of hope and change soon began a sustained advertising assault that cast Romney as a heartless executive, a man who willingly fires people and is disconnected from how average Americans live their lives — an approach reinforced by Romney’s mistakes along the way. Continue reading “The strategy that paved a winning path”

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9 takeaways from 2012 election

By Politico
NewJersey.Com
Tuesday, November 06, 2012

Election Day is finally here.

And even though neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney has been declared a winner yet, there are some things that will still hold true no matter which candidate wins the White House tonight — or in the wee hours of the morning.

Here are POLITICO’s nine takeaways from the 2012 campaign:

1. Luck matters — a lot

Obama has assembled some of the best field operatives around. His team has run the gauntlet before, prepared a ground game for five years, had a basic playbook for the 2012 cycle and (mostly) stuck to it. Obama’s natural skills as a politician are far better than Romney’s. The auto bailout helped Obama maintain what has been a small but consistent polling lead in critical states like Ohio.

And yet a little bit of luck goes an awfully long way. For all his troubles throughout his term, Obama caught some needed breaks. Continue reading “9 takeaways from 2012 election”

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Resistance grows within BN against AES profits

By Leslie Lau and Md Izwan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 06, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — A whopping 2.72 million speeding tickets will have to be issued in each of the next five years for the two concession holders of the controversial Automatic Enforcement System (AES) cameras to just recoup their reported RM700 million investments.

And considering the authorities had only collected an average of about 25 per cent of all traffic summonses a year — which increased to 65 per cent only after a general discount was offered last year — the two companies will have to issue far more summonses to account for the poor collection.

Such calculations have led to apprehension on the part of a growing number of Barisan Nasional (BN) politicians who are concerned about the profit motive that is built into the concession agreements.

“The privatisation of the AES could be seen as attempting to make profits because some (cameras) are placed in inappropriate places,” Umno’s Seri Gading MP Datuk Mohamad Aziz told The Malaysian Insider.

The two firms awarded the contract to implement the enforcement system — ATES Sdn Bhd and Beta Tegap — will spend between RM300 million and RM400 million each to set up traffic cameras at 831 “black spots” nationwide.

Both ATES and Beta Tegap are entitled to RM16 per valid summons for the first five million issued. They will then split the remaining revenue evenly with the government up to a cap of RM270 million each.

The firms will each receive 7.5 per cent from the remaining revenue and the government will keep the rest. Continue reading “Resistance grows within BN against AES profits”

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Whether Najib likes it or not, its countdown for 13GE as Parliament has life-span of less than six months before it is automatically dissolved

Malaysians have been waiting for the past two years for the 13th General Election but the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has been dilly-dallying as he hunts for the best timing for the dissolution of Parliament not so much for UMNO and the Barisan Nasional, but to ensure that he could remain ensconced in Sri Perdana after the polls.

Whether Najib likes it or not, its countdown for the 13GE as the 12th Parliament which was elected in the political tsunami of 8th March 2008 has a life-span of less than six months before it is automatically dissolved followed by the “mother of all general elections” in Malaysia.

There is just four months left if we take into account the polling day on 8th March 2008.

However, as Article 55 (3) provides that “Parliament unless sooner dissolved shall continue for five years from the date of its first meeting and shall then stand dissolved”, the 12th Parliament’s tenure will only end on April 27, 2013 as its first meeting was held on 28th April 2008.

Najib has already created two “history” – firstly, being the longest Prime Minister without an elected mandate of his own, compared to any of his predecessors which would include his father, Tun Razak, as well as the ensuing three Prime Ministers Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.

His second “history” is to be Prime Minister of the longest Parliament to be dissolved, now entering into the last six months of its tenure.

The question is whether Najib will achieve a “triple” in making Malaysian history – of being the last UMNO Prime Minister in Malaysia. Continue reading “Whether Najib likes it or not, its countdown for 13GE as Parliament has life-span of less than six months before it is automatically dissolved”

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Daydreaming or plain cocky?

Jeswan Kaur | November 1, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Just why does BN/Umno find delight in playing the racism card when the issues beleaguering the rakyat are one too many?

COMMENT

The Barisan Nasional government is doing its worst to prevent the opposition alliance of Pakatan Rakyat from setting foot in Putrajaya and calling the shots.

Much castigation and accusations have been thrown upon Pakatan and its leaders by Umno, BN’s patronising arm.

Still, the rakyat seem eager to give Pakatan a chance to administer the nation, having had enough of ruling government BN’s domineering and rhetorics post-1957.

If BN is not puzzled as to why the rakyat are all thumbs-up for Pakatan, the former is either daydreaming or plain cocky.

To the people of this nation in particular the non-Malays, they have had it with the antics of BN’s top guns like Muhyiddin Yassin, the deputy prime minister.

Two years ago Muhyiddin stunned Malaysians when he claimed that he was a Malay first and then Malaysian.

Why should the people be in favour of BN as the ruling government when its leaders are doing all they can to perpetuate an agenda that only serves to discriminate and segregate Malaysians of different faiths? Continue reading “Daydreaming or plain cocky?”

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Controversial ‘Tanda Putera’ film release shelved indefinitely, say sources

By Jahabar Sadiq
The Malaysian Insider
Oct 31, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 31 ― The public release of the “Tanda Putera” film that deals with the May 13 race riots has been put off indefinitely and now may hit the silver screen after the next general election, say sources.

The Malaysian Insider understands that senior government officials and the Najib administration did not want any distractions and potential flashpoints in the run up to the polls, which is likely to be held in the first quarter of 2013 after the Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysian 2.0 (BR1M) is paid out.

The RM4.8 million film, financed with public funds, was first due to be released last September 13 but it was later pushed to November 17.

“There is too much controversy about the film and the authorities have decided on a later release date,” a government source told The Malaysian Insider. Continue reading “Controversial ‘Tanda Putera’ film release shelved indefinitely, say sources”

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Barisan Nasional has lost all credibility, legitimacy and moral authority to continue to rule in Malaysia

The latest report to emanate from the Barisan Nasional camp is that in the 13th General Election, it expects to win more than the 140 parliamentary seats it took in the 2008 General Election and that its worst-case scenario is winning just over 120 seats.

But this is only one of the many projections making their rounds with the worst-case scenario for the Barisan Nasional ranging from the bleak one of losing majority control of Parliament to the even more dismal one which would give Barisan Nasional a total of less than 100 parliamentary seats.

For the first time in the nation’s 55-year history and in thirteen General Elections, Malaysian voters have within their hands the power to decide whether the time has come for a change of Federal government although this would be heavily dependent on whether the next general election is a free, fair and clean one.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is not confident that he will survive unscathed to continue as the sixth Prime Minister after the 13GE, and this is why he had dillied and dallied for almost two years over when to call for general election although he cannot be unaware of the pressure from the ignominy of being the longest unelected Prime Minister without his own national mandate for the highest office in the land.

Whatever the electorate’s verdict in the 13GE, what is becoming increasingly evident is that Barisan Nasional has lost all credibility, legitimacy and moral authority to continue to rule in Malaysia because it is prepared to undermine the Malaysian nation-building process with contradictory lies, deceit and hypocrisy when campaigning to different racial groups. Continue reading “Barisan Nasional has lost all credibility, legitimacy and moral authority to continue to rule in Malaysia”

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Now, DAP unveils its own election war truck

By Nigel Aw | 11:02AM Oct 29, 2012
Malaysiakini

DAP has launched its very own war truck ahead of what pundits expect to be the most competitive general election ever, with fierce campaigning everywhere.

The red trailer launched in Seremban yesterday by party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng is wrapped with a giant image of DAP’s hornbill mascot Ubah, with the words ‘Ubah! Bersihkan Malaysia’.

“Basically, the truck will be a mobile ceramah stage that is equipped with a big back drop and some lighting,” Negeri Sembilan DAP chairperson Anthony Loke said when contacted.
Continue reading “Now, DAP unveils its own election war truck”

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The lust for power sustained through the ISA

by P Ramakrishnan
Aliran
27 October 2012

Twenty five years ago, Malaysia witnessed what one person could do to sustain his lust for power. His unabated lust for power unleashed the worst traits in the Barisan Nasional to imprison 106 innocent Malaysians to keep the BN in power.

The man behind this dark episode in our history was none other than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the fourth Prime Minister of Malaysia.

On 27 October 1987 the rule of law was discarded, natural justice was ignored, the role of the judiciary was overridden, parliamentary democracy was sidelined so that he could cling on to power at all costs and by all means.

As Prime Minister, Home Minister and Justice Minister, Mahathir rode roughshod so that his position would remain safe and sound and that there would be no one to challenge him.

Today, more than ever, we must remember this shameful part of our history and wonder whether this will be repeated when the results of the 13th general election are announced. Continue reading “The lust for power sustained through the ISA”

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Change of government needed to undo all the adverse effects of 25-year Operation Lalang on democracy, human rights and national institutions

Tomorrow marks the 25th anniversary of Operation Lalang which brought about the darkest days for democracy and human rights in the nation’s history.

There was not only the arrest of 106 Malaysians, including opposition leaders – 16 of whom were from the DAP, including MPs and State Assemblymen – trade unionists, social activists, environmentalists, Chinese educationists and religious workers, there was also the wholesale attacks on press freedom with the closure of three newspapers, the merciless attacks on the independence of the judiciary and the rule of law resulting in the sacking of the Lord President and two Supreme Court judges and the series of undemocratic legislation which caused a tectonic shift in the Malaysian political landscape, subordinating the legislative and judicial branches to the Executive or to be more exact to the fiat of one person, the Prime Minister of the day.

The Government Transformation Programme of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has promised to make Malaysia “the best democracy of the world”, but after more than 42 months of his premiership, Malaysia falls far short of the conditions to be a “normal democracy” let alone the “world’s best democracy”, as illustrated by the refusal by the Prime Minister and the ruling UMNO/BN coalition to make a public commitment that they would fully accept the verdict of the voters in the 13th General Election and would peacefully and smoothly transfer Federal power to Pakatan Rakyat if this is the verdict of the Malaysian electorate in the ballot box. Continue reading “Change of government needed to undo all the adverse effects of 25-year Operation Lalang on democracy, human rights and national institutions”

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Has MCA’s soul searching taken it full circle?

by Nigel Aw & Lu Wei Hoong
Malaysiakini
Oct 21, 2012

Over four years after MCA suffered its worst electoral debacle since the formation of BN, the party at its annual general assembly meeting today appeared to have confidently settled on its agenda ahead of the national polls that must be called by early next year.

Following the charged anti-Pakatan and particularly anti-DAP rhetoric of its Youth and Women wings’ AGMs yesterday, the main AGM today was carefully crafted from beginning to end as a rallying cry before a general election described as the party’s “life and death” battle.

From breaking its decade-long tradition of white uniforms in favour of BN’s blue tees, to political banners decorating the MCA headquarters, the message in the words of MCA president Chua Soi Lek was simple: “We are ready for war.”

Chua during his closing remarks said, “In the over 20 years of AGMs that I have attended, this is the first time I have seen so many people remaining in this hall.”

The lucky draw and souvenirs for those who stayed back and the pouring rain outside may have helped to retain over 1,000 delegates of the 1,689 who attended today, but it was still a commendable achievement for any political party’s AGM and reflects the careful planning behind the gathering. Continue reading “Has MCA’s soul searching taken it full circle?”