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Mahathirism is alive and kicking!

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 13, 2012

JULY 13 — Dr Mahathir seems unable to let go of the fact that he isn’t PM of Malaysia anymore. He plays the eternal busybody, offering unsolicited advice. He employs sophistry of reasons to convince people of his biased conclusions. So, he says almost sage-like that Malaysia will be in dire straits if Pakatan takes over. But the age of unidirectional reasoning is over. Previously he had help from the media industrial complex — TV and mainstream newspapers. That isn’t going to happen anymore.

No right-thinking person wants to read Utusex Malaysia where only reports on prayer times and the 4-digit lottery are true; readership of the NST has gone down because, as Lee Kuan Yew observed, the paper has lost credibility. People are turned off at watching TV3 because as soon as we switch it on we see the apparitions of Ustazah Ummi Hafilda berating Anwar; we see Hasan “membetulkan aqidah” Ali and all the other lost souls picked up ravenously by talent-starved Umno and now dancing to the tune the paying pied piper plays.

Now, the people can talk and reason back. What Mahathir says is no longer accepted unquestioningly. Continue reading “Mahathirism is alive and kicking!”

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Harassment of pro-democracy activists in Malaysia reveals a worrying undercurrent of racism

Economist
Jul 14th 2012 | KUALA LUMPUR
Politics in Malaysia
The racial question

THE house of Ambiga Sreenevasan in a leafy neighbourhood of Kuala Lumpur looks ordinary enough. Getting into it, though, betrays a different reality. A security guard greets visitors, who are then scrutinised by newly installed surveillance cameras. A bodyguard hovers somewhere inside the house.

The precautions are revealing. Ms Ambiga has become the target of what she describes as “relentless attacks”, including death threats. They have thrust a middle-class lawyer (she is a former president of the Malaysian Bar Council) into the centre of politics in the run-up to what could be a pivotal general election. Continue reading “Harassment of pro-democracy activists in Malaysia reveals a worrying undercurrent of racism”

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Making of a great cover-up

Free Malaysia Today
July 10, 2012

The contact was more than physical: it was a brutal crushing of bodies.

The probe into the April 28 rally is turning out to be a sham. The panel chairman tasked with finding the truth about the events that led to the outbreak of violence on that dark day made a preposterous statement when he said the police were ordered not to come into physical contact with the protesters to avoid spilling blood. The chairman must have been wearing blinkers on the day when thousands converged on the barricades of freedom square. It was not a pretty sight when the clashes eventually broke out.

When the trouble erupted, the chief investigator was probably in his Genting redoubt and did not see what happened on the ground. Or maybe he saw on the idiot box the government version where the poor victims were his men in blue. The reality was different. Did the police hold back for fear of coming into contact with human flesh? No, sir! Switch off the propaganda stuff and watch the citizens’ videos to get the truth.

When the storm broke loose, all those men in uniform were transformed into ferocious animals who lost all restraint and attacked the defenceless people in a paroxysm of rage. The contact was more than physical: it was a brutal crushing of bodies. The arms and legs of the police were their batons: they used them to beat, stomp, trample, slap, punch, kick while at the same time unleashing salvos after salvos of tear gas directly into the trapped crowd.

In scenes after scenes, the guardians of law and order became the perpetrators of violence. There are photos of Federal Reserve Unit clutching batons, contrary to what the chief investigator claimed. He said the FRU contingent was not equipped with batons, which is a bared-faced lie. All the uniformed personnel were out in full force eager to do battle with citizens armed only with mineral water bottles and salt. Continue reading “Making of a great cover-up”

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Janji dimungkiri, Mahathirisme hidup lagi

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 12, 2012

12 JULAI — Dr Mahathir yang masih tidak boleh melupakan seronok jadi PM selama 22 tahun menyatakan masa depan Malaysia musnah jika Pakatan menang. Dia sebenarnya rindukan Mahathirisme. Najib di anggap kurang cerdik melaksanakan doktrin Mahathirism. Sebab itu Mahathir sedang asah parang hendak sembelih leher Najib di bantu oleh Muhyidin al lelongi dan Mukriz a/l Mahathir.

Sebelum masa itu tiba, perkara yang serupa dislogankan oleh PM Najib. Mengenai slogan-slogan rakyat dah lali dengan jerit sana sini Najib. Ketika meraikan ahli Umno yang di angkut dan dibayar berhimpun di stadium Bukit Jalil, dia kata nak istihar pilihanraya dia tetap takut. Di Melaka dia kata Umno akan menang 14-0, saya kata, kalau demikian, semalam sudah Najib istihar PRU. Najib tahu perpaduan orang Umno akan kurang 30 peratus pada hari dia menamakan calun. Jadi bagaimana hendak bertarung dalam gelanggang, apabila diluar pun sudah kelam kabut.

Orang Umno dah letih menunggu bila PRU akan di adakan. Kepada orang Umno, PRU ialah Hari Raya. Sebab masa itu, duit datang mencurah curah. Motorsikal dan kereta Myvi sudah di pesan tapi duit belum turun. Orang Umno gelisah. Hendakkan PRU di cepatkan. Mereka tahu kalau Umno kalah, orang Melayu tetap akan terbela bahkan di jagai dengan lebih baik dari yang Umno mampu. Continue reading “Janji dimungkiri, Mahathirisme hidup lagi”

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Drop sedition charges against Karpal and Uthayakumar to prove Najib’s bona fides when announcing repeal of Sedition Act

The Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail should drop sedition charges against DAP National Chairman and MP for Bukit Gelugor Karpal Singh and Human Rights Party leader P. Uthayakumar to establish the bona fides of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak when announcing that the Sedition Act 1948 will be repealed and replaced with a new act to be known as the National Harmony Act.

In his speech yesterday, Najib said the decision to repeal the Sedition Act was to find a mechanism that could ensure the freedom of speech for every citizen and the need to handle the complexity of plurality existing in the country.

He said that with the new National Harmony Act, the country would be “better equipped to manage our national fault lines” and “help to strengthen national cohesion by protecting national unity and nurturing religious harmony”.

The history of the Sedition Act in Malaysia is the history of an undemocratic, draconian, archaic, authoritarian and repressive law used in a most selective and discriminatory manner by the powers-of-the-day not only to suppress freedom of speech and expression by criminalising dissent but also to target and penalise Opposition personalities. Continue reading “Drop sedition charges against Karpal and Uthayakumar to prove Najib’s bona fides when announcing repeal of Sedition Act”

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Thugs at my doorstep

— Ong Kian Ming
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 11, 2012

JULY 11 — At approx 4.45pm [yesterday] (July 10), three thugs, in their early to late twenties, tried to break into my house in Petaling Jaya.

Thankfully, they were unsuccessful. Thankfully, I am not hurt. I am immensely grateful at the outpouring of support shown by my friends and family. I am thankful to the police for their quick response in sending three squad cars to my house five minutes after I reported the incident and their follow up on this case.

Many are probably wondering why I think it was politically motivated rather than just a simple attempted break in. I cannot be 100 per cent sure that it was politically motivated but I’m quite sure of it. And here’s why:

The thugs came in a car and they parked directly in front of my house, which is about 200m from the community guard house. It is a simple and spartan double story terrace house. It is not a flashy house. I drive a Toyota Vios.

There are other houses along the same row with Mercedes-Benz and other nicer cars. Some of my neighbours were not at home. It would have been much easier to break into their homes instead of mine (not that I am recommending that they do this). Or a house that is more secluded. Or a house which seems to have more stuff to steal.

My car was in the driveway. The thugs must have considered the possibility that someone was at home. They broke the automatic gates, which create a huge noise, rather than scaling over the gate, which would have been easy to do and much more discreet. Continue reading “Thugs at my doorstep”

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Smoke and mirrors

— Rom Nain
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 11, 2012

JULY 11 — For many, certainly among the educated, urban middle class, it has become quite apparent why this administration has become increasingly unpalatable.

There have been the barefaced lies and arrogant disdain in response to scandals such as the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC), Scorpene submarines, and controversial projects such as the Lynas plant.

There also have been the crass accusations and misrepresentations of important and meaningful events like Bersih 3.0, the ongoing blatant buying of the peoples’ votes using public funds and, of course, the continuing, unprovoked character assassination of people and parties who, for some inexplicable reason, seem to scare the living daylights out of the members of this regime.

The call by the Barisan Nasional’s Seri Gading MP, Mohamad Aziz, for Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan to be hanged for treason is a perfect example of this desperation, this stupidity, this insanity.

All this, evidently, has contributed to a general feeling of revulsion among many at the antics of a regime that appears to have gone mad with power. And will do anything to cling on to it, especially at a time when its legitimacy is evidently at an all-time low and is rapidly sinking further.

Indeed, things seem to have all gone wrong for Prime Minister Najib Razak. Continue reading “Smoke and mirrors”

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Rebellious divisions holding Najib back

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | July 11, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Is Najib Tun Razak, who has been groomed since young to lead the country, facing a coup in Umno?

COMMENT

Why is Prime Minister and Umno president Najib Tun Razak procrastinating in naming an election date?

After all, he’s enjoying a good personal rating, and good reports from the ground. Not forgetting Umno is now flush with cash.

The real reason he delays and delays, and huffs and puffs is that he fears a looming revolt within Umno.

The incumbents are insisting they are winnable. Would anyone dare replace warlord Tajudin Rahman (Pasir Salak), for example?

Najib is facing potential revolts in all divisions. Continue reading “Rebellious divisions holding Najib back”

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Utusan Malaysia confirmed it is “lies-paper” when it front-paged the lie that DAP would contest 90 parliamentary seats to dominate PR and appoint the Prime Minister in 13GE

Utusan Malaysia today confirmed that it is a “lies-paper” and not a newspaper when it plumbed a new depth of dishonest and unethical journalism by front-paging the lie that DAP would contest 90 parliamentary seats to dominate Pakatan Rakyat and appoint the Prime Minister in the 13th general election.

The Utusan report that DAP would be contesting 90 out of 222 (i.e. 40.5%) parliamentary seats in the next general election, with PAS and PKR contesting in 66 seats each, is the latest in an irresponsible, malicious and anti-national campaign by UMNO propagandists and spinmasters to stoke racial suspicion and distrust that the Malays will lose political power if UMNO is defeated and the Barisan Nasional replaced by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general election.

Last week, I had debunked former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s scare tactics when he warned that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers for the 13th general election on the ground that the Malays are divided among three “small” parties and that the Chinese voters will decide who forms the government after the general election. Continue reading “Utusan Malaysia confirmed it is “lies-paper” when it front-paged the lie that DAP would contest 90 parliamentary seats to dominate PR and appoint the Prime Minister in 13GE”

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Choice is yours – let us change so we can have liberty and live with dignity

(Prepared closing remarks by DAP Secretary-General/Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at the debate with MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek on “DAP & MCA: Whose Policies Benefit the Country More?” at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Sunday, July 8, 2012)

Since Merdeka, two million Malaysians have migrated overseas because they do not see a future for themselves and for Malaysia. It is time that we don’t live in our past that is filled with hatred and fear. We should look to the future filled with hope and harmony between all Malaysians.

 To put the past behind us, we must stop the politics of race and religion.

 To put the past behind us, we must end corruption.

 To put the past behind us, we must abolish the suppression, oppression, repression of our basic human rights and freedoms.

 To put the past behind us, we must demand good governance and performance from our ministers. Continue reading “Choice is yours – let us change so we can have liberty and live with dignity”

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Applying people power to public choice

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian insider
Jul 07, 2012

JULY 7 — We are familiar with the seasonal bargain sales whenever we approach the days of cultural and religious festivities. Even before Hari Raya (the Muslim religious festivities after a month long of fasting), the public is flooded with all sorts of bargain sales.

A popular clothing merchant has launched its pre-Hari Raya sales of fine textiles. Other merchants have also launched their own bargain sales.

These bargain sales, however, pale in comparison with the bargain sales offered by the chief snake-oil peddler in Malaysia — the PM.

By means of logrolling bargains, he dishes out economic morsels large enough to secure the votes from the public. Logrolling is a term used commonly in the US to refer to the granting of fevers by politicians seeking re-election to selected groups in exchange for their support and votes.

Najib’s grant of an advance of RM 15,000 to Felda settlers is a logrolling act. Now, Felda settlers realize they have been short-changed. The 15,000 is a sweetener to lessen the anger at receiving 810 units of share amounting to around RM 600 gross value in profit. Settlers have been used and piggybacked by rent seekers to make a killing at the stock market. Continue reading “Applying people power to public choice”

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I do not hate Mahathir at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein, Tun Abdullah and majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13GE

I have just returned from a four-day visit to Myanmar and I am most intrigued by the statement by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad saying he did not know why I hated him so much.

Let me assure Mahathir that I do not hate him at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and Tun Abdullah and the majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13th general election.

Mahathir cannot be more wrong when he claimed that Abdullah was rejected by voters for “mistreating” him, asserting:

“Last time when Abdullah wasn’t good to me, the people did not support BN. So some people still have some sympathy for me.”

The reason why Abdullah suffered the worst UMNO/BN electoral defeat in the 2008 general election is because he failed to live up to his promise in the landslide 2004 general election victory to begin the serious task to dismantle the Mahathirish legacy of corruption, cronyism and abuses of power. Continue reading “I do not hate Mahathir at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein, Tun Abdullah and majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13GE”

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If you want to break anything, give the job to Umno

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 06, 2012

6 JULAI — Terlalu banyak spekulasi tentang pilihanraya umum yang telah tertangguh sebegitu lama. Najib akhirnya merupakan satu-satunya PM dalam sejarah negara yang tidak memanggil pilihanraya untuk mendapatkan mandat dan ‘endorsement’ tentang kepimpinannya. Sekali gus Najib merupakan seorang PM yang paling lemah dalam sejarah negara merdeka kita.

Selemah-lemah Pak Lah, beliau berani memanggil pilihanraya dalam tempoh lima bulan untuk mendapatkan ‘endorsement’ rakyat dan beliau telah mendapat meraih 90% sokongan dalam Dewan Legislatif semasa pilihanraya yang ke11 yang lalu. Peratusan itu hampir sama dengan pilihanraya 1955 dalam mana Perikatan hanya kalah satu kerusi di Pulau Pinang yang ditandingi oleh Sulaiman Palestin.

Mandat yang ada pada hari ini merupakan mandat Pak Lah. Baik buruknya Pak Lah mempunyai kredibiliti yang lebih baik dari Najib sekarang ini. Pak Lah seorang yang berani memanggil pilihanraya walau pun beliau dalam ‘tidur’. Setidak-tidaknya Pak Lah dapat mempertahankan kuasa BN walaupun kehilangan kemenangan tradisi 2/3 di Dewan Parlimen. Continue reading “If you want to break anything, give the job to Umno”

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Newly registered Malaysian voters should unanimously reject the return to ‘Mahathirism’ and end 55 years of cronyism, corruption and abuse of power under the BN

Tun Dr. Mahathir’s recent statements that the ‘Chinese are the kingmakers’ in GE13 and that ‘GE13 will be about race’ shows that he and the BN are increasingly afraid that a majority of the 3 million newly registered voters will cast a decisive vote against the BN and end 55 years of cronyism, corruption and abuse of power under the BN.

Increasingly, we are seeing a new generation of Malaysians who are rising up to reject the old style politics of the Mahathir era. We saw this in the Reformasi movement in 1998. We saw this in the GE 2008 political tsunami which swept away the BN governments in the states of Kedah, Penang, Perak and Selangor as well as 2/3rds control of the parliament.

We saw this in the first Bersih public rally on the 10th of November, 2007. We saw this in Bersih 2.0 on the 9th of July, 2011. And we saw this most recently on the 28th of April 2012 when hundreds of thousands of Malaysians of all races, backgrounds and age groups flooded the streets around Dataran Merdeka to demand for free and fair elections. Continue reading “Newly registered Malaysian voters should unanimously reject the return to ‘Mahathirism’ and end 55 years of cronyism, corruption and abuse of power under the BN”

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The last mile

— Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 02, 2012

JULY 2 — Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was today slapped with an additional charge in addition to two existing ones over the April 28 Bersih rally.

Fifteen years ago today, on July 2, 1997, the Thai government was forced to float the Thai baht after failing to defend it from attacks, sparking an unprecedented Asian-wide crisis. Contagious free falls in Asian currencies led to economic meltdowns and political crises subsequently.

Hence the start of the Malaysian epic tragedy of political and economic stagnation. It was the beginning of the end of sort for Barisan Nasional’s political monopoly. It exposed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s emperor-with-no-clothes game.

After a painfully long 15 years, Malaysia is now a nation in waiting for change. And, we are walking the last mile of a long, tedious journey. Continue reading “The last mile”

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Rebahnya BN kerana salah sendiri, bukannya kesalahan orang

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 02, 2012

2 JULAI — Insiden yang mengasari Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang di Telok Bahang semalam membuktikan yang Barisan Nasional amat sengsara apabila kalah di dalam pilihanraya 20008 yang mengakibatkan BN jatuh tersembam di Pulau Pinang dalam PRU yang lalu.

Kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat yang di ketuai oleh DAP itu telah melakukan yang terbaik dan telah pun membuktikan yang sesebuah kerajaan itu boleh ditadbir dengan baik jika pimpinannya telus, jujur, dan sebenarnya rasuah boleh dielakkan.

Jika Pulau Pinang kini mempunyai pentadbiran yang hampir sama dengan prestasi BN, tentulah BN mempunyai peluang untuk kembali berkuasa di Pulau Pinang selepas pilihanraya yang akan datang.

Tetapi Lim Guan Eng dan barisan pimpinan kerajaan Pulau Pinang telah menunjukkan perbezaan ketara dengan membuktikan yang PR memang lebih berkemampuan untuk mentadbir dari BN yang telah menguasai Pulau Pinang dari 2008 dahulu.

Justeru kata-kata pemimpin-pemimpin BN yang mengatakan mereka (BN) akan mengambilalih Pulau Pinang di dalam PRU 13 ini hanyalah merupakan kenyataan untuk menyedapkan hati sendiri dan tindakan psikoloji sahaja. Keputusan PRU 13 sebenarnya sudah ditentukan. Pulau Pinang akan tetap berada ditangan PR, malahan lebih kuat lagi selepas PRU itu nanti. Continue reading “Rebahnya BN kerana salah sendiri, bukannya kesalahan orang”

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Utusan Malaysia living up to its reputation as “lies-paper” when its Awang Selamat alleged that “LKS adalah antara orang kepercayaan Kuan Yew ketika dalam PAP” and that I was Kuan Yew’s press secretary

Utusan Malaysia is living up to its reputation as “lies-paper” when its Awang Selamat in Mingguan Malaysia today alleged “Lim Kit Siang adalah antara orang kepercayaan Kuan Yew ketika dalam PAP. Beliau juga adalah bekas Setiausaha Akhbar Kuan Yew sewaktu zaman muda nya.”

These are downright lies, as I was never ever involved in PAP during my years as a reporter in Singapore from 1961-1964, although I was active in Singapore National Union of Journalists, serving as its Secretary-General 1962-1963.

Furthermore, I was never press secretary to Kuan Yew although I worked for a period in the press section of the Ministry of Culture.

But more pertinent than Utusan Malaysia again proving itself to be a “lies-paper” instead of being “newspaper” is the intensification of the unscrupulous and unprincipled campaign of lies, falsehoods and demonization against DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, especially with the realization by the UMNO leaders and strategists that UMNO/Barisan Nasional are not as confident of facing the 13th general election as they had once thought despite the recent boast by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak of a “14-0” BN thrashing for PR!

This has resulted in Najib further putting off the 13th general election date because of his worry that the “RAHMAN” political prophecy might come true – that RAHMAN stands for the first six UMNO Prime Ministers, namely Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Abdul Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir, Tun Abdullah and “N” for Najib also signifying the last and “the end” of the UMNO line of Prime Ministers. Continue reading “Utusan Malaysia living up to its reputation as “lies-paper” when its Awang Selamat alleged that “LKS adalah antara orang kepercayaan Kuan Yew ketika dalam PAP” and that I was Kuan Yew’s press secretary”

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Attacks against Guan Eng intensify ahead of GE13

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 01, 2012

UALA LUMPUR, July 1 — All eyes are now on the DAP’s Lim Guan Eng as the Penang chief minister struggles to fend off concerted attacks against him ahead of general elections due within a year.

The pro-Barisan Nasional (BN) mainstream media today published lopsided reports of the federal opposition leader’s run-in with members of Perkasa, a right-wing Malay organisation, at the Teluk Bahang market in Penang yesterday.

The reports, which related the incident from the viewpoint of the Perkasa members, appear to indicate a concerted effort by the ruling federal coalition to reclaim Penang, a key economic state under BN control until four years ago.

“The failure by police to immediately arrest Perkasa members involved in violence not just against members of the public and reporters but also make direct threats against my personal safety has only confirmed fears that Perkasa can do no wrong because they are supported by Umno and BN,” Lim said in a media statement today.

“[The] Police should review their hands-off approach towards Perkasa to avoid public perception that they condone the violent tactics by Perkasa to intimidate PR leaders,” he added, referring to the opposition Pakatan Rakyat pact formed in 2008 after their landmark win in the polls. Continue reading “Attacks against Guan Eng intensify ahead of GE13”

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Should we continue paying taxes?

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 30, 2012

JUNE 30 — My wife and I pay our taxes on time and we are assessed at the highest tax bracket. We never avoided or evaded taxes and viewed it as a moral duty.

But let me put in a caveat. I believe the time has come for us taxpayers (and this excludes 90 per cent of civil servants, Umno politicians and their nominees as well as rent-seekers) to consider a campaign of civil disobedience against paying taxes until the government of the day can show that it can utilise this revenue in a responsible way.

I am not talking about the world record holidays/trips abroad taken by the prime minister and the first family or his cabinet ministers. I am referring to the over-the-top spending by the Barisan Nasional government to stay in power.

It seems like every day is Christmas for this prime minister. Tyres for taxi drivers, cash for Malaysians, a few million for this group and another few million for that group. Continue reading “Should we continue paying taxes?”

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Malaysia after regime change

— Ooi Kee Beng
The Malaysian Insider
June 30, 2012

JUNE 30 — A dialogue about something as serious as regime change in Malaysia must examine at least two vast subjects.

Firstly, a thorough and open discussion about the historical conditions under which the Federation of Malaya, and then Malaysia, was constructed is vital to any deep and practical understanding of the strengths and failings of the political structure as it exists today.

Political solutions in times of inevitable change — as was the case in the region in the 1940s and 1950s — are about settlements between those wishing to cut losses and those seeking to maximise benefit. Those less able to make their voices heard were, simply put, left unheard. In such times, negotiations happen under threat, stress and duress; and the solution is a mixture of ad hoc measures and meticulous planning; and a blend of concession and conflict. Continue reading “Malaysia after regime change”