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Electoral reform: Towards fairness and a level playing field

— Francis Loh
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 06, 2012

MARCH 6 — From the outset, we wish to clarify that Aliran is a member of the Bersih 2.0 coalition and one of our exco member sits in its Steering Committee.

In this regard we fully endorse the Eight Demands of the coalition to usher in free, fair and clean elections in Malaysia. We support Bersih 2.0’s call that these demands should be addressed before the next elections are held. We have also gone through Bersih 2.0’s submission to the Select Committee and fully support its recommendations.

For Aliran, elections in Malaysia have been generally free although there have occurred instances when voters have complained that they were denied their right to vote on polling day because their names had been removed from the rolls, or that they had been transferred to other polling stations or districts without their awareness. In the last election there were also allegations that some had not had the opportunity to vote because the stations had not remained open long enough for people to cast their votes. However, there have rarely occurred instances when ballots boxes have gone missing or that large numbers of people have been prevented from voting. Continue reading “Electoral reform: Towards fairness and a level playing field”

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Lupakan masalah masa lampau, kata Muhyiddin

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 05, 2012

5 MAC — Muhyiddin Yassin tidak bersetuju untuk bercakap tentang kesilapan dan kesalahan Barisan Nasional (BN) yang lampau. Katanya apa yang perlu dilakukan sekarang ialah untuk memandang kehadapan dan lupakan masalah lampau.

Beliau memberikan komen ini sebagai reaksi kepada permohonan maaf Najib Razak yang dibuatnya di Alor Setar dua hari yang lepas. Tindakan Najib berpatah sikap itu mendapat banyak reaksi ramai dan menjadi bahan perbualan disetiap tempat kita pergi. Di setengah tempat ianya menjadi bahan jenaka rakyat.

Seperti Najib, kata-kata Muhyiddn itu mempunyai satu ciri yang sama; iaitu mengakui yang BN telah banyak melakukan kesalahan dan kesilapan yang datang dari masalah kelemahan kepimpinan BN selama masa mereka membuat salah dan silap itu. Muhyiddin tidak mahu mengingati cerita lama yang telah membuatkan BN hampir tersungkur dihadapan mata rakyat. Continue reading “Lupakan masalah masa lampau, kata Muhyiddin”

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Courted today, cheated tomorrow

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 05, 2012

MARCH 5 — The second episode of “Lord Of The Rings” may come on (if Rais allows after reading this).

Watch the flip-flopping schizoid creature Gollum in action. One minute sweet-talking, next minute venomous and scheming. Gollum (aka Preciousss) only wants the Ring. Because the Ring confers power to protect the Evil One.
As Umno president, Najib has been flip-flopping from day one. His party has no winnable candidates.

That will explain all the forthcoming cheating at the polls of GE13. It will also explain all past moves and present manoeuvrings. If a party has to monopolise the mainstream media to obfuscate the rakyat and make use of a psych-op warfare unit to try and turn voters, you already know it is finished.

The Ring is to make sure Umno is returned to power so that we can get more cheap meat for the next five years?

Or for Felda settlers to sign off their fields, hearing sweet promises that those fields will never be taken away? After all, how can one move a fixed place? But never tell them that the ownership of the fixed place will change hands — for once in the market, who will own what will always be fleeting. That’s what markets are supposed to do. Continue reading “Courted today, cheated tomorrow”

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Has Najib issued a “blank cheque” apology, signifying nothing as to enable all the past BN mistakes of abuses of power, corruption and lack of accountability to be repeated in even worse magnitude?

Yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak extended an apology to the people on behalf of the Barisan Nasional for the coalition’s mistakes in the last general election, which cost it several electoral seats and states including Kedah.

Najib said:

“I apologise for our mistakes prior to the 2008 general election. If we made mistakes in the past and the voters rejected us, we accept it.

“On behalf of BN, I apologise. We have learnt from our mistakes, and we aim and promise the people that we will make amends and bring them to greater heights.”

I was immediately asked on the twitter: “accept or not” and my reply was: “Yes, should accept if Najib’s apology for BN’s past mistakes genuine. Is it genuine or just election gimmicry?”

I scoured the news reports to be able to say that Najib’s apology should be accepted in good faith as he has identified and owned up to the BN’s past mistakes for which he and the present BN would make amends, but unfortunately, there is nothing whatsoever to come to such a conclusion.

In fact, one should ask whether Najib has issued a “blank cheque” apology, signifying nothing as to enable all the past BN mistakes of abuses of power, corruption and lack of accountability to be repeated in even worse magnitude? Continue reading “Has Najib issued a “blank cheque” apology, signifying nothing as to enable all the past BN mistakes of abuses of power, corruption and lack of accountability to be repeated in even worse magnitude?”

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Najib apologises for BN’s mistakes in move to cut opposition’s strength

The Malaysian Insider
Mar 03, 2012

BALING, March 3 – Datuk Seri Najib Razak apologised for Barisan Nasional’s (BN) past mistakes today that cost its two-thirds parliamentary majority and four states in 2008, recognising the groundswell against the ruling coalition remains ahead of a general election that must be held by next year.

The prime minister said the BN would rectify the mistakes and make up by serving the people as best as it can.

The voters’ rejection of the BN, like in Kedah, was in a way due to the mistakes made by the coalition, Najib (picture) said during a day-long visit to the state.

“I believe that we should not be arrogant. In a parliamentary democracy, we have to subject ourselves to the power of the people. We must have made mistakes for the people to have rejected us.

“We apologise for our past mistakes. The victors apologise, as do the losers,” he said at a meet-the-people session at the Kuala Ketil public field near here, according to a Bernama Online report. Continue reading “Najib apologises for BN’s mistakes in move to cut opposition’s strength”

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Malaysia after regime change

by Thomas Pepinsky
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 03, 2012

MARCH 3 — As Malaysia prepares for its 13th general election, due no later than April 2013, the long-standing competitive authoritarian regime will face one of its most difficult tests. The 2008 elections dealt a surprise blow to the incumbent Barisan Nasional (BN), and ever since, Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government has struggled to protect its now-fragile majority. After four years of renewed opposition activism, rumours of defection from Umno, and the recent acquittal of opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, Malaysians will have the chance to vote the BN out of office once and for all.

In a post-BN Malaysia, observers will closely monitor the role of Islam in public life. Much of what happens will depend on the shape of the government that follows. In terms of the composition of a post-BN government, two outcomes seem most likely: (1) a multi-ethnic Pakatan Rakyat-based (PR) coalition in which PAS, PKR and the DAP all participate, perhaps along with one or more east Malaysian parties; or (2) an Umno-PAS “Muslim-Malay” coalition, again perhaps involving the co-operation of one or more east Malaysian parties. Either way, PAS — an explicitly Islamist party — will be part of the government. Continue reading “Malaysia after regime change”

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Just another election prediction

by Zairil Khir Johari
The Malaysian Insider
Mar 02, 2012

MARCH 2 — The art of prediction is such that one can only really predict things after they have happened. So goes a wise saying by the French-Romanian playwright Eugene Ionesco. Be that as it may, nothing will stop Malaysians from engaging in our favourite pastime — trying to predict the timing of the 13th general election.

For more than a year now, we have all been living in constant anticipation of an election that has been perpetually “around the corner.” It has even come to the point where no politician in this country is able to get through a single day without someone asking, “So when will the elections be?” Some have even fallen into the habit of continually predicting one to be just three months away, a cycle that has been renewed five times in the last 15 months.

I too am unable to escape this quintessential question that is thrown at me time and again. In tandem with the progression of current affairs, my answers have also undergone constant evolvement.

However, whenever I am asked when should the general election be held, I have held one constant response for more than a year: that it should have been held last year, in concurrence with the Sarawak state election. Continue reading “Just another election prediction”

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Dalam pilihanraya lalu lebih 1 juta ahli Umno keluar parti semasa mengundi … Kali ini bagaimana?

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 15, 2012

15 FEB — Saya telah diberitahu oleh rakan-rakan dalam Umno yang parti itu akan membawa Tengku Ahmad Rithauddin, Pengerusi jawatankuasa disiplin parti, ke setiap negeri melalui badan-badan perhubungan Umno setiap negeri. Tujuannya ialah untuk memantau permasalahan yang besar didalam Umno dalam pilihanraya umum nanti, iaitu sabotaj oleh ahli-ahlinya sendiri.

Saya telah banyak menulis tentang kerapuhan sokongan ahli-ahli Umno terhadap partinya. Tidak pernah saya terlupa dalam pilihanraya 1999 dan 2008 begitu ramai ahli-ahli Umno telah mengundi parti-parti pembangkang dan itu merupakan satu perkara yang begitu ‘normal’ dalam Umno sekarang ini. Parti itu sedar yang ia tidak boleh mempercayai ahli-ahlinya apabila sampai waktu pilihanraya.

Umno ini merupkan satu parti besar tetapi masalah menguruskan ahlinya pun besar. Ahli-ahli Umno sekarang bukannya seperti dahulu, hanya mengikut lenggang dan tari pemimpin mereka. Sekarang mereka lebih kritis dari dahulu. Dalam pilihanraya yang lalu lebih dari 50 peratus (1.6 juta) ahli-ahlinya telah bertukar haluan dengan mengundi parti-parti ‘alternative’.

Jika semua ahli-ahli Umno itu menyokong partinya, masakan ramai calon-calon Umno telah rebah bergelimpangan dalam pilihanraya yang lalu kerana ditolak oleh pengundi-pengundi termasuk oleh ahli-ahlinya sendiri. Inilah masalahnya jika sebuah parti itu terlalu bergantung kepada jumlah ahlinya. Banyak parti-parti didunia ini termasuk di negara kita ini, berjaya tanpa ahli yang ramai. DAP hanya mempunyai 135 ribu orang ahli sahaja tetapi undi yang diperolehi oleh parti ini dalam pilihanraya yang lalu melebihi dua juta orang. Continue reading “Dalam pilihanraya lalu lebih 1 juta ahli Umno keluar parti semasa mengundi … Kali ini bagaimana?”

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Even after Anwar’s acquittal, politics will likely stay dirty

— Bridget Welsh
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — Malaysia recently hit the headlines after opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges, although the prosecution has already filed an appeal.

The case is entirely political and reflects the government’s willingness to use the judiciary for political ends. Malaysia is set for the most competitive elections it has ever had, likely before June or else pushed off until 2013, and each side has a fighting chance to win.

Malaysian politics is dirty. Murder, sodomy, secret trysts, sex videos and conspiracy are all commonplace, and corruption scandals occur regularly. Both sides wallow in this political gutter, each trying to darken the reputation of the other and not fully appreciating how much the system as a whole has been damaged. Anwar’s acquittal gave the government an opportunity to take the high road and move away from this negative approach. Instead, it opted to appeal, despite the shabby evidence.

Concerns are now focused on the integrity of the electoral process. The government is mooting reforms but the problems are vast, from administrative neutrality to vote buying. As the system becomes more competitive, political institutions involved in anticorruption and law have been compromised, with the government pressuring institutions such as the civil service to toe the line. Continue reading “Even after Anwar’s acquittal, politics will likely stay dirty”

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Malaysia’s prime minister loses most from Anwar trial

— by Barry Wain
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

FEB 10 — Malaysians expressed a collective sigh of relief when Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim was acquitted of sodomy charges in early January.

Their groan of dismay over the prosecution’s subsequent decision to appeal was equally palpable.

For most Malaysians, despite being divided in their opinions of Anwar, the acquittal marked a chance to move away from the sleazy politics that has long dominated daily life. Now, they expect more of the same. Aware of public exasperation, Prime Minister Najib Razak was quick to seize on the not guilty verdict as proof of his ‘reformist’ agenda and Malaysia’s supposedly independent judiciary. But the appeal leaves him stranded, inclined to delay calling a general election, and acutely aware that he is under threat as much from within his own ranks as from the opposition. It seems likely that Najib will win the next election, but unless he scores big — which seems unlikely — his leadership could be at risk. Continue reading “Malaysia’s prime minister loses most from Anwar trial”

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Pemimpin-pemimpin dan rakyat wajar melalui kursus sivik kenegaraan

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 10, 2012

10 FEB — Kita nampaknya mesti kembali kepada “basic” penubuhan negara kita. Itu sahaja caranya bagi kita untuk melihat negara kita kembali kepada asas penubuhannya dan cara pengendalian negara yang sebaik-baiknya. Sejak beberapa lama kita telah melihat negara kita dikendalikan dengan cara yang sudah asing dari apa yang sepatutnya kita lihat.

Kerajaan atau pada siapa yang bertanggungjawab, elok kembali kepada asas dan diadakan peruntukan khas bagi memberi rakyat kursus-kursus sivik semula. Kita wajar memberitahu yang negara kita ini adalah sebuah negara Persekutuan (Federation). Perjanjian Persekutuan ini dibuat pada bulan Februari 1948 dan pada masa itu ada sembilan negeri-negeri Bersekutu dan tidak Bersekutu telah menandatangani Perjanjian Persekutuan itu.

Selain dari itu dua buah negeri, iaitu Melaka dan Pulau Pinang, juga turut menyertai perjanjian itu untuk mewujudkan sebuah negara yang dinamakan Persekutuan Tanah Melayu. Rakyat harus diberitahu yang Persekutuan Tanah Melayu itu merupakan gantian kepada Malayan Union, anjuran Britain, yang cuba untuk menubuhkan sebuah kerajaan “unitary” yang tidak mempunyai kerajaan-kerajaan negeri dan menjadikan Kuala Lumpur sebagai Pusat Pentadbirannya dan kerajaan itu dinamakan Kerajaan Pusat.

Oleh kerana negara kita ini adalah sebuah Negara Persekutuan, pusat pentadbiran di Putrajaya itu adalah pusat pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan, bukannya pusat pentadbiran Kerajaan Pusat. Diantara Kuala Lumpur dan Bangkok serta Jakarta ada perbezaannya. Kedua-dua Bangkok dan Jakarta misalnya, kedua-dua bandaraya itu menempatkan kerajaan Pusat kerana Thailand dan Indonesia itu adalah negara “unitary” yang tidak mempunyai negeri-negeri yang berdaulat didalamnya. Malaysia adalah seperti Amerika Syarikat dan Australia; iaitu berkerajaan Persekutuan dalam mana ada kerajaan-kerajaan negeri didalamnya. Continue reading “Pemimpin-pemimpin dan rakyat wajar melalui kursus sivik kenegaraan”

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Najib kata, ‘gua caya lu, lu caya gua’

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 07, 2012

7 FEB — “Lu caya gua, gua caya lu!”….. itulah maksud kata-kata Najib kepada kaum India semasa melawat Batu Caves sempena hari Thaipusam pagi tadi. Najib menyeru kaum India supaya mempercayai beliau dalam usaha memperbaiki kehidupan kaum India dan memberikan beliau sokongan dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang. “Tuan-tuan tolong saya, saya akan tolong tuan-tuan” kata Najib lantang dan jelas.

Janji seperti ini telah dibuat setiap pilihanraya tiba sejak tiga puluh tahun yang lalu. Janji ini bukan sahaja dibuat kepada kaum India tetapi semua kaum termasuk kaum Najib sendiri, iaitu kaum Melayu yang merupakan kaum terbesar di negara ini. Janji ini jugalah yang akan ditabur dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang kerana kita tahu segala janji yang dibuat pagi tadi tidak akan kemana.

Tetapi kepada siapa yang masih yakin dan percaya kepada janji itu terpulang kepada mereka. Setiap rakyat berhak untuk memilih untuk dibohongi terus-terusan atau mengelak dari pembohongan tersebut. Sebagai seorang Perdana Menteri yang mengetuai Kerajaan Persekutuan, janji yang dibuat secara peribadi itu merupakan tindakan ‘desperate’ dan kata-katanya itu tidak melambangkan beliau seorang pemimpin yang ‘magnanimous’ yang memimpin rakyat yang berbilang kaum itu.

Orang Melayu telah dijanjikan bermacam-macam setiap pilihanraya, tetapi kita lihat apa yang berlaku sekarang ini adalah terlalu jauh dari menepati janji-janji yang telah dibuat kepada mereka. Umno telah menjadikan orang Melayu hanya sebagai dahan bongkok untuk ‘kera-kera’ meniti dan digunakan untuk memberikan sokongan dalam pilihanraya sahaja. Orang Melayu dan rakyat hanya diberikan RM500 upah sebelum pilihanraya ini untuk mendapatkan kuasa dan terus menjajah pemikiran bangsanya sendiri. Continue reading “Najib kata, ‘gua caya lu, lu caya gua’”

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Najib at bay

Economist
Feb 4th 2012

Politics in Malaysia – Good intentions are not enough for a leader at odds with his party

KUALA LUMPUR

WHEN the leader of the Malaysian opposition, Anwar Ibrahim, was acquitted by a high court judge last month on controversial charges of sodomy, supporters in the government of the reforming prime minister, Najib Razak, were able to claim it as something of a victory. It was proof, they said, that ministers no longer meddled in judicial decisions, as in the bad old days. They even claimed it as evidence of Mr Najib’s wider programme to bring the country into a modern, liberal age.

And so the attorney-general’s decision barely two weeks later to appeal against Mr Anwar’s acquittal hardly looks good. Mr Anwar has always maintained that the sodomy charge was a smear that had been orchestrated by people from within Mr Najib’s ruling party, the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO). The case had run for two years, which for many Malaysians was quite long enough. Mr Anwar’s lawyer quickly derided the appeal as “a desperate act”.

The attorney-general’s decision renews suspicions that nothing much has changed within UMNO, which refuses to stop hounding Mr Anwar and, despite Mr Najib’s worthy intentions, wants few reforms to speak of. Resistance to Mr Najib’s changes has become something of a leitmotif of his time in office, and it could cost him dear at the next general election, which is expected later this year. Continue reading “Najib at bay”

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Mahal sungguh nak ‘maintain’ Umno ini

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 30, 2012

30 JAN — Masalah yang dihadapi oleh parti pemerintah sekarang ini ialah perpecahan dalaman yang berlaku dari atas sehingga ke bawah. Perpecahan yang sangat serius ini bukan kepalang besarnya. Beberapa minggu lalu di Shah Alam Dr Mahathir Mohamad telah menyeru ahli-ahli Umno supaya menyokong calon Umno walaupun yang diturunkan oleh parti itu bukannya seorang ahli Umno.

Seruan Dr Mahathir ini sangat besar maknanya kepada seseorang yang berpolitik. Ia bermakna Umno memang sedang berada di dalam keadaan tenat sehinggakan ada tempat-tempat dan kawasan yang tidak ada seorang pun ahli Umno yang layak untuk diturunkan sebagai calon yang mendapat sokongan yang menyeluruh.

Dr Mahathir pula nampaknya sudah berubah lagi. Kali ini beliau menyokong parti, tidak seperti dalam PRU yang lalu di mana beliau meyokong calon dan tidak parti. Tetapi itu adalah tindakan yang tidak mengejutkan ramai sebab Dr Mahathir adalah seorang yang sentiasa “flip-flop” dalam perjuangan beliau.

Jadi benarlah pandangan saya selama ini yang Umno memang tidak ada kepimpinan di kalangan ahli-ahlinya. Jika seorang pemimpin yang digelar sebagai negarawan oleh penyokong-penyokong setianya itu, boleh menzahirkan kata-kata seruan seperti itu maka sah Umno memang sedang menghadapi masalah yang bertindih-tindih yang tidak dapat diselesaikan walaupun PRU akan diadakan tidak lama lagi. Continue reading “Mahal sungguh nak ‘maintain’ Umno ini”

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Umno’s in trouble in Selangor

Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | January 30, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Contrary to survey ratings, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not as popular as people are made to believe, says Daim Zainuddin.

COMMENT

In the pre-2008 general election days, Umno leaders castigated and demeaned former economic adviser Daim Zainuddin, claiming he was senile and past his shelf life, and that he was way-off with his political predictions.

Then came the shocking loss. As prophesied by Daim, Barisan Nasional lost five states and barely managed to retain its two-thirds majority.

Now every Umno leader regards Daim as the Oracle of Delphi. More so, if they can persuade him to give encouraging, if not forced, optimism of Umno’s prospects in the 13th general election.

Sadly they are not going to get that.

Two Saturdays ago, I sat down with Daim’s alter ego, whom I call the Oracle of Syed Putra.

Although I directed my questions to the Oracle and he gave answers, readers must assume they are directed to and answered by Daim himself.

I asked the Oracle his assessment of the current political situation and of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

His response was somewhat startling, to say the least.

He said Najib “has simply lost the plot” on how to run and manage this country.

What about those polls and ratings about Najib being popular?

The Oracle said, “Surveyors and those surveyed can be paid to elicit the politically correct statements. No big deal.” Continue reading “Umno’s in trouble in Selangor”

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To Obey or Disobey?

by Yin Ee Kiong

“You are saying our problem is civil disobedience, but that is not our problem. Our problem is civil obedience. . . . Our problem is that people are obedient while the jails are full of petty thieves, and all the while the grand thieves are running the country.” Howard Zinn

Do governments expect their citizens to obey them or the laws promulgated by them even if the laws are unjust or immoral?

If the answer to the above is “Yes, Always!” then Hitler’s laws and the actions of the Nazis against the Jews would be in order. The laws passed by the Apartheid regime of the old South Africa would be acceptable. And Martin Luther King Jr and thousands of Americans should not have marched in protest against segregation and racial discrimination. Nearer home, should the Burmese then not have protested against a regime not of the people or by the people?

In other words no one should go against those establishments simply because they were ‘legal’.

But legal is not the same as moral; laws which have no moral basis are untenable and ultimately unsustainable. If a piece of legislation is immoral to begin with or if it is against the interests of the citizens, if they are there merely to ensure the regime stays in power then should not citizens disobey them?

Governments which are propped up by unjust laws have to be challenged. Continue reading “To Obey or Disobey?”

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NUJ to govt: Don’t muzzle the press

Patrick Lee | January 26, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Let the media roam free during elections, the National Union of Journalists tells government.

PETALING JAYA: As the general election draws nearer, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) has demanded that the government let go of its iron grip on the country’s media.

In a letter to Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on Electoral Reforms chairman Maximus Johnity Ongkili, NUJ general-secretary V Anbalagan listed a number of media-related proposals for the committee to consider.

Anbalagan claimed that these proposals –which included limiting the government’s control over the media – would ultimately create a level playing field for all political parties during the election.

“Journalists are to provide reliable information for everyone to take part in the democratic decision-making process. As such, it is the duty of the journalists to supply all individuals with diverse information for them to make decisions later,” he wrote.

Chief among the proposals was the setting up of a media monitoring committee, formed by the Election Commission (EC). Continue reading “NUJ to govt: Don’t muzzle the press”

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One Saturday with The Oracle of Syed Putera

— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Jan 25, 2012

JAN 25 — We are going to ignore the doomsday statements from Perkasa about Islam being threatened with Khalid in charge of Islam. How is Islam threatened? Khalid is a closet Christian evangelist? He is not Islamic enough? He can’t manage properly? It is more reasonable to assume Khalid can do a better job since he has managed Selangor financially better than previous BN MBs.

Islam is threatened simply because the majority of Umno members shy away from mosques and suraus. They don’t ‘prosper’ the masjids and suraus. They want positions as chairmen of suraus and masjid for the prestige but are sorely deficient and wanting when it comes to evangelical programmes.

But then that is the basic leadership philosophy of the majority of Umno people — positions without accountability and responsibility. Kedudukan mau, kerja tak mau.

They want to become boss of suraus or mosques, they want to become chairman of PTA even though they themselves are elementary educated. So on so forth. So when things go afoul, the answers are not difficult to identify and can immediately be found. They somehow originate from Umno.

The DAP people whom the majority are not Christians want to proselytise on Islam? This is the biggest gobbledygook thus far pedalled by Perkasa. Islam is under threat precisely because Umno has carried out ruinous business policies and economic predation that so impoverished the Malays leaving them vulnerable and seeking help from the inefficient Islamic bodies. If Malays convert then the fault lies firstly with the institutions charged with keeping the faith. Continue reading “One Saturday with The Oracle of Syed Putera”

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Top five topics of all Malaysians during the Dragon Chinese New Year holidays

What will be the top five topics of all Malaysians during the Dragon Chinese New Year holidays?

I will pick the following five:

(1) The Attorney-General’s appeal against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s acquittal in the Sodomy2 charge by the Kuala Lumpur High Court, expressing the determination of the top UMNO leaders to want to see Anwar in jail.

(2) The Court of Appeal decision to overturn the Kuala Lumpur High Court decision to acquit and discharge DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh on the sedition charge relating to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s illegal, unconstitutional and undemocratic coup d’etat against the Pakatan Rakyat Perak state government.

Both these incidents have killed off public hopes that Malaysia is firmly set on the road to restoration of national and international confidence in our justice system, with a just rule of law and truly independent judiciary.

The only inescapable conclusion is that Malaysia can only begin to seriously undo the ravages against the doctrine of separation of powers especially between the Executive and the Judiciary in the past 24 years years stemming from the arbitrary sacking of the then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah in 1988. Continue reading “Top five topics of all Malaysians during the Dragon Chinese New Year holidays”

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Let Malaysian Chinese unite as one Dragon and together with other Malaysians, effect a change of power in Putrajaya in 13GE

With the closer approach of the 13th General Elections, whatever the date decided by the Prime Minister to dissolve Parliament, one common aspiration uniting Malaysians is gathering momentum – the possibility and potential for change of power at the federal level for the first time in the nation’s 54 year history.

Let Malaysian Chinese unite as one Dragon in the Year of the Dragon and, together with other Malaysians, effect a change of power in Putrajaya in the 13th General Elections to fulfill Malaysia’s potential as an united, harmonious, democratic, just, prosperous and competitive nation.

In his pre-Chinese New Year walk-about in the Federal Territory on Friday, Datuk Seri Najib Razak claimed that Malaysia is the best place in the world to live in as it provided the “best value for money”.

This is the strongest reason why Malaysia needs a change of federal power because the powers-of-the-day in UMNO and Barisan Nasional suffer from an incorrigible disease of denial complex in refusing the admit the failures of government and nation-building in the past few decades which have driven some two million of the best and brightest Malaysians to foreign lands for they could not get respect and recognition or able to hold their heads high as Malaysian citizens in their own homeland.
Continue reading “Let Malaysian Chinese unite as one Dragon and together with other Malaysians, effect a change of power in Putrajaya in 13GE”