Category: General

by The Malaysian Insider

APRIL 12 ― There’s an old wives’ tale about the boiled frog. That a frog would get used to water that is slowly boiled and die without trying to escape. It isn’t true but it illustrates how people can slowly get used to changes without realising it.

This holds true in some parts of Malaysia, especially politicians who tell us to stick to the status quo and warn us of chaos if there is change, just like what caretaker Sabah chief minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman cautioned Malaysians last night against voting for the opposition in Election 2013.

“Don’t try to experiment,” Musa told a thousand-strong cheering crowd at the launch of the Barisan Nasional (BN) machinery in Penampang, Sabah.

“What can you hope for in the opposition? They talk about bad things, create trouble, chaos, Bersih 1, Bersih 2, for what?” he added. Continue reading “Apathy and change”

When launching the Barisan Nasional election manifesto for the 13th General Elections at the carefully orchestrated rally of 15,000 Barisan Nasional supporters at the Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur last night, Datuk Seri Najib Razak posed the question: Who do you trust to lead Malaysia? BN chief Najib Razak, PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim or PAS President Hadi Awang?

As expected, the BN crowd of 15,000 roared back: ”Najib”.

When I posed the question whether the people trust Najib or Anwar as the Prime Minister at the DAP Taman Molek ceramah at Johore Jaya close to midnight, the response from the thousands of Malaysians who have spent more than four hours at the DAP ceramah was a spontaneous, ringing, categorical and thunderous support for Anwar and not Najib!

I believe that the spontaneous response of the Malaysian public at the DAP Taman Molek ceramah last night is more reflective of the real mood and aspirations of ordinary Malaysians in the country than the synthetic and even mercenary response of the BN rent-a-crowd gathering at Bukit Jalil Stadium last night.

Although Najib expressed glee and satisfaction at the positive answer from the 15,000-strong BN crowd at Bukit Jalil Stadium last night, I do not think it had fully removed the hurt and humiliation he suffered when tens of thousands of people at the Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year Open House in Penang shouted in unison three times each that they were “Ready” for the South Korean global K-pop star, Psy, but “No, No, No” and therefore “Not Ready” for the Barisan Nasional!

In the past 54 days, the cries that Malaysians were “ready” for Psy but “No, No, No” for Barisan Nasional had reveberrated throughout the country almost every night of Pakatan Rakyat gatherings, and it is no exaggeration to say that some 500,000 Malaysians would have taken part in this unique “public opinion” poll of saying “No, No, No” to Barisan Nasional since the second day of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 11. Continue reading “4-Day Countdown to 13GE – Call for ushering of new politics in Malaysia of good governance in 13GE and the beginning of the end of politics of race which had haunted the country for 56 years”

The Pemandu Claims and a Reality Check

The Claim
We used a credible global yardstick – the World Bank’s approach to define our high income target. The World Bank’s current GNI per capita threshold for a high income economy is US$12,476. We factored in the World Bank’s published historical global inflation figure of two per cent until 2020 to arrive at a high-income threshold of US$15,000.

The Facts
Each year on July 1, The World Bank revises the classification of the world’s economies based on estimates of gross national income (GNI) per capita for the previous year…… As of 1 July 2012, the World Bank income classifications by GNI per capita are as follows:

• Low income: $1,025 or less
• Lower middle income: $1,026 to $4,035
• Upper middle income: $4,036 to $12,475
• High income: $12,476 or more

Source: http://search.worldbank.org/all?qterm=COUNTRY%20CLASSIFICATIONS

COMMENT: The calculations are done annually and are not comparable from year to year and cannot therefore be projected. Thus the figure of US$ 15,000 projected by PEMANDU is wholly meaningless.

The numbers cited by the Prime Minister earlier and now repeated in the Report are a fabrication and deviate widely from the GNI per capita numbers for Malaysia published by the World Bank on its web site : http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GNP.PCAP.CD/countries/MY-4E-XT?display=default Continue reading “21-Day Countdown to 13GE – The empty drumbeats from Pemandu (Part 2)”

By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysiakini

Najib the vendor of half-baked spin was at it again a few days ago when he said the Chinese owed their success to Barisan Nasional (BN).

At a 1Malaysia open house, he said BN formulated good policies and ensured there was harmony in the country and an environment that “allowed the Chinese to make a good living”.

Najib had the cheek to say this.

He of course wants the Chinese to be thankful to BN and therefore vote for the coalition at the upcoming general election. But his half-baked spin completely ignores the other side of the story.

For instance, the Chinese also owe it to BN that they became second-class citizens in their own country because of BN’s discriminatory policies – and, let’s not forget, practices.

As a result, the Chinese have to work harder to succeed. To get places in Malaysian public universities. To have their children score the highest number of As and still not get accepted to do, say, Medicine in these institutions. And therefore be forced to send them overseas, at much higher cost.
Continue reading “The Chinese Owe BN Nothing”

Wishing all a Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year of the Snake.

xinniankuaile wanshiruyi gongxifacai

Tweet:

Najib’s secret weapon to get 60k people for his CNY open-house in Han Chiang Penang on 11/2 – invite South Korean superstar Psy to perform Gangnam style

Keamanan dan kejayaan Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat di Stadium Merdeka (KL112) semalam menjadi titik bagi demokrasi yang sedang matang di Malaysia.

Perhimpunan itu mencipta pelbagai sejarah pertama kali di Malaysia, termasuklah:

• Perhimpunan aman 100,000 rakyat Malaysia yang patriotik dan berpandangan jauh daripada pelbagai kaum, agama dan tempat, tidak kira usia atau jantina, hadir bersama dengan harapan, perasaan muhibah dan perpaduan untuk Malaysia yang mana terdapat kebebasan dan keadilan untuk semua rakyat Malaysia dan generasi akan datang;
• Tiada langsung di dalam mana-mana ucapan baik daripada pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat atau wakil lembaga swadaya masyarakat yang memainkan isu kaum dan agama, mengapi-apikan hal kaum dan agama untuk memprovokasi kebenci dan konflik.

Politik pembohongan dan penipuan, termasuklah memainkan isu kaum dan agama untuk menakut-nakutkan, menimbulkan konflik serta memecahbelahkan rakyat Malaysia yang telah mencemar politik Malaysia sepanjang bertahun-tahun lamanya telah gagal menghalang momentum bagi perubahan yang aman dan demokratik seperti yang disimbolkan oleh KL112 yang aman dan berjaya.

Langkah seterusnya bagi mematangkan demokrasi di Malaysia adalah dengan menginstitusikan sistem dua perikatan dengan mewujudkan perubahan kuasa dan kerajaan dengan aman melalui peti undi. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 88 Hari ke PRU13 – KL112 menjadi titik bagi demokrasi yang sedang matang di Malaysia”

Semalam, saya mencadangkan bahawa Pengiraan Detik100 Hari ke Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 bermula daripada hari pertama Tahun baru dan semua rakyat Malaysia mengambil bahagian dalam kiraan detik ke PRU13 kerana peristiwa itu mempunyai kepentingan dan kemungkinan bersejarah.

Pada Pengiraan Detik hari ke-99 ke Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13, saya menyeru kepada semua 13.1 juta pengundi untuk menjadikan rasuah salah satu isu penting pilihan raya 13 buat pertama kalinya dalam tempoh 53 tahun.

Sabtu lepas, Bernama melaporkan hal berikut:

Semua calon Barisan Nasional (BN) yang bakal bertanding dalam Pilihan Raya Umum Ke-13 (PRU Ke-13) bebas rasuah dan jenayah, kata Setiausaha Agung BN Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.

Beliau berkata bakal calon BN bagi kesemua 222 kerusi Parlimen dan 505 kerusi Dewan Undangan Negeri (DUN) telah melalui proses saringan teliti termasuk Polis Diraja Malaysia (PDRM), Suruhanjaya Pencegahan Rasuah Malaysia (SPRM) dan Jabatan Insolvensi untuk memastikan calon tersebut ‘bersih’ dan bebas masalah.

“Semua calon BN yang bakal bertanding telah melalui proses saringan yang teliti,” katanya.

Selain itu, Tengku Adnan yang juga Setiausaha Agung Umno berkata latar belakang bakal-bakal calon BN juga dikaji secara mendalam untuk memastikan mereka adalah pilihan rakyat.

“Kita mahu calon yang bakal bertanding itu adalah mereka yang dikehendaki rakyat, bukannya kehendak parti atau individu-individu dalam parti. Kita mahu calon yang rakyat fikirkan dia boleh mewakili rakyat,” katanya.

Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 99 Hari ke PRU13 – Jadikan rasuah salah satu isu penting pilihan raya buat pertama kalinya di dalam pilihan raya umum 13”

Setelah Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak berterusan menjadikan dirinya tumpuan negara dan antarabangsa selama hampir dua tahun kerana memainkan watak Hamlet yang sengsara dengan persoalan “To Be or Not To Be” (melakukannya ataupun tidak) dalam hal membubarkan Parlimen bagi mendapatkan mandat buat dirinya seraya menamatkan peranannya sebagai Perdana Menteri paling lama di Malaysia yang tidak dinaikkan melalui jalan pilihan raya, maka ungkapan “100 hari ke PRU13” telah menjadi sebut-sebutan dalam bulan terakhir 2012.

Mulakan kiraan rasmi 100 hari ke PRU13 hari ini, hari pertama 2013, dan biarkan semua rakyat Malaysia mengambil bahagian di dalam kiraan detik ke PRU13 kerana terdapatnya kemungkinan yang bersejarah di dalam peristiwa itu.

Walaupun jika Najib tidak mengadakan pilihan raya umum pada 20 April – hari ke-100 selepas hari ini – Parlimen akan terbubar dengan sendirinya pada 27 April 2013 kerana Perlembagaan Persekutuan memperuntukan sedemikian melainkan dibubarkan dengan lebih awal, Parlimen akan terbubar lima tahun selepas tarikh mesyuarat pertama selepas sesebuah pilihan raya umum, misalnya 28 April 2008. Continue reading “Mulakan kiraan 100 hari ke PRU13 hari ini – dan pastikan mandat yang jelas untuk Pakatan Rakyat menggantikan perikatan UMNO/BN di Putrajaya untuk membina negara yang bersatu, demokratik, adil, progresif dan makmur.”

Yesterday, I suggested that the 100-Day Countdown to the 13th General Elections be computed from New Year’s Day and that all Malaysians take part in the daily countdown to the 13GE because of the historic significance and possibilities of this event.

On the 99-day Countdown to the 13th General Elections, I call on the 13.1 million electorate to make corruption one of the top election issues for the first time in 13 general elections in the past 53 years.

Last Saturday, Bernama carried the following report:

All BN candidates for the 13th general election have been found to be free of corruption and other crimes, BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said today.

He said the candidates for the 222 parliamentary and 505 state seats had undergone screening by the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and Department of Insolvency to ensure that they were “clean” and did not have any problems. Continue reading “99-Day Countdown to 13GE – Make Corruption one of the top election issues for first time in 13GE”

With the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak continuing to make himself a national and international spectacle for nearly two years playing the role of Hamlet agonising on “To Be or Not To Be” on dissolving Parliament to seek a mandate of his own and end his role as longest unelected Prime Minister in Malaysia, the phrase “100 days to the 13GE” has become the constant refrain of Malaysians in the last month of 2012.

Let the 100-day countdown to the 13GE start officially today, the first day of 2013, and let all Malaysians take part in the daily countdown to the 13GE because of the historic significance and possibilities of this event. Continue reading “Let the 100-day countdown to the 13GE start today”

Hukuman penjara satu bulan berserta dengan denda maksimum RM1,000 terhadap mahasiswa yang menyertai “Occupy Dataran” Umar Mohd Azmi telah menjadi peristiwa menggemparkan negara juga antarabangsa kerana benar-benar merupakan satu peringatan dasyat dan memeranjatkan sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 bahawa meskipun terdapat laungan slogan tentang program transformasi kerajaan, ekonomi, pendidikan, sosial dan politik, sistem keadilan jenayah di Malaysia masih teruk di bawah empat tahun pemerintahan Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

Jika tidak kerana saya sekarang berada di Sydney sudah tentu saya akan melawat khemah protes yang didirikan aktivis mahasiswa di luar penjara Kajang untuk menzahirkan sokongan , simpati dan solidariti saya bersama Umar terhadap ketidakadilan hukuman berat yang dikenakan keatasnya kerana menghalang pegawai awam melaksanakan tugas.

Mengapa Umar dikenakan hukuman yang berat dengan denda maksimum RM1,000 berserta satu bulan penjara, sekiranya hukuman maksimum untuk kesalahan di bawah Seksyen 186 Kanun Keseksaan kerana menghalang kakitangan awam menjalankan tugas mereka adalah maksimum tiga bulan penjara atau denda maksimum RM1,000 atau kedua-duanya sekali? Continue reading “Hukuman penjara satu bulan terhadap mahasiswa yang menyertai “Occupy Dataran” Umar Mohd Azmi merupakan satu peringatan dasyat dan memeranjatkan sebelum PRU13 bahawa walaupun di bawah Najib sebagai PM, sistem keadilan jenayah masih teruk”