Part 1
Gerakan has lost Penang for good, says Keng Yaik
The Edge Financial Daily
Thursday, 18 February 2010 11:12
In the first part of our interview with Gerakan adviser Tun Dr Lim Keng Yaik yesterday, he spoke about the problems plaguing both the Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalitions. What of his own party?
Lim expressed concern over whether his anointed successor, current Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon, can take the party out of its decline.
Although the veteran politician said Koh was the best he had in terms of intellectual capacity and integrity, he feels that Koh is unable to make politically difficult decisions and provide leadership.
He thinks that Gerakan would need to go back to its core ideology based on a multiracial approach before it can pick itself up again.
Lim, who headed Gerakan for 27 years, believes that Gerakan has lost Penang for good.
“Should it (regain Penang)? No! We missed our chance. In cricket, they say you had a good innings and 39 years is a long and good one. What more do we want?” said Lim in his office in Bandar Utama in Petaling Jaya recently.
Continue reading “Gerakan has lost Penang for good, says Keng Yaik”
Muhyiddin claim that BN unites various races in Malaysia never sounded so hollow when Umno most guilty playing racial card to cling to power
In the Bagan Pinang by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin claims that the government would not allow any quarters to disrupt racial unity in the country and would promptly act against those who played up sensitive racial issues.
He said since the Barisan Nasional (BN) governed the country, it had managed to unite the various races which had different cultures, customs and religions.
Muhyddin’s claim that BN unites the various races in Malaysia has never sounded so hollow when Umno is most guilty of playing the racial card to cling to power.
It is now Pakatan Rakyat which has a more legitimate claim to represent the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country than Barisan Nasional as demonstrated by the results of the March 8 general elections last year and subsequent developments. Continue reading “Muhyiddin claim that BN unites various races in Malaysia never sounded so hollow when Umno most guilty playing racial card to cling to power”
Dr. Teng, why don’t you stroke your own pen?
By Chan Lilian
I had wanted to write this but was caught up with house moving so I didn’t manage to hit while the iron is hot.
Few days ago, there is a report in Malaysiakini where Datuk Dr. Teng Hock Nan openly told media that CM Lim Guan Eng could have saved Kampung Buah Pala with a stroke of pen. I was very pissed with that sort of statement, coming from what was supposed to be one of the candidate vying for the Chief Minister position before the last general election.
Of course, it is open knowledge that I am a fan of CM Lim. But that’s not my main discontentment. It is not about Lim Guan Eng. It is about Penang.
The statement from Datuk Dr. Teng is deemed very mischievous and irresponsible. He, being a Penangite and also in Gerakan should have known that the Kampung Buah Pala issue had been turned into a racial issue. Therefore, if he is responsible and love peace and harmony in Penang, he would have kept his mouth shut instead of adding fuel to fire.
Continue reading “Dr. Teng, why don’t you stroke your own pen?”
Pathetic neither Tee Keat nor Tsu Koon dare to dissociate MCA/Gerakan from Umno candidate Rohaizat for not being honest or truthful with BN leadership and Permatang Pasir voters
It is sad and pathetic that neither MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat nor the Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon dare to dissociate the MCA and Gerakan from the Umno candidate for Permatang Pasir by-election Rohaizat Othman for not being honest and truthful with the Barisan Nasional leadership and the 20,290 voters of Permatang Pasir about his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls.
After the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year, where Gerakan and MCA received an unprecedented thrashing in the polls, with a total rout in Penang state, Gerakan and MCA leaders promised to learn the lessons from the electoral debacle.
Gerakan and MCA leaders admitted that they were punished for their servile and subservient role in the Barisan Nasional and pledged that henceforth they were not going to be “yes men” and “yes women” to Umno in Barisan Nasional and would speak out strongly, fearlessly and consistently on what is right and wrong in the Barisan Nasional without being afraid of displeasing Umno “Big Brother”.
Continue reading “Pathetic neither Tee Keat nor Tsu Koon dare to dissociate MCA/Gerakan from Umno candidate Rohaizat for not being honest or truthful with BN leadership and Permatang Pasir voters”
MCA, Gerakan, MIC Ministers must speak up to get support of UMNO Ministers in Cabinet on Wednesday to censure Berita Minggu and Mingguan Malaysia and in particular New Straits Times editor-in-chief Zainul Arifin
The Cabinet has a heavy responsibility when it meets on Wednesday as a result of the extraordinary death of Teoh Beng Hock, 30, the political secretary to Selangor DAP State Exco and State Assemblyman for Seri Kembangan, Ean Yong Han Hwa who went to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Shah Alam to co-operate in its investigations but end up as a flying corpse from the 14th floor MACC Hqrs the next day.
I am not asking the Cabinet to decide on the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh’s death as I expect the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to announce the establishment of the Royal Commission of Inquiry tonight on his return from abroad – if he has ears close to the ground to keep close touch with the pulse of the nation.
I do expect the Cabinet to address several important issues which have cropped up as a result of Teoh’s death, the public outcry of rage and outrage as well as the reactionary reactions to such legitimate nation-wide feelings and responses.
One such reactionary reaction is the distortion, manipulation and incitement of the most racist and communal discord in the country as illustrated by articles in Berita Minggu and Mingguan Malaysia yesterday. Continue reading “MCA, Gerakan, MIC Ministers must speak up to get support of UMNO Ministers in Cabinet on Wednesday to censure Berita Minggu and Mingguan Malaysia and in particular New Straits Times editor-in-chief Zainul Arifin”
Najib’s latest tango in the UMNO-PAS “unity government” talks highly suspect as its real motive is to split PAS and divide Pakatan Rakyat
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s latest tango in the Umno-Pas “unity government” talks is highly suspect as its real motive is to split PAS and divide Pakatan Rakyat.
Najib said he believed Pas was sincere in wanting to form a unity government with Umno as proposed by its president Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang and Umno would not reject any co-operation that could bring benefit to the country.
Why has Najib suddenly warmed up to the idea of Umno-Pas “unity government” when only three days earlier the Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Umno President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had poured cold water on it, dismissing the proposal as unlikely to become a reality with differences within Pas itself and the Pakatan Rakyat parties.
Muhyiddin even said that Umno was prepared to “to respond to the proposal if it was mutually beneficial but would not do so now. Until today, there is nothing concrete.” Continue reading “Najib’s latest tango in the UMNO-PAS “unity government” talks highly suspect as its real motive is to split PAS and divide Pakatan Rakyat”
Invalid Islamic conversion of Indira’s three children – MCA/Gerakan should stop politics of opportunism/hypocrisy
MCA and Gerakan leaders have not learned the message of the March 8 “political tsunami” last year, when both parties were thrashed in the parliamentary and state general elections.
In the past 11 months, MCA and Gerakan have lost even more public confidence, which was why, according to the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, the Barisan Nasional only secured 11% of the Chinese votes in the recent Bukit Gantang by-election, causing Nazri to remark that Umno must go on its own to regain the support of non-Malay voters and not depend on other Barisan Nasional component parties.
Shared with Gerakan’s by-election efforts and giving MCA the benefit of the doubt as to who wielded greater influence with the Chinese voters in Bukit Gantang, this means that MCA could only influence at most six per cent, and Gerakan five per cent, of the Chinese voters!
Why is this so?
The answer is very simple – the people can see through the continuing hypocrisy and double standards of the MCA and Gerakan leaders.
The latest example of MCA and Gerakan’s continuing unprincipled politics of opportunism and hypocrisy is the recent Cabinet decision on “common religion” for children in controversial unilateral conversion cases – that the civil marriage has to be settled by the civil court and the religion of their children be the common religion at the time their parents were married at civil law. Continue reading “Invalid Islamic conversion of Indira’s three children – MCA/Gerakan should stop politics of opportunism/hypocrisy”
Tsu Koon – Super Minister or Superfluous Minister in Najib Cabinet?
Gerakan Youth leader Lim Si Ping yesterday hailed the Gerakan President, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon as the “Super Minister” in the Najib Cabinet who is tasked with monitoring the performance of the other 28 Ministers.
Is Tsu Koon a Super Minister or Superfluous Minister in the Najib Cabinet?
If one is to strike out the most superfluous Minister in the 29-member Najib Cabinet without causing any ripples of having to find a replacement, it will be difficult to find another candidate than Tsu Koon and his portfolio.
How pathetic – to end up as a Superfluous Minister when he should be a Super Minister after 18 years as Penang Chief Minister, especially as he is the most senior Barisan Nasional government leader in the Najib Cabinet after the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyideen Yassin and Information, Communication, Arts and Culture Minister Datuk Rais Yatim.
He is even more senior as Barisan Nasional government leader than the other Umno leaders including Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein, Defence Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, Rural Development and Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal, International Trade and Industry Minister, Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohamad and Minister in PM’s Department (Law and Parliament) Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, not to mention the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, the MIC Minister for Human Resources, Dr. S. Subramaniam or the Minister for Agricultural Development and Commodities, Tan Sri Bernard Dompok. Continue reading “Tsu Koon – Super Minister or Superfluous Minister in Najib Cabinet?”
Wow factors of Najib Cabinet? Backdoor Cabinet, Parti Belakang
What is the Wow factor in the Najib Cabinet?
None on the positive side.
If any, there are the negatives, viz:
- Najib’s “backdoor” Cabinet – the first Cabinet in the nation’s 52-year history with the most number of “backdoor” Senators, 11 in all and comprising mostly of candidates rejected by the voters in the political tsunami of last year’s general elections.
- Replacement of one set of “old faces” like Datuk Seri Syed Hamid Albar and Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said but who have entered Parliamen by the front-door by a set of equally “old faces” like Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, Datin Paduka Chew Mei Fun and Datuk Dr. Awang Adek Hussin who have to get into Parliament by the backdoor of the Senate as they had been rejected by the voters in last year’s general elections.
- Parti Gerakan becoming “Parti Belakang” with its president having to sneak into Parliament from the backdoor.
Continue reading “Wow factors of Najib Cabinet? Backdoor Cabinet, Parti Belakang”
Gerakan has not risen above its infantile subservience to Umno
The first post-March 8 Gerakan national delegates conference is supposed to send out one message – that Gerakan has finally come of age as a political party as it has heard loud and clear the message of the political tsunami in the March general election seven months ago.
I had looked forward to such a Gerakan “coming of age” as a healthy development of Malaysian politics in the post-tsunami era.
But it is not to be and I am disappointed. It was very clear from yesterday’s opening session of the Gerakan conference that it has not risen above its infantile political subservience to Umno despite all the Gerakan posturing, “thunder and lightning” in the past seven month.
When Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon could call Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi the “Father of Democracy”, it was a most adverse reflection on the former Penang Chief Minister than on the Prime Minister. Continue reading “Gerakan has not risen above its infantile subservience to Umno”
Ousting of Abdullah as PM by next March – let MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP, Sabah/Sarawak BN parties take a stand
In his speech to the Federal Territory (FT) Gerakan Wanita and Youth delegates conference yesterday, Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon rightly called for a meeting of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council to discuss the candidacy for the Umno President.
Koh said that although Umno party elections and post allocations are internal Umno matters, as Umno is the backbone of Barisan Nasional and the UMNO President is the Prime Minister, there is a need for the Barisan Nasional component parties to participate in the discussion and to give input on this issue in order for a consensus to be reached.
I commend Koh for giving a correct analysis on what should be the respective positions of the other Barisan Nasional component parties vis-à-vis the power struggle in Umno.
This is not an interference in the Umno internal party affairs, as Malaysians as a whole have an equal stake and interest as to who will become the Umno President as he will also be the Prime Minister so long as the federal government comes from the Umno-hegemonised Barisan Nasional.
The position taken by Koh should be the position for all other BN component parties, whether Gerakan, MCA, MIC, SUPP or other BN parties from Sabah/Sarawak. Continue reading “Ousting of Abdullah as PM by next March – let MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP, Sabah/Sarawak BN parties take a stand”
Over 60% of grassroots in Gerakan, MCA, MIC and over 80% of members of Sabah/Sarawak parties want to quit BN
The front-page headline in the evening edition of tomorrow’s Chinese newspapers is the speech by the Gerakan acting president Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon that at least 60 per cent of the grassroots in Gerakan want the party to leave Barisan Nasional (BN) to be “relieved of the heavy emotional burden of BN”.
Speaking at the opening of the Federal Territory (FT) Gerakan Wanita and Youth delegates conference this morning, Koh said the Gerakan Central Committee would undertake a more objective and rational analysis of the “quit BN” sentiments in the party.
I dare say without much fear of contradiction that if given the opportunity to voice out, it is not just over 60 per cent of the grassroots in Gerakan but also over 60 per cent of the membership in MCA and MIC would want their parties to leave Barisan Nasional – and the percentage will be even higher for many Barisan Nasional component parties in Sabah and Sarawak, easily exceeding 80%.
This is because the UMNOputra leadership, despite the major blow suffered by UMNO political hegemony in the March 8 general election by a multi-racial and multi-religious Pakatan Rakyat, has proved to be utterly insensitive, blind and deaf to the legitimate aspirations of all Malaysians, including ordinary Malays. Continue reading “Over 60% of grassroots in Gerakan, MCA, MIC and over 80% of members of Sabah/Sarawak parties want to quit BN”
Gerakan somersault and Tsu Koon in sackcloth
After dropping a bombshell proposing that Gerakan quit the Barisan Nasional as UMNO had not learnt from the lessons of the March 8 “political tsunami” in continuing with its racist and communal politicking, Gerakan Wanita chief and deputy information minister Datuk Tan Lian Ho has done a somersault.
She was front-page Chinese newspaper headline banner news yesterday but within hours, she backtracked and clarified that the “quit BN’ call was not her suggestion but that of some Gerakan delegates.
Never mind that she had said yesterday that she was prepared to risk her post as deputy minister for speaking up, the question is why the somersault?
Backing her call yesterday, Gerakan national vice chairman and Perak Gerakan chief Datuk Chan Ko Youn said 80 per cent of the Gerakan delegates in Perak support the “quit BN’ call.
Gerakan Youth leaders have also told the press that at least half of the Gerakan Youth members support the party leaving the Barisan Nasional. Continue reading “Gerakan somersault and Tsu Koon in sackcloth”