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Najib’s stand of unconditional surrender for the Sulu militants deserves the support of all Malaysians

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s stand of unconditional surrender for the Sulu militants deserves the support of all Malaysians.

There is neither basis nor merit in the call for ceasefire or the unilateral ceasefire by the Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, after eight police commandoes had been slain and some of their corpses treated in the most harrowing and bestial manner after they had fallen as national heroes in the cause of national duty to protect national sovereignty and the security of the state and people.

All Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or political affiliation, are united as one in giving full endorsement to all necessary measures by the government and the security forces to end the month-long battle against Sulu militants.

All Malaysians support the online petition by the group identified as “Concerned Citizens of Sabah” that Sabahans want to “remain Malaysians”.

DAP fully endorses the sentiments in the online petition that while Sabah has a “shared history” with its neighbours, “the people of Sabah are not politically beholden to these historical ties”. Continue reading “Najib’s stand of unconditional surrender for the Sulu militants deserves the support of all Malaysians”

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Pakatan Rakyat to focus on 15 Parliamentary seats in Johore in 13GE to end Johor’s “fixed deposit state” status for UMNO/Barisan Nasional and to pave the way for PR to Putrajaya

In the last two days, I visited three parliamentary constituencies in south Johore, Johore Baru, Kulai and Gelang Patah, attending seven functions and they all gave me confidence that the wind of change is blowing strong and hard from Johore in the run-up to the 13th General Elections.

In the 2008 general elections, the 308 “political tsunami” came down from the north in Malaysia, winning for Pakatan Rakyat the states of Penang, Kedah, Perak (which was subsequently “stolen” back by UMNO/Barisan Nasional through undemocratic and unconstitutional means) Selangor and Kelantan.

The political tsunami in 2008 faltered in Negri Sembilan or Pakatan Rakyat would have won another state government that year.

After my two-day visit to south Johore visiting Taman Pelangi, Taman Sentosa, Plentong, Gelang Patah, Senai, Bandar Seri Alam and Johor Jaya, and attending two major DAP UBAH Dream Truck ceramahs drawing unprecedented crowds, I feel hopeful that in the 13th General Elections, a bigger “political tsunami” is in store and will emanate from the south in Johore Baru and Johore to radiate to all parts of Malaysia and take the political change started in 2008 to even greater heights.

After his political disaster of the RM3.5 million invitation to the South Korean K-Pop superstar Psy to Penang on the second day of the Chinese New Year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak flew next day to south Johore to seek political solace and consolation.

Najib emerged from a closed-door meeting with Johor Umno and BN on Feb. 12 declaring confidence in Johor remaining a BN bastion in the next general elections. Continue reading “Pakatan Rakyat to focus on 15 Parliamentary seats in Johore in 13GE to end Johor’s “fixed deposit state” status for UMNO/Barisan Nasional and to pave the way for PR to Putrajaya”

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35-Day Countdown to 13GE – Three top questions for Najib in “Conversation with the PM”: caretaker PM, National Integrity Pledge and failures of Transformation policies.

There is a whole-page advert in the New Straits Times today on “Conversation with the PM” with the invitation: “Do you have any questions on current issues for the Prime Minister” and the announcement:

“Please email your questions to q&[email protected] by March 8, 2013. Dato’ Sri Najib Razak will appear ‘live’ on a special TV programme to be broadcast soon, where he will answer some of your questions ahead of the 13th General Election”.

I have three top questions for Najib on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the 12th Parliament on March 8, 2013, which witnessed the “308 political tsunami” of the 12th General Elections, viz:

Question 1: Caretaker government. Does Najib accept the concept and the conventions of a caretaker government limited to day-to-day administration of government on expiry of Parliament’s tenure, most notably between the dissolution of Parliament and the formation of a new government after a general elections?

This question is particularly pertinent in the case of Najib, who is going down in Malaysian history as the longest unelected Prime Minister on probation without a mandate of his own from the electorate – for nearly four full years!

Is Najib prepared to respect and abide by the Caretaker Government Conventions and best practices in other functioning parliamentary democracies, including:

  • No major policy decisions by the Caretaker Government except on urgent matters and then only after formal consultation with the Opposition.
  • No Significant appointments of major public officials, except in an acting or for short-term durations.
  • No major contracts or undertakings during the caretaker period. If it is not possible to defer the commitment until after the caretaker period, for legal, commercial or other reasons, there would be consultation with the Opposition to ensure that contracts include clauses providing for termination in the event of an incoming government not wishing to proceed. Similar provisions cover tendering.
  • No international negotiations and visits.
  • No public service involvement in election activities with the public service adopting a neutral stance while continuing to advise the Government.

Continue reading “35-Day Countdown to 13GE – Three top questions for Najib in “Conversation with the PM”: caretaker PM, National Integrity Pledge and failures of Transformation policies.”

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Najib owes the rakyat answers

Jeswan Kaur | March 7, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
March 7, 2013

Lives have been lost in Lahad Datu all because the prime minister failed to uphold his responsibility of keeping the country and its people safe and secure.

COMMENT

After eight policemen died at the hands of intruders in Lahad Datu, the prime minister has come to his senses and declared that he has to defend Malaysia’s dignity and sovereignty.

This knee-jerk reaction from Najib Tun Razak in an attempt to do some damage-control has not appeased the rakyat; it has instead raised their hackles.

The Lahad Datu drama has raised a host of questions, all of which point to the federal government’s failure in averting bloodshed.

More precisely, the Lahad Datu debacle has revealed that Najib lacks perspicacity in preventing a crisis and this is a major cause for concern for the country and her people.

On March 1, armed intruders from the so-called Sulu army fired at policemen on duty in Lahad Datu, killing two of them and another six officers in Semporna the following day.

Najib was reported to have said that following the armed intrusion in Lahad Datu on Feb 12, the government adopted the approach of resolving the issue without bloodshed.

The unwise call by Najib today holds him accountable for the deaths of the eight policemen.

Had Barisan Nasional leaders been “on their toes” instead of prancing about for public sympathy and votes to secure a win in the general election, the Lahad Datu tragedy could have been avoided.

It is baffling that Najib decided to take a soft approach to the intrusion when the intruders themselves came armed to kill. Continue reading “Najib owes the rakyat answers”

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36-Day Countdown to 13GE – As Najib is morally a caretaker Prime Minister after March 8, he should brief and consult with Pakatan Rakyat leaders on the Sabah Sulu crisis

As the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has signed the Transparency International-Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge on Feb. 20 to observe the principles of integrity, ethical conduct, accountability, transparency and good governance in the 13th General Elections, he must uphold and recognise the concept and conventions of caretaker government when Parliament is dissolved or at the end of the five-year term of Parliament.

Najib has delared that he wants to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”. If he is serious, it is beholden upon him to observe the best practices of mature and better-functioning democracies in other parts of the world, one of which is the concept and conventions on caretaker governments.

A caretaker government provision recognises that on the dissolution of Parliament, the day-to-day business of government must continue on ordinary matters of administration to allow for the normal operations of all government departments, but a Caretaker Government is limited and precluded from making major policy decisions or appointments.

In Australia, for instance, five broad principles have been spelt out in its Caretaker Government Conventions, viz: Continue reading “36-Day Countdown to 13GE – As Najib is morally a caretaker Prime Minister after March 8, he should brief and consult with Pakatan Rakyat leaders on the Sabah Sulu crisis”

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Pengiraan Detik 37 Hari ke PRU13 – Untuk dua tahun berturut-turut, tiada satu pun universiti Malaysia yang berada di kedudukan 400 teratas dalam Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013

Ini merupakan satu lagi tamparan hebat buat Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 yang ditunggu sekian lama kerana ia menonjolkan kegagalan agenda transformasi negara Najib untuk memulihkan perpaduan negara, mencapai kecemerlangan dan mendapatkan semula daya saing antarabangsa melalui pelbagai usaha seperti program “1Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan”, Program Transformasi Kerajaan (GTP) berserta Bidang Keberhasilan Utama Negara (NKRA) dan mewujudkan banyak akronim yang tidak mungkin dapat diingat melalui pendekatan pembaharuan dengan aksara mengelirukan.

Di dalam keluaran terbaru Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-2013 semalam, untuk dua tahun berturut-turut, tiada satu pun universiti Malaysia termasuk di dalam kedudukan 400 Universiti Teratas Dunia.

THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 amat menyedihkan tetapi amaran yang baik kepada rakyat Malaysia berkenaan kegagalan empat tahun program transformasi Najib, dengan Malaysia dikecualikan terus daripada fenomena Asia-Pasifik yang ditunjukkan THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 berkenaan “kebangkitan Universiti Asia-Pasifik”. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 37 Hari ke PRU13 – Untuk dua tahun berturut-turut, tiada satu pun universiti Malaysia yang berada di kedudukan 400 teratas dalam Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013”

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Pengiraan Detik 38 Hari ke PRU13 – Gangguan bersifat samseng terhadap ceramah UBAH Dream Truck yang dihadiri 4,000 orang di Teluk Intan bukti terbaru Najib tiada niat untuk menjunjung Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M berkenaan pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang bersih, bebas dan adil

Perangai dan gangguan bersifat samseng terhadap ceramah UBAH Dream Truck yang dihadiri 4,000 orang di Teluk Intan dengan 20 orang aktivis UMNO/BN mengibar bendera malam semalam merupakan bukti terbaru Najib tiada niat untuk menjunjung Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M berkenaan pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang bersih, bebas dan adil yang telah beliau tandatangani dengan penuh riuh pada 20 Febuari.

Kesemua empat prinsip yang Najib bersumpah untuk dukung di dalam Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M semuanya dilanggar dengan gangguan bersifat samseng oleh aktivis UMNO/BN di ceramah DAP UBAH, menyebabkan setengah jam duduk bantah oleh penduduk Teluk Intan terhadap kegagalan pihak polis mendukung undang-undang dan ketenteraman apabila berdepan dengan 20 pengacau yang menikmati dukungan orang berkuasa, prinsipnya adalah:

  • Kebenaran, integriti, tatalaku beretika dan akauntabiliti, termasuk tidak menerima atau memberi rasuah atau terlibat dengan amalan rasuah dalam apa jua cara;
  • Mendukung dan memberi keutamaan kepada kepentingan rakyat secara keseluruhan;
  • Tadbir urus yang baik serta ketelusan; dan
  • Mematuhi semua undang-undang dan peraturan yang berkaitan Malaysia.

Sekiranya Perdana Menteri boleh terang-terangan melanggar etika, moral dan undang-undang selepas menandatangani sokongan terhadap Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya, lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia akan dapati Najib dan pemimpin UMNO/BN tidak boleh dipercayai langsung – bukan saja apa yang mereka katakan, tetapi apa yang mereka turunkan tandatangan juga!
Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 38 Hari ke PRU13 – Gangguan bersifat samseng terhadap ceramah UBAH Dream Truck yang dihadiri 4,000 orang di Teluk Intan bukti terbaru Najib tiada niat untuk menjunjung Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M berkenaan pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang bersih, bebas dan adil”

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Doubts emerge over assault on invaders

M Jegathesan, AFP/Malaysiakini
Mar 5, 2013

The military today launched a fierce assault including jet fighters on up to 300 Filipino intruders after a deadly three-week standoff, but the militants’ supporters said they had escaped and were alive and well.

Earlier federal police chief had also raised doubts about the success of the air and ground attack, saying “mopping up” operations had yet to find any bodies and suggesting at least some of the militants might have slipped away.

Premier Najib Abdul Razak said as the raid was under way that he had no choice but to unleash the military to end Malaysia’s biggest security crisis in years after the interlopers refused to surrender and 27 people were killed.

A day after the Philippines called for restraint, Malaysia launched a dawn assault on the estimated 100-300 gunmen on Borneo island, who invaded to claim Malaysian territory on behalf of a former Philippine sultanate.

Fighter jets bombed the standoff village of Tanduo in Sabah state on the northern tip of Borneo island, followed by a ground assault by troops. The area is set amid vast oil-palm plantations.

“The longer this invasion lasts, it is clear to the authorities that the invaders do not intend to leave Sabah,” Najib said in a statement.

But Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the sultan Jamalul Kiram III, told AFP the attack had occurred “away from where” their men were, saying he spoke with the leader of the armed group about eight hours after the assault was launched. Continue reading “Doubts emerge over assault on invaders”

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37-Day Countdown to 13GE – For second consecutive year, not a single Malaysian university ranked in top 400 of Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013

This is another body-blow for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak just before the long-awaited 13th General Elections as it highlights the failure of Najib’s national transformation agenda to restore national unity, achieve excellence and regain international competitiveness from its slew of initiatives like the “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” programme, the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) with seven National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and a host of impossible-to-remember acronyms from the alphabet-soup reform measures .

In Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-2013, for the second consecutive year, not a single Malaysian university is included in its 400 Top World University rankings.

The THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 is a sad but salutary warning to Malaysians about the four-year failure of Najib’s transformation programmes, with Malaysia completely excluded from the Asia-Pacific phenomenon highlighted by the THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 on the “the rise of Asia-Pacific Universities”. Continue reading “37-Day Countdown to 13GE – For second consecutive year, not a single Malaysian university ranked in top 400 of Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013”

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Fighter jets bomb Kg Tanduo, villagers flee area

Live Reports
Malaysiakini
8:22AM Mar 5, 2013

The operation to remove the foreign intruders from Kg Tanduo, where more than 100 gunmen have holed up for three weeks began at 7am today.

——————————————————————————–

LIVE REPORTS

10.17am: Quoting a report from ANC News Channel, InterAksyon.com reports that bombs were being dropped about a kilometer away from where Azzimudie Kiram and his men were located.

Leader Azzimudie says his group could not yet determine if the bombs were meant to target them or their followers, but they remained safe and secure and were ready to fight back.

Meanwhile in Manila, a group of protesters have arrived at the Malaysia embassy to condemn the attack.

10.15am: Azzimudie Kiram, leader of the intruders, vents his anger at the Philippine government in a radio interview with InterAksyon.com, the online news portal of Philippine TV channel TV5.

“The government is ordering the arrest of our companions even if we haven’t done anything bad,” he said. “It’s like we aren’t Filipinos.”

Meanwhile, Abraham Idjarani, spokesperson of the sultanate, tells radio station dzBB that Azzimudie had phoned to inform them of the start of the assault.

“There is nothing to be done about that now,” Idjirani said in a separate interview with AFP.

He stressed that Azzimudie’s earlier announcement that they will fight to the end remains.

“We are not intruders. They (Malaysians) are the ones occupying our ancestral land,” he says.

10.09am: Police have set up a checkpoint on the main road in Tanjung Labian, which is about 5km from the site of hostilities. No one are allowed into the area.

The sounds of bombings have stopped in the last one hour. It is unclear whether ground troops have moved in as Kampung Tanduo has been off-limit to journalists since the stand-off began.

10.05am: In Manila, a team of police and journalists are gathering outside the Malaysian embassy. They are expecting a group of protesters to arrive there.

9.55am: Azzimudie Kiram confirmed during an interview with ABS-CBN’s dzMM radio that Malaysian forces are using fighter jets in the latest attack on their position in Lahad Datu.

The royal army’s leader also expressed his disappointment over Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s position on the crisis.

He said that the governments of Malaysia and the Philippines has obviously stopped listening to their calls for a peaceful resolution of the standoff. Continue reading “Fighter jets bomb Kg Tanduo, villagers flee area”

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38-Day Countdown to 13GE – Thuggish disruption of 4,000-people DAP UBAH Dream Truck ceramah in Teluk Intan latest proof that Najib has no intention to honour TI-M’s Election Integrity Pact on clean, free and fair 13GE

The thuggish behaviour and disruption of the 4,000-people DAP UBAH Dream Truck ceramah in Teluk Intan by some 20 flag-waving UMNO/BN activists last night is the latest proof that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has no intention, commitment or will to honour Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M)’s Election Integrity Pact on clean, free and fair 13th general elections which he signed with such fanfare on Feb. 20.

All the four principles which Najib swore to uphold in the TI-M Election Integrity Pledge were all violated in the thuggish disruption of the DAP UBAH ceramah by Umno/BN activists, resulting in an half-hour sit-down public protest by the people of Teluk Intan at the impotence and failure of the police to uphold law and order when confronted by some 20 disrupters enjoying high-powered backing, namely:

• Truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability;

• Uphold and give priority to the interests of the rakyat as a whole;

• Good governance and transparency; and

• Compliance with all the applicable laws and regulations of Malaysia.

If Prime Minister can blatantly violate ethics, morals and the laws of the land after signing the endorsement of the Election Integrity Pledge, more and more Malaysians will come to learn that Najib and the UMNO/BN leadership are not to be believed or trusted at all – not only what they say, but what they had appended their signatures to! Continue reading “38-Day Countdown to 13GE – Thuggish disruption of 4,000-people DAP UBAH Dream Truck ceramah in Teluk Intan latest proof that Najib has no intention to honour TI-M’s Election Integrity Pact on clean, free and fair 13GE”

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Covert Malaysian Campaign Touched A Wide Range Of American Media

Outlets from Huffington Post to National Review carried pieces financed by the Malaysian government. An international campaign against Anwar Ibrahim.

By Rosie Gray | March 1, 2013 at 12:35pm EST
BuzzFeed

A range of mainstream American publications printed paid propaganda for the government of Malaysia, much of it focused on the campaign against a pro-democracy figure there.

The payments to conservative American opinion writers — whose work appeared in outlets from the Huffington Post and San Francisco Examiner to the Washington Times to National Review and RedState — emerged in a filing this week to the Department of Justice. The filing under the Foreign Agent Registration Act outlines a campaign spanning May 2008 to April 2011 and led by Joshua Trevino, a conservative pundit, who received $389,724.70 under the contract and paid smaller sums to a series of conservative writers.

Trevino lost his column at the Guardian last year after allegations that his relationship with Malaysian business interests wasn’t being disclosed in columns dealing with Malaysia. Trevino told Politico in 2011 that “I was never on any ‘Malaysian entity’s payroll,’ and I resent your assumption that I was.”

According to Trevino’s belated federal filing, the interests paying Trevino were in fact the government of Malaysia, “its ruling party, or interests closely aligned with either.” The Malaysian government has been accused of multiple human rights abuses and restricting the press and personal freedoms. Anwar, the opposition leader, has faced prosecution for sodomy, a prosecution widely denounced in the West, which Trevino defended as more “nuanced” than American observers realized. The government for which Trevino worked also attacked Anwar for saying positive things about Israel; Trevino has argued that Anwar is not the pro-democracy figure he appears.
Continue reading “Covert Malaysian Campaign Touched A Wide Range Of American Media”

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Pengiraan Detik 40 Hari ke PRU13 – Rakyat Malaysia dijemput untuk memberikan pandangan mereka sama ada saya perlu menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M selepas ditandatangani Najib

Pengerusi Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) Paul Low telah mengakui bahawa Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya (EIP) yang ditandatangani oleh Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak minggu lepas tidak terikat dengan undang-undang.

Bagaimanapun, TI-M akan mempertanggungjawabkan mereka yang menanda tangan, termasuklah Najib, dengan mendedahkan kesalahan mereka pada lama sesawang dan media sosial seperti Facebook danTwitter untuk memberikan tekanan kepada mereka yang melanggar ikrar.

Saya berterima kasih kepada Paul Low kerana berterus-terang mengakui bahawa tiada cara menguatkuasakan melalui undang-undang tanda tangan EIP Najib akan tetapi apa yang sepatutnya membuatkan TI-M terganggu adalah kurangnya moral, etika dan kemampuan meyakinkan kerena strategi “memalukan mereka yang melanggar ikrar secara atas talian” tidak mungkin menggentarkan hati keras mereka yang melanggar ikrar.

Inilah sebabnya mengapa Najib boleh menjadi pelanggar EIP TI-M bersiri dalam tempoh 15 hari Tahun Baru Cina, termasuklah contoh berikut: Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 40 Hari ke PRU13 – Rakyat Malaysia dijemput untuk memberikan pandangan mereka sama ada saya perlu menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M selepas ditandatangani Najib”

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Hopes for Malaysia to be a high-income economy are not bright because Najib’s NEM does not dump the NEP policy

by Dr. Chen Man Hin
DAP life advisor
2nd March 2013

Look at the FDIs inflow to Malaysia compared to other Asean countries for 2012.

According to UNCTAD Malaysia FDI for first half of 2012 was US4 billion, and for the full year would be around US 8 billion.

Whereas it was Singapore US 27.4 billion, Indonesia 8.2 billion, Thailand 5.6 billion.

World bank figures for PER CAPITA INCOME for 2011 are:

Malaysia US$ 9500 ( US$ 7440 in 2008)

Singapore 46241

Thailand 4972

HONG KONG 36012

South Korea 22424

But Malaysia’s PCI of US9500 is far way from the required high income level of US$ 16,000 Continue reading “Hopes for Malaysia to be a high-income economy are not bright because Najib’s NEM does not dump the NEP policy”

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40-Day Countdown to 13GE – Malaysians invited to give their views whether I should sign TI-M’s Election Integrity Pact after signature by Najib

Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) chairperson Paul Low has conceded that the Election Integrity Pledge (EIP) signed by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak last week is not legally binding.

However, TI-M will hold the signatories, including Najib, responsible by publishing their wrongdoings on its website and social media such as Facebook and Twitter to put pressure on violators of the pledge.

I thank Paul Low for being frank about admitting that there is no legal way to enforce Najib’s signature of the EIP but what should be troubling for TI-M is that the EIP also lacks moral, ethical and persuasive force as its strategy of “name and shame pledge violators online” is unlikely to strike fear in the hearts of hardened violators.

This is why Najib could be a serial violator of the TI-M EIP in the 15-day Chinese New Year of the Snake, including the following instances: Continue reading “40-Day Countdown to 13GE – Malaysians invited to give their views whether I should sign TI-M’s Election Integrity Pact after signature by Najib”

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Pengiraan Detik 41 Hari ke PRU13 – Cabaran buat Najib untuk memastikan PRU13 adalah pertandingan antara perikatan mana yang mampu berkhidmat untuk Melayu, Cina, India, Orang Asli, Kadazan dan Iban bukannya pertandingan siapa lebih hebat menipu atau menghasut kebencian atau beralih kepadan politik ketakutan

Febuari 2013 telah tiba dan berlalu –bulan yang berkemungkinan tercatat di dalam sejarah sebagai bulan paling kritikal dan penting dalam empat tahun sebagai Perdana Menteri dan 37 tahun kerjaya politik Datuk Seri Najib Razak kerana ini merupakan bulan beliau membatalkan “keputusan muktamad” terbaru beliau untuk membubarkan Parlimen dan mengadakan Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 pada bulan Mac.

Pada awal Januari, Perdana Menteri keenam Malaysia yang bakal berusia 60 tahun lagi enam bulan pada 23 Julai, telah dipujuk oleh strategis politiknya untuk tetapkan fikiran supaya mengakhiri dolak-dalik selama dua tahun dan membubarkan Parlimen pada minggu terakhir Febuari untuk akhirnya mendapatkan mandat daripada 13.3 juta pengundi dalam Pilihan Raya ke-13, diyakinkan bahawa beliau mempunyai “senjata rahsia” untuk memikat dan menakut-nakutkan pengundi, termasuklah:

  • RM3.5 juta jemputan kepada bintang K-Pop Korea Selatan Psy bukan sahaja untuk mempersembahkan Gangnam Style tetapi juga untuk mempopularkan Gangnam 1Malaysia Style yang dipersembahkan Psy bersama Najib, Rosmah dan Ng Yen Yen di Pulau Pinang pada hari kedua Tahun Baru Cina;
  • Filem 13 Mei yang boleh menimbulkan perbahalahan dan perpecahan, “Tanda Putera”, memberikan gambaran serong, memecah-belah dan kisah tidak benar punca rusuhan 13 Mei pada tahun 1969 untuk mengapi-apikan sentiment pengundi Melayu dan menakut-nakutkan pengundi bukan Melayu;
  • Janji BR1M 3.0 sekiranya UMNO/BN dipilih semula;
  • Perdana Menteri menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya Transparency International bagi menggambarkan Najib sebagai wira baru memerangi rasuah dan salahguna kuasa;
  • Lanjutan Projek IC ke Semenanjung Malaysia bagi penipuan “warganegara untuk undi” di Sabah yang terbukti begitu berjaya dalam mengukuhkan kuasa politik UMNO di “Negeri Bawah Bayu”; dan
  • 10,000 tentera cybertrooper UMNO/BN untuk mencetuskan huru-hara dan kacau-bilau di media sosial dengan penipuan, pembohongan dan hasutan kebencian terhadap isu kaum dan agama.

Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 41 Hari ke PRU13 – Cabaran buat Najib untuk memastikan PRU13 adalah pertandingan antara perikatan mana yang mampu berkhidmat untuk Melayu, Cina, India, Orang Asli, Kadazan dan Iban bukannya pertandingan siapa lebih hebat menipu atau menghasut kebencian atau beralih kepadan politik ketakutan”

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Pengiraan Detik 43 Hari ke PRU13 – Apakah Transparency International Malaysia boleh memadam dan membatalkan penandatangan kepada Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya yang terang-terangan melanggar empat prinsipnya menjelang PRU13?

Menteri Besar Pahang Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob telah mengikut jejak Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz untuk mengkritik pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat kerana enggan menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya Transparency International-Malaysia (TIM) yang telah ditandatangani Perdana Menteri Rabu lalu.

Adnan mengulangi topik lama bahawa pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat enggan menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TIM kerana mereka menyembunyikan sesuatu dan mereka masih ragu-ragu sama ada perikatan oposisi mampu metadbir negara dengan bertanggungjawab jika mendapat kuasa.

Bercakap ketika pembukaan mesyuarat Kongres Kesatuan Sekerja Malaysia (MTUC) di Kuantan pada Ahad, Adnan berkata: “jika berlaku salah guna kuasa nanti mereka tidak mahu bertanggungjawab dan memberi alasan bahawa mereka tidak sign ikrar tersebut.”

Saya terkejut dengan hujah tidak masuk akal yang dilontarkan seorang Menteri Besar, mengabaikan terus undang-undang, ajaran agama dan etika terhadap rasuah dan salahguna kuasa.

Adakah Adnan benar-benar bermaksud bahawa pemimpin Barisan Nasional, baik di perinkat negeri atau negara, baik Perdana Menteri, Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Menteri-Menteri, Menteri-Menteri Besar, Ketua Menteri dan Exco Negeri boleh didakwa mengamalkan rasuah dan salahguna kuasa semata-mata kerana mereka belum lagi menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI?

Alasan tempang dari pemimpin UMNO/BN seperti itulah yang telah membangkitkan persoalan dan kebimbangan sama ada

Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TIM bermakna atau sama ada digunakan untuk “membersihkan” semua rasuah dan salahguna kuasa yang telah dilakukan pemimpin UMNO/BN dulu baik di peringkat negara atau negeri. Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 43 Hari ke PRU13 – Apakah Transparency International Malaysia boleh memadam dan membatalkan penandatangan kepada Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya yang terang-terangan melanggar empat prinsipnya menjelang PRU13?”

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Pengiraan Detik 44 Hari ke PRU13 – Sekiranya Suharto atau Marcos telah menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya sewaktu di puncak kuasa, apakah akan memperhebat atau mencemar ikrar itu?

Saya tidak terkejut bahawa tiada sebarang jawapan atau apa-apa saja daripada Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Kabinet atau UMNO/Barisan Nasional terhadap cadangan saya di Kuching semalam supaya dilampirkan 10 Poin Tambahan kepada Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya Transparency International (TI) bagi memastikan penandatangan menurunkan tandatangan ke atas dokumen yang bermakna supaya membawa era baru integrity dan tadbir urus baik dan bukan sekadar aksi publisiti yang tidak memberikan apa-apa kesan terhadap kualiti integriti dan tadbir urus baik kerajaan akan datang.

Beberapa Ahli Parlimen Pakatan Rakyat telah menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI sebelum Najib menurunkan tandatangan dengan heboh Rabu lalu.

Disebabkan Najib telah menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI yang maka timbul keraguan tentang tujuan dan makna menandatangi ikrar sedemikian, memandangkan sepanjang empat tahun sebagai Perdana Menteri, Najib tidak pernah menunjukkan sebarang iltizam atau keseriusan untuk memerangi rasuah dan salahguna kuasa.

Ini sebabnya mengapa Malaysia telah menjunam ke kedudukan terburuk dalam Indeks Persepsi Rasuah (CPI) TI sepanjang empat tahun beliau menjadi Perdana Menteri dari 2009 ke 2012 berbanding 18 tahun lalu.

Bagaimana Najib dapat meyakinkan rakyat Malaysia bahawa beliau kini telah “bertukar haluan” memerangi rasuah dan salahguna kuasa apabila Malaysia sepanjang empat tahun lalu paling korup dalam tempoh 56 tahun jika dibandingkan dengan lima Perdana Menteri sebelumnya, baik Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir atau Tun Abdullah?

Bolehkah dengan menurunkan tandatangan pada Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI Najib menyucikan dirinya daripada semua kegagalan untuk memeriksa rasuah dan salahguna kuasa sepanjang empat tahun lalu atau penglibatannya sendiri dalam urusan rasuah dan salahguna kuasa? Continue reading “Pengiraan Detik 44 Hari ke PRU13 – Sekiranya Suharto atau Marcos telah menandatangani Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya sewaktu di puncak kuasa, apakah akan memperhebat atau mencemar ikrar itu?”

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41-Day Countdown to 13GE – Challenge to Najib to ensure 13GE is a contest which coalition can do more to serve the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Kadazans and Ibans instead of a contest of who could tell more lies or incite hatred or resort to politics of fear

February 2013 has come and gone – a month which will probably go down in history as the most critical and crucial month of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s four-year premiership and 37-year political career as this is the month he abandoned his latest “final decision” to dissolve Parliament and to hold the 13th General Elections in March.

In early January, the sixth Malaysian Prime Minister who turns 60 in five months’ time on 23rd July, had been persuaded by his political strategists to make up his mind to end his two-year flip-flops and to dissolve Parliament in the last week of February to finally seek a mandate from the 13.3 million voters in the 13th General Elections, buoyed up by the knowledge that he had an armoury of “secret weapons” to woo or intimidate the voters, including:

  • The RM3.5 million invitation to South Korean K-Pop superstar Psy not only to perform Gangnam Style but to popularise Gangnam 1Malaysia Style starring Psy with Najib, Rosmah and Ng Yen Yen in Penang on the second day of the Chinese New Year;

  • The tendentious and divisive May 13 film, “Tanda Putra”, giving a totally divisive, distorted and untrue account of the causes of the May 13 riots in 1969 to inflame the sentiments of Malay voters on the one hand and to frighten the non-Malay voters on the other;

  • Promise of BRIM 3.0 if UMNO/BN is re-elected;

  • The Prime Minister’s signing of Transparency International’s Election Integrity Pledge to present Najib as a new convert to the battle against corruption and abuses of power;

  • The extension of Project IC to Peninsular Malaysia for the “citizenship-for-votes” scams in Sabah which have proved to be so successful in entrenching UMNO political power in the “Land below the Wind”’; and

  • An army of 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers to create havoc and mayhem on the social media with lies, falsehoods and incitement of hatred on race and religious issues.

Continue reading “41-Day Countdown to 13GE – Challenge to Najib to ensure 13GE is a contest which coalition can do more to serve the Malays, Chinese, Indians, Orang Asli, Kadazans and Ibans instead of a contest of who could tell more lies or incite hatred or resort to politics of fear”

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From race and religion to Psy

Hafiz Noor Shams
The Malaysian Insider
Feb 28, 2013

FEB 28 — For better or worse, quantity is important in a democratic contest. It is about gaining the majority. It is about popularity.

With that as the context, we have to remember we live in a young society. The Department of Statistics estimates that the median Malaysia age in 2010 was slightly above 26 years. In simpler terms, the age of one half of the population today is younger than the median just three years ago. The profile of the Malaysian electorate pretty much reflects the demographics of our society.

Thanks to their sheer size, those in their 20s and 30s are clearly the biggest and thus the most important group. Collectively they can decisively determine the path which the country would take.

But what makes these young people stand out further politically is that most of them will be voting in a national election for the first time in their lives. Their minds more flexible than those belonging to the older generation who more often than not are hung up on legacy issues. Ibrahim Ali, for instance, still has the May 13 incident as his talking point.

So, young adults are the cool kids on the block and the two nationally-relevant political factions are competing to be the friend of these cool kids. The Barisan Nasional-led federal government has launched several policies for that purpose and chief among them are affordable housing and other cash transfers. The federal opposition Pakatan Rakyat promises the same young adults free tertiary education, among others. Both sides are pulling out all stops to be the one special friend.

While I find many of those policies too populist, at least those policies are serious in the sense that they affect a person’s welfare. The existence of a real policy competition between two credible sides is heartening since previously, it was really all about the old, stale, suffocating issues of race and religion. That is not to say that race and religion are no longer factors but at the very least, we have something substantive to base our election on.

But I do have a feeling that the courting is starting to go a bit too far and starting to appear regressive. It is starting to go into the realm of the trivial that debases the very serious nature of our elections. In an effort to become ever more popular, political parties are starting to make entertainment the focal point of their political events, instead of what the parties stand for. Continue reading “From race and religion to Psy”