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Test for 1Malaysia – Najib should ask Cabinet on Wednesday to revoke earlier decision to ban the use of word “Allah” for religions other than Islam

Malaysia is again at the centre of adverse international publicity despite our tourist promotion of Malaysia as a harmonious and model multi-religious nation and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s new slogan of 1Malaysia.

In the past few days, the world media like CNN and international press have been giving extensive coverage to the government seizure of 15,000 Bibles in recent months because they refer to God as “Allah” raising concerns and fears of religious intolerance in the country.

A consignment of 10,000 copies of the Indonesian-language Bibles which feature the disputed word “Allah” was confiscated in Kuching, Sarawak in September while another consignment of 5,100 Bibles was seized in March. Continue reading “Test for 1Malaysia – Najib should ask Cabinet on Wednesday to revoke earlier decision to ban the use of word “Allah” for religions other than Islam”

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1Malaysia kills – “1Malaysia 2Perak 3Katak”

Najib will be finishing his seventh month as Prime Minister which he started off with the slogan “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now”.

Does Najib’s 2010 Budget pass as a 1Malaysia Budget?

Two events have cast their shadows over the 2010 Budget and the 1Malaysia slogan – first, the drowning of 11 year-old Dina Devi Nathan from SJK (T) Mambang Di Awan and we have just received reports confirming the death of the other two eleven-year-olds Devadharshini Mageswaran from SJK (T) Mambang Di Awan and Divya Shree Vasudevan from SJK (T) Gopeng when the suspension bridge of the Education Ministry’s 1Malaysia motivation camp at SK Kuala Dipang collapsed on Monday night, sending some 30 pupils crossing the bridge into the Kampar River.

Like other DAP MPs including the MP for Bagan, Lim Guan Eng, MP for Beruas Ngeh Koo Ham, MP for Ipoh Barat, Kulasegaran who visited the tragic Kuala Dipang site on Tuesday, I was shocked and outraged at the utter recklessness, negligence, irresponsibility and complete disregard for the lives and safety of schoolchildren on the part of the authorities, particularly the education department and the contractor concerned, in allowing the suspension bridge to be built without adequate foundation or safety features causing its collapse in two weeks and claiming the lives of three children.
Continue reading “1Malaysia kills – “1Malaysia 2Perak 3Katak””

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Praising Our Leaders Too Soon and Too High

By M. Bakri Musa

Malaysians are generous to a fault. We are too charitable especially to our guests and those new to us, without pausing to consider the significant burden it imposes upon us and those we love. This is best captured in our saying, Kera hutan di tetekan, anak di riba mati kehausan (We breastfeed monkeys in the jungle while our infants die of thirst).

We are also treating our leaders as kera hutan, indulging them only too readily. We are overly charitable to and very forgiving of them, especially our new leaders. I can understand the rationale for such a sentiment; we desperately want our leaders to succeed. By praising them so soon and so highly we hope to inspire as well as encourage them to lead us to greater heights.

The adulation of followers can indeed be a tonic to leaders, invigorating them to redouble their efforts; likewise with prestigious awards and public recognition. The Nobel Committee in awarding its Peace Prize to President Obama so early in his tenure is clearly expressing the hope of many that he would indeed bring about a more peaceful world.
Continue reading “Praising Our Leaders Too Soon and Too High”

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To restore public confidence in Pakatan Rakyat, PR component parties should make a 10 or 20-year commitment to abide by the PR common principles and impose discipline among their leaders to uphold and protect PR image and integrity

The Prime Minister-cum-Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could not have a more disastrous end for his two-hour long speech for his first budget for 2010 in Parliament on Friday, as he said: “Our recent success in Bagan Pinang has sparked our zeal to embark on this journey of transformation to lift our beloved nation to greater heights.”

Najib’s last two sentences in his speech were virtually drowned in the shouts by Pakatan Rakyat MPs with their spontaneous chant of “Rasuah” – which was a dubious parliamentary record in the past five decades, not only for a maiden budget speech but also for any budget presentation by former Finance Ministers.

Najib had earlier failed to make any impression on MPs when he devoted two cursory paragraphs of his budget speech to “Combatting Corruption”, but which did not evince any political will on his part to break the back of the problem of rampant corruption in Malaysia.
Continue reading “To restore public confidence in Pakatan Rakyat, PR component parties should make a 10 or 20-year commitment to abide by the PR common principles and impose discipline among their leaders to uphold and protect PR image and integrity”

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MCA leaders as great a focus as Najib in the 2010 Budget presentation in Parliament

MCA leaders were as great a focus as the Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in yesterday’s 2010 Budget presentation in Parliament – the visibly uncomfortable MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and the forlorn MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

This was a departure from the Budget Day in Parliament in previous years when the budget for the new year had no competitors for attention and would be the cynosure of all eyes and ears.

This distraction is highly pertinent to the relevance of theme of Najib’s first Budget, viz: “2010 Budget – 1Malaysia, Together We Prosper”.

The question that immediately comes to mind is how there can be a 1Malaysia Budget when it is founded on such shaky foundations like “1MCA”, with all top MCA leaders totally discredited after treating the MCA Central Committee members, over 2,300 MCA delegates, the Chinese community and the Malaysian people as “suckers”.
Continue reading “MCA leaders as great a focus as Najib in the 2010 Budget presentation in Parliament”

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Three MCA factions of Ong, Liow and Chua re-assembled as “1MCA” under Najib’s “1Malaysia” dictate with RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal as the greatest casualty as it has disappeared from the radar of the MCA leaders

The three MCA factions of Ong Tee Keat, Liow Tiong Lai and Chua Soi Lek have re-assembled as “1MCA” under the dictate of Prime Minister Najib Razak’s “1Malaysia” but the “mother of all scandals”, the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal is the greatest casualty as it has disappeared from the radar of the MCA leaders.

When the Ong faction split asunder at the MCA central committee meeting of Oct. 14 following Ong’s refusal to resign as MCA President despite the passing of a motion of no confidence in his leadership at the Oct. 10 MCA extraordinary general meeting (EGM), Ong wrote in his blog to justify his decision:

“I still have a long list of unfinished business involving Party and public interests, like the direct election of the MCA presidency and the Port Klang Free Zone issue. It is my wish to see such issues be addressed without any abrupt disruption.”
Continue reading “Three MCA factions of Ong, Liow and Chua re-assembled as “1MCA” under Najib’s “1Malaysia” dictate with RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal as the greatest casualty as it has disappeared from the radar of the MCA leaders”

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First week of budget meeting of Parliament does not show that Najib has the political will to effect the far-reaching changes he promised in his “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan

Apart from the announcement that Sept. 16 will be a public holiday from next year, the first week of the budget meeting of Parliament does not show that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has the political will to effect the far-reaching changes he promised in his “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan.

This week has turned into a week of horrors, not least, the annual horror tales of the bottomless pit of government extravagance, waste, abuse of power and corruption in the 2008 Auditor-General’s Reports, which caused nation-wide shock and outrage for a few days, which will then be forgotten until a year later when another new round of revelations of government financial excesses and abuses are exposed.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has come out with a very guarded response stating that it is studying the Auditor-General’s Report 2008 to see if there are elements of corruption, misconduct and abuse of power in the management of public funds.
Continue reading “First week of budget meeting of Parliament does not show that Najib has the political will to effect the far-reaching changes he promised in his “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan”

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Najib speaks with forked tongue

By Kee Thuan Chye | Malaysiakini

Najib Razak contradicted himself in his speech last Thursday at the Umno General Assembly. He spoke of the all-embracing 1Malaysia concept on one hand and of the need to retain the New Economic Policy (NEP) on the other. The Native Americans in old cowboy movies might have said that he spoke with a forked tongue.

How can you have the NEP and at the same time say that we are all 1Malaysia? The NEP is exclusive to a particular group of people, and such exclusivity sets them apart. There is no 1Malaysia; there are 2Malaysias.

Does Najib not see that or is his 1Malaysia idea merely PR spin or marketing hype?

This central contradiction is what makes many non-Malays sceptical of what he is touting. The only non-Malays who will buy it are those who are not discerning enough or who are easily bought.
Continue reading “Najib speaks with forked tongue”

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Deepavali greetings – triumph of good over evil to ensure unity, equality, justice and harmony among Malaysians regardless of race or religion

Happy Deepavali to Hindu Malaysians and all Malaysians.

Deepavali is celebrated this year in the midst of the great fanfare of Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan – which is in fact an admission of the failure of the 52-year nation building policy to create unity, equality, justice and harmony out of the diverse Malaysian citizenry, regardless of race, religion and culture.

This is the time for serious reflection how to go beyond sloganeering to end the disunity, discrimination and marginalization in Malaysia for the past half-century so that every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion or culture can find common pride as citizens of this country.

Makkal Sakti for the triumph of good over evil to ensure unity, equality, justice and harmony among Malaysians regardless of race, religion or culture.

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Will History be kind to Najib?

By Hussein Hamid

Thirty years from now when Historians write about the 6th Prime Minister of Malaysia – what will they write about The Most Honourable Najib Tun Razak? Will they write of your contributions in making Malaysia a land of equality and opportunity for its entire people or will they write of your part in hastening the demise of UMNO? Will history tell of your time as Prime Minister as being a time of revival and the getting of wisdom for UMNO or will it tell of how UMNO under your watch managed to sink deeper into the abyss of corruption, greed and deception started by Mahathir? What will the historians write?

First they will write of the forced resignation of Abdullah Badawi half way into his second term as Prime Minister. They will comment on the part that Mahathir played in the removal of the very man that he himself appointed as his Deputy earlier. There will be mention of Mahathir’s former two Deputies, Musa and Anwar that was removed by Mahathir and Mahathir’s relentless pursuit of Anwar through a Judiciary that did his biddings. Those who read what is written can make their own judgement of the circumstances that led to these events. Those with hindsight of past events will make their own judgement of Mahathir tenure as Prime Minister. But that is another story to tell.
Continue reading “Will History be kind to Najib?”

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My question on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal for first day of Parliament on Monday has been kicked off to seven weeks later to Dec 3

My question on the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal for the first day of the budget session of Parliament on Monday, 19th October 2009 has been kicked off to seven weeks later to December 3 at the tail-end of the meeting, as if the PKFZ scandal is a trivial and inconsequential matter.

DAP MP for Segambut, Lim Lip Eng, had also submitted a question on the PKFZ scandal for the first day of Parliament on Monday, and his question had also be knocked off to Dec. 1, 2009.

I had slated to ask the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament on Monday “the outcome of 2007 Cabinet decision commissioning the Chief Secretary, Economic Planning Unit, Prime Minister’s Department to look into various aspects of irregularities in the Port Klang Free Zone scandal, including unlawful issue of four Letters of Support”.

Why is the Prime Minister not ready to answer this question on Monday?
Continue reading “My question on RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal for first day of Parliament on Monday has been kicked off to seven weeks later to Dec 3”

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Bagan Pinang by-election is another “no-winner” for Barisan Nasional for second consecutive day

The Bagan Pinang by-election is another “no winner” for Barisan Nasional (BN) for the second consecutive day after the MCA Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) yesterday which booted out the two MCA contenders, MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and the MCA Deputy President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek.

If the BN candidate Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad loses in the Bagan Pinang by-election or is returned with a smaller majority than the 2,333-vote won by the previous BN incumbent in the general elections last year, it is a clear defeat for Umno and BN as the by-election will be a mini-political tsunami by itself.

But even if Isa wins the Bagan Pinang by-election with a bigger majority than last year (and Isa is boasting about a 5,000-6,000 majority), it is an even bigger defeat for Umno and Barisan Nasional for it will be a loud, clear and unmistakable message to all Malaysians that Umno and BN are totally irredeemable and incapable of internal change and reform and there is choice or alternative whatsoever for Malaysians in the next general elections to sweep Umno and BN out of power in Putrajaya. Continue reading “Bagan Pinang by-election is another “no-winner” for Barisan Nasional for second consecutive day”

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Three reasons why Najib should officially withdraw the 1Malaysia slogan from the Barisan Nasional Bagan Pinang by-election campaign before polling tomorrow

Election Commission has been taking down billboards and banners put up by Pakatan Rakyat in the Bagan Pinang by-election which offend their sensitivities – like those which castigate the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad for corruption because of his history of Umno money politics and the BN government for its record of injustices and gross abuses of power.

If any by-election campaign material should be taken down in Bagan Pinang by-election, it is the 1Malaysia billboards, banners and buntings ad nauseam flooding the constituency with giant portraits and slogans of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

There are at least three reasons why Najib should officially withdraw the 1Malaysia slogan from the BN Bagan Pinang by-election campaign before polling tomorrow.

Firstly, what 1Malaysia can the BN talk about in Bagan Pinang when there is even no 1Umno, 1MCA, 1MIC or 1BN?
Continue reading “Three reasons why Najib should officially withdraw the 1Malaysia slogan from the Barisan Nasional Bagan Pinang by-election campaign before polling tomorrow”

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Najib does not disappoint

By Tunku Aziz

Datuk Seri Najib Razak does not disappoint. He is true to his values whatever they might be. He upholds his principles with messianic zeal. His principles are of indeterminate provenance, but Najib is not known to worry himself to distraction over such small matters. He has made many of us happy. It has nothing to do with his 1 Malaysia vision that he seems incapable of articulating to save his life, let alone convincing Malaysians who have decided that half a century of untruths and specious, convoluted political and social arguments should be more than enough for even the most sanguine of them.

Najib has made us happy not because in a fit of mental aberration or misplaced exuberance he has added to his fantasy world the even a more preposterous 1 World vision that flashed across his mind. I bet it was a very brief moment in time. Najib has made us deliriously happy because he has just done something blatantly cynical to confirm what we have known all along about his attitude to corruption. Najib does not disappoint.

His choice of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad as the BN candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election has left absolutely no doubt in our minds about Najib’s real attitude to corruption. He, ever the pragmatic, suave man about town leader of a country already systematically mired in corruption, sees it as nothing more that a necessary evil. If you cannot fight it, join it.
Continue reading “Najib does not disappoint”

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Before 1MALAYSIA can be extended to 1World …

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Adviser

The announcement by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak recommending his concept of 1Malaysia to other countries to adopt a similar concept and his call for the creation of 1WORLD dream are both astounding and confusing.

Najib must be commended for his inspiration but unfortunately he is quite premature to do so, as back home in Malaysia, the concept of 1Malaysia is not a done thing yet.

In the first instance, his definition of 1Malaysia is unclear. The people want to know whether 1Malaysia means all citizens are equal, that all citizens have the same status of first-class Malaysians.

If it is so, then why is Umno propagating a policy of MALAY SUPREMACY. Umno claims that Malays are ketuanan Melayu (malay supremacy) while the others the Chinese, Indians and indigenous communities are second class.
Continue reading “Before 1MALAYSIA can be extended to 1World …”

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Isa will become “mascot” of Najib’s 1Malaysia with BN victory in Bagan Pinang by-election

Speaking at the 35th Unesco general conference in Paris yesterday, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said his 1Malaysia philosophy can be extended to the concept of 1Region and ultimately 1World.

Apart from the 1Malaysia gimmicry which now includes 1Malaysia jokes, what does Najib really mean by 1Malaysia?

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has publicly expressed his bewilderment and incomprehension of Najib’s 1Malaysia.

Lesser mortals should be forgiven if they are even more confused as to what Najib really means with this slogan.

It cannot mean one overarching Malaysian objective, when it does not even mean 1Umno – which is why Najib had to succumb to pressures to name Tan Sri Isa Samad as candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election when all the Umno/BN leaders could not be unaware that the choice is utterly inappropriate for a Prime Minister who wants to send out the message that he stands for a new tomorrow. Continue reading “Isa will become “mascot” of Najib’s 1Malaysia with BN victory in Bagan Pinang by-election”

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Najib’s defence of Isa’s corruption offence a mega-tonne explosion demolishing his NKRA to “fight corruption”

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Ismail’s corruption offence as only a “technical matter” is a mega-tonne explosion demolishing one of the six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) he announced on his Hundred Day as Prime Minister – “fighting corruption”.

Responding to the unabated criticisms of the choice of Isa as Umno/Barisan Nasional candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election, Najib told Malaysian students in Paris that Isa was chosen based on his capability and popularity, and that Isa’s offence was only a technical matter within UMNO and did not involve the judiciary of the country.

Najib said the question is whether Isa deserved a second chance or not, pointing out that in our system, even a criminal gets a second chance and can contest the post after serving his or her punishment.

Najib’s argument and logic are full of holes and do not stand up to scrutiny. They merely expose the hollowness and hypocrisy of the Najib administration in declaring “fighting corruption” as one of the six NKRA priority areas for constant assessment of “key performance indicators”. Continue reading “Najib’s defence of Isa’s corruption offence a mega-tonne explosion demolishing his NKRA to “fight corruption””

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Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B (part two)

by Hussein Hamid

UMNO’s championing of Ketuanan Melayu from the time of Mahathir is not the result of its beliefs in the superiority of the Malay race nor was it looking at raising the lot of the Malays to what was promised in the context of the NEP. It was simply a ploy for the rise and rise of UMNO’S to its dominant position in Malaysian Politics so that they could enrich themselves to their hearts content….and their hearts are not content yet! .And so with Mahathir begun the divide and rule of the Malaysian people.

But now the Rakyat has seen that the rot has set in. We can see how precisely this policy was being used. In the enriching of the UMNO elite but not the Malays.

UMNO could not.

In the injustice and sufferings it had caused to the non-Malays by denying them basic rights and decency in a country they call home.

UMNO could not. Continue reading “Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B (part two)”

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Najib and Muhyiddin should apologise for Umno’s racist muck-spreading and mud-slinging tactics which make nonsense of the PM’s 1Malaysia slogan

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday he was confident that the 1Malaysia vision has spurred the people to a new level of optimism which will translate into a stronger support for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

However, the muck-spreading and mud-slinging campaign launched by Umno/Barisan Nasional in Bagan Pinang yesterday even before the completion of the nomination process had in one fell swoop exposed the hollowness and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan as an overarching unifying national objective.

Two racist books were distributed in the Bagan Pinang constituency inciting communal hatred and animosities against Pakatan Rakyat leaders with scurrilous and baseless allegations about the sidelining and betrayal of the rights and interests of Malays – one entitled “Wajah Sebenar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: Nasib Orang Melayu Selangor” (The Real Face of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: The Plight of the Selangor Malays) and the other “50 Kemusykilan Tentang Manusia Bernama Anwar Ibrahim” (50 Questions on The Man Called Anwar Ibrahim) Continue reading “Najib and Muhyiddin should apologise for Umno’s racist muck-spreading and mud-slinging tactics which make nonsense of the PM’s 1Malaysia slogan”

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The cultural logic of Najibo-nomics

By Azly Rahman

Fashionable it may seem to credit this or that “economic miracle” episode to this or that country to the name of its leader, economist, dictator, emperor, etc. – the larger picture of the historical march of “freakonomics” is neglected.

Freakonomics is what the global society was plagued with beginning with the American sub-prime-inspired crisis; a breakdown of the world’s casino-capitalist system.

Fashionable it may seem to cite this or that case-study to a proposed “Harvard” study, just like calling a university “Harvard of the East” or “Princeton of the Peripheries” or “Oxford of the Outbacks” or even “Cambridge of the Caribbean” – it misses the point of what and how casino capitalism works.

It misses the point that the world is undergoing yet another wave of perpetual revolution in the field of economic thinking.

Malaysians are into this fashionable game of assigning this or that terminology to this or that epoch of “economic cultural depression and how these are cured”.
Continue reading “The cultural logic of Najibo-nomics”