Posted on

Umno Baru’s descent into savagery

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
28 Sep 2015

Observing Umno Baru under Najib Abdul Razak is like watching the party’s descent into tribalism and savagery. Najib forgets that he represents all Malaysians, not just a tiny minority of Umno Baruputras. Najib uses the ‘psychology of fear’ to motivate the insecure ultra-Malays to act in unconscionable ways.

The speech he made at the National Silat Council (Silat Pesaka Malaysia), in which he defended the ‘red shirt’ rally or Himpunan Rakyat Bersatu was inflammatory and seditious. That he made the speech is wrong. That he has not yet been charged with sedition is not surprising.

Najib does not know how to be the leader of a nation. Under Najib, Malaysia has degenerated into racial conflict and class struggle, and is ruled by fear and violence; rural folk vs urbanites. Malays vs non-Malays. The rich vs the poor. Umno Baru vs the rest of Malaysia. East Malaysia vs peninsular Malaysia. The true indigenous people vs the pseudo indigenous people (Malays) and mamaks.

In his speech supporting the ‘red shirt rally’, Najib praised the 15,000 attendees. In a voice charged with emotion, he said that there were three types of supporters. The first and second are the “weak supporters”, and the “hardcore supporters”. His reference to the third type, which is “supporters who are willing to die”, was dangerous and tantamount to treason. Continue reading “Umno Baru’s descent into savagery”

Posted on

Najib will split the country

K. Siladass
1st October 2015

Prime Minister cum President of UMNO Dato Seri Najib Razak has now openly supported the Red Shirt claiming that the Malays have been slapped many times and the 16th September Red shirt rally was the answer. This goes to show, Najib was from the beginning supporting the Red shirt rally and his initial reaction of an innocent bystander was all a gimmick.

What Najib has conveniently ignored is the fact that the non-Malays have been knocked on their heads many times and what we have is inaction to bring the culprits to the books. Leaving this aside, it would have been expected of Najib to come up with sound reasoning rather than this “slap” allegation which is closer to infantile attitude.

Now it is clear that Najib needed this Rally to show those who opposed him here and the whole world that he has a large following who support him. Sadly, the actual fact is that the Malays themselves find Najib’s attitude shocking, if not embarrassing. Continue reading “Najib will split the country”

Posted on

With the approach of a “perfect storm” of combined political, economic and nation-building crises, Malaysia needs statesmen and stateswomen from both sides of the political divide to save Malaysia and not racists, opportunists and charlatans

The signs of the coming of a “perfect storm” of combined political, economic and nation-building crises hitting Malaysia are to be seen everywhere except to the blind and bigots.

The latest sign of the coming of the “perfect storm” in Malaysia is the Reuters report yesterday quoting the Indonesian Finance Minister, Bambang Brodjonegoro saying that Indonesia will seek to shield itself from the spread of any financial contagion from Malaysia by improving market sentiment and using government borrowing to boost dollar inflows.

He expressed worries of Indonesian investors as the twin declines in the rupiah and reserves had revived memories of the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s, as well as concerns about contagion from Malaysia “which is in the grips of an escalating political and financial crisis linked to a struggling state investment fund”.

This is evidence that the Malaysian governance has become not only a threat to our own national well-being but also a threat to the economic well-being of neighbouring ASEAN nations.

We should stop the pretence that everything is fine with Malaysia, what with Malaysia climbing two spots in the Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016, (which is nothing much to boast about in a closer study of the latest World Economic Forum ranking) or that there is nothing for Malaysians to be shy or ashamed in having their Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as the first serving head of government in the world to be investigated as a kleptocrat under the US Kleptocracy Asset Recovery Initiative 2010 with the twin scandals of the RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts. Continue reading “With the approach of a “perfect storm” of combined political, economic and nation-building crises, Malaysia needs statesmen and stateswomen from both sides of the political divide to save Malaysia and not racists, opportunists and charlatans”

Posted on

Congratulations in order for Malaysia moving up two spots in global competitiveness ranking but commiserations also for “perfect storm” of crisis of confidence with no light at end of tunnel

Congratulations are in order for Malaysia moving up two spots in terms of global competitiveness, ranking 18th from last year’s 20th position in the Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016 released by World Economic Forum (WEF).

Malaysia is now ranked ahead of Belgium (ranked No. 19 ) and Luxembourg (No. 20). Malaysia was ranked No. 20 last year with a score of 5.16, behind Belgium (ranked No. l8 with score of 5.18) and Luxembourg (ranked No. 19 with score of 5.17).

There is a confusion however as according to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Competitiveness Report 2015-2016, although Malaysia is placed No. 18, it shares the same score of 5.2 with Belgium and Luxembourg both of whom also scored 5.2.

Be that as it may, congratulations should not be begrudged Malaysia’s ranking, although commiserations are also in order for Malaysia’s “perfect storm” of a crisis of confidence in the government with no light at the end of the tunnel. Continue reading “Congratulations in order for Malaysia moving up two spots in global competitiveness ranking but commiserations also for “perfect storm” of crisis of confidence with no light at end of tunnel”

Posted on

I am ashamed to be a Malaysian

Hafiz Noor Shams
Malay Mail Online
September 29, 2015

SEPTEMBER 29 — I think I am well-exposed to foreigners’ opinions about Malaysia beyond the editorial stance of various foreign newspapers. I have friends of diverse national origins and I work for a global organisation where many of my colleagues are not Malaysians. I keep in touch with them regularly and so I get to learn of their personal and professional views about the country.

Everybody has an opinion. But do they know Malaysia?

They might be able to tell you where it is on the map. They would know the Petronas Twin Towers. They might know who Mahathir Mohamad or Anwar Ibrahim is.

But if you dig a little deeper you will realise most of them usually do not track our news closely. Continue reading “I am ashamed to be a Malaysian”

Posted on

Will the next two months be as disastrous for Malaysia as the past two month?

Will the next two months be as disastrous for Malaysia as the past two months?

Before the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched an offensive against his enemies inside and outside of UMNO two months ago, Malaysians were already quite punch-drunk with a myriad of scandals of high-level political corruption which included the two mega-scandals of 1MDB and the RM2.6 billion “donation” in Najib’s personal banking accounts, the blocking of the whistleblower website Sarawak Report, a notice to Interpol for the arrest of editor of Sarawak Report, Claire Rewcastle Brown, the three-month suspension of the Edge publications, and a slew of police actions under Section 124 of Penal Code against purported international plotters to “topple” Najib as Prime Minister.

On 28th July, Najib launched a multi-pronged offensives which included:

• abrupt sacking of his Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin and Minister for Regional Development, Datuk Seri Shafie Apdal for continuing to raise questions about the 1MDB scandal which Muhyiddin in his last speech as DPM to the Cheras UMNO Division said had ballooned from a RM42 billion to “over RM50 billion” scandal;

• the sacking of Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail, with a charge sheet appearing subsequently giving support to the speculation that Gani was preparing to prosecute Najib for corruption over the 1MDB scandal when his action was pre-empted by Najib’s summary dismissal in the nick-of-time; and

• sabotage of Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) investigations into the 1MDB scandal by the elevation of the Chairman and three committee members as Minister and deputy ministers, causing PAC investigations into 1MDB scandal to grind to a halt for more than three months until the four vacancies are filled in the October meeting of Parliament.

Continue reading “Will the next two months be as disastrous for Malaysia as the past two month?”

Posted on

Malaysia’s 1MDB pushes for quick asset sale to quell concerns

Michael Peel in Bangkok and Simeon Kerr in Dubai
Financial Times
Sept 28, 2015

Malaysia’s scandal-hit 1MDB investment fund is pressing for a quick — and possibly contentious — sale of more than $2bn of energy assets as part of an effort to cut its large debts and revive its battered image.

1Malaysia Development Berhad has set four companies — all but one of them foreign — a deadline of November to lodge bids for power plants in Egypt, Bangladesh and Malaysia, in the hope of securing a provisional deal by year end.

The process will be closely watched as 1MDB seeks to quell concerns over its multibillion-dollar debt pile and allegations of misappropriation of money that are swirling around the fund and Najib Razak, prime minister of the Southeast Asian country.

The power-holdings auction also has the potential to deepen the political battles rocking Malaysia if it is won by an overseas buyer, or yields a price below what 1MDB paid.

According to people familiar with the matter, the four unnamed companies announced as shortlisted by 1MDB earlier this month were Saudi Arabia’s Acwa Power, Nebras Power of Qatar, Hong Kong’s CGN Meiya Power Holdings and Malaysian state-owned Tenaga Nasional. Continue reading “Malaysia’s 1MDB pushes for quick asset sale to quell concerns”

Posted on

Malaysia’s Najib is Still in Control but Graft Charges Have Hurt Him, Perhaps Fatally

by Sharaad Kuttan
The Wire
27/09/2015

As questions are raised about the dealings of a government fund, the Malaysian authorities are once again looking to play the race card

Kuala Lampur: China’s ambassador and his wife sipped tea at one of Kuala Lumpur’s better known tourist-traps known as Chinatown earlier this week.

Standing with a representative of a local retail association and having just handed out mid-autumn “moon cakes’ to traders he issued an unusual statement.

He said that China would not condone “terrorism, extremism and discrimination”.

In an immediate response Wisma Putra – Malaysia’s foreign ministry – summoned the ambassador to explain his remarks.

What made his remarks particular stinging for the government was that it was delivered on the eve of a planned rally by supporters of the Prime Minister Najib Razak, then in New York.

The second rally in as many weeks – billed as a show of Malay-Muslim ethnic pride – was widely seen as racist and targeting the minority Chinese population in particular. It was eventually called-off. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Najib is Still in Control but Graft Charges Have Hurt Him, Perhaps Fatally”

Posted on

Malaysian Opposition Makes Its Play in Washington

By Josh Rogin
Bloomberg
SEPT 28, 2015

Malaysia’s prime minister is in the United States this week, but the opposition got here first — with a warning that Washington should step away from the current administration and its scandals, before it’s too late.

Nurul Izzah Anwar, the daughter of imprisoned opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim, came to Washington last week with a simple message for officials and lawmakers: that the U.S. should diversify its political allegiances in Malaysia, because Najib Razak might not be prime minister much longer.

His visit this week, for the United Nations General Assembly, could indeed be his last, if he is forced to resign by pressure from inside his own party, the opposition and popular unrest. Najib is reeling from multiple scandals, especially the discovery that $700 million of illicit funds ended up in his personal bank accounts. (Najib’s allies have said the money was a personal gift from Saudi Arabia as appreciation for “championing Islam.”) The sovereign wealth fund he oversees, 1MDB, is facing a federal investigation here in the U.S. Back home, Najib faces massive street protests and attacks from inside his own ruling party.

“Najib’s tenure is limited,” Nurul told me in an interview. “The opposition could take power. … The trust deficit will be extended to the U.S. if you put all your eggs in Najib’s basket.” Continue reading “Malaysian Opposition Makes Its Play in Washington”

Posted on

Is it out of selfish political interests that Liow Tiong Lai and the MCA’s 7/11 team of elected representatives are so protective of Najib’s twin RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals?

MCA President, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai should explain why the MCA’s 7/11 team of elected representatives (seven MPs and 11 State Assemblymen) successful in the 13th General Election are so protective of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s twin RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals.

Is the MCA’s over-protectiveness of Najib’s financial scandals a shield actually to protect the selfish political interests of the MCA leaders and to fob off any demands to cut down the number Ministerial and deputy ministerial posts given to MCA?

As it is, MCA already has three Ministers and four deputy Ministers (although three of the deputy ministers are senators).

As MCA President, Liow should explain why the MCA team in government had been completely silent and passive as far as the issues and principles of accountability, transparency and good governance are concerned.

Good examples are Najib’s RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals. Continue reading “Is it out of selfish political interests that Liow Tiong Lai and the MCA’s 7/11 team of elected representatives are so protective of Najib’s twin RM50 billion 1MDB and RM2.6 billion “donation” scandals?”

Posted on

Timeline: The twists and turns in the tale of 1MDB

Saheli Roy Choudhury | Special to CNBC
Monday, 21 Sep 2015 | 11:03 PM ET

For Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak, the hits keep coming.

Just as the capital Kuala Lumpur settles down following a fraught rally last week, at which riot police turned water cannons on supporters of the PM, top U.S. media outlets, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and the New York Times (NYT), have reported yet more scandalous allegations about the country’s sovereign wealth fund.

The 1Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) has been in the limelight for months, amid allegations of false auditing, huge debt and, more recently, financial fraud, with alleged links to Najib himself. (The PM has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His office has yet to respond to a request for comment on the latest developments.)

For outsiders, the twists and turns surrounding 1MDB can be dizzying. So, as the action heats up, here is a handy timeline of the events you should know about:

2008 – 1MDB is launched in the Malaysian state of Terengganu, with the aim of promoting long-term, sustainable economic development.

2009 – Najib expands the fund’s operation nationally, with himself as chairman of the fund’s advisory board.

2010 – Tony Pua, an MP with Malaysia’s biggest opposition party, questions Najib on the fund’s 425 million ringgit ($99.7 million*) profit, the Malaysian Insider reports. Pua asked the Najib to explain whether the paper profits were a result of transferring other government assets to 1MDB.
Continue reading “Timeline: The twists and turns in the tale of 1MDB”

Posted on

Three questions Najib should explain to the Malaysian diaspora during his visit to United Nations and New York whether Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat and how to Save Malaysia

There are three questions which the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najb Razak should explain to the Malaysian Diaspora during his 10-day visit to the United Nations and New York.

Najib will be having high-tea with the Malaysian diaspora at the Malaysian Permanent Representative Office in New York as part of the government’s outreach programme with overseas Malaysians who are residing, studying and working in the United States.

These three questions are highlighted by Malaysian patriot and leading NGO and human rights advocate, Zainah Anwar in her article in her regular column in Star newspaper entitled “Questions to ponder” on July 26, 2015.

I recently read Zainah’s original and unedited article, which posed these three questions in an even more succinct and eloquent manner.

Zainah started her article worrying about the nation’s future, and the opening paragraphs in her original and unedited article were as follows:

“I am beginning to feel as if this country and its rakyat are being crushed and pummelled by wrecking balls. The wrecking ball of race and religion, of insatiable greed, of desperation to stay in power, of never-ending sense of entitlements, of unpunished crimes and abuses, of ideology over rational thinking, justice, and fair play.

“These concerns are nothing new. What’s new is the breathtaking scale, the endlessness of it all, and the shamelessness with which the perpetrators display their unscrupulous, destructive and criminal behaviour, in words and deeds.

“The seeds of this rot were sown a long time ago. A party that has been in dominant power for over 50 years breeds its own seeds of destruction. For too long, too many of its leaders and party apparatchiks have been getting away with all manner of transgressions that they believe they are immune to any form of retribution.”

Zainah said she was in Geneva in early July and “UN officials and activists I met were all asking what was happening to Malaysia”.

Continue reading “Three questions Najib should explain to the Malaysian diaspora during his visit to United Nations and New York whether Malays and Islam in Malaysia are under threat and how to Save Malaysia”

Posted on

Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s inevitable fall

Lindsay Murdoch
Sydney Morning Herald
September 27, 2015

Bangkok: For years Najib Razak has cut an impressive swath on the international stage, seen as the moderate and reforming leader of predominantly Islamic Malaysia.

As the British-educated and immaculately-dressed prime minister was last month shrugging off corruption allegations, Australia’s foreign minister Julie Bishop offered effusive praise during a speech in Kuala Lumpur.

“I applaud Prime Minister Najib’s leadership in promoting the moderation agenda,” Ms Bishop said, adding she was “truly excited” about prospects for deeper engagement between Malaysia and Australia, on the 60th anniversary of Australia’s diplomatic presence in Kuala Lumpur. Continue reading “Malaysian prime minister Najib Razak’s inevitable fall”

Posted on

Challenge to Najib to institute legal proceedings against five international media for defaming him or his administration – Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, New York Times, Economist and Channel News Asia

It is understandable that the new Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak is so upset that he has shot off another protest against international media reporting on Malaysia – this time complaining that Channel News Asia (CAN)’s documentary, A Fractured Nation, for being biased because the sources quoted were only from the Opposition.

Salleh had been Minister for Communications and Multimedia for only two short months, but the number of bad press for Malaysia in the international media during Salleh’s tenure as Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Communications czar is already many times the bad press under his predecessor, Datuk Seri Shabery Cheek, even putting together Shabery’s two spells as Information Minister for 13 months under Tun Abdullah and Communications Minister for 26 months under Najib.

Who must bear responsibility for the current spate of bad international press by Malaysia, whether printed or electronic – Salleh, Najib or the international media?

Salleh complained that the CNA documentary A Fractured Nation portrayed a bad image of Malaysia.

The pertinent question is whether CNA had irresponsibly given a bad image of a good condition in Malaysia, or had truthfully reflected what is undoubtedly a bad situation in Malaysia! Continue reading “Challenge to Najib to institute legal proceedings against five international media for defaming him or his administration – Wall Street Journal, Al Jazeera, New York Times, Economist and Channel News Asia”

Posted on

Shrugging off ‘ketakutan Melayu’

Syerleena Abdul Rashid
The Malaysian Insider
25 September 2015

Soon after Datuk Seri Najib Razak took over the reins as prime minister from Tun Abdullah Badawi in 2009, for a fleeting moment in time, Malaysians felt somewhat hopeful that social transformations could finally happen in our country. With a new leader, came new promises and renewed hope.

When Najib launched the 1Malaysia campaign, the objectives were quite straightforward; the RM38 million (or at least the amount that was officially recorded) campaign sought to call for all government agencies and civil servants to embrace diversity and Malaysia’s multicultural society. Najib’s administration through the 1Malaysia campaign sought to heal the wounds of racial mistrust and turmoil by promoting “ethnic harmony, national unity, and efficient governance”.

Needless to say, the campaign has since met with heavy criticism from Malaysians due to the fact that ethnic relations in Malaysia have gotten worse in the last five years and the recent “red shirt” rally verified this. Of course, it doesn’t help that those from the ruling elite have since showed their true colours and forked tongues. Continue reading “Shrugging off ‘ketakutan Melayu’”

Posted on

The Big Read: On Malaysia Day, a reminder of racial politics at play

MOHAMED NAWAB MOHAMED OSMAN FOR TODAY
26 SEPTEMBER 2015

Race politics are very much alive in Malaysia, say analysts and observers. Going forward how will this affect Malaysia and even Singapore?

SINGAPORE — On Sept 16, Malaysia celebrated its 52nd Malaysia Day, which marks the birth of the Malaysian federation consisting of Malaya, Sabah, Sarawak and, briefly Singapore.

Malaysia Day is often a low-key affair, coming just two weeks after the splashier Merdeka Day celebrations. Yet this year, the day was marked by two important events.

The first was the Red Shirts rally by a Malay rights groups to show solidarity with Malay leaders whom these groups claimed are under attack by the Chinese community. The second event was the launch of the Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) or Amanah, a breakaway party of the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS). PAN is a moderate Islamic party which calls for the strengthening of Malaysia’s multi-ethnic and multi-religious social fabric. But for PAS leaders, PAN is just a front for the Democratic Action Party (DAP) — the opposition’s ethnic Chinese party.

There is concern within both PAS and the ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) that PAN could further split the Malay vote and help propel DAP to an electoral victory over UMNO at the next general election. Continue reading “The Big Read: On Malaysia Day, a reminder of racial politics at play”

Posted on

Alleged scandals surrounding Malaysian PM could have several consequences

IAIN MARLOW
The Globe and Mail
Sep. 24, 2015

With a prime ministerial scandal burning away and acrid smoke shrouding huge swaths of Malaysia, one could be mistaken for thinking the government in Kuala Lumpur was quite literally going up in flames.

The smoke, of course, comes from forest fires illegally set to clear land on the nearby island of Sumatra. But it does provide a suitably gloomy backdrop for what’s happening to Prime Minister Najib Razak.

Mr. Najib, who has become increasingly unpopular, leads the United Malays political party and a coalition that has effectively controlled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957 – partly through electoral gerrymandering and censorship of the media. Despite other actions that make him unfit to lead a democracy, such as repeatedly jailing his main political opponent (a former deputy prime minister) on trumped up sodomy charges, he now finds himself at the centre of an ever-expanding series of corruption probes that have brought Malaysian politics to a standstill – and also threaten to bring his pseudo-authoritarian rule to an end.

These investigations, which began in Malaysia and have spread to the United States, relate to a sum of $700-million (U.S.) allegedly paid into bank accounts linked to the Prime Minister. Mr. Najib has denied he has done anything wrong and said the money came from a political donor in the Middle East, though he has not provided evidence. Continue reading “Alleged scandals surrounding Malaysian PM could have several consequences”

Posted on

Malaysia’s “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” – how to change a Prime Minister who has locked up support of the UMNO warlords

Some 75 years ago, a statesman spoke about a “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma”.

We in Malaysia seems to be in that position now – how do you change a Prime Minister, who has become the most unpopular Prime Minister in the nation’s history, but who seems to have locked up the support of UMNO warlords and therefore the majority of UMNO/Barisan Nasional Members of Parliament, where a vote of no confidence in Parliament against the Prime Minister seems to hold no chance of success.

In developed parliamentary democracies, which Malaysia aspires to join in five years’ time, there is no problem for a change of unpopular Prime Ministers as witnessed the smooth and quick ouster of the Prime Minister of Australia in the middle of this month.

If Australia practises Najib style of parliamentary democracy, Malcolm Turnbull would not be the Australian Prime Minister today but would be in jail defending charges of trying to “topple” Tony Abbot as Prime Minister and for “activities detrimental to parliamentary democracy”!

Yesterday, former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir said that the country’s economy can only recover with the removal of Najib as Prime Minister. Continue reading “Malaysia’s “riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma” – how to change a Prime Minister who has locked up support of the UMNO warlords”

Posted on

Does Malaysia’s ringgit face 1997 all over again?

Leslie Shaffer
CNBC
Sept. 25, 2015

The sell-off in the Malaysian ringgit, already among the world’s worst performing currencies, may run further amid a toxic mix of shaky economic fundamentals and the spreading of what is being called the country’s worst-ever political crisis.

The ringgit has fallen around 40 percent over the past year, with the U.S. dollar fetching around 4.34 ringgit on Thursday. That’s the Malaysian currency’s weakest against the greenback since late 1997, when the dollar at one point fetched as much as 4.88 ringgit.

“There remains significant downside risk even after the sharp ringgit correction,” Hak Bin Chua, an analyst at Merrill Lynch in Singapore, said in a note Wednesday, noting that he sees little comfort from claims Malaysia is much stronger than in 1997, when it took a wallop from the Asian Financial Crisis (AFC). Continue reading “Does Malaysia’s ringgit face 1997 all over again?”

Posted on

Playing with fire

Economist
Sep 26th 2015 | KUALA LUMPUR

Race in Malaysia
A floundering government risks igniting ethnic tensions

THE close-packed shops on Petaling Street, a dim warren in a Chinese quarter of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia’s capital, often throng with bargain-hunting tourists. This month its mostly ethnic-Chinese stallholders faced crowds of a different kind. Riot police prevented a mob of redshirted protesters—ethnic Malays with a host of grudges—from marching down the street. They eventually dispersed loiterers with water cannon. One protester was filmed calling a journalist a “Chinese pig”. Some are threatening to return.

The unsettling scuffle took place on the fringes of a big pro-government rally held in the capital on September 16th. Some 40,000 ethnic Malays gathered at a park in support of the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), the party that has led Malaysia’s ruling coalitions for nearly 60 years. The day’s events were only the latest evidence of rising tensions between the country’s Malay Muslim majority and its ethnic Chinese and Indian minorities, who make up about one-third of its citizens. Battling allegations of corruption, UMNO seems careless of the risks. Continue reading “Playing with fire”