Category: Najib Razak

BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 15, 2014

Nostalgia for better times has dominated this week with one Umno veteran openly calling for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to return to helm the country while the prime minister’s brother harked back to the integrity of their own prime minister father.

But the better times was when Umno was dominant and the Internal Security Act (ISA) was used to silence dissent, something which Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin alluded to when calling for Dr Mahathir’s return to lead the nation.

He is the latest Mahathirist to say the obvious in not so many words that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must step down.

Several bloggers aligned to Dr Mahathir have called for the same in the weeks after the last Umno elections where Najib’s camp won handsomely.

These were among the same people who also agitated against Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who resigned as prime minister and Umno president in April 2009, a year after the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suffered historic losses in the 2008 elections. Continue reading “What’s next with Dr M’s fans baying for Najib’s head to roll”

Wall Street Journal
Jan 14, 2014

Malaysia tries to stop Christians using the Bahasa word for God.

For nearly 200 years non-Muslim residents of present-day Malaysia used the Arabic and Bahasa word “Allah” to refer to God. Seven years ago, the government began an unnecessary and provocative push to ban them from doing so in print. Now Malaysian police are accusing a Catholic priest of sedition after he announced that churches in the state of Selangor would continue using the A word in their local-language services.

At the heart of the dispute is prominent Catholic priest Lawrence Andrew. In 2007, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar banned Father Lawrence Andrew’s church newspaper from printing “Allah.” Father Andrew fought the ban in the courts and eventually lost in the Court of Appeal last October. In November, the sultan of Selangor took the campaign a step further and extended the ban to Bahasa-language Bibles and churches. Now Father Andrew is being investigated for violating the edict under the draconian Sedition Act. Continue reading “Between God and Allah”

NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 14, 2014

It happens all the time. Whenever someone writes or talks about the golden generation of Malaysian leaders, it is a bittersweet experience for citizens of this blessed country.

There is pride that individuals such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Siew Sin, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman once charted the fortunes of Malaysia.

And there is deep longing for such men of integrity, principle and fairness.

Yet, there is also numbing sadness that such men no longer exists in government, replaced long time ago by inept individuals with a ravenous appetite for self.

Make no mistake, Razak and friends were flawed men, at times drive by political interests of their parties. But they loved this land above everything else. Above enriching their family members. Above nurturing crony capitalism. Continue reading “In Nazir’s paean to dad, a call to action for all Malaysians”

By Wan Saiful Wan Jan
Free Malaysia Today
January 15, 2014

How is it that Umno, a party that has been in power for so long, has suddenly become subservient to these relatively young entities?

COMMENT

Even if you disagree with groups like Perkasa and Isma, I think they really deserve an applause. These two groups have been very effective in their campaigns, to the extent that they cannot be simply dismissed in today’s public discourse.

Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa was set up by Ibrahim Ali soon after the 2008 general election. I don’t think I need to explain who Perkasa is because many readers already know them. Their campaign is centred around defending the rights of the ethnic Malays.

Isma stands for Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia. Those who are familiar with the history of Muslim groups in Malaysia will know that, up to a few yeas ago, the rivalry between the various Malaysian Muslim groups was fierce. And, the contested history is that Isma started off as a splinter from another group, the Jamaah Islah Malaysia (now known as Ikram).

It will take too long to explain the long and convoluted history of Isma properly. But suffice to say that Isma is one of the many Muslim groups that exist in Malaysia today that was inspired by another global movement called the Muslim Brotherhood.

The backgrounds of these two organisations are rather different. But, if we look at their work, they have become potent pressure groups in Malaysia today. Continue reading “Who is the leader?”

BBC Trending
What’s popular and why
14 January 2014

Hundreds of joke images are being shared on social media in Malaysia

Malaysia’s prime minister is being widely lampooned on social media for a comment he made about the price of kangkung, or water spinach.

Food is a faux pas minefield for politicians, especially when it’s perceived as being used in a get-down-with-the-people kind of way – think of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s pasty moment or Chancellor George Osborne’s “posh burger” tweet. The almost inevitable response seems to be ridicule. That’s where the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak finds himself right now. With the government under fire because of price hikes in basics like fuel and electricity, he choose to push back by highlighting a reduction in the cost of the leafy green vegetable kangkung. Continue reading “#BBCtrending: Be careful what you say about spinach”

– Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
January 15, 2014

Ungku Aziz had his sarong index. To those not old enough to remember, Ungku Aziz was once the vice-chancellor of Universiti Malaya and is the father of the present governor of Bank Negara. He has always been a keen social and political observer and his views can be rapier sharp as they are acerbic. To the establishment that is.

On the recent Kagkung-gate faux pas committed by an insensitive PM, Ungku Aziz penned down the following verses:

Pucuknya angkuh memanjat bukit,
tak sedar akar terendam air parit,
rakyat mengeluh lelah dan sakit,
sedikit diberi banyak diungkit..

Pucuknya angkuh memanjat bukit,
Tak sedar akar diair parit,
Bagaikan melepas anjing tersepit,
Dah jadi pemimpin , rakyat digigit.

When researching into the issue of poverty, Ungku Aziz came up with sarong index – a measure of the level of poverty. The level of poverty can be measured by the number of sarongs a person has. When Ungku Aziz did his poverty study in Kuala Kemaman many years ago, many people there had only one sarong. People were very poor. Continue reading “Malaysia’s kangkung index”

By Kee Thuan Chye
news.malaysia.msn.com
14 Jan 2014

Yesterday, I looked at the ‘Allah’ issue from the time it started to what it has become today, and how we are now trapped in a web of confusion spun from diverse interpretations of the Court of Appeal’s decision on the use of the word ‘Allah’ by The Herald, as well as the “one-policy, two-countries” implication arising from Prime Minister Najib Razak’s 10-point solution.

In the midst of such confusion, how do we judge who is right – those who claim that ‘Allah’ is exclusive to Muslims or those who insist that it is their constitutional right to practise their religion the way they have been doing it for ages, including referring to God as ‘Allah’?

How do we deal with the rising fervour on both sides, Muslim and Christian, as they seek to defend what they think is right? With Father Lawrence Andrew, the editor of The Herald, who said on December 27 that Christians would continue to use ‘Allah’ in all Selangor churches, and with the Solidariti Umat Islam Klang members who protested in public against his statement?

How do we deal with Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria’s demand for the arrest of the Malays who turned up at a church in Klang to show solidarity with Christians? Continue reading “The ‘Allah’ Issue in Perspective – Part 2”

By Kee Thuan Chye
news.Malaysia.msn.com
Jan 13 2014

As the ‘Allah’ issue rages on, particularly after the Selangor Islamic Religious Department (Jais) raided the Bible Society of Malaysia (BSM) and seized 300-plus copies of the Bible in Malay and Iban on January 2, let’s take a moment and look at it in perspective.

How did it start?

Not, as falsely claimed by former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, because Malaysia has become more liberal and Malaysians are testing the limits of their “new-found freedom”. Not, as he says, because some groups “purposely come up with something to annoy people” or that they want to run down other religions.

That is the usual kind of poppycock for which he has of late been fond of spinning.

The whole mess started in 2009 with Syed Hamid Albar, who was home minister then, banning the Catholic weekly The Herald from using the word ‘Allah’ in its Bahasa Malaysia section. Prior to that, there had been no issue. Christians in Sabah and Sarawak had been using it for ages, long before they joined the Federation of Malaysia. No one had raised a hue and cry. Continue reading “The ‘Allah’ Issue in Perspectiv​e — Part 1”

Written by Our Correspondent
Asia Sentinel
13 JANUARY 2014

Subsidy cuts play into UMNO rebellion

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak enters 2014 beset by growing hostility from both the public and within his own political party, the United Malays National Organization, characterized by a deluge of New Year messages across cyberspace celebrating the “year of barang naik,” Malay language for rising prices of items.

That is a play on the initials BN, for Barisan Nasional, the national ruling coalition. It has become an opposition battle cry to the point where Najib mentioned it himself in a recent speech

Najib is making an astute move now, after national and intraparty elections have been completed, taking on the necessary but unappetizing task of dismantling decades of subsidies that have driven government debt close to the statutory limit of 55 percent of gross domestic product. In the wake of both sets of elections, he is temporarily invulnerable to both opposition and intraparty assaults.

However, electricity tariffs have risen by 15 percent, sugar subsidies have been cut. Last September, Petronas, the national energy company, cut fuel subsidies in a move that it said would save the government RMB1 billion annually. Public anger at the cutting of the subsidies is substantial and growing

In addition, many in the party rank and file are still furious over widespread spending to keep the current leadership in place in the September intraparty elections. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Najib Faces Party, Public Protest”

Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 13, 2014

The rivalry between former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and current PM Najib Abdul Razak has assumed ludicrous proportions. With a legacy to protect, a son to manoeuvre into position, his cronies to look after, and a country to run, Mahathir is in overdrive. He may be approaching 90, but he retains much of his vigour to annoy.

Yesterday, a former minister, Zainuddin Maidin, urged Mahathir to return to Putrajaya. Having Mahathir back in Putrajaya would be as bad as having a hole in the head.

Much to Najib’s annoyance, Mahathir refuses to shut up, but Najib has only himself to blame. Najib is busy clocking-up air-miles in his new jets. Mahathir says in one sitting, what Najib mumbles in one month.

The current ‘Allah’ side-show is meant to trick ignorant Malays, and weak-willed Muslims, into believing that Umno Baru is the only party that will protect their race and religion.

The real issue is the economy of Malaysia. Umno Baru, Najib and Mahathir are trying to mask this fact behind the ‘Allah’ charade. The rakyat is being out-manoeuvred by Umno Baru.

Last August, Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew launched his book, ‘One Man’s View of the World’, in which he described Malaysia as an underperforming nation disadvantaged by its pro-Malay economic policies. Continue reading “Malaysia’s Lee Kuan Yew”

– Izmil Amri
The Malaysian Insider
January 14, 2014

‘Orang Melaka suka makan kangkung yang tidak dikerat-kerat’. Ini helah Tun Perpatih Putih ketika rombongannya sangat teringin melihat wajah Maharaja China.

Tun Perpatih Putih adalah adinda kepada Tun Perak dan dilantik jadi bendahara menggantikan abangnya itu setelah beliau meninggal dunia. Sebelum jadi bendahara, Tun Perpatih Putih yang dihantar Sultan Mansur Shah ketika mahu dijalinkan hubungan diplomatik dengan China. Delegasi itu begitu berjaya sekali sehinggakan maharaja China menghadiahkan Melaka puterinya, Hang Li Po.

Alkisahnya di zaman itu, adatnya ialah orang kebanyakan di China dalam zaman pemerintahan dinasti itu tidak boleh melihat wajahnya sang Maharaja. Kalau tandu maharaja lalu, jalan harus dikosongkan, dan kalau ada yang masih tersisa berdiri, mesti tunduk sujud di hadapan baginda. Continue reading “Bersyukurlah kangkung turun harga!”

K Pragalath| January 14, 2014
Free Malaysia Today

Netizens make fun of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s endorsement for water spinach.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s endorsement for the fall in the prices of water spinach (kangkung) continues to prompt Malaysian netizens to join the fray to “support” the premier’s endorsement.

A page called Hari Kangkung Sedunia has been created on social networking website, Facebook while Jan 13 is now officially declared World Kangkung Day.

Among others the page speculated that major fast food outlets would have to rebrand some of the popuar selling products, citing as examples Kangkung Fried Chicken, Burger Kangkung and McKangkung.

The endorsement for kangkung have gone viral via a 1:24 minute on YouTube. The video with 44,235 hits is a result of combining two video clips. Continue reading “From McKangkung to World Kangkung Day”

I call on moderates in Malaysia to unite as patriots to save the country from the conspiracy of reactionaries and anti-democratic forces out to turn the clock back to the discredited policies of the past.

The axis of reactionary and anti-democratic forces in government, politics and media (printed and social) have been flexing their muscles in the past eight months for the restoration of Mahathirish policies and hankering for the return of Mahathir to the helm of Putrajaya, whether as Prime Minister or de facto Prime Minister.

It has reached the stage where one of Mahathir’s top propaganda minions, Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, has surfaced publicly to test the waters with the outrageous suggestion on Sunday for the return of Mahathir to Putrajaya to help the Barisan Nasional federal government “tackle raging racial, religious and economic issues”.

Zainuddin went public two days after Mahathir floated the idea of the restoration of the Internal Security Act, which immediately received a troika of support from the Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar; UMNO (not necessarily Najib’s) mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia and the Umno “savior”, Perkasa – which represented a triple slap-on-the-face for the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

For the past eight months, the country has been plunged into the worst racial, religious and national polarization to create the conditions and perceptions of unrest and instability to justify a putsch by the reactionary and anti-democratic conspirators. Continue reading “Moderates in Malaysia, Unite as patriots to save the country from the conspiracy of reactionaries and anti-democratic forces out to turn the clock back to the discredited policies of the past”

by Melissa Chi
The Malay Mail Online
January 14, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 ― Umno’s continued silence as the voices of Malay right-wing groups grow louder by the day could end up being misconstrued as Putrajaya’s endorsement of extremism and racism, analysts have warned.

By staying passive to appease its supporters in Malay-Muslim Malaysia, Umno also risks having its own grip on power weakened in the event such groups later decide to enter the political arena as opponents, the analysts added.

Director of independent pollster Merdeka Center Ibrahim Suffian acknowledged the strategy, saying the easiest, tried and tested way to shore up support from a particular group, is to use emotive issues.

“Certainly by not curbing this, by not doing anything, (it) actually condones these kinds of statements.

“It also has a counter-reaction, not only espousing more extreme and conservative views by allowing more leeway for them to do whatever they want, but it might also increase the politicising among religious groups, the Christians for example, could be more politicised and resort to being extreme as well,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted. Continue reading “Giving right-wingers free rein will backfire, analysts warn Umno”

Yesterday, I titled my blog piece “The Empire strikes back – the plot for a putsch by reactionary anti-democratic forces thickens with the call for a return of Dr M to Putrajaya”.

The online Star today carried an interesting item which is not unrelated to the tale of “The Empire strikes back”.

The online Star report by Martin Carvalho titled “Hasan Malek denies again rumours of resignation” states: Continue reading “Knives are being sharpened for the Night of Long Knives in the conspiracy by Umno reactionaries/anti-democratic forces to remove obstacles in the way of their putsch”

The Empire strikes back – and the plot for a putsch by reactionary anti-democratic forces thickens with the call for a return of Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to Putrajaya.

The blog by former Information Minister and one of Mahathir’s top propaganda minions, Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin, for the return of Mahathir to Putrajaya to help the Barisan Nasional federal government “tackle raging racial, religious and economic issues” is not only a vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak but marks a new stage in the conspiracy and plot by reactionary anti-democratic forces in UMNO and Barisan Nasional government for a putsch.

Recent signs and developments that the plot and conspiracy of the reactionary anti-democratic forces in UMNO and Barisan Nasional government for a putsch, whose objective seems to be still fluid ranging from a minimum programme for a halt and change of the various transformation programmes launched under the Najib administration regardless of the extent of their implementation to a maximum programme for a change of Prime Minister, include the following:
Continue reading “The Empire strikes back – the plot for a putsch by reactionary anti-democratic forces thickens with the call for a return of Dr M to Putrajaya”

It is most ironical and ludicrous that Utusan Malaysia has joined the chorus clamouring for a restoration of draconian laws like infamous Internal Security Act when it is the most guilty of being most utterly insensitive on race and religious issues like its baseless allegation about a non-existent DAP conspiracy to create a Christian Malaysia and the lies that the DAP is anti-Malay, anti-Islam and anti-Malay Rulers.

The call for the restoration of the ISA was started by none other than the former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad who said that such a detention-without-trial law would be most useful to control the actions of the “extremist minority” which he said has undermined the country’s stability.

Mahathir said the group was immature and willing to make statements that touched on the sensitivities of other races as well as disrupted harmony in the country.

But the former Prime Minister has been most biased and selective in his public pronouncement like the infamous catalogue of selective prosecution and persecutions during his 22-year premiership and his infamous selective amnesia on major events during the decades he was Prime Minister after he stepped down from the highest office in the land. Continue reading “Ironical and ludicrous that Utusan is clamouring for restoration of draconian laws like ISA when it is the most guilty of being most insensitive on race and religious issues like the baseless allegation about non-existent DAP conspiracy to create a Christian Malaysia”

By Kee Thuan Chye
msn.com
10 Jan 2014

Are Prime Minister Najib Razak’s consultants conspiring to escalate his downfall? The latest idea of having his picture appear on limited edition ang-pow (red packets) for Chinese New Year (CNY) to be distributed through his Chinese Facebook page is making him look increasingly like an egomaniac hankering for cult status. Did he dream it up himself or did they?

Unfortunately for him, the very community he is reaching out to has already come to hate him all the more. Its members are more likely to stamp on the face on the ang-pow than put money in it to give to their family members during the festive period. So, instead of improving Najib’s public relations image, this ang-pow move will only make it worse.

Apparently, Najib’s consultants have not learned from the beating Najib took when his picture appeared on 100Plus cans in June 2102. On that occasion, netizens lambasted him and the company that produces the isotonic drink, some calling for a boycott of the product. Continue reading “A Face to Launch a Million Hardships”

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak disappeared for ten days just before 2013 and the start of 2014, leaving behind a government which seems not only clueless but rudderless about the clutch of five national crises which came to a head during this period – nation-building, economic, educational, security and on good governance.

When Najib resurfaced to chair the first Cabinet meeting of the year after a disappearance of 10 days – will the Prime Minister’s Office please inform Malaysians where he went to as no one knows where was our Prime Minister between Dec. 25 to January 5! – Malaysians heaved a sigh of relief, expecting that there would at last be leadership and direction to end the drift and lack of leadership and vision in the critical 10-day transition from 2013 to 2014.

But a great disappointment was in store for Malaysians for there was only deafening silence from the Cabinet the whole of yesterday. Continue reading “First Cabinet meeting of the year is the farce of the decade – decision not to have a decision!”

Open Letter to Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers

I am taking full advantage of the Age of Information Technology which enables the instant communication of information with information travelling at the speed of light
to pen this Open Letter to the Prime Minister and all Cabinet Ministers just before they start this morning their first Cabinet meeting of the New Year of 2014.

I urge the Prime Minister and Ministers to send out a clear and unmistakable message in their first Cabinet meeting to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation.

The Cabinet cannot do better than start their first meeting by discussing and digesting the question eloquently posed yesterday by a Good Samaritan in Malaysia, Tan Sri Robert Phang who asked “Why are we quarrelling over God?”

Continue reading “Open Letter to PM and Cabinet – the first Cabinet meeting today should send out a clear and unmistakable message to end the drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, competitive and great Malaysian nation”