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Greatest disappointment of all 18 Najib Cabinet meetings – utter failure to address six urgent national issues from crime, corruption, education, health to nation building

The Cabinet meeting this Wednesday (5th August) is the greatest disappointment of all the 18 Cabinet meetings in the 124 days of Najib premiership because of its utter failure to address at least six urgent national issues ranging from crime, corruption, education, health to nation building.

The Cabinet has irresponsibly skirted grave and urgent national issues including:

  1. Cabinet’s failure to heed nation-wide outrage at its refusal to establish a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on July 16 instead of breaking up the process into two parts – an inquest into the causes of Teoh’s death and a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) into MACC interrogation techniques.

    The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said in Pekan on Tuesday that the Commission of Inquiry into the MACC’s interrogation methods would only begin its work after the inquest into Teoh’s death.

    It is Najib’s ensuing statement that the RCI “will take into consideration the findings of the inquest” which has given Teoh’s family the false hope that if they are not satisfied with the inquest findings, Najib is prepared to consider their request for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the causes and circumstances of Teoh’s death.

    Continue reading “Greatest disappointment of all 18 Najib Cabinet meetings – utter failure to address six urgent national issues from crime, corruption, education, health to nation building”

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Utusan Melayu … or Ugutan Melayu?

By Azly Rahman

What is the function of a newspaper in a multicultural society? Is it to expand the mind of readers or to instill fear of others –or even of oneself?

Utusan Melayu (I am still familiar with this name rather than Utusan Malaysia) or the Malay Messenger has some good stuff to contribute to society but generally its and mission and vision is to build soul cages of the Malays. The mind of the Malay is warped, distorted, and archived into a realm of fear of itself and of others. Through the Malay language it brings thinking into a tabloidic dimension and relegates politics into a subject of advancing the backwardness of ultra-communalism.

Utusan Melayu is synonymous with Ketuanan Melayu, Tuntutan Melayu, Rasul Melayu, Kongres Melayu, Kesatuan Melayu, and other forms of glorified anomalies of the progressive Malay mind yearning to be free from the shackles of feudalism, superstition, and neo-feudalistic and urban-superstitious beliefs.
Continue reading “Utusan Melayu … or Ugutan Melayu?”

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Saya Melayu

By Hussein Hamid

The problems we now face does not only concern Perak, Kelantan, Penang and Selangor but the whole country. It does not only concern the Malays, the Chinese, the Indians but everybody who are Malaysians. It is not a concern for today, tomorrow, next week or next year but a concern for not only today but more important, of the future. The errors we make, the foundations we build and all that we do now will be there for posterity – to be judged by those that come after us. If we are not there to hear the verdict, our children will.

While the individual leaders within Pakatan Rakyat have long been in Politics their ability to govern and govern well is yet to be tested. But time favours them.

Time does not favor UMNO. The years of UMNO rule, while all not bad, has brought into question whether more of the same excesses are to prevail in the years to come?
Continue reading “Saya Melayu”

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Dare Ministers from MCA, Gerakan, MIC and from the Sabah and Sarawak component BN parties put the rank racism, incitement and sedition in Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian totally subversive of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan as the No. 1 agenda in Cabinet

Utusan Malaysia has joined Berita Minggu to come out with an article entitled “Melayu jangan jadi bacul” by Noor Azam which spouts unabashed rank racism, incitement and sedition totally subversive of the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia slogan.

If any Chinese or Tamil newspaper had published an article of the same nature but replacing the rank Malay racism with rank Chinese or Tamil racism, there can be no doubt that not only the writer would have been instantly arrested by the police and charged for racist incitement and sedition but the newspaper concerned would have been banned immediately!

Is the Barisan Nasional government having one law for Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian while another law for Chinese and Tamil media publications?

Are the Ministers from MCA, Gerakan, MIC and from the Sabah and Sarawak component Barisan Nasional parties going to raise in the Cabinet tomorrow Noor Azam’s racist writing in Utusan Malaysia today – placing it as the No. 1 agenda in the Cabinet meeting tomorrow as otherwise all the talk of Najib about his administration’s new motto of “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” would have lost all credibility. Continue reading “Dare Ministers from MCA, Gerakan, MIC and from the Sabah and Sarawak component BN parties put the rank racism, incitement and sedition in Utusan Malaysia and Berita Harian totally subversive of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan as the No. 1 agenda in Cabinet”

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Nazri would do the country a greater service to warn New Straits Times group editor Zainul Arifin to stop his outpouring of communal poison which undermines Najib’s 1Malaysia motto and his credibility as Prime Minister

The de facto Law Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, seems to have found a new hobby. He is merrily issuing warnings against all and sundry, regardless of whether he has any basis for such warnings or not. Probably Nazri should be labelled Minister for Warnings.

Nazri warned me not to turn the death of Teoh Beng Hock into a racial issue. Teoh, the political secretary to Selangor DAP State Exco and State Assemblyman for Seri Kembangan Ean Yong Han Hwa died mysteriously on Thursday after plunging from the 14th floor of MACC on Thursday after going to MACC to co-operate in its investigations.

As a de facto Law Minister, Nazri should not act in any lawless manner. I challenge him to substantiate his warning by citing an instance where I have turned Teoh’s death into a racial issue?

If he can’t, is Nazri prepared to be gentleman enough to apologise for his baseless and unfounded warning?

I have dedicated my entire life to the ideal of a united, harmonious, peaceful, just and prosperous Malaysia and have approached Malaysia’s multi-faceted problems from the perspective of a Malaysian nationalist – and not from the vision of a Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kadazan or Iban chauvinist.

I regard Teoh’s death as an indictment of the Malaysian system of governance and not a racial problem.
Continue reading “Nazri would do the country a greater service to warn New Straits Times group editor Zainul Arifin to stop his outpouring of communal poison which undermines Najib’s 1Malaysia motto and his credibility as Prime Minister”

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Dr. Mahathir ‘s Priorities are all Wrong!

by Dr. Toh Kin Woon

I refer to the latest posting in Dr. Mahathir’s blog, in which he criticized the non-Malays for asking for more concessions from state policies.

In response to these demands, the current Prime Minister has liberalized rules pertaining to equity ownership in some services’ sub-sectors and promised to set up a scholarship based purely on merit, beginning from next year.

Dr. Mahathir has found all these to be unacceptable, as they are tantamount to the government helping the relatively better off non-Malays taking even more from the relatively poorer Malays.

To substantiate his point, he went on to assert that non-Malays now own around 50% of the share capital while Malays own only 20%, far from the target set in the New Economic Policy of 30%.

I find Dr. Mahathir’s arguments to be objectionable on 3 grounds. Continue reading “Dr. Mahathir ‘s Priorities are all Wrong!”

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Malaysia no longer “Tanah Melayu”

By Azly Rahman

Today is July 19, 2009, 40 years after the May 13, 1969 tragedy.

I dedicate these notes to Teo Beng Hock, a young Malaysian who ought to be an inspiration to many wishing to call Malaysia home.

Because we have agreed to become a country rooted in a social contract that ought to give equality, equity, and equal opportunity to all who have given up their natural rights in exchange for “citizenship” and the rights of the State to tax them (with or without representation), we must recognize that Malaysia is for Malaysians.

This will be the most humane perspective we ought to work towards in holding. What is needed is a system of check and balance that will ensure that each generation of Malaysians will progress without the trappings of mistrust, hatred, and institutionalized racism.
Continue reading “Malaysia no longer “Tanah Melayu””

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Malaysian unity, not ketuanan Melayu please

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor

WORLDWIDE SUPPORT BY A BILLION PEOPLE AT MICHAEL JACKSONS’S MEMORIAL SERVICES SHOWS THAT RACIALISM HAS NO PLACE IN THE NEW GLOBAL WORLD.

Michael Jackson was the ‘king of pop’ and his music and artistry won him accolades from the peoples of the world, old and young and of all races. He was a black American but to the people race was never a consideration, because of his creative art. This is a healthy development, and the lesson is that in a modern world there is no room for racialism or racial politics. The world recognises and praise the man because of the achievements and merits of the man, and not by the colour of his skin. This is a world trend.

THE WORLD TREND IS TO RECOGNISE THAT ALL RACES IN THE WORLD ARE EQUAL AND THERE SHOULD BE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY, RULE OF LAW, SECURITY AND PEACE, FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY

The correct way for Malaysia to progress and prosper is for Malaysians to unite and strive to be competitive through merit, transparency and discipline.
Continue reading “Malaysian unity, not ketuanan Melayu please”

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52 years of nationhood, 1Malaysia smashed into smithereens by Najib

Kit Siang mocks Najib over Malay unity plea to PAS
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — The DAP’s Lim Kit Siang challenged what he feels is the absurdity of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s call for Malay and Muslim unity, and mocked the prime minister by asking today if Umno would give the nod to Chinese unity talks or similar discourse for other communities as well.

“Is he saying it is okay for Chinese unity talks? Indian, Kadazan, Iban unity talks?” the DAP parliamentary leader questioned.

The Pakatan Rakyat (PR) man was commenting on Najib’s plea yesterday for PAS to revive the idea of a unity government with Umno for the sake of Malay and Muslim unity.
Continue reading “52 years of nationhood, 1Malaysia smashed into smithereens by Najib”

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Advice to PM Najib to adopt new politics

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor

PM NAJIB MUST GIVE UP PLAYING OLD POLITICS OR HIS 1 MALAYSIA VISION WILL VANISH

One must admit that PM Najib has been trying very hard to push his vision of 1 Malaysia to gain the support of the people, but the people are not seen to resonate to his call. These are the reasons.

HE LACKS SINCERITY. He claims that he wants unity so that we are one people. The next moment he proceeded to Perak and engineered a coup de’tat to take over the PR state government. He has achieved it with the support and co-operation from royalty, the judiciary, the attorney chambers, the police, the election commission and the bureaucracy. Instead of unity, he has created disunity among the people.

HIS 1 MALAYSIA WAS INTENDED TO UNITE THE WHOLE NATION TO CONSIST OF ONE PEOLE, ONE NATION. However at the same time, he continues to support Umno’s policy of ketuanan Melayu. How is it possible for the people to be one people, when at the same time he allows a political party of which he is president to struggle for a divisive ketuanan Melayu policy?
Continue reading “Advice to PM Najib to adopt new politics”

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Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures – forecast of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 ending up in Malaysian economy shrinking by 4-5 per cent

Datuk Seri Najib Razak is nearing his first two-and-a-half months as the new Prime Minister in Malaysia, but he does not seem to be able to do anything right, as he is still dogged by a deepening crisis of credibility, integrity and legitimacy of his premiership.

This is why Najib should be brave enough to cut the Gordian Knot of this crisis of confidence and ask for a vote of confidence as the first item of parliamentary agenda when Parliament reconvenes on Monday.
Whether on the political, economic, educational or nation-building front, Najib has still to deliver his first accomplishment.

Politically, Najib inflicted on himself a deep and grievous wound in orchestrating the unethical, undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional power grab in Perak.

Economically, Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures as evident by the downward revision of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 in the first RM7 billion package last November to the current estimate that Malaysian economy will shrink by 4-5 per cent. Continue reading “Najib’s two RM67 billion economic stimulus packages are both failures – forecast of 3.5% GDP growth in 2009 ending up in Malaysian economy shrinking by 4-5 per cent”

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Confidence motion in Parliament June 15 – another reason why Najib needs it

There is another reason why the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should seek a motion of confidence when Parliament reconvenes on June 15 to secure a clear-cut mandate to establish credibility, integrity and legitimacy of his premiership.

This is to secure parliamentary sanction for his “1Malaysia. People First. Performance Now” slogan.

Najib said yesterday that the 1Malaysia concept does not deviate from the essence of the Federal Constitution, express or implied.

He said it is not a new concept or formula and that its ultimate objective is national unity, which was the primary vision of previous administrators translated into various forms over the last five decades.

But is Najib prepared to ascertain why his 1Malaysia concept had generated so much division and discord among Malaysians, which was not the case with, for instance, the Bangsa Malaysia concept introduced by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad when proclaiming the Vision 2020 in 1991?

In fact, the very need for Najib to come up with a 1Malaysia slogan is eloquent testimony of the failure of Malaysian nation-building efforts in the past five decades to create one united Malaysian nation. Continue reading “Confidence motion in Parliament June 15 – another reason why Najib needs it”

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Signs of Malaysia on the verge of vicious cycle of a failed state spreading to more aspects of national life

Yesterday, I said that the collapse of the roof of the RM300 million 50,000-capacity Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak within a year of completion is symptomatic of a society in serious disrepair and Malaysia at the verge of a vicious cycle of a failed state.

Five years ago, when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi became Prime Minister, he struck a national chord of resonance when he spoke of the goal to transform Malaysia from a nation of “first-world infrastructure, third-world mentality” to one which is “first-world infrastructure, first-world mentality”.

Under another Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Malaysia is now in danger of regressing to become a nation of “Third-World Infrastructure, Fourth-World Mentality”!

Such signs of a grave breakdown of Malaysia threatening to reduce the country to a fourth-world status instead of the Vision 2020 aspiration of a fully developed nation is everywhere to be seen, almost every day, not only in the maintenance culture but in the attitudes and commitments to the fundamental principles and values which distinguishes a country from a fully-developed one and from those that are not.
Continue reading “Signs of Malaysia on the verge of vicious cycle of a failed state spreading to more aspects of national life”

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1 Terbalik country

by Lingam

Anything that is likely to offend the BN Warlords is an offence.
Fasting could be an offence.
Wearing black could be an offence.
Lighting candles could be an offence.
Baking birthday cakes could be an offence.
Lawyers seeing their client could be an offence.
Putting up campaign materials in an election could be an offence.

Deleting immigration records is not an offence.
Physical obstructing MP in parliamentary ground is not an offence.
Having detainees beaten to death while in their custody is not an offence.
Spending public money for family visits and Disneyland fun is not an offence.
Engaging in corrupt money politics is not an offence.

This is 1 Terbalik Country.

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Nation-Building Cannot Begin from Irrational Premises

By Farish A. Noor

It has become ever-so-trendy of late to talk about nation-building in the most inclusive and open-ended of terms. After assuming office more than a month ago, the Prime Minister of Malaysia Najib Razak began speaking at length about the notion of a ‘United Malaysia’ – which was in turn claimed by opposition parties in the country as their idea as well. In Thailand a slew of parties have claimed monopoly over the concept of a singular, united Thailand. While in Burma since the 1960s the aims of nation-building have been the same as they are now: to bring together the disparate array of ethnic, cultural and linguistic groups under the same banner of a singular Burmese identity.

Now there is nothing wrong with nation-building per se (for indeed one cannot imagine any form of governance without some semblance of a nation-building project accompanying it), and there is nothing wrong with wanting to bring different communities together. What has to be questioned critically, however, is this: What is the final aim of such nation-building projects; what are the premises upon which they are based; and can such projects ever get to their appointed destinations if the premises upon which they are laid are somehow faulty themselves? Continue reading “Nation-Building Cannot Begin from Irrational Premises”

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May 13 tragedy, we should move on

By Tan Sri Abdullah Ahmad

1.While we remember the 40th anniversary of the May 13 tragedy, we should move on. It’s time for closure of the sad, very sad incident.

2.The tragic and vicious incident need not have happened had Tun Razak’s message to Dato’ Harun Idris, the menteri besar of Selangor, reached him 30-minutes earlier or had Tan Sri David Tan Chee Khoon and Tun Lim Chong Eu spoken to Tun Razak 30 minutes earlier relaying their decision not to cooperate with DAP to form the state government of Selangor nor worked together in Perak and elsewhere. I was beside Tun Razak when he took the calls from them late past tea time on the fateful evening of 13 May. I recall clearly what Tun Razak told Harun “…the good news is you will continue to run Selangor. Chee Khoon and Chong Eu had just spoken to me that they want status quo preserved. So tell the people gathering at your house to disperse.” Harun thanked Tun and asked him to convey his gratitude to the two statesmen. Between five-to-ten minutes after that Harun rang Tun Razak to say that it was too late. As he was persuading them to disperse news reached the crowd that clashes had begun in Chow Kit Road and surroundings and beyond.

3.Tun Razak asked Harun to calm the gathering and urged him, in strong terms, to attempt his best to stop the clashes from escalating. The rest, as they say, is history. Though Harun and I were not on good political terms I must be fair. I think he did try, but by then, to no avail.
Continue reading “May 13 tragedy, we should move on”