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Penghapusan duti eksais kereta: Sekali lagi BN kata tak wajar

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 25, 2012

25 JULAI — Niat Pakatan Rakyat untuk menghapuskan duti eksais dan berbagai cukai terhadap kereta-kereta adalah usaha yang patut mendapat sokongan. Ini adalah kerana kereta adalah perkara keperluan oleh rakyat negara ini yang masih terlalu jauh ketinggalan dalam menyediakan kemudahan pengangkutan awam. Sesungguhnya rakyat telah terlalu terbeban dengan kos pembelian kereta kerana sebahagian besar dari harga jualan kereta di negara ini adalah disebabkan oleh elemen cukai-cukai seperti duti eksais yang tinggi yang dikenakan oleh pihak kerajaan kita.

Jika duti eksais diturunkan ketahap minima maka kereta import yang berharga sebanyak RM150,000 itu akan boleh didapati dengan harga RM120,000 misalnya. Malahan kalau kita kaji harga kereta di banyak negara maju ia adalah jauh lebih rendah dari harga kereta yang rakyat kita terpaksa bayar. Harga kereta di negara ini terlalu tinggi dan kita adalah bersamaan dengan negara-negara seperti Singapura dan segelintiran negara di-rantau ini.

Itulah sebabnya ramai di antara rakyat negara ini, apabila kembali ke Malaysia kereta adalah salah satu ‘item’ penting yang dibawa mereka kembali kerana mereka telah membeli kereta-kereta tersebut dengan harga yang amat murah di luar negara. tetapi cadangan ini jangan kita harapkan mendapat sokongan dari pihak parti yang memerintah sekarang kerana mereka tidak akan bersetuju untuk memberikan sokongan dan alasan ‘standard’ yang diberikan mereka ialah tindakan itu akan mengbangkrapkan negara.

Pihak BN telah memberikan reaksi yang negatif terhadap isu ini dan Ketua Pemudanya Encik Khairy Jamaluddin telah menyatakan jika ini terlaksana maka ia akan mengurangkan pendapatan negara dalam jumlah yang berbillion ringgit setahun. Kita tidak boleh melayani pandangan ini kerana beliau (Khairy) adalah di pihak pimpinan dan kerajaan yang tidak mempunyai cukup imiginasi untuk mencari pendapatan alternatif terhadap kekurangan pendapatan dari tindakan mengurangkan duti eksais dan cukai-cukai yang berkaitan dengan harga kereta ini. Continue reading “Penghapusan duti eksais kereta: Sekali lagi BN kata tak wajar”

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Najib/Hisham should explain why they are “scraping the bottom of the barrel” in giving greenlight to SB to go public with “cock and bull story” of JI terrorists and communists infiltrating PR parties as candidates

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammmudin Hussein should explain why they are “scraping the bottom of the barrel” in giving the green light to the Special Branch to go public with the “cock and bull story” of Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorists and former communists infiltrating Pakatan Rakyat parties and trying to be fielded as candidates in the coming general election.

The Bernama report yesterday of the “revelation” by the Special Branch assistant director of the E2(M) national social extremist threat division head Mohd Sofian Md Makinuddin at the National Young Leaders Convention in Parliament yesterday, claiming that JI elements were trying to infiltrate PAS while the communist elements were trying to infiltrate DAP, would have been laughed off and dismissed as the most sick and top political joke of the year if not for the gravity of having such wild, scatter-brained and crackpot ideas influencing and determining policy making at the highest government and security levels in the country.

With the resurrection of the Islamist terrorist and communist bogeys infiltrating the Pakatan Rakyat parties, is the stage being set for a special operation against the Pakatan Rakyat parties to remove the democratic and legitimate threat posed by Pakatan Rakyat to continued UMNO/Barisan Nasional hold on federal power in the 13th general election? Continue reading “Najib/Hisham should explain why they are “scraping the bottom of the barrel” in giving greenlight to SB to go public with “cock and bull story” of JI terrorists and communists infiltrating PR parties as candidates”

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Utusan Malaysia confirmed it is “lies-paper” when it front-paged the lie that DAP would contest 90 parliamentary seats to dominate PR and appoint the Prime Minister in 13GE

Utusan Malaysia today confirmed that it is a “lies-paper” and not a newspaper when it plumbed a new depth of dishonest and unethical journalism by front-paging the lie that DAP would contest 90 parliamentary seats to dominate Pakatan Rakyat and appoint the Prime Minister in the 13th general election.

The Utusan report that DAP would be contesting 90 out of 222 (i.e. 40.5%) parliamentary seats in the next general election, with PAS and PKR contesting in 66 seats each, is the latest in an irresponsible, malicious and anti-national campaign by UMNO propagandists and spinmasters to stoke racial suspicion and distrust that the Malays will lose political power if UMNO is defeated and the Barisan Nasional replaced by Pakatan Rakyat in the 13th general election.

Last week, I had debunked former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad’s scare tactics when he warned that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers for the 13th general election on the ground that the Malays are divided among three “small” parties and that the Chinese voters will decide who forms the government after the general election. Continue reading “Utusan Malaysia confirmed it is “lies-paper” when it front-paged the lie that DAP would contest 90 parliamentary seats to dominate PR and appoint the Prime Minister in 13GE”

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Choice is yours – let us change so we can have liberty and live with dignity

(Prepared closing remarks by DAP Secretary-General/Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at the debate with MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek on “DAP & MCA: Whose Policies Benefit the Country More?” at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Sunday, July 8, 2012)

Since Merdeka, two million Malaysians have migrated overseas because they do not see a future for themselves and for Malaysia. It is time that we don’t live in our past that is filled with hatred and fear. We should look to the future filled with hope and harmony between all Malaysians.

 To put the past behind us, we must stop the politics of race and religion.

 To put the past behind us, we must end corruption.

 To put the past behind us, we must abolish the suppression, oppression, repression of our basic human rights and freedoms.

 To put the past behind us, we must demand good governance and performance from our ministers. Continue reading “Choice is yours – let us change so we can have liberty and live with dignity”

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PR vs BN – future vs the past

(Opening speech by DAP Secretary-General/Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at the debate with MCA President Datuk Dr. Chua Soi Lek on “DAP & MCA: Whose Policies Benefit the Country More?” at Sunway Pyramid Convention Centre on Sunday, July 8, 2012 at 2.30 pm)

CEO of ASLI Tan Sri Michael Yeoh, my learned opponent, ladies and gentlemen: Salam bersih kepada semua.

Kita berkumpul di sini untuk menentukan dasar parti manakah yang lebih boleh memberi manfaat kepada rakyat Malaysia. Seharusnya, satu perbahasan patut diadakan di antara Perdana Menteri, Dato’ Seri Najib Tun Razak, dan Ketua Pembangkang, Dato’ Seri Anwar Ibrahim. Malangnya Perdana Menteri enggan berbahas dengan Anwar. Adakah Najib enggan berbahas dengan Anwar kerana beliau bimbang selepas perbahasan, rakyat akan membuat pernilaian bahawa Anwar lebih layak menjadi Perdana Menteri Malaysia?

In fact, MCA is not qualified to be here to discuss about policies because MCA does not decide, it is UMNO that decides. MCA claims to speak only for the Chinese, and yet only the Chinese in the Peninsula, and not the Chinese in Sabah and Sarawak. This is different from the DAP, that wants to speak for all Malaysians. DAP mahu bersuara untuk semua orang Malaysia: Melayu, Cina, India, Kadazan dan Iban, kerana kita semua rakyat Malaysia, bukan macam MCA, yang kononnya mahu mewakili orang Cina sahaja.

Mengapakah mesti kita terus dipecahbelahkan mengikut kaum dan agama? Inilah kejayaan terbesar UMNO. Mereka mahu kita takut satu sama lain supaya BN boleh terus merompak harta dan kekayaan Malaysia. Tengoklah skandal lembu dan kondo. Pak cik yang ternak lembu sepanjang masa tidak dapat pinjaman berjuta-juta ringgit, tapi keluarga menteri yang tak pernah ternak lembu boleh mendapat pinjaman 250 juta ringgit yang disalahgunakan untuk beli kondo pula. Jangan-jangan orang Singapura yang ada banyak kondo nak datang ke Malaysia belajar macam mana ternak lembu di kondo. Skandal PKFZ sebanyak 12.5 bilion ringgit telah melibatkan pemimpin tertinggi MCA tetapi ahli politik yang aktif tidak dibawa ke mahkamah. Semua skandal ini MCA tidak bersuara tetapi sokong buta sahaja. Kedudukan Malaysia telah jatuh dalam persepsi rasuah Transparency International daripada 37 dalam tahun 2003 kepada 60 tahun lepas (2011).

Kita harus bersatupadu sebagai anak Malaysia. Kalau kita terus dipecahbelahkan, hanya kroni-kroni dan orang-orang ataslah yang untung. Kalau kita bersatupadu, baru dapatlah kita semua menikmati hasil kejayaan ekonomi Malaysia.

Mengapakah hanya pemimpin Melayu yang boleh membela hak orang Melayu, hanya pemimpin Cina yang boleh membela hak orang Cina. Tibalah masanya untuk pemimpin-pemimpin membela hak semua rakyat Malaysia dan membantu satu sama lain. Continue reading “PR vs BN – future vs the past”

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The difference between Pakatan and BN

— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 08, 2012

JULY 8 — In terms of scale, the Talam Corporation Bhd debt settlement pales in comparison with the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) and Scorpene submarine cases.

The mainstream newspapers have been going at great guns with the so-called TalamCorp scandal. Understandbly because they are partial to the Barisan Nasional (BN) government. As for the alternative media, the reverse is true as some are partial to BN’s political foes, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Yet, there’s a marked difference between PR and BN which can be seen by how each one has serious allegations of corruption and mismanagement and their respective reaction to the claims.

In the TalamCorp case, PR leaders are prepared to have a White Paper on the matter although it is puzzling why there has not been one since the case came up in 2010.

And PR MPs such as Tony Pua and Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad and even Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim are all willing to lift the veil of corporate secrecy and explain the numbers to the public. After all, it involves public institutions and funds from the time the deal was struck when Selangor was under BN rule.

Transparency is key to all this. Continue reading “The difference between Pakatan and BN”

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Kingmakers in GE13 are not the Chinese voters but all Malaysian voters, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans to unite and bring about peaceful transition of federal power to end corruption, cronyism and abuses of power

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is up to his past mischief yesterday when he played the race card to create racial suspicion, mistrust and fear in his effort to save UMNO and Barisan Nasional from being voted out of Federal power in the 13th general election and replaced by Pakatan Rakyat.

Saying that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers for the 13th general election, Mahathir said the Chinese voters will decide who forms the government after the general election as the Malays are divided among three parties.

He claimed that “the Malay majority has split itself into three and become the minority” and the opposition PKR, PAS as well as UMNO have “to cede to Chinese demands”.

As a result, “these three small Malay parties need the support of the Chinese in order to win the elections”.

He said: “Whichever party gets the support of the Chinese will win the elections.

“The fact is today all three Malay parties are trying to butter the Chinese electorate. So they become racial and cater to racial demands.”

What Mahathir said yesterday must rank as among his most irresponsible and mischievous statements, making nonsense of his Vision 2020 and concept of Bangsa Malaysia which envisioned Malaysians “ethnically and territorially integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership” by 2020. Continue reading “Kingmakers in GE13 are not the Chinese voters but all Malaysian voters, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans to unite and bring about peaceful transition of federal power to end corruption, cronyism and abuses of power”

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No more damning admission of double failures – Mahathir’s Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020 and Najib’s 1Malaysia policy

Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad today chalked up a new record of sorts when his speech at a forum on business and politics could not be a more damning admission of double failures – firstly of his concept of Bangsa Malaysia in his Vision 2020 announced 21 years ago in 1991 and the current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia policy proclaimed just more than three years ago.

In Vision 2020, Mahathir envisioned having only one “Bangsa Malaysia” in 2020 with the people “ethnically and territorially integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership” while Najib’s 1Malaysia envisaged a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and his or her race, religion, region or socio-economic status second.
Both visions and objectives have been smashed into smithereens when Mahathir said that the next general elections, the second last to be held before the expiry of the 30-year Vision 2020, will centre on race as “Malaysia has become more racial than ever”.

Mahathir said:

“In this country, we are very racist, even more than before. The next election is going to be about race. Who gives what, who gets what based on race.”

Ever since the political tsunami of the 2008 general election, UMNO leaders and strategists have increasingly become more and more blatant and unscrupulous in playing the race and religious cards to try to wrest back political power, making a total mockery of the Vision 2020 concept of “Bangsa Malaysia” and Najib’s 1Malaysia objective. Continue reading “No more damning admission of double failures – Mahathir’s Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020 and Najib’s 1Malaysia policy”

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The Malay middle ground: Pakatan has most to gain

— Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 27, 2012

JUNE 27 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is writing Barisan Nasional’s political obituary by focusing on micro electoral targets while refusing to confront macro policy matters.

The window to call election before the month of Ramadan has come and gone. The next possible window, which starts from September, is small and very much constrained by the Hari Raya Haji celebration on October 26, Deepavali festival on November 14, and the subsequent annual year-end floods.

Having sounded the war drums for at least two years since 2010 and making it very loud since late last year, Najib was visibly scared to pull the trigger at last, to the chagrin of many Umno leaders who want to get over it and done with.

As Najib calibrates his perfect moments, which I believe have long gone and will never return again, the nation was left in a lurch with numerous policy paralyses, flip-flops, and stalemates. Continue reading “The Malay middle ground: Pakatan has most to gain”

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‘Cock and bull’ spins: Voters must decide

Stanley Koh | June 21, 2012
Free Malaysia Today

Barisan Nasional scaremongers will continue to flog Pakatan Rakyat’s ‘inexperience’, but Malaysians must use reason and logic when the time comes to choose.

COMMENT

One of the most common and irritating claims continuously harped on by the Barisan Nasional leaders during their campaign rounds is that the opposition Pakatan Rakyat coalition had no experience in governing a multi-racial nation.

BN scaremongers in their battle cry for political survival would say the most naive and air-headed remarks such as “the nation would ultimately be bankrupt”, “ethnic tensions could flare” leading to pandemonium in the national state of affairs.

Four years have passed since the “308-electoral tsunami” when the Pakatan coalition bagged five states and formed new state governments in Perak, Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor.

Unfortunately, Perak returned to BN after a coup d’état not long after.

Indeed, “experience” is a hard teacher and even the most hard-headed pupil would not dispute this wisdom.

Those who have gone through extreme hardships, trials and tribulations can testify that experiences often gives the test before the lessons.

In this political odyssey filled with the voices of Malaysians demanding for “change,” the question is, should voters support an inexperienced coalition against an experienced 55-year-old or more ruling regime? Continue reading “‘Cock and bull’ spins: Voters must decide”

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Malaysia’s next general election shaping up to be a battle of the coalitions

— Greg Lopez
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 19, 2012

JUNE 19 — Malaysia’s 13th general election, which must be held by April 2013, has been the most anticipated in Malaysian history, given the megatrends that are occurring in the country and the ability of the two main contenders to manage them.

Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) are the main contestants. BN — currently the longest-ruling coalition in the world — is a 13-party coalition based mainly around ethnic and regional interests. Umno is the single most important political party in the ruling coalition, dominating not only the coalition, but all major institutions in Malaysia except in the state of Sarawak. Najib Razak, son of Malaysia’s second prime minister, has led the coalition since becoming Umno president through an interparty compromise.

PR, in turn, is a new and informal coalition, set up in the euphoria of the opposition’s historical performance at the March 2008 12th general election. None of its three component parties has a clear majority, and all understand that their success is predicated on their ability to work together. PKR’s unelected leader Anwar Ibrahim leads the coalition by virtue of his ability to hold together three disparate groups — the Chinese-dominated DAP, the Islamists party PAS and his own band of largely ex-BN/Umno members. Continue reading “Malaysia’s next general election shaping up to be a battle of the coalitions”

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Malaysia in the event of regime change

Ong Kian Ming
Malaysiakini
Jun 17, 2012

COMMENT

What happens in the unlikely event that Pakatan Rakyat wins control of the federal government after the 13th general election?

This is a question which few people have tried to address systematically. In this article, I want to highlight what I think will be the five main challenges facing a Pakatan federal government as a way to contextualise the policy options which such a government will have to address.

I have summarised these five main challenges into five ‘P’s:

*Dealing with the ‘Past’.

*Distributing ‘Power’ between the federal and state governments.

*Coming up with a new set of ‘Plans’ in the economic, political and social arenas.

*Focusing on a smaller number of ‘Priorities’ which can be delivered within 100 days and one year.

*Finding a set of ‘Procedures’ to deal with disagreements within the Pakatan coalition.

Continue reading “Malaysia in the event of regime change”

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Jangan tunjukkan sangat sikap ‘inferiority’ itu

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 10, 2012

10 JUN — Sampai bila pemimpin-pemimpin kerajaan (BN) hendak berperang dengan rakyat? Perbalahan tentang isu PTPTN berlarutan sehinggakan TS Muhyiddin dan Menteri Pendidikan Tinggi telah bertindak untuk menjadikan mahasiswa Universiti Selangor (UNISEL) mangsa pertembungan diantara kerajaan dan PR dengan melakukan tindakan yang paling bodoh (maaf kerana menggunakan istilah bodoh) yang dipamerkan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin setinggi Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri yang bertanggungjawab terhadap pendidikan tinggi negara.

Kalau kita amati secara halus ramai pemimpin yang pandai-pandai telah menjadi bodoh apabila menjadi pemimpin Umno Baru. Terlalu jelas yang pimpinan tertinggi Umno Baru yang mengaku untuk mendahului rakyat tidak mampu untuk mempertahankan janji-janji untuk menjadi pemimpin yang ‘magnanimous’ sepenuhnya jika dimandatkan oleh rakyat lagi sekali.

Membekukan permohonan pelajar UNISEL untuk mendapatkan PTPTN ini menunjukkan yang pemimpin-pemimpin yang terlibat sesungguhnya tidak mempunyai daya kepimpinan yang sejajar dengan cita-cita untuk menjadi pemimpin negara yang berangan-angan untuk menjadikan negara ini sebagai negara maju. Kemajuan negara bermula dengan kemajuan cara berfikir dan tindakan yang setanding dengan pemikiran pemimpin negara maju yang demokratik. Continue reading “Jangan tunjukkan sangat sikap ‘inferiority’ itu”

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BN sedang berusaha rebut mandat rakyat daripada Pakatan

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 06, 2012

6 JUN — Sesungguhnya pilihanraya kali ini ialah pilihanraya untuk mengalahkan Pakatan Rakyat. Begitulah situasi sebenarnya kerana banyak dalil yang menunjukkan yang Barisan Nasional (BN) sedang tercari-cari waktu yang sesuai sejak setahun yang lalu untuk menentukan tarikh pilihanraya umum ini.

Sesungguhnya jika PRU di adakan sekarang PR akan mendapat mandat rakyat dan hakikatnya BN sedang berusaha untuk mengalahkan Pakatan Rakyat dan Pakatan Rakyatlah yang sebenarnya yang sedang mempertahankan mandat itu.

Sebagai parti yang memerintah BN masih membelek tarikh-tarikh yang sesuai kerana jika salah tarikh mereka khuatir BN akan dikalahkan dengan teruk oleh Pakatan Rakyat yang kini mendapat perhatian rakyat sebagai satu-satunya pilihan jika hendak menolak BN. Inilah kali pertama kita melihat keadaan parti pemerintah tidak dapat menentukan tarikh pilihanraya walaupun segala usaha telah dilakukan untuk memujuk rakyat kembali kepangkuan BN khususnya Umno Baru. Usaha untuk membetulkan Umno Baru sudah tidak akan berjaya lagi kerana untuk membetulkan Umno itu ia mesti di lakukan oleh pemimpin Umno Baru yang tidak terlibat dengan pentadbiran sekarang.

Ia tidak boleh lagi dilakukan oleh pemimpin-pemimpin yang telah secara “collective” membinasakan Umno Baru itu. Baik Najib Razak, atau pun Muhyiddin dan semua barisan pimpinan pada hari ini tidak akan mampu untuk mengembalikan Umno ketahap yang pernah mereka alami dahulu. Bagaimana mereka yang merosakkan Umno boleh memperbaikinya? Continue reading “BN sedang berusaha rebut mandat rakyat daripada Pakatan”

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Say what, PM?

— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 02, 2012

JUNE 2 — Does Najib Razak really listen to himself? Or does he just read a speech and love the bluster.

He was at his Umno best today at the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s birthday, threatening to crush anyone who threatened law and order (just for clarification, he was not talking about the million illegals in Sabah who pose a law and order threat or the foreigners being given documents so that they can vote in Selangor but I suspect his ire was directed at Pakatan Rakyat and Bersih).

One line in his speech caught my attention: the ends must never justify the means, said Najib.

That is a good joke coming from the prime minister who has watched/encouraged/stayed silent as:

1) Perkasa/Pekida and other thugs encouraged by Umno have started a wave of violence against political opponents and Malaysians who don’t support the current regime.

2) Mat Rempits and other groups are funded and encouraged to beat up and harass anyone identified as a threat by the BN government. Ambiga Sreenevasan, Nurul Izzah and Lim Guan Eng come to mind. Continue reading “Say what, PM?”

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Himpunan Hijau ke Putrajaya… Wah, lebih 100,000 hadir!

— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 02, 2012

2 JUN — Himpunan Hijau ke Putrajaya di Alor Star malam tadi adalah perhimpunan raksasa dan yang hampir sebesar perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 yang diadakan pada 28 April yang lalu. Himpunan Hijau itu telah menunjukkan kepada rakyat seluruh negara bahawa kedatangan lebih daripada seratus ribu pengunjung perhimpunan itu membayangkan manifestasi keseluruhan rakyat benar-benar serius untuk ke Putrajaya selepas PRU yang akan datang ini.

Himpunan anjuran PAS ini sangat berjaya kerana orang ramai sudah memenuhi stadium dari pukul 4 ptg semalam. Orang ramai bukan sahaja telah memenuhi semua tempat duduk Stadium Alor Star itu tetapi juga meliputi padang stadium tersebut dan juga di luar stadium. Ramainya peserta himpunan ini menunjukkan bahawa rakyat serius dalam perjuangan untuk menuju ke Putrajaya dan sambutan itu sudah cukup untuk memberikan gambaran sebenar akan kemahuan rakyat keseluruhannya.

Kejayaan ini amat membanggakan kerana mereka datang dengan sukarela dari seluruh negara tanpa dibayar tambang atau tempat penginapan dan tidak pula diberikan kemudahan perkhidmatan ribuan bas percuma seperti yang dilakukan oleh Umno. Bayangkan jika Umno menganjurkan perhimpunan tanpa wang, topi dan T-shirt serta tempat penginapan tidak akan ada siapa pun yang akan hadir kerana pergerakan Umno dan ahlinya memerlukan tolakan dengan wang ringgit.

Jika Umno hendak mengadakan perhimpunan sebesar ini secara “conservative”nya ia akan memakan belanja sekurang-kurangnya RM15 juta. Itulah sebabnya saya dan ramai yang lain selalu berkata Umno (baru) tinggal sejarah sahaja setelah wujud sejak 24 tahun yang lepas. Continue reading “Himpunan Hijau ke Putrajaya… Wah, lebih 100,000 hadir!”

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Call on Malaysians to emulate the spirit of 250,000 Bersih 3.0 supporters who acted selflessly out of supreme patriotism for Malaysia and for the sake of next generation

We should now be in the thick of the battle of the 13th General Election and not be launching the Perak DAP 13th General Election machinery if not for the “428” Bersih 3.0 rally which completely scattered Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s earlier plan for June polls.

Events are proving me right when I said in early May that Bersih 3.0 was a greater public relations disaster for Najib than Bersih 2.0, as this has been confirmed from the high-handed, insensitive and reactionary government responses so far, especially the high-level campaign of demonization of Bersih 3.0 and the 250,000 Malaysians regardless of race, religion, class, region, age or gender who gathered peacefully in Kuala Lumpur in support of a common national cause – a clean election for a clean Malaysia.

Every day we are seeing the Barisan Nasional leaders shooting themselves in the foot – the latest being the announcement by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein to upload a video compilation of what happened on Bersih 3.0 on the Home Ministry website, which made an utter mockery of the assurances by the Barisan Nasional government that it wants an independent inquiry to find out the true facts of what went wrong on Bersih 3.0 on April 28, causing the incidents of brutality and violence, regardless of whether the victims were police personnel, media representatives or peaceful protestors.

My strongest message today is to call on Malaysians to emulate the spirit of the 250,000 Bersih 3.0 supporters who acted selflessly on April 28 out of two most honourable motives – firstly, as an act of supreme patriotism and love for Malaysia and secondly, for the sake of the next generation of Malaysians to ensure that they have a better Malaysia than today. Continue reading “Call on Malaysians to emulate the spirit of 250,000 Bersih 3.0 supporters who acted selflessly out of supreme patriotism for Malaysia and for the sake of next generation”

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Main challenges for a PR government

– Ong Kian Ming
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 01, 2012

JUNE 1 — What happens in the unlikely event that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) wins and maintains control of the federal government after the 13th general election? This is a question which few people have tried to address systematically. In this article, I want to highlight what I think will be the five main challenges facing a PR federal government as a way to contextualise the policy options which such a government will have to address.

I have summarised these five main challenges into five “P”s: (i) Dealing with the “Past” (ii) Distributing “Power” between the federal and state governments (iii) Coming up with a new set of “Plans” in the economic, political and social arenas (iv) Focusing on a smaller number of “Priorities” which can be delivered within 100 days and one year and finally (v) Finding a set of “Procedures” to deal with disagreements within the PR coalition.

(i) Past

Having been in power for 55 years, there are bound to be a whole list of “legacy” issues which a new government has to figure out how to deal with. It would not be practical for a new federal government to conduct a massive witch hunt to weed out all those who have paid bribes to the previous government to obtain contracts, to find evidence to convict all BN politicians who have received bribes or have amassed wealth beyond their means or to sack all civil servants who have been complicit in corrupt dealings involving the previous government. But at the same time, it makes sense for a PR government to outline a clear set of rules with regard to how it will, for example, deal with dubious contracts which the government has signed with private companies. This is important because there is a great temptation for PR to blame the previous BN government for many of the problems that it will face when it is governing. Instead of blaming BN in an ad-hoc manner throughout its first term in government, it would be better for PR to outline a place to clear out the skeletons in the cupboard early in its tenure in power. Continue reading “Main challenges for a PR government”

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Malaysia after regime change

– Greg Felker
New Mandala
May 26th, 2012

Credibility and the search for a new developmental model

In comparative politics the word “regime” refers to the formal and informal institutions by which political power is acquired and exercised. In political economy, a regime refers to an enduring combination of “socio-economic alliances, political-economic institutions, and a public-policy profile” (Pempel 1998: 20). In the case of Malaysia, the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime’s durability in the former, political sense has been closely associated with a particular sort political economy, or regime in the second sense. Despite significant changes over the years, Malaysia’s hegemonic-party political system, centered on United Malays National Organisaion’s (UMNO) dominance, has since the early 1970s practiced a form of developmentalism that has shaped Malaysian society in profound ways. As the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) understands, its challenge to the BN’s national political monopoly is inescapably a contest about Malaysia’s economic development model, as well. To what extent, and in what ways, does the prospect of change in Malaysia’s political regime imply a change in the country’s pattern of development?

Contemporary debates make clear the close connection between political contestation and economic policy choices. Indeed, one of the UMNO-led government’s vulnerabilities is a sense, growing in recent years, that the Malaysian development miracle has wavered and, for large segments of the population, inadequately fulfilled its promise of a steadily improving quality of life. The notion of the “middle-income trap”, first popularised in a global context by Geoffrey Garret in 2004, quickly became a frame for discussions of possible policy reform within Malaysia and among foreign observers. Two themes have been prominent in these discussions. One is the issue of the quality of governance as this affects broader economic efficiency and productivity. Second is the mooted necessity of a broad liberalisation of restrictions and regulations to enable greater flexibility and entrepreneurial dynamism. In both areas, the opposition and pro-reform civil society organisations have made telling critiques of the incumbent leadership. For its part, Najib Razak’s administration has launched a series of reform initiatives under the New Economic Model (NEM) that speak to the same concerns about governance and the structural challenges to Malaysia’s continued economic development. This dimension of the new competitiveness in Malaysia’s politics adds programmatic substance to a political tableau in which mass protest, scandal, and cultural controversies have comprised much of the drama. Continue reading “Malaysia after regime change”

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Instead of raging over Mahathir’s outrageous and preposterous blog, Malaysians should commiserate with him

Yesterday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir blogged that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a “preparation” and “warm-up” by Pakatan Rakyat for violent demonstrations to reject the results of the 13th general election should the opposition fail to win it.

He said: “Their defeat will be followed by violent demonstrations that will go on and on so that the election results are rejected and a new government is put in place, that is approved by the opposition.

“After that, they will attempt to hold an election again that they can manipulate.”

Mahathir must hold the Malaysian record of having made the most number of outrageous and preposterous statements in his political life, before, during and after his 22-year premiership (1981-2003) but what he blogged yesterday must rank as among his most outrageous and preposterous statements.

It was a complete figment of his imagination as there is no truth or basis whatsoever – like Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s ludicrous allegation that Bersih 3.0 was an Opposition coup d’etat attempt to topple the government (an idea probably inspired by the discredited Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor) when all that the peaceful protestors were armed with, if at all, were salt and water bottles to protect themselves against any indiscriminate police teargas and chemically-lacked water cannon. Continue reading “Instead of raging over Mahathir’s outrageous and preposterous blog, Malaysians should commiserate with him”