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DAP Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng will lead DAP policy debate on 10th Malaysia Plan in June Parliament to spell out the triple implications of the Sibu Miracle

For the past week, Sibu was on the lips of every Malaysian, igniting excitement and rekindling new hopes among Sarawakians and Malaysians that Sarawak and Malaysia are capable of far-reaching political changes in the near future.

The hard-fought DAP and Pakatan Rakyat victory in Sibu, where we turned around the 40%-60% odds on Nomination Day in the eight-day campaign to achieve a miraculous victory, has given to Sarawakians and Malaysians a glimpse of the possibility of New Politics and the replacement of the Barisan Nasional governments in Petrajaya and Putrajaya with  Pakatan Rakyat governments in the next 12 to 24 months.

The seismic Sibu by-election victory, akin to a Sibu Miracle, has brought with it great challenges and responsibilities to the Sarawak DAP state leadership.
Forget about “rest” until the two great battles of the next Sarawak state general elections and the 13th General Elections are over.
Continue reading “DAP Sibu MP Wong Ho Leng will lead DAP policy debate on 10th Malaysia Plan in June Parliament to spell out the triple implications of the Sibu Miracle”

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Baram residents fear a repeat of Bakun fiasco

By G Vinod | FMT

MIRI: The Borneo Resources Institute Malaysia today said the residents of longhouses near the proposed Baram dam in Sarawak do not want to see another repeat of the Bakun resettlement fiasco.

Its executive director Mark Bujang said that the people in the affected area want the project to be scrapped altogether.

Bujang said this was clearly expressed by the locals during a two-day seminar organised by the Baram Residents Action Council at Telang Usan Hotel here.

“The residents have voiced concerns of their fate once the dam is built.

“They are wondering what will happen to their land once its waters inundate their villages… how are they going to be resettled and how much it will cost them,” he said.
Continue reading “Baram residents fear a repeat of Bakun fiasco”

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Sarawak By-Election: Old Habits Die Hard

By Tunku Abdul Aziz

Sibu, that remarkable town on the mighty Rejang that the Foochows built all those long years ago with sweat, blood and tears, notched another milestone: the Chinese community decided that May 16 was to be the day when they would show the rest of Malaysia, and indeed the world, that Najib’s largesse however packaged had all the smell of moral decay, or not to put too fine a point on it, undisguised vote buying. This illegal and immoral practice is apparently endorsed and encouraged by both the Election Commission and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission. Sibuans on the other hand would have none of it.

What was so distressing was that the EC and MACC were ever so quick to affix their “No Action” tab on what clearly was corruption committed by Najib who offered financial inducements to the voters of Sibu to return the Barisan Nasional candidate. Similarly they took no action against Najib for his shenanigans in the Hulu Selangor by-election. Most surprising of all, there was not even a whimper from the self-proclaimed anti-corruption fighter, Transparency International Malaysia. Have they decided to flow with the tide of political corruption as well? Najib’s practice of bribing voters into supporting his election agenda shows a complete and utter disdain for public opinion and the law.

What is the point of spending hundreds of millions on beefing the MACC up, already bloating and bursting at the seams with gross inefficiency, when the prime minister bribes the voters of Sibu, with complete arrogance and impunity? To our complete surprise, the good citizens of Sibu, unlike some of their fellow citizens elsewhere, turned up their collective nose and gave Najib the elbow, more or less telling him to “take a running jump into the Rejang.”
Continue reading “Sarawak By-Election: Old Habits Die Hard”

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Never before in Sibu

By Wee Wui Kiat

[UPDATED with photos from the ground] A musing on the many firsts for Sibu that took place in the few weeks leading up to last Sunday’s by-election, that reflects a changed Malaysia.

PR Leaders Sibu nomination

Sibu Miracle – May 16,2010

Never before in Sibu have we seen such a strong line of a multi-ethnic opposition coalition working together hand in hand way into the wee hours of the night to bring about change.

Never before in Sibu have we seen so many Malays proudly wearing DAP caps and shirts on the streets.

Never before in Sibu have we seen a Malay woman donning the tudung, hoisting a huge DAP flag.
Continue reading “Never before in Sibu”

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Kit Siang chides EC over ‘disrespectful’ and ‘rude’ claim

By Rahmah Ghazali | FMT

PETALING JAYA: DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang chided the Election Commission (EC) for saying the party was “disrespectful” and “rude” during the tallying of the Sibu by-election results.

“As far as DAP is concerned, we were very civil,” he told FMT, in response to EC deputy chief Wan Ahmad Wan Omar’s statement in Malay-daily Utusan Malaysia today.

Lim stressed that DAP was only aiming for a free and just election and said that the party has been fully cooperating with the EC to ensure such objective being achieved.

Wan Ahmad was quoted as saying that the opposition party was “rude” and “disrespectful” to the EC and accused them of obstructing their workers during the tallying of the postal votes.
Continue reading “Kit Siang chides EC over ‘disrespectful’ and ‘rude’ claim”

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Surprising signals from Sibu

By Bridget Welsh

The real measure of change among the electorate is how they mark the ballot paper.

This analysis explores how people voted in Sibu, drawing from the polling station results and local interviews. The results from the Sibu by-election point to major transformations in voting behavior in Sarawak.

T?hey show swings among voters of all the different ethnic communities towards Pakatan and consistent youth disenchantment with the BN.

The results also reveal a crack in the rural-urban divide in Sarawak voting. Even the composition of the low voter turnout under close scrutiny points in Pakatan’s favour.
Continue reading “Surprising signals from Sibu”

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Election Commission’s professionalism, credibility and integrity plunged to its lowest point

The Election Commission’s professionalism, credibility and integrity plunged to its lowest point in its 53-year history in the Sibu by-election unless it could satisfactorily explain the two-and-a-half hour delay in announcing the results on polling night and the 9.37% or 5,172-voter mistake in voter turnout.

Counting for postal ballot ended at around 8.30 pm on polling day and almost instantaneously, Barisan Nasional and SUPP leaders left the Counting Centre at the Civics Centre – a sign to all that they knew at that time that the BN had lost the by-election.

The mystery remains three days after the by-election as to why the Election Commission delayed for two-and-a-half hours before announcing the results.

DAP leaders did not “storm” the Sanyan Building where the postal ballots were counted, but we went over there from the DAP Sibu Ops Centre to find out what was happening.

When I arrived there with DAP Secretary-General and Penang Chief Minister, Lim Guan Eng, as well as a battery of DAP MPs and State Assembly representatives from all over the country at about 9.30 pm, counting of postal ballots had already been completed for an hour but there was a “standoff” as there was no Election Commission official to issue Form 15 to certify the final tally for the postal ballots counted.
Continue reading “Election Commission’s professionalism, credibility and integrity plunged to its lowest point”

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‘Deal or no deal’ falls flat

By Mariam Mokhtar

As they say, politicians are like nappies – they should be changed often and for the same reasons. Yesterday, the people of Sibu made history when they elected DAP and rejected BN.

Days earlier, at Rejang Park, the prime minister convinced me that BN does not have the interests of the people of Sibu at heart.

1. He said: “I don’t have to come here…..to Rejang Park……This is not the place for a prime minister to come.”

2. He insulted the intelligence of the people by making deals in exchange for public service.

3. He lowered the tone of his speech by saying “Bull Shine”. Is vulgar slang accepted speech by a prime minister?

Without the involvement of money politics, DAP’s majority could easily have been in the thousands rather than just 398 votes.
Continue reading “‘Deal or no deal’ falls flat”

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Iban vote remains elusive for Pakatan

By Ong Kian Ming

COMMENT Last Sunday was an eventful day for me personally. I took part in my first 15km pacesetters run which took me through the rolling hills and grand mansions of Bukit Tunku. I dropped by a friend’s church in a refurbished part of Petaling Jaya which looked very different compared to three years ago.

I played basketball in the evening at a friend’s apartment just off Jalan Ipoh complete with its own private park. I then had dinner at a newly-opened restaurant in nearby Kepong with a few newfound friends. Finally, I returned home, fired up my computer and checked the Sibu by-election results.

It turned out that it was also an eventful day for the voters in Sibu. For the first time since the 1982 general election, the parliamentary seat of Sibu fell into the hands of the opposition, by a narrow margin of 398 votes.

Someone asked me if I was surprised by the result and I answered in the negative. After all, I had predicted that the DAP would win this seat by a margin of 500 votes.
Continue reading “Iban vote remains elusive for Pakatan”

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Sea change in Sibu

By Bridget Welsh

The moment I sensed a sea change in the Sibu by-election campaign was during the Friday ceramah, two days before polling. The event reminded me of a similar mood on the eve of the Sarawak state polls in Kuching. The momentum was clearly moving in the opposition’s favour.

The votes are now counted and the opposition managed to pull off an extremely close victory of 1% majority in the final tally. Coming after the defeat in Hulu Selangor and without expectations, this victory was especially sweet for Pakatan Rakyat and bitter for BN, particularly those with personal stakes in the contest, namely Prime Minister Najib Razak and Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud.

The blame game has begun within the BN camp as the shock has yet to subside. The reasons for this close victory are multiple and cannot be boiled down to specific individuals or communities. This piece focuses on the factors that were decisive in the campaign for both sides.

My final piece on Sibu tomorrow will showcase an analysis of the results and flesh out the political implications of these results.

What went right for Pakatan
Continue reading “Sea change in Sibu”

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Sibuans on why they created the Sibuan Miracle

Letter from Gabriel
Dear Kit,

After the recent election in my hometown, Sibu, a lot of my former schoolmates have been storming the internet and started voicing their grievances online, especially in social network portal like Facebook. Just a while a go, one of my ex-classmates showed me a link where people post feedback to SUPP Robert Lau’s status and one of the feedback is as follows and myself being a local Sibu, do totally agree with this Adam’s point of views :

Adam Tang
Let’s go down to the bottom. State down at least 3 to 7 reason why you vote or not vote Mr. Robert. Let Mr. Robert analyze himself. Fair?

I didn’t vote Mr. Robert Lau because

  1. Perkasa said our grandmother came to Malaysia just to sell their body last time. (Those who voted Wong Ho Leong are those who are willing to sacrifice Sibu to tell BN from the other side that if BN continue mess with Perkasa, we will vote PR again. Respect please for the people who vote DAP).

    2. Continue reading “Sibuans on why they created the Sibuan Miracle”

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DAP/PR victory in Sibu sparks new hopes for a PR Federal Government in next general election

The Sibu by-election result has triple far-reaching implications for Sibu, Sarawak and Malaysia.

Most important of all, the DAP/PR victory in the Sibu parliamentary by-election on Sunday sparks new hopes for a Pakatan Rakyat Federal Government in the next 13th General Election in Malaysia.

In one fell swoop, the Sibu Miracle achieved triple national impacts: viz:

  • Steadied parliamentary democracy and strengthened Pakatan Rakyat’s parliamentary position to ensure that the Barisan Nasional does not steal back its previous unbroken two-thirds parliamentary majority;

  • Sent a clear and unmistakable signal that Sarawak and Sabah are no more Barisan Nasional “fixed deposit” states which had saved the Barisan Nasional federal power in the 308 political tsunami of the 2008 general election and Umno and Putrajaya cannot continue to take the people of Sarawak and Sabah for granted in disregarding their legitimate grievances and discontents.

  • Demonstrated growing maturity and effectiveness of the Pakatan Rakyat political alliance. The Sibu by-election is the first foray of Pakatan Rakyat Sarawak comprising PKR,PAS, DAP and SNAP. The campaigning by all Pakatan Rakyat leaders including Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Datuk Seri Azizah Ismail, Azmin Ali, Saifuddin Nasution, Zuraida Kamaruddin, Fuziah Salleh, Nurul Izzah, Zaid Ibrahim (PKR) and Datuk Seri Hadi Awang, Continue reading “DAP/PR victory in Sibu sparks new hopes for a PR Federal Government in next general election”

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Call for clear Cabinet position tomorrow: whether Najib’s promise of RM5 flood mitigation project for Rejang Park in Sibu made on eve of Sibu by-election will be honoured or not

The Cabinet meeting tomorrow should come out with a clear position – whether the RM5 million flood mitigation project promised to the voters of Rejang Park in Sibu on the eve of the Sibu by-election polling on Saturday night will be honoured or not.

This is the Sunday Star report “PM woos ‘black area’ folk’ – Najib elicits cheers from voters in Rejang Park”:

Sibu: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak elicited cheers from residents Rejang Park when he announced an allocation of RM5 mil to solve its perennial drainage problem.

The poor drainage and sewerage system in the housing estate are among the reasons why it is a “black area” for Barisan Nasional in past general elections.

This is one example of Najib’s infamous “I give you what you want, you give me what I want” style of campaigning.

Yesterday, however, Najib said he is rethinking his RM5 million campaign promise to Rejang Park, adding that he has yet to decide if he will approve the RM5 million flood mitigation project promised to Sibu voters if Barisan Nasional (BN) won yesterday’s by-election.
Continue reading “Call for clear Cabinet position tomorrow: whether Najib’s promise of RM5 flood mitigation project for Rejang Park in Sibu made on eve of Sibu by-election will be honoured or not”

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Malaysia’s Ruling Coalition Loses a Sarawak Race

Asia Sentinel
Chinese voters refuse blandishments of school and development money, go for the opposition

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia campaign, designed to bring the country’s three main ethnic groups back together and abate racial tension, suffered a setback Sunday when Chinese voters in the Sarawak town of Sibu deserted the national ruling coalition to narrowly elect a candidate to Parliament from the opposition Democratic Action Party.

Najib had made three trips to the town of Sibu, some 50 km up the Rajang River from the coast, and offered a cornucopia of goodies including RM18 million in financial assistance to 65 Chinese schools in what was called the most intensive campaign in the district’s history as the Barisan sought to win back the seat. That included RM10 million for Chinese primary schools, RM5 million for Chinese independent secondary schools and RM3 million for Christian missionary schools. Government workers repaved roads in an attempt to woo voters.

Najib promoted his 1Malaysia slogan as being “the only spirit and philosophy that can hold this country together.” He added that, “There is no reason why Muslims and Christians cannot work together under the spirit of 1Malaysia.” One blogger, however, wrote that Najib should just have abandoned the Chinese voters in Sibu and spent the education and development funds on poor rural voters, who are mostly other ethnic groups than the majority Chinese.
Continue reading “Malaysia’s Ruling Coalition Loses a Sarawak Race”

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Sibu the “Sifu”

Sixteenth of May a date to remember
In Sarawak a history was created
The people awaken, tis the signal
In her fortress BN was defeated

It is historical, this month of May
A tragedy in nineteen sixty nine
Never should it be repeated, we pray
And that’s your wish and mine.

The youths had a grand celebration
And the teachers day too did follow
Whilst Pakatan was in jubilation
Barisan Nasional plunged in sorrow.

It was the bye-election in Sibu
The spirit that we shall nurture
Little Sibu became the “SIFU”
Giving hope to Malaysia’s future. Continue reading “Sibu the “Sifu””

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Call for public inquiry into the two-and-a-half hour delay in announcing the results of the Sibu by-election last night

The Election Commission has blamed DAP for the delay in tallying the results of the postal voting in Sibu denying that it had wanted to manipulate the outcome in favour of the Barisan Nasional.

However, the Election Commission has not been able to give full and satisfactory explanation for the two-and-a-half hour delay in the announcement of the Sibu results which was the cause of a twitter offensive by me last night, viz:

#P212 #Sibu Told BN leaders left counting centre virtually admitting defeat. Some time b4 off results are known awaiting postal ballot.
05/16/2010 08:44 PM

#P212 #Sibu Majority prob v narrow but its Sibu Miracle if true. Will not update further as results incomplete. Keep fingers crossed n pray.
05/16/2010 08:48 PM

Going over 2Sanyan Bldg w Penang CM PR MPs 2find out from Election Comm what is holding up anncement of #Sibu #P212 results
05/16/2010 09:23 PM
Continue reading “Call for public inquiry into the two-and-a-half hour delay in announcing the results of the Sibu by-election last night”

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Sibu’s new political awakening (2)

By Bridget Welsh | Malaysiakini

Tomorrow is polling day in Sibu. After days of quiet campaigning, there is now finally a growing sense of excitement. This non-political town is having a national awakening as both sides have gone all out to win voters over.

In Sibu square, BN leaders are making earnest appeals to the voters, while the big guns of the Pakatan Rakyat are gearing up for a final ceramah tonight and concentrating their day’s activities in the pivotal Iban areas.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is making a personal gamble by returning for the second time in the campaign period to appeal for votes, gambling that his popularity wins support.
Continue reading “Sibu’s new political awakening (2)”

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A town at the crossroads (1)

By Bridget Welsh | Malaysiakini

Malaysia’s 11th by election since March 2008 is only one day away. It comes on the heel of the important BN win in Hulu Selangor and before the much anticipated Sarawak state elections.

For the ruling BN, and Prime Minister Najib Razak in particular, this election provides an opportunity to convince voters nationally and his Umno party that he has a national mandate and can deliver the votes.

For the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, this contest provides a chance to stem the momentum of the BN in gaining support, further forge relations among the opposition component parties and even the score in the now increasingly important and contested marker of two-thirds in Parliament due to PKR defections.

A strong victory for BN may even open the way for early national elections. No doubt this by-election has national importance. The town on the mighty Rajang River has come into the national spotlight, although few Malaysians have visited it.
Continue reading “A town at the crossroads (1)”

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Sarawak : Poverty Midst of Plenty

By Tunku Abdul Aziz

Although I have in my travels seen abject poverty in such diverse places as Addis Ababa, Dhaka, Dar es Salaam, Kolkata, Mumbai and Manila, I must confess to a feeling of utter revulsion and anger when confronted by stark deprivation in our supposedly well-governed and prosperous Malaysia.

The pockets of rural poverty in the Malay heartlands of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu are islands of prosperity compared to the scene that churned my stomach and assailed my sense of guilt and outrage when I first ventured into the Iban long houses on the majestic Rejang.

It is not enough that we have robbed them of their ancestral lands and impoverished them in the process, but we also felt constrained to strip them naked of any residual personal dignity that they might still have by introducing policies that have succeeded in reducing them to the fringes of mainstream economic life. The Orang Asli tribes and the Orang Hulu, the Malays from the interior, have a great deal in common with their Dayak friends. For all we care, they are Malaysia’s forgotten people, but not quite. Whenever an election is underway, be it a by-election or a general election, they find themselves the centre of attention, in great demand by the rich and powerful, all claiming to love and care for them.
Continue reading “Sarawak : Poverty Midst of Plenty”

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Last 24 hours of the “Battle of Century” Sibu by-election – Tweets

#P212 #Sibu Battle of Century further effects – Swak Chief Minister announces 50% reduced rates 4renewal of urban land titles Victory 4Sibu
Friday, May 14, 2010 9:31 PM

#P212 #Sibu Dap/PR candidate HoLeng speaking 2biggest crowd @Rejang Park He spoke of DAP’s battle 4just deal 4renewal 4land titles since 06
Friday, May 14, 2010 9:37 PM

#P212 #Sibu is indeed Battle of Century PM Najib coming back 2Sibu again w more Angpaus tmw He will appear @Rejang Park Let Sibu do a Rasa!
Friday, May 14, 2010 10:08 PM

#P212 #Sibu Urged Sibuans 2vote Rocket 4fourth mission – 2save Msian democracy as denial of 2/3 BN majority in Parliament now in grave peril
Friday, May 14, 2010 10:21 PM
Continue reading “Last 24 hours of the “Battle of Century” Sibu by-election – Tweets”