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Out of 10 people, 11 do not believe!

By Sakmongkol AK47

I spent a major part of the day, including some small hours into Friday prayers assessing people’s reaction of the sex video. It’s the video made in Thailand featuring a person who looked like Anwar Ibrahim. The man looked taller, sports a close cropped hair do and the lady in question looks suspiciously like a girl from China. Maybe she’s Suzie Wong. I am sure many of us remember the film no?

Here’s the deal. Out of 10 people I asked — 11 do not believe its Anwar! Perhaps it’s in the nature of the allegation. The allegation is so preposterous. Never before has any preposterous spectacle been created by so questionable a group made up of so dubious collection of characters.

As the issue of the smut video drags on, it’s becoming clear that it has also become the sword of Damocles over the head of the Umno leadership. The Umno leadership is probably wishing this sex video issue did not arise at all. At first they thought this was a fortunate gift to finish off Anwar Ibrahim. The sex video now is like the sword held at the pommel by a piece of horse’s hair hanging over the head of the Umno leadership. It now wants the sword be taken away quickly or it now wishes not to be associated at all with the sex video.
Continue reading “Out of 10 people, 11 do not believe!”

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Christian leaders condemn claims trying to usurp Islam

By Debra Chong | TMI

KUALA LUMPUR, May 6 — Organisers of a Christian meeting in Penang denied today allegations from pro-Umno bloggers that they were conspiring with the DAP to supplant Islam’s position as the country’s official religion in a bid to take over Putrajaya.

The heated religious rhetoric from before the April 16 Sarawak election appeared to have died down immediately after, only to flare up again this week as right-wing Malay groups sounded the alarm over the rising popularity of the Chinese-dominant DAP.

The National Evangelical Christian Fellowship (NECF), together with partners Global Day of Prayer, Marketplace Penang and Penang Pastors Fellowship, said the claims against their community were lies and slammed the pro-Malay rights groups for driving a further wedge to create social disharmony in multicultural Malaysia apart from being seditious.

“The organiser vehemently denies such a claim as being unfounded and totally untrue aimed at creating division and social disharmony in multi-ethnic society of Malaysia and appears to be seditious,” the Christian group said in a statement this evening.
Continue reading “Christian leaders condemn claims trying to usurp Islam”

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No Difference With or Without

By Kee Thuan Chye

PRIME Minister Najib Razak has changed his tack in relating to the Chinese electorate. He seems to have discarded his role of the charmer who spun 1Malaysia hogwash to win Chinese hearts and minds. He is now threatening them instead.

He’s telling them that if they don’t support Barisan Nasional (BN) at the next general election, they will not have representation in the Government. This is because Chua Soi Lek, the MCA president, has declared that his party will not accept government positions if they don’t get Chinese support.

Najib’s switch to a threatening mode shows that he’s desperate. He clearly must be after what has happened in the recent Sarawak state elections, when the Chinese dumped the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) in favour of the Opposition. Despite Najib’s 10-day campaign in the state, the Chinese there did not show him any face. They are simply fed-up with the corrupt BN Government and they want reform. But for BN, the loss of Chinese support, especially in Sarawak, with the possible spread to Sabah, could be crucial at the next general election.
Continue reading “No Difference With or Without”

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Surely not another 50 years of Islamisation?

by Yin Ee Kiong | CPIAsia

Until now one can arguably say that the non-Muslims have not made a stand against the erosion of their constitutional right regarding freedom of worship. Neither have they done anything to protect the status of their religion.

The church has stood by while symbols of their religion were dismantled from mission schools. The church leaders were weak and complaint, and for being a ‘good boy’ many were made Datuks. The same can be said of the leaders of the other religions.

If ever they thought that ‘turning the other cheek’ would appease the Islamist fundamentalists then they were wrong. Appeasement only emboldened the religious ultras among the Muslims.

Now we’ve had churches being torched and corpses snatched, temples demolished and cow heads paraded to insult the religions of the infidels.
Continue reading “Surely not another 50 years of Islamisation?”

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Najib’s no match for wily old Taib

by Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz
Free Malaysia Today
April 28, 2011

The moment he got wind of Umno KL’s plans to replace him, he swiftly moved to consolidate his grip over Sarawak.

COMMENT

It’s time for the boys on our side to rethink what has happened in Sarawak. A victorious and accordingly emboldened Taib Mahmud is now a cause for more headaches to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak and Umno.

Let’s replay the behind-the-scene incidents on April 16. On that night, after making sure he already had the numbers, Taib called the house asking family members to get ready.

He warned them that much depended on speed and that there was no time to lose. Taib then called the governor informing the latter to get ready by 10.30pm.

He arrived 15 minutes past 10.30pm and was sworn in as chief minister, even before the people in Kuala Lumpur could savour the win.

Taib had got wind of rumours that he will be replaced by someone more docile and favourable to Umno. Continue reading “Najib’s no match for wily old Taib”

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Is Najib becoming another Pak Lah – a Prime Minister whose writ does not run in UMNO?

The question many are asking is whether the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is becoming another Pak Lah, the fifth Prime Minister whose writ did not run in Umno although he was also Umno President ending in his ignominious exit as Umno chief and prime minister.

This question has become more pronounced after Najib’s meek and completely unacceptable stance over Utusan Malaysia’s “1Melayu, 1Bumi” call.

Najib’s tame excuse is that the “1Melayu, 1Bumi” call was made by a columnist of a local daily and was the personal opinion of the writer concerned.

Najib’s excuse might be acceptable if Utusan Melayu is not the official organ of Umno, whose columns represent the mainstream opinion and demands of the Umno leadership in government.

Najib’s meek stance is doubly unacceptable because Utusan Malaysia’s “1Melayu, 1Bumi” call is an open challenge to his 1Malaysia policy in the past two years – tantamount to an open slap in the face of the Prime Minister’s signature concept.

Furthermore, if any Chinese newspaper had for instance called for a “1Chinese” campaign in the country, it would have been slapped with the full weight of the law, the press closed down and its editor/writer charged with sedition. Why the double standards in the case of Utusan Malaysia? Continue reading “Is Najib becoming another Pak Lah – a Prime Minister whose writ does not run in UMNO?”

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10th Sarawak State Election 2011 Results – A Reflection For GE 13

By Richard Loh

My delayed comment on the Sarawak State Election results was because I was on the road the past few days. By now most of you must have read statements from party leaders from both sides, the winners and losers, the experts from the new media and of course the umno/bn controlled media as well.

Was there really a tsunami in this State Election? There was none and let me explain why.

A tsunami cannot happened by itself, it needs an action to trigger it. The recent tsunami in Japan was triggered by a 8.9 Richter Scale earthquake. A tsunami usually will not happened for earthquake less than 5 Richter Scale, it will just create ripples.

In my earlier posting I clearly mentioned that the wind of change in Sarawak was only ripples being formed and there can be no tsunami as yet.
Continue reading “10th Sarawak State Election 2011 Results – A Reflection For GE 13”

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Sleight of hand and twist of fate

On a bed of nails Malaysians wait
by Singa Pura Pura

The impudent, open screening of naked pornography at Carcosa Seri Negara. Think about it – as we lay and wait on our bed of nails – for the police and the public prosecutor to move.

Despite the gathering storm of public outrage and the consternation of an entire nation, the Home Minister, representing UMNO and the ruling coalition, still refuses to do the right and proper thing – which is to bring the persons who have openly, plainly and admittedly broken the laws of the land before the altar of justice. To charge them in an open court and to afford them an opportunity of answering those charges; to see if they have a lawful justification or excuse for possessing and screening pornography at a public place.

It is pertinent here to ask the question: In the Federation of Malaysia, and for all practical intents and purposes, to whom does the Attorney-General or the Inspector-General of Police answer? Is it to His Majesty the Yang di-Pertuan Agong? Is it to Parliament? To the Cabinet? Or to the Home Minister and/or the Prime Minister? The answer is common knowledge. Which is why pushing the blame – for the dogged refusal of the Home Minister to act – unto the police and the public prosecutor is akin to the liver apportioning liability upon the kidneys for not filtering out the toxins that are poisoning the body. Are we, seriously, being asked to believe that in this country, the police acts without any reference to the Attorney General who, in turn, acts autonomously from the Home Minister or the Prime Minister?
Continue reading “Sleight of hand and twist of fate”

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Malays are still ruled by colonialists called “Umno”

By Martin Jalleh

Perkasa, described by DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang as an outsource of Umno’s extremist demands, recently declared that for the Malays it would be “Better ruled than walked over” (The Malaysian Insider).

Its president Ibrahim Ali said that the “Malays would be better off living under colonial rule if Article 153 of the Federal Constitution which safeguards the special position of Bumiputeras is brushed aside.

Firing a warning shot across the Najib administration’s bow on the night the PM unveiled the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) annual report, Ibrahim stressed that the national agenda must be driven by Article 153, rather than incorporate the clause in piecemeal fashion.
Continue reading “Malays are still ruled by colonialists called “Umno””

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Why are sex video trio not charged?

By Kee Thuan Chye

So, those who surmised that the sex video revealed by ‘Datuk T’ was a political ploy have been proven right. The people behind it – three of them – have confessed to it.

They were forced to reveal themselves because PKR’s MP Johari Abdul had earlier spilled the beans on them. It all unravelled like a cheap soap opera.

Former Malacca chief minister Rahim Thamby Chik, businessman Shazryl Eskay Abdullah and Shuib Lazim, treasurer-general of Perkasa, have come out to say they are ‘Datuk T’. And they have the cheek to call for a royal commission of inquiry into the sex video.

In the first place, they have transgressed Section 292 of the Penal Code for possessing and distributing pornographic material. Regardless of who the person in the video is, the trio are culpable. Exposing a politician’s sexual activity does not protect them from the law.
Continue reading “Why are sex video trio not charged?”

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Malays are afraid of themselves

Mariam Mokhtar | Feb 21, 11
Malaysiakini

The BTN or National Civics Bureau is divisive, racist and politically-motivated. Most people are aware of this except for BN politicians. Despite the serious allegations made about the BTN, their main coalition partners, MCA and MIC have not been effective in condemning the BTN.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin denied claims that courses run by the BTN were a form of political indoctrination. He said, “BTN is to inculcate nationalism and unity among the people in line with the 1Malaysia concept”.

Talk of nationalism smacks of the supremacy of one race over the other races. If he had said that the mission of BTN was to promote patriotism, this would be more in line with the spirit of Malaysian unity.

After a media blitz on the BTN in late 2009, the cabinet decided that the BTN would be revamped as it had run counter to its aims of instilling a united Malaysia. When former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad disagreed, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz described him as racist.

Nevertheless, the task of revamping the BTN was given to Ahmad Maslan, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, who is also the BTN chief. As is common with most BN politicians, he flip-flopped and said that he was not going to revamp the curriculum but would merely ‘upgrade’ it. Continue reading “Malays are afraid of themselves”

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Guan Eng blames Umno for ‘misleading booklet’

By Adib Zalkapli
The Malaysian Insider
February 05, 2011

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 5 — Lim Guan Eng denied today that his Penang administration was behind a tourism booklet which Umno claimed has challenged the early existence of the Malays in the island.

The Penang chief minister also demanded that the Pulau Betong assemblyman Muhammad Farid Saad to apologise within a week for blaming the state government had distributed the “My Balik Pulau” booklet.

“To make matter worse, the Pulau Betong assemblyman and Utusan Malaysia through its reports have attacked the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) state government accusing us of publishing material containing historically misleading facts and insulting the Malays when it was Umno and the federal government that should be made responsible,” said Lim in a statement.

In an Utusan Malaysia’s report on February 1, Farid reportedly accused the Penang state government of twisting historical facts in an attempt to mislead the younger generation.

The Malay daily said that the booklet was published by the Penang Arts Education Society and sponsored by the Penang Education Council, which Utusan Malaysia claimed to be an advisory body for the DAP’s state government.
On February 3, the Umno-owned daily carried another report calling the My Balik Pulau booklet as dangerous.

The report quoted Penang campus of Malaysian teachers institute alumni president Abdul Said Hussain who claimed that the booklet was aimed at convincing the Chinese that their ancestors were the first to settle in Balik Pulau and not the Malays.

Lim revealed today that among the sponsors for the tourism booklet were Farid’s resource centre and other Balik Pulau Umno leaders. Continue reading “Guan Eng blames Umno for ‘misleading booklet’”

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In Tenang, Malay votes won the day for BN

By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — More than half of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) 1,200-vote gain over PAS in Tenang was due to increased Malay support in the constituency, DAP statistics have shown.

Malays who had in 2008 voted against Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s stewardship of BN or abstained from the general election, came out to signal its support for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration.

The Malays make up about 49 per cent of the 14,753 voters in Tenang. Chinese account for over 38 per cent and Indians, 12 per cent.

Umno’s Azahar Ibrahim received 83.3 per cent of Malay votes, up four percentage points from Election 2008, said DAP publicity chief Tony Pua on Twitter earlier today.

A Malay turnout of 81 per cent yesterday, up two points from 2008, translated to a 700-vote increase.

BN’s 3,707-vote majority was also due to Chinese voters skipping yesterday’s by-election.

Although Normala Sudirman managed to hold on to PAS’s 64 per cent Chinese support from the 2008 general election, an 18-point fall in turnout resulted in another 300-vote gain for BN’s majority. Continue reading “In Tenang, Malay votes won the day for BN”

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Muddy waters: Post-Tenang reflections

Bridget Welsh | Jan 31, 11 4:58pm
Malaysiakini

COMMENT

Malaysia’s 14th by-election since March 2008 scored another victory in the BN column, as they held onto their seat. This was expected, as it was home ground for Umno and the contest was purely about the winning majority.

Even with the lower voter turnout, Umno did well with a comfortable and higher majority of 3,707. Rather than provide a numerical assessment of the voting results, let me share some broader observations and tensions that arise from the Tenang campaign.

Despite the centrality of machinery and money, this election highlights the increasing challenges of engaging the diverse electorate in Malaysia. Arguably, the dynamics of the by-election in Johor muddy the waters, making the decisions about national electoral strategies and tactics even more complex.

Decision to proceed irresponsible

The most defining feature of this election was the weather. It was dreadful, and it negatively affected the polling. Watching voters drench themselves to vote, despite umbrellas, and wade in up to knee-high water to the polling station, made me question whether the by-election was worth the risks involved.

I remain deeply puzzled why this by-election was not postponed. I woke up the morning of the poll thinking that it might already be time for Noah’s Ark as the overnight downpour had already affected roads and submerged parts of the constituency. Continue reading “Muddy waters: Post-Tenang reflections”

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With 10% increase of Chinese voter support for Pas/PR candidate in Tenang, will Chua Soi Lek have the political courage to tell UMNO the truth?

I had said at the close of the Tenang by-election campaign that Pakatan Rakyat would have cause to celebrate if it could achieve three of four aims – firstly, to debunk Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s boast of winning 5,000 majority in Tenang which he had described as a Barisan Nasional “fortress”; secondly, to slash the BN’s 2,492 majority won in the 2008 general election; and thirdly, to secure the votes of more than 55% of the Chinese electorate who voted for the PAS candidate in the 2008 general election.

The fourth aim is to win the Tenang by-election, which I had not considered as likely.

In the event, only two of three aims – debunking Muhyiddin’s boast of 5,000-vote majority and increasing Chinese voter support for the Pas/PR candidate from the previous 55% – were achieved in the by-election yesterday.

I have no doubt that all the three goals would have be achieved if not for the climatic disaster, resulting in incessant rain and heavy flooding aggravated by selective and discriminatory assistance given by various government agencies ferrying only Barisan Nasional voters to the polling stations. All this caused unprecedented low voter turnouts, especially in Chinese and Indian areas.
Continue reading “With 10% increase of Chinese voter support for Pas/PR candidate in Tenang, will Chua Soi Lek have the political courage to tell UMNO the truth?”

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Pakatan decries selective assistance to voters

Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Jan 30, 11 4:50pm
Malaysiakini

The day-long downpour in Tenang had caused flooding in many areas across this rural constituency in Johor, rendering several of the 12 polling stations inaccessible to voters.

Pakatan Rakyat complained that this had significantly reduced the turnout of Chinese voters, considered the ‘vote bank’ for the opposition.

Although police, army, the Civil Defence Department and various government agencies had been deployed to assist the voters to get to the polling stations, Pakatan leaders are upset that the assistance were not provided equally to all.

According to them, more transportation facilities were deployed in Felda areas, which are BN strongholds.

“Why are there no boats to ferry the voters in Labis town, which is also flooded, but Felda gets all the police and fire department boats?” asked DAP publicity chief Tony Pua in a tweet message.

BN secured 80 percent of votes in the three Felda settlements in Tenang in the 2008 general election.

“The failure to provide sufficient boats and trucks, and distribute them evenly across all polling districts will severely tilt the outcome of this by-election.

“The police and army should not just provide their assistance to selective areas because the flood is everywhere in the constituency.” he added when contacted by Malaysiakini. Continue reading “Pakatan decries selective assistance to voters”

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Factors that will shape tomorrow’s outcome

Bridget Welsh | Jan 29, 11
Malaysiakini

ANALYSIS

In this semi-rural constituency, rain and floods have dampened the turnout at ceramah and made for a low-key campaign. Walkabouts and quiet face-to-face campaigning, sometimes backed by ‘gifts’, have been the norm, as the BN aims to reach the lofty target of 5,000 majority and Pakatan Rakyat fights hard to win ground in an area that is far outside of its usual base.

No question, political watchers are fatigued observing this 14th by-election since March 2008, and hearing the same old issues of money politics and racial politics shaping the outcome.

For some, the fight for a few thousand votes in the protracted struggle for power is a distraction and waste of money. With an estimated RM150 million cost for campaigns in this tiny constituency, it is no wonder that cynicism has set in nationally.

It is important to understand that the Tenang by-election – its campaign and political significance – symbolise an ongoing climate change in Malaysian politics that has evolved since Najib Razak came into office. As with climate change generally, we do not yet know the impact, but its immediate effects are significant.

The Tenang contest will affect future campaigns and political fortunes, even though the actual result will likely remain in the BN column. Below, I describe three broad transforming features tied to Tenang and point to a few key factors that will shape the contest in tomorrow’s outcome and the size of the majority. Continue reading “Factors that will shape tomorrow’s outcome”

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Youths in BN T-shirts heckle Guan Eng

By Regina Lee and Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Malaysiakini

The welcome given to Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng at two back-to-back functions in this small constituency of Tenang last night were poles apart.

While Lim was given a rousing welcome when he arrived for his first ceramah in Bandar Labis Tengah, it was a totally different scene in the night, in Felda Chemplak Barat.

As early as 5pm, reporters were told that Umno supporters would “demonstrate” against Pakatan Rakyat at the settlement around 8pm, when Lim was expected to arrive.

It was only around 9pm when about 30 youths wearing BN T-shirts gathered some 20 metres from the PAS ceramah venue.
Continue reading “Youths in BN T-shirts heckle Guan Eng”

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Can Malaysia graduate?

East Asia Forum
January 19th, 2011
Author: Hal Hill, ANU

Malaysia is one of the developing world’s great success stories. Few countries outside of East Asia can match its development record. Since its independence over 53 years ago per capita incomes have risen more than eight-fold, and absolute poverty has been all but eliminated.

But it currently faces three key, interrelated challenges, some generic to upper middle income developing countries, others specific to Malaysia itself.

The first, how to graduate to the rich-country club, has been clearly articulated by the country’s Prime Minister, Tun Najib: ‘We are now at a critical juncture, either to remain trapped in a middle-income group or advance to a high-income economy … We now have to shift to a new economic model based on innovation, creativity and high value added activities.’

The second, shared by some of its Southeast Asian neighbours, is the country’s slower development trajectory since the Asian financial crisis of the late 1990s. Even before the current global financial crisis, which it has navigated quite successfully, economic growth in the 2000’s was about two percentage points below that of the decade 1986-96.

Particularly worrisome is the slump in investment, which has been stuck at little more than 20 per cent of GDP since the late 1990s. This is 10-15 percentage points of GDP lower than the country’s historic ratio. With savings remaining buoyant, the country’s external position has been transformed dramatically. In 2002, the country had net liabilities equivalent to 35 per cent of GDP. By 2008, this had been transformed to net assets of 20 per cent of GDP. Put simply, Malaysians have been finding overseas investment increasingly attractive, while foreigners have been less attracted to Malaysia.

The third challenge relates to the development of high-quality institutions to underpin a modern market economy in a country that has experienced continuous one-party rule for over half a century. Malaysia’s ruling United Malays National Organisation (UMNO) is in fact the world’s longest-serving governing party currently in power among all ‘quasi democracies’. Not surprisingly, elements of UMNO exhibit the problems of complacence and arrogance that one expects from entrenched one-party dominance. Continue reading “Can Malaysia graduate?”

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When did Najib get the veto power as BN Chairman to veto parliamentary and state assembly candidates proposed by the other BN component parties?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced in Kuching yesterday that he will exercise his rights as Barisan Nasional (BN) chairman to veto potential candidates to ensure only winnable ones become BN candidates in the next election.

It is public knowledge that all along, the final decision on the list of candidates rests with the presidents of the respective Barisan Nasional component parties, whether MCA, Gerakan, MIC, PPP or the Sarawak/Sabah component parties.

When did Najib get the veto power as BN Chairman to veto parliamentary and state assembly candidates proposed by BN component parties?

There is nothing in the Barisan Nasional constitution which confers on the BN Chairman the veto powers to reject the parliamentary or state assembly candidates proposed BN component parties.

If Najib can veto potential candidates proposed by Barisan Nasional component parties to ensure only winnable ones become BN candidates, can leaders of the other BN component parties veto proposed Umno candidates on similar ground of winnability in the next general election?
Continue reading “When did Najib get the veto power as BN Chairman to veto parliamentary and state assembly candidates proposed by the other BN component parties?”