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Key political risks to watch in Malaysia

Oct 1, 10
Reuters/Malaysiakini

Malaysia has unveiled ambitious plans to boost its economy by mobilising hundreds of billions of dollars of private investment, although questions remain over whether the money will materialise.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s cut in fuel, gas and sugar subsidies in August triggered a political backlash that may see him holding off more reforms ahead of the next general elections due by 2013.

Najib has pledged to reform the country’s subsidy bill to tackle the budget deficit. But he is wary of upsetting the country’s majority ethnic Malays, a critical votebank whose support will be vital as he tries to revive his ruling coalition which was hit by record losses in general elections in 2008.

Following is a summary of key Malaysia risks to watch:

Political conflict

Political tensions spiked after the 2008 general election when unprecedented opposition gains transformed the political landscape. BN coalition’s 52-year grip on the country was dented when it ceded control of five states and lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority to an opposition led by former Deputy Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.

The political uncertainty has weighed on foreign investment with net portfolio and direct investment outflows reaching US$61 billion (RM188 million) in 2008 and 2009 according to official data. Money has since flowed into the bond market according to central bank statistics, but little has flowed into equities.

What to watch:

• Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s sodomy trial. Anwar says the case is a political conspiracy, and a contentious verdict would anger his supporters. Any marked increase in political tensions could see more foreign money pulled from stocks, bonds and the ringgit. But with limited foreign portfolio investment still in the country, the impact will be muted.

• Elections in the Borneo state of Sarawak, expected by the end of this year. The state’s chief minister has directed the ruling coalition to ready itself for state-wide polls, and analysts say nationwide elections could follow soon after. BN’s shock defeat in a May by-election in Sarawak raised doubts over its support levels in the state. Continue reading “Key political risks to watch in Malaysia”

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Ethnic outbidding and red herrings

By Mavis Puthucheary
October 01, 2010

Ethnic outbidding is a favourite pastime among Umno politicians and they have become very good at some “innovative” ideas. We have been treated to “Ketuanan Melayu” and the declaration that Malaysia is an Islamic state.

Now we are told that as the Malaysian Constitution does not state that the prime minister should be a Malay, there is a chance that of this happening if the opposition coalition captures power at the federal level in the next election.

What are we to make of this “warning”?

First of all, we must distinguish the legal or constitutional aspects from political realities. In all democratic constitutions the person who becomes the prime minister is either directly elected by the people (in a presidential system) or is the leader of the party that has won the majority of seats in the elected house of parliament.

The Malaysian Constitution does not deviate from this basic democratic principle.
Continue reading “Ethnic outbidding and red herrings”

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Don’t turn cash aid matter into a religious issue

By Thomas Lee

More than 40 Muslim senior citizens have returned cash aid from the Penang state government due to suspicion and uneasiness over the sources of the funding.

Bernama quoted an imam from Pulau Mertajam, Saidin Chik, 72, as saying that he decided to return the money as he learned that it was from non-halal activities.

“I received a RM100 aid sometime this year, but I heard over television and read in the newspapers that the money was from gambling activities. We have been praying everyday and suddenly we get a cash aid from non-halal sources and spent it. What is going to happen to our prayers?” he said.

Saidin told reporters this after handing over the money to Penang Umno secretary Azhar Ibrahim on Wednesday 29 September 2010.
Continue reading “Don’t turn cash aid matter into a religious issue”

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Kit Siang calls Dr M ‘No 1 racist in Malaysia’

By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
September 35, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 25 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s latest play at racial politics has earned him the wrath of his parliamentary foe Lim Kit Siang, who has now christened the former premier with a new nickname — “the number one racist in Malaysia”.

The DAP advisor slammed Dr Mahathir for playing the race card yet again when he claimed the Malays would lose power if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) defeats the Barisan Nasional (BN) in the next general election.

“Our beloved former Prime Ministrer Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said that in the next general election, the Malays would lose power if the PR forms the government.

“Imagine, a former Prime Minister, who ruled us for 22 long years, returning to politics as the number one racist in Malaysia,” he boomed to a crowd of over 1,000 people at a fundraising dinner in Bandar Menjalara here last night, organised by the Segambut DAP division. Lim’s rhetoric earned him thunderous applause from the crowd, who yelled in disagreement at Dr Mahathir’s latest assertion.

He also accused Dr Mahathir of appearing on the stump for Umno by trying to frighten off the Malay voters from voting PR.

“He is trying to instil fear in the Malays by playing the race card on them. This is the height of Dr Mahathir’s irresponsibility. He is becoming an ultra again,” Lim said. Continue reading “Kit Siang calls Dr M ‘No 1 racist in Malaysia’”

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Who is the second UMNO/BN Minister who dare to publicly declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second in keeping with Najib’s 1Malaysia policy?

I am surprised that in the past 24 hours, the other Ministers have not rallied behind the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz who had courageously declared that he is Malaysian first and Malay second.

Who is the second UMNO/Barisan Nasional Minister who dare to publicly declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second in keeping with Najib’s 1Malaysia policy?

It has taken Nazri more than six months to respond to my challenge in Parliament in March this year to all Cabinet Ministers to declare that they are Malaysian first and race second.
Surely, Malaysians do not have to wait for another six months before another Minister plucks up sufficient courage to follow Nazri to declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second.

I have given notice to ask the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak a specific question on the commitment and loyalty of Ministers and top civil servants to his 1Malaysia concept when Parliament reconvenes for the 2011 Budget meeting beginning on Oct. 11.

My question to Najib in the first week of the Parliamentary meeting next month read:
Continue reading “Who is the second UMNO/BN Minister who dare to publicly declare that he/she is Malaysian first and race second in keeping with Najib’s 1Malaysia policy?”

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Najib’s job as Prime Minister is not just to express sadness at rise of extremism but to provide leadership to stamp out racial bigotry and religious extremism especially when they come from UMNO and allied or outsourced groups

In his Malaysia Day message, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak expressed strong opposition at the rise of extremism which is a stumbling block in the nation’s progress.

He said he is “saddened” that despite living in an independent multi-cultural nation, there are still those who cannot tolerate, much less accept the benefits of a diverse society and reject the 1Malaysia concept and policy propounded by him since becoming Prime Minister in April last year.

Najib’s job as Prime Minister is not just to express sadness at the rise of extremism but to provide leadership to stamp out racial bigotry and religious extremism especially when they come from UMNO and allied or outsourced groups.

There can be no question that the rhetoric of race and religion had reached an unprecedented level in the past 17 months since he took over the helm of federal government, and what compounded the problem was that the racial bigotry and religious extremism were all coming from one direction – UMNO and its allied or outsourced groups, raising the fundamental question whether Najib has the political will and leadership to stand up and be counted to stamp out extremism coming from his own camps.
Continue reading “Najib’s job as Prime Minister is not just to express sadness at rise of extremism but to provide leadership to stamp out racial bigotry and religious extremism especially when they come from UMNO and allied or outsourced groups”

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Umno and the average Malay

By Cheong Suk-Wai, Senior Writer
The Straits Times, June 1, 2010

TABLE TALK WITH MAZNAH MOHAMAD

IT USED to be that whenever it came to election time in Malaysia, the country’s ruling party Umno would gets its community development workers to fan out to all the hamlets on bicycles and on foot to take the political temperature and assure villagers that Umno was the best doctor for them, taking care of their births, deaths and everything in between. But then village youth began migrating en masse to towns from the 1980s and Umno lost these rural forts.

Malaysian sociologist Maznah Mohamad recalls Umno’s women telling her how urban folk would shoo them away and even hurl insults at them if they tried to woo them. Dr Maznah, 54, notes wryly: ‘You can’t go knocking on doors in, say, Subang Jaya. People will just chase you away. There’s no community spirit in such neighbourhoods. Anyway, they’re urbanised, so why would they need you to help them?’
Continue reading “Umno and the average Malay”

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Is Najib prepared to put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?

Although the Director-General of Education Tan Sri Alimuddin Mohd Dom has issued a circular dated August 26 to all school principals and teachers warning of action to be taken for racist remarks in schools, the absence of action against the two school principals in Johore and Kedah who had made racist remarks stands out like a sore thumb.

More than three weeks have passed and both principals had not yet been referred to the police, let alone the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

This is totally at variance with the “Zero tolerance for racism” belatedly made by the Prime Minister two weeks after the deplorable incidents involving the two school principals.

The Prime Minister should realize that the escalation of the rhetoric of race and religion makes a total mockery of his 1Malaysia slogan, one reason why there is so little national enthusiasm for the Natioal Month theme of “1Malaysia – Transforming the Nation”.
Continue reading “Is Najib prepared to put his 1Malaysia policy to the test by leading a nation-wide “Say No to Racism” campaign starting with errant Umno leaders, government officials and Utusan Malaysia?”

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Before Khairy demands that Wee Meng Chee be taught a lesson, will he surrender himself to the police for criminal charges to be preferred against him for his previous racist statements?

I had said that Wee Meng Chee can be faulted for being crude, vulgar, abusive and even obscene at the disgust and fury of his 3-minute rap video directed at the school principal of Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, Kulai, Hajah Siti Inshah binti Mansor, for making racist, derogatory and seditious remarks like: “Pelajar-pelajar Cina tidak diperlukan dan boleh balik ke China ataupun Sekolah Foon Yew. Bagi pelajar India, tali sembahyang yang diikat di pergelangan tangan dan leher pelajar nampak seakan anjing dan hanya anjing akan mengikat seperti itu.”

However, the police has still to explain why they are investigating Wee for sedition when there is nothing seditious in his rap video against the Kulai and Bukit Selambau school principals for making racist slurs against students especially when the school principals concerned are still scot-free for their seditious statements.

I had myself been arrested and investigated for sedition and DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh had been arrested, charged and acquitted of sedition – just two examples of the gross abuse of powers and double-standards in the country.
Continue reading “Before Khairy demands that Wee Meng Chee be taught a lesson, will he surrender himself to the police for criminal charges to be preferred against him for his previous racist statements?”

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Traitors – A Trademark & Tradition of Umno!

By Martin Jalleh

The Umno-dominated government stubbornly sticks to the same old tricks to try to sink the Opposition. One such stale attempt is to label as “traitors” those who refuse to suck up to its spent elite leaders.

And so Defence Minister Ahmad Zahid (AZ) who apparently ran out of steam to shut the Opposition up on the Scorpene submarines scandal, resorted to calling Nurul Izzah a “traitor”.

It seems that the Member of Parliament (MP) has stained the nation’s image by revealing on 4 Aug. 2010 in an interview with Kompas, a newspaper in Indonesia, that the country’s first submarine cannot dive.

Below are his comments (in bold) followed by a response which when added up points to the ironic conclusion that it is the Defence Minister and Umno who could be the real traitors after all!
Continue reading “Traitors – A Trademark & Tradition of Umno!”

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Talk Like A PM, Walk And Act Like Umno

by Richard Loh

I have no intention to blog these few days because I thought that I can enjoy the Merdeka celebration but it is not to be so.

The past weeks clearly show that the PM is no longer in control of running the country. The PM is wearing too many hats. The PM is wearing too many hats that he turns out to be the most ugly looking person.

One hat he wore represented him as the Prime Minister that can only talk with all kinds of slogan and rhetoric that contain no solid substance as it will be all blown away once he changes his hat.

Trying to balance his act, he will immediately change to his Umno President hat to walk and act like Umno, forgetting what he had said when he was wearing the PM’s hat. Continue reading “Talk Like A PM, Walk And Act Like Umno”

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Where has our leadership gone?

By Sakmongkol AK47

Sometime in 2007, Lee Iacocca, wrote a book titled ‘Where Have All The Leaders Gone?. In light of what is happening, I find the subject matter of the book, becoming more relevant by each passing day. We should now begin asking the same question- where have all our leaders gone?

In the early part of the book, Iacocca asks a question which we Malaysians should also be asking- where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder at what’s going on.

The level of corruption goes unabated. Ezam Mat Nor says he has got boxes and boxes of hard evidence against Rafidah Aziz and Mat Nor Yaakob and a slew of UMNO leaders. Why doesn’t he turn them over to the government? Rais Yatim should be arrested for concealing material that can help the government bust the 18 high profile corruption cases that he once loudly announced. Was that his pompous piety and righteousness that were on display? Where are the evidence? RTM itself should be investigated as to why only one company seems to monopolize all the advertising rights?
Continue reading “Where has our leadership gone?”

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There is a sickness in the country which is total mockery and negation of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy

With eight days to go before the National Day proper on August 31 and 24 days before Malaysia Day on Sept. 16, Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region should be celebrating a new sense of pride and unity as Malaysians after 18 months of the 1Malaysia slogan and policy proclaimed by Datuk Seri Najib Razak after he became the sixth Prime Minister in April last year.

But every 24 hours is demonstrating the opposite.

There is a sickness in the country as illustrated by several headlines in a matter of a few hours by online media Malaysian Insider yesterday, viz:

  • “Perkasa, MPM want Soi Lek arrested under ISA”

  • “Pakatan wants to ‘destroy’ constitutional monarchy, claim Malay groups” (a lie)

  • “Ibrahim Ali follows Tee, tells those who disagree to get out”

  • “Malay groups want vernacular schools abolished”

Continue reading “There is a sickness in the country which is total mockery and negation of Najib’s 1Malaysia policy”

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What does UMNO Penang fear?

By Sakmangkol Ak47

Some Muslims in Penang were highly agitated when the khatib ( the man who reads sermons) offered prayers for the Penang chief minister. In what manner was it said? Was LGE’s name mentioned in the context of something?

Actually we have not heard what actually transpired other than listening to a few emotionally charged statements from some people. Who are these people? If they are UMNO members, then their response was hardly surprising.

To me, the fearful responses thus far only reflect how desperate UMNO is in re capturing the Malay support in Penang. I won’t say re-capture Penang, because that is already impossible. what UMNO fears now is losing Malay support in Penang. That is like the end of the world.

What UMNO fears is a rising consciousness among Penang Malays that despite detaching themselves from UMNO, their lot can still be improved. This will be the beginning of a wider consciousness debunking the myth that equates loyalty and allegiance to this country to loyalty and allegiance to UMNO. The two things are not the same. If Penang is successful in demolishing this long perpetuated myth and this awareness becomes a national phenomenon, UMNO is in serious trouble.
Continue reading “What does UMNO Penang fear?”

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BN party backs boss on ‘Umno bad for 1M’sia’ stand

Free Malaysia TodayThu, 19 Aug 2010
By Dominic Legeh

PENAMPANG: Barisan Nasional component party Upko is standing by its president Bernard Dompok, who was labelled as irresponsible by Sabah Umno.

Upko secretary-general Wilfred Madius Tangau said it was unfortunate that Sabah Umno liaison deputy chairman Salleh Said Keruak could not read the “pulse of the people” well.

He was commenting on Dompok’s remark that Umno was a hindrance to the promotion of Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s 1Malaysia concept, which he said was spot on.

“The fact is, this burning question is not in the mind of Dompok alone, but is a pertinent question in the mind of the grassroots including those of BN component party leaders. We support fully what our president has courageously stated publicly,” he said in a press statement. Continue reading “BN party backs boss on ‘Umno bad for 1M’sia’ stand”

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Race card won’t add Umno’s Malay votes, analysts say

By Adib Zalkapli | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 12 — The attacks against Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s administration for allegedly discriminating against Malay traders would not work in favour of Umno to harvest more Malay votes, said analysts.

The Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia last week rapped the Penang government with banner headlines “Malays still oppressed”, highlighting claims that the state was preventing Malay traders from setting up Ramadan stalls.

It continued the diatribe yesterday, calling on Malay rights groups in the state to hold weekly demonstrations at the state secretariat, emulating the practice of federal opposition leaders in Kuala Lumpur.

UKM’s Professor Agus Yusoff, however, warned that the party should focus on winning the support of the non-Malays that it lost in Election 2008.
Continue reading “Race card won’t add Umno’s Malay votes, analysts say”

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The consequences of sleeping with the enemy

by Mariam Mokhtar

MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek’s comments about both Umno and PAS using religion to dominate the Malays and influence their vote, is a bit too little, too late. For decades, he, like previous MCA leaders, pandered to the wishes of Umno. Now that PAS has teamed up with DAP and PKR to become a credible opposition party, it is Dr. Chua who must contemplate his standing in his community and evaluate the worth of his party’s friendship with Umno.

Dr. Chua’s hypocritical attack on PAS is ill-judged and offensive. PAS have always been consistent in its Islamic roots but when it morphed into a modern Islamist party, it created panic in Umno.

He should direct his vitriol at Umno only, for it jumped onto the religious bandwagon, to appear more conservative than PAS so as to lure Malay voters.

Perhaps it is Dr. Chua who has been caught on the hop, just as in his previous indiscretion?

Dr. Chua urged the Chinese community to think about the impact if PAS were to rule at the federal level. He said, “Do not be too optimistic that if PAS comes to power, the country will be free from corruption and other problems”.

This is a bit rich coming from him. Is this an attempt to suck up to Prime Minister Najib, to Umno or to his own party and community? Was he as voluble complaining about the excesses, in previous years? Continue reading “The consequences of sleeping with the enemy”

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Biggest flaw in Soi Lek’s new-fangled theory is whether he would back down from it when pressured by UMNO

The main objective of MCA President Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek’s new-fangled theory that Malaysia had been trapped for a decade as a middle-income nation because of “non-progressive” competition between UMNO and PAS is to pass-the-buck and disclaim MCA responsibility for the deplorable state of the Malaysian nation 53 years after Merdeka to the extent that one Cabinet Minister had warned that Malaysia could go backrupt in the year 2019!

However, the biggest flaw for Chua’s new-fangled theory is whether he would back down from it when pressured by UMNO!

In the first place, Malaysia had been stuck in a middle-income nation trap for some two decades and not just the past 10 years – as admitted by the New Economic Model that since becoming an upper-middle income country in 1992, Malaysia has largely stayed where it is.

Can this be solely explained by the competition between Umno and PAS in using religion to strengthen their influence resulting in “non-progressive policies”? Continue reading “Biggest flaw in Soi Lek’s new-fangled theory is whether he would back down from it when pressured by UMNO”

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Who decided on the Cabinet gag order yesterday on any public discussion of “Allah” controversy?

Who decided on the Cabinet gag order on any public discussion of the “Allah” controversy announced by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin after the Cabinet meeting yesterday?

Was it with the full support of the four MCA Ministers and all other non-Muslim Cabinet Ministers – or did they express and register their protest and objection?

Malaysians had been told that the Cabinet operates on the principle of consensus – which means that if there is one Minister objecting, a decision on a new policy or measure would not be taken by the Cabinet.

If so, if the four MCA Ministers had spoken out against the gag order and asked the Cabinet to consider resolving the long-protracted “Allah” controversy by deciding that the Home Ministry should withdraw its appeal against the Lau Bee Lan judgment in the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January this year
Continue reading “Who decided on the Cabinet gag order yesterday on any public discussion of “Allah” controversy?”

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Will the 4 MCA Ministers ignore Muhyiddin’s most improper/unwarranted “stern warning” and raise at Cabinet tomorrow issue of Home Ministry withdrawing its appeal on “Allah” controversy?

The Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy Umno President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin had acted completely out of turn in issuing a most improper and unwarranted “stern warning” to MCA to accept the decision of the government and should not trigger another debate on the word “Allah”.

Does this mean that the MCA leadership, despite having four Ministers in Cabinet, are not allowed to raise in tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting a proposal to ask the Ministers to take a policy decision to withdraw the Home Ministry’s appeal against the Lau Bee Lan judgment of the Kuala Lumpur High Court in January which allowed the Catholic Church to use the word “Allah” in the Bahasa Malaysia section of its publication, Herald?

Such a proposal in tomorrow’s Cabinet would be most timely, appropriate and fully in accord with the national interests in view of the admission by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein that his predecessor Tan Sri Syed Hamid Albar should not have banned the word “Allah” from being used by the Catholic Church.

Are there two classes of Ministers – those who can raise issues in Cabinet and ask for policy decisions to be made or reviewed and the lower class of Ministers who cannot raise issues which are regarded as “sensitive” by the first class of Ministers?
Continue reading “Will the 4 MCA Ministers ignore Muhyiddin’s most improper/unwarranted “stern warning” and raise at Cabinet tomorrow issue of Home Ministry withdrawing its appeal on “Allah” controversy?”