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Bagan Pinang by-election – a contest between Malaysia’s political past and the future

There was a collective shaking of heads in the country when it was formally announced that Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad is the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election in Negri Sembilan on 11th October 2009.

Both the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir and another Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh had spoken out publicly to warn of the adverse implications and larger repercussions of nominating a person who had been found guilty of money politics by his own political party, but these objections and warnings had been disregarded.

Having lost in all the previous seven by-elections in Peninsular Malaysia after the March 8 general elections last year, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Umno leadership are so desperate for a by-election victory that they are prepared to overlook the larger and adverse implications of Isa’s candidature so long they can be assured not only of a by-election victory in Bagan Pinang but a convincing one.
Continue reading “Bagan Pinang by-election – a contest between Malaysia’s political past and the future”

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Mahathir right on Isa but wrong on PR

Umno’s choice for Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election appears quite set – and the latest indication is the “advice” by Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, asking former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad not to “interfere” and “embarrass” the Umno leadership with any more public statements on the question of by-election candidature. (Sin Chew)

Mahathir is right on Isa when he said that the issue is not just Bagan Pinang by-election but the next 13th general elections.

As Mahathir conceded, if Umno fields a candidate who is not clean, it might win in Bagan Pinang but would lose in other constituencies as the people throughout Malaysia want to know whether Umno is serious about eradicating money politics and corruption.

However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak seems so desperate for a by-election victory in Peninsular Malaysia after seven consecutive by-election defeats after the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year that he is prepared to face the hazards warned by Mahathir.
Continue reading “Mahathir right on Isa but wrong on PR”

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Life is 2 short 2 vote UMNO

By Hussein Hamid

I use to view with amusement the goings on every year of the UMNO AGM at PWTC. The fight between Team A and Team B, spectacle of Mahathir crying on stage, the brandishing of the Kris, gag order, no gag order, contest no contest…the whole spectrum of human failings all there for us to see. But amusement is far from an appropriate response given the anger that I now feel at the way UMNO is still conducting itself despite the wake up call of the last General Election. UMNO has
enjoyed over fifty years of freedom in which they were left alone to do as they wish – to change, amend, and innovate whatever they choose to do to ensure Ketuanan Melayu and to deliver a united, peaceful and prosperous Malaysia with abundant opportunities for all citizens. They failed.

For the Malays who have staunchly supported UMNO and unfailingly given UMNO their votes it has been a challenging time. It used to be the opposition parties that has been looked upon by the Malays with detached amusement as these parties tried desperately to muster the non-Malay votes without much success. Those Malays who openly sided with these opposition parties were regarded as a traitor to the Malay cause. How times have changed.

The myth of UMNO as being the champion of the Malays has long been proven a farce. It might be a myth that UMNO still continues to encourage though we know that that UMNO accomplishments or lack thereof is there for all to see. If the integrity and ability of Singapore Leaders to govern their City State well is an inspiration to people the world over, and if that made UMNO leaders look like little man, then UMNO has only themselves to blame. Continue reading “Life is 2 short 2 vote UMNO”

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Were Umno’s Slippers Soleless, Mukhriz?

By G. Krishnan

Are you keeping track of the slippers being flung so far in the slipper spat that has ensued? I have to admit, a few more of these slippers and I might just lose track of who is partaking in it – not to mention the ‘quality’ of the slipper being flung, by whom, and in which direction!

Mahathir’s most recent confession that the hits he took to his image from the slippers hurled at him from several within Umno itself must surely be one of the unequivocal highlights of this slipper fight. I can only imagine the sheer embarrassment – not to mention utter shock – this must come to those Umno cronies after they apparently flexed their muscles and primed themselves to fling Sukumaran and the MIC with their own political slippers.

Of course this retort by Mahathir about Umno having done more to insult him than Sukumaran’s now famous ‘slipper garland’ comment triggered so many me images and phrases in my mind: Umno hypocrisy, the pot calling the kettle black, blowback, getting burnt, self-inflicted wound, and a stunt that backfired are but just some of the things that came to mind.
Continue reading “Were Umno’s Slippers Soleless, Mukhriz?”

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Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B!

By Hussein Hamid

“The people who live in the kampongs in Bagan Pinang are so very poor, Hussein. They have simple homes, and live simple lives. And they are fine people: friendly, happy, simple, good. It is a shame that despite the fact that their own kind are in power, their lot hasn’t changed”.

“If they hated our (the non malays) guts, I’d not be surprised. I might too, given that I had bumiputera status, and I had less than the bangsa asing that live next door! Sigh, things are so wrong here lah, I wouldn’t know how to change them – there’s so much to do.”

“We’re silenced by the parties that are supposed to represent us (mic, mca, gerakan, and other impotent idiots), so most will be behind Pakatan”.

“I think if we took the government, their slogans and their so-called advice out of the equation, we’d all get along fine! It’s with their help that we have these feelings that we’re not getting enough, or being bullied out of our rightful place! It’s all too stupid”.

This was what I was told when I inquired of a friend living in Bagan Pinang as to what was Bagan Pinang like. That in a nutshell is the situation in Bagan Pinang – if we take the ‘postal votes’ factor out of the equation. Continue reading “Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B!”

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Losing in Victory

By Hussein Hamid

When will UMNO starts its journey of renewal? Take on the path of morality and decency to ensure that the resurrection of UMNO will meet the aspirations of the Malays and the people of our country? This is not hard to do because there are still amongst them people who are decent, upright and committed to uphold the cause of the Malays and of our country. Let these good people speak their mind. Listen to them and do what they ask you to do so that UMNO will rid itself of the ignorance and narrow mindedness of its current leaders.

They will tell you that at the General Elections of 2004 UMNO could have secured its right to govern the country for fifty more years. UMNO could have right many wrongs, do justice for all and serve the people of this country as UMNO leaders had promised they will do. They could have enhanced the values that they then hold and focused the purpose of our nation into more tangible directions – towards a truly Malaysian Malaysia where all its people having their place in society because if the reality of one Malaysia if not attained it would mean that UMNO would have failed the people, failed the nation.

But they did not do this.
Continue reading “Losing in Victory”

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Do unto others….

by Hussein Hamid

Over the years we have time and time again witness the public unraveling of UMNO not by its detractors but by its own. Dato’ Onn Jaafar. Tunku Abdul Rahman. Tun Hussein. Tun Mahathir. Tun Musa Hitam. Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh. A veritable list of Malays who have made history – who are our history. I am the same age as UMNO. Sixty-Three years old this year. What does the future holds for UMNO?

In March this year the outgoing Prime Minister and President of UMNO made this comment of UMNO in his last speech as UMNO’s President.

“Longevity in power has led to complacency and a number of Umno leaders are increasingly out of touch with the ordinary people who have been the source of Umno’s strength for so long.
Continue reading “Do unto others….”

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Umno has failed!

By Hussein Hamid

I am an individual.

The state of affairs now seen on our country leaves us with no other conclusion then that UMNO has failed. It has failed in its effort to justify their demand that we Malaysian should allow them to continue for another fifty years with their tinkering of our democratic values and principals as a trade off to the ongoing development of our country and the yet to be achieved uplifting of the Malay race to be a developed ethnic community. Two remarkable and truly laudable goals — economic development and the rise and rise of the Malays – but arguments that are fundamentally flawed.

The Government insists that the particularity of Malaysian Politics, its multi ethnic divides and its religious enclaves make a need for the ISA to be enforced arbitrarily over its people. It continues to dominate over its people who live defenseless under its shadows. And in all this there is no political accountability in what they do.

I say that the Politics of Barisan Nasional is no longer appropriate for our people, for our country. I say that a multi ethnic, multi party democracy is what we need. We no longer want a trade-off between democracy and development. Between freedoms to demonstrate responsibly as against what the Government perceives as our inability to do so without causing riot and chaos in the streets.
Continue reading “Umno has failed!”

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The Arrogance of Power

By Hussein Hamid

When you are in power for over fifty years, every now and then there is that temptation to bend the rules and sometimes even the truth to suit the political needs of the moment. You can be forgiven if this inclination does come up once in a blue moon – though the colour of the moon can be said to be blue every month if you are powerful enough to want it to be so. So here lies the problem. When this inclination becomes the norm where does that put good governance?

Almost daily now we are subject to the painful and most uncomfortable sensation of having our leaders take us for fools. They boldly stand in front of us through the medium of their Television Stations, their Media or even at times in person and proceed to tell us what they want us to know – not what we should know. Is there nobody amongst them that can tell them that what they are doing is like peeing into the wind?

Have the educated, intelligent and rational generation of Malays all left UMNO leaving our nation without some of its best people in government even when we need them most? Najib is in a world of his own. He lacks the ability to make sense of what is happening around the country. Surviving day to day is hard enough for him. UMNO has sworn blood oaths that they will defend themselves from PAS, from DAP from Keadilan from everybody – no matter what. In desperation they have ventured into territory where they violate all democratic conventions almost on a daily basis. When we question the legality of their actions their answer is that ‘might is right’.
Continue reading “The Arrogance of Power”

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Hishammuddin’s defence and justification of cowhead demonstration equivalent to his insensitivity in wielding the keris at Umno Youth General Assembly

Utterly incredible!

Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Hussein as Home Minister has done the equivalent of wielding the keris at the Umno Youth General Assembly for three consecutive years as Umno Youth leader which had been accepted by Barisan Nasional leaders as a major factor in the political tsunami of the March 8 general election last year!

It would appear that Hishammuddin is determined to make another unforgettable contribution which would ensure that the uncompleted political changes in the political tsunami of the March 8 general last year could be fully accomplished in the next general elections.

Yesterday, Hishammuddin usurped the roles of the Attorney-General and the police to defend and justify last Friday’s cow-head demonstration in Shah Alam, totally insensitive to the insult and profanity of such an act of sacrilege to Hindus in the country.
Continue reading “Hishammuddin’s defence and justification of cowhead demonstration equivalent to his insensitivity in wielding the keris at Umno Youth General Assembly”

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Voters Drawing the Line

By M. Bakri Musa

In the heyday of UMNO the joke was that the party could field a dog as an election candidate and it would still win. The party leaders must still harbor that delusion for in the recent Permatang Pasir state by-election they fielded a disbarred lawyer. This time however, voters wisely drew the line at the dog.

The surprise was not that Rohaizat Othman successfully hoodwinked UMNO leaders to secure the nomination rather how easily those senior leaders were taken in by this shyster. Now that their candidate has been thrashed, those UMNO leaders were belatedly bemoaning the fact that their chosen man had been less than truthful to them. That is the quality of UMNO top leadership, folks!

Even after the sordid details of the man’s sleazy professional past and checkered personal life had surfaced, UMNO leaders still vigorously defended their choice. They had the nerve to suggest that those critics were trying to smear the UMNO candidate. Those UMNO leaders obviously did not realize that their man was already soiled.

Reflection on Muhyiddin
Continue reading “Voters Drawing the Line”

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Social Contract between the Malays and UMNO

By Hussein Hamid

My friends we are witnessing the slow and messy end of Najib and gang, who for reason best known to themselves, have decided to commit Har-rah-kee-ree in public. Whether this was ordered by a greater authority (ahem…Mahathir?) as a form of punishment or chosen in preference to a dishonourable and certain death at the hands of an enemy (Us and Pakatan Rakyat!!) is anybody’s guess. But this particularly painful act of self- destruction is being acted out now even as I write but it is being done without honor, courage, moral character and etiquette which is an integral part of such an act as practised by the code of Bushido and the discipline of the Samurais of Japan. But then again with those familiar with the ways of UMNO, this lack of finesse is nothing out of the ordinary for UMNO.

Today I want to talk as a Melayu – without the constrains of having to worry about what anybody else in Malaysia will feel. Without having to worry about good manners, politeness and being nice – all the qualities that we Malays are noted for. With that out of the way I will begin.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away as a Melayu I knew this for as a fact. The Chinese were from China. The Indians from India. The others were from where they came from. As a Malay, this is my country. The Continue reading “Social Contract between the Malays and UMNO”

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Five reasons why voters of Permatang Pasir must vote for PAS/PR candidate Hassan Man and reject Umno/BN candidate Rohaizat Othman

There are five important reasons why the 20,290 voters of Permatang Pasir, regardless of race or religion, should vote for the Pas/Pakatan Rakyat candidate Mohd Salleh Man and reject the Umno/Barisan Nasional candidate Rohaizat Othman in the by-election polling tomorrow.

They are:

• Firstly, declare what all Malaysians know but no Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or Barisan Nasional component party Minister or leader dare to say – that Rohaizat is not fit to be candidate for any elective office because of his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls under the Legal Profession Act for breach of trust, dishonesty and unprofessional conduct “unbefitting” a lawyer which “brings the legal profession into disrepute”. The media conference statement by his former law firm partner, Yusri Isahak, in Kuala Lumpur yesterday has done nothing to cleanse his “tainted” reputation or made academic the question: “How can a person not honest enough to be a lawyer be trusted to be a candidate for elective office, let alone to be elected as a State Assemblyman. Continue reading “Five reasons why voters of Permatang Pasir must vote for PAS/PR candidate Hassan Man and reject Umno/BN candidate Rohaizat Othman”

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Pathetic neither Tee Keat nor Tsu Koon dare to dissociate MCA/Gerakan from Umno candidate Rohaizat for not being honest or truthful with BN leadership and Permatang Pasir voters

It is sad and pathetic that neither MCA President Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat nor the Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon dare to dissociate the MCA and Gerakan from the Umno candidate for Permatang Pasir by-election Rohaizat Othman for not being honest and truthful with the Barisan Nasional leadership and the 20,290 voters of Permatang Pasir about his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls.

After the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year, where Gerakan and MCA received an unprecedented thrashing in the polls, with a total rout in Penang state, Gerakan and MCA leaders promised to learn the lessons from the electoral debacle.

Gerakan and MCA leaders admitted that they were punished for their servile and subservient role in the Barisan Nasional and pledged that henceforth they were not going to be “yes men” and “yes women” to Umno in Barisan Nasional and would speak out strongly, fearlessly and consistently on what is right and wrong in the Barisan Nasional without being afraid of displeasing Umno “Big Brother”.
Continue reading “Pathetic neither Tee Keat nor Tsu Koon dare to dissociate MCA/Gerakan from Umno candidate Rohaizat for not being honest or truthful with BN leadership and Permatang Pasir voters”

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Can a statutory declaration clear Rohaizat of the “personal misconduct” resulting in his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls for breach of trust and dishonesty?

Barisan Nasional candidate for Permatang Pasir by-election Rohaizat Othman has said that he would heed Umno deputy president Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s advice to make a statutory declaration to protect himself from accusations made by various quarters.

The two questions Rohaizat must answer are:

  • Whether he was found guilty of “serious misconduct” including “breach of trust, dishonesty, shown gross disregard” of the client’s (Penang Small Rubber Plantation Holders’ Co-operative Society) interests “tantamount to a conduct unbefitting that of an advocate and solicitor which conduct as such brings the legal profession into disrepute” and struck off the Roll of Advocates and Solicitors by the Chairman of the Advocates and Solictors Disciplinary Board Tan Sri Khalid Ahmad Sulaiman on 7th March 2008, which was upheld by the High Court; and

  • Whether a statutory declaration can clear Rohaizat of his “personal conduct” resulting in his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls?

Continue reading “Can a statutory declaration clear Rohaizat of the “personal misconduct” resulting in his being struck off the lawyers’ rolls for breach of trust and dishonesty?”

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Muhyiddin – stop playing Jekyll and Hyde with Najib’s 1Malaysia

As Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin should stop playing “Jekyll and Hyde” on Malaysian nation-building and in particular with Prime Minister’s Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia concept.

Yesterday, Muhyiddin played Dr. Jekyll by talking like a Malaysian statesman, telling the National Level and International Invitation of Student Leaders’ Unity and Integration Gathering at Persada Johore by reminding Malaysians that the country’s biggest challenge would always be in maintaining unity and racial harmony among its people from various ethnic backgrounds.

He added: “It is the same foundation on which the 1Malaysia concept was based on which Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak implemented it to establish Malaysia as a united country, where its people readily accepted and respected one another and shared success and prosperity.”

But the for the past week, Muhyiddin was playing Mr. Hyde, launching a vitriolic attack on Pakatan Rakyat by remorselessly and relentlessly spearheading an Umno campaign to crank up communal sentiments starting with his repeated charge that Parliamentary Opposition Leader and PKR chief, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is “a traitor to the Malay race” (with Umno divisions mobilizing all over the country to support Muhyiddin in calling Anwar a Malay “traitor”), as well as other baseless and mischievous allegations that PAS has betrayed Islam by working with DAP and that DAP had insulted Islam by working with PAS! Continue reading “Muhyiddin – stop playing Jekyll and Hyde with Najib’s 1Malaysia”

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Why Rohaizat should honourably withdraw as a candidate in the Permatang Pasir by-election

The first question that must be asked right from the beginning of the Permatang Pasir by-election is whether the voters can trust a candidate who could even mislead his own political party about his disbarment by the Bar Council from practicing as a lawyer?

Various explanations have been given by Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders about the Umno/BN candidate Rohaizat Othman being struck off the rolls by the Bar Council and the revocation of his practicing licence as a lawyer.

Umno vice president and Penang Umno liaison chief Datuk Seri Dr. Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, said Rohaizat’s licence was revoked in 2003 following problems incurred by the former partner in the legal firm.

Zahid said:
“The Bar Council’s decision must be respected by the lawyers registered under it. Legally, Rohaizat is probably innocent, but morally, it can be questioned by his opponents.” (The Sun 17.8.09)

The New Straits Times of the same day also reported Zahid’s defence of Rohaizat as follows:
Continue reading “Why Rohaizat should honourably withdraw as a candidate in the Permatang Pasir by-election”

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Can Malaysians celebrate 52nd National Day with Najib’s 1Malaysia signature theme in two weeks’ time?

In two weeks’ time, Malaysians will be celebrating our 52nd National Day with a new Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak marking his fifth month in office.

The 52nd National Day celebrations should centre on Najib’s signature theme of 1Malaysia but unfortunately, the reverse is taking place with the 1Malaysia concept being rubbished almost daily by Umno leaders who are competing with each other in exploiting the race and religious cards.

Two days ago, UMNO Youth led by its leader Khairy Jamaluddin, launched a vitriolic attack on Pakatan Rakyat, alleging that a vote for PAS is a vote for DAP and a betrayal of Islam. Umno leaders accuse the DAP as anti-Islam while among the Chinese and Indian voters, MCA, Gerakan and MIC allege that a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS and a vote for an Islamic state. Meanwhile, in the past week, Umno divisions are being mobilized all over the country to support the Deputy Prime Minister and Umno Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yasin in his accusation that Parliamentary Opposition Leader and PKR chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim is a “traitor of the Malay race”!
Continue reading “Can Malaysians celebrate 52nd National Day with Najib’s 1Malaysia signature theme in two weeks’ time?”

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Oh No !! What Have I Got Myself Into?

By Hussein Hamid
steadyaku47

In the beginning UMNO and MCA had a tacit understanding that the Malays will have control of Political Power while the Chinese – the Economy. This arrangement brought with it all the intrigues and excesses that springs up when the Malays were in control of licenses and contracts that the Chinese business needed to do businesses and in return the Chinese made contributions during elections (that is how they became known as buy elections !!) up front services fees, kick backs and went into joint ventures with Bumiputra Companies and gave ‘directorship’ to Malays in Chinese owned companies.

Politics. Patronage and Profit.

This is the thing I cannot understand. Mahathir was not able to see where this lethal combination of Politics, Patronage and Profit will lead to? He is suppose to be quite smart. Was he under the mistaken belief that he would be able to ‘manage’ the situation to his personal advantage? Which in hindsight he did because to stay in office for 22 years Continue reading “Oh No !! What Have I Got Myself Into?”

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Saya Melayu

By Hussein Hamid

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

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

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