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Muhyiddin claim that BN unites various races in Malaysia never sounded so hollow when Umno most guilty playing racial card to cling to power

In the Bagan Pinang by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin claims that the government would not allow any quarters to disrupt racial unity in the country and would promptly act against those who played up sensitive racial issues.

He said since the Barisan Nasional (BN) governed the country, it had managed to unite the various races which had different cultures, customs and religions.

Muhyddin’s claim that BN unites the various races in Malaysia has never sounded so hollow when Umno is most guilty of playing the racial card to cling to power.

It is now Pakatan Rakyat which has a more legitimate claim to represent the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country than Barisan Nasional as demonstrated by the results of the March 8 general elections last year and subsequent developments. Continue reading “Muhyiddin claim that BN unites various races in Malaysia never sounded so hollow when Umno most guilty playing racial card to cling to power”

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Freeze on teacher-intake?

by TN
Letters

I would like to firstly thank you for your blog posts.

I do not know where to go with this but my sibling who is in a government university (UPSI) told me she will be not be getting any posting for the next 2 years after she graduates.

She said that the reason given by the university is that the economy is doing badly and no new teachers will be taken in.

I hope this issue would be investigated and higlighted to the mass media.

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Najib’s defence of Isa’s corruption offence a mega-tonne explosion demolishing his NKRA to “fight corruption”

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s defence of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Ismail’s corruption offence as only a “technical matter” is a mega-tonne explosion demolishing one of the six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) he announced on his Hundred Day as Prime Minister – “fighting corruption”.

Responding to the unabated criticisms of the choice of Isa as Umno/Barisan Nasional candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election, Najib told Malaysian students in Paris that Isa was chosen based on his capability and popularity, and that Isa’s offence was only a technical matter within UMNO and did not involve the judiciary of the country.

Najib said the question is whether Isa deserved a second chance or not, pointing out that in our system, even a criminal gets a second chance and can contest the post after serving his or her punishment.

Najib’s argument and logic are full of holes and do not stand up to scrutiny. They merely expose the hollowness and hypocrisy of the Najib administration in declaring “fighting corruption” as one of the six NKRA priority areas for constant assessment of “key performance indicators”. Continue reading “Najib’s defence of Isa’s corruption offence a mega-tonne explosion demolishing his NKRA to “fight corruption””

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Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B (part two)

by Hussein Hamid

UMNO’s championing of Ketuanan Melayu from the time of Mahathir is not the result of its beliefs in the superiority of the Malay race nor was it looking at raising the lot of the Malays to what was promised in the context of the NEP. It was simply a ploy for the rise and rise of UMNO’S to its dominant position in Malaysian Politics so that they could enrich themselves to their hearts content….and their hearts are not content yet! .And so with Mahathir begun the divide and rule of the Malaysian people.

But now the Rakyat has seen that the rot has set in. We can see how precisely this policy was being used. In the enriching of the UMNO elite but not the Malays.

UMNO could not.

In the injustice and sufferings it had caused to the non-Malays by denying them basic rights and decency in a country they call home.

UMNO could not. Continue reading “Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B (part two)”

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Najib and Muhyiddin should apologise for Umno’s racist muck-spreading and mud-slinging tactics which make nonsense of the PM’s 1Malaysia slogan

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said yesterday he was confident that the 1Malaysia vision has spurred the people to a new level of optimism which will translate into a stronger support for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

However, the muck-spreading and mud-slinging campaign launched by Umno/Barisan Nasional in Bagan Pinang yesterday even before the completion of the nomination process had in one fell swoop exposed the hollowness and hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan as an overarching unifying national objective.

Two racist books were distributed in the Bagan Pinang constituency inciting communal hatred and animosities against Pakatan Rakyat leaders with scurrilous and baseless allegations about the sidelining and betrayal of the rights and interests of Malays – one entitled “Wajah Sebenar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: Nasib Orang Melayu Selangor” (The Real Face of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: The Plight of the Selangor Malays) and the other “50 Kemusykilan Tentang Manusia Bernama Anwar Ibrahim” (50 Questions on The Man Called Anwar Ibrahim) Continue reading “Najib and Muhyiddin should apologise for Umno’s racist muck-spreading and mud-slinging tactics which make nonsense of the PM’s 1Malaysia slogan”

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Grassroots – The other definition, the destructive definition

by Augustine Anthony

This is awful!

And I mean awful by the decision of UMNO and Barisan Nasional in fielding Isa Samad (Tan Sri) as the candidate for the Bagan Pinang constituency by-election. I will say no more about the Barisan Nasional candidate or the Bagan Pinang by election but let us explore election time in Malaysia in general.

During election time, it is common to see and hear voters being promised with all kinds of frills in the coming days before polling. It will be the same re-run of the past election campaigns with no thrills of a nation building agenda. For too long, too many politicians from the ruling coalition have engaged Malaysians in this primitive barter trade shamelessly. “You give me the votes and I will give you the roads, boats, goats, dough in loads etc. etc. etc.” This scheming scheme had even turned some opposition politicians into tricky toads.

And the usual ceramahs with a generous dose of hate message. One will be disappointed if the expectation is that the speakers will engage in topics of nation building issues like creating new leaders out of the younger generation, eradication of corruption, improving the system of governance, encouraging better race relations, a promise of better education for our children, assurance of more job opportunity for voters that brings security for families, dedication in fighting escalating crimes, etc. Continue reading “Grassroots – The other definition, the destructive definition”

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A vote for Pakatan is a vote against corruption

by Thomas Lee

The Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11 is an opportunity for the voters to tell the Braisan Nasional in no uncertain term that the practice of corruption and cronyism must be wiped out in the country. They must go all out to ensure the defeat of the Umno candidate.

By fielding a candidate suspended by his own party for corrupt practice, the Barisan Nasional is obviously snubbing the people, indicating that it couldn’t care less about what they think and feel. It is a de facto endorsement of corrupt practices.

By nominating such a tainted candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election, the purported high moral ground on which the Umno leaders have been self-righteously proclaiming has been exposed as a mere hollow sinking ground.

Umno is arrogantly confident and cocksure that it will win the Bagan Pinang battle even with a corruption-contaminated candidate.

The voters of Bagan Pinang must come out in full force to show Umno through the ballot box that the days of its exaggerated sense of superiority are numbered. Continue reading “A vote for Pakatan is a vote against corruption”

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Malaysia in unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness as illustrated by another adverse global study – the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score

Thirteen years ago Malaysia proclaimed the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) as “a gift to the world” and the centrepiece of the country’s strategic initiative to leapfrog the nation into the IT era to become one of the world IT powers.

Since then, MSC and Malaysia have faded away from the world radar screen as an international IT hotspot – and Malaysia’s unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness in the past decade has been confirmed by another adverse global study, the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score.

This study of the global state of broadband quality put Malaysia 53rd out of 66 countries in terms of the quality and reach of its networks – understandably behind countries like Korea, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, United States but also trailing countries we should be leading like Turkey, Chile, China, Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Thailand, Tunisia, Mexico, Philippines and UAE.
Continue reading “Malaysia in unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness as illustrated by another adverse global study – the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score”

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With no statute of limitation, will the Attorney-General charge Isa in court for the corruption of money politics in Umno?

When he was announced as the Barisan Nasional candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election on Tuesday, Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad declared that he did not “commit a crime, but had violated the party elections’ code of ethics” in addressing the issue of his qualification and credibility as a candidate on account of his money politics in Umno which caused him to be suspended as an Umno for three years.

This is a fallacious argument and it does not speak highly of the commitment of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers and leaders of the Barisan Nasional parties whether Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the Sabah and Sarawak parties that no one finds anything wrong with such an argument or prepared to make a stand of principle.

Technically Isa had not committed any crime, as he had not been convicted, in fact, not even charged in court for corruption arising from Umno money politics which led to his three-year party suspension.

But was this because money politics in Umno was a mere party infraction and not a criminal offence of corruption, or was it just another example of the double-standards of the Attorney-General and the anti-corruption agency failing to uphold the law without fear or favour, regardless of status, wealth or position?
Continue reading “With no statute of limitation, will the Attorney-General charge Isa in court for the corruption of money politics in Umno?”

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In the beginning he was DPM!

by Hussein Hamid

What was Anwar’s biggest contribution to what we are today? I sat and ponder over this question the whole day today. I wanted to write about it and yet I cannot because there were so many thoughts that came and went inside me. All I could do today was about two half page – notes on times go by – Cakap cakap about AP and then I revisited the “Bentong car park” issue because one of our friends sent me something new about that car park. It is now 11.42pm and I have been thinking since 7.15am this morning….fifteen minutes ago it hit me! I believe that what Anwar did to me and to many of us can be conceptualised in two words:

“POLITICAL AWAKENING”

Before Anwar was dismissed by Mahatir I was a Bumiputra intent on pursuing my “rights” as a Bumiputra. The right to have a share in the perceived richness brought into the consciousness of the Malays as a result of the New Economic Policies. All that was in my mind was where the next ringgit was going to be found. Tenders, project proposals, pink slips, AP’s, IPO, licenses, Privatisation opportunities…life was a whirl of meetings and discussions in five star hotels and lunches in restaurants whose name you find hard to pronounce – Troika was one of those that I can still remember – in Jalan Raja Chulan. The evenings were again another whirl of coffee houses and meetings until the early mornings. Continue reading “In the beginning he was DPM!”

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Latest Hishammuddin gem – “Good guilt, bad guilt”; Isa is “good guilty”

Isa unlike other guilty leaders, says Hishammuddin
Malaysian Insider

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 – There’s good guilt and then there’s bad guilt, going by the argument Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein put forward today in defence of Tan Sri Isa Samad’s selection as Umno candidate in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

In praising the man whom Umno once found guilty of vote buying as “a loyal servant of the party”, Hishammuddin also called Isa the “people’s candidate,” in an acknowledgement to polls which suggest the former Umno vice-president was very popular in Bagan Pinang despite being tainted by his corrupt past.

“He is different from certain individuals who, when found guilty by the party, they are willing to curse the party that has served them. Tan Sri Isa is different. He is patient and strong, and his loyalty to the party is one matter which was considered by the top leadership,” he said. Continue reading “Latest Hishammuddin gem – “Good guilt, bad guilt”; Isa is “good guilty””

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Same Old UMNO, Same Old Ethics

By M. Bakri Musa

Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat! (Sacrifice your child if need be, but never your tradition!) Growing up in Negri Sembilan, that wisdom of my culture was continually drummed into me. To those outside the clan, that adage may seem extreme, an ugly manifestation of unyielding and irrational conservatism.

With my children now grown up, I recognize the verity of that village wisdom. Yes, it was hammered into me on the importance of our cultural tradition of fealty towards elders (our parents in particular), but there was also the equally important reciprocal tradition for the elders (who are presumably wiser) to be more patient and forgiving of their young.

It is this fidelity to adat that made my parents not put a guilt trip upon me when I chose a path that was not what they had expected. Cognizant of this adat too is what made me not stand in the way of my children when they too decided to venture on a journey beyond what is familiar to me.
Continue reading “Same Old UMNO, Same Old Ethics”

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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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When Najib’s proposal for a “multi-racial hostel” could make front-page headline news in mainstream media

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s proposal for a multiracial hostel to foster better national integration among pupils in secondary schools under the 1Malaysia spirit could make front-page headline news in the mainstream media, it is testimony of how far Malaysian multiracial nation-building had deviated and failed in the past five decades.

As Malaysia is internationally publicized as “Malaysia truly Asia” show-casing multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual unity in diversity, multiracial hostels should have long become an accepted part of national life.

Instead, they seem to have become an increasingly extinct species after over five decades of nationhood to the extent that Najib’s proposal for a multiracial hostel in Kuala Lumpur appeared to be a great brain-wave of his 1Malaysia slogan.

Malaysia has traversed the road from multiracial hostels in the early decades of nationhood, celebrating Malaysia’s diversity of races, languages, cultures, religions, cuisines to increasingly mono-ethnic hostels where tolerance and acceptance of unity in diversity have assumed decreasing importance.
Continue reading “When Najib’s proposal for a “multi-racial hostel” could make front-page headline news in mainstream media”

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The cultural logic of Najibo-nomics

By Azly Rahman

Fashionable it may seem to credit this or that “economic miracle” episode to this or that country to the name of its leader, economist, dictator, emperor, etc. – the larger picture of the historical march of “freakonomics” is neglected.

Freakonomics is what the global society was plagued with beginning with the American sub-prime-inspired crisis; a breakdown of the world’s casino-capitalist system.

Fashionable it may seem to cite this or that case-study to a proposed “Harvard” study, just like calling a university “Harvard of the East” or “Princeton of the Peripheries” or “Oxford of the Outbacks” or even “Cambridge of the Caribbean” – it misses the point of what and how casino capitalism works.

It misses the point that the world is undergoing yet another wave of perpetual revolution in the field of economic thinking.

Malaysians are into this fashionable game of assigning this or that terminology to this or that epoch of “economic cultural depression and how these are cured”.
Continue reading “The cultural logic of Najibo-nomics”

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What happened to Malaysia Today

By Malaysia Today’s technical team

With so much confusion and speculation making its rounds about what is happening to Malaysia Today over more than a week, we are compelled to offer our explanation so that the record can be set straight. Only limited technical details will be mentioned to allow you to appreciate the scale of challenge the site is facing.

You may now be aware that the site has been up and down since Friday, 17 September 2009. This was due to malicious activities by those behind the effort to cripple Malaysia Today. This is just one of the many rounds of cyber-attacks that we at Malaysia Today have had to face for more than a year now.

Coincidentally, this latest round of attacks started immediately after RPK’s explosive expose two weeks ago on Tuesday regarding the Malaysian Cabinet’s knowledge and ‘approval’ of the PKFZ scandal long before it became public knowledge. Suspicious activities against the site happened as early as Wednesday, but the first damage was done in the afternoon of Thursday, which brought the site down. Continue reading “What happened to Malaysia Today”

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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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NSTP withdraws defamation suit

New Straits Press (Malaysia) Bhd today withdraws its 2001 defamation suit against DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning with a no costs consent order. Lim was represented by Karpal Singh and Sangeet Kaur Deo.

NST filed the defamation suit against Lim for defamatory words in response to a question from a Berita Harian reporter at a press conference in the Parliament lobby on May 17, 2001 on bumiputra quota and the annual controversy over local university intake.

NST alleged in its defamation suit filed in September 2001 that in their natural and ordinary meaning, or by way of innuendo, the offending words meant that the company was racist, unpatriotic and unfit to be Malaysian. Continue reading “NSTP withdraws defamation suit”

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5 global fundamentals for a country to become high-income developed nation

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

Prime Minister Najib expressed his intention to make Malaysia a high income country, like the developed countries in Asia. America and Europe.

To reach that status, the per capita income (pci) of a malaysian citizen must be at least US$11,700. presently per capita income is $7500.

Malaysia pci was US500 at independence in 1957. It took 52 years to achieve $7500. can malaysia reach a pci of US 11700 in the year 2020 and fulfill the Vision 2020 dream of Tun Mahathir?

There are five fundamental conditions that Malaysia must possess in order to reach high income status: Continue reading “5 global fundamentals for a country to become high-income developed nation”

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Ops Sikap Degenerating Into “Oops! Silap!

by M. Bakri Musa

It is now a practice that with every festive season the authorities would go into high gear aimed at reducing the horrifically high rates of traffic accidents and fatalities. Judging by the results however, these initiatives are more show than substance. These “Ops Sikap” (a contraction for Operasi Sikap – Operation Attitude, as in changing the attitude of road users) are now more “Oops! Silap!” (Oops! I goofed!)

There has been no change to the dreadful trend since the series was stated over eight years ago. That should not surprise anyone. We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect to have different results. The surprise is that the authorities have not yet figured this out; this latest Ops Sikap essentially replicated what was done during previous twenty operations. There is minimal effort at learning from earlier experiences; the program lacks innovations.

This latest edition began on September 13 and just ended two weeks later today. It registered 238 fatalities. As with past years, the overwhelming victims were motorcyclists. Continue reading “Ops Sikap Degenerating Into “Oops! Silap!”