Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Voter Registration at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia this Saturday
- Putrajaya's Deafening Silence on FBC Fiasco
- BN Screwed by own PR Company?
- Leaders of Quality for a new Malaysia
- The Rural Battlefield
| Voter Registration at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia this Saturday Posted: 18 Aug 2011 11:50 AM PDT
Come register as a voter this SATURDAY at Rumah Anak Bangsa Malaysia (RABM) from 5 - 7.30pm. Details below: Date: 20 August (Saturday)Time: 5 - 7.30pm Venue: If you're already a registered voter, you can drive all your friends and family who are not yet a voter to RABM this Saturday!!! |
| Putrajaya's Deafening Silence on FBC Fiasco Posted: 17 Aug 2011 12:45 PM PDT What is in dispute here is not the practice of hiring media advisory or public affairs firms, but rather these firms use of paid content to unwarrantedly bolster the image of certain governments at the expense of objective reporting. By Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (Communications Director Parti Keadilan Rakyat) Last week, I called on the Federal and the Sarawak state Government to come clean on their hiring of the FBC Media firm to engage in an illegal public relations campaign. Putrajaya and Kuching were found to have paid FBC hundreds of millions of ringgit for strategic communications services and the production of friendly content for their governments, something clearly in What is in dispute here is not the practice of hiring media advisory or public affairs firms, but rather these firms use of paid content to unwarrantedly bolster the image of certain governments at the expense of objective reporting. While the Malaysian Insider has reported that Putrajaya has terminated its contract with FBC following the expose by Sarawak Report, there has so far been no response from either the Federal and Sarawak Governments on the FBC fiasco. Neither Putrajaya nor Kuching has denied or admitted to the allegations. Considering the international media attention that this issue has raised, their silence is truly deafening. On the other hand, the media establishments involved, such as the BBC and CNBC have subsequently acted in a way that suggests the accusations against the FBC may be credible. BBC has suspended all programming commissioned from the company and is investigating how it came to broadcast supposedly impartial content that was in fact being produced by a company on the payroll of Putrajaya. CNBC has also indefinitely withdrawn the FBC-produced World Business program. It will be remembered that this show featured Malaysian government leaders on a few occasions. Finally, Ofcom, the UK communications regulator, is launching its own investigation into claims of bias at FBC. The FBC fiasco has now attracted attention from credible newspapers across the world and is putting another dent in Malaysia's tattered image globally. Surely Putrajaya and Kuching must now disclose their role in and extent of this illegal public relations campaign. This scandal ironically comes in the wake of the censoring of the Economist magazine report on the Bersih 2.0 debacle. As a result, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak was forced to concede the need to review national censorship policies. We would now like the Prime Minister to come clean on the FBC fiasco to explain how hundreds of millions of ringgit of taxpayers' money were being funnelled not towards the national image, but for the interests of his party. |
| Posted: 17 Aug 2011 12:30 PM PDT By EJ Dear BN, I really don't know who your PR advisors are, but I strongly suggest you change them. Whoever is advising you on PR matters are either clueless people who don't know what they're doing or really, really sneaky people who know exactly what they're doing. Either way they are dragging you down - abysmally. I believe the Malay name for the place they are leading you to is called 'neraka jahanam'. Some say your PR company is Jewish-American. I don't know about you, but if I've made my career from vilifying, crucifying and calling for boycotts against someone, I doubt the wisdom in hiring them to handle an important part of my business. Neither would I trust them with my national security systems, but that's a different story for a different day. First off, any public relations person, even barely qualified half past graduates from a shop lot non-MQA accredited college would be able to tell you that it is important to appear consistent. A lie, when repeated would at least look real. But a lie, when twisted beyond recognition, looks comical. For instance - let's say you start with an imaginary organization that fights for, let's say, fair and free elections. If you are going to discredit them, first off, choose your label. You don't go labeling the same (fictional, of course) organization as communist, disloyal dissidents, foreign agents, tools for the opposition AND American/European/Jewish-linked at the same time. It makes very little sense for someone who is a foreign instigator to subject his or herself to Royal decrees, much less for a communist to be seeking American funding. Neither are the Jews likely to fund an organization backed by a country's largest Muslim organization. In order to understand labels effectively, and given the similarities in techniques you appear to be trying to employ, I recommend 'Mein Kampf' by one Adolf Hitler, ISBN number 0395925037, available in most leading bookstores. Chapter 6 of Volume 2 deals extensively on how to avoid foot-in-mouth situations you often seem to find yourselves in recently. Consistency is especially important when making press statements. Thanks to online search engines, it only takes seconds now to detect how much of a Pinocchio a politician is. Consistency is also important in making a stand for or against something. You don't, for instance, call a party pro-Chinese and anti-Chinese at the same time. It doesn't make sense. Neither does saying there is nothing wrong with the electoral system, but we are going to revamp it anyway. You don't change your stance on matters as important as the medium of instruction in schools every two years, nor can you declare Malaysia a Muslim state, at the same time tell people if you vote for another political party, Malaysia will 'turn into' a Muslim state. This is beyond logical fallacy - its failed logic. Discredited politicians should not speak. Like ever. For example, let's say one of your leaders was implicated in a pornography scandal. Your PR people should ask him to refrain on speaking on issues of morality, family values and marriage, as it just sounds hollow. Especially not when half of Malaysia has seen you with your pants down (quite literally). This also serves to irritate people more (refer mosquito coil analogy below). You don't hear about Hugh Hefner being asked to preach in a church about abstinence or Bill Clinton addressing feminists. Just because a person is popular in his or her own party does not make the person popular with everybody else. Robert Mugabe has never lost control of his party, but generally is regarded as a dictator by everyone else. Likewise, within your own your own party fold, 4 out of 5 component party leaders of Semenanjung BN parties are not even elected representatives. Also, political frogs who hop between parties are generally not well-regarded by the public. (See mosquito coil analogy again). Giving too much airtime to political dropouts like the professional demonstrators who demonstrate every other Friday in front of Komtar, once a month in front of SUK Selangor and once every quarter in front of PKR's HQ doesn't really help boost your credentials either, especially when they are led by noisy stall owners with rather unusual obsessions over striped undergarments, fist fights and coffins. Throwing people in jail to shut them up is so 1980s. I hope your PR company also updated you that the Cold War is over, the Berlin Wall has come down, Aung San Suu Kyi is out of jail, Nelson Mandela has been released and panda meat is no longer an acceptable source of protein. Also, between then and now, someone invented the Internet and text messaging, so that people out of jail can almost instantly be informed of where their leaders are being held to hold candlelight vigils to irritate your police officers through the two mediums mentioned above. This makes arrest as an intimidation technique against the masses as effective as using a mosquito coil to get rid of stray dogs. Not only is it ineffective, its only serves to irritate them further. While it is great to control the mainstream media, some writers, especially the clueless ones from Utusan Malaysia should be given a crash course in any given topic before they are asked to write pieces attempting to discredit it. In the very least, they should be taught how to use Google properly. Perhaps the lack of bonus or the sacking of their former union boss, or a lack of morale of dwindling sales has somewhat affected the writers' cognitive ability. For instance, poco-poco and yoga, to most Malaysians, are as detrimental to one's faith as line dancing and Pilates. Catholics only have a Bishop (in Bahasa, called Uskup) and they don't have a High Priest, that's only found in Judaism and World of Warcraft. Christians in general aren't bible-thumping missionaries who spike your food with Jesus voodoo spells and baptize your babies when you're not looking. The Sign of the Cross isn't a mystical sigil greeting used to hypnotize you, nor do Christmas carols contain subliminal messaging urging you embrace Christianity. Well, not Jingle Bells at least. Someone should tell The Star that Muslims aren't allowed to eat pork, especially not in Ramadan, and playing down Opposition events like Bersih doesn't really help, since many of their readers attend such events anyway. It appears all this PR company is doing successfully is making you guys look foolish, confused and inconsistent. This is even worse than the previous administration where the PM's bumbling ministers mostly looked foolish and confused, but at least consistently so. Sincerely, EJ |
| Leaders of Quality for a new Malaysia Posted: 17 Aug 2011 09:35 AM PDT By Nilakrisna James In developed countries, voters gauge the potential of their leaders over a given span of time which acts not as a campaigning period but a time of reckoning. In such countries, politicians work as a team and, together, would present their choice of candidates and their election dates several months in advance in the hope that these candidates would enter a fair level playing field to engage in public forums and debates and show their prowess as society's major decision makers. They are squared off against opponents and rival parties in a way that allows the voters a chance to make an informed choice about the type of leader they would want and the type of person who is likely to take the country from its present predicament to a more advanced and well-managed system that could remain resilient against fluctuating global economic uncertainties. The type of leaders developed countries headhunt and nurture are those who individually have the potential to take on a ministerial portfolio and be able to develop and enhance the potential of that portfolio in an international market and not just within the safe confines of their own little communities. Every ministerial portfolio in this country deals with an international base of investors and stakeholders. We engage as a nation in the development of international trade and cross-cultural understanding through rural development programmes, youth and educational exchange opportunities, international philanthropy from NGOs, government to government initiatives and international policies and legislation which could impact the local situation. It is very rare for developed leaders to want to enter the game in the hope of becoming backbenchers or winners without portfolios. In Malaysia, it is a totally different ballgame. The ambition is warped by the idea that many before have entered in anticipation of "rewards without sweat"—which reminds me of an animal rights mantra that says "beauty without cruelty"—pitching the idea that working as a minister is a chore compared to the "perks" and "projects" that many expect from positions far less demanding and glamorous. What then is this country searching for? Why are the leaders unable to read the sentiments of the internet-savvy and intelligent young voter base who are tired of leaders who pretend they understand this new age group and yet who have lost the knack to be relevant to them? It is not just a question of finding a young leader or a popular choice or someone that wins for their communities. It is a question essentially of where Malaysia needs to go between General Election No.13 to General Election No.14 and which set of leaders in parliament and State cabinets would be able to sustain their portfolio with very little funding and very few opportunities for success stories in the next five years. We are heading for one of the worst recessions this world has ever seen. By the time we reach GE 14, there will not be a single person left in Malaysia who will tolerate any more broken or empty political promises and they will no longer accept the continuous discrimination and disenfranchised situations that certain sectors are already screaming about. These will no longer be compromised for a political rhetoric or carefully crafted "feel-good" political jargon. The many people who have crossed the paths of the NGO tracks I have traversed blame the "ghosts of government past" and that we are either living the terrible consequences of previous bad decisions or we simply continue to make bad decisions. So when the people scream for change they are basically asking the government one fundamental question: if we are in this situation today because you have sat and warmed those seats for the past 20 odd years or more without successfully listening to the pain we feel inside and without lifting us into a decent civil society with decent laws and policies that respect us irrespective of race and creed, then you are unlikely to change any of this in the next 5 years while we sit through the world's worst economic crises. Therefore, are you willing to eat humble pie and make way for new leaders with new ideas who may be able to make a difference to the Malaysian community? Let there be choice and if their chosen ones fail, the people have themselves to blame. The fundamental right to vote comes with the fundamental right for every voter to have candidates presented to them equitably by parties and for them to exercise their democratic right to choose based on whatever grounds including their own personal ambitions and their own personal interests. At the end of the day, if quality is compromised over favouritism, self-interest and promises, communities will continue to stagnate and remain in their festering angry backwaters. There is a theory which suggests that well-paid politicians are less likely to seek their rewards elsewhere by compromising their own integrity and ethical standards. In a country that started with principled leaders who believe first and foremost in good governance, this theory is probably feasible and has been proven to be somewhat successful. In a country that has grown from seeds of greed and corruption, you are less likely to see this theory work because people are nurtured and conditioned in an environment where personal interest over the common good has become an accepted cultural norm. Malaysia's cultural transformation basically took shape after Mahathir vacated his seat as the Prime Minister. It was around the same time that online critics and writers embraced a newfound sense of literary freedom where voices were given a stage upon which the masses were able to engage in public dialogue without the fear of imprisonment; a freedom which Mahathir himself is ironically enjoying. Far from being a weakness of Badawi or Najib, I saw this instead as a cultural revolution in itself and revealed the strength in Mahathir's two successors that will mark their journeys as statesmen who were willing to take on the pent-up latent anger of those who took to the streets, the internet and the print media. There is no end to the flurry of furious voices who for so long had held their tongue because Mahathir was willing to lock them up and put them away, denying people the right to trials and destroying families who may have had their breadwinners in ISA. While a few Malaysians roamed this planet in unspeakable wealth, many more would struggle to put their children through universities only to find that they returned to a workforce that favoured a percentage sector. As these young people grew up listening to the spite and anger of their own parents, they harboured untold pain and suffering which no amount of political diplomacy will or can ever appease. This country is demanding a change; a systemic change that many believe means a change of the characters who have dominated the political scene for too long. People have forgotten that systemic change is also about enhancing the quality of the civil service. In Peninsular Malaysia, they are asking for a level playing field between the various races that will not allow certain sectors to gain at the expense of others. Over there, they are demanding for the right to review all laws which repress the people's right to speak the most sensitive political issues and to abolish laws which imprison without fair trials. They are demanding for fair tenders in projects that will allow the best to flourish in a culture of equal opportunities while allowing the worse-off to live in a welfare society that will provide a decent standard of living without discrimination. In Sabah and Sarawak, much of the same is expected except for one fundamental difference. We see ourselves as having a more superior position as "Borneo States" compared to the "States of Malaya". We are demanding the reinstatement of rights which pitch our playing field against the entire Peninsular on the premise that development policies in this country must respect the fact that Sabah and Sarawak are autonomous and that clear demarcations were set which spelt out the limitations of Federal control in both states in 1963. Much of what is happening in West Malaysia frustrates people in Sabah and Sarawak because we do not identify with those problems. The damage inflicted on the government and political parties in West Malaysia creates an impression in the Borneo States that the Federal powers have lost control and the consequence of such bad public perception is that many have lost trust and confidence in the policy of Federalisation that brings forth the culture and ways of West Malaysia at the expense of Borneonisation which Sabahans actually believe may bring forth greater equity and justice in their present system. The system of Borneonisation that prioritises a greater control by Sabahans over their own political and economic destiny in this State remains untested and there is also a lot of scepticism in Sabah as to whether we could trust our local leaders enough to be able to handle autonomy with greater integrity. If the system in place in this country is unacceptable to West Malaysians, the Borneo people would naturally assume that something isn't right in the way Federalisation operates in this State and as such, many would probably be prepared to throw caution to the wind and allow the fulfilment of the first fundamental political promise Malaya made to Borneo on the 9th July 1963. This begs another fundamental question we would ask the government: Why are you silent on the part of history which marks your word when your word is meant to be your honour? Najib faces an incredibly daunting task in the next General Election. He is wealthy enough not to need a job as a politician. He is successful enough not to need the validation from the people that he is a smart man. Yet, the signs have shown that Najib is not prepared to go without a fight and he is tasked with manoeuvring the greatest team from his political army to go against the might of those who have proven their economic potential in opposition-held States. Najib would not want to vacate his position until such time as we can safely say that he created his own legacy of excellence which we could measure not by the existence of big buildings and towers and rich friends but by his ability to steer this country out of a recession when the rest of the developed world is crumbling and to be able to engage in fruitful collaboration with China as potentially our biggest trading partner in the next 5 years. The leader whom China trusts and gets on with in Malaysia is the man or woman we need as the Prime Minister in the next election. He or she must be able to harness the dissenting voices in this country with a firm but kind hand and allow such dialogues to flourish while politicians continue to bring economic development to their various ministerial portfolios and improve the standard of living of the people in this country, irrespective of their financial status, their sex, their creed or their race. For every leader that Najib chooses, it would be a leader who could individually sit with him one on one to discuss the outcome of his/her portfolios, irrespective of which party that leader belongs to. If Najib is prepared to speak to strangers in his Facebook, he must be prepared to scrutinise and know the brain and ability of every leader that represents the coalition under his wing and not take other people's word for it. The captain of the ship must be able to anticipate the mutiny and the bounty. |
| Posted: 16 Aug 2011 05:34 PM PDT By Douglas Tan Over the past couple of days, the Merdeka Center appears to be publishing a lot of their findings, dampening optimism that Pakatan Rakyat could potentially win enough parliamentary seats in the 13th General Election to form a new government for the first time in our nation's history. The study released by political scientist Wong Chin Huat presented on August 9th, would put Opposition gains to 100 federal seats up from 75, but short of the 112 seats needed to form the government. Looking deeper into the study, one can see that the biggest hurdle for the opposition to overcome is the rural folk, where Barisan Nasional continues to have a strong foothold. One of the studies published mentioned that urban areas are more likely to vote for PR candidates, but rural areas would favour BN candidates. This is especially true for areas with low or no Internet penetration. Even in rural areas which do have Internet connection, those who use the Internet may not necessarily be interested in political news or access alternative media. In a country in which the printed media has been monopolised by BN since independence, to tell those who have been relying on this medium for donkey years would find it very difficult to accept that they are publishing anything other than the truth. For many, it is important to maintain status quo, as many worry with a change of government, there may be potential repercussions on their daily lives. Rural folk may not even care what is happening down in the cities because it would not affect them. There is also the element of apathy, especially when the Merdeka Center came out to say that the effect of Bersih 2.0 in the rural areas were minimal at best. This is predominantly as a result of the government controlled media portraying the demonstrators as hooligans, but also due to the fact that it is engrained in our culture to accept the status quo ie. accepting what we are told without question. The fight for electoral reform, civil liberties and fundamental freedoms appear to only gather lukewarm responses at best from the rural folk. There are those who perpetuate the view that we should not even get ourselves into trouble in the first place by questioning the authorities. If we keep our heads down, and mind our own business, we shall continue to live in peace. However, I do not believe for a moment that these people do not care about their nation. For 54 years, they have believed that their government always has their best interests at heart, whereas rampant corruption and misuse of government funds continue to go unreported. The BN government know that the best way to win and retain seats in these rural areas, is to keep them in the dark as much as possible, and throw some occasional goodies at them to keep them happy and content. Now comes the time for awakening. Pakatan Rakyat need to get their machinery out to these areas to talk to the people, make the people understand, and show them that PR can be a capable and competent government. The grass-roots support in these areas cannot be underestimated. BN strongholds can fall, as seen during the Sarawak elections, and the hard work and faith must be maintained. For all the screaming, shouting and finger pointing which is done in the cities, we must not forget the real battle must be fought in rural heartland, where they are the true king-makers in the coming elections. Only when they are on board with the rest of us, can we see begin change for our beloved nation. Everyone must do their part during the 'balik kampung' period over Hari Raya to spread the word and the truth to their kampungs, and urge the need for change in our nation. We are all responsible for future and progress of our country, and God willing, we shall see change take place for the better. Salam Berpuasa.
DOUGLAS TAN is a DAP member from the Segambut Branch. He blogs at dougtan.blogspot.com |
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