Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

It's Nothing But A Turf War
Francis Loh takes over as Aliran president as Rama steps down
Remember Dr M and vote for CHANGE in GE-13
Dr Mahathir: Umno Belum Giat Berusaha

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 10:25 PM PST

A turf war is "a bitter struggle for territory or power or control or rights". We can see turf wars erupting between street gangs for control of a particular area or spot to sell drugs. In the board room, a president could resign following a turf war with the board of directors. Basically, it is a contention for any kind of resource desired by two or more sections resulting in a confrontation. In our own backyard, recent developments indicate it is nothing but a turf war being played out by major players in the game.

In our midst is a coalition government of different parties who claim to serve the groups they represent. Realistically speaking, they cannot really see eye to eye and yet they have to sustain the coalition government. Obviously, any political party controlling the helm of power would enjoy immense power over many areas of our lives, even in religion.

Currently, we see a turf war being played out between the evangelists (Christians) and dakwah groups (Muslims) whereby each group has been accused of trying to poach believers/followers from the other side to covert to their side.

BOTH Christians and Muslims equally guilty.

It is common to hear of reports whereby an organization brags about so and so (normally a VIP, etc) converting to their religion.

In many parts of the world, Christians brag about this famous Muslim or that famous Muslim now has become a Christian.

And Muslims also brag about that famous Christian or this famous Christian has now become a Muslim (eg. Muhammad Ali, Michael Jackson, Neil Armstrong, etc.).

Many times, it is rumours only (or worse still, could be a lie). But they are proud to announce their list of Who's Who who has left either Islam or Christianity to join the other side.

Basically, they feel that if they can impress us with their list of Who's Who then it will attract more converts. If so and so VIP/super-star joined our religion, then we must be correct.

Too often, it's a numbers game. They want to show how many converts they attract. And the bigger the name, the better.

In many ways, this is much like UMNO announcing PKR or PAS people coming over in droves and the same goes for the other side.

That is why when Zaid Ibrahim, Chua Jui Meng, etc. joined the opposition, they may make a lot of noise about it.

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 07:42 PM PST

Aliran members present unanimously elected scholar-activist Loh, the outgoing honorary secretary, to lead the organisation.

Dr Mustafa K Anuar, the outgoing assistant secretary, was elected honorary secretary replacing Loh, while Leena Mohan takes over as assistant secretary. Anil Netto was returned as honorary treasurer.

Ramakrishnan will remain in the Aliran leadership as he was elected to the executive committee member. Also elected to the committee were Dr Prema Devaraj, Andrew Wong, Dr Soon Chuan Yean, Dr Andrew Aeria, Sarajun Hoda bin Abdul Hassan, Angeline Loh, Dr Subramaniam Pillay, Dr Lye Tuck-Po, Ch'ng Teng Liang and Henry Loh.

In his keynote address, outgoing president Ramakrishnan told members, "Based on the Auditor-General's Report, the BN has forfeited its right to stay on in power. Political change is inevitable; it will come. Let's go for it."

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 06:11 PM PST

Although all of us were pendatangs (emigrants) at different stages, we were happy we were born on this land which gave us a sense of belonging and peace. To the outside world we were seen as a truly multiracial country, our propaganda was to be a multiracial, role model in harmony.

Once upon a time, it was a dream land

Tourists flocked to this country in droves, they were amazed with the different cultures, the varieties of food, and most of all friendly people. Large multinational companies especially from US, Europe and Japan settled their business interests here mainly due to the presence of a large literate workforce, stable policies, secular government with religious freedom.

It was a dream land for the MNC's, they got what they wanted good and cheap labour force with competent engineers, managers, supervisors , leaders and administrators. The whole workforce was a mix of Indians, Chinese, Malays, and other races , they were all work oriented, communication was easy and to top it they were achievers.

Many MNCs profited in that era, most of the worlds electronic goods were from Malaysia, we were the Silicon Valley of Asia for semiconductors, and the world's largest producer of air conditioning units. We were basking in glory, and it seemed that only a few years before, the people in the west thought that Malaysians lived on trees, and yet today we were on top of the world .

From the good times, thousands of Malaysians reaped the good fortune. It was a blessing in disguise for Malaysians from all races who benefited from these MNCs and the employment they offered. It filled the government coffers and Malaysia was progressing.

Then came Dr M

Sadly good things don't last long. In came Mahathir Mohammed in 1981. He was like a fresh school boy, and his vision was far sighted. He had great dreams for Malaysia.

"As Prime Minister, Mahathir was credited with engineering Malaysia's rapid modernisation and economic growth, and initiated a series of bold infrastructure projects. He was a dominant political figure, winning five consecutive general elections and seeing off all of his rivals for the leadership of UMNO.

However, his accumulation of power came at the expense of the independence of the judiciary and the traditional powers and privileges of Malaysia's royalty. He also deployed the controversial Internal Security Act to detain activists, non-mainstream religious figures, and political opponents including his sacked deputy, Anwar Ibrahim. Mahathir's record of curbing civil liberties and his antagonism to western diplomatic interests and economic policy made his relationships with the likes of the US, Britain and Australia difficult." - Wikipedia

Things were well for the first three terms of his office, he was well loved by all races , he was the people's Prime Minister. It looked liked nothing could stop him, everything was good until he wanted to be the Hitler Malaysia never had.

That was when his obsession for the Malaysia Boleh fallacy began, along with the mega projects, the continuation of the NEP (1991), cronyism, corruption and Ketuanan Melayu or Malay Supremacy which was the nail in the coffin for racial harmony. This added further fuel to the great divide and rule hegemony that he and Umno perpetuated. Malaysia was doomed.

READ MORE HERE

Dr Mahathir: Umno Belum Giat Berusaha

Posted: 19 Nov 2011 05:25 PM PST

Bukan alang kepalang punya kata. Bukan cakap di kedai kopi atau dalam blog sendiri, tetapi kepada akhbar milik Umno, Mingguan Malaysia.

Dalam temu ramah panjang lebar dengan akhbar itu, Dr Mahathir, antara lain berkata:

1. Undi bukan Melayu, khasnya undi Cina, hanyalah undi tambahan. Undi Melayu perlu diperoleh dengan cukup banyak kalau tidak Umno/Barisan Nasional tidak boleh menang;

2. Beliau tidak nampak UMNO sedang giat berusaha untuk mendapat sokongan daripada rakyat. Biasanya, hampir waktu pilihan raya banyak aktiviti diadakan bagi memberi kefahaman mengenai perjuangan Umno. Inilah gambaran yang beliau peroleh;

3. Dahulu Umno kuat. Tidak ada orang yang meninggalkan parti, tetapi sekarang Umno perlu memenangi semula hati mereka yang telah meninggalkan parti;

4. BN/Umno menang PRU lalu dengan kelebihan suara yang kecil. Jadi, kalau ada ahli yang keluar, walaupun 200 atau 300, itu sudah cukup besar. Kalau 100 orang lari, Umno kena cari balik 200 orang. Kalau tidak mendapat dua kali ganda lebih ramai daripada yang telah meninggalkan UMNO, agak susah bagi parti itu untuk dapat kemenangan;

5. Ramai orang Melayu beralih kepada pertubuhan bukan kerajaan (NGO) kerana kecewa dengan Umno. Dulu mereka percaya UMNO akan memperjuangkan nasib mereka. Sekarang ini, mereka tidak nampak Umno memperjuangkan nasib orang Melayu. NGO tidak boleh buat apa-apa, tetapi kerana mereka mempunyai ahli dan ahli mereka tidak mengundi UMNO/BN, maka kesan kehadiran mereka kepada politik negara adalah besar;

6. Pemimpin Unmo kena tahu mengapa ramai orang Melayu beralih kepada NGO. Ada NGO Melayu, contohnya Perkasa, yang hendak sokong UMNO, tetapi kerana terdapat isu-isu orang Melayu yang tidak dimainkan UMNO, maka Perkasa terpaksa diambil alih;

7. UMNO harus ambil tahu dan tidak boleh melihat Perkasa sebagai musuh. Umno tidak boleh mempunyai banyak musuh dalam keadaan sekarang. Orang yang hendak menjadi musuh Umno pun patut pertahankan dan ambil tahu apa masalahnya;

READ MORE HERE

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Ahad, 20 November 2011

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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