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Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Let’s start anew
- MCA’s leadership dilemma
- Double track Project
- REPLY TO THE PRESS RELEASE by YB Wong Koon Mun, MCA State Liaison Committee Secretary and state ...
| Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:48 AM PST By May Chee Just the other day, my little one reminded me, "Mum, just ask; don't speculate." Why don't we just ask outright why a person does what he does instead of speculating on his motives? The truth may not be so harsh after all. Speculating and letting our imagination run wild is, in my humble opinion, a lot more dangerous and an exercise in futility. What's more, it will create a mountain out of a mole-hole! What if people get hurt out of our own paranoia? What if we lose someone or something precious due to our very own insecurities? Crazy, no? At my little one's confirmation two years back, my favourite bishop, Bishop Paul Tan said this in his homily, "It's natural to feel fear but unnatural to harbour fear." It really struck a chord with me! I see it all around me. People who are afraid to fail – they fall only once and refuse to get up since. People who have been hurt in past relationships – they are afraid to commit themselves again. The list goes on. I have a friend who refused to enter a church for years just because he "thought" a priest was rude to him. Priests are not humans? They cannot have a lousy day? They cannot be rude? Is this about us or about others? I somehow suspect a big ego is not something we should wish for from Santa last Christmas or hope for, this coming year, 2012. Easier said than done, right? Fear has changed some for the worse. Some become deceitful to guard their self-interests or they conveniently allow others to embrace what appears to be the truth when in actual fact, may be a "lie". Some become pretentious and are afraid to let others know of their humble beginnings. They adorn themselves from head to toe thinking that such a display can garner them respect. I may be considered a dinosaur here but nothing beats humility in a person. I personally find that most attractive. I, too, have my fears. I'm afraid my children will forget God, whom we worship; I worship. I'm afraid that they will neglect their faith. I cannot believe the amount of effort and time they have to put into their careers and studies! Will they have time for love? Will they have time to rest? Will they have time to speak to God? Will they have time to listen to Him? What if they forget the most important element of their very existence? What, then, is life all about? This is election year, so I hear from the grapevine. I'm afraid that the government that will be voted in may once again prevent others from exercising their human responsibilities. I'm afraid that once again politicians voted in only aim to be ranked among the rich and noble who are unwilling to shoulder their responsibilities towards their people and who squander money. If cows could live in condos, when will we, Malaysians, see honour among thieves? Such leaders, unfortunately, only aim to excel in the games of the rich. They don't feel an iota of guilt that while they wine and dine, they allow their people to sink into poverty! We will be bankrupted in no time if we allow this foolhardiness to continue!I'm sure I share this fear with other Malaysians. So, let's do something about this. Let's save our beloved country Malaysia. We can save ourselves through truth, justice and shared food. Let's not be afraid of the truth any longer. If we can all look into the face of truth together, it can be less frightening. If we can all hold onto each other in our quest for justice, the journey can be less arduous. And if we all can share our food, everything will fall into place. Let's do our homework. Let's vote in those who can help liberate Malaysia from the chains of old. The chains that continue to make a mockery of our dignity as a human. I've heard of how some politicians belong to the "wrong" party. Some people say party-hopping is morally wrong. Some even want to make it a crime. I say: To those who truly want to be a people's representative, go, hop to the party that aim to serve the people, that aim to bring justice to the poor, that aim to set the "captives" free, that aim to work with the people, not against them! Is this asking too much of the people's representative? Are we asking them to "sacrifice" themselves? Not at all! They are paid to do their job. No one pays another to rob them blind, to be lied to, to be taken for a ride and worse still, to be enslaved! There is joy in serving and giving. Material liberation is not opposed to spiritual liberation. If one can help another not to go hungry, it can be a "freeing" mission for all concerned. The longing for justice must be the hallmark of a people's representative, if not, dunk him! The Good Book says that people do not openly deny God; they simply ignore Him. This is what my fifty-one years on earth has taught me. I am nothing without God; I'm lost without my faith. I concur with the Good Book when it says that faith is neither an option or a luxury, as if we could do without it. Some appear to do without it comfortably. I wonder how that's possible. I can imagine if we withdraw all that comes from faith in our culture and lives, our world would die for want of hope. It is in this faith that we can find hope. It is not a matter of seeing or feeling but of believing what God can do and does. It is also this faith that make us so aware of the justice and respect we should accord others. Am I proselytizing? No, not at all! I believe in a God of all humanity and that all true religions teach good. I believe that no law or religious decree can prevail over a well-informed conscience. I believe an ordered life creates more beauty than any religious instituition could ever achieve. A friend once told me that one can be spiritual without being religious. He, himself, could not bring himself to "conversion" as he felt himself unworthy. I believe he will beat me to the gate of St. Peter! I look at the Year 2011 with some regret. We could have done a lot more for ourselves and others. We had some near misses. So, what messed up? Perhaps some of us did not work hard enough. Perhaps some of us took many things for granted. Perhaps some of us forgot our purpose in life. Perhaps some of us took the easy way out instead of the road less travelled. Never mind. Let's not beat ourselves up over this. This is a new year and a new us. If we want progress and one that is evident, it can only happen through upheavals and changes of perspectives. So, it all falls back on us. We, yes, we, have to change. Let's not just be marked bodily by circumcision. Let's all circumcise our hearts and our minds. Let's all be converted interiorly. Let's restore justice, not by condemning, but by saving. Let's allow our love for our fellow Malaysians ransom our dignity and freedom. Let's return love for love – the beginning of true conversion. |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:30 AM PST Party insiders are saying that about 30% of MCA members were ready to quit in the run-up to the next general election. So, is MCA imploding? They say there had been many cases of the leadership "bullying" those known to be unsupportive of Chua. By Jackson Ng, Retired Journalist THE MCA leadership's lack of response to the resignation of about 1,000 MCA members led by the party's former Penang and Johor Youth chiefs last week is telling. All we got from the morally-tainted MCA president Dr Chua Soi Lek was "we can recruit more, let them leave". Other leaders have remained relatively mum because they are unable to counter the reasons given by the two former youth chiefs who cited loss of confidence in the party leadership. How do you defend your party and president who has lost all moral and integrity following his adulterous expose? The problem with the party leadership following the 2010 three-corner presidential election is the fluke victory of Chua. It shocked members that such an immoral and unacceptable man could still muster enough members, through whatever means, to win the presidency. Already massively rejected by the Chinese community in the 2008 political tsunami, the election of a wife cheater had plunged the party into a bottomless abyss. The majority of the Chinese community, ever so concerned about "face saving" and morality, clearly have written off the MCA. Party insiders, after a detailed assessment of the party elections, have come to grips of their dilemma. The party is led by a morally unworthy president who is ruling with just about 30% of the support of the party central delegates. One wonders the percentage of support for Chua in terms of the party membership. The party election was triggered by a series of internal party political manoeuvrings by traitors and turncoats who, for their own self interests, chose to unseat the then president, Ong Tee Keat. But the party central leaders had grossly miscalculated, landing with an embarrassing president who commands no respect from the Chinese community and women in particular. During the leadership crisis and prior to the party election, the key players had misjudged or underestimated Tee Keat's grassroots support. The general talk then was that the lone ranger Tee Keat, as he was popularly tagged, would not be able to secure more than 200 votes and the camp led by former president Ong Ka Ting was confident of victory. Disaster struck when Ka Ting could only garner 833 votes – 68 votes short of Chua's 901 delegates. Tee Keat was supported by 578 delegates. What we see in the MCA today is status quo, with no single leader able to engineer more than 50% support to close ranks and solidify the party. That is history, backed by facts. Today, Chua and his cronies are unable to react strongly against those who resigned because they are unsure of the political manoeuvrings being subtly unleashed. Should the leadership condemn the resignations as just isolated cases, it may trigger more mass resignations and embarrassments. What is happening today in MCA is a real loss of confidence and frustration over Chua's authoritarian administration and decisions based on nepotism and cronyism. The two time bombs (resignations in Penang and Johor) have exploded but the mainstream media, especially MCA's mouthpiece, The Star, has down played the news. Party insiders are saying that about 30% of MCA members were ready to quit in the run-up to the next general election. So, is MCA imploding? They say there had been many cases of the leadership "bullying" those known to be unsupportive of Chua. One clear example is the case of veteran Malacca MCA Wanita chief Datuk Kang Sik Hor. "Just because she was critical of Chua's attack on assemblyman Betty Chew for serving her husband (Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng) more than her constituents in Malacca, disciplinary action was taken. "She was referred to the MCA Disciplinary Board (DB). Imagine, for just a simple matter, the DB was used. It shows Chua and his cronies will not hesitate to use and abuse the DB to maintain an iron grip on the party," said the insider. Although the DB ultimately did not pursue the matter, Chua's state cronies continued to pressure Kang to quit. Clearly, Chua and his cronies cannot tolerate dissenting views and there is no room for alternative views. However, that is not to say nothing is moving in the party. In the run-up to the next general election, there will yet be many political manoeuvrings and realignments based on self interests. This will trigger even more time bombs to explode and let's just sit and watch how MCA implodes. |
| Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:15 AM PST By Concerned KTM CREC or China Railway Engineering Corporation as far as the Double Track project is concerned is represented by interests aligned with (tun) Daim Zainuddin. It is difficult to confirm this but Mr Cai, the long time Country Manager of CREC, has indicated this to several parties. CREC felt they were duped and are now trying to dissociate themselves from Daim and look for new partners both for the double track and also for other railway projects such as the MRT. Tan Kay Hock, another "sad case', has been lured into this project by Dr Vincent Lim (Badawi's former political secretary) who with the support of Kamal Badawi and possibly Khairy was instrumental in the intrigues that led to Badawi awarding the Second Crossing to China Harbour Engineering Corporation and creating a substantial variation order. Originally, Vincent Lim proposed China Harbour but this was scuttled by Najib's inner sanctum because of their total disgust with Kay Hock and Vincent. In order to deceive these parties, Vincent with the collusion of the technical consultants then proposed using the name of the parent company of China Harbor i.e China Communications Construction Group (CCCG) and the sister company China Road & Bridge(CRB). Vincent Lim is a master of deceit and could have been the one negotiating and the one who told the Chinese the story about the payments in order to justify huge commissions for himself. I can only assume that a sizeable portion of this was destined for himself. The current rumour is that the front runner for the project is a Chinese company China Railway Construction Company (CRCC) represented by prominent Johore interests and belatedly supported by the PRC. It is said that they are in active discussions with Gamuda and IJM. The Chinese Government has a role in exposing shady operators such as VL who have misled CCCG or CHEC or CREC if the MACC will not step in. Rumour has it that Vincent Lim spends most of his time enjoying the fruits of his Penang Bridge deal in Shanghai and Beijing with occasional trips to see his bankers in Hong Kong. |
| REPLY TO THE PRESS RELEASE by YB Wong Koon Mun, MCA State Liaison Committee Secretary and state ... Posted: 03 Jan 2012 08:35 AM PST Yayasan Selangor regretted the superficial and uncalled for statement by YB Wong Koon Mun, MCA State Liaison Committee Secretary and State Assembly man for Kuala Kubu Baru on January 2, 2012, regarding the Ampang Pecah National Service Camp (PLKN) and Yayasan Selangor's 40th Anniversary. YS spent RM4.04 million in 2010 and 2011 at the request of the National Service Training Department (JLKN) to meet the SOC 2008 as one of the conditions for National Service contract extension. The question of YS not realising that the contract would not be renewed in 2012 does not arise. As a matter of fact, selected NS camps were given the continuation letter for the year 2012 in early December 2011. However, demands for improvement of camp facilities, including water activity pool have been made since the beginning of 2010.
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