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Posted: 12 May 2013 12:24 PM PDT

My Chinese friends fail to understand the true colours of DSAI. They don't know that the same fate which befell their Tamil and Hindus friends after GE 12 is going to befall them.

M. Gunasekar

Sometime in early 2008, I bumped into a Chinese friend and went for "yum cha" with him. During my conversation he said we Chinese don't need to go to the street to protest like Indians to make the change. Economy is in our control and we are powerful enough to make the changes without the need to take to the streets like our Indian friends.

I nodded acknowledging his opinion and told him that a large number of Indians are below the poverty level and economically controlling less than 1.5 percent of the country wealth. What choice do they have to be heard by the ruling government?

The Hindraf rally on 25 Nov 2007 was the highlight of Indians especially the uprising Tamils and Hindus in Malaysia. Police roadblocks started the week before the rally to create massive traffic jams across the city and the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur. Many were upset with the Indians for pouring onto the streets and literally making the capital city a standstill causing major inconvenience to everyone. Five thousand riot police members dispatched to the scene used tear gas and water cannon to disperse the crowds and 136 people were arrested.

Less than four(4) months later the ruling government called for election and were caught with their pants down. The GE 12 showed how HINDRAF became one of the triggers for a major change in the course of the country. The general dissatisfaction with the regime ruled by UMNO which had been brewing for some years was the kerosene and the Hindraf Rally of 25 Nov 2007 was the tinder that sparked off the kerosene into a major explosion that has been called the Political Tsunami of Malaysian politics.

The ruling UMNO-led BN government lost its two-thirds majority in Parliament and came close to getting just over half the seats in Parliament from the Peninsula.

HINDRAF, which had barely existed for 3 years up to that time, and which was barely known up till Aug 2007 had suddenly caught the mood of a large proportion of Malaysians, not only Tamils and Hindus but the Chinese and a sizeable section of the Malays as well, causing a major upset in the process.

In the lead up to GE 13 the Chinese came on to the streets with much bigger fanfare, driven up in festive mood that includes Bersih 2.0, Bersih 3.0, Himpunan Satu Juta Rakyat, Carnivals, Mega Ceramah, road shows, fund raising dinners and etc.

"The urban Chinese especially... they are like... wow... suddenly, all that suppressed sentiment just erupted". They were so eager that even in the smaller ceramahs in the Malay kampungs, they went. PR's ceramahs attracted massive, almost frenzied crowds of predominantly Chinese voters who came decked out from head to foot in PR merchandise, from their T-shirts to caps, banners, balloons and even face paint.

Many big ceramah events resulted in donations of up to over RM200,000, mirroring the number of supporters who not only turned up but were willing to part with money to back PR's campaign.

Thousands and thousands of Chinese friends flocked the ceramah(s) to hear their 'heroes' and 'heroines' speak about a future without racism, a future without prejudice and injustice, a future that is bright, fair and corruption-free.

Finally the judgment day came on 5th May 2013; my Chinese friends were so eager to cast their votes. Many could not sleep the night before dreaming that by the night of 5 May 2013 the country leadership will finally be transferred to their 'heroes' and 'heroines'. Out of the total number of 13,268,002 voters for the 222 parliamentary seats, 11,257,147 voters or 84.84 per cent cast their votes at the 13th general election (GE13), the highest percentage in any general election in Malaysia.

Around midnight on the fateful day, the EC chairman appeared on the TV screens to make the official announcement that BN managed to win 112 seats which eventually climbed to 133 parliament seats that were more than enough to form the next government.

My Chinese friends cried wolf with all sorts of allegations of electoral fraud in GE13. Their 'heroes' and 'heroines' of PR have made a number of allegations including tampering of ballot boxes, suspected foreigners being drafted in to vote, and supposedly indelible ink which easily washes off. PR maverick hero DSAI said effectively the elections were stolen by Barisan Nasional.

In fact from the polling day itself, DSAI accused BN prematurely of stealing these elections, of massive fraud and irregularities. But until today, he has yet to come forward with a shred of evidence of any irregularities. What we have until today is just very blanket unsubstantiated allegations that these elections were marred by fraud and irregularities.

My Chinese friends fail to understand the true colours of DSAI. They don't know that the same fate which befell their Tamil and Hindus friends after GE 12 is going to befall them. Remember all the promises made by DSAI before and during the GE 12 election campaigns to the Indians. Solving IC issues, Tamil Schools, Temple, Employment and many others, what happened?

During the GE 13 campaigns "Anwar, Sivaji the Boss" were missing and missing too on the stage were the Indian leaders. PR only talked about Indians without IC somewhere around Aug 2012 of which by then BN was already half way through the process of issuing ICs to many Indians and Chinese. They also alleged that around 300,000 Indians were without ICs but where is the official data to substantiate their claims? PR seats allocation to Indians for GE 13 compared to GE 12 were down from 16 to 14. As DSAI mentioned in the meeting within the top management of PKR that you Indians have been the minority - take what is given and don't make a fuss of it.

My dear Chinese friends, DSAI's manifesto were an "advertisement" to get the citizens to "buy his product" but after the purchase is done, DSAI doesn't provide "after-sales service". "When a consumer buys a product, they need a guarantee. However, based on DSAI's track record, there are no guarantees.

It's sad that the impact of the Indian Tsunami in GE 12 which translated into 82 seats for PR did not result in a bigger anticipated Tsunami in 2013. It were merely a huge monsoon flooding that swept across the country without creating bigger collateral damage to BN strongholds in ruling the country with their iron fist rule until the next GE. BN has institutionalized the way it manages politics in this country and to steamroll it out of power you need a mega force equivalent to a magnitude 9.0 earthquake. Final message to my dear Chinese friends - "Kita Mathrubum(ubah) Next Time Lah".

GE13: What do Malaysians Want?

Posted: 12 May 2013 12:19 PM PDT

BN did their worst – did we do our best? Have dissident Malaysian voters been asking what they want in this election apart from "ubah" and lowering the price of petrol? "Anything But UMNO" is an "away from" response. Have we listed out "towards" demands?

Dr Kua Kia Soong, SUARAM Adviser

In the aftermath of GE13, UMNO wants to know what BN detractors want. Malaysians have felt frustrated and sidetracked by their attempt at communalising the election results, something they have been doing even before Independence.

RESPOND NOT REACT

With all the visible injustice and foul play in the GE13, there is understandably plenty of pent-up frustration and anger among those who have experienced being wronged. And we know that that the roots of that injustice are to be found in an electoral system that has for years been inherently flawed. Having seen the videos of violence against migrant "voters" during this election makes me wonder if such a reaction is at least in part, the result of misplaced expectations.

If the BN government had listened to the demands by Malaysian civil society, they would not be asking us what we want AFTER the election. The following are some of our fundamental demands which call for an end to corruption, oppression and racism, and the reinstatement of justice, democracy and human rights.

1. One Person One Vote:

We have known about gerrymandering in the country for decades and yet there was the false hope that GE13 was going to overcome this major impediment to electoral fair play. Notice that Bersih's 8 demands are short-term and do not include this mother of all unfree and unfair aspects of Malaysian elections, namely, undemocratic constituency delineation.

The original Merdeka constitution provided that in drawing up constituencies, "there shall not be more than a difference of 15 per cent in the number of electors of any constituency to the electoral quota." The "electoral quota" or national average, was defined as the number obtained by dividing the number of electors in the Federation by the total number of constituencies. Section 2 (c) of the Thirteenth Schedule had stipulated that "the number of electors within each constituency ought to be approximately equal throughout the unit of review."

The Constitution was amended in 1962 transferring the power to delimit parliamentary constituencies from the Election Commission to a bare majority of parliament. A new Thirteenth Schedule set out certain new features permitting a weightage of up to 2:1 in favour of rural constituencies, thus enabling differences of 100 per cent between urban and rural seats. A further constitutional amendment in 1973 took away altogether the original check in the Thirteenth Schedule on there being too great a disparity between urban and rural seats. Today, the absurdity of constituency delineation in Malaysia is exemplified by the contrast between 10,000 voters at Putrajaya federal constituency and more than 100,000 at Kapar, a disparity of more than 10:1.

The Malaysian Chinese organizations which endorsed the Joint Declaration before the 1986 general election focused on this demand for fair constituency delineation as one of the main objectives for their Civil Rights Committee. But they have not followed up on this demand since then.

Thus, this reform to the Malaysian electoral system should take top priority and not creating false hopes that lead to mobs beating up migrants.

2. End Racism and Racial Discrimination:

Racism in the form of Malay-centric ideology has been the main instrument of rule by the Umnoputras ever since they have been in power. Their "1 Malaysia" exists only as a slogan – how else can they justify blatant racial discrimination in the economic, educational and social sectors? Thus, as soon as dissident voters show them what they think of the charade, the same trite rhetorical question is posed by their propaganda machines: "What more do they want?"

One would have thought that the leaders of Hindraf knew that. Furthermore, I have shared the same rostrum with some of these Hindraf leaders at forums where I have pointed out that state racism in Malaysia has taken a morbid turn toward victimizing ethnic Indians, especially the poor and marginalized. This is seen in the disproportionate number of Indians among the victims of police shootings and deaths in custody. The implementation of the IPCMC should have been Hindraf's non-negotiable demand to the BN government.

I had assumed that the Hindraf leaders would understand this analysis of state racism in Malaysia and the requisite political practice that logically followed from that analysis. Unfortunately, their theory and practice has followed the same backward example of "racial bargaining" typical of the MIC and the MCA. They have chosen to back the hegemonic oppressor and exploiter of the masses on the eve of the election by using the flimsiest excuse about being rebuffed by PR. But then such opportunism has been seen ever since careerist politics came into existence.

I stand to be proven wrong and will render an unreserved apology to these Hindraf leaders if they prove to be dedicated and selfless activists who refuse to accept any government or bureaucratic posts in this administration but operate as an NGO to monitor the implementation of their "blueprint".

One would have thought that the abolition of the New Economic Policy should have been the sine qua non for Hindraf in any tryst with the two coalitions since the NEP is the main perpetrator of racial discrimination in Malaysian society and the main obstacle to progress. The actions of the Hindraf leaders seem to suggest that they condone the NEP as long as the Indians also get a slice of the cake –regardless of whether any slice is apportioned to the Orang Asli, the poor Chinese and others!

I might add that in their exuberance for "Ubah", the dissident voters neglected to call for the abolition of the NEP which had a sell-by date of 1990. Consequently, Pakatan Rakyat got off easy with a manifesto that did not have to promise abolishing the NEP if they got into power. We have since been promised a mythical "withering away of the NEP" if PR comes into power!

These are the nuts and bolts of racism and racial discrimination in Malaysia that reforming Malaysians should respond to instead of the knee-jerk reaction to the racism that underpins UMNO and that has not changed ever since the umnosaurus had spots!

3. Elected Local Government:

We want this third tier of government to be elected by the people and not appointed by the state governments as prizes for toadies. Again, this vital democratic demand was not in the PR manifesto and negligent "democrats" must take some of the blame for this oversight.

An elected local government should go hand-in-hand with the reform to decentralize government and empower people at the local level to take charge of education, transport, housing and even community policing.

4. End Corruption

Corruption in Malaysia needs to be curbed effectively through the setting up an Independent Anti-Corruption Commission answerable to parliament with the power to recommend prosecutions for all offences of corrupt practice; a Public Accounts Committee in Parliament that is chaired by an Opposition Member of Parliament and not by the ruling coalition; tighter regulation to prevent money laundering and the outflow of illicit money; eliminating opportunities for corruption by proscribing the "revolving door" opportunities between the civil/armed services and the private sector; ensuring the government ministry/department head accounts for every discrepancy in the annual Auditor-general's report and pays for any negligence or corruption involved; open tendering all privatised projects, and for all wakil rakyat and heads of civil and armed services to declare their assets and those of their family's.

5. Uphold the Rule of Law

The rule of law ensures that laws are enforced impartially and there is full protection of human rights, especially for minorities. This requires the existence of an independent judiciary, an impartial Civil Service, and an incorruptible police force. The BN government has often confused the rule of law with rule BY law, in which the law is a mere tool for the government that suppresses in a legalistic fashion.

Good governance to uphold the rule of law requires repealing all laws that allow torture, whipping, detention-without-trial and incommunicado detention; abolishing the death penalty in Malaysia; ratifying the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social & Cultural Rights, the Convention against Torture and the Convention on Refugees; implementing the Independent Police Complaints Committee (IPCMC); establishing a law reform commission to restore the independence of the judiciary; reviewing the Federal Constitution and all laws that are unjust and violate human rights, and resolve the conflict of jurisdiction between civil and syariah laws; establishing a Royal Commission of Inquiry to solve once and for all the problem of citizenship for Malaysians, their foreign spouses as well as the problem of undocumented migrants in the country; ensuring social justice for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT).

6. Human rights of women, workers and indigenous peoples:

Good governance requires respect for women's human rights and dignity including incorporating the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) and its provisions into national law; reviewing and amending all laws and constitutional provisions that discriminate on the basis of gender; confronting sexism and prejudice based on gender stereotypes; equal pay for women holding similar posts as men; ensuring through competent national tribunals and other public institutions the effective protection of women against any act of discrimination.

Workers' rights must be recognized by ensuring labour laws are compatible with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention; encouraging and promoting workers' unionisation; legislating a progressive guaranteed minimum wage for all workers, including foreign workers; abolishing the Contractor for Labour System and restoring direct two-party employment relationship between principal/owners of workplaces and the workers that work therein; ensuring all workers are employed as permanent employees who enjoy all benefits, including maternity rights and an extended retirement age.

Recognise the right of the Orang Asal to self-determination, sustainable development and protect the native customary rights of the Orang Asal to their traditional lands and territories.

7. Freedoms of expression, assembly and association:

Full participation in a democratic society requires the freedoms of expression, assembly and association to prevail. The freedom of expression and information cannot prevail until we abolish the Sedition Act, the Official Secrets Act and the Film Censorship Act; enact a Freedom of Information (FoI) Act at federal and state levels which is reflective of the peoples' right to know, with the public interest as the overriding principle; prevent the monopoly of ownership and control of the press and broadcasting stations by political parties or corporate bodies. Media organs paid for by tax payers – including RTM and Selangor Times - must be independent and not be used as propaganda organs of the ruling coalitions.

Good governance relating to the freedoms of assembly & association entails repealing the Police Act, the Societies Act, the Universities & University Colleges Act, Peaceful Assembly Act 2011 and other relevant laws which restrict these fundamental freedoms, and granting students of voting age the full freedoms enjoyed by other Malaysian citizens.

These were some of the fundamental demands of the Malaysian civil society in the GE13 together with those for a progressive economic, fiscal, defence, energy, environmental, educational, social and cultural policies. The BN and PR coalitions would do well to note what Malaysians want in the 13th general election.

APA LAGI CINA MAHU? – A Chinese Responds

Posted: 12 May 2013 12:12 PM PDT

For Malays to need UMNO or any protection, the Malays must feel vulnerable or weak. Obviously if the Malays were strong, they would need no such protection.

Ng Chak Ngoon

IRRELEVANCE

"Apa lagi Cina mahu?" is a question asked by UMNOputras based on the tacit assumption that they have the divine right to rule, and that if they are not returned to power, there must be something wrong with the electorate. Hence the question: "What more do you want?!" being asked, perhaps in real or mock exasperation.

The implication of this question is that the Chinese have already been given so much and yet they are still asking for more. Therefore, the Chinese must be greedy. As Chinese, I am offended by the arrogance in that question. We should not mistake it for the slightly differently worded but very different question of "Apa Cina mahu?"

If anyone, it should be the Malays who voted against UMNO who should be asked this "Apa Lagi" question. They obviously include the most educated who have benefited from the NEP by way of scholarships abroad, contracts and promotions.

THE BN STRATEGY

Instead of mulling over that question, we as Malaysians, Malays or non-Malays, should be asking "Apa masaalah Malaysia?", "What is wrong with Malaysia?" so that we can arrive at the answer and therefore the possible solutions.

To my mind, the essence of Malaysia's problems is that this country has been ruled by kleptomaniacs nurturing a racial divide to keep themselves in power for more than 50 years.

Let us try to understand how BN has been doing it. UMNO tells the Malays that if not for UMNO, Malays would be overwhelmed by the non-Malays ignoring the fact that Malays form the majority in this country, and that in a democracy the majority rules. If UMNO loses power, the Malays do not lose power. It is only a change of government in which Malays will still predominate. Mathematics of racial composition demands it.

At the same time UMNO periodically threatens the non-Malays with bellicose statements and acts such as imposing unnecessary constraints on the Chinese and Indian communities simply to remind them that they need MCA and MIC, effectively UMNO's goons, to protect them from UMNO. This is classic protection racket except that is has been given the racial slant. It has worked well. It keeps the country divided so that the UMNOputras, MCAputras, MICputras, and other BNputras can retain power to continue stealing the country's wealth.

HOW IT WORKS

The myth that UMNO propagates may be summarized this way: The Malays need help and only UMNO can help them. Without UMNO, the Malays would be overwhelmed by the non-Malays, especially the Chinese. Therefore, the Malays must support UMNO to save themselves.

For Malays to need UMNO or any protection, the Malays must feel vulnerable or weak. Obviously if the Malays were strong, they would need no such protection. Therefore, for UMNO to remain relevant to the Malays, Malays must remain weak, and UMNO has been striving to keep Malays weak.

UMNO keeps Malays weak by making them economically vulnerable, i.e. poor, so that they will always depend on UMNO, for handouts and other benefits. UMNO keeps Malays poor by restricting the majority of Malays to learning only one language, Bahasa Melayu, the Malay language. Equipped with only Bahasa, the Malays are trapped within UMNO's patronage system in at least two ways.

Firstly, a Malay finds it impossible or at least very difficult to acquire the skills needed to compete with others when almost all new technology comes in some other language. That is why Malay graduates educated in local institutions of higher learning are mostly employed in government service and GLCs. The benefit to UMNO is that these Malays are completely under UMNO's control to become UMNO's "safe deposit". The ability to trace every ballot paper to its voter is part of this control. Only those Malays who have learnt enough English are equipped to compete with others and can venture into the private sector. This is the segment of the Malay community that now rejects UMNO.

Secondly, when most Malays can only understand Bahasa Melayu, they can receive only information via the UMNO-controlled media: radio, television, and local Malay newspapers. All other sources of information are effectively cut off. Restricted to a one-food diet which shapes their world view and attitudes, these Malays can be manipulated in any way that UMNO wants.

These are the two reasons why UMNO is so adamant in retaining Bahasa as the sole medium of instruction despite the negative impacts on the Malay community; it is the lock that guards UMNO's safe deposit of loyal supporters.

The Malay community is now split in two: UMNO's safe deposit and the enlightened Malays. The former consists of those who know only their own language, are generally poorer and therefore dependent on UMNO handouts. They are captives within the UMNO economic and propaganda domain. The other segment consists of enlightened Malays, mostly English literate, independent of UMNO's patronage, often internet savvy and therefore well informed. Wise to UMNOputras' chicanery, they tend to be the most critical of UMNO. The gradual decline of UMNO can be inversely correlated with the increase of this segment of the Malay community.

WHAT DO THE CHINESE WANT?

Essentially all the Chinese in Malaysia want is to be part of this country or at the very least left alone to prosper. Instead, under the guise of NEP, Chinese have been excluded from certain economic sectors, and in extreme cases, robbed off successful businesses and substantial properties. For the ordinary Chinese, opportunities for higher education in local institutions have been limited. An average Chinese family has to come up with anywhere from tens to hundreds of thousands ringgit for each kid to go through college, depending on the route taken. Do I need to go on with this list of grievances?

These problems created by UMNO are felt by the Chinese and other non-Malays at very personal levels. Is it any wonder that we detest UMNO? But even without inflicting these sufferings on the non-Malays, BNputras are a bunch of crooks who would be booted out of government in any practicing democracy. Therefore, what the Chinese want is no more than what many enlightened Malays also want: NO MORE UMNO.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Isnin, 13 Mei 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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