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Posted: 19 Aug 2013 03:14 PM PDT

It has been 100 days since GE13 and what has changed? Nothing, if you look at the current state of affairs.

It has been 100 days since the bruising 13th general election (GE13). And there's 100 more days to an equally anticipated Umno general assembly where the party's election results and new lineup picked through a completely new process would be endorsed.

By Syed Nadzri Syed Harun, FMT

With all due respect to singer- poet Bob Dylan, his awe inspiring Seven Days is, in this particular period, showing an uncanny bearing to the swirling disquiet around us in Malaysia.

Except that in the local context it is significantly not seven but "100 days".

And here we are, right smack within the clash of the 100 days, grappling with a great deal of trepidation and nervousness in the air.

Here, we see an analogous situation to the legend's immortal words reproduced below with slight modifications to suit the occasion:

100 days, 100 more days you'll be coming

We'll be waiting at the station for you to arrive

100 more days, all we gotta do is survive.

That was just the beginning. And in the Malaysian context about what lies beneath, Dylan's subsequent verse becomes even more relevant:

There's kissing in the valley,

Thieving in the alley,

Fighting every inch of the way.

Trying to be tender,

With somebody I remember.

In a night that's always brighter than the day.

Oh, how apt the words appear to be, especially to those directly connected (or, in this environment full of suspicion, think they are directly connected).

It has been 100 days since GE13 and what has changed? Nothing, if you look at the current state of affairs.

Hate and mistrust

There is a lot of hate and mistrust around and practically everyone is feeling the tension except those forever in denial mode but then even burying heads in the sand over things like criminal cases does not work anymore.

A hundred days after GE13 and politics throws its weight like nobody's business.

The 100 more days to the Umno assembly simply compound matters because so much is at stake and in the crucial build-up, a disguised hate can readily turn into hypocrisy, as seen in many instances during the festive season.

I saw an open display of hypocrisy at the open house of Kedah Mentri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir last week.

Seri Mentaloon, the MB's official residence, seems to have come back to life after a long while and I think Mukhriz has got it made as the new chief executive of the Kedah government.

The crowd that turned up was huge and among them I could see some of his detractors, faces of those who used to run him down previously.

I mischievously greeted one of them and he said it all in one word: "Hemoi", a Kedah slang for being thick-skinned. Was that a surprise?

But actually the hatred spinning around is worrying in this 100-day season where some people are set at fighting every inch of the way.

There is too much emotion over religious matters, creating a web of fear. As such, there are plenty of landmines and booby traps and you might just step on them, as seen in the controversy over the Johor surau fiasco and the disclaimer put up by Astro in its documentary on Pope Francis.

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Apa lagi Mahathir mahu?

Posted: 19 Aug 2013 02:26 PM PDT

Zahid is not acting on his own and it is glaringly evident, that all roads lead to Mahathir. The former PM has been very vocal in the past few weeks and will continue until the Umno party conference.

Mariam Mokhtar, Malaysiakini

If the third prime minister of Malaysia, Hussein Onn, had not nominated Mahathir Mohamad as his successor in 1981, the course of Malaysian history would have been very different.

Mahathir may have left office after 22 years in power, but today, he pops up like those annoying advertisements which appear, without warning, on your computer screen. Mahathir's messages act in a similar way to some of those adverts; they can harm your computer with malware or other unwanted files, when they are "opened". Perhaps, we need a spam-blocker that will work on Mahathir.

How will we ever learn from history, if we are prevented from examining what has gone badly wrong for this nation? Mahathir's policies continue to divide the nation, but many Malays are under the illusion that he is their saviour. Sadly, after 56 years of independence, it is mostly non-Malays who are more Malaysian than the Malays.

Until we get a change in government, only one man can stop Mahathir's deleterious effects on the nation – Najib Abdul Razak – but he either won't or can't bring himself to perform this saintly task. Such is the hold that Mahathir has over Najib.

Yesterday, Mahathir urged that MAS be privatised. His penchant for privatisation enables profitable companies to be annexed by his cronies or Umno Baru nominees. This practice has all but bankrupted the nation.

It is ironic that the man who once said that "Melayu mudah lupa", should forget his role in handing the national airline carrier, on a golden platter to Tajudin Ramli. Few MAS employees will ever forget how the company's performance plummeted with Tajudin at its helm.

Mahathir observed that Umno Baru had failed to tap into young, smart Malay professionals. He claimed that Umno Baru, unlike PAS, did not like, and possibly feared people who were smarter than its leaders. Again, Mahathir mudah lupa. He once isolated younger men in his cabinet, like Anwar Ibrahim and Musa Hitam, in an attempt to contain their political aspirations.

When Mahathir was the education minister in the early 70s, he quelled student unrest with an iron fist. Did he forget that the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA), which many associate with Umno Baru, stops young adults from their right to full political expression?

Younger people find the opposition coalition more appealing and Umno Baru is aware of this. In GE13, voters at polling centres were separated into one queue for elderly people and another for young adults.

EC officials ensured that the queues for the elderly moved relatively fast, whereas queues for the young moved with laborious slowness. In many instances, young voters, simply gave up and left despite staying in line for hours. Umno Baru reasoned that young people were more impatient and impetuous, and welcomed their absence.

We are told that Najib is known as Bapak Transformasi (Father of Transformation). History will be the judge of his success at transforming both the nation, and his party, Umno Baru.

Fears of greatest treachery

Najib realises that the nation is ripe for change but he is tortured by the recalcitrance of his party members. Like them, he has only his own interests at heart, and not the interests of the rakyat who elected them to office. He has only himself to blame for the bad example he set, which strengthened the Umno Baru delegates' resolve against reform.

Najib knows his enemies from outside the party, but he fears that the greatest treachery to befall him will come from within his own party. He knows that many within his own cabinet would not hesitate to stick a knife into his back.

The new Home Minister Zahid Hamidi is openly defying Najib's authority and also that of his cousin, Hishamuddin Hussein, the former home minister. Recently, Zahid unearthed 260,000 hard-core criminals, whereas Hishammuddin had found none and even had the audacity to tell the rakyat that the increase in crime was just a perception.

Zahid recently found 250,000 Shiite Muslims, when Hishammuddin did not even allude to them during his tenure as home minister. These are attempts to discredit Hishammuddin, and Najib, the cousin who put him there.

These machinations are possibly designed to unseat Najib at the crux of his political career, the Umno Baru general assembly which will be held later this year.

Earlier this month, Zahid warned that if the Sedition Act 1948 was abolished, four aspects of the federal constitution, namely the special rights of the Malays, the status of Malay rulers, the status of Islam as the federal religion and the status of Malay as the national language would be affected. Putting on a defiant tone, he advocated for the Act to be retained and said that he was unwilling to compromise on this issue.

When Najib promised to repeal the Sedition Act, last year, was he using this as a carrot to trick the public into voting for Umno Baru in GE13? Did Najib have any intention of keeping this promise or was it just a ploy to get the voters to think that he was a reformist?

Perhaps, Najib will use Zahid's interjection as a convenient excuse not to repeal the Sedition Act and so win back the support of the hardliners in Umno Baru.

Unlike Zahid, Najib is facing the most important battle in his political life. Is Zahid's opposition to the abolition of the Act a means to present himself as the true defender of the Malays and of Islam in Malaysia?

All roads lead to Mahathir

Zahid is not acting on his own and it is glaringly evident, that all roads lead to Mahathir. The former PM has been very vocal in the past few weeks and will continue until the Umno party conference.

Mahathir will continue to instigate and foment dissent. His divisive policies are symbolic of his rule. When he left office in 2003, few outside of Umno Baru were moved when he wept as he made his resignation speech. His successor, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi gave us hope, but even he failed the rakyat miserably.

Mahathir claims that Umno Baru is the only party that can save the Malays. This is another of his damned lies. In truth, Umno Baru has caused the downfall of the Malays; ordinary Malays have become beggars in their own land because of his policies, and the Umno Baru elite are just pimps living off everyone else.

Today, time is running out for Malaysia, and if Najib does not act to defuse the racial and religious time-bomb set by Mahathir, it will cause untold damage to the country. Mahathir cares for nothing but the continuation of his legacy, through his son, Mukhriz. A leader who does not give a damn for the peace, prosperity and economic stability of the country, might as well be called the Father of Corruption. Apa lagi Mahathir mahu?

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In 'real-speak', this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

Long live the monarchy

Posted: 19 Aug 2013 12:35 PM PDT

There is no law preventing people from debating the actions or the future of the British monarchy, hence, the respect that they enjoy is truly earned. This non-interference, acceptance of criticisms and openness to demands for transparency and accountability put the British monarch above politics, and allows the whole population to see the Queen as a symbol of true unity.

Wan Saiful Wan Jan, The Star

British Royals are loved by not just the majority of Britons, but also by million others from across the world.

When Prince William and Catherine, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, visited Malaysia last year, the reception was electric. Almost all the newspapers, TV and radio stations gave them a very positive coverage.

British royalties are more than just the monarchy for Britain.

Senior members of the British royal family are global celebrities.

Almost everywhere they go, they are received with great fanfare and so many people are excited to catch a glimpse of them.

The British royalties were in the limelight again recently when the Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to Prince George on July 22.

The whole world watched eagerly when news broke that Catherine went into labour earlier that day. Reporters from everywhere congregated in front of the St Mary's Hospital in central London to catch the story.

Clearly the world was excited by the birth of the third in line to the British throne.

But of course there are many others who do not see what the fuss was about. One example is a group called Republic who initiated a campaign called #bornEqual (the hashtag indicating they have taken the campaign online via Twitter).

The group claims to represent Britain's 10-12 million republicans, including celebrities and parliamentarians whose names are listed on their website.

They openly campaign for the abolishment of the British monarchy because, as they say on their website, "Hereditary public office goes against every democratic principle. And because we can't hold the Queen and her family to account at the ballot box, there's nothing to stop them abusing their privilege, misusing their influence or simply wasting our money."

They went on to say that the British monarchy is "expensive, unaccountable and a drag on our democratic process".

In the #bornEqual campaign that they launched in conjunction with the birth of Prince George, they urge the British public to ask, among others:

> Shouldn't every child be born equal? Equal in political status and political rights?

> How can that be when one child is born above all others, destined for high office not because of merit or popular choice but because of their parents?

> Isn't it time to choose the highest representatives by merit and popular choice, not by birthright and parentage?

Republic's work goes as far back as the early 1980s. They have been campaigning on many issues related to abolishing the British monarchy. They clearly have supporters, including in the mainstream media.

For example, a day after Prince George was born, the Guardian newspaper published an article by its associate editor, Seumas Milne, resonating Republic's campaign. Milne questioned the many powers of the monarchy including its prerogative to appoint the Prime Minister and dissolve parliament. He also suggested that by meeting the Prime Minister weekly, the Queen has "covert influence" on the government.

Yet despite protests and criticisms, the British monarchy remains loved by millions the world over.

The way they have adapted to the demands of today's society is amazing, especially by making more and more information easily accessible to the public.

A quick visit to the official website of the British royal family will make it clear how serious they are. You can find almost everything you want on that website – from the history of the British monarchy to what the senior members do every day.

You can even know how many official cars the Queen has. Apparently she has eight – two Bentleys, three Rolls-Royces and three Daimlers.

And the website tells you that British Royals "are subject to normal speed restrictions", while the rear doors of the two Bentleys "are hinged at the back to allow the Queen to stand up straight before stepping down to the ground".

The Queen also publishes an annual financial report, detailing the income and expenditure of the Royal households. The report is freely available on the websitewww.royal.gov.uk.

It is presented to parliament, allowing the elected representatives, including republican MPs, to scrutinise how much taxpayers' money the Royals receive annually, and how they spend it.

Perhaps the most significant is the fact that the Queen as the reigning monarch almost never get into political debates.

It is difficult to find her commenting about current affairs. In fact, she does not even respond when groups like Republic or the media openly demand the abolition of the monarchy or criticise the actions of her family members.

There is no law preventing people from debating the actions or the future of the British monarchy, hence, the respect that they enjoy is truly earned.

This non-interference, acceptance of criticisms and openness to demands for transparency and accountability put the British monarch above politics, and allows the whole population to see the Queen as a symbol of true unity.

The republican campaign to abolish the British monarchy may have gained more traction if the British royalties refuse to adapt to the demands of modern days.

But with all the efforts the British Royals are putting into becoming more transparent, accountable and non-interfering, they are loved by not just the majority of Britons, but also by million others from across the world.

> Wan Saiful Wan Jan is chief executive of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (www.ideas.org.my). The article is his personal opinion.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Selasa, 20 Ogos 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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