Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Political Polarisation
- Salleh to walk on Aug 13, says Ramadan a ‘non-issue’
- Phang Shares His Views On The MACC Revamp
- Is the MACC Exempt From KPI?
- The Trouble With Malaysians
- The UMNO – Anders Breivik Link
| Posted: 25 Jul 2011 01:08 PM PDT
The BN-PR political divide is polarising society. It has gone way beyond the usual loyalties associated with competing political parties in a democratic system. By Chandra Muzaffar There is a new, powerful divide that confronts 1Malaysia. It is a political divide that separates the Barisan Nasional, and its supporters, on the one hand, from the Pakatan Rakyat, and its followers, on the other. There are other divides in Malaysian society: economic, social, cultural, religious, geographical and territorial. A divide by itself is not a threat to a nation's unity or solidarity. It is when a divide causes serious polarisation that it becomes a matter of deep concern. The BN-PR political divide is polarising society. It has gone way beyond the usual loyalties associated with competing political parties in a democratic system. Among its obvious consequences are the following:- There are those who argue that the political polarisation that is happening, however adverse its consequences, is not a big problem because it does not have communal overtones. This is true but only to an extent. The undercurrents in this BN-PR polarisation are communal. Though the BN is an established inter-ethnic coalition, it has been portrayed as an UMNO dominant entity that has marginalised the non-Malay parties and communities. This crude portrayal of the BN and its predecessor, the Alliance, actually began in 1964 and was spearheaded by Lee Kuan Yew, then Secretary-General of the People's Action Party (PAP), the forerunner of the DAP. It has now reached a peak point which is one of the many reasons why parties like the MCA, Gerakan, MIC and PPP lost considerable support in the 2008 General Election. It also explains to a degree the current consolidation of the Chinese position on ethnic issues around the DAP. While the BN is perceived in some Chinese circles as Malay, there is a growing sentiment within a segment of the Malay community that PR, though drawn from different communities, is actually controlled by the DAP, the party with the most number of parliamentary seats within the PR. How PAS has yielded to the DAP on the question of an "Islamic State", its defining ideology, and related issues, and how PKR has tailored its politics to enhance its appeal among the Chinese electorate are offered as evidence of this alleged subservience. There is thus an ethnic dimension to popular perceptions of both the What are the causes of this political polarisation? The intensification of the struggle for power at the federal level is undoubtedly the main factor. Because of its creditable performance in the 12th General Election in 2008, and its victories in 8 out of the 16 by-elections since then, the PR parties, each with its own agenda and goal, are convinced that they will capture Putrajaya in the 13th General Election. The BN is, of course, determined to remain in Putrajaya, hoping to regain its two-third majority in the Federal Parliament, and re-take some of the states it lost to the Opposition in the last election. Political polarisation arising from this intense, often aggressive contest has been exacerbated by the cyber media. With the advent of a variety of channels of expression from the website and blog to facebook and the tweet, millions of citizens are not only articulating their opinions on a whole range of social and political concerns --- which is a laudable development ---- but are also ventilating their communal biases, their religious prejudices and their personal frustrations as never before. Since cyber communication allows anonymity, quite a few are slanderous and vicious in their comments. When freedom is exercised in such an irresponsible manner, it is inevitable that political polarisation will increase. In this regard, elements within the mainstream print and electronic media are also culpable. There have been occasions when their stark or subtle biases have reinforced polarising tendencies in the larger society. The authorities have not checked these tendencies. The expanding NGO community which utilises the media to the hilt has also contributed to polarisation. Most politically oriented NGOs are aligned to one side or the other. Sometimes they adopt stances on political issues that are more communal than political parties. Even some professional bodies tend to incline towards this or that political party on certain controversies. It does not help that a number of intellectuals have also become blatantly partisan in outlook. Instead of fostering a balanced discourse through their writings some of them are rabidly biased to a point that they refuse to acknowledge the positive elements on the other side. They have tarnished their own intellectual credentials by presenting complex political challenges in stark black and white terms, often camouflaging their communal inclinations, and thus aggravating political polarisation. Can we overcome, or at least reduce, political polarisation? It is unlikely that appeals to both sides to dialogue and to reconcile will have any impact. It is perhaps the 13th General Election that will resolve the polarisation--- if it produces a decisive winner. Dr. Chandra Muzaffar is Chairman of the Board of Trustees of Yayasan 1Malaysia and Professor of Global Studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia.
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| Salleh to walk on Aug 13, says Ramadan a ‘non-issue’ Posted: 25 Jul 2011 01:06 PM PDT
KUCHING - Former PBB strongman Datuk Salleh Jafaruddin said today that he would participate in the MoCS 'Walk for Democracy and Reforms' slated for August 13 in Kuching. "I will be there with my supporters. I also urge Sarawakians to turn up in support of MoCS's agenda for change and urgent political reforms in the state," he said. Salleh, a cousin of Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud, contested in the April 16 state election in Balingian under the auspices of MoCS. A former deputy education minister, he was once tipped to succeed Taib but fell out with his cousin whom he recently described as a "semi-insane" leader who surrounded himself with bomohs and witchcraft. Salleh who was appointed MoCS adviser last week urged his fellow Muslims to come out in full force to participate in the Aug 13 event, saying that staging the walk during Ramadan was a 'non-issue'. He explained that "observing the holy Ramadan is a moral consideration while actually performing the ritual of fasting by Muslims is a religious obligation. "Since Islam forbids compulsion and at the same time allows its adherents to enjoy full freedom of belief and conscience, members of other religious denominations within our society must equally be granted freedom of choice which is the corner stone of collective responsibility and religious tolerance. "Having courage and steadfastness to convey the messages of love, justice and freedom through the sanctity of Ramadan is also a form of Jihad (striving in the way of God). "Helping fellow members of a community who may not be Muslims to gain freedom of information, to educate and convey the message of truth in an open, peaceful and free environment is also encouraged during Ramadan," he added. Salleh observed that "the strict observance of the holiness of Ramadan during the actual walk is in itself a constraint-inducement to create problems." "In fact, it is an act legitimately allowed under religious tenets and is morally encouraged to be carried out provided it is peaceful and does not include striving for individual or personal interests to enhance dominance, glory, wealth, prestige and pride," he said. Salleh said that MoCS's struggle was "in the interests of the community at large and it is striving for righteous deeds". "The walk is also a solemn event with prayers, singing of patriotic songs and honouring the heroes of Sarawak. Its theme 'We Love Sarawak' is also about care and compassion. There is nothing to suggest that the event is against the sanctity of Ramadan or insulting to Islam. "As a Muslim, I approve and support the MoCS walk and all right-thinking Muslims who love Sarawak should do likewise," he said. Salleh urged his fellow Muslims, especially the few in PBB, not to turn the peaceful event into a religious issue. "Instead, we should be proud and honoured that our non-Muslim brethren are walking with us for a good cause during the holy month of Ramadan," he said. Salleh revealed that another former deputy education minister, Datuk Bujang Ulis, has also confirmed his attendance at the Aug 13 walk.
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| Phang Shares His Views On The MACC Revamp Posted: 25 Jul 2011 09:47 AM PDT
By Tan Sri Robert Phang My comments on the measures taken by MACC are as follows:- 1. Suspension of the three (3) named officers as indicated by the RCI findings by the MACC for further interrogation by a newly appointed committee is absolutely necessary. 2. The new committee team members must be truly independent, whereby they have no direct or indirect interest in MACC or AG's chambers. They should not be consultants or advisors to MACC or AG's Department respectively. 3. There are plentiful suitable independent candidates who have been known to have the guts and the ability without fear or favor or any personal agenda to sit in this committee. 4. With this basis, the independent inquiry should be seen to be done with transparency. In order to avoid any unnecessary waste of time and to achieve a true picture of the conduct of these three (3) officers, this is mandatory. 5. It is undoubtedly also mandatory to improve the investigation method as highlighted and recommended by the RCI, which should also be governed by C.P.C. (Criminal Procedure Code) and also our supreme constitution. 6. The Rakyat is aware that the late Teoh Beng Hock was brought in as a live witness but was found dead the next day, within the MACC premises. It is also to note, that the findings of the RCI, that the late Teoh Beng Hock was never released. As such it is absolutely and 7. I call upon all sectors to be cool but to monitor on the comments, decisions and measures made by the MACC. My heartfelt sympathy be extended to the late Teoh Beng Hock's family. May God Bless His Soul To Rest In Peace.
ROBERT PHANG is the Chairman of Social Care Foundation |
| Posted: 25 Jul 2011 08:50 AM PDT
By batsman After all the praise heaped on NTR for being Bapa Transformasi, one wonders what transformations he has achieved to deserve such a great title? After all the GTPs, ETPs, NKRAs, KPIs, etc, Malaysia is still the same old "sameold". Even after an expensive time consuming RCI (called by NTR, no less) looking into the death of an innocent witness under the care of MACC (apparently invited to tea with MACC officers), nothing seems to have been changed. So what transformation has NTR achieved? It is as if the MACC has been exempted from having a KPI. It would actually be good if the MACC's KPI is made public, but the RCI never bothered to look into it. Does this mean then that the MACC does not have a KPI or is the MACC free to design its own KPI? If the MACC does not have a KPI, shouldn't the head honcho of MACC be sacked by NTR if NTR were serious about his transformation exercise? I am actually curious to know how the MACC interrogators' behaviours were influenced by the need to meet MACC KPI standards. Very obviously the watching of internet pornography using government equipment inside government premises should not be part of the MACC KPI…. But is it? So also is the act of interrogating witnesses to their deaths part of MACC KPI? It would seem that they have succeeded in an excellent manner with 2 known deaths so far to their credit. Who were the people responsible for reporting MACC's KPI results to higher authorities? Who are these authorities responsible to monitor MACC's KPI results? All these are not made known to the public, so it would seem that the public is justified in assuming that there is no KPI for the MACC. So should the great title of Bapa Transformasi be given to NTR for transforming so little. It would seem that the whole KPI exercise is just part of an advertising campaign, no more. Perhaps all this can be changed by the new determination of MACC announced recently that it wants to transform itself. If this is so, what is the role of Bapa Transformasi in affecting such a great motivational need in the MACC to transform itself or is it just an initiative by the MACC for the MACC alone? Will the MACC's great transformation be in time to produce a just outcome for Ahmad Sarbani? Is this a reasonable standard and performance figure to be including in the great transformation effort by the MACC? For now, all I can see is that there is so much talk, so many TV advertisements and so many promises, but so little integrity and so little honesty. Hopefully Bapa Transformasi will be able to do some real transformations for a change and live up to his name.
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| Posted: 25 Jul 2011 12:02 AM PDT By batsman Malaysians are not perfect people. They suffer from weaknesses too like the rest of the world. To improve, it is necessary to understand our weaknesses and correct them, otherwise, we will just continue to be 3rd class people exploited by all and sundry and especially by UMNO. For example, we are a lazy people. We prefer to let others do the fighting for us and then piggy back on any benefits or gains arising there from. Lots of foreign friends have voiced sympathy for our struggle for democratic reforms. Unfortunately, there is a tendency for Malaysians to let them do the fighting for us. This phenomenon can be seen in daily Malaysian life. Foreigners are given much more respect than locals. In fact if you think Malays get all the privileges, you are sorely mistaken. It is the foreigners who comes first. Hotel staff especially kow-tow to them very submissively. If UMNOputras are the Tuans, with their fierce bodyguards pushing ordinary people out of the way and their police escorts stopping traffic to let their convoys pass through smoothly, then foreigners are by default, are honorary Tuans, even more respected than UMNO because most of them try to be friendly all the time. More importantly, they are in control of funds not controlled by UMNO, whereas UMNOputras only become friendly during electioneering and distribute goodies to their preferred supporters and cronies and prejudice against all others. The help of foreign friends are sorely needed, but they cannot take the fight on their own shoulders and lobby their governments to do something. This would have the effect of Malaysians giving up the fight and allowing foreigners to do all the work. When governments become involved, things tend to be taken out of the hands of ordinary people. Not only will Malaysians be bullied by their own government, they have to surrender the initiative to foreign governments. I fear this will prove too much. As indicated by RPK's latest blog (Najib has a point here), Malaysians tend to give up too easily and surrender the initiative to higher ups. For example, Ahmad Sarbani's family has asked for a RCI to investigate his death, but at the same time, RPK has questioned why is it necessary to do this if Malaysians have already decided what caused Sarbani's death? What will happen next is that Malaysians will only quarrel over the findings of the RCI because RCIs no longer have the trust of the people. This is the state of justice in Malaysia. This is the unfortunate situation facing people who seek justice. Justice is not only blindfolded like the Statue of Liberty, but bound and tied hand and foot with the ISA/EO shoved down its throat. At least the Statue of Liberty has a sword in her hands giving the message that justice is blind to wealth, status and contacts. Our justice is blindfolded like the way Bosnians are blindfolded by Serb executioners. For Malaysians to do their own fighting they have to develop new institutions and organizations of justice. Those that are able to keep the fight going even when all seems lost. If such organizations and institutions are stillborn when the fight is surrendered to foreigners to do the fighting for us, then Malaysians will never grow up and take their place among the proud and free of the world, in spite of all the advertising campaigns pushing Malaysia Boleh, 1Malaysia, Bapa Transformasi and the rest of that junk. |
| The UMNO – Anders Breivik Link Posted: 24 Jul 2011 12:20 PM PDT By batsman To expose the UMNO- Anders Breivik link, one has to investigate the Norway massacre in relation to the complicity of western governments. In the 30's Germany, Hitler's Nazi Party went after communists and Jews in a big way. Everything was blamed on them including the burning of the Reichstag. The whole focus was placed on communists and Jews, but eventually the whole world paid a price too including the western liberals and moderates. Today, the western governments are going after Muslims in a big way. The whole focus is on Muslim terrorists. This covers up the activities of the far-right. The Anders Breivik phenomenon is just the tip of the iceberg. With recession raging in Europe and the US, it is almost guaranteed that the far right will gain a big influence together with the far left. So when the western governments go after communists and Jews, it will be the far right that gains. So far, extreme right wing madmen have killed more people in Europe and the US than terrorists linked to radicalized Muslims. This may be true for 911 as well. Judge for yourself… Immediately after the Oslo bombings, several terrorist organizations linked to radicalized Muslims claimed responsibility for it (see link). All these claims have since been downplayed. Could the same have happened after the 911 attack? Michael Moore seems to think that the 911 attack was a conspiracy and even made a documentary on this – the stupid radicalized Muslims, eager to claim credit, were just conveniently dragged into it. If we discount the deaths in the 911 attack as being uncertain whether they can be attributed to terrorists linked to radicalized Muslims or to conspirators, the Oklahoma bombings of home grown US far-right madmen would have killed a lot more people. With the US in danger of default, such obsessive focus on Muslims is really dangerous. Right wing madmen are capable of inflicting a lot more damage, especially if they get into power in the US. One lone mad gunman in Oslo was systematic and ruthlessly well organized enough to kill over 90 people compared to the hysterical and loud incompetent screaming and self-inflicted deaths in the Middle East. For one thing, the Zionists with their disciplined war machine kill a lot more Arabs than the hysterical Arabs are able to kill Israelis. To me the right-wing madmen are far more dangerous than fanatical incompetent terrorists linked to radicalized Muslims, but one covers up for the other. So how is UMNO linked to Anders Breivik? Judge for yourself – the UMNO controlled press is blaming Christians, communists, Jews and even Indonesians for all the trouble in Malaysia. In the meantime, they are courting 3 million silat exponents with inflammatory speeches. |
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