Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- I'm spending a week on a friend's boat in Phuket
- Will BN recapture Selangor?
- Neither DAP nor PAS respects Azmin
- Borneo politics moves another notch forward
- A slap in the face for Perkasa’s Malay agenda
- Don: Don’t make same mistake
- Opposition house in disarray?
- We are looking at the fifth estate
- Umno’s missed opportunity
| I'm spending a week on a friend's boat in Phuket Posted: 20 Dec 2011 08:37 AM PST I am updating this from the high seas, a guest of my friend who owns a boat in Phuket. We are now sailing out to Phi Phi Island and will be spending a week on the boat. This is how I have to suffer a life in exile. Marina, no worse for the rocking and reeling. The Boat Lagoon Resort in Phuket.
Our sleeping quarters. The 54-footer catamaran.
Phi Phi Island.
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| Posted: 20 Dec 2011 08:16 AM PST The situation is quite dire for Pakatan as it has taken no steps whatsoever to counter Umno's lies and propaganda. The Pakatan state government is either disinterested in strategy or plain ignorant as to what is going on in the Malay heartland. Umno's party workers are diligently doing home visits and their task is made easier as it is reinforced by the mainstream media, the only media which penetrates into the rural areas. Selena Tay, Free Malaysia Today There have been grassroots reports that Umno party workers have been campaigning in the Malay rural heartland in Selangor by telling the rural folk two simple lies. The first is that if Pakatan Rakyat wins the 13th general election, DAP will "Christianise" the country and turn Malaysia into a republic like Singapore. The second big lie spread by the Umno campaigners is that PKR's revelations on the (National) Feedlot (Corporation) issue are all baseless. Of course, all these are falsehoods by Umno campaigners and it reveals that Umno's desperation has already come to the fore. Nevertheless, this is a very effective two-pronged attacking method employed by Umno in capturing the hearts and minds of the Malays so that they will give their vote to Barisan Nasional (BN). So far, the Pakatan Selangor state government is either oblivious to Umno's campaign or is in the dark about it as no steps whatsoever have been taken to counter Umno's lies and propaganda. If the Pakatan Selangor government does not take any action to reach out and explain the truth to the people, then all is lost as the polls could be held as early as February next year. In reality, the situation in Selangor is quite dire for Pakatan. There is no use harping on "Merakyatkan Ekonomi Selangor" when Umno's propaganda in regard to DAP and the Feedlot issues are taking root. Ground reports have revealed that the Malay rural folk are starting to believe that DAP wants to turn Malaysia into a republic and PKR's revelations on Feedlot are nothing but malicious lies to tarnish Shahrizat Abdul Jalil's reputation. With the Malay support in the kualas and the hulus swinging to Umno, it is going to be a very difficult task for Pakatan to hold on to Selangor. This is a fact as there are many seats in the rural areas compared to the urban areas. A 5% vote swing by the Malays to Umno is enough for BN to recapture Selangor. The statistics itself clearly illustrates the difficulty Pakatan is facing. There are 10 state assembly seats in Selangor where Pakatan won with a less than 10% majority in 2008. They are Bukit Melawati, Cempaka, Teluk Datuk, Sekinchan, Damansara (wherein all five of these seats were won with a less than 5% majority), Ulu Kelang, Bukit Antarabangsa, Kota Anggerik, Lembah Jaya and Selat Kelang. There are eight parliamentary seats in Selangor which were also won by less than 10% majority. They are Hulu Selangor, Kuala Selangor, Hulu Langat, Kuala Langat (all of which were won by less than 5% majority), Gombak, Ampang, Selayang and Kelana Jaya. Hulu Selangor has already been recaptured by BN when MIC's P Kamalanathan defeated PKR's Zaid Ibrahim in the Hulu Selangor by-election in April last year.
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| Neither DAP nor PAS respects Azmin Posted: 19 Dec 2011 08:50 AM PST PKR must find within its ranks a leader they can trust implicitly. And so I tell Anwar this: "If I know that PAS and DAP will not accept Azmin as leader of PKR, is it not time that you take cognizance of their stand and fall into line with this consensus too?" CT Ali, Free Malaysia Today Last week, I wrote that PKR must ready itself to lead the opposition Pakatan Rakyat with or without Anwar Ibrahim. The operative word I said was "ready itself". There are now within PKR three people who can do this (lead PKR): Azmin Ali, Saifuddin Nasution Ismail and Nurul Izzah Anwar. Three candidates without any common ground between them that would enable them to work together as one for the good of PKR and Pakatan Rakyat. So PKR must choose one. First we talk about Azmin. Azmin is Anwar's choice. I am not going to go into Anwar's reason for doing so because my business is not to second-guess him. My business is to tell Anwar and you all why we should or should not agree with what Anwar wants to do. Remember what I have said before: "Where does our responsibility to Anwar end and our responsibility to PKR and Pakatan start?" It starts when I believe that Anwar has made a decision that will harm PKR and Pakatan. Anwar must defer to views When Anwar chose to endorse Azmin overtly or covertly, then PKR and we will have to decide if what he did was right. My stand is very simple. PAS will not accept Azmin as leader of PKR. DAP will not accept Azmin as leader of PKR. You and I should defer to the wisdom and experience of Tok Guru (Nik Aziz Nik Mat), Abdul Hadi Awang, Lim Kit Siang and Karpal Singh. And so I tell Anwar this: "If I know that PAS and DAP will not accept Azmin as leader of PKR, is it not time that you take cognizance of their stand and fall into line with this consensus too?" "To do otherwise would only harm what you want for PKR and Pakatan Rakyat. It is enough that PAS said in no uncertain terms that Zaid Ibrahim is back within Pakatan Rakyat's fold. Now will they have to tell you that they want Azmin out?" Second comes Saifuddin Saifuddin is a good man loyal to Anwar. What we can hope for is that his loyalty to Anwar will see him do what is best for PKR no matter what his personal preferences are. I doubt that he will have the stomach to immerse himself totally in the cut and thrust of PKR's politics but if push comes to shove, Saifuddin will do what is best for Anwar. And what is best for Anwar is a strong and cohesive PKR! We are now left with Nurul Izzah. And what a choice she is for us! Nurul Izzah is a riot of possibilities. Let's look at her pluses. She carries the goodwill of many of our young people and that of many women in Malaysia with her decision to go into politics. The others will give her room to develop politically and are not overly critical of her too tentative foray into Malaysian politics – but the clock is ticking. Her greatest strength is the potential and promise she exudes to do good in politics. But has she got what it takes to do what her father has done in the face of adversity? Does she have the ability to stand and fight when all is lost and what is left is only belief in yourself to do what you know is right? Will she stand up to Azmin and Saifuddin if they stand in her way? Nurul Izzah is still to be tried and tested in the cut and thrust of politics as it is done in Malaysia.
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| Borneo politics moves another notch forward Posted: 18 Dec 2011 03:40 PM PST Most of the media missed the significance of Jeffrey Kitingan's press conference last Friday. The Borneo Alliance would be the third force in the Malaysian Parliament, neither for nor against its two rivals but willing and ready to assist one of them to form the Federal Government. For East Malaysians, there's not much of a choice between BN and Pakatan. It therefore stands to reason that they need to look elsewhere after half a century of Malaysia. Joe Fernandez, Free Malaysia Today Jeffrey Kitingan, true to form, inched his politics forward yet another notch last Friday in Kota Kinabalu. However, the media was too upset to notice anything significant since he didn't announce, as they expected, the formation of a brand new political vehicle that would do battle with both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. The rumours had been floating around, even from before Jeffrey quit PKR early this year, that he would head his own party and soon. This would be the only news from Jeffrey that would interest the media. The rest of Jeffrey they can't fathom and prefer not to bother with. One newsman, probably echoing the thoughts of his colleagues, said Jeffrey had "not taken the bull by the horns but indulged in even more political bull than usual". This was one too many vague generalisations even from Jeffrey, they bawled in unison. They had expected a little more meat this time and went away sorely disappointed. Another newsman, the doyen of local reporters, literally demanded that the Friday gathering begin rather than end with the press conference. The organisers gave in and the newsmen left in a huff after the press conference and skipped the speeches and high tea that followed. (It was the first anniversary of Jeffrey's United Borneo Front, UBF.) Many newsmen even swore they would not turn up again if Jeffrey had the temerity to call for another press conference to announce yet another "important political direction". According to them, Jeffrey has made too many announcements of important political directions that turned out to be anti climactic. The truth is somewhere between the two extremes. Jeffery has always been consistent in his politics even as he went through as many parties as he could between 1994 and early this year, beginning with Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS) and ending with PKR. The emphasis has always been on the struggle for the rights of Sabah and Sarawak under the 1963 Malaysia Agreement. Rivaling BN and Pakatan Once he realised that a particular political vehicle had no intention or was incapable of embracing the agenda, he lost little time in quitting, letting his numerous followers to decide whether to follow him or part company. His exit from any party was sometimes not easy, especially if preceded by a challenge by him, egged on by his supporters, for the number one post or resulting in a permanent state of crisis until he left. Jeffrey has been labelled King of the Frogs for this tendency not to remain for long with any party. He doesn't reject the crown, but has always pointed out that he's "a good frog", whatever that means. He has also lived up to the blood-is-thicker-than-water perception, as underlined last Friday, when he indicated that he would not head a political party as long as his brother, Joseph Pairin Kitingan, remained PBS chief. Even the proposed Parti Cinta Sabah, linked to him since early last year, does not have his name in the line-up. If the media have lost sight of the significance of Friday's press conference, it's because they have allowed wishful thinking on Jeffrey to cloud their judgment. Last Friday was important because it confirmed that the Borneo Alliance would emerge as a rival to both BN and Pakatan. However, don't expect the alliance to be registered anytime soon as "Borneo" is a taboo word with the Registrar of Societies. The Borneo Alliance would be the third force in the Malaysian Parliament, neither for nor against its two rivals but willing and ready to assist one of them to form the Federal Government. For East Malaysians, there's not much of a choice between BN and Pakatan. It therefore stands to reason that they need to look elsewhere after half a century of Malaysia.
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| A slap in the face for Perkasa’s Malay agenda Posted: 18 Dec 2011 03:37 PM PST Withdrawing 'Interlok' from schools is a win-win situation and Perkasa should learn to respect the rights of non Malays instead of whining. Perkasa has got it wrong – it is Interlok author Abdullah Hussain who has insulted the dignity of the Indians and Chinese, so the issue of MIC and Indian votes does not arise. Clearly, all that Perkasa wants and cares about is safeguarding Malay rights, never mind that it makes this movement a buffoon for its nonsensical views. Jeswan Kaur, Free Malaysia Today When Karpal Singh dubbed Malay right-wing group Perkasa's anger and objection to Interlok being removed altogether from the school syllabus as 'weird logic', he was putting it mildly. The truth is Perkasa is angry because it failed to keep the momentum of its 'Malay-agenda' going. That Interlok humiliates the Chinese and Indians and only creates hostility among Malaysians of different racial backgrounds is far from Perkasa's concern. "It's wrong for an extremist organisation like Perkasa to criticise the government's decision to remove Interlok," Karpal had said. The novel which chronicles the lives and struggles of three families – a Malay, Chinese and Indian during pre-independence Malaya was made compulsory reading for Form Five students as part of the Malay Literature subject in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan and Putrajaya. The novel contains racially offensive words such as 'India Pariah', 'Melayu Malas', 'Cina Kuai', 'perempuan totok', 'babi' and 'syaitan putih'. It sparked an outrage, especially from the Indian community. Interlok was also criticised for portraying unhealthy elements such as pre-marital cohabitation, infidelity, spirit worship, trading in humans. And yet, Perkasa found no reason for Interlok to be removed as a reading subject in schools. Its secretary-general Syed Hasan Syed Ali said the group was very angry with MIC president G Palanivel over the withdrawal of the Form 5 literature text. He expressed Perkasa's disappointment and regret over the government's decision. "The government is too weak and has failed to withstand pressure from a minority group that is big headed. Perkasa is aware of MIC's need to bank on the Indian vote for the GE13. This is very insolent. Because of the Indian vote, the dignity of a Malay writer is being insulted," said Syed Hassan. Such views are far from "weird logic ". They, if anything, are a clear sign that Perkasa has no intention whatsoever of respecting the rights of the non Malays. Unity between rakyat of different racial beliefs is not Perkasa's concern. Perkasa has got it wrong – it is Interlok author Abdullah Hussain who has insulted the dignity of the Indians and Chinese, so the issue of MIC and Indian votes does not arise. Clearly, all that Perkasa wants and cares about is safeguarding Malay rights, never mind that it makes this movement a buffoon for its nonsensical views. Perkasa a threat to 1Malaysia unity Its consistent track record of threatening and insulting non-Malays has made Perkasa a threat where national security and peace are concerned. Ironically, such bigotry and venomous show by Perkasa time and again has never been a concern with the BN government. Should the trend of condemning the other races by Perkasa persists, there is no denying the animosity that is bound to erupt. Intervention has to come fast to put a leash on Ibrahim Ali, the face behind Perkasa who calls the shots which are without fail, injurious to Najib's 1Malaysia unity. It is baffling that an entity like Perkasa has been granted the right to exist, when all it continues to do is to malign the Indians and Chinese. What is stopping Najib from confronting Ibrahim, cautioning him of the harm Perkasa keeps doing through its extremists beliefs. It was Perkasa that labelled election watchdog Bersih 2.0 chairperson S Ambiga as dajal or antichrist when she agreed to officiate the 'Seksualiti Merdeka' festival last month, an event which provided the much needed space to the gay, lesbian, transgender, intersex and queer communities.
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| Posted: 18 Dec 2011 11:41 AM PST 'Failure to include ethnic ties expert on education review panel may have serious consequences' "As far as I know, no expert on ethnic relations is a member of any of the six committees. This neglect on this matter is a real surprise for a society that claims to be 'Malaysia truly Asia'. The expert or experts could have pointed out on what is sensible and sensitive to our multi-ethnic society," he said. Azril Annuar, The Malay Mail THE flames of hate and racial anger over issues such the controversial Interlok novel might once again be resurrected should the government continue to neglect to include ethnic relations experts on its Special Committee to Review Education in Malaysia. Independent Panel on Interlok chairman and Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia's (UKM) Institute of Ethnic Studies director Prof Datuk Dr Shamsul Amri Baharuddin voiced out his concern that the "Interlok incident" might occur again. "The Special Committee to Review Education in Malaysia, appointed last week, is made up mainly of scientists and nonspecialists on ethnic relations. They have popular knowledge but not deep research-based knowledge on ethnic relations," he told The Malay Mail. "Isn't our education system an ethnic-oriented one, with vernacular schools still functioning and alive? I am not surprised if we were to make the same mistake again, like the Interlok episode, when the review was done devoid of research-based knowledge on the dynamics of ethnic relations in Malaysia." Shamsul said there were six zones with different textbooks for secondary school literature, with each zone having its own committee to select and review each textbook. However, he was surprised there were no ethnic relations experts in any of the committees. "As far as I know, no expert on ethnic relations is a member of any of the six committees. This neglect on this matter is a real surprise for a society that claims to be 'Malaysia truly Asia'. The expert or experts could have pointed out on what is sensible and sensitive to our multi-ethnic society," he said. Touching on whether or not politics had taken hold of Malaysian education with the cabinet decision to withdraw the controversial novel, Shamsul said it was not about politics. "This is about being knowledgeable and educated about our own society, with the depth and breadth expected from a society that has 1,700 professors in the public universities. "It is not ignorance but neglect that is the critical issue here, neglect as a result of and informed by the simplistic notion that having 'goodwill' is enough for this multi-ethnic society to survive. We need more than goodwill to survive in the long-term." Asked whether the panel had wasted its time negotiating and discussing the novel as it was going to be withdrawn from the Form Five school syllabus next year, he said "negotiations for peace and stability of the society is never a waste of time". He said the withdrawal meant the selection process of textbooks had been improved. Shamsul also said he was proud of the negotiation process handled by the independent panel as it was resolved amicably, where he witnessed "social cohesion" being alive and functioning in Malaysia. Written by national laureate Abdullah Hussain in 1971, Interlok was made a compulsory Bahasa Malaysia literature text for Form Five students this year. It was criticised for containing material offensive to the Indian community, such as the inclusion of the words kasta pariah. On Friday, MIC deputy president Datuk S. Subramaniam said the cabinet had, in its meeting, decided to withdraw the novel from the school syllabus.
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| Posted: 17 Dec 2011 09:49 AM PST The loose coalition appears to be a bit under the weather lately Nasharuddin, who along with Dr Hassan, is widely tipped to be dropped in the next election due to their stand, told Berita Minggu today in an interview that Pas had started to derail from its original struggle. A. Jalil Hamid, New Straits Times IT IS said that Islamic party Pas is having second thoughts about keeping maverick Pas leader Da-tuk Dr Hassan Ali because he is fighting for Islam. In Penang, the mainly Chinese DAP has been rocked by a widening feud between two non-Chinese leaders in the party. Just as the floods are causing havoc in Kuala Lumpur and other parts of the country due to the monsoon, the opposition is a bit under the weather these days. Pas and DAP, the two main parties in the tripartite Pakatan Rakyat, have seen their respective infightings coming out into the open to dominate the front pages in recent weeks. With de facto Pakatan leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim battling his seemingly endless legal woes -- the verdict for his Sodomy II trial is due on Jan 9 -- the opposition alliance is slipping further into disarray despite the imminent general election. Up to now, Anwar's fledgling Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) has been the glue that binds the more established Pas and DAP. But it seems more a marriage of convenience because of their contrasting party ideologies. Such unions may not last long. PKR has experienced top-level resignations, the latest being Bukit Gelugor division chief Lim Boo Chang, who resigned from the party and hit out at the DAP-led Penang government. In all, PKR has seen the resignations of six members of parliament, five state assemblymen, a deputy president, a vice-president, a secretary-general and several supreme council members. DAP and Pas have also lately bickered over issues such as the imposition of hudud law, apostasy cases in Selangor, the beer-sale ban in Selangor and the future of the casino in Genting Highlands. The parties, along with PKR, rule Selangor, Penang, Kedah and Kelantan and hold sizeable seats in Parliament after their unprecedented strong showing in the March 2008 election. Critics say the opposition, which struggled to rule those states, began campaigning for the coming general election right after the last election by forcing or diverting the Barisan Nasional (BN) government from its responsibility of governing. This, however, has not deterred the government from pushing ahead with its transformation agenda. The latest opposition disarray could provide an impetus for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to hold the elections sooner than later. No doubt he will call for elections when the time is right, after considering many factors. There are possibly many things running through his mind when deciding on the date, but winning by a comfortable majority should be the overriding consideration. BN, banking on its proven track record, will continue to work hard for the election, which Najib has described as one of the "toughest". It will certainly not take things for granted. There are certainly positive signs in BN's favour. For instance, Pakatan is believed to have conceded that Pas, on its own, is unlikely to be able to maintain the Malay support it enjoyed in the 2008 election. Observers say Pas would face an uphill task even defending its seats in the Malay heartland, including parliamentary seats in its power base of Kelantan, which it has ruled for a record 21 years. Within Pas, the rife worsened after Dr Hassan, who is also exco member in the PKR-led Selangor government, fell out with the Pas leadership. It has also seemed to have opened up a brewing discontent within the party over Dr Hassan's strong commitment to Islam. Dr Hassan, who has been viewed by some as a thorn both in Selangor Pas and Pakatan, has won the support of former Pas deputy president Nasharuddin Mat Isa, who has insisted that Pas should put Islam first. Nasharuddin, who along with Dr Hassan, is widely tipped to be dropped in the next election due to their stand, told Berita Minggu today in an interview that Pas had started to derail from its original struggle. "Pas should be more firm and consistent in stating its stand on many issues," the former academic said. "The perception from outside is that Pas appears to be less rigid. This is dangerous." In the case of DAP, it was a bitter row played out in the media between DAP chairman Karpal Singh and Penang deputy chief minister II P. Ramasamy. A three-member panel to resolve the dispute has declared that the issue between Karpal and Ramasamy had been resolved and that the party leadership would move forward as a united team to face the elections. Saying the issue was far from being resolved, Karpal on Thursday made it clear that the panel might have come to its own conclusions, but "it was definitely not the end of the matter". Looks like it's a case of "it never rains but it pours" for the opposition this rainy season. |
| We are looking at the fifth estate Posted: 16 Dec 2011 08:12 AM PST Why should politics reach out to social media? Just look at the figures put out by the Internet and Mobile Association of India. At 112 million, and growing by 5-7 million internet users a month, India is well on its way to topple the US (245 million users) and come within sneaking distance of China (485 million). With that pace, India would well cross 500 million by 2015.
A joke doing the rounds in cyberspace gives an idea of social media's chain reaction. "Thank God, the Kolaveri song was sung by Dhanush. If it was sung by his father-in-law Rajnikanth, it would have been our national anthem."
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| Posted: 16 Dec 2011 07:44 AM PST Issues of national concern were not discussed at the recent Umno general assembly. Delegates also failed to call on Najib to step down for Umno to rise again. Under an undemocratic-despotic government where gross abuse of power is the hallmark of the regime, it is of no surprise then that no concerted efforts have been made by the government to tackle such malpractices let alone remove corrupt federal ministers, chief ministers and menteris besar. Awang Abdillah, Free Malaysia Today Frankly, the recent Umno general assembly was the best venue and probably the last chance for Umno leaders to show their sincerity in addressing party and national concerns. Instead of adopting the Mahathir doctrine or rather its despotic policy, Umno president and Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak should have discussed with the party leaders on how best to tackle the party and national problems. Disgruntled members should have urged Najib to step down as one of the solutions for Umno to rise again. Personal leadership, party strength and national issues and problems are all inter-related. Glaringly missing at the Umno general assembly were discussions on issues of national concerns. Allow me to list it all out here. The most prominent of the major national issues is the growing national debt which now stands at RM437 billion, dwarfing the expected revenue of RM186.9 billion for 2012. A massive national debt is one of the main factors that can destabilise the economy of the country. Such a gigantic problem can be seen from afar by financial institutions and fund managers, the Employees Provident Fund board, foreign investors, dealers and speculators in the Malaysian foreign exchange market, investors in Bursa Malaysia, trading partners and our neighbouring countries. If this problem remains unsolved, a number of fallouts are expected: banks will hold on to credit outflow leading to higher lending rates; flight of capital out of Malaysia; panic selling of the ringgit leading to a free-fall of the currency; panic selling of stocks in Bursa Malaysia; foreign direct investment will be neglible; unemployment will rise; delays in public funding of development projects, and so on. There is no reason for a country like Malaysia – blessed with natural resources, high exports of primary commodities and other goods valued at RM639.4 billion for 2010 – to become a net borrower for development funds. We believe as much as 30 to 40 percent of the development allocations in the yearly national budget goes indirectly to Umno politicians and Pesaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB), too, and its companies. For 2012 , a sum of RM51.2 billion is allocated for development. As much as 30 to 40 percent of the amount may be siphoned away through marked-up prices of government contracts, maintenance of public projects and supplies to government ministries, departments and agencies. Some of such practices are partly revealed by the Auditor-General Report 2010. Unfortunately, the Auditor-General made false reports on the Sarawak government's public accounts for the last nine years, for reasons best known to him. If Umno cares about the welfare of the rakyat, then Najib and his top party leaders should discuss ways during the party general assembly to reduce this serious national problem instead of pushing it aside. For any country, if its national debt keeps on growing, it would mean that government development funds in the past years have not been properly utilised for productive economic projects, which can give good returns to the government. Instead, a big portion of it goes to the personal accounts of Umno politicians.
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