Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Youth and Political Awareness
- Malay behaviour: Survival replaces greed
- Is apple-polishing Zambry psychic?
- The credibility of AES
| Posted: 26 Oct 2012 01:38 AM PDT
I polled the audience and most of them had no idea who Khairy Jamaludin is, let alone PR's Nik Nazmi. From this, I had a hunch that the youth, despite the 'noise' they seem to be making about politics, are not really that aware. Anas Zubedy I was recently invited to speak at Perdana Leadership Foundation in a forum titled, "Citizenship in the Age of the Internet: Has the Internet increased political awareness among Malaysian youth?" The other panelist were YB Dato' Saifuddin Abdullah (Deputy Minister of Education), Tricia Yeo a researcher and former assistant to the Selangor MB Khalid Ibrahim, Cheah Kar Fei a student leader, former AIESEC President of Malaysia. The session was moderated by Lim Teck Hoe. I see being a panelist in this talk as a great chance to test a hypothesis I have regarding youth and political awareness. In a previous session I delivered early this year among 200 student leaders from all over the country, I polled the audience and most of them had no idea who Khairy Jamaludin is, let alone PR's Nik Nazmi. From this, I had a hunch that the youth, despite the 'noise' they seem to be making about politics, are not really that aware. In preparation for this talk, I experimented with the hunch. A telephone/face-on-face survey of 10 questions (5 behavioural/5 knowledge-based, Question 7 and 9 being tricky on purpose) was conducted between 15 and 16 October 2012. This is to minimize any opportunity to look up the answers and to capture the most candid ones. 120 respondents between the ages of 18 to 25 were surveyed and the answers supported my initial thought. Here are the findings: Question 1: Out of 1 hour of internet time, how many % of it you spend on reading news about politics?
Question 2: You get your biggest chunk of information about politics from? (e.g internet, friends, parents, TV, newspaper, etc)
Question 4: In one word how would you describe our politicians?
Question 5: Describe your trust level towards our politicians. 1) Excellent 2) Good 3) Average 4) Poor 5) Very Poor
Question 6: How many seats are there in the Malaysian Parliament?
Question 8: What is the prerequisite to amend the constitution in the Malaysian Parliament? 51% votes, 63% or 75%?
Question 9: How many federal and how many state seats does Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur has? (Note: Trick question. Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur does not hold any state seats)
Question 10: Do you know what Article 153 is about? Tell me a little about it.
In conclusion. The panellists were given a task to answer 4 questions with regards to the title. Based on the survey results, I provide conclusions as the following 1. Based on all of the above consideration, do I believe that the age of Internet has increased political awareness among Malaysian youth? My conclusion : Not particularly. 2. Do I think the Internet is being properly utilised to understand political and national issues? My conclusion : Not particularly. 3. Why is that? My conclusion : Simple, there are just too many distractions out there and politicians are not seen as cool. If the youth likes football, they'd make an effort to watch the matches. If they fancy a particular celebrity, they'd be stalking the celebrity on twitter and be reading up about him or her in all available media. Our politicians lack the cool factor and as a consequence, the youth just don't have that drive to fully use the Internet to catch up on current affairs, politics in particular. 4. Ultimately, do I think the 'Internet population' will significantly affect the outcome of the thirteenth general election? My conclusion: Not particularly. The parties are better off concentrating on their ground-level machinery, making sure their workers go all out to approach the voters, and also to curb internal sabotage to ensure UNITY IN PURPOSE. I have another hunch.. If we ask the same questions to older Malaysians, the results would not be too far off too. What do you think? | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Malay behaviour: Survival replaces greed Posted: 25 Oct 2012 08:01 PM PDT Malays continue to blame others for their failures and will not work hard to earn self-respect and the respect of others in the community. For decades, many Malaysians, both Malays and non-Malays, tried to highlight the abuse of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which has enabled Umnoputras to become millionaires overnight, whilst the majority of the rakyat suffered. Mariam Mokhtar, FMT The unprecedented outburst by a member of the Malay business community this week did not come as a surprise; but is his expression of indignation enough? Speaking at the Malay Economic Congress in Kuala Lumpur, the president of the Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (MCCM), Syed Ali Alattas, denounced Malay leaders for their greed and corrupt practices and that their lack of a "clean heart", contributed to the failure of the Malay business community. Syed Ali did not reveal anything new; what he said has been known by most Malaysians, but ignored by Umno politicians, Umnoputras, Malays in denial and the non-Malay cronies of Umno. So, why is Syed Ali criticising the Malay leaders now? What prompted him to condemn these leaders, whom he cultivated for years? Syed Ali said that despite billions of ringgits being pumped into the Malay economy, the Malays have achieved little. He said: "What's gone wrong? That's what is being asked……There is a lot of carelessness and not enough responsibility among leaders which caused Malays to fall behind". "Corruption and greed caused the Malay agenda to fail," he added. For decades, many Malaysians, both Malays and non-Malays, tried to highlight the abuse of the New Economic Policy (NEP), which has enabled Umnoputras to become millionaires overnight, whilst the majority of the rakyat suffered. Many complained about the preferential educational opportunities, housing and job openings given to the Malays. Some of these outspoken people were detained under the ISA, considered a national threat and called public enemies. Families were broken up when parents encouraged their children to settle overseas for a brighter future. On a national level, the country lost a much valued resource – some of its best and brightest people. Whilst this was going on, was Syed Ali living off the fat of the land, enjoying the scraps thrown at him by Umno? The NEP experiment has been a failure, since its inception, so why did Syed Ali not admit this earlier? He claims that Malays are at a "crossroads" but cynics argue that it is the Malay leaders of industry and business, people like Syed Ali, and not the Malay community, who are at the "crossroads". With Umno lying in the gutter, and their own positions looking increasingly precarious and untenable, people like Syed Ali have finally chosen to be vocal. Switching sides Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak's body language speaks of failure. In his public speeches, he no longer cries out "Who will defend Putrajaya with me?" He has stopped saying that he would "defend Putrajaya with blood, sweat and tears". In the near future, we will probably see an avalanche of Malays in positions of seniority, like Syed Ali coming forward to criticise Umno and other parts of the BN coalition. These people are cowards but sensing the failure of Umno, are cunning enough to ingratiate themselves with the rakyat and perhaps, try and align themselves with the new administration. The MCCM president admitted that less than 10% of the economy, in terms of equity, businesses and shops, is Malay owned. He declared: "I am brave enough to say that there is not one shop in the centre of Johor Baru that is owned by a Malay". Syed Ali may claim that he is "brave", but his "bravery" is just deceit. He is merely trying to ingratiate himself with the opposition. Perhaps, his open criticism is another 'play' for the benefit of the rakyat. Umno is known to be divided into many camps, so has someone needled Syed Ali to attack Najib? Last year, when Umno was in a stronger position than today, the Malay Mail carried a report, on Dec 19, 2011, in which Syed Ali demanded government projects, such as the RM3 billion Pudu Prison redevelopment, be given to bumiputera companies, "irrespective of whether they could deliver." Syed Ali told the Malay Mail, "The issue is not whether the contract should be given to a bumiputera or a non-bumiputera company. The bumiputera companies should be given such projects but we never get this kind of deals. Such projects should be given to us. Period." The link to this article, in the Malay Mail, is http://www.mmail.com.my/content/87577-only-bumi-companies-govt-projects. The article is widely cited on the internet but has since been removed from the paper. Today, Syed Ali sings a different tune. He castigates Malay leaders and asks "What's gone wrong?"
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| Is apple-polishing Zambry psychic? Posted: 25 Oct 2012 02:43 PM PDT How does Najib Tun Razak fingering '1' this and '1' that answer the fact that 12% of the Malays live below the poverty level? What Najib really is, is a master of subterfuge with an expiring shelf-life in an organisation dominated by life-time right-wingers. And Zamry in particular knows, that his leader who shouts loudly here and there, is a man shouted at, at home. Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz, FMT Some cocksure apple-polishing politician has come up with wickedly ingenuous NAJ1B – Negeri Aman Jika 1Malaysia Bersatu. Wow! Now we know the world does not revolve around Umno. It's revolves around Najib, the son of Tun Razak. It must be a sign of desperate times calling for desperate measures. The recent attempt by Perak Menteri Besar Zamry Kadir – the man who benefited from Umno's coup d'état of the legitimately elected Perak government – to canonise Najib is surely a naked unashamed display of sycophant-ism. Let us somberly remind Zamry that canonisation or the act of declaring a person as saint is done only on deceased persons. Perhaps Zamry already knows that after the 13th general election, Umno will be dead. Or maybe Zamry wishes to cement his candidacy by doing just what he knows Najib likes – to inflate the latter's ego. So, better declare Najib a saint before its too late. After all Najib has acted as Santa Claus for a number of years. At every budget, Najib has given out money to people in order to buy loyalty. Umno and Barisan Nasional has been doing that for more than 20 years in Kelantan, it hasn't succeeded. Loyalty earned from conviction and belief isn't as fragile as one earned by way of paying for it. Najib and Umno haven't learnt that. Najib and Umno haven't got what it takes to inspire loyalty. They poured tonnes of money into Bandar Tun Razak, yet the stuttering Khalid Ibrahim (Selangor MB) won handsomely. What Najib really is, is a master of subterfuge with an expiring shelf-life in an organisation dominated by life-time right-wingers. And Zamry in particular knows, that his leader who shouts loudly here and there, is a man shouted at, at home. A little panadol-like ego booster is a much needed calming remedy. Najib has to create a Kim Il Jung persona to overwhelm the right wingers in Umno. Najib, a cult figure? He is this and that without ever realising that what he is doing is mythifying impressions. How does '1′ this and '1′ that solve our economic productivity? How does '1′ this and '1′ that, answer the fact that 12% of the Malays lived below the poverty level? How does Najib fingering '1′ this and '1′ that explain that after 55 years of independence and rule by Umno, income disparity within the Malay community is greatest?
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| Posted: 25 Oct 2012 11:02 AM PDT
The PAS-backed Kempen Anti-Saman Ekor uncovered that many of the 831 locations where AES cameras would be set up were incredulous, with some of them located in the middle of the sea and jungle. Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily The drawbacks and weaknesses of the Automatic Enforcement System (AES) have been gradually revealed and if the Road Transport Department (RTD) does not make a comprehensive review, the AES might not be able to achieve the desired objectives due to the lack of credibility. The PAS-backed Kempen Anti-Saman Ekor (Kase) uncovered that many of the 831 locations where AES cameras would be set up were incredulous, with some of them located in the middle of the sea and jungle. Some Internet users teased that these AES cameras were used to capture speeding fish and beasts. If it is confirmed to be a mistake made by the RTD, it will once again expose the weakness of no proper planning for the AES. It was reported earlier that among the locations where AES cameras would be installed, five of them were located at 30km/h zones and some with inconspicuous or without a signboard to warn motorists about the cameras. Transport Minister Datuk Seri Kong Cho Ha later said that the 831 locations were only a proposal that could still be reviewed. The problem is, who had provided the information for the authority to examine and determine the locations? Was it the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research (MIROS), the contracted companies or the police? The latter should be the one who knows where traffic accident black areas are located. The AES is a good plan, but it has been continuously questioned, due to a few factors. The people cannot understand why the AES is handed over to private companies, instead of having a group of experts in the Transport Ministry to manage the system. Without having a clear picture about the content of the contracts, the amount of profit earned, the background and qualification of the private companies are speculated. The credibility of the AES reduces when law enforcement is connected to business. The accuracy of the AES has also been questioned. Although Miros claimed that the AES system and instruments are complying with the Weights and Measures Act of Malaysia and all authentication procedures are based on the international standard developed by the International Organization of Legal Metrology (OIML). However, has it been tested and verified by foreign experts? The AES execution is inhumane and it is not in line with the concept of people first. Motorists receiving AES summonses could only appeal to courts. The Transport Ministry should have considered that some motorists might be innocent, including those whose vehicle registered numbers are embezzled and those who have sold their cars without changing the owner's name. The RTD can actually handle such appeals immediately and it is not necessary to bring them to courts. Most crucially, not like other countries where only the rich can afford to drive, most motorists in Malaysia are middle and low-income earners due to the poor public transport infrastructure. The RM300 flat fine of the AES summonses is absolutely politically incorrect. Since there are so many doubts about the AES, I believe that some motorists will challenge the system in courts, just like some property owners have challenged the Indah Water, and eventually, many people refuse to pay the sewage charges. Since only 14 AES cameras have been installed so far, the Transport Ministry should immediate conduct a comprehensive review to avoid more mistakes when the system is fully implemented. The Transport Ministry can actually learn from the experience of other countries. For example, France stresses on both punishment and education to reduce car accident deaths. The country has installed another 1,000 radar speed detectors in highways of different levels and imposed heavier penalties for speeding. At the same time, the country also strictly enforces traffic laws and driving test, improve road infrastructure and release traffic information through electronic display signs. We can not rely only on a single method or system to reduce road accidents. The AES will not be able to change the outcome, if human factors remain unchanged. |
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