Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Big problems, small solutions
- What value our degrees?
- Are Malaysia’s law-enforcing institutions paralysed?
- Stupid and indecent proposal
- No more feel-good factor for BN
- CAT rips off DAP’s outlook
- Graft, financial waste definitely wrong, be it RM30k or RM100m
- Indian Voters Kingmakers Once Again
- Red faces over ‘1314’ mistake
| Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:13 AM PST
Compared with Anwar's ideas to solve the nation's woes, Najib's 1Malaysia This and 1Malaysia That are but small painkillers providing short-term relief Selena Tay, FMT Soon 10 million Malaysian citizens will be able to enjoy the 1Malaysia Privilege Card and do online shopping at the 1Malaysia Privilege Portal. This may be a way of enabling the rakyat to obtain a bit of discount benefits but this is not solving the problem in the long run. A friend of this columnist mentioned that 5% discount is given for purchases at a fast-food outlet but the discount is only limited to purchases of less than RM20. Do your math and see how little the discount comes up to! Frankly, all these 1Malaysia ideas are not solving the problems at all. They are just little ideas yielding tiny gains for the rakyat. One of the biggest problems faced by the nation is corruption. Is there any major effort by the relevant authorities to curb this crime? Forget the NKRAs (National Key Result Areas) and the KPIs (Key Performance Index) but has there been any real reduction in corruption? Zilch, nil, tiada. Another major problem is the ever-rising crime rate. Any reduction? Not really. Snatch thefts and house break-ins are rampant and rife. Instead, the Najib administration comes up with 1Malaysia This and 1Malaysia That. These are not problem-solvers but small painkillers that provide short- term relief. Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is not doing the big things to solve the big problems. Is there any idea or plan on how to curb the massive illicit fund outflow? Again zilch, nil, tiada. In fact, in the first place there is no effort being made to acknowledge that there exists big problems such as corruption, rising crime and illegal fund outflow. Instead, attention and action have been diverted to giving small discounts and small cash aid here and there. Clearly, Najib is not a man of big ideas when it comes to benefiting the rakyat. Just compare with Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim who has ideas such as abolishing road tolls, reducing petrol prices and giving out taxi permits. Now these are big ideas. In regard to taxi permits, so far the Najib administration has only handed out four new tyres. This gift amounts to only RM520 whereas the taxi permit costs nearly three times that amount at RM50 per day, which comes up to RM1,500 per month. That is the reason why the prime minister does not really understand the situation on the ground. Making up for lost time As for the RM500 cash aid handed out under the BR1M programme, curbing inflation is the better move in the long term. And curbing inflation can only be done with good management of the economy. By handing out cash aid, Najib is only applying the painkiller solution of instant but temporary relief unlike Anwar's ideas which solve the problem once and for all. In respect of this, Pakatan Rakyat's promises are the better deal and we should put Pakatan in power to see if the better deal becomes the real deal. Let us see how Pakatan performs as the federal government and how BN performs as the opposition. Then and then only can real comparison be made between the BN era and the Pakatan era. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/01/09/big-problems-small-solutions/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 08 Jan 2013 10:05 AM PST
As the government continues to provide more funds for education under the PTPTN scheme, more young people look forward to a tertiary education and a degree. But in the eagerness to create more graduates, some universities are closing an eye to the weaknesses and shortcomings of students. R. Nadeswaran, The Sun "Citizen is a special status held by the people who have the right to be in a country. For example, people deserved to choose their own life such as individual freedom, freedom of workship, and citizenship through marriage. It was the important thing to be the advanced country and also decrease the poor people. Moreover, Malaysia is a wonderful city. People have to choose their own minister to be right choosed after 'Pilihan Raya'. In Malaysia also they have no age limits to their want to get studies. It was a good thing to us and also to be the advanced city in 2020. Malaysia also have their own systems and also rules. Malaysian Constitution is the most important things in Malaysia it is because Malaysia was the most beautiful country. Besides, the Yang DiPertuan Agong has the highest positions according to the constitution. Other than that, people in this country deserved to choose their own choice for example their Prime Minister. It is shown that Malaysian was a great city than others. In Malaysia also they have no war it is because Malaysia was a calm country. Moreover, Malaysia also trying to together with the other country to move forward to be the advanced city in the eyes of the world." NO, the above are not the work of some foreign students trying to learn English. Neither are they of primary school pupils attempting their Standard Three English language test. No, they have not been edited and are reproduced as they were written and submitted. The creators of the above are final year students of a multiple award-winning university. These are excerpts of their essay on Malaysian studies. Despite the poor language and content, they will be "passed" by the university and perhaps given an "A" for their efforts. Will these students be able to word a job application? Will they be able to go through a job interview? Will employers want to give jobs to this category of students who cannot string two sentences without five mistakes? Will these students be prepared to face the outside world? Later this year, they will "graduate" complete with gowns and mortars in front of proud parents and relatives. They will receive scrolls from a VVIP and pay a small fortune for the ceremony and photographs. In short, they are the end-products of production lines that have been set up to churn out graduates, irrespective of their skills, knowledge or ability. To enable these production lines to function, a whole load of people get licences or permits to set up "tertiary institutions". There is no quality control and the end result is that some of them are absolutely useless and make money from the National Higher Education Loan (PTPTN). As the government continues to provide more funds for education under the PTPTN scheme, more young people look forward to a tertiary education and a degree. But in the eagerness to create more graduates, some universities are closing an eye to the weaknesses and shortcomings of students. In 1997, the PTPTN scheme was launched at a time when private colleges were starting to bloom, and foreign universities such as Monash University and Nottingham University were invited to set up their campuses in Malaysia. The PTPTN was supposed to be a rolling fund to provide loans to students who could not afford tertiary education. Today, the PTPTN scheme, as one observer remarked, is no different from or maybe worse than the "sub-prime" loan scandal in the US. You lend money to people (children) who are "not qualified" to "buy" a degree that is worth very little, on the belief that the value of the degree will keep increasing. When the value appreciates and there is a regular income, the loan can be settled and therefore everybody will be happy. But the bitter truth is that the degree is not a guarantee of regular income and hence the loan defaulters. Under these circumstances, will the government be able to recover the loans or will they be written off? R. Nadeswaran has met several "graduates" who cannot hold a simple conversation. Comments: citizen-nades@thesundaily.com
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| Are Malaysia’s law-enforcing institutions paralysed? Posted: 08 Jan 2013 09:48 AM PST
The 200 acre land is designated for a building military camp, and Awan Megah is prohibited from conveying it to any third party. In addition, the Selangor State government, which is the administrator of all lands in the state, has also declared that it will not approve any transfer of the said land unless it is used to build the military camp. Hence, Boustead is effectively barred by law to acquire the land. With this land transaction being a castle in the air, Boustead is, in truth, paying out RM160 million for which it gains nothing. Kim Quek The total impotence of law-enforcing institutions across the full spectrum of the Malaysian polity to deal with high corruption and criminal activities of the ruling elite is mercilessly exposed through the serial unfolding of scandals by Deepak Jaikishan – one time close associate of the Prime Minister's wife.
First, it was the police, Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) and the Attorney General who have remained steadfastly silent despite a series of swirling exposes for more than one month of Prime Minister Najib Razak's family's alleged acts to cover up the PM's alleged link to the murder of Mongolian beauty Altantuya.
In addition to accusing the family of committing bribery and criminal coercion in order to come up with a false statutory declaration to protect the PM, Deepak also accused the family of having accepted bribery from him for facilitating his participation in a scandalous Defence Ministry (Mindef) project – the construction of the RM100 million National Defence Education Center (Puspahanas). The PM and his family have also remained strangely and inexplicably silent.
Now, even the Securities Commission, watchdog of the securities market, is also found wanting in protecting the integrity of the Malaysian Stock Exchange when it fails to haul up a Defence Ministry-linked company embarking on a dubious deal, which was apparently designed to quell the politically explosive Deepak-Najib scandal. Listed company Boustead Holdings Bhd, an investment arm of the military pension fund entity (LTAT) under Mindef, is playing Santa Claus to dish out millions of ringgit in cash to silence whistle-blower Deepak and the Mindef project recipient, Selangor Umno women wing's chief Raja Ropiaah Raja Abdullah, who was sued by Deepak over alleged breach of trust in their ill-fated partnership in the project.
MINDEF TO THE PM'S RESCUE
Boustead is buying up Deepak's company Astacanggih Sdn Bhd for RM30 million, and at the same time also buying the disputed 200 acres of land from Ropiaah's company Awan Megah (M) Sdn for RM130 million. Upon this announcement by Boustead, Deepak instantly withdrew his law suit against the Umno leader, presumably appeased and refrained from further blowing his trumpet.
However, behind the Boustead maneuver that resulted in this lightning development are facts that are perhaps stranger than fiction – the goods that Boustead are chasing after are in truth illusionary to its shareholders. For Astacanggih is but an asset-less shell company that has never filed its accounts with the Companies Commission, and the 200 acre land, which was intended as Mindef's part payment to Awan Megah for undertaking in 2005 to complete the Mindef project, is still vested with the government, as the project was never constructed.
Furthermore, the 200 acre land is designated for a building military camp, and Awan Megah is prohibited from conveying it to any third party. In addition, the Selangor State government, which is the administrator of all lands in the state, has also declared that it will not approve any transfer of the said land unless it is used to build the military camp. Hence, Boustead is effectively barred by law to acquire the land.
With this land transaction being a castle in the air, Boustead is, in truth, paying out RM160 million for which it gains nothing.
So shouldn't the Securities Commission as well as the MACC have stepped in to probe the directors of Boustead and LTAT respectively over this outrageous fraud and betrayal of the welfare of military personnel and veterans, who have obviously become sacrificial lambs at the altar of political expediency of the political masters?
And shouldn't the Defence Minister, who has apparently initiated such a political move to save Najib's skin, be also investigated by MACC over such abuse of power, corruption and bribery on his part?
PM ABUSED POWER TO GRANT PROJECT
As a further blow to the image of PM Najib, he happened to be the Defence Minister who approved in 2005 the award of the project to Awan Megah, which is now found to be a company that has remained dormant since 2003, certainly without the wherewithal to design and construct the RM100 million Mindef facilities. This is clearly an act of abuse of power and corruption.
In any democratic country where the government is popularly elected, the prime minister would have stood up to face these serious and unyielding allegations by either denying or acting to reclaim his dignity; and the law-enforcing institutions would also have swung into action – one after another – to uphold the law. But in Malaysia, we have only eerie silence, save the noises made by the opposition, mainly through the Internet, as the relative news are blacked out in the mainstream media.
Obviously, our institutions, including the mainstream media (all newspapers and TV channels), have either been neutered or reduced to serving as lapdogs of the political masters; and unless these institutions are thoroughly reformed, the plundering and breach of law by the ruling elite with impunity will only get worse – a path that will lead eventually to state bankruptcy and national catastrophe. For peace-loving Malaysians who yearn for the restoration of rule of law, what alternative do they have other than to seek a change of government by granting a new mandate – through the coming election – to the opposition alliance, whose corruption-free leadership has demonstrated the ability to administer the state governments under its control with integrity and prudent financial management? | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 07 Jan 2013 12:14 PM PST
The Jakarta Post The plan to regulate how women sit as pillion riders on motorcycles in the city of Lhokseumawe in Aceh is not only stupid, it is also grossly indecent. The mayor of this gas town, Suaidi Yahya, may have cited sharia (Islamic law) in support of his plan, but the very idea itself is discriminative and indecent. Stupid is something some of us can live with but indecent is something we have to stop. Talk about stupid, one solution for female pillion riders, who find themselves on a motorbike with a man who is not driving safely, is to take the helm — to be the one wearing the pants — except that would probably be seen as even more indecent by the mayor especially if the man straddles behind her. His suggestion that women should sit sideways with their legs dangling off to one side is neither safe nor comfortable. Perhaps the mayor could try riding that way for a day to experience it. For good measure, someone should choreograph an accident and watch him fall off the motorbike. Just be sure that he wears a helmet, we don't want anything bad to happen to him. Stupidly enough, Mayor Suaidi actually has plenty of supporters, although not surprisingly from the city's ulama, supposedly the guardians of the people's moral standards. Seriously, you have to have a dirty, sick, indecent mind to find it improper for a woman to straddle pillion: Forget her safety, she is displaying her curves and look — her legs are apart. Aceh leads Indonesia in pushing the implementation of sharia. It is the only province that practises sharia side by side with the national laws and has come up with the most sharia bylaws, some of which are extremely discriminative of women. Outside Aceh, there are more than 50 mayoralties and regencies that have formally adopted sharia through the local political processes, and they in turn have also come up with their own stupid bylaws. The central government appears to have washed its hands in the name of regional autonomy, despite many of these sharia bylaws, which are clearly discriminatory against religious minorities and women, running counter to the Constitution. Aceh, for example, has introduced canning as a means of punishment for certain types of offences. Some towns, including the capital city of Banda Aceh, hold weekly public spectacles after Friday prayers to whip sinners. Not surprisingly, most of those punished are women. As evidenced by the planned ban on straddling motorcycles, almost all sharia bylaws target women. There is the ban on wearing jeans, the ban on riding in the same car with a man who is not her spouse as well as the ban on walking the streets alone after night curfew — which if broken can lead to the woman facing accusations of prostitution. What is most indecent about Suaidi's proposal is that it is carried in the name of Islam, and in doing so the mayor lends credence to the view that Islam represses women. That is certainly one interpretation of Islam that many ulama and men like Mayor Suaidi would not deny (and probably wholeheartedly agree with). It is really up to decent Muslim men and women across Indonesia, whom we hope make up the majority, to stop all discriminatory practices that not only go against Islamic teaching but also tar the good name of their religion.
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| No more feel-good factor for BN Posted: 07 Jan 2013 10:48 AM PST
With the surprise of an early election now gone, Najib will find out soon that his polls date will no longer be a secret. Amir Ali, Free Malaysia Today A stale Barisan Nasional, with its image tarnished and its glitter diminishing, is in desperate need of a new image and a new face to get back its traditional "feel-good factor" in Malaysian politics. With the general election nearing rapidly, BN is finding itself cornered with Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak failing to cash in on numerous chances to regain popularity. The missed opportunities, since June last year to hold early polls, have pushed BN to the limit of its capacity. The 2013 Budget – seen as a popular, electoral budget – was one of BN's attempts to shore up its crumbling base. The small handouts (as provided for under the budget) came in trickles and did nothing to boost BN's image. There was no real feel-good factor after the budget was unveiled. A flurry of accusations against Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, further eroded BN's image. Besides, people have been treating Najib with disdain for delaying the announcement of the polls date. The fact that Najib is undecided over the polls date shows that BN is worried it might suffer a defeat. Najib had had his fair share of feel-good factors when he took over the helm of the government from Abdullah Ahmad Badawi in 2009. Since then, it has been an uphill battle for BN to regain the high ground. Moreover, Najib's hesitation also showed up his weaknesses – his indecisiveness and lack of tact in outplaying his opponents. With the element of surprise gone, the polls date can no longer be kept a secret. It has been reported in many blogs and online news portals that BN is facing a silent revolt that could lead to the downfall of Najib even before the polls are called. While this seems to be a long shot, is BN seeking to push forward new faces as leaders in order to regain its lost glitter? Nevertheless, it is clear that BN has failed to outwit the opposition given the blurry situation over the election date. But BN is hoping that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim might lose his patience over the delay and commit some tactical mistakes. Yet again, the BN strategists have failed to try Anwar's patience to its limits. Opposition seems well prepared There have been many times when BN showed it was gearing up for early polls in 2011 and 2012. This kept the opposition on high alert, forcing Pakatan Rakyat to campaign literally on a daily basis in order not to be caught napping when Najib dissolves Parliament. By constantly pushing back the election date, the BN hopes Pakatan will eventually run out of money and patience. This did not happen. On the contrary, Pakatan seems well prepared for the 13th general election, based on its rallies and its constant highlighting of controversial issues linked to BN throughout the year. The fact that the opposition is warning the regime not to delay the polls beyond April, and to stop any race-based campaigns, is seen as unhealthy for BN. However, some local pundits believed that BN is wary of calling for polls before April 2013. The theory that has been floating around for some time now is that BN will eventually call for polls in April, thus forcing the four Pakatan-led states to hold the state polls at the same time. Read more at: http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2013/01/08/no-more-feel-good-factor-for-bn/ | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Posted: 07 Jan 2013 10:26 AM PST
The party has lost much of the clean, accountable and transparent image it has been trying to build over the last 40 years. Baradan Kuppusamy, The Star SOMETHING has changed in the way voters now perceive DAP, arguably the strongest of the three parties in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition which is selling itself as a government-in-waiting. Perception is everything in politics and voter perception of DAP, once deemed to be a clean, transparent and accountable party, has now taken a hit in the wake of two scandals hogging the headlines in recent weeks. The scandals – a Kelantan land controversy involving two Perak DAP leaders and an election fiasco that saw a defeated Malay candidate elevated as a winner – have shaken the party to its core with even members beginning to question the party's credentials. While the election fiasco can be explained as a "technical error", the land scandal involving over 10,000ha of reforestation, is more difficult to explain because of the public perception that a small man's party should not be involved in land deals. The land scandal has hit the party hard because, as one member puts it, new towkays are beginning to take root in a party that had fought for – and always represented – the simple man. While party elders - adviser Lim Kit Siang and chairman Karpal Singh - have openly admitted the election fiasco and blamed it on a technical error in computing, critics argue that the "technical error" is a convenient ruse to "elect" a Malay candidate – Zairil Khir Johari – to the CEC after the entire slate of eight Malay candidates were wiped out in the Dec 15 party election. "The election foul-up saw votes being realigned, with some leaders getting more votes and others getting less. In the process, a Malay candidate who initially lost was later declared a winner. "It's hard to buy this because the party has a long experience and prides itself as being open on election matters," said a Selangor DAP member, who is a lawyer. "It is a simple process of counting 1,800 votes for the first 20 winning candidates," the member said, requesting anonymity because of a gag order on all members. "Another fact is, although the foul-up was known to leaders almost immediately, it took them nearly three weeks to bring it to the attention of the CEC. This delay is inexcusable and is the reason there is now so much speculation." One frequently asked question is, how could such a foul-up happen when the party had conducted elections for over four decades without anybody questioning the results? "This is the first time in DAP history and its embarrassing," admitted Karpal, but this is not enough for the party grassroots who want the leaders to explain the foul-up. The Kelantan land controversy, involving Perak DAP chairman Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham and state secretary Ngar Kor Ming, is equally weighing on the minds of members as the party gears up for the big electoral battle ahead. More than the election fiasco, the land scandal will surely test the voters' patience with the party and its CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) credentials. The two party stalwarts, who are elected CEC members, were found involved, with other shareholders, in a venture involving nearly 10,000ha of reforestation land. Their involvement is legal but public perception has it that they should not have been involved in the scheme. "Are we transparent and accountable or are we doing the same thing that the people had rejected?" asked a Perak DAP leader who requested anonymity. Perak DAP is already badly divided between the Ngeh-Nga faction on one side, and a faction led by Ipoh Barat MP M. Kulasegaran on the other. Kulasegaran triumphed in the contest despite not having the Foochowsand their supporters openly backing him, said an insider. "In the general election, their fight will divide DAP and give Barisan Nasional a chance to retain the state," the insider added. Given the long years DAP has existed and the fact that it is part of a government-in-waiting with other allies, it is inexcusable for DAP to make such an election counting blunder and later offer excuses party members perceive as lame. Nor is it advisable for two of the party important lawmakers in Perak to involve themselves in land deals that the public perceive as not entirely above board. On both scores – the land controversy and the election fiasco – DAP has blundered badly, especially among the urban and upward mobile voters who are unhappy with how matters have turned out with the party.
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| Graft, financial waste definitely wrong, be it RM30k or RM100m Posted: 06 Jan 2013 12:49 PM PST
Jahabar Sadiq, The Malaysian Insider The RM30,000 bribe to muzzle a complainant in a sexual harassment case in Penang has hit the headlines, reinforcing the point that no one in Malaysia should accept or tolerate corruption and any financial misconduct in the country. So, while it is refreshing and laudatory to see mainstream newspapers reporting the Penang case that involves a civil servant and a political aide, questions remain why the local media is silent on the RM100 million National Defence Education Centre (Puspahanas). Why are they wasting so much ink over RM30,000 and not a drop for the project which has seen government land being swapped and sold but no building in plain sight in Putrajaya. Is RM100 million just change compared to the raft of multi-billion ringgit federal projects? But RM30,000 is a lot and makes news because it involves a political aide from the federal opposition? What is the greater crime here? A company with no track record gets a RM100 million construction job in 2005 and is paid with three parcels of government land worth RM72.5 million and RM27 million cash.
Yet no one in government or the local media have raised a hue or cry about a facility that has yet to be completed? Or question how the Boustead unit can buy land which is apparently locked to Raja Ropiaah's firm that she had to work out complicated deals to fund her project. By all means, expose corruption as little as the one that one that cost Teoh Beng Hock's life in 2009. And the latest one in Penang. Peg and assume reports that show Pakatan Rakyat (PR) also contains elements who are corrupt and not above to dirty tricks. But go for the big fish too. How can anyone close their eye to the most daylight of robberies, a company that gets away with more money than the cost of the building it never built? How can the Ministry of Defence keep quiet about this? How can the Ministry of Finance not say a word? Public land is swapped for a prestigious national project but nothing gets done and everyone is as silent as the Puspahanas worksite. The Barisan Nasional (BN) government has put eradicating graft as a top priority by beefing up the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and setting up more anti-graft courts.
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| Indian Voters Kingmakers Once Again Posted: 05 Jan 2013 10:32 AM PST
Currently just relying on the Malay and Chinese support is not going to be enough either. PR will still require the support of the Indian voters at levels similar to which it had in the 2008 GE. The 99.5% geographical distribution of Indian voters in the bread and butter states of Peninsular Malaysia, gives it added strength in the collective voting strength in the next General Election. Paraman Subramaniam 165 out of the 222 Parliamentary seats in Malaysia lie in Peninsular Malaysia. This translates to 75% of all seats. Focusing valuable resources and campaign time on Sabah and Sarawak may be necessary but it cannot be done at the expense of Peninsular Malaysia. First of all Sarawak state elections is already over. PR's influence on East Malaysia is not as strong as it is on Peninsular Malaysia. The city/town seats are winnable but the interiors are impenetrable, not just logistically but also due to poor Internet/alternative media coverage. Polling agents and counting agents from PR in these areas are also minimal. The elections in these areas are literally at the mercy of the heavyweight BN machinery on elections day. The internal politics within these states are complicated and they do view politicians from Peninsular Malaysia with suspicion. The 9 states in Peninsular Malaysia (Kedah, Penang, Perak, Selangor, W.P, N.S, Malacca, Johor and Pahang) contain 140 Parliamentary seats which is 85% of all Parliamentary seats in Peninsular Malaysia. In fact these states in total consist of almost 2/3rd of all Parliamentary seats in Malaysia hence the term "bread and butter states" is best applicable. A strong showing of PR in these bread and butter states will draw all victors/political parties post GE like a magnet towards PR, especially those from East Malaysia. It is as simple as that. Moreover PR's potential nadir strength also lies in these bread and butter states.
Selangor new voters from 2008 up to Dec 31 2011, show that almost 50k new Indians voters have registered to vote. This accounts to almost half of the new Chinese voters and also almost 1/3 of new Malay voters in Selangor. 25% of the 200k new Indian voters are concentrated in Selangor. Remarkably Indians have also registered the highest percentage rise per race in new voter registration since 2008 in all the bread and butter states. Selangor registering a 22.40% rise with Perak and NS recording 16.03% and 16.82% rise respectively since 2008. Malacca has recorded a 45.91% increase in new Indian voters. For comparison sake Selangor only registered a 5-6% rise in new Indian voter registration during the period between 2004 and 2007. It is apparent that there has been a lot of new Indian voter awareness and enlightenment of their political plight and strength. This spike in new Indian voter registration can be attributed to Hindraf's emergence as the front leader in the Malaysian Indian political landscape and dynamics since 2007.
The 15/38 Hindraf project appears to have also contributed to this rise in new Indian voter registration. Hindraf has paid paramount importance in voter registration as well as responsibility as a voter to the Indian community as a means to increase its political weight in the arena of Malaysian politics so that political solutions of the marginalized Indians problems can be expedited. BN has for decades ignored these problems and allowed the marginalized Indians issues now to tilt towards critical point. PR's emphasis on Indian representatives as versus Indian representation has not given these critical issues its due importance. For these reasons Hindraf has filled this vacuum of Indian leadership with their selfless sacrifices. PR feels that it could be able to win comfortably in the next GE with just relying on predominantly strong Malay and Chinese support. However there have been accusations and suspicions that BN is aiming to sabotage this by the introduction and injection of phantom/foreign voters together with dubious voters into the Electoral roll. Looking at the alarming rise and exponential growth in new voters, especially the Bumiputra voters in numbers, particularly in key constituencies that appear to be too close to call, these suspicions may have some justification. The exponential growth of new voters since 2008 is 1 : 1.8 : 5.32 : 6.5 : 8.39 is staggering! (N/p 2012 data is only up to June 30th 2012 and has been estimated to at least double 651,006 to give a 8.39% increase) It has been common knowledge that BN's primary aim in the next GE is to secure a 2/3rd majority in Parliament and to win back the rich state of Selangor. BN is also feverishly working behind the scenes to prove that the outcome of the results in the next GE will show that PR has lost a big majority of the Malay support as this will be tantamount to pulling the life support system of the PR coalition. It is also rumored that Dr Mahathir's expertise is being sought and is still influential behind the scenes as well as calling the shots in the BN's election machinery.
Dr Mahathir has in the past been accused to have orchestrated Sabah's 'Project M' where thousands of Filipino Muslims were given Malaysian citizenship's so that they could vote in favour of UMNO and dilute the predominantly Christian majority voters influence in the state of Sabah. During Dr Mahathir's era also, hundreds of thousands of Malaysian born Indians were denied their citizenship's in Malaysia rendering them stateless and having no voting rights at all. In the 1999 hotly contested GE, Dr Mahathir's plan of calling the GE early had nullified Anwar Ibrahim's supporters numbering 650k who had newly registered to vote, disqualifying them to vote on a technicality of not registering 6 months before the GE. Reflecting on all these factors there appears to show a certain pattern developing in the current period leading to the next GE. It must be noted that phantom/foreign voters are suspected to have been added into the Malay category of the Electoral roll as this will dilute the PR's Malay voters. Pekan (Najib) has had a 26.39% rise and Sembrong (Hishamudin) a whopping 34.86% rise in new Malay voters. DSAI himself appears to be repeating the same mistake of his 1998/1999 Reformasi movement where he then mainly focused on the Malay supporters which proved on the hindsight to be insufficient for him to win. Currently just relying on the Malay and Chinese support is not going to be enough either. PR will still require the support of the Indian voters at levels similar to which it had in the 2008 GE. The 99.5% geographical distribution of Indian voters in the bread and butter states of Peninsular Malaysia, gives it added strength in the collective voting strength in the next General Election. Currently there are no Indian leaders in this country who can muster that kind of overwhelming Indian support towards PR other than HINDRAF. HINDRAF can not only rally the Indian support but more importantly make them to turn up to vote on elections day. Delaying attempts to forge a coalition and corporation with the well oiled election machinery of HINDRAF is tantamount to shooting PR's own two feet. MIC claims to have almost half of the Indian voters (400k) secured (Malay Mail 15/10/12). PR is estimated to command anywhere between 30-50% of the Indian voters support. However there appears to be a significant difference in the value of both these opposing camps Indian support. MIC Indian voters support is traditionally in rural areas and in the outskirts of cities where else PR's Indian support is in the cities. PR is expected to face stiff opposition in the rural areas and outskirts of cities and as such their lack in Indian support in these areas will be costly. PR will require the SYNERGY of all the 3 major races in one direction against BN to topple the 55 year regime.
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| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 11:34 AM PST
DAP leaders say it is a computing glitch but some have described the shocking revisions to DAP election results three weeks after the polls as Ubah Rocket Style. The biggest irony of course is that this is the party that has been trying to tell the Election Commission how to do its job. The folk in the Election Commission are probably having the last laugh now. Joceline Tan, The Star AIYOOOOOO! How can?" That was the SMS reaction of one DAP MP after learning of his party's election fiasco. "It's what I would call a perception disaster," the DAP MP said when contacted. The blunder in the party's election result has left DAP leaders red-faced and many of its members angry and astounded. Another DAP figure described it as a "joke". Nothing like this, he said, had ever happened in the party, where the winner was actually the loser and the loser is now the winner. "I believe it was a genuine mistake but I feel sad," he said. On Thursday, the DAP said a "technical glitch" had caused errors in the result of the party election which took place on Dec 15. The mistake apparently occurred during a cut-and-paste job after the results were tabulated. The party's election returning officer Pooi Weng Keong said that grassroots worker Vincent Wu, who had won the sixth spot in the 20-member central executive committee (CEC) did not actually win. Instead, the party's new Malay star Zairil Khir Johari had managed to squeeze into the 20th spot and was the winner. Wu had only received 669 votes and not 1,202 as previously reported. As such, he had dropped to No. 26 in the new results. Zairil who was reported to have received 305 votes earlier actually got 803 votes under the new results. The Cantonese-speaking members in the party are calling the event "1314" because the mistake was announced in the year 2013, in the first month and on the fourth day. In Cantonese, "1314" means "one survives, another dies". Some party members are upset that the party has taken three weeks to correct the situation. In the meantime, they said Umno had a field day bashing the party for not electing a Malay into the CEC because of the mistake. Pooi detected the mistake a day after the election and immediately notified secretary-general Lim Guan Eng. It was then decided that its latest recruit Ong Kian Ming lead an internal audit. Sources said the whole thing was kept under wraps because the party was unsure how to handle it. When the outcome of the audit was presented to the CEC, a discussion was held on the impact of going public with it. One view was that the results had been announced, there was no challenge to it and they should let sleeping dogs lie. But the CEC decided that they had to come clean and own up to the mistake because something so sensational was bound to leak. One party leader then insisted on a gag order on who could speak on the issue but was over-ruled. However, party leaders have been unwilling to speak on the record about this because it is simply too embarrassing. No matter how they talk around it, the fact remains that it was a big-time bungle in prime-time politics. As one party official admitted: "Our party members will accept what happened but people outside must think we are stupid. "If we can't even manage a simple election, how can we convince them that we can run the country?" The Star got wind of the matter when some DAP politicians tweeted about it on Thursday evening. It was so incredible that some journalists initially thought it was a hoax. It was only after a string of calls to verify the news and checking the party website that the journalists were convinced. The biggest irony of course is that this is the party that has been trying to tell the Election Commission how to do its job. The folk in the Election Commission are probably having the last laugh now. Read more at: http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/1/5/nation/12536201&sec=nation
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This company, which is Selangor Wanita Umno chief Senator Raja Datuk Ropiaah Abdullah's (picture) Awan Megah (M) Sdn Bhd, failed to build Puspahanas by 2011 but got to sell the land last month to a unit of public-listed Boustead Holdings Bhd, which is majority owned by army pension fund Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).
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