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The Philippines 'Crocodile'
Anwar’s stance on Sabah’s autonomy wrong – Jeffrey
The PM is Demeaning Himself
It wasn’t a negotiation but an order

Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:47 PM PST

Fifty years later, it's clear that it's Malaya which turned out to be the real crocodile, and a big one too, in the region. The sovereignty of Sabah rests with its people, not in Putrajaya, Manila, Sulu, Brunei or elsewhere.

Joe Fernandez

There's a comment in Malaysia Today that if Sabah opts for freedom, the Philippines is waiting (meaning to swallow Sabah).

This is the same bogeyman story that we were told in 1963 by the Malayan Government and the British: that the Philippines and Indonesia are the big crocodiles in the region, waiting to swallow Sabah and Sarawak after the British leave.

This story was concocted when Sabah and Sarawak hesitated --- after they had exercised their self-determination for independence and obtained it on 31 Aug 1963 and 22 July 1963 respectively --- to enter Malaysia on 16 Sept 1963 to facilitate Singapore's independence via Malaysia through merger with Malaya.

Sabah, like Sarawak, was promised security through Malaysia.

Where's the security promised to Sabah through Malaysia? No security as the ongoing Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) makes it abundantly clear.

By 2005, 1.7 million foreigners had not only swamped the 1.5 million locals in Sabah, they had also entered the electoral rolls to marginalise and disenfranchise the locals especially the Orang Asal.

Fifty years later, it's clear that it's Malaya which turned out to be the real crocodile, and a big one too, in the region.

The sovereignty of Sabah rests with its people, not in Putrajaya, Manila, Sulu, Brunei or elsewhere.

That's under international law, the UN Charter, our history, Adat and the constitutional documents which make up the unwritten Constitution of Malaysia.

The self-determination of the people of Sabah is an option and initiative to be exercised solely by them.

Anwar’s stance on Sabah’s autonomy wrong – Jeffrey

Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:41 PM PST

Let's be very clear about the fact that in the case of Sabah and Sarawak, the central government, the Malayan political parties, nor the state political parties decide or determine autonomy. This is because autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak has already been decided and determined by the various documents.

Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan

The stand expressed by PKR advisor, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, on the matter of Sabah's autonomy within Malaysia is totally wrong, said Datuk Dr. Jeffrey Kitingan.

The STAR Sabah chairman said this in response to Anwar's statement yesterday in which he said, "Autonomy is politically adopted. And who can decide to give autonomy? It is the federal government. Not a local based party… Hence, the suggestion that a local-based party would determine autonomy is not true."

Jeffrey said he was taken aback that a former federal leader such as Anwar would still be so ignorant about the roots and meaning of Sabah's autonomy in the federation.

"His statement on the matter is clearly misplaced, incorrect and shows he doesn't know what he is talking about," said Jeffrey. "He deliberately ignores the agreements and the assurances made by the founding fathers of Malaysia.

"The issue of autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak is not a matter of federal policies as indicated by Anwar but a special condition agreed to at the time of the formation of Malaysia. This is specifically spelt out in the 20 Points, the IGC Report, as well as under Article 8 of the Malaysia Agreement!" Jeffrey pointed out.

Jeffrey also regretted that Anwar could still have such an attitude with regard to Sabah and Sarawak, which clearly shows his old Malay supremacy mentality and attitude towards the East Malaysian states.

"Let's be very clear about the fact that in the case of Sabah and Sarawak, the central government, the Malayan political parties, nor the state political parties decide or determine autonomy. This is because autonomy for Sabah and Sarawak has already been decided and determined by the various documents.

"In view of this historical fact any argument about the definition of autonomy is irrelevant, because what is required now is simply compliance and implementation, and this is what STAR is fighting for.

And in response to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, Jeffrey said Azmin is confirming Anwar's refusal to understand Sabah's crying need for rights and autonomy which are promised in the highest forms of documents, and that PKR is still in denial mode about historical facts.

"With this attitude I don't see how PKR will ever be different from Umno if PR takes over the federal government," Jeffrey said. "It will always look down on Sabah and will never appreciate our feeling that we are really being colonized by Malaya."

He told Azmin that STAR had long given up any hope of negotiating with PKR mostly because PKR takes on the role of decider in the whole negotiation process, treating local parties as subservient to it. Jeffrey explained that because of this STAR has already decided to go on its own in the coming election, to contest the majority of the parliamentary and state seats. "If we were to depend on PKR or PR to give us seats, we would end up with only about four of five state seats," he said. "Under such a scenario, we might as well close shop!

"Azmin needs to understand the local sentiments of Sabahans who are now very much educated in the genesis of Malaysia. They now know that when we formed the federation the Tunku promised in no uncertain terms that we will be an equal partner with Malaya and Sarawak. This meant we were not supposed to be subservient to Malaya in any way. But by what PKR is trying to do it wants to perpetuate our subservience to a Malayan lord by wanting to control local parties. By the look of it PKR will be our overlord if PR takes over the federal government, just like Umno is the overlord to all today.

"With this arrangement there will never be any new deal for Sabah, no increased rights and no wider autonomy. That is why I have always believed that local parties need to unite under the United Borneo Front (UBF) so that with enough seats won, we will be able to make our own decisions because we will have enough strength to force the federal government to respond positively to our demands.

"At this moment what we want to hear from Anwar is whether under his government he would be willing to sit down and review the Malaysian Agreement and to comply with all the assurances agreed to prior to Sept 16, 1963, including the possibility of drafting and passing a new constitution of Malaysia," Jeffrey said. "If Anwar is not willing to do these, he is not really interested in real reform but only in capturing Putrajaya.

"A reform for Sabah, including good governance, would only be beneficial to Sabah if it was under Sabah's own leadership which will not repeat the mistakes of the past or continue to let Sabahans be fooled by Malayan political propaganda," Jeffrey said.

The PM is Demeaning Himself

Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:27 PM PST

One really wonders why his advisers did not pay attention to detail. And why they did not caution him that performing in this advertisement might bring him lower in public esteem.

Kee Thuan Chye

It looks like Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional (BN) chief Najib Razak has outdone himself at self-debasement. His appearance in the now much-talked-about Chinese New Year advertisement has not only shown his desperation to win Chinese votes in the soon-to-be-held general election; it has also elicited responses from viewers full of derision and contempt.

I showed it to someone who is non-partisan, sensible, well-educated and who exercises good judgment, and these were her reactions as she watched it:

"Hak sei ngor! (Shocking)" ... "Unheard of" ... "Eeyer! Geli! (Makes my skin crawl)" … "Trying too hard".

Her remarks are uncannily similar to those that have been expressed on Facebook by many other Malaysians.

In the advertisement, as Chinese New Year preparations are under way, a little girl brings out a small drum to play. A figure suddenly appears. To instil a sense of mystery, the video shows only his legs. He asks the girl, "Do you know how to beat a drum?" Then we see the man for the first time, but only the lower part of his face. Najib's famous pink lips and moustache are instantly recognisable!

It is at the recognition of Najib that my friend gasped, "Hak sei ngor!"

The girl gives Najib her drum. But why? We don't know. Going by her question, wasn't he supposed to show her how to beat a drum?

The scene changes, and the lyrical background music gives way to drum beats. We then see a close-up of a pair of hands beating a large Chinese drum with sticks. A lion's head appears. The girl gasps. Firecrackers are set off. A lion dance is on. More drummers join in. A crowd watches the dance with awe. But after a while, their expressions change to curiosity. One or two crane their necks to get a better view of the drummers. More firecrackers explode.

Then an elderly man lets out a cry of surprise. No wonder! The drummer is revealed in full glory. It is – lo and behold! – none other than Najib! Wearing a red Chinese costume, Najib beats the drum once, twice, then flings both arms out like an eagle to signify the end of the performance with a cry of "Hah!".

At this point, my friend exclaimed, "Eeyer! Geli!"

The smiling crowd applauds. More firecrackers explode. Next we see the girl whispering something in Najib's ear. A smiling Najib says something back to her. This is followed by a shot of a Chinese word on a piece of red paper and then of Najib, hands clasped together, wishing everyone, "Gong Xi Fa Cai."

My friend had a good laugh. "He's trying too hard," she remarked.

On Facebook, those who know Chinese criticised the writing of the Chinese word and pointed out it should have instead been written as "吉", with the upper horizontal line being longer than the bottom one. In the advertisement, it is rendered the other way around, which apparently connotes bad luck.

And since the word denotes an approximation of "Jib", which Najib has come to adopt as his Chinese name (Ah Jib), it doesn't forebode well for him.

One really wonders why his advisers did not pay attention to detail. And why they did not caution him that performing in this advertisement might bring him lower in public esteem.

To be sure, there were some Netizens who expressed appreciation for the advertisement and his role in it, but far more were full of ridicule.

"Oh, gosh! This ad actually made my mind go blank for a good five minutes … that's before I burst into laughter. Stupidest ad ever!" wrote one. And this was among the milder ones.

On Najib's performance, many said it was "lawak" (clownish). One called him "an absolute clown", another called him "Maharaja lawak" (king of clowns).

A kinder critic wrote, "We do not need a PM who can play drums, we need a PM who can stop corruption."

In almost the same vein: "Dear PM, we would like to see you spend more time managing the country rather than carry out a PR exercise like this."

And of course, some demanded to know how much of the people's money was spent on this "desperate act by a desperate PM".

Also, because the advertisement endorsed the burning of firecrackers, which is actually banned in Malaysia, one Netizen summed up the sentiment surrounding this issue by commenting, "Sejak bila kaum Tiong Hua dibenarkan membakar mercun? Janji tidak ditepati!" (Since when has the Chinese community been allowed to burn firecrackers? Promise unfulfilled!)

A most telling comment was the one that echoed my friend's: "Aiyer … geli!"

And the one that sought to predict the near future: "Hahahaha … jawatan baru lepas kalah PRU13 … Ketua Ketuk Gendang Tarian Singa!" (Hahahaha … new job after losing GE13 … Head Lion Dance Drummer!)

Najib's public relations advisers have truly mucked up. Strategies such as putting out this advertisement to try and win votes can, in fact, have the reverse effect. They annoy people.

It's the same with the letters, postcards, SMSes that BN has been sending out wishing people Happy Chinese New Year or Happy Birthday or greeting them during other festivals. It freaks people out that BN is privy to their private particulars, like their birthdate or their mobile phone number.

The recent Chinese New Year letter is accompanied by ang-pow packets with Najib's face on them. What a waste of money printing them! Who is going to use ang-pow packets with his face on them? For some Chinese, it could mean bad luck!

Normally, ang-pow packets carry symbols of happiness, luck, prosperity or the image of the animal of that year. Never the face of a person. A person steeped in Chinese culture said to me, "Even Mao Zedong never had his face on a red packet!"

Obviously, Najib's advisers are not well-versed in Chinese culture. They were also not smart in getting the Korean K-Pop sensation Psy to perform his 'Oppa Gangnam Style' number at the BN Open House in Penang on the second day of Chinese New Year.

Obviously, the event was meant to attract a mammoth crowd so that BN could boast that it and Najib had the support of Penangites. But as it turned out, most of the people who went for it were not there for Najib but for Psy. And once Psy's performance was over, many left in droves. That took the thunder away from Najib.

More than that, cynical questions were raised about the astronomical cost of bringing Psy in for such a brief performance. Even though the organisers said that a private sponsor underwrote it, the gesture showed a penchant for extravagance that starkly contrasted the difficult economic times, especially for common Malaysians coping with the rising prices of essential goods.

As for winning votes, one doubts Penangites would be fooled into siding BN just because it brought Psy in to perform for them. However BN may underestimate their intelligence, Penangites are not stupid.

Sure enough, just before Psy was about to appear, Najib asked the crowd three times, "Are you ready for Psy?" and each time the crowd shouted, "Yes!" But when he followed that with the ill-advised question, "Are you ready for BN?", the crowd replied with a resounding "No!" And he foolishly asked it three times as well, each time getting the same negative reply. Frankly, he looked stupid. So much for Malaysia's prime minister.

One Netizen summed it up aptly on Facebook: "The irony for BN is they spent close to RM3,000,000 for a publicity stunt that backfired, and it became a people's forum to say NO to BN."

In his desperation to ensure victory for BN at the coming general election – and especially the two-thirds majority that he may need in order to keep his job – is Najib aware that he is losing his self-respect?

Well, the way he's been going around begging the people to keep BN in power for another term; the lack of confidence he exhibited when he said on Jan 5 that he hoped he would still be prime minister to have the opportunity to open KLIA2 on June 28; the cash handouts he's been throwing out to win the people's favour; and now the Chinese New Year advertisement and Psy circus, he seems willing to do anything to attain his desperate goal. Even if it means losing his dignity.

Perhaps he thinks that if he keeps doing it, people will kesian (pity) him and give him sympathy votes. But any way you look at it, that's really pathetic. Especially for the person who holds the nation's highest office. What he needs to understand is that people will not respect him if he doesn't respect himself. And without respect, he has no business being PM.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We're All Malaysians, and the latest volume, Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More!

It wasn’t a negotiation but an order

Posted: 12 Feb 2013 06:11 PM PST

The administration of Sabah State must be by Sabahans without a push button. If Kelantan, Selangor and Penang (opposition-held States) can administer their own states then we ought to be asking ourselves why can't we?

Hj Amde Sidik, Deputy President of SAPP

When PKR - Azmin Ali and Tian Chua - said the door is closed to SAPP and no more talks, it was a kind of ultimatum not to even come close to Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

Its a surprise such quick finishing for some people was followed up later by the usual statement that SAPP is unreasonable if not stubborn.

SAPP has been deliberately responding only mildly or merely mimed unfriendly statements made in the media by fellow oppositions in the past few weeks.

The idea behind the silence was to avoid giving conflicting signals to Sabah's voters. SAPP leaders have been accused of being arrogant and uncooperative lots but those who have been following the struggle of the party are unlikely to be perturbed by such remarks.

At the same time, SAPP leaders have been going left to right all along for the purpose of seeking ways to consolidate teamwork with other oppositions, both PKR and Star, while firmly maintaining the principle of the struggle for Sabah Autonomy with reference to the Malaysian Agreement signed in 1963.

SAPP believes this is the opportune time for Sabahans to change the government which has been ruling the State for the past 50 years resulting in massive abuse of state resources, in particular in land.

Only yesterday, PKR advisor Anwar Ibrahim said talks are still open, meaning SAPP and PR can still talk about party seats allocation. Does it mean that the duo (Azmin Ali and Tian Chua) made a mistake in closing the door too soon?

Earlier, SAPP Youth Chief Edward Dagul asked PR leaders to spell out how many seats do they (Pakatan) want SAPP to field in the forthcoming GE?

The idea behind the question was so that we could respond quickly as we have in fact a ready line-up. Our planning had been in place more than three years ago, long before any other opposition party announced or even existed.

SAPP has been making statement after statement about fielding simple majority seats.

SAPP would field where we have candidates and infrastructure ready.

Two days later, Azmin Ali and Tian Chua came out with the mathematics. They said 60 divided by 6; that means Party Keadilan will take 10, PPPS 10, APS 10, DAP10, PAS 10 and SAPP 10.

There is no consideration on allocation of seats for Star, another opposition Borneo-based political party.

Now let's see, if this number is agreeable to the people of Sabah, when SAPP has been talking all along about State Autonomy, would this mathematical arrangement make sense to SAPP supporters?

Let me recall my little experience watching this roller coaster kind of decision-making. Sarawak is the case in hand, negotiations between Sarawak National Party SNAP and PR during the Sarawak State General Election of 2011. I was SAPP's representative to observe SNAP and Pakatan negotiations.

SNAP was proposing to field 27 seats mainly at the Iban majority area but was rejected by the same PR Chief negotiator, Azmin Ali. Instead, SNAPP was offered only 3 seats and later revised to 4 seats of 71 the total number of seats in Sarawak DUN. Now just think about it. Negotiation failed.

The result of the State General Election SNAP lost very badly of 27 candidates fielded, and PKR who fielded 49 won only 3. Baru Bian designated to be Chief Minister won only by a whisker in Bekakalan DUN.

The SNAP disaster was due to lack of preparations and no machineries as the party was just reactivated after a long absence. The onslaught from all corners was unbearable to them.

SAPP has to be on safeguard all the time not to fall into this trap again where it isn't really a negotiation but rather an order, whether you're in or you're out.

Sabahans have been informed of SAPP's eight point declarations and autonomy is the threshold of the party struggle, which is not exchangeable with anything less.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Rabu, 13 Februari 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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