Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Sabah, Sarawak joins list of states to watch
- Would the Opposition be Beaten by a Sucker Punch?
- Opposition being as corrupt as Umno/BN is a simplistic notion
- Let There Be War
- Tsunami to Asteroid – Five Distortions on GE13
- Why we need change?
- 10 Stunning Facts About GE13
- Indians must help end Umno/BN in Malaya!
- The focus should be on the BN record
| Sabah, Sarawak joins list of states to watch Posted: 17 Apr 2013 02:21 PM PDT
In 2008, it was supposed to be Pairin's last time too. How many last time stunts is BN going to force Pairin to pull on the Orang Asal? Joe Fernandez Sabah Huguan Siou (Paramount Chief) Joseph Pairin Kitingan reportedly wanted to give way to the younger Kitingan, Jeffrey, in Keningau this time but apparently the Barisan Nasional (BN) insisted otherwise. Pairin's intentions vis-a-vis Jeffrey may be a case of Janji Di Capati. |
| Would the Opposition be Beaten by a Sucker Punch? Posted: 17 Apr 2013 02:13 PM PDT
Just a few weeks ago, BN was showing all the signs of a vanquished Ali or a humiliated Marquez. All of a sudden, BN seem to have found a new lease of life. Jaikol Situn, Barrister-at-Law (Grays Inn); LLM; LLB; BA (Hons) Can you remember the George Foreman v Muhammad Ali fight dubbed the "Rumble in the Jungle" in Zaire in 1974? For the first 5 or 6 rounds, Ali was bludgeoned by the brute force and power of the world heavyweight champion, Foreman. Then, Foreman inexplicably began to lose out of steam enabling the challenger, Ali, to throw some of his old stuff back. With each sniff at Foreman's mighty frame, Ali's confidence grew. In the 8th round, a left-right combination from Ali knocked Foreman down to the canvas. If you were too young then or not even been born yet, you would have heard about or seen the Manny Pacquiao v Juan Manuel Marquez non-title fight in Las Vegas, USA last year on TV. Pacquiao was leading on points until the 5th round. But at the end of the following round, out of nowhere, Marquez threw the mother of all sucker punches. It hit the target like one stray excocet missile. Pacquiao fell flat on his face, completely rendered out of commission. If you are into boxing or follow sporting events like boxing, you probably could not help likening the possible outcome of the on-going rivalry between Najib & company and Anwar & company in the current Malaysian General Election with those classic boxing duels. Barisan Nasional (BN) have for so long been on the receiving end of incessant attacks from the opposition, and deservedly so. They were fuelled with so much ammunition in regards to so many issues. You name it, it is all there, including mismanagement of the economy, allegation of corruption, high car prices, rising national debt, spiralling inflation, racial and religious discrimination, issuance of false MyKads to thousands of illegal immigrants, alleged government involvement and, or cover-up in the Lahad Datu "terrorist" incident, the list is infinitely endless. In the UK and USA, you would only need a couple of contentious issues to nail the incumbent government and bring them to their knees. Just a few weeks ago, BN was showing all the signs of a vanquished Ali or a humiliated Marquez. All of a sudden, BN seem to have found a new lease of life. Was it due to Najib's leadership renaissance, or complete failure by the opposition to capitalise on earlier advantages and maintain the momentum? It seems like a bit of both. As in the previous general election, over-confidence, egotistical individuals, seemingly chaotic party machinery, in-fighting and questionable leadership qualities proved to be Pakatan Rakyat (PR)'s undoing. Should Anwar & company lose this election again, they would have nobody else to blame, but themselves. Anwar has clearly recognised the now gaping chink in his Pakatan Rakyat (PR)'s armour. He has so much to do in such a little time left. In contrast, from Perlis to Sabah, BN seem self-assured. They are all smiles as if they have already won. Anwar has no time for reflection of what might have been. He has to regroup in warp speed in key States such as Sabah and Sarawak. He can no longer afford to antagonise the local non-BN parties of these two States as he desperately needs their favour to propel him to Putrajaya and achieve his dream of forming a new federal government and becoming Prime Minister himself. He has also got to appreciate the fact that the people of Sabah and Sarawak have a fundamentally different mind-set than those of West Malaysia where they generally have to choose between BN and PR. In Sabah and Sarawak, people' political allegiance are influenced by other factors and considerations such as Borneo identity, autonomy, lost rights, equal partners, and respect by their West Malaysian's counterparts. If Anwar & company were to avoid the ignominy of losing a highly winnable match like those of Foreman or Pacquiao, he has got to ditch his hardline approach and be prepared to give generous concessions and bite the bullet, so to speak. To heed only to his circle of friends would be fatal. He has to think further outside the box and engage on other loosely affiliated allies. To back down on earlier policies, decisions or demands does not necessarily portray him to be a weak and indecisive leader. In view of the resurgence of BN counterattack, there is no shame in doing that. On the other hand, it reflects that he is being reasonable, flexible, compromising, approachable, willing to listen and not autocratic and, or dictatorial. The latter leaders have no place in a democratic society such as Malaysia.
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| Opposition being as corrupt as Umno/BN is a simplistic notion Posted: 17 Apr 2013 02:09 PM PDT
So, what's the alternative? Keep Umno/BN since any replacement would be as corrupt anyway? Joe Fernandez Some people are claiming in Malaysia Today that their principle is not to support a party -- meaning Pakatan Rakyat (PR) or other Opposition -- which is "likely to form a corrupt Government" like that foisted on the people by Umno/BN the last 56 years. |
| Posted: 17 Apr 2013 01:13 PM PDT
Always Victory An intriguing question about Hindraf is, are they fighting a battle for the poor Indians, or a personal battle or will they lend arms in an eternal Mahabaratha War played out on Malaysian soil. People once again have an expectancy of Hindraf unleashing Maha Shakti (soul force), for the dance of Shiva, and march with heads held up in dignity, and bring about a swing of votes. But again the question is, which side are they supporting? Already, they have earned the reputation of "lallang" depending on which side the wind blows. At the same time, we are crying for stiff-spine leaders who can demonstrate the true Hindu spirit. Members themselves are not so happy about the way its leaders are going about it. 50 years of slavery reflected on their faces cannot vanish overnight simply by Najib placing a crown on their head. It is only through self-effort, walking the road of self-determination, learning how to fish instead of asking for fish to eat for a day. Najib never takes a decision on Hindraf without the whisper of MIC. Hindraf is registered because MIC pushed the buttons to seal the deal, but already is starting to disintegrate and it may come to nothing. Najib will do anything purely to render a Hindraf bomb impotent or better still create a win-win situation to help prop a crumbling MIC. Pakatan is also afraid they might throw some hand grenades, and tried to seek common ground for reconciliation through social inclusiveness. What is it you can get from BN? They are thieves in every sense and what they will share with you are stolen goods. Give up sulking and be not so easily deluded by Ringgit Shakti, so that its leaders may be free from an undeserving stigma normally associated with snakes. What profit you to negotiate to gain the whole world and lose your own Shakti? The marginalized minority Tamil Malaysians are no longer sidelined, and they need not align with any side, just like Lynas and Bersih, hold on to solid ground. I suggest you give up struggle and the false sense of struggle and join in the celebration of fighting for our country's liberation from tyranny. There is no such thing as an 18-point blueprint, you are not asking for autonomy like Sabah. It is as irrational as your earlier petition to the Queen of England. It may be a camouflage to get the support you need, an excuse to spite the Opposition, with a pretence that you alone represent the disfranchised. Only when you have a clear mind can you help the Indians out of the poverty trap. Whoever is worthy of being the Joan d' Arc among the poor and downtrodden must continue the fight in a spirit of Karma Yoga to deal a death blow on tyrants. A leader who is above scrutiny must be able swear by the Gita, that you will not play out the land of their birth for the sake of personal or communal gains to reinforcing a corrupt Establishment that deserves to be kicked out of office. Balasundram too swore by the Gita, although he paid the price with death, but now is at peace with God for his conviction. Uthaya was once a hero who paid the price and languished in jail while the Opposition conveniently forgot about him. And now, from the mouth of God, the Word is spoken: Uthaya, choose this day whom ye will serve, God or Mammon? Choose if you will serve Krishna in humble hearts of the poor or to help yourself to the temptations of fool's gold and be forever a despised dog by both BN and Pakatan, the likes of Outcast Hee. I challenge you to declare to your members, what benefits Najib promised you, for already some idolaters are ready to garland the feet of Najib the same way as you do to Sri Ganesha? Even if you command that stones be made bread, you have lost your credentials. Yes you Hindus, it is time for action to save the nation! Only Hindus who have read the Gita can understand tretise is a call to right action, The Gita is a tool to liberation of the individual, not only Hindus but all mankind. The Dharma expected from you is not to squabble in a dog fight over some dry bones. Use the untapped power of the Gita just as the Communist used Mao Tze Tung's Little Red Book. Make it your goal to put it into the hand of every Hindu. Then, we shall stand shoulder to shoulder without bargaining, in the biggest war on Malaysian soil to save the nation from the Evil Empire of BN. Hail Hindraf! the answer must come from you:- "there is war". Always Victory
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| Tsunami to Asteroid – Five Distortions on GE13 Posted: 17 Apr 2013 12:59 PM PDT
Justice is like lust. You can analyse it, obscure it, 'spiritualise' it, deny it and joke about it but at the end if you don't deal with it, you'll end up hating yourself for pleasing yourself. Likewise with GE13. May 5th promises at least as much fun as March 8th. Alwyn Lau 1969 was the first wake-up call but powerful folks tore up the alarm clock, burnt the living room, and forced fed everybody sleeping pills for about thirty years. Then 1999 came and, despite Anwar's Sang Kancil trial, Malaysia decided to continue snoozing, even falling into a total dream in 2004. But thanks to social media, Barisan arrogance, Lingam, HINDRAF, Bersih #1 and maybe even the first Transformers movie, 2008 saw the alarm clock get a life of its own. The country quit their slumber and started throwing clocks at Barisan. Justice is like lust. You can analyse it, obscure it, 'spiritualise' it, deny it and joke about it but at the end if you don't deal with it, you'll end up hating yourself for pleasing yourself. Likewise with GE13. May 5th promises at least as much fun as March 8th. We're seeing the usual whackoes, the weirdoes, the bull-crappers, the liars, the big-talkers, the pseudo-Fascists, the racists and, as always, grown men lifting each other's hands at press conferences. If GE12 was a tsunami, this could be a full-blown asteroid. The world's axis could tilt. And the dudes who profit (literally) from injustice inevitably have their responses to the possibility of real change. Like responding to that burning feeling in one's loins, these take a few forms: 1. Denial – reading recent pieces by Tun Dr. Mahathir and Chandra Muzaffar, one gets the impression that their intended audiences are those who shook Tunku's hand on Merdeka Day. Emphasizing Barisan's oh-so-unique ability to maintain national harmony and stability and how, say, PAS' Islamist teachings is responsible for tensions in Kelantan sounds as if the past half-century hasn't happened. There is a clear echo here of Yao Souchou's thesis that UMNO enjoys 'infantalizing' the Malay(sian) subject i.e. feed the citizens fears and fantasies, subtly hint at how the nasty Other person is a threat and thus keep them dependent on you. Of course, how Barisan supporters can brag about their beloved party's ethnic peace-making in the light of PERKASA's freedom to trample all over the dignity of other races and religions is a mystery ranking right up there with Loch Ness. Or is it? The question to Putrajaya is: Is your inaction against supremacist groups due to the fact that 1) you don't realise these folks are promoting racist hatred or 2) you want them to do your dirty work for you or 3) you're scared of the big bad Tun? In other words, are you gullible, guilty or gutless? Does Malaysia really require Barisan Nasional in Putrajaya, failing which Malaysia will degenerate into the Asian version of 'Dawn of the Dead'? Are the disagreements and ideological divides of the Pakatan Rakyat parties ultimate proof that the Anwar-held pact cannot itself and the country together? The irony is that if Barisan is the better party to guarantee stability (which is akin to a samseng 'guaranteeing' peace in the neighbourhood), this is all the more reason why Malaysia needs to cast them aside. Justice first, then economic growth. Justice first, then more scholarships. Justice first, then 22,000 helmets. Justice first, then true – as opposed to a manufactured – stability. 2. Normalisation – "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose", this is the French phrase for "The more things change, the less things change". It's also the Barisan phrase for 'Let's do whatever we can to ensure that we don't need to do anything seriously important". Touting GDP growth and Gini co-efficient numbers when a wealthy elite continues to amass obscene amounts is like a heart-attack victim bragging that his cholesterol level is down 0.3 points but still eats twenty hot-dogs a day. Abolishing the ISA (and other naughty acronyms) is a cute ploy to make people believe that maybe Malaysia has sold all her anti-democracy laws to North Korea. May as well believe McDonald's has given up on profit-seeking. The Security Offenses Act (the reincarnation of ISA), the Sedition Act, the Peaceful Assembly Act, and most recently, Section 114A of the Evidence Act – aren't all these in fact window-dressing which make pretty the people's continuing lack of freedom? And let's not even get started on how poh-lite the police were with the BERSIH folks; some of our boys in blue made the Gestapo look like kindergarten teachers. The sauce and packaging are lovely but it's still baloney. If denial is the declaration that there doesn't need to be change, normalisation is the artificial enactment of change in order not to change. On this issue, even Pakatan Rakyat needs to be careful. Because are elections about justice or about the economy? Sure they're connected – that much everyone agrees on – but should justice be distinguished from how much money the country makes or must every winning party ensure that it's ultimately 'pro-business' and 'pro-investment'? On this point, I confess I'm a relatively healthy dude (who can afford insurance and gets free medication) writing on a fancy notebook in an air-conditioned office. I can afford to waste hundreds of dollars monthly getting fat on food I can choose not to finish and watching movies I should choose not to even start. And from what I see, so are most of those nominated. So whilst I obviously disagree with the government's talk about our country's economic 'progress', I also believe that many (urban) pro-Pakatan-ians simply haven't a clue about what our rural or much less well-off neighbours are faring. The elections – believe it or not – are least of all about famous personalities, national statistics and political critiques, and should be most about that single mum who prays each day she doesn't have to borrow food from the neighbours, or about that older brother who needs to hold down three part-time gigs so his school-going siblings don't have to join him. Who knows – maybe people like this need to be given two votes or more? Now wouldn't that shake things up? It's therefore important not to make the General Elections nothing more than an occasion for certain classes to continue accumulating wealth whilst the less-than-average rakyat is domesticated into accepting his lot in life. This would be the ultimate normalisation of GE13 i.e. it's insertion into a wealth-generating machine which privileges profits over people.
To be continued...3) Rejection 4) Extremism 5) Resurrection.
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| Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:32 PM PDT
We're tired of being told to behave or your citizenships will be revoked while citizenships are given to illegal immigrants in exchange for votes. Djanko Lee We put in a 10-hour day and 55-hour week to make a reasonable living in a country which was once free of racial hatred and where individuals respected their different religious beliefs. Where children moved around freely, played together, and occasionally shared meals at each other households. Given the state of the current economy and the rapidly rising national debt, retirement is now a bad dream. We're tired of being treated like Pavlov's dogs with the ring of the GE bell. We are expected to obediently salivate when the goodies, free concerts, food are handed out. In between GEs, like the "untouchables", we are treated with disdain and contempt. We're tired of being reminded "to vote BN" to get more cash hand-outs but it is our cash that they are handing out. We're tired of the games they play; hardball at the state level and softball at the federal level. The so-called "non-partisan" NGOs pour scorn on projects initiated by the opposition state government (constantly being sabotaged by the federal government) to address the chaotic local traffic congestions and label the initiatives as opportunistic, while they are oblivious to the scandals and pillages at the federal level. We're tired of being told that out of tolerance we must submit to the threat of bible-burning of Perkasa, the abuse of the former PM and an orgy of greed and self-indulgence of the UMNO/BN. We're tired that someone, like the former Transparency International president, whom the rakyat have the utmost respect, can become a turncoat overnight implicating a legitimate organisation fighting for clean and fair elections for being "an instrument of money laundering" and accusing it for attempting to create "chaos" on polling day. We're tired of being told to behave or your citizenships will be revoked while citizenships are given to illegal immigrants in exchange for votes. We're tired of being told the PM must be given another term when he was slumbering in his first term and oblivious to the scandals and enriching his cronies. Yes, we're damn tired. But we're also very glad because we have the choice now to make the difference. To prove to them that we are indeed the master, and not Pavlov's dogs, that they want us to be. That the mega concert at Han Chiang School and the 5,500-table mega dinner in Klang will be met with cynicism. We will tell them enough is enough that the "rape and pillage" will have to stop and their actions will be brought into account. We're glad we're not going to have to listen to their lies any longer. We're glad we can stop looking at the mess they've created. We're glad we can now save our country!
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| Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:20 PM PDT
Fred Smith 1. Barisan Nasional is currently the LONGEST-RULING REGIME amongst ALL democratic countries in the ENTIRE WORLD! That's stability! 2. The current BN government, helmed by PM Najib Razak is serving the SECOND LONGEST administrative term in Malaysian history. Coincidentally, his late father Tun Abdul Razak helmed the government which served the LONGEST administrative term too. DS Najib Razak is known as the LONGEST-SERVING Prime Minister who inherited his post from his predecessor. 3. BN requires the support of a mere 15.4% of the population to RULE THE NATION if it wins all the smallest 112 constituencies! 4. It is not practical or feasible to have all the seats made into equal size. In India the largest constituency has 2,500,000 voters, in the smallest constituency there are just 50,000. 5. The smallest constituency in Malaysia was 13.0% percent of the national average while the largest was 288.0% percent. See above for India. 6. The smallest constituency, BN-held Putrajaya only had 6,008 voters but Opposition-held Kapar had a staggering 112,224 voters, 17 times more than Putrajaya. Kapar could have produced 17 Indian Members of Parliament! Alamak! 7. There is no truth that 30.0% of the Sabah population are foreigners, or that 300,000 Malaysian-born Indians remain stateless and without ICs!
8. The Selangor Electoral Roll saw a phenomenal increase of 25.0% in just 4 years, a trend that can be explained by natural population growth and previously unregistered voters! Other states have also seen increases. 9. Many ex-Generals, ex-Army Chiefs, ex-Navy Chiefs have openly declared their support for politics. Some are in BN, others are in Pakatan Rakyat. Some will be standing in the Elections. Democracy in Malaysia is alive and well. 10. A vote swing towards Pakatan Rakyat to secure Putrajaya remains a pipe-dream. Consequently, if every BN supporter goes out to vote, then Malaysia will continue on its path to GREATER STABILITY AND PROSPERITY!
READ .. LIKE .. SHARE .. REPEAT .. POST .. SEND .. EDUCATE THE REST !!
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| Indians must help end Umno/BN in Malaya! Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:14 PM PDT
Umno/BN does not have to endorse the Hindraf Blueprint because it doesn't need Indian votes. It only wants to deny Indian votes to PR and for this they will be prepared to engage in all sorts of bullshit. Joe Fernandez In 2008, 85 per cent of the Indians voted against BN. Yet BN formed the Federal Government. The BN does not need Indian votes to win. It only needs Malay votes in Malaya and Sabah, Sarawak. The PR needs Indian votes to deny BN two-thirds majority and have a chance of taking over the Federal Gov't. |
| The focus should be on the BN record Posted: 16 Apr 2013 12:10 PM PDT
Actually, PR does not need the Buku Jingga. Joe Fernandez PR has said that the Buku Jingga and their Manifesto is based on needs, not race. Hindraf has said Felda is about race. It need not be about race. Felda can open up to all races. |
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