Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- In uncharted waters
- GE13: Wherever you are, exercise your right to vote
- What a letdown
- Time to elect servant leaders
- The end of Machiavellianism (WITH CHINESE TRANSLATION)
- Pakatan out to create a bigger tsunami
- Pakatan still can't shoot straight on dissolution day
| Posted: 06 Apr 2013 03:57 PM PDT
Clearly, the current prime minister's strategists do not fear inviting another tsunami of anti-government sentiment by extending even further the campaign period. On the contrary, they must calculate, or hope, that extra time will be to the prime minister's and his party's advantage. Clive Kessler, TMI We are in uncharted political waters. Parliament has been dissolved, already days ago, but the election has yet to be called. The dates for nomination of candidates and for "going to the polls" to vote have yet to be declared. The nation now finds itself stalled. It can do nothing but wait. We are caught in a strange interlude, a moment of suspended political animation. And we are already in new political territory. Where exactly we are, and what the political "lie of the land" is, remain unclear. But we know that we are on new ground. Just one indicator. In his April 3 dissolution address, the prime minister most commendably declared that, win or lose at federal or state level, people including those on his own side should accept the result, honour the decision of the democratic electoral process. Implied in his words was a remarkable concession by the prime minister that, however unlikely he may believe it to be, Umno/BN could conceivably lose not just control of some state governments but even the federal election. There it was, in broad daylight: The almost shocking admission that his long-ruling party could conceivably lose control of the federal government, and could be ousted from power by popular rejection. No Malaysian prime minister or Umno leader has ever, in living memory, made any such admission. None before PM Najib Razak has ever been in the situation where he needed to do so, where there was any such possibility of popular political rejection and loss. But the prime minister made that statement, that admission of personal and party vulnerability. Clearly, and to his great credit, he felt that he had to do so. But it was not an admission that could have "gone down easily" with many in Umno. Many of the old-timers and "hard men" in the organization must surely have considered it an error. Or even much worse: a sign of weakness, a terrible mistake, a culpable admission of failure on the eve of battle, even before the fight itself had begun. "Is that bold and courageous leadership?" one can easily imagine them saying, in rage and despair. "Is that the Malay way of exercising power?" But, remarkably, the prime minister said so, he said exactly that. Why? Because things, this time, are different. And different battlefield conditions require a different approach, a different strategy and the deployment of different forces than those customarily employed. We are beyond the familiar old game of Malaysian elections. And a different approach ― as many have recognized and remarked ― is now being adopted. For the first time in this country since 1957, the prime minister and his government are fighting for political survival, for their political lives. They are in a tough fight, and they know it. In such circumstances, you have to look at the situation, consider closely the resources available both to your own side and your adversaries, and choose a strategy that maximizes your own situational advantages and an approach that minimizes those of the opposition, one that places them in the greatest uncertainty and under the greatest stress. That, as we wait for the Election Commission to meet this Wednesday, is what is now happening in Malaysia. On this new ground, many of us have already been proven wrong. We are moving from "blitzkrieg" to a war of attrition and positional manoeuvre. This election will be no "12-day wonder", no sudden mad rush that will be over in the proverbial blink of an eye. Instead, one week after Parliament was dissolved, on April 3, the Election Commission will meet. Then, on April 10, it will presumably announce the date of the nomination of candidates and of the poll itself. The likeliest possibility at the moment seems to be that April 13 will be nomination day and April 27 will be "D-Day", Decision Day. If so, the total election period from nomination to decision will be 17 days, or two and a half weeks ― and from dissolution to decision 24 days, or three and a half weeks. Nothing less, or shorter, than that seems conceivable. Something longer than that is possible, but at this stage seems unlikely. Unless a string of further great surprises is in store… An election period of between two and three weeks is, in international comparative terms, not very long. Most countries have more protracted and gradual arrangements for conducting a national election. But for Malaysia this is remarkable. Remarkable, and in modern times unprecedented. In 1969 the campaign period went on for five weeks. The Tunku wanted to give the country a full opportunity to consider the issues and to debate its future. And then came May 1969. Five weeks? "Never again!" was the response. When elections resumed in 1974, the polling schedule was very tight, greatly abbreviated. And with only minor relaxation, the election "countdown" timing in Malaysia since then has always been very constrained and limited. In 2008 the then prime minister consented to a 13-day campaign period, two days more than the previous pattern of 11 days. To this minor relaxation some recent commentators have attributed — quite illogically — the political "tsunami" of that year and the dramatic setbacks which Umno/BN experienced at the GE12 polls. This year, things will certainly take longer than that. Clearly, the current prime minister's strategists do not fear inviting another tsunami of anti-government sentiment by extending even further the campaign period. On the contrary, they must calculate, or hope, that extra time will be to the prime minister's and his party's advantage. And they are accordingly proceeding to the battlefield with all "deliberate", meaning unrushed, haste ― "steady as she goes," "half-speed ahead", and also sideways. That's often the way in Malay politics.
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| GE13: Wherever you are, exercise your right to vote Posted: 06 Apr 2013 03:40 PM PDT
The Star THE poor response from Malaysians abroad to sign up as postal voters for the upcoming 13th general election speaks volumes as to how every citizen, at home or abroad, truly wants to make every vote count. Only 6,298 of about 700,000 Malaysians living abroad (some say almost a million) took the trouble to meet the deadline set by the Elections Commission, which gives them the right, for the first time, to vote from where they currently are. In fact, the actual number of votes may even be less because the reality of the situation is that only limited polling stations will be available for them to cast their votes. Someone in Australia, for example, may not, at the end of the day, take the trouble to travel all the way to Sydney to vote. Overseas voting, from the Malaysian context, is very much a work in progress. But the EC must be commended for allowing it to happen. And it should also be open to suggestions to iron out the kinks in the process so that in the elections to come, more people who happen to be overseas at the time of elections will be able to take part. There are, of course, many abroad who retain their Malaysian citizenship but do not really have an interest in the affairs of the nation, having comfortably settled down as permanent citizens elsewhere. Then there are also those who continually criticise events going on in the country but are not willing to be involved in the democratic channels that remain open to them back home. For these groups, they may not even be on the electoral roll, and can probably fall within the same category of people within the country who remain indifferent to their civic responsibility to vote. But we must reach out to those overseas for study or work, whose heart is still with the nation. This is the modern-day reality whereby the young and the brave are challenged to venture abroad. Sometimes, it happens simply because the companies they work for have sent them to distant lands because of their talents. The EC should consider ways of making these people have their say in the elections by putting in place systems that allow them to constantly update their whereabouts so that even at short notice, they can be quickly informed and be allowed to vote. Malaysians, by nature, tend to leave things to the last minute and while ample time had been given to our overseas Malaysians to sign up as postal voters, many did not. Then, they blame everyone but themselves. Let us all, at home or abroad, consider our right to vote as a sacred duty of our citizenship. We need to do our part to ensure we fulfil our duty come every election.
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| Posted: 06 Apr 2013 03:33 PM PDT  After all the brouhaha to get Malaysians living abroad the right to vote, only a dismal 6,268 out of over 700,000 have registered as postal voters. Wong Chun Wai, The Star IT'S disappointing, especially after all the brouhaha over giving all Malaysians living abroad the right to vote. It has now been reported that only a dismal 6,268 Malaysians out of over 700,000 living abroad have registered as postal voters. There are some who think there could be as many as a million Malaysians abroad. The Elections Commission (EC) had estimated that there would be at least 100,000 or even 200,000 overseas Malaysians who would register. The criteria are fairly simple they have to be registered as voters first and have been in Malaysia not less than 30 days in the last five years before the dissolution of Parliament. Objectively, no one can say that not enough time has been given. The worst excuse I have heard is that the Elections Commission website broke down last week and this made many who are overseas unable to register as postal voters. This was reported in the pro-opposition Malaysiakini news portal. Surely, if you are seriously concerned with the developments in this country, you would have taken the trouble to register yourself much earlier. It does not matter if you are overseas or in Malaysia. If one feels so strongly about what is taking place in Malaysia and wants to change the government, the obvious thing would be to ensure the change takes place via the ballot box. Since the 2008 general election, it has been a long drawn campaign by both sides. Never has political awareness been so high. That probably explains why there are 2.9 million new voters all first-timers and mostly below 40 years old out of the country's 13 million electorate. That's one out of five voters taking part in this general election. It does not matter whether these new voters want to throw out this government or keep the status quo. The most important point is that they believe they can make a difference. They believe passionately that talk is cheap and that they will let their votes do the walking. The call to allow overseas Malaysians to vote was on the agenda of Bersih, and two platforms MyOverseasVote and Bersih Global were set up to facilitate overseas Malaysians to register as postal voters. Early this year, the EC announced that Malaysians residing overseas, except in Singapore, southern Thailand, Kalimantan and Brunei, would be allowed to apply to vote by post provided that they have been in Malaysia for at least 30 days in total during the last five years. We have heard the arguments before there are those who claim that those who have been abroad too long do not understand what is taking place in Malaysia while many overseas Malaysians have ridiculed such arguments, saying that they follow events back home closely via the Internet. Others suggest that the large number of overseas Malaysians are mostly non-Malays who are critical of Barisan Nasional and are likely to vote for the opposition. They include many who have migrated because of their unhappiness over the affirmative action programmes that favour the bumiputras. This argument does not hold water because the reality is that even if Pakatan Rakyat wins, the same affirmative actions will continue. Not even the DAP has dared to ask for these special rights to be removed. While we do not know if the low number of overseas Malaysians registered to vote as postal voters is due to their indifference or because they still find the procedure cumbersome, the EC must continue to improve its mechanism to ensure a bigger turnout. The reality is that more and more Malaysians, especially the young, will work overseas because travelling has now become cheaper, faster and easier. Many Malaysians work in Jakarta, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou or Bangkok while they keep their Malaysian permanent address. Many companies have also become more global in their set-up and send talented Malaysians to work in their regional hubs. Unlike the older Malaysians who packed off with their families for a new life abroad, most young Malaysians are often single and live jet-setting lives. They are not necessarily the grumbling and whining types who run down Malaysia. They may enjoy life overseas but deep in their hearts, they miss the many good things in this country. These younger and more mobile Malaysians keep their minds open and while they are critical, they also make better evaluation of the issues. This will be the new overseas Malaysians in the coming years. Make it easier for them to cast their votes in the coming general elections.
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| Posted: 05 Apr 2013 03:24 PM PDT
It is obscene that our poverty income level is set at around RM800 for an average family of 4.5 persons. We would seriously like to see politicians and their families live on RM800 a month. Many of our leaders live on RM800 a day! A meaningful assessment of poverty in our country will place the poverty income level at RM1,500-2,000 for a family of 4-5 persons. From government figures, this would mean that 30 per cent of our population are still living in poverty. Amar-Singh HSS and Lim Swee Im, TMI Most of us are tired of politicians. In a real and honest world a politician is one who represents the people, a very high calling, a noble profession. These are individuals willing to sacrifice much to represent the average person on the street. They are willing to forego their own interests to meet the needs of the many. They are prepared to speak up when injustice is done and to make decisions which benefit the majority of the people. These are the persons we elect, not just the party they represent, but persons of integrity. Unfortunately, the reality is that politicians have become self-serving individuals out to get as much power and material gain as possible. Willing to subvert basic human rights and compromise on vital issues just to meet party or personal needs. The shame of Malaysia is that despite the vast riches of our land and more than 50 years of independence, the average person is still poor. The authorities want to continue to show nice statistics on poverty reduction but those of us who work on the ground know the immense struggles of the people in the bottom 20 per cent of our society. Our transformation plans are great for the rich and upper-middle class but are not going touch the poor. The poor in Malaysia are neglected and thrown crumbs while the rich and powerful continue to exploit them. The gap between the bottom 20 per cent and the top 20 per cent of our population has widened considerably in the past 50 years. It is obscene that our poverty income level is set at around RM800 for an average family of 4.5 persons. We would seriously like to see politicians and their families live on RM800 a month. Many of our leaders live on RM800 a day! A meaningful assessment of poverty in our country will place the poverty income level at RM1,500-2,000 for a family of 4-5 persons. From government figures, this would mean that 30 per cent of our population are still living in poverty. It is sad that only a tiny minority of our leaders can be said to inspire us with their lives. The majority live such lavish lifestyles that it is impossible to identify with them or appreciate that they are working for the people. That they are helping their family and friends is without a doubt. It is almost impossible to find a poor politician in power or a poor family member of a politician. That a single son of a leader can have RM1,000 million in assets is mind boggling. In our time there are few leaders who inspire us, Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wangchuck, the King of Bhutan (and his father before him), Nelson Mandela and Aung San Suu Kyi stand out as examples. At his installation as leader, Khesar said these remarkable words: "Destiny has put me here. I will protect you as a parent, care for you as a brother and serve you as a son. I shall give you everything and keep nothing. This is how I shall serve you as King." And, unlike our local leaders, he has lived by these words. A man of humility and one who serves, not lords it over the people; a true "servant leader". We are not pessimistic but realistic about our situation, a situation that is not unique to Malaysia. But we are writing to ask that we move forward. Away from working for the poor in the community only when the elections are around the corner. Away from communal politics and self serving interests.
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| The end of Machiavellianism (WITH CHINESE TRANSLATION) Posted: 04 Apr 2013 06:27 PM PDT
I believe that many doubts have been cleared with Najib's recent declaration (that BN won't cling on the power should they lose). The people should now be able to vote as they please without feeling threatened and stressed. And since BN has made its promise, PR should in turn make the same promise that if they lose in their states they will ensure a smooth transfer of power (especially to control some of their fanatical, over-obsessive supporters who have the potential of causing troubles). "Should Barisan National lose in the coming election, will they surrender their power peacefully?"
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| Pakatan out to create a bigger tsunami Posted: 04 Apr 2013 04:16 PM PDT
There are about 37.7 per cent Chinese votes in Perak and most of them support Pakatan Rakyat. However, Pakatan Rakyat needs to fight for the 48.59 per cent Malay votes to win the state and more parliamentary seats. And Anwar is the ace to attract Malay votes. Lim Sue Goan, Sin Chew Daily Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said he intends to leave Penang and contest in Perak, showing that Pakatan Rakyat has made a careful deployment for the focal states in the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. There was an announcement earlier saying that DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang will leave Perak to contest in Johor. The move was intended to create a momentum and set off a tsunami from the southern peninsula. And there must be important leaders in the north to make the deployment sound. If Pakatan Rakyat is able to seize Johor, PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub is expected to be the candidate for state mentri besar. Pakatan Rakyat has no preferred chief minister candidate in Malacca. In Negri Sembilan, however, PAS and the PKR have their respective preferred candidates, namely Seremban PKR deputy chief Dr Mohamad Rafie Abdul Malek and PAS central committee member Dr Rosli Yaakob. Although there was a rumour earlier saying that PKR president Datin Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail would contest in Selangor, she later decided not to contest for any seats. However, PKR deputy president Azmin Ali will continue contesting in Selangor. After Lim Kit Siang left Perak to contest in Johor, Anwar shifted to contest in the state to stabilise the situation and fight for Malay votes, with an attempt to take revenge on the BN for seizing the state administration in February 2009. There are about 37.7 per cent Chinese votes in Perak and most of them support Pakatan Rakyat. However, Pakatan Rakyat needs to fight for the 48.59 per cent Malay votes to win the state and more parliamentary seats. And Anwar is the ace to attract Malay votes. If Anwar contests in Perak, he can help improve the winning odds of some parliamentary seats. With more parliamentary seats, there will be a greater chance to seize Putrajaya. It is generally predicted that since Anwar is going to contest in Perak, PKR would then be Pakatan Rakyat's leading party in the state. If Pakatan Rakyat is able to win the state, the mentri besar should then be a PKR member. However, it is impossible for PAS grassroots to give up the post. In the Perak regime change, the relationship between former state Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin and the Malay Ruler has changed and thus, it is difficult for him to be the mentri besar again. In Penang, half of the total voters are Chinese. It is not a big problem for Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng to keep the regime. In Kedah, Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Azizan Abdul Razak's performance is poor and has been receiving resistance from the state's grassroots. Therefore, it is rumoured that PAS would field its vice-president Datuk Mahfuz Omar to contest in Kedah to pave the way for the replacement of the mentri besar. Pakatan Rakyat also has preferred mentri besar candidates in Perlis and state PAS deputy president Mohd Anuar Tahir receives the greatest support. In a recent interview with Sin Chew Daily, Lim Kit Siang predicted that Pakatan Rakyat would be able to seize another two state regimes in the 13th general election, namely Negri Sembilan and Perlis. Therefore, the focal states in the west coast of peninsula, together with Kelantan, Pakatan Rakyat is trying to build a "Great Wall" and if they are linked together, it might trigger a larger tsunami. One thing that should not be forgotten is that during the 2008 general election, Anwar and Pakatan Rakyat leaders focused their election campaign activities in the west coast of the peninsula in the last few days before polling day and it resulted in a tsunami, causing a regime change in Selangor, Perak, Penang and Kedah, while winning 10 of the 11 parliamentary seats in Kuala Lumpur. And now, Pakatan Rakyat is using the old trick with more energetic candidates and a more sophisticated deployment. It seems like Pakatan Rakyat's plan to seize Putrajaya is not limited to an empty talk. The election campaign is expected to be more and more exciting.
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| Pakatan still can't shoot straight on dissolution day Posted: 04 Apr 2013 03:54 PM PDT
CYNICAL fools hounded and pounded the Prime Minister for years with inane and insane bunk on why he should dissolve the Dewan Rakyat prematurely – to the Opposition's advantage of course. Nevertheless, the misanthropic guesswork that preceded yesterday's dissolution was diabolical: Opposition leaders goaded the PM to announce D-Day on almost every quarter since 2011, hoping an earlier snap election could convert their March 8, 2008 concessions into bigger gains. Azmi Anshar, NST But Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak dismissed the contemptuous bait-and-switch tactics by focusing on an unstoppable momentum to further advance the nation's socio-economic fortunes that has defined his administration. So, it was easy for him to ignore the Opposition hogwash that whined incessantly about a dissolution that didn't arrive to their convenience and one that went beyond the emblematic March 8 date. But when he finally did yesterday, it was Najib's sentimentality that guided the decision – the live telecast to announce Parliamentary dissolution also marked the fourth anniversary of his swearing-in as PM. Who would have thought? Nevertheless, the misanthropic guesswork that preceded yesterday's dissolution was diabolical: Opposition leaders goaded the PM to announce D-Day on almost every quarter since 2011, hoping an earlier snap election could convert their March 8, 2008 concessions into bigger gains. When Najib refused to even nibble their bait, the opposition denounced him "cowardly" but when it was obvious that Najib would look beyond March 8, his March 8 snub was "shameless." Despite the constitutionality of his actions, Najib still endured claims of illegitimacy, no less than by the biggest cynic of them all, Lim Kit Siang. Lim's sneers was hypocritical: if illegitimacy and not legality was the imperilled issue, then he should have ensured that the Pakatan Rakyat state governments of Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Selangor dissolve on March 8 as a mark of "virtuous principle." Was it a surprise that he didn't? Lim blasé argument that Najib had lost moral legitimacy and credibility after March 8 was as flaccid as his jowls. Wouldn't the status of his son the Penang chief minister and the other Pakatan mentris besar be just as morally illegitimate and incredible? The response to Lim's cynical calculation was whooping incredulity that recognised Lim's familiar theatrics cannoning off cynical hyperbole in sound-bite loops that repeats itself to fit his self-preservation. Like his son, Kit Siang would forever – even if he unthinkably ever held Federal power – assumed the bunker mentality of paranoid victimology that suspects lurking dissenters in every nook and corner desperate to sack them from their hypocritically dynastic high horses. However, in the father-son tag team, their paranoia is actually valid: everywhere you go, conscientious DAP state and branch leaders have rebelled so greatly that Guan Eng will now realise that Penang is no walkover and Kit Siang risks political seppuku in Gelang Patah. But why would Lim Kit Siang and son, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and his Pas' ilk, these people bray for rule of law, hyperventilate at the thought of a Government optimising its five-year constitutional tenure? Simple: this longest stint recorded is as long as the rope that the PKR, DAP and Pas used to hang themselves as they bicker, backstab and undercut in such juxtaposing bedlam, chronicled assiduously in 30 ways by Anwar's former lawyer, Datuk Zulkifli Noordin, in his blog. Just a sample of Zulkifli's censure of Pakatan's daft potboilers leads to another cynical theme: anything less than the takeover of Putrajaya will deem GE13 as being fraught with fraud and irregularity. Anwar and his minions have harped on the idea of uncontrollable street demonstrations if Pakatan fails to grab Putrajaya on the delusion that majority of Malaysians will vote for them. In the euphoria of that delusion, Pakatan entered into a paradox of sorts when they proclaimed in their Hail Mary general election manifesto that they will ensure a free and fair election once they win Putrajaya. Hold on! If they win, then wouldn't the general election conducted by the Election Commission be more than fair! So why keep carping on a fraud poll? Other than Pakatan implying that they will win elections which themselves rigged, such incontinent self-flattery is the textbook excuse to justify their continued existence even after the majority voted them out fair and square. But for the likes of Pakatan Rakyat's scandal-prone, infirmed, cynical and uncouth leaders, losing objectively and equitably is a nightmare that will truly expose their Orwellian characters and hurtle them down the road to oblivion and, heaven forbid, retirement. |
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