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Posted: 10 Apr 2013 02:01 PM PDT

It's the PR which needs Indian votes, not the BN.

Joe Fernandez

The departure of the British administrators from Malaya in 1957, ostensibly giving independence to the country, meant nothing to the Indian Nation.

Indians soon found that they had exchanged one colonial master for another, from the British to the Malay-speaking communities drawn from the Bugis, Javanese, Minang, Acehnese, Arab Muslims and Indian Muslims, among others. This was the Malay Nation, a people without territory in Singapore, Malaya, south Thailand, Sri Lanka, Madagascar and South Africa.

From the scourge of external colonisation, Indians have been experiencing internal colonisation since 1957, a crime under international law. Incidentally, it was internal colonisation by Khartoum which eventually led to South Sudan breaking away from Sudan with the blessing of the UN Security Council.

On that score alone, internal colonisation, Umno/BN is the sworn eternal and mortal enemies of the Indian Nation in Malaysia. It's neither possible to forgive nor forget what Umno/BN has done to the Indians.

It's not possible for Indians to do business, purely on moral grounds, with this evil coalition which has squatted on Indians more than half a century.

Indians must seize the moral high ground and reject Umno/BN completely

The last General Election, the 12th, was a watershed for Indians when the makkal sakthi – people power in Tamil – wave generated by Hindraf Makkal Sakthi unleashed a political tsunami and installed Opposition Governments, formed by the Pakatan Rakyat (PR), in five states in Malaya and handed it Kuala Lumpur.

Alas, PR did little to roll back the policies institutionalized by 56 years of internal colonisation under Umno and its running dogs, the Barisan Nasional (BN). Neither is the Opposition making any attempts this time to woo the Indians despite 85 per cent of them voting against the BN in 2008. PR belabours under the delusion that Indians would automatically vote for them, having broken with BN the last time.

This 13th GE, Indians are in a league all by themselves, having not even one ethnic-majority seat in any legislature, despite nearly a million of them on the electoral rolls.

The community must seize the moral high ground and have nothing to do with the BN which, as the last GE proved, doesn't really need Indian votes to keep Putrajaya. Umno is more concerned about denying Indian votes to the Opposition and in return has offered the prospect of throwing some crumbs directly at the community instead of routing these through their political mandores in MIC and PPP. PR meanwhile has enthusiastically embraced the political mandore system being abandoned by Umno/BN.

PKR, the glue that holds Dap and Pas together in PR, was formed by the losing side after the proverbial falling out of thieves in Umno. Its aim is to replace Umno in the Federal Government.

New faces can be given the benefit of the doubt

Dap meanwhile has done a good job of wooing the urban and Chinese voters away from BN, on the verge of collapse on the eve of the GE.

Umno can no longer afford to give BN the seats where the Malays form the single biggest community but still less than 50 per cent. PR is set to sweep these seats from BN and Umno thinks it will have a better chance than its lapdog to retain the Malay voters.

Indians, having burnt their bridges with PR in the aftermath of 2008, have no reason to worry about the fate of the Opposition Alliance no matter what's in store for them. It's for the non-Indian urban and Chinese voters to save PR as their best vehicle to bring them to power in Putrajaya.

Indians must walk a lonely path in politics, even one that involves a spell in the cold or wilderness.

The community can give new faces, making their electoral debut in the 13th GE, the benefit of the doubt provided they endorse the Hindraf Blueprint. If both BN and PR candidates in a particular seat endorse the Blueprint, it's for the voters in that locality to decide among themselves which candidate appears more credible.

On balance, it would be difficult for Indians to endorse BN new faces given the ugly history of the coalition.

Alternatively, they can root for a 3rd candidate if there's one in the fray, provided the Blueprint is endorsed.

Not in Indian interest to see PR fail and crumble

If Hindraf fields candidates, probably under one common symbol and flag, Indians should naturally vote for this NGO as it offers them the best hope for the future. Indians decide in 67 parliamentary seats, and the related state seats, in Malaya. It's likely that Hindraf, win or lose, will garner more Indian votes than BN and PR combined and especially from among the underclass.

Hindraf and the new faces aside, Indians should vote against all incumbents. They can do this, not by abstaining or boycotting, but spoiling the ballots in protest against their marginalisation and disenfranchisement. Hopefully, there will be one million spoilt ballots to earn a place in world history and focus the attention of the international community and the UN on the plight of the Indian Nation in Malaysia.

Abstaining has been mentioned as a weapon so that the winners will know why they won i.e. the Indians didn't vote against them. The losers will know why they lost i.e. the Indians didn't vote for them.

If the last GE is any guide, the winners in this case would be the BN and PR the losers. It's the PR which needs Indian votes, not the BN.

Does the Indian community really want to see PR losing all its states? That would only strengthen Umno/BN, the sworn enemies of the Indian Nation, and make it all the more difficult to remove this scourge which has been plaguing the nation the last half century and more.

Ketuanan Melayu the great barrier to Indian advancement

Or should it take the position that the enemy (PR) of my enemy (Umno/BN) is my friend even if not so friendly.

Is it really in the Indian interest to see the return of BN stronger than ever or would it be more strategic to keep giving PR the chances that it obviously doesn't deserve but only until the ruling coalition has been driven out from Putrajaya? The only reason that Umno/BN is being respectful towards the Indians is because of the presence of PR. If PR is no longer around, Umno/BN will ignore the Indians once more like before 2008.

Some would say that there's method in madness if the Indians turn to the Opposition once again after having installed PR in Putrajaya. The odds are against the opposition peacefully assuming power in Malaysia as there are no free and fair elections in the country and it may be virtually impossible to overthrow BN through the ballot box.

Indians can have no part in Government unless and until the Sapu Bersih deviations and distortions of Article 153 in the Federal Constitution and the NEP are ended; the issue of statelessness dealt with; anti non-Malay minorities administrative laws be scrapped; Islam kept in its proper perspective as per Article 3 of the Federal Constitution which doesn't mention any official religion; the intrusion of Syariah and the Syariah Courts into civil law ended; forced and bogus conversions to Islam be outlawed; the bogus conversion of non-Muslims to Islam upon marring Muslims be outlawed; and Muslims be allowed to leave Islam without the sanction of the Syariah Court.

That's unlikely to happen as long as Umno continues its policy of ketuanan Melayu (Malay political domination and supremacy) -- a sick combination of Apartheid, Nazism, and Fascism, Communism, Political Islam and the caste system which allows no upward social mobility – driven by racism, prejudice and opportunism.

Now is not the time to play the devil's advocate. Hindraf Makkal Sakthi must announce its unconditional support for PR come the 13th GE although it has vowed No Free Votes.

It's more important for Indians at this stage to think about punishing, and even destroying Umno and BN, than to worry about what they can get out of a PR Government in Putrajaya.

Joe Fernandez is a graduate mature student of law and an educationist, among others, who loves to write especially Submissions for Clients wishing to Act in Person and tutor at local institutions. He feels compelled, as a semi-retired journalist, to put pen to paper -- or rather the fingers to the computer keyboard -- whenever something doesn't quite jell with his weltanschauung (worldview). He shuttles between points in the Golden Heart of Borneo formed by the Sabah west coast, Labuan, Brunei, northern Sarawak and the watershed region in Borneo where three nations meet. He's half-way through a semi-autobiographical travelogue, A World with a View.

The new front-line states in GE13

Posted: 10 Apr 2013 10:49 AM PDT

Johan Saravanamuttu, Today Online

The 13th General Election of Malaysia to be held on May 5 promises to be the toughest ever to be fought between the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional (BN) and the Opposition, the Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

What are the so-called new front-line states in the capture and defence of Putrajaya? I take "front-line states" to mean those that will be defended or won at the state level, and those that could deliver more parliamentary seats to the Opposition.

Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor are front-line states for the PR to defend, while Perak is an important front-line state for the BN to keep, since it was taken over after the 2008 General Election.

Added to mix now are Negeri Sembilan, Johor, Sarawak and Sabah, where the PR is targeting its state governments and, more importantly, the capture of parliamentary seats in new terrain.

The PR is banking on a continuation of the non-Malay swing of 2008 and a splitting of the Malay vote, which the 16 by-elections held since 2008 — in which each side scored an equal number of wins — appears to affirm.

NEGERI SEMBILAN

First, a brief word: In Penang and Kelantan, few back the BN's chances of a takeover, while in Selangor and Perak, the pundits are talking about 50-50 odds.

In Kedah, the Parti Islam Se-Malaysia (PAS) is said to be weak under Menteri Besar Azizan Abdul Razak, with the party dogged by internal squabbles, a poor public policy record, and unpopular actions, such as the stopping of stage shows and karaoke lounges, which has irked non-Muslims.

The prospect of Dr Mahathir Mohamad's son Mukhriz as a potential Menteri Besar has also created a small stir. The BN would need to capture five more seats to overtake the PR in the 36-seat State Assembly, in which the PR holds 20 seats.

The irony for the BN is that the converse could happen in Negeri Sembilan, a new front-line state, where the BN has only a slim majority in a 36-seat state assembly. The PR, with 15 seats, is four seats short of assuming power in the state. The key factor lies in the weakness of the non-Malay coalition partners within UMNO — the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA), Malaysian Indian Congress and the virtually non-existent Gerakan in this state.

State Opposition leader Mr Anthony Loke of the Democratic Action Party (DAP) will lead the charge in contesting Chennah, a seat which has a mixed constituency of 54 per cent Chinese, 41 per cent Malays, and 3 per cent Indians. In 2008, the MCA candidate had won this constituency by fewer than 1,300 votes.

It is in such seats that the DAP generally holds an advantage, with the swing of Chinese voters to the opposition. (It is worth noting that Mr Loke is an MP for Rasah, a constituency with a similar ethnic make-up which he won in 2008 by more than 13,000 votes against his MCA opponent.)

SHIFT IN JOHOR

This leads us to Johor. How could this state, in which the PR took only one parliamentary and six state seats previously, be now seen as "front line"?

The PR's fate rests mainly upon Chinese votes and the "battle royale" building between the DAP and the MCA in Johor.

The MCA has floundered as a party wracked by factionalism ever since Dr Chua Soi Lek won the leadership struggle in 2009. This explains in no small measure the erosion of Chinese support in the BN's erstwhile bastion of Johor.

DAP party strategist Mr Liew Chin Tong (who will stand in Kluang) describes Johor's seats as having become "dominos". Somewhat optimistically, he thinks that some 20 seats could fall to the PR. This is premised on the expectation of 35 per cent Malay, 80 per cent Chinese and 50 per cent Indian support in the state, and the fact that most Johor seats are of the mixed variety.

Only in eight out of Johor's 26 parliamentary seats do Malays make up more than 60 per cent of voters. No seat has more than 60 per cent of Chinese voters.

Johor has also been targeted by the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) and the PAS. PKR's Johor party chief Mr Chua Jui Meng was formerly Vice-President of the MCA and BN Minister for Health, but he is now a firm PKR man who will run in Segamat. The PAS will send Vice-President Salahuddin Ayub to contest the Pulai parliamentary seat and the Nusa Jaya state seat, with the distant hope that he could be made the Johor Menteri Besar.

How the tide has changed in Kluang

Posted: 10 Apr 2013 10:47 AM PDT

Lee Kaw

A visible shift in public sentiment in this Johor constituency reflects how the battle is shaping up in what was considered a bastion of the BN.

N. Nadeswaran, The Sun Daily

AFTER the DAP's announcement on March 30 that its elections strategist Liew Chin Tong would be the party's candidate for Kluang, a small group of party leaders including Lim Kit Siang walked nonchalantly into the Kluang Country Club. Members, who were having their beers after finishing their round of golf, gave a thunderous welcome and offered the visitors the hospitality usually reserved for VIPs.

Three days later, it was the turn of Johor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Ghani Othman to turn up at the club with trappings of pomp and protocol. But the response was subdued even though it is election time when you could get an unexpected windfall. Ghani announced a RM100,000 grant to the club from the state government.

These contrasting events reflect how the battle is shaping up in what was considered a bastion of the MCA and the Barisan Nasional (BN). The donation although welcomed, was met with cynicism – if he wants to give, why should we refuse?

One of the doyens of the club is Lee Kaw. He's 74 and was DAP's sole MP in Johor for just one term – elected in 1978, after which the BN through MCA has held on to the seat.

Last Saturday, he made his first political speech in a crowded shop house in Kluang after 26 years. But Lee Kaw still retains the fire in his belly despite staying away from politics since 1982.

Lee Kaw came out of "retirement" on a request to oblige an old comrade, Kit Siang, to assist the DAP in shoring up support for Liew to wrest the Kluang seat. And the thunderous reception and applause he got when he finally spoke at the launch of the party's operations centre was indicative of his influence on the people. It was not just from Chinese constituents. The response he received when he popped by for a coffee at the nearby Kopi Tiam showed his popularity.

"Those days, we campaigned for our voices to be heard in Parliament or the State Assembly. We talked about the cost of contracts, the issue of land and Chinese new villages. There were 86 such villages in Kluang which were in need of development," says Lee Kaw who was party treasurer when Kit Siang was the head honcho of the party.

Issues have since changed after all these years. Corruption, economic development and cost of living have taken centre stage. Locals say that Kluang has been left out of development. And of course, winning this seat is significant in Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) proposed march to Putrajaya.

"We have been 'colonised' for 26 years. While towns like Muar and Batu Pahat have enjoyed so much development, we can only say that our progress has been stagnant," says a local businessman.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Khamis, 11 April 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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