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Don’t blame the East Malaysians for your mistakes
Jeffrey, Star a player beyond Bingkor
Political gap narrows in Malaysia
The tale of Najib and the Chinese tsunami
Najib needs to transform BN

Don’t blame the East Malaysians for your mistakes

Posted: 07 May 2013 01:22 PM PDT

(TMI) - Again, some people on this side of the country have been blaming Sabah and Sarawak for Barisan Nasional winning the election.

Someone on Facebook said this: "There must be some way to neutralise or get them out of equation. Peninsular people already voted BN out."

A friend of mine chimed in with: "Why do the rural folks (who are also being oppressed although they may not fully realise it) think that a different regime will not meet their needs?"

My feelings, for once, can be neatly summarised in one picture.

Sadly my editor would not let me write my column in memes, so I must needs explain myself.

There is a historical precedent for why East Malaysia has its seat allotment. It was agreed that it would have one-third plus one of existing Parliamentary seats to assure that it would never be "bullied" or "neutralised."

Even that agreement has been reneged upon as, thanks to gerrymandering, in actual fact, Sabah and Sarawak hold only a quarter of the vote.

It is extremely condescending to assume that what ails and concerns the rural voter or voters in East Malaysia are not as "important" as what keeps an urbanite up at night.

Just because my priorities are different from another person's does not make them wrong and the same goes for the situation in Malaysia.

Jeffrey, Star a player beyond Bingkor

Posted: 07 May 2013 12:48 PM PDT

The only persons standing between PR and Putrajaya in Borneo at the moment are Jeffrey and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. The former is likely to be in that role for a good many years to come.

Joe Fernandez

The 5 May 13th General Election results in Sabah have come as a good dose of reality for Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the Malaya-based national coalition which rivals the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN), a similar set-up, in Borneo as in Malaya.

There will be those in PR who will beg to disagree with the "dose of reality' theory.

They will swear the same thing could be said of the State Reform Party (Star) led by Jeffrey Kitingan, the newly-elected state assemblymen for Bingkor, his old seat from his days with the Parti Bersatu Sabah (PBS), a party still led by elder brother Joseph Pairin Kitingan.

PR's thinking that Jeffrey is not being realistic appears to imply, to put it simply, that he must either roll over and play dead or simply drop dead in politics if he's not willing to allow the Orang Malaya to walk all over him.

Jeffrey knows which side his bread is buttered despite the handicaps. He's dealing with an electorate, especially the young, which has been deliberately kept in ignorance on how Sabah and Sarawak came to be, unfortunately, in Malaysia. The Agenda Borneo is battling not only the Agenda Malaya but also a thick wall of ignorance especially among the young. However, no one can go wrong when he's defending his country from being stolen by outsiders.

Malaysia must be the only country in the world which doesn't teach the history of its formation to its students. Instead, it promotes fairy tales like "Sabah dan Sarawak mencapai kemerdekaan mereka melalui Malaysia" (56 Tahun) -- "Sabah and Sarawak obtained their independence through Malaysia" (56 years old). 16 Sept, 1963 to 16 Sept, 2013 is not 56 years.

The fact is that Star is on home ground in Borneo as a national party while PR is in Sabah and Sarawak, as outsiders from some god-forsaken place far away, only hell bent on making up the seat numbers which they would need from Borneo to seize the reins of power in Putrajaya from BN. Henceforth, given the unbridgeable political divide in Malaya, it's not possible for BN and PR to form the Federal Government without the support of parliamentary seats from Sabah and Sarawak. God works in mysterious ways his wonders to perform!

The only persons standing between PR and Putrajaya in Borneo at the moment are Jeffrey and Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim. The former is likely to be in that role for a good many years to come. His win in Bingkor is just a case of warming up. Star, a glance at the May 5 election results will reveal, is a player and game-changer in Borneo beyond Bingkor. Anwar is his own worst enemy.

There's no lost between Jeffrey and Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) in particular, a party where he was shabbily treated as vice president over Borneo rights and virtually forced to resign. Most of the bad blood is between Jeffrey and de facto PKR Chief Anwar who, it has been alleged, is not too fond of the Orang Asal (Original People) especially if they are Christian and insist on running their own affairs.

Anwar, for a man credited with being the so-called glue between Dap and Pas in Pakatan Rakyat (PR), is either incredibly naïve or chooses to be so when it comes to Sabah and Sarawak. Like others he has reached, to quote management guru Peter Drucker, his level of incompetence.

He remains obsessed with Umno Sabah remaining intact so that, (1) Muslim domination of Sabah, more illegal rather than local, continues at the expense of the Orang Asal for the greater glory of Putrajaya's colonialist aims in the region; and (2) Umno Sabah can be converted to PKR when he's ready to take Putrajaya. So Anwar has no time for people like Jeffrey.

Apparently, he would rather be in cahoots with Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari, another outsider like him eyeing Sabah with no consideration whatsoever for the Orang Asal, to woo the Suluk votes in particular for him. In return, Anwar has purportedly assured that Sabah will have autonomy in Malaysia but under the illegal immigrants and not the Orang Asal. The BN is not investigating the assurance and the alleged Anwar-Nur Misuari link for Suluk votes but rather the recent Lahad Datu intrusion. It's unlikely that Anwar is involved, as alleged by Umno.

It remains to be seen whether Anwar continues with his ignorance is bliss approach to Sabah and Sarawak.

Anwar's only known talent, besides being the glue, is to stand up suddenly and make a good speech and just as suddenly sit down again. He leaves the organising, the details and the running around to others trading on his so-called "brand name" while he presides in imperial splendor over all that he sees and surveys around him. In short, Anwar has never changed from his rabble-rousing days as a student at Universiti Malaya.

It's a tragedy that Upko leader Bernard Dompok, outspoken on Christian if not Borneo rights, lost his Penampang parliamentary seat to a young PKR leader despite Star entering the fray to split the Opposition votes. It appears that Dompok was denied the postal votes while the illegals voted for PKR.

Jeffrey lost the Keningau parliamentary seat to Pairin, the Huguan Siou (Paramount Chief), only because PKR fielded a candidate as well and drew some 7,000 votes away from him. Jeffrey lost by 5,000 votes to Pairin in a seat which allegedly has some 6,000 illegal immigrants on the electoral rolls and bolstered by postal votes. If not for PKR, Jeffrey could have won and been more effective in Parliament than Pairin who doesn't open his mouth on the rights of Borneo.

Anwar showed poor judgment in Keningau where Jeffrey was selling the message that the Huguan Siou must remain above politics so that Sabahans in general, the Orang Asal in particular, would remain united and defend their nation's rights in Malaysia.

PKR is putting out the fairy tale that Jeffrey only contested in Keningau to save his brother from getting a drubbing at the hands of the party.

Another theory, this time from Star insiders, is that Umno told Pairin to postpone his retirement to the 14th GE and help ensure that Jeffrey does not come to Parliament with his case against Malaysia in Sabah and Sarawak. According to them, PKR and BN were on the same page in Keningau.

PKR must have taken leave of its senses to think that it can come all the way from Malaya and defeat the Huguan Siou in his own country through local Judas-like traitors who, like those in Sabah BN, are willing to be their local proxies, their stooges and rogue elements in return for the proverbial 30 pieces of silver.

PKR points out that it won seven state seats in Sabah on May 5 and one parliamentary seat compared with just Bingkor for Star. Dap won two parliamentary seats and four state seats, all in Chinese areas, but unlike PKR isn't rubbing Star's nose in the dirt over these victories. They are mindful that they are in other people's country. Dap has been careful to maintain good ties with Star, Jeffrey in particular, and sees no reason to rub the Orang Asal the wrong way.

Anwar, it appears, wants the Orang Asal to shamelessly worship the very ground that he walks on and kow tow to him.

Three parliamentary seats for PR from Sabah, when they set a target of 10, really means nothing. It doesn't help with the race to Putrajaya. PR could have obtained these 10 seats, had it pragmatically kept out of Sabah and Sarawak, and worked with Jeffrey instead of relying on the illegals. Sarawak might be a study in contrast as Star aside, Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud -- the Registrar of Societies (ROS) in his pocket --has made a thorough job of destroying local opposition parties and splintering Dayak politics and the votebank. Taib thinks like Anwar here.

In Sabah, to add insult to injury, PR contested the state seats too which have nothing to do with it taking power in Putrajaya. Malayan parties cannot be expected to fight for the autonomy of Sabah and Sarawak.

In the end, Star denied PR many more seats it had targeted to win just as the latter drew away votes from the former with sheer lies that Jeffrey being a Kitingan is a BN mole, a Trojan Horse, the King of the Frogs, who will not hesitate to re-join BN after denying PR victory in Sabah and Sarawak. (Jeffrey had always maintained that he had always been a good frog).

These blatant lies on a purported link with BN had a telling effect on Star and cost it many seats, apart from multi-cornered fights being a crippling factor. BN won Kota Marudu, Tenom, Keningau, and the state seats of Melalap and Kundasang by default.

The history-illiterate younger voters especially bought the PR line that unlike Star it can bring down the BN Government in Putrajaya with their help. Left unsaid was that Star's political struggle is all about the state's rights and autonomy in Malaysia and has nothing to do with who rules in Putrajaya.

As Star's 3rd Force ally Hindraf Makkal Sakthi chairman P. Waythamoorthy has remarked, albeit controversially: "It doesn't matter whether Rama (a diety) or Ravana (a demon) takes Putrajaya." Obviously, Waytha sees a big difference between a Rama who gives him the short end of the stick and a Ravana who's willing to apologise to him for past wrongs. In the original myth, the jury is still out on whether Rama or Ravana was the greater evil.

Kadamaian, Matunggong, Kota Belud, Tenom and Ranau are all indications that the Orang Asal are moving away from the BN.

Many young voters in Sabah and Sarawak failed to consider that PR ruling in Putrajaya means nothing to them just as it means nothing with BN in power.

The BN remained in power with the help of Sabah and Sarawak after the political tsunami of Sat 8 Mar, 2008. However, such support did not translate into a sharing of the Federal Government between the three territories as envisaged under the Malaysia Agreement.

May 5 has seen the BN even more dependent than ever on Sabah and Sarawak to keep Putrajaya. It remains to be seen whether there will be any benefits in this for the two Borneo nations.

Had PR taken Putrajaya on May 5, it would have done a BN too to Sabah and Sarawak. This is the message that's going out from Star to the people in the two nations.

Star has vowed that there will be hell to pay this time if the Najib Government ignores Sabah and Sarawak and instead, like his predecessor Abdullah Badawi, continues to woo at their expense the Indians, Chinese and Malays in Malaya who have no interest whatsoever in BN or his Umno for that matter.

Najib, for starters, must appoint a non-Muslim Orang Asal from Sabah or Sarawak as a Deputy Prime Minister.

It's politically incorrect to insist that the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister must be Malays and Muslims from Malaya for all eternity. It goes against the Spirit of the Malaysia Agreement.

The reality of the May 5 results must dictate the politics and no longer the Indian, Chinese, Malay and Lain Lain (Others) mould of thinking in Putrajaya.

If there are no Chinese from Malaya in the Najib Cabinet so what? Are the Chinese going to come running back to MCA and Gerakan just because there are members of their community holding token posts in the Najib Cabinet? If having Chinese in Government is a must, the BN should consider sharing Federal Cabinet and Government posts with the Opposition, but not at the expense Sabah, Sarawak or Hindraf.

If PR is to ever smell Putrajaya, it must keep out of Sabah and Sarawak unless it wants to engage in a fruitless quest. It's not in its interest to emulate what Umno and the other Malayan parties are doing in Sabah and in Putrajaya. Again, it must keep out of Sabah and Sarawak if it wants Star's 'blessing' to seize the reins of power in Putrajaya.

The Malaysia Agreement and the related constitutional documents on Malaysia clearly stipulate that Malaya would not have more than one seat less two-thirds in the Malaysian Parliament. Given the 222 seats in parliament, that means 147 seats but Malaya has 165 seats i.e. 18 seats having been stolen from Sabah and Sarawak to diminish their voice.

To add insult to injury, Malaysian parties have stolen further seats in Sabah and Sarawak, not only in Parliament but in the respective state assemblies too. The entire process is being facilitated by local traitors, for want of a better term, on both sides of the political divide. When people are too poor despite being in rich states, they will do anything for anyone even outsiders in their desperation.

The 14th GE in Borneo can be Star's. There should be no kacau (disturb) business again from PR and the now irrelevant Sapp which was wiped out by May 5 in their attempts to further divide the Orang Asal in cahoots with BN.

Star is expected to focus on the following strategies for the 14th GE: (1) taking away the Orang Asal state seats from Sabah Umno; (2) wiping out Upko, PBRS, and the parti parti Malaya like MCA and Gerakan in Sabah; (3) taking away the Dayak state seats from PBB; (4) contesting all parliamentary seats in Sarawak and Sabah including Labuan; and (5) contesting all 3rd Force seats in Malaya for Parliament and the state assemblies.

The issues will be kept alive through FaceBook pages for every seat, parliament and state.

Jeffrey is expected to raise, in the State Assembly, the BN including the 20 Points in their Manifesto for Sabah. In paying lip service, the Manifesto mentioned the Spirit of the 20 Points. The Star Chief will demand to know what that means and without the semantics. He needs to know that BN Sabah and Star are on the same page on the issue of Malaysia in Borneo.

This is expected to test the 11 state assemblymen from PR as well. The proof of the pudding is in the eating although there are no second chances for PR.

As Star conducts its post-mortem on May 5, it will discover that not all the blame can be placed on PKR and Anwar.

Jeffrey took the people for granted to a certain extent by fielding quite a number of dubious characters, BN rejects and people who could hardly open their mouths and deliver a good ceramah (political talk). He surrounded himself at the same time with too many people whispering too many things in his ears and this put off many young leaders and veteran strategists who could have helped the party make a bigger difference. Jeffrey should keep away from well-meaning do-gooders in Malaya who are appaling ignorant on Sabah and Sarawak. Their campaign contributions are welcome but that does not mean they have a right to dictate to him.

Also, it seems that campaign funds were simply pocketed by quite a number of unscrupulous candidates, party workers were not paid, and the state of the logistics to prevent the illegals voting left a lot to be desired. He forgot that the anti-BN illegals were willing to vote for PKR.

Jeffrey should know what to do if he wants his party to continue being a player and a game changer in Sabah and Sarawak. He needs to acquire some of the killer instinct and pure political animism that drives Anwar. He should not continue to fall back on his goody goody, padre-like academician's "I am the Gospel Truth" approach to politics. Many of his press statements, drafted to "prevent hurting the feelings of our comrades in arms in the Opposition", were pure gibberish.

To its credit, Dap screened its candidates well this time in Sabah and that brought a bonus for PKR as well. The Chinese were all for PKR through Dap. Jeffrey lost the Chinese vote in Keningau, for example, to PKR.

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. He also tutors at local institutions and privately. He subscribes to Dr Stephen Hawking's "re-discovery" of the ancient Indian theory that "the only predictable property of the universe is chaos". 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) or to give a Hearing to All. 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.

Political gap narrows in Malaysia

Posted: 07 May 2013 12:23 PM PDT

In his political climb, Mukhriz, deputy minister of international trade and industry in the previous government, could soon bump up against a rising star within the PR, Nurul Izzah

Anil Netto

PENANG - Malaysia's general elections returned the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition to power with a weak mandate and the potential for political instability in the weeks ahead. The opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition led by Anwar Ibrahim has questioned the integrity of Sunday's result and has refused to concede defeat until investigations are conducted into numerous reported irregularities.

On polling day, social media was abuzz with alerts, photographs and videos that showed the indelible ink used to prevent voters from casting more than one ballot was easily washed away. Other reports indicated that busloads of people believed to be nationals of other countries had cast votes. There were also widespread allegations of vote-buying.

Bersih, a civil society coalition campaigning for electoral reforms, withheld its recognition of the polls and has not yet indicated whether it would protest the result. The activist coalition has held three mass rallies, including a demonstration in April that drew by some estimates 200,000 people, against an electoral system it believes is rigged in BN's and its main component United Malay Nasional Organization (UMNO) party's favor. Anwar on Tuesday urged opposition supporters to protest the result.

There could be significant grass roots support for a follow-up rally. A petition on the website change.org appealing to the United Nations to investigate electoral fraud allegations had gone viral online with more than 200,000 signatures as of Tuesday. So far Anwar has called on PR supporters to remain calm while investigations are ongoing.

On Monday, Najib Razak called for the opposition to accept the result while being sworn in as prime minister. According to official results, the BN won 133 of parliament's 222 seats, down from the 140 it notched at the 2008 polls and below its coveted two-thirds majority. PR increased its parliamentary representation from 82 to 89, according to the results.

In a significant turn, PR won over half of the popular vote, with the BN lagging about three to four percentage points behind. According to the official results, PR polled 5.6 million votes to the BN's 5.2 million. The discrepancy between the share of popular votes and actual parliamentary seats won - PR won only 40% of parliament's seats - owes to periodic gerrymandering orchestrated by the BN to favor its candidates in rural areas.

Notwithstanding possible rallies against the result, Najib's political future now hangs in the balance. He was appointed prime minister in 2009 following former premier Abdullah Badawi's relatively poor electoral showing at the 2008 elections. The danger for Najib is that, like Abdullah, he could be removed from UMNO's presidency - which traditionally brings with it the premiership - after an even worse electoral performance.

UMNO party elections are due to be held later this year. For its part, UMNO won 88 of the 119 seats it contested for a win-rate of 74%. However, all five of Najib's personal aides who contested a seat lost. During his victory speech on Sunday night, Najib and BN aides around him were visibly glum despite their win in what was a grueling electoral battle.

UMNO now holds two-thirds of BN's 133 seats, further consolidating its domination over the ruling coalition. Affiliated parties from the North Borneo states of Sabah and Sarawak are now the largest junior partners. Other ethnic-based parties such as the Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) and Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), once major players in the BN's forerunner, the Alliance, have become bit players, reflecting the shrinking demographics of their traditional supporters. Many MCA and MIC supporters defected to PR ahead of the polls.

There is political irony in the fact that it was Najib's father, former prime minister Abdul Razak, who broadened the diversity of the former Alliance from an UMNO-MCA-MIC coalition to a wider BN coalition that included other smaller parties following a poor electoral showing in 1969. It remains to be seen if Najib will now try similarly to enlarge the BN by luring PR-affiliated parties, whether directly or through a pact, into its fold.

Within PR, the multi-ethnic but largely Chinese-based Democratic Action Party (DAP) recorded the biggest gains in parliament, raising its tally from 28 seats in 2008 to 38 this time. Anwar's People's Justice Party (PKR) largely held its ground with 30, while the Islamic party PAS slipped slightly to 21 seats. Najib, typical of his party's race-based perspective, labeled the opposition's gains as a "Chinese-tsunami".

The tale of Najib and the Chinese tsunami

Posted: 07 May 2013 12:20 PM PDT

Why did Najib, who professes 1Malaysia, say and do something that quite a number of people deem racist?

Mohsin Abdullah, fz.com

BY NOW we all know that in blaming the "Chinese tsunami" for BN's unconvincing GE13 performance and defending Utusan Malaysia "Apa lagi China mahu?" (What more the Chinese want?) headline, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is finding himself getting quite a flak.

From ordinary Malaysians and even BN supporters, from the opposition – that goes without saying. And "flak" is a tame word to use.

The question is why a leader, who professes 1Malaysia and wants national reconciliation following the hotly-contested GE, would say and do something that quite a number of people deem racist?

"He has to find a scapegoat and the Chinese are a convenient target. If he admits there's a Malay shift, he will lose his Umno presidency in double quick time," said a political observer. (To many, GE13 saw an "urban tsunami" involving Malays as well and the divide is between urban and rural, not between Malays and Chinese).

The remarks made by the observer could be taken to mean Najib feels "threatened" or rather "insecure" in keeping his job in Umno which brings along with it, the premiership.

Already pro-BN media have been carrying reports on the need for Najib to continue leading the nation and crediting him for the BN election victory.

To Choong Pui Yee, senior analyst at Nanyang Technological University's S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Najib's credibility will be challenged in general.

"There is a possibility of power struggle within Umno as the GE result is worse than the previous one," said Choong. And surely we remember all too well what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said sometime in January on what would happen should Najib fail to deliver.

Najib had promised a two-third majority win for BN at the federal level and win back Selangor from Pakatan Rakyat. That did not happen and the immediate speculation is that Najib will be asked to step down or face a challenge from Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, his deputy.

Muhyiddin with Mahathir played a big role in ousting Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi following BN's dismal performance in the 2008 polls.

But said an Umno strategist a repeat of that will not take place – meaning Najib is "safe".

"You must understand the psyche of Muhyiddin. He is a loyal deputy," said the strategist implying Muhyiddin will not mount a challenge. Echoing that is another BN strategist who went on to say, "Muhyiddin has openly expressed support for Najib to carry on as the number one."

Even Umno's supreme council member Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah has said there's no reason for Najib to step down or be challenged as he has "done well".

In the 2008 polls, Umno won 79 seats it contested and in GE13 won 88 out of the 120 seats it vied for. But overall, Najib did not better the score registered by Abdullah's BN in 2008. (The scoreboard read BN 140, Pakatan 82 in 2008. For GE13, it's BN 133 Pakatan 89).

Both the strategists were quick to point out that "Mahathir is quiet when Mukhriz is MB", referring to the former PM's son who is also Kedah menteri besar after BN wrested the state from PAS/Pakatan administration.

However, to many observers, it was Mahathir who delivered Kedah to BN this time with the help of Tun Daim Zainuddin the former finance minister who had also campaigned in the state.

Anyway, the two strategists spoke just a tad too soon. A few hours after they spoke on Mahathir "being quiet", the former PM was quiet no more. He told a media conference he "did not expect Najib to do worse than Abdullah".

Najib needs to transform BN

Posted: 07 May 2013 12:13 PM PDT

Rural areas over time will become urbanised. Older people will eventually pass on. The country as a whole will become richer. And internet penetration is increasing by the day. In other words, as Malaysia moves towards developed nation status, BN's traditional demographic will transform into PR's target market.

Oon Yeoh, The Sun Daily

WHEN Pakatan Rakyat managed to deny Barisan Nasional its traditional two-thirds majority in 2008, many wondered if it was just a fluke. As the saying goes, one swallow does not a summer make. Well, it's now two elections in a row where BN's two-thirds majority has been denied. It's pretty obvious that the two-party system is here to stay.

With PR winning a few more federal seats than the last outing, as well as making inroads into traditional BN states like Pahang and Johor, it's clear that life will never be easy for BN again. It's just going to get harder. Is there any doubt that GE14 will be an even tougher battle?

Although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had attributed BN's relatively poor showing to the "Chinese tsunami", more than a few political observers have pointed out that this could not have happened without the other races supporting PR as well.

According to the Election Commission, BN lost the popular vote at both the federal and state levels. For federal seats, BN got 5,237,699 votes compared to PR's 5,623,984. For state seats, BN got 4,513,997 votes compared to PR's 4,879,699.

Given that the Chinese are a minority, making up about 30% of the population, it's not possible for PR to have won the popular vote at both the federal and state levels without the support of other communities, most notably the Malays, who are the dominant race in this country.

This is not to say that the Chinese did not swing heavily towards the opposition. They did. But the real divide, many analysts say, is not racial in nature but one involving a whole range of factors including geography, age, income level, and even internet connectivity.

Merdeka Center, an independent polling agency, had conducted a survey before the election that found that rural respondents were more likely to vote BN while urban ones, PR. It also found that older respondents preferred BN while younger ones, PR. Lower-income people were inclined towards BN while higher income earners, PR. And those without internet access tended to favour BN while the connected ones, PR.

If the survey is correct, such findings should be a real cause for concern to Najib. In a nutshell, Merdeka Center found that those who favoured BN tended to be rural, old, poor and without internet access. This is hardly an enviable target market. Why? Because it's a sunset demographic.

So, while it's important for Najib to figure out why the Chinese have swung so heavily away from BN, it's probably more crucial for him to understand why the urban, young, rich and connected are inclined to do the same.

Najib's done well enough to earn BN another five-year run. If he wants BN's tenure to extend any further than that though, the kind of transformation he will have to achieve in his second term is not just in relation to the economy or the government but the very coalition that he heads. He needs to transform BN itself.

For a start, there needs to be a concerted move away from race-based politics. With Gerakan and MCA in tatters and MIC hardly much better, perhaps it's an opportunity for Najib to boldly suggest that the "M" in Umno be changed to "Malaysian" and invite his coalition partners to join a more inclusive Umno.

Imagine how disruptive that would be. Such a move would be far harder for his critics to dismiss than the vague and ambiguous 1Malaysia slogan. There will be resistance aplenty within his own party. And I'm sure he is fully aware of what happened to Onn Jaafar for daring to suggest the "M" in Umno to be changed to "Malayan". But that was over 60 years ago. The times have changed. Malaysians have changed. Can BN afford to stay the same?

Oon Yeoh is a new media consultant. Comments: letters@thesundaily.com

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Rabu, 8 Mei 2013