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Can constructing the international airport in Alor Star cause Pulau Pinang and the DAP to go bust?
Malaysian leader’s son to receive another USD 320 million in state contracts
Pakatan-PSM row shows minority voices face "double whammy" struggle
Malaysia and the Fear of God

Can constructing the international airport in Alor Star cause Pulau Pinang and the DAP to go bust?

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:18 AM PDT

Pulau Pinang can go bust. It must be allowed to go bust since the people there do not deserve to be given any preferential treatment over the others, who are the Melayu in Kedah who had to suffer just to accommodate the interests of the Chinese in Pulau Pinang who now have to depend on the Democratic Action Party or DAP for their own economic survival.

Mansor Puteh

The Chinese in Pulau Pinang when it was under Barisan Nasional had clout, and had then protested vehemently when the government wanted to construct a new international airport in Alor Setar, Kedah.

The Chinese in Pulau Pinang feared if this happened, the economy of the state would go bust.

But what they did not realize was that without the construction of the airport, the economy of Kedah would go bust.

They did not care about Kedah; they only cared about themselves.

And what this also meant was that they only cared for the well-being of the Chinese in Pulau Pinang who then formed the majority in the state.

They did not care about the well-being of the Melayu in Kedah who formed the majority in this state.

The Chinese in Pulau Pinang did not care what the government had done to the state to give it a higher economic profile all these years, that had allowed the state to develop.

They did it at the expense of Kedah and the Melayu.

But then, Pulau Pinang was a stronghold of the Malaysian-Chinese Association and Parti Gerakan Rakyat or Gerakan, so the government had to take heed of what they wanted, and got it.

So Kedah was left behind economically without the airport. It only has a small airport for domestic use.

But now Pulau Pinang has gone to the opposition.

Having done much to the state by the government, the majority of the Chinese in this state chose to vote opposition. It was a wise move.

But it can also be a stupid move. How? If the government revisits the idea of developing a new international airport in Alor Setar and turn Kedah into a new economic powerhouse in the north of the Melayu Peninsula.

If this can be done, Pulau Pinang can go bust.

It must be allowed to go bust since the people there do not deserve to be given any preferential treatment over the others, who are the Melayu in Kedah who had to suffer just to accommodate the interests of the Chinese in Pulau Pinang who now have to depend on the Democratic Action Party or DAP for their own economic survival.

The Chinese there did not care who had caused the state to develop. They only care who should govern the state, now that it has developed. They chose an almost Chinese-majority party who do not care for the well-being of the Melayu.

There is no doubt that the Chinese in Pulau Pinang had made a grave mistake for voting opposition as it can backfire only if the government and especially Umno know how to go about solving the matter, i.e. by constructing a new and larger international airport in Alor Setar and turn Kedah into a new economic powerhouse.

After all, the people of Kedah who had also tried their luck by voting for PAS now realize their own folly by turning their backs against them in the last general elections.

So it is time for Kedah to be given some preferential treatment and to allow the state to develop and directly compete with Pulau Pinang.

Have those in Umno and the Melayu in Kedah forgotten how the Chinese in Pulau Pinang threatened not to support Barisan if the airport was built?

Have the Melayu in Kedah also forgotten how the Chinese in Pulau Pinang did not care for their well-being but only for the well-being of the Chinese in Pulau Pinang?

Those in Pulau Pinang only wanted Kedah and the Melayu majority there to suffer just to allow Pulau Pinang to continue to prosper.

Now that the threat of the Chinese in Pulau Pinang has been released, by them having voted DAP en masse, maybe it is the right time for the Kedah and government to construct the international airport in Alor Setar to spur its economic growth.

So it was good for the Chinese in Pulau Pinang to give the state to DAP so that Kedah can now go on their own way and develop itself, and by doing so can also cause Pulau Pinang to have stiff competition that it did not want to see as the Melayu in Kedah were too innocent to believe that the Chinese in Pulau Pinang would continue to vote Barisan if Kedah chose to remain backward.

Even when Kedah was given to PAS, the PAS government did not do anything to the state, and allowed it to stagnate.

Now that the people of Kedah are smarter and returned the state to Barisan, it is the right time for them to give Pulau Pinang a run for their money and see if DAP is good for Pulau Pinang, that the Chinese there thought they were, now that the DAP are in their second term as government of the state.

Pulau Pinang's economic growth therefore can be said to be dependent on the state of the economy of Kedah, who chose to remain backward simply to look after the interests of the Chinese in Pulau Pinang.

Now that the tables have been changed, maybe the state of the economy of Pulau Pinang too must be changed.

Kedah cannot suffer because they want Pulau Pinang to prosper.

Pulau Pinang must be strong enough to face competition from Kedah so that the DAP can prove to its voters that they are deserving leaders, and their choice to vote them in was not wrong.

Kedah can prove this to be wrong, for them to go for DAP.

Malaysian leader’s son to receive another USD 320 million in state contracts

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:04 AM PDT

Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud's son expected to grab 80 per cent of state's rural electrification scheme (RES) contracts

Bruno Manser Fonds

(KUCHING, MALAYSIA) Sarawak Cable, a company linked to Mahmud Abu Bekir Taib („Bekir"), the son of Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud, is expected to receive state contracts worth over 1 billion Malaysian Ringgit (USD 320 million) by the end of this year.

According to Malaysian investment research firm AmResearch, Sarawak Cable is highly likely to receive 80 per cent of the contracts for the Malaysian state's rural electrification scheme (RES). The expected contracts will be granted by the state-owned power supplier, Sarawak Energy, and include a lucrative 500kV power transmission line. Last week, Sarawak Cable secured a MYR 32.9 million contract from Sarawak Energy for the proposed Tudan-Miri Airport 132 kV transmission line.

Sarawak Cable is chaired by the Chief Minister's son, Bekir, who is also the company's largest shareholder (20.7%). Another 18.8% of shares are controlled by the State Financial Secretary of Sarawak.

Between 2009 and 2012, Sarawak Energy granted contracts worth over USD 220 million to companies linked to the Sarawak Chief Minister's family. When confronted with these abuses, Sarawak Energy's Norwegian CEO, Torstein Dale Sjøtveit, said: „I have never been corrupt or involved in corrupt practices; not before I came to Sarawak, not while I have been in Sarawak, and I will not be in the future."

With an estimated net value of USD 20 billion, the Taib family is one of Asia's richest and most corrupt political clans. The family's assets include stakes in over 400 companies worldwide and properties in Australia, Canada, the US and the United Kingdom.

Sources used for this release:

http://www.theborneopost.com/2013/06/01/sarawak-cable-expected-to-clinch-rm1-billion-power-line/
http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2013/6/12/business/20130612184339&sec=business
http://www.stop-corruption-dams.org/resources/BMF_report_complicit_in_corruption.pdf
http://www.stop-timber-corruption.org/resources/BMF_Taib_family_report_2012_09_20.pdf
Sarawak Cable Bhd. Annual Report 2012.

Pakatan-PSM row shows minority voices face "double whammy" struggle

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 11:02 AM PDT

The current first past the post voting system favours big political parties. Small non-aligned political parties like PSM, Star, Kita or independent candidates have to kowtow (bow down) to the big guns for a safe passage to stand a chance of winning in the election. The bigger parties will always call the shots and they are the ones who decide who they prefer as their candidates at the gazetted constituencies.

Kuo Yong Kooi

Parti Sosialis Malaysia's (PSM) and Pakatan Rakyat's relationship dilemma is a classic case of a non-reciprocal one-sided relationship. Both parties have got an overarching common objective of ousting the current Umno regime. Other than that, it's a "dog-eat-dog" or "big fish eats small fish" world out there.

The current first past the post voting system favours big political parties. Small non-aligned political parties like PSM, Star, Kita or independent candidates have to kowtow (bow down) to the big guns for a safe passage to stand a chance of winning in the election. The bigger parties will always call the shots and they are the ones who decide who they prefer as their candidates at the gazetted constituencies.

This is the political reality that the current voting system has created.

Pakatan's true colours were revealed during the pre-GE13 seat allocations kerfuffle between them and PSM in Semenyih, Jelapang, Sungai Siput and Kota Damansara when they did not fully accept PSM as part of their party unless it suited them.

D Jeyakumar and Nasir Hashim were forced to back down on using the PSM logo and run under the PKR ticket during the seat negotiations prior to the GE13. S Arutchelvan and P Saraswathy's candidacies were outright rejected in favour of Pakatan's own candidates. This proves that if they are to join Pakatan, it will be done conditionally.

PAS president Hadi Awang acted unilaterally as he fielded his own party's candidate, thus forcing a three-way fight at Kota Damansara which cost a Pakatan seat.

Pakatan's utter disregard for PSM's dedicated and hard grassroots work in the disputed constituencies in the last GE13 makes it clear that there is not much of a relationship in the first place. The unfortunate part of democracy is that you need to get a sizeable following and are able to win some seats to get an impact and respect.

I suggest PSM should adopt the "save qi" (save your breath) formula in its dealings with Pakatan. After all, there are only limited things that a person can do in one's own capacity as a political activist. The relationship problem will persist as long as we are adopting the current first past the post voting system.

Wasting energy in arguing over who did the right thing; asking more questions on why PSM was rejected; or even if PSM was accepted as part of the Pakatan pact - the same problem of in-fighting over whose party candidate is winnable for a particular constituency will still be there in any given election.

The one question that PSM needs to ask is "What is the political reality at this point in time?"

If this question is asked frequently in all future dealings with Pakatan, then we can all work efficiently to deal with enemy number one: Umno. If we continuously argue over what we have gone through and who is right or wrong, we only harbour ill will against each other and in the long run we will fail dismally in the task of unseating Umno from Putrajaya. Too much energy is wasted in arguing instead of working together.

Mind you the arguments put forth are generally the same. The difference is there will be different players at different general elections that cause the rift when it comes to seat allocations.

Post GE 13 has shown to us that the "political reality at this point in time" is a united front to unseat the Umno regime. Many independents including Saraswathy lost their deposits. Arutchelvan managed to garner a sizeable amount of votes away from the PKR candidate and directly contributed to BN's win at the Semenyih seat.

It is great that Arutchelvan managed to effectively thumb his nose on PKR's Azmin Ali, who called the shots in fielding his henchman in the Semenyih seat. The seat loss taught Azmin a lesson for not respecting Arulchelvan's years of hard work in that constituency. That lesson was the only good thing that emerged from the three-cornered fight. Probably that is the only thing a minority party can effectively do due to their small numbers.

Insisting to field a PSM candidate that forces a three-cornered fight just to prove a point that you are relevant is akin to political suicide. There are more important areas to focus on, like expanding PSM's membership.

If PSM believes that expanding the membership is best done through participating in an election to sell the PSM brand and logo, then running as ADUNs in Selangor and Penang is the only viable option as both states seem to be Pakatan's strongholds.

Seat losses suffered by Pakatan may not necessarily have an overall impact on them at the state level. Running in Perak can tip the balance on who wins the state government and can have a disastrous effect on Pakatan's chances to rule the state.

It is best for PSM to save energy and give way if there is a three-cornered fight at the national level because the political reality at this point in time is to oust BN from Putrajaya.

In a future event of a changed government, the political reality at that point in time will be different. The next best campaign for PSM is to form a united front with all the smaller political parties, civil liberty groups and NGOs who sympathise with the idea of "grassroots participatory democracy" to lobby for a preferential voting system.

The electoral system that we are adopting at the moment is the main cause of this type of problem. In my article "The preferential voting system" on http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/letterssurat/55220-the-preferential-voting-system. I briefly described the basic logic of the preferential voting system.

After the successful installation of the preferential voting system, PSM may field as many candidates as they like as it works in favour of smaller parties. Fielding many candidates does not hinder the outcome of the election result because the preferential voting system counts every vote. In other words, no candidate's votes are wasted. The loss votes are reallocated to the next preferred candidate.

It's best to have a preferential voting system because the big political parties will be forced to listen to you when you have sizeable votes that dictate the winner of the contesting seat. It also brings the political horse-trading down to the electorate and grassroots level.

Waiting for a more accommodating leadership that tailors to the aspirations of small political parties under our current voting system is a waste of time.

The preferential voting system is more sympathetic to smaller political parties and minorities. It encourages a genuine healthy "participatory democracy" and promotes diversity of political beliefs instead of hegemony.

PSM has set high standards such as declaring personal assets to the public annually for future politicians to follow. They do not allow parachute candidates; their candidates have to work at that particular constituency for a minimum of five years before running for a seat.

PSM's tireless and selfless service to the poor and marginalised earns them the title of the "real down to earth hard working and honest politicians of our time". Pakatan has a lot to learn from PSM in these areas if they accept PSM. If Pakatan does not accept PSM it is their loss after all we need to gather small waves to make big waves.

PSM is relevant by virtue of their principles and their consistency in their political stand and beliefs.

There will be no hard feelings if Pakatan rejects PSM as PSM has always worked independently before Pakatan's existence. Their target audience are different. People who are attracted to PSM are hard working quiet achievers.

Kuo Yong Kooi

Malaysia and the Fear of God

Posted: 14 Jun 2013 10:43 AM PDT

Tower of Babel

Instead of talking about the whole solution, they are talking about part solution for an entire problem. Why only talk about harsher punishment for 'hina Raja- Raja Melayu' alone? How about propose to pass a law with harsher punishment for 'hina Raja-Raja Melayu and also for 'hina antara kaum'? I believe the King too will not be pleased to see the people 'hina menghina antara kaum'.

Michael Zechariah

It is impossible not to address these disrespectful fools before talking about anything that has to do with the mention of God. So, to all Atheists and God haters in Malaysia, who relentlessly vilify those who believe in God and strategically label everything about the mention of God as a load of sanctimonious bollocks and to the kind who always publicly curse God because some anus loving 'clergy' somewhere explored somebody's arse, and to those apostates with confused theology and Satanists who paint the picture of God as a blood thirsty tyrant without any compassion who punished the Egyptians, and to those who address God as 'she' just to show contempt to Abrahamic religions and other beliefs that refer to God as He just to assert your disrespect for those who believe in God, I've got news for you; Malaysia is a country that believes in God.

And to those Malaysians who subscribe to Satanic philosophy and the belief system that "you are your own God and worship self only by doing things that pleases and pleasures you", and go on further to strategically and intentionally blaspheme God as a prick who forces you to do things against your will and giving in to His ridiculous demands makes your life miserable, I've got news for you too; Malaysia still is a country that believes in God.

Believe in God is the first thing in our Rukun Negara (National Principles). Rukun Negara is the basis and the foundation for achieving the Malaysian dream. As such, people who mock belief in God and God should just keep their 'hate' in their atheist circle. If you think you came from a monkey, that's your prerogative. If you think you just live and let die, that's your problem. If you exercise your freewill to go to Hell, please take the earliest transport that is available to you. But this country, Malaysia, is still a country that places belief in God as the number one order in the National Principles. For God haters who are constipated with hate for God and show contempt for those who believe in God, just know that you are disgracefully insignificant in the bigger scheme of things in a country that believes in God. You are nothing more than a time wasting non issue at best or a disrespectful irritant at worse. Malaysia still is a country which has more people who genuinely believe in God compared to God haters like yourselves.

To all Atheists and God haters in Malaysia, who relentlessly vilify those who believe in God, God will not cease to exist just because you don't give a hoot about His existence or because you blaspheme Him. To all both God believing and Atheists, pretenders, liars, lunatics, delusionals, connivers and schemers in all domains who are out there to tear the fabric of the Malaysian society, Malaysia still is a country which has more people who genuinely believe in God and fear God compared to you slimeballs and scumbags. Yes, there are God believing slimeballs and scumbags who engage in all kinds of vile things. Yes, there are Atheists who do good. But Malaysia still is a nation that believes in God.

Believe in God

It is interesting to note that a multi-racial and a multi-religious country like Malaysia has believe in God as the highest order in the National Principles or Rukun Negara. This intention to honour God as the source of all provision in achieving the Malaysian dream serves as a declaration and an acknowledgement as Malaysians that God is first and above everyone and above all else in Malaysia. Loyalty to the King and country comes next. Our Kings are not Pharaohs therefore they don't demand you to worship them. They believe in God themselves.

If you are descendants of the 'pendatangs' as you are 'lovingly' referred to from time to time again by some lunatics who still don't understand about your lawful citizenship of Malaysia, your loyalty is now to the Raja-Raja Melayu (the Malay Rulers) and to the country, Malaysia. Whether or not in your heart you revere them as your king or whether or not in their hearts they the (Raja-Raja Melayu) actually have any regard for you as you are not Malay, you are still to respect and remain loyal to the Institution of the Malay Royalty. Therefore, you neither wage war against the King nor be dumb enough to hurl any insult at him.

Today, we have politicians who talk about tightening the laws to punish some stupid, 'don't give a hoot about anything people' who insult the King (Raja- Raja Melayu) instead of finding a workable solution to safeguard all the 5 points in the Rukun Negara.

Our problem started when we say that we are a nation that believes in God but we hardly practice the fear of God in our dealings. We then become hypocrites who only print on paper that we believe in God and hang it on the wall. But the fear of God is not written in our hearts. Have we become lovers of ourselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power?

When we don't fear God, we lack seriousness in upholding the constitution, rule of law, good behavior and morality.

How is it possible that we believe in God but we do not fear God? Fear of God does not exist in the air. It is the acknowledgement in our heart of the awesome greatness of God and of the hereafter (akhirat) in all our actions.

Do we view corruption through the lens of acknowledgement of the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat)?

Do we view abuse of power through the lens of acknowledgement of the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat)?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) as a nation, when we humiliate and insult other races among fellow Malaysians?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) in our ambition to achieve a more perfect unity amongst the whole of our society?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) in the pursuit of preserving a democratic way of life? (although democracy is also an imperfect system)

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) in creating a just society where the prosperity of the country can be enjoyed together in a fair and equitable manner?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) in guaranteeing a liberal approach towards our rich and varied cultural traditions and building a progressive society that will make use of science and modern technology?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) when we twist and turn the facts to suit our political agenda at the expense of others? E.g. dismissing a real entity like racism as insecurity or when we justify discrimination for scoring political points?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) when we scheme and operate every possible way to plunder the country's wealth and dissipate its resources?

Do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) when we willfully enter into self serving lopsided contracts at the expense of the people?

If we are public servants, do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) in discharging our duties?

If we are business people, do we acknowledge the greatness of God and of hereafter (akhirat) in the way we operate our business?

Having said that, we cannot escape from some who may ask the questions of whose God, which God and what God are we talking about here?

The God in our Rukun Negara is definitely not money even though more and more people worship money today. It is time we change believe in God in our Rukun Negara (National Principles) to believe in Allah. No religion in Malaysia should have a problem with that. It is debatable, but possible. With some good theologians of all religions we have in this country, it is possible. But with self serving politicians and corrupt clergy, it may be difficult. But it is still possible.

The God in our Rukun Negara (National Principles), is the God Who is; all knowing, all powerful, omnipresent, compassionate, righteous and holy. The Maker of heaven and earth and everything in it, both the seen, and the unseen. This is finding a common ground approach. We can agree to agree or agree to disagree. It is debatable. But we need a common ground for the sake of what we proclaim in Rukun Negara (National Principles).

While the fear of God is not a prerequisite for being sincere with one another and to respect one another it poses no threat to consider hereafter in all our dealings.

For one thing that believers in God, Atheists, God haters and Satanists have in common is that we all certainly will die. Every second spent alive is every second closer to death.

When consumerism found its way into all known religion under the sun, it has corrupted religions as a multi- million dollar business concern that overflows with cash and with misplaced hope and priorities. Then, there are remnants of the faithful.

When religion becomes an accessory and faith a plus point for status, we tend to play Al Capone and whitewash every wicked decision we make as acceptable and pure. We endorse the perversion of yesterday as the routine and the fashion of today. We in a way become our own god. (Conforming to the Satanist philosophy.) Then it raises a fundamental question if God is only a relic of the ancient times who has relevance to present day reality? We seem to 'undo' all of His 'mistakes' whenever we think He is not politically correct.

Is God a self developed system which has become so obsolete that the men of today do not even require a feature in him to identify and operate this outdated no-use piece of history? Then, we have Rukun Negara (National Principles), which places believe in God as the number one order.

Have we become a nation which excels in manufacturing impressive slogans and songs but the juice of its content never saturates our heart? As the pursuit of prosperity and material wealth become the top priority, has it blurred our sight, distorted our views, darkened our hearts and lost our souls? Has the road that we have walked upon just filled our pockets but have emptied out our souls?

As a nation we declare believe in God in our Rukun Negara (National Principles); What about the fear of God? What about God's judgment? What about righteousness? What about justice? Do we give a damn? Does the message of believe in God reflect in the way we operate as people, leaders and politicians in the Malaysian society, in the way we do business, and in the way we govern? Or is it that we have transformed ourselves as a hypocrite nation which just renders believe in God as merely a nice slogan that decorates the Rukun Negara (National Principles)?

Michael Zechariah is a student of life, former law lecturer and a corporate professional who currently runs a training firm which specializes in helping governments transform their agencies to be more effective to deliver policies that are aimed at nation building.

Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

Sabtu, 15 Jun 2013

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News

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