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The question of cowardice (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 07:08 PM PDT

The problem is: they disparage me for refusing to return to Malaysia. However, if I do return to Malaysia and nothing happens, they will say I have made a deal with Umno. And if I return to Malaysia and I get arrested, they will say that it is merely wayang to stop people from saying I have made a deal with Umno.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

According to Haris Ibrahim's blog, I am a coward for living in exile in the UK.

It is interesting that Haris came out with this anti-RPK campaign at the same time that I published my article 'The consistency of change'. It looks like Haris, too, has changed his stance. He now feels I should be in jail rather than in Manchester.

I suppose he is of the opinion that if I support Pakatan Rakyat then I should be in Manchester but if I do not support Pakatan Rakyat then I should instead be in jail.

I thought justice was about getting a fair trial and about being spared selective prosecution cum political persecution and not about you should be free only if you are anti-government but behind bars if you are not anti-government.

Anyway, laws are always subject to one's interpretation and most times people twist laws to conveniently suit their political agenda. The government does it and so does, it appears, the opposition as well.

I remember that Haris was one of those who disagreed with my plan to stay in Malaysia and risk a third detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). He was also one of those who disagreed with my plan to refuse bail and instead serve time in the Sungai Buloh Prison while awaiting trial. He, together with my wife who was in tears, pleaded with me to accept bail because, according to Haris, I would be more useful as a free man running Malaysia Today rather than behind bars with no one to manage the website.

Haris was also the one who almost had a punch-up in Bangkok with the police officers from Malaysia because they wanted me to follow them to the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok. Haris felt that it may be a trap to arrest me and smuggle me back to Malaysia and he was adamant that I stay in the hotel than risk getting trapped in the Malaysian Embassy where the Thai government would be powerless to help me.

I was prepared to take that risk but Haris told my wife to lock me in the hotel room and not allow me to leave while he and another lawyer, Amarjit Sidhu, follow the police officers to the Embassy to establish what was going on. Later that night they returned to the hotel and told me that they smelled a rat and that I should not go to the Embassy.

I am not blaming Haris for me being here in Manchester but he made it very clear, and even publicly stated so, that he was dead opposed to me spending my days in jail. Now he has changed his mind and feels that I am a coward for refusing to go to jail. So what I wrote in my article 'The consistency of change' that people do change has been proven right after all.

Anyway, I think it is an insult to Sun Yat-sen to say that those who choose exile over jail are cowards. Sun Yat-sen, too, spent time in exile in Japan and was financially supported by a democratic revolutionary named Miyazaki Toten. Sun Yat-sen also spent time in exile in Europe, the United States, and Canada where he raised money for his revolutionary party and to support uprisings in China.

Sun Yat-sen is definitely not considered a coward for refusing to go back to China to spend the rest of his days in jail. In fact, in 1896, Sun Yat-sen was detained at the Chinese Legation in London. He was released after 12 days through the efforts of James Cantlie, The Times, and the British Foreign Office, resulting in him becoming a hero (not a coward) in Britain.

Sayyid Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini, too, spent 14 years in exile and only returned to Iran in 1979 after the Shah had been toppled. Joseph Stalin was also in exile and only returned to Russia in 1917 when the Russian Revolution succeeded, as did Vladimir Lenin -- both heroes, and not cowards, of the Russian Revolution.

I do not like to use Prophet Muhammad as another example lest people misinterpret this as me comparing myself to the Prophet but he too spent eight years in exile until he had a large enough army to return to Mekah unmolested in 630.

In fact, history is rife with political exiles -- Englishmen exiled in France and Frenchmen exiled in England. Voltaire, Norodom Sihanouk, Bahadur Shah II, Alberto Fujimori, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Erich Honecker, Alan García, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, King Zog, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew Louis-Napoléon, and many, many more all spent time in exile -- the list is just too long.

Anyway, what I had commented on was the call for Malaysians to kill and/or die to prevent phantom voters from casting their votes on 5th May 2013. My contention is that Malaysians would be the last one to put their life on the line when even getting them to register to post comments in Malaysia Today is impossible. Hardly 1% would dare do that because they fear that their identity may be known.

If they do not even dare reveal their identity how can we expect these people to kill and/or die to prevent phantom voters from casting their votes?

Do you know that many people do not even dare vote because they are worried that their vote is not secret and the government or police would know whom they voted for? There is even a protest because the ballot papers are marked with serial numbers. So what if people know who you vote for? What is wrong with that?

Whenever I vote I proudly hold up my ballot paper for all and sundry to see and to make sure that they can see that I voted for the opposition before I put it into the ballot box. And here people refuse to vote in case others get to know whom they voted for. And these same people call me a coward? If I am a coward for showing everyone my ballot paper then what do we call those who refuse to vote because they fear people will find out who they voted for?

Malaysians are real strange creatures indeed. And they don't realise that when they insult me they also insult Prophet Muhammad, Sun Yat-sen, Khomeini and thousands of other people whom history has labelled as great people and heroes because they went into exile.

The problem is: they disparage me for refusing to return to Malaysia. However, if I do return to Malaysia and nothing happens, they will say I have made a deal with Umno. And if I return to Malaysia and I get arrested, they will say that it is merely wayang to stop people from saying I have made a deal with Umno.

And the question is: why do they now want me to return to Malaysia and go to jail whereas in the beginning they were adamant that I stay free and out of jail? Only an idiot would require me to answer that question.

***************************************

懦夫的問題

他們鄙視我,說我不敢回去。但如果我真的囘去了而沒有事情發生的話,他們會說我私底下早和巫統僑好了。即使我真的被捉,他們還是會講這只是場'wayang',演出的目的是要阻止所有人講説我私底下早就和巫統僑好的。


原文:Raja Petra Kamarudin
譯文:方宙

Haris Ibrahim的博客裏寫到,我是個流放英國的懦夫。

能夠看到在我發表'不變的改變'(http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/55836-the-consistency-of-change )這篇文章的同時Haris 也提出'反RPK運動',這真的是很有趣。看起來Haris也在改變中,他現在認爲我應該在監獄裏而不是曼徹斯特。

我想,他應該是這樣認爲的:如果我支持民聯那我可以待在曼徹斯特,反之我則應該在監牢裏度日。

我還以爲正義是你能夠得到公平的審訊,而不是得到含選擇性或政治性的檢控,也不是說你反政府就能自由而你贊同政府就得入獄。

無論如何,法律是很視乎個人詮釋的,很多時候很多人會扭曲法律來達到他們的政治議程。囯陣這麽做,現在看來民聯也是。

我記得Haris 是其中一個不贊同我留在馬來西亞而冒著第三次被政府用内安法令扣留的危險。他也不認同我不要交保釋金而要在Sungai Buloh扣留所等候發審的想法。他當時和我那淚流滿面的妻子一起哀求我交保釋金,他認爲我出來操作Malaysia Today會好過我在監獄裏一無所為。

Haris 也在曼谷因爲大馬警察要'陪伴'我到大馬大使館而幾乎和他們拳腳相加。他認爲那是個圈套,儅我進了大使館以後他們就會扣留我再而把我遷囘大馬。他堅決要我留在酒店裏而不是被套在泰國警方無法保護我的大使館裏。

正當我準備要冒險時,Haris叫我妻子把我鎖在酒店内,然後他和另一個律師Amarjit Sidhu親自到大使館看個究竟。當晚他們回報說他們覺得有問題而勸我別去。

我並沒有因我現在身在曼徹斯特而怪罪Haris ,他之前也很清楚地表明他不想我在監牢内度日,他甚至還爲此寫了公開文。但現在他改了想法,認爲說我是個不敢進牢的懦夫。所以我寫的那篇'不變的改變'的内容是很正確的。

我認爲那些發表'不去監牢而選擇流放的是懦夫'言論的人是對孫中山先生大大不敬的。孫中山先生曾經流放日本,而在當地他也接受了宫崎滔天(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dten_Miyazaki ),一個民主革命士的金錢資助。孫中山先生也曾流放美國,歐洲,加拿大等地向當地華人籌資來推動他的革命。

沒有人會因爲孫中山先生拒絕回到當時清朝統治的中國的監獄而把他稱爲懦夫。事實上,孫中山先生1986年在倫敦被中華使館拘捕。在James Cantlie,泰晤時報,和英國外交辦事處的周旋下,他于12天后獲釋。當時他被稱爲是英雄而不是懦夫。

Sayyid Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini也一樣流放他國14年。他在1979年巴列维王朝
被推翻后才回到伊朗。史大林和列寧這兩名俄羅斯革命英雄也是在1917年革命成功后才結束流放的。

我不大喜歡用先知默罕默德舉例,因爲其他人可能認爲我把自己比喻成他。但是,先知也曾在外流放8年,直到630年,在他擁有強大的軍隊后他才回歸麥加。

事實上,人類歷史是充滿政治流放的。Voltaire, Norodom Sihanouk, Bahadur Shah II, Alberto Fujimori, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Erich Honecker, Alan García, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, King Zog, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Napoleon Bonaparte外甥Louis-Napoléon,還有很多很多人都曾在外流放過。

話説回來,我要提的是,我呼籲所有馬來西亞人要'不惜一死'來防止幽靈選民在5月5號投票日投票。我此話的根據是,馬來西亞人是很'怕死怕輸'的,不到最後一秒鐘他們都不會行動。看看MT的讀者就知道,要他們註冊留言也難。只有至多1%的讀者敢那麽做,因爲其他人都害怕暴露他們的身份。

如果他們連暴露身份都不敢,那你還奢望他們能'不惜一死'來防止幽靈選民在5月5號投票日投票?

你知道嗎,很多人是連票都不敢投的,因爲他們擔心他們的選票並不保密,政府和警方都會知道他們投的人是誰。他們還因爲選票上有編號而投訴。如果真的有人知道你投誰,那到底有什麽問題?哪有什麽不對經呢?

儅我投票時,我會很自豪地高舉我的選票給四周圍的人看,我要他們看清楚我投的是反對黨。而在這裡他們就因爲擔心別人知道他們投給誰而連票也不敢投。這些就是把我叫成懦夫的人?如果我這個懦夫敢把我的選票公開給所有人看的話,那些不敢投票的人又是什麽?

馬來西亞人真的是個很奇怪的生物。儅他們侮辱我的時候他們並不知道他們也在侮辱著先知默罕默德,孫中山先生,和其他成千上萬曾經流放過的歷史偉人。

他們鄙視我,說我不敢回去。但如果我真的囘去了而沒有事情發生的話,他們會說我私底下早和巫統僑好了。即使我真的被捉,他們還是會講這只是場'wayang',演出的目的是要阻止所有人講説我私底下早就和巫統僑好的。

最後的問題是,爲什麽現在他們要我回去坐監,而之前他們堅決地認爲我應該保住自由之身不應該坐牢呢?只有白痴才需要我解釋吧!

 

The consistency of change (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 06:17 AM PDT

Today, I oppose everything I propagated back in the 1990s. Today, I believe in sexual freedom and your right to a gay lifestyle. Today, I believe in your right to atheism and your right to turn your back on religion. Today, I no longer believe in many things I used to believe in even as recent as when I first stated Malaysia Today back in 2004.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

'The consistency of change' is itself an oxymoron. It is like military intelligence. Since when is killing an intelligent thing? Or new politics! The 'struggle' between Cain and Abel was a political thing. Hence politics is so old how can there be such a thing as new politics when politics itself is about power that resulted in humankind's first act of murder?

But that is what I want to call my piece today -- The consistency of change -- mainly because if you change then you would not be perceived as consistent. And that is what I want to talk about today, that I am consistent about change. And I want to talk about that issue because of the comments posted in Malaysia Today about how inconsistent I am for having changed since pre-2008.

You may have known me only since 2007, as most of you would have. If you had known me in 1963 when I first entered MCKK you would have known a different Raja Petra Kamarudin. In 1963 I was reserved and aloof. I never spoke much and remained very silent. I never mixed and did not have any friends. I eventually left MCKK three years later because I was so lonely and unhappy and could not fit in to the all-Malay environment. I cried like a baby and begged my father to allow me to go home.

I lived in a world of my own. I walked around with a radio in my hand and slept with my headphones long before such a thing became fashionable more than 20 years later. I surrounded myself with music from The Beatles and The Rolling Stones.

That was in 1963 and I was just 13 at that time. Then, three years later, I broke out of my shell and 'ran' with the bad boys of the Long Fu Tong of Petaling Street. I learned how to fight and carried a knife in my pocket. I even got arrested at 17 for my gang activities.

I was never charged for any crime, though, but that woke me up. I realised I did not want to spend the rest of my life in jail. I then started dating and went steady with the girl who is now my wife, Marina. Nevertheless, Marina had to share me with my other love, my motorcycle. Marina did not like motorcycles but she knew she had to accept my motorcycle as part of her life if she wanted to be with me. And soon after that she climbed onto the back of my motorcycle and we became the terror of Kuala Lumpur.

Then, in August 1971, my father died. I was just 20 going on 21 and the world that I had known shattered. Less than two years later Marina and I got married and soon after that we got our first child, a daughter. Within a short space of two years I saw the death of my father, got married, and got a child. And, yet again, my life changed. By then, of course, I had sold off the motorcycle that I loved so much and had 'settled down' to what I would consider a stable life.

Soon after our daughter was born, we migrated to Kuala Terengganu and started a business. That was during the 1974 recession and life was very difficult then. Three years later, I made my first million and, yet again, my life changed. I now had only one interest in life, which can be summed up in three words -- money, money, money. I just wanted to make more millions, and I did, though not necessarily the moral or legal way. I discovered the world of corruption and how you can make plenty of money by bribing your way through life.

But the euphoria of making money did not last. I suppose once you make it then it is not that enchanting any longer. I drank, I gambled, I partied -- and I made even more money by 'donating' large sums to Umno to win huge government contracts. At least five million flowed through my hands into Umno's coffers in exchange for RM120 million in contracts over 20 years -- which I already wrote about in my 20-series episode about my journey in life not being a straight line.

Along the way I got infected with a serious case of conscience. That was in the days of Anwar Ibrahim and ABIM and the Islamic Revolution of Iran in 1979 -- which I have also written about in my 20-series episode. My drinking, gambling and partying ended abruptly. I studied the Qur'an, the entire collection of Hadith Sahih Al Bukhari and the whole series of Tafsiran Al Qur'an by Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah a.k.a. Hamka, who died in 1981 at age 73.

In 1981 I did my first of ten trips to Mekah to do my Haj and became a Muslim fundamentalist in love with the Islamic Revolution. I wanted the same Islamic Revolution to happen in Malaysia and for Malaysia to be turned into the Islamic Republic of Malaysia. I wanted to see the end of Western-style democracy and the English Westminster system of Parliament and for the corrupt Monarchy to be abolished.

That journey did not last as well. I soon gave up business because I could not be a successful businessman in Malaysia without also indulging in corruption. But I did not find solace in the aspirations of the Islamic Revolution either. I began to see the Revolution not as the saviour of the people but the enemy of free will. I began to hold to the ideals of free will and could no longer accept the doctrine of enforcement.

Heaven and hell may exist. Maybe even God does exist. But you should have free will as to whether to accept the existence of God and, if you do, whether you wish to choose heaven or hell as your final resting place. Free will means free will and religion denies you this free will.

In 1995, if you had asked me whether I believed in the Islamic State and the Islamic Sharia law of Hudud, I would have said yes. Those of you who have read what I wrote back then would know this, especially those DAP people who used to whack me in Sang Kancil back in the mid-1990s.

Today, I oppose everything I propagated back in the 1990s. Today, I believe in sexual freedom and your right to a gay lifestyle. Today, I believe in your right to atheism and your right to turn your back on religion. Today, I no longer believe in many things I used to believe in even as recent as when I first stated Malaysia Today back in 2004.

So, yes, the Raja Petra Kamarudin of today is different from the Raja Petra Kamarudin of 2004 or of 1994 or of 1984 or of 1974 or of 1964. And if you can't accept that then that is your problem, not mine.

So stop posting comments in Malaysia Today about how I have changed. I have changed. So what? I change all the time. I have changed many times. Change is the only thing consistent about me.

Change is called hijrah. In Islam, hijrah is the most important thing. Prophet Muhammad also did his hijrah. Hijrah is so important in Islam that the Islamic calendar is called the Hijrah calendar and starts from the date of the hijrah.

And hijrah means change. You hijrah from one lifestyle to another and from one doctrine to another. And you hijrah with your conscience as your guide. And my conscience is clear. My conscience guides me as to what is right and what is wrong. And I know what is right and what is wrong. And just because you want to do the wrong thing because you think it is the right thing does not make you right and me wrong.

*******************************************

不變的改變

到了今天,我是反對我在1990年間所傳播的思想的。到了今天,我是相信性自主和個人奉行同性戀生活方式的權利的。到了今天,我是不相信很多我在MT開網初期(即2004年)時所相信的東西的。


原文:Raja Petra Kamarudin
譯文:方宙

'不變的改變'是一個充滿矛盾的詞,正如military intelligence般(即軍事情報,不過在英文裏intelligence 也含'聰明'的意思,所以(軍方)殺人又怎能算聰明呢?)。新政治也是另一個例子;该隐和亚伯 (Cain and Abel, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cain_and_Abel )的紛爭其實就是政治紛爭的一種,因爲正如政治般,他們爲了權力而鬥爭進而促成了人類史上第一宗謀殺案。所以說政治是件很老的東西,哪來的新政治呢?

無論如何,我還是想用'不變的改變'這個矛盾詞為這篇文章的標題,因爲只要你做出改變別人就不會看你為'一貫如常'的。而我今天想講的是,我一直是從未間斷地改變著。MT有很多留言都談到08年以后我變了很多,我今天就要和你們談談我的改變。

你們當中很多人是從2007年才開始認識我的。如果你打從1963年就認識剛進MCKK 的我,那現在你看到的將會是個完全不同的Raja Petra Kamarudin。1963 的我是很文靜且自閉的,我很少開口説話。我在3年后就因爲太孤獨和融入不了MCKK的全馬來人環境而退學,我當時哭得像嬰兒般地哀求我父親帶我回家。

我生活在我自己的小天地裏,我整天拿著個錄音機到處溜達而且還會帶著耳機睡覺(帶著耳機睡覺是在離當時20年后才流行起來的)。1963年時我還是個謎上The Beatles 和The Rolling Stones的13嵗小伙,但就在3年后我就沖出我的'斯文外殼'和茨厂街龍虎堂的小混混們混在一塊。我開始學習打架,而且我會隨身帶刀。我甚至還在17嵗那年因私會黨活動而進監牢。

雖然當時我並沒有入罪,但那次經驗把我打醒了。我知道我不要在監獄裏度過一生。爾後,我開始和我現在的妻子瑪麗娜 Marina交往。當時瑪麗娜很討厭摩多車,但她知道如果他要和我在一起的話她必須得和我的'第二老婆'----摩多車----共存。她過後終于上了我摩多車的后座,和我一起成爲了吉隆坡馬路上的飈車族。

1971年8月,我的父親過世。我當時才20嵗,我發現我所知道的世界都破碎了。兩年后,我和瑪麗娜並生下我們的第一個女兒。在短短的兩年裏,我經過了亡父、結婚、生子等大事,但我生命的改變並沒有停下。我當時當然已經把我心愛的摩多車給賣掉,然後想過個安穩的生活。

我在我女兒出生后就搬到瓜拉登嘉樓生活。當時正好是1974年經濟低迷,生活艱苦的時候。但在3年以後,我賺了我第一個1百萬,我的人生又再改變了。我當時眼裏只有3個字:錢,錢,錢。我只想賺到第二個1百萬,而我做到了,當然我的手法也許並不是太正當。我發現了貪污的世界,在裏面只要你給錢賄賂你就會賺到更多錢。

但是賺錢帶來的快感是很難持久的,我想儅你真的賺到錢以後,它其實看起來並不是那麽的迷人。我開始喝酒,賭博,辦派對。而我也通過'捐款'給巫統來取得政府合同,進而賺取更多錢。在往後20年其間我至少把5百萬放進了巫統的庫房裏來換取1億2千萬的合同。這些都是我之前在' my journey in life not being a straight line'系列裏寫過的。

在這期間,我的良心開始受到譴責,尤其是1979年伊朗回教革命和遇到安華和ABIM后。我開始戒賭戒酒 ,開始鑽研可蘭經。我把整套布哈里聖訓Hadith Sahih Al Bukhari 給讀完,也把 Haji Abdul Malik Karim Amrullah a.k.a. Hamka 所註釋的可蘭經給看完。(Hamka在1981 以73嵗高齡去世)

1981年,我去了我人生10次麥加朝聖之旅的第一次朝聖之旅。我變成了伊斯蘭原教旨主義者和回教革命的忠實擁護者。我想把回教革命帶來馬來西亞,要把馬來西亞變成一個伊斯蘭共和國。我要看到西方民主的結束,英國西敏寺式國會的沒落, 和腐敗帝制的終結。

那個旅程也沒有持久。往後我也很快的放棄了我的生意,因爲不通過賄賂我沒法再馬來西亞做生意。與此同時,我在回教革命理念裏找不到慰藉,我開始看到這個革命並不是人民的救贖而是自由意志的敵人。我開始擁護自由意志這個理念而摒棄鉗制主意。

天堂和地獄有可能是真的,上帝也有可能是真的。但接不接受上帝的存在應該是你的自由。如果你接受上帝的存在,那選擇天堂或地獄也是你的自由。自由就是自由,而宗教會否認你這個自由。

如果你在1995年問我是否應該落實回教法,我會回答'是'。你們如果有人讀到我當時寫的文章,你們應該是很清楚的。尤其是行動黨,當年他們曾在政治網站Sang Kancil(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M._G._G._Pillai)裏干屌過我呢。

到了今天,我是反對我在1990年間所傳播的思想的。到了今天,我是相信性自主和個人奉行同性戀生活方式的權利的。到了今天,我是不相信很多我在MT開網初期(即2004年)時所相信的東西的。

今天的 Raja Petra Kamarudin 是和2004年、1994年、84年、74年、64年的Raja Petra Kamarudin 大所不同的。如果你接受不了的話那是你的問題,不是我的問題。

所以請別再MT上留言說我怎麽怎麽改變了。我是改了,然後呢?我一直在改變,我多次地改變,改變是我唯一沒改過的東西。

在回教裏,改變稱爲'Hijrah'(在馬來文裏Hijrah也代表先知穆罕默德到麦地那的迁移)。Hijrah 在回教是很重要的。先知穆罕默德也曾作出他的Hijrah。Hijrah是重要到連穆斯林也要把他們的日曆稱爲Hijrah日曆,而日曆的第一天就是 先知穆罕默德迁移的第一天。

Hijrah是改變的意思。你從一個生活方式Hijrah到另一個,你也從一個主義Hijrah到另一個,而你的Hijrah是由你的良心所主導的。我的良知是很清晰的,它主導我什麽是對什麽是錯,所以我知道什麽是對什麽是錯。就因爲你做了你認爲是對的錯事並不代表你是對的而我是錯的。
 

The great political debate (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

Posted: 06 Apr 2013 06:35 PM PDT

The estimated one million (or 700,000, according to the official statistics) Malaysians living and working outside Malaysia should be allowed to vote by postal voting. The estimated one million (or 700,000, according to the official statistics) Malaysians living and working outside Malaysia should not register to vote in case the EC uses these names to stuff the ballot boxes with 'phantom' votes.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I have detected some interesting arguments being posted in the Blogs that you can probably use to convince people why they should vote opposition. These arguments come from Malaysia Today's readers and I present them here not necessarily in order of priority.

We should vote for Pakatan Rakyat even if they field monkeys and donkeys as candidates as long as Umno and its stooges are kicked out. (This gem came from Li Xiang Lan).

Barisan Nasional's Election Manifesto will bankrupt the country if implemented. Barisan Nasional's Election Manifesto is not original -- it is a copycat Election Manifesto that was stolen from Pakatan Rakyat.

Hindraf will not support Pakatan Rakyat or Barisan Nasional unless both agree to Hindraf's demands. Pakatan Rakyat's Election Manifesto is stolen from Hindraf, which Barisan Nasional then stole from Pakatan Rakyat.

Senile old men like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who is in his 80s and ruled Malaysia for 22 years, should just retire and no longer talk about politics. Nik Aziz Nik Mat, who is also in his 80s and has ruled Kelantan for 23 years, should serve at least another term.

Dr Chandra Muzaffar is being punished by God for opposing the opposition and that is why he is condemned to a wheelchair. Karpal Singh who supports the opposition and is also confined to a wheelchair is not being punished by God.

Those who used to be in the opposition and have now left the opposition are traitors who should shut up and not criticise the opposition. Those who used to be in the government and have now joined the opposition are patriots who should go all over the country and whack the government.

Non-Muslims must be allowed their democratic right to criticise Islam, as this is considered freedom of speech. Non-Christians must not be allowed to pass comments regarding Christianity, as this is considered mocking Christianity.

If Pakatan Rakyat takes over there will not be any witch-hunt. However, jobs and contracts given out under the Barisan Nasional government will be terminated wherever possible.

If Pakatan Rakyat takes over, all those who have committed misdeeds will be hounded and punished for their crimes. However, those who have committed misdeeds but cross over and join the opposition will not be hounded and punished for their crimes.

If Barisan Nasional wins the general election, Pakatan Rakyat will not accept the result because of the rampant and blatant election fraud and gerrymandering. If Pakatan Rakyat wins the general election then Barisan Nasional must respect the wishes of the voters although the general election is rife with election fraud and gerrymandering.

Bersih is non-partisan and just wants to see a clean and fair election, never mind which party may end up winning the election. Bersih wants the voters to vote for Pakatan Rakyat and kick out Barisan Nasional.

Pakatan Rakyat guarantees the people of Sabah and Sarawak full autonomy. Pakatan Rakyat will determine who gets to contest in Sabah and Sarawak. The local Sabahans and Sarawakians have no say in the matter.

The estimated one million (or 700,000, according to the official statistics) Malaysians living and working outside Malaysia should be allowed to vote by postal voting. The estimated one million (or 700,000, according to the official statistics) Malaysians living and working outside Malaysia should not register to vote in case the EC uses these names to stuff the ballot boxes with 'phantom' votes.

Why is Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak delaying the general election? Why is Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak rushing the general election by allowing a short campaign period?

Why is Barisan Nasional putting up flags and banners before Nomination Day, in breach of the election rules? Why is the government removing the flags and banners that the opposition has put up?

This general election is about whom you want as Prime Minister -- Anwar Ibrahim or Najib Tun Razak. This general election is not about personalities but about change.

This general election is not about mere promises but about track record, and Barisan Nasional's track record is dismal. This general election is about what Pakatan Rakyat promises to do for you if you allow the opposition to form the federal government.

Lim Kit Siang is scared of losing his seat in Perak. That is why he is cowardly leaving Perak to contest in a safe seat in Johor. Lim Kit Siang is brave. That is why he is leaving his safe seat in Perak to contest in an unsafe seat in Johor.

Anwar Ibrahim is a coward. He does not dare contest in a seat in Perak. Anwar Ibrahim is loyal to his supporters. That is why he is staying in his seat in Penang.

I think those are enough arguments that you can use to campaign in the coming general election.

Happy campaigning!

************************************************

重大的政治辯論

"大約有1百萬(官方數字為70萬)在國外生活與工作的大馬人應該被允許以郵寄方式投票。 大約有1百萬(官方數字為70萬)在國外生活與工作的大馬人不應該被允許以郵寄方式投票,以防選舉委員會利用他們的郵寄選票來為幽靈選民投票。"

原文:Raja Petra Kamarudin
譯文:方宙

我在博客上踫到一些很有意思的論點,我覺得你們可以拿來説服選民們以投給反對黨。以下這些爭論是從MT讀者口中說出的,在此我不分先後的把它們寫出來。

"爲了能夠把囯陣踢出局,我們應該投給民聯,即使他們把一些猴子驢子委任為他們的候選人。"(此為讀者Li Xiang Lan的經典留言)。

"囯陣的選舉宣言會讓國家破產。囯陣的選舉宣言是抄襲民聯的。"

"Hindraf 是不會支持囯陣或民聯的,除非他們答應Hindraf的條件。民聯的選舉宣言是抄襲Hindraf的,而囯陣則是抄襲民聯的。"

"馬哈迪這個80多嵗和掌權了22年的老糊塗應該退休且別再談論政治。現年也是80多嵗的聶阿玆(Nik Aziz Nik Mat),在吉蘭丹掌權了23年后,應該再留任多一屆。 "

"Chandra Muzaffar醫生因針對反對黨而遭天譴,所以他殘廢了,必須坐在輪椅上。但,同樣是坐在輪椅上的Karpal Singh 不是被上帝懲罰,因爲他支持反對黨。"

"那些曾經呆在反對黨而現在跳出來的都是叛徒,他們應該閉嘴且不應該批評反對黨。那些曾經呆在執政黨而現在跳出來的都是愛國者,他們應該巡迴全國來大爆執政黨醜事。"

"非穆斯林應該有自由地批評伊斯蘭教,因爲這是言論自由。非基督徒不應該對基督教發言,因爲這是在諷刺基督教。"

"如果民聯執政的話他們不會去騷擾那些持不同政见者。無論如何,巫統執政期間所給出的工作崗位和合同等都會被取消。"

"如果民聯執政的話那些之前犯錯的將會一一被揪出和懲罰。那些之前犯錯但已跳槽到民聯的則不會。"

"如果囯陣在大選中勝出的話,那民聯可以不接受,因爲選舉的不公與結果被篡改是顯而易見的。如果民聯贏的話,囯陣應該尊重選民的意見,即使選舉是不公的。"

"Bersih是不含政治議程的。他們要的是公正的選舉,不論誰是贏輸家。Bersih要選民投給民聯以踢囯陣出局。"

"民聯會確保沙巴與砂磱越的自主權。民聯會決定沙巴與砂磱越的上陣人選,這兩州的人民就這件事上是沒有話事權的。"

"大約有1百萬(官方數字為70萬)在國外生活與工作的大馬人應該被允許以郵寄方式投票。 大約有1百萬(官方數字為70萬)在國外生活與工作的大馬人不應該被允許以郵寄方式投票,以防選舉委員會利用他們的郵寄選票來為幽靈選民投票。"

"爲什麽首相納吉要借故延遲大選呢?爲什麽首相納吉要用特段的競選期來使大選儘快結束呢?"

"爲什麽囯陣能犯規,在提名日前挂上黨旗呢?政府凴什麽拆掉反對黨在提名日前挂上的黨旗呢?"

"此次大選視乎你要誰儅首相----安華或納吉。大選並不是選人品,而是要改變。"

"此次大選並不著重于諾言,而是以往的表現,囯陣正好有很差的過往表現。此次大選著重于民聯給你的諾言。"

"林吉祥因爲怕在霹靂輸掉他的議席而懦弱的到柔佛打一場必勝的大選。林吉祥很勇敢,因爲他肯離開霹靂這個堡壘去柔佛這個戰區。"

"安華是個懦夫,他不敢到霹靂上陣。安華對他的支持者很忠誠,所以他繼續留在檳城。"

我想以上應該有足夠的言論來讓你用作大選的說詞了。

預祝你大選愉快!!
 

 

What me worry? (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

Posted: 05 Apr 2013 11:37 PM PDT

Alfred E. Neumann then talks about my loyalty. He did not, however, talk about loyalty to whom. In Judas' case it was loyalty to Jesus that came into question. Hence, again, who is the 'Jesus' meant in Alfred E. Neumann's analogy? Loyalty has to be to a person, country, cause, organisation, etc. And if I have been disloyal then Alfred E. Neumann has to make clear to whom or to what I have been disloyal.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Everyone has a price, eh Pete? — Alfred E. Neumann

Thirty pieces of silver was all it took for Judas to betray Jesus Christ. One can only wonder the price for Raja Petra Kamarudin's loyalty. Or is he priceless and can't be bought?

The blogger-on-the-run who delighted us with many tales has published links to a video-clip, ostensibly showing how famed jewellers Jacob & Co have denied that they sold a RM24 million ring to Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor.

The First Lady has already denied the allegations in her book. So why the need to reinforce that denial? Pro-Umno bloggers and cybertroopers have been doing the denial for the past two years and now the famous or is it infamous RPK has joined that bandwagon.

One can only wonder why it took Jacob & Co almost two years to actually deny this tale. Or that someone took great pains to get their representative on camera to deny the allegations that have been swirling the past couple of years.

One has to be careful with Jacob & Co. They were linked to the Detroit Black Mafia in 2006 for suspected money laundering, according to Vanity Fair.

Can we take their word then that there wasn't a sale? Why even bother unless it is an issue for the general elections.

So much an issue of the haves and have-nots that the Barisan Nasional (BN) thinks are eager for another round of cash handouts.

So much an issue that RPK had to show us the links to the Jacob & Co video-clip that was only uploaded yesterday showing a man clearly ill at ease about denying a sale.

So much an issue that a lot of energy, effort and money has gone into denying the sale.

Fine, there was no sale and a denial was issued two years later. We believe you, Jacob & Co. And thank you, RPK, for reporting the video-clip.

The issue has been settled then, no pricy diamond rings bought by VIPs at a time when we were told to tighten our belts. No sirree, no.

We'll take your word for it then, while others take their share of pieces of silver.

Alfred E. Neumann reads The Malaysian Insider.

*********************************************

Alfred E. Neuman is my favourite Mad character -- famous for his saying 'What me worry?' The Mad Alfred E. Neuman, however, has only one 'n' in his name, while the other Alfred E. Neumann -- who wrote the letter above to The Malaysian Insider -- has two 'n's in his name.

Alfred E. Neumann of The Malaysian Insider started off by saying that Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. I don't know where Alfred E. Neumann got that story from, which some may regard as folklore. In the first place, did Judas and Jesus even exist? Alfred E. Neumann did not offer any evidence of their existence so we have to assume that he is the propagator of folklore and fairy tales.

In fact, some even say that Judas did not betray Jesus but that it was a conspiracy between Judas and Jesus. It seems Jesus was meant to die for the sins of mankind. That was part of God's grand design. And it seems, also, Judas, being one of the conspirators, was informed of this. Hence Judas played along with the wayang and 'sold out' Jesus so that Jesus could die, as what God had planned from the very beginning.

Hence did Judas really betray Jesus or was Judas one of the actors in the wayang that God had planned? Were Judas and Jesus both fellow conspirators in this little conspiracy hatched by God? We must understand that Christianity was founded on the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ. Without the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ Christianity would not exist. Hence Jesus had to die and Judas had to 'betray' Jesus for that plan to succeed.

Anyway, if Alfred E. Neumann is using the analogy of Judas to describe me, who is 'Jesus' supposed to be? Is it Anwar Ibrahim? For there to be a Judas, there must also be a Jesus. So I am very curious to know who this 'Jesus' is. I can only assume that Alfred E. Neumann means that Anwar Ibrahim is Jesus, the Son of God, the Holy Spirit, and all that nonsense.

Alfred E. Neumann then talks about my loyalty. He did not, however, talk about loyalty to whom. In Judas' case it was loyalty to Jesus that came into question. Hence, again, who is the 'Jesus' meant in Alfred E. Neumann's analogy? Loyalty has to be to a person, country, cause, organisation, etc. And if I have been disloyal then Alfred E. Neumann has to make clear to whom or to what I have been disloyal.

I used to be a member of PKR. I never became a member of DAP or PAS because you cannot be a member of two political parties. I also used to work for PKR's newspaper until 2004, after which I left to manage Malaysia Today fulltime. I never renewed my membership in PKR since 2001.

Hence Alfred E. Neumann cannot mean I am disloyal to PKR, DAP or PAS. I am not a member of any of those parties. I am, however, a member of the Liberal Democratic Party in the UK and I voted for them in the last general election (I became a LibDem member before the general election). And I am still a LibDem member until today.

Now, LibDem is a coalition member in the present ruling government. In the most recent by-election in Eastleigh, LibDem competed against its coalition partner, Conservative, and won that by-election. In fact, 14 political parties in total contested in that by-election.

Hence LibDem and its coalition partner, Conservative, fought against each other. And LibDem defeated its coalition partner. But that is not seen as a betrayal. It is considered quite normal and acceptable. It is just like PKR and PAS or PKR and DAP competing against each other in the elections.

So you see, your interpretation of betrayal is not the same as my interpretation of betrayal. To you, PKR and PAS or PKR and DAP contesting against each other is considered a betrayal. To me, LibDem competing against Conservative is not a betrayal but democracy being practiced.

My loyalty would be to the voters, not to Anwar Ibrahim, PKR, DAP or PAS. If I were to lie to the voters, that would be a betrayal. Hence when I received a video that explained what really happened regarding the diamond ring controversy, it is my duty to reveal this to the voters.

The thing is, I may not personally like Rosmah Mansor. However, booklets are being distributed alleging that Rosmah bought a diamond ring when actually she did not. In fact, the story of her buying the ring came out after the ring had been sent back to the US.

My loyalty is to the truth. And the truth is the ring was sent to Malaysia and was later sent back to the US. Then, after it was sent back, the story emerged. My job is merely to reveal what the people who had sent the ring to Malaysia have to say about the whole episode. And this I have done. Hence I have not betrayed the voters or the truth.

Of course, many people are not going to believe this story. That is to be expected -- as many people too do not believe the story of the 30 pieces of silver and of Judas betraying Jesus or even the story of the existence of Judas and Jesus.

In the end, you believe what you want to believe if you think that believing so will guarantee you a place in heaven.

If I had revealed a video of Jacob and Co. confirming that the ring had been sent to Rosmah because she wanted to buy it would Alfred E. Neumann call me a Judas and question my loyalty? Of course not! Instead he would call me Jesus rather than Judas.

That is what this whole thing is really about.

**********************************************

什麽,我在擔心?

Alfred E. Neumann 之後談及的是我的忠誠,但他沒有講到是我對誰的忠誠。我們知道猶大效忠的人是耶穌, Alfred E. Neumann 把我當成猶大的話,那就必須得有個耶穌。忠誠是對個人,國家,理念,社團。。。。等等的,Alfred E. Neumann必需闡明我所效忠的對象。

原文:Raja Petra Kamarudin

译文:方宙

Alfred E. Neuman 是我在 Mad 裏最喜歡角色。他的經典口頭禪是"什麽,我在擔心?" 'What me worry?' Mad Alfred E. Neuman在他名字裏只有一個'n' 而寫了以上這封信的Alfred E. Neumann 則有兩個'n'

這個Alfred E. Neumann 在信中提到了猶大因30塊銀片而出賣了耶穌,而很多人都認爲這只是個傳説故事。到底歷史上猶大和耶穌是否存在呢?而既然Alfred E. Neumann沒有提出他們存在的證據我們只能設想他是個相信傳説的'講古人'

事實上,有人認爲猶大根本沒有背叛耶穌而是耶穌的同謀。耶穌必須為世人的罪而死,這是上帝的指使,而猶大這個同謀他是知道的。所以,猶大他配合演出了這場wayang來背叛耶穌以便耶穌正如上帝所策劃般地死去。

那猶大真的背叛了耶穌嗎還是猶大是上帝計劃中的一員呢?猶大和耶穌是否又有合作執行了上帝的計劃呢?我們必須了解基督教是在耶穌受罪和復活后才建立的。若耶穌沒有被釘在十字架上和復活的話那基督教根本就不會存在。所以說耶穌必須死亡而猶大必須反叛才能讓計劃成功。

話説回來,如果Alfred E. Neumann 把我比喻成猶大的話,那誰是耶穌呢?安華嗎?有猶大就必須要有耶穌,而我真的很好奇他指的耶穌到底是誰。我現在只能猜想Alfred E. Neumann 的耶穌指的正是安華。

Alfred E. Neumann 之後談及的是我的忠誠,但他沒有講到是我對誰的忠誠。我們知道猶大效忠的人是耶穌, Alfred E. Neumann 把我當成猶大的話,那就必須得有個耶穌。忠誠是對個人,國家,理念,社團。。。。等等的,Alfred E. Neumann必需闡明我所效忠的對象。

我曾經是公正黨黨員,但我從來沒參與過行動黨和伊斯蘭黨,因爲沒有人可以成爲兩個黨的黨員。我也曾經為公正黨的黨報工作直到2004年,之後我就辭職為MT全職工作。而自從2001年起我就再沒更新我的公正黨黨籍。

所以 Alfred E. Neumann 不能講我背叛民聯三黨,因爲我根本就不是他們的黨員。無論如何,我是英國自由民主黨員,且在上個大選中有投票(我在大選前就入黨了)。到今天我還是自由民主黨員。

自由民主黨是現今英國執政聯盟政府中的其中一個聯盟黨。在最近Eastleigh的補選中(有14個黨參選),自由民主黨和它的聯盟黨友保守黨相互競爭。而在這次的補選中,自由民主黨打敗了它的盟友保守黨。但沒有人把這看成是背叛,他們都把這看得很正常且被允許的。在馬來西亞的話,我們可以把它看成是公正黨在大選中對壘伊黨或行動黨。

在這我們就能看出你和我就'背叛'上的不同看法。對你來説,民聯三黨自相競爭就是背叛彼此,但對我來講,自由民主黨和保守黨相互競爭並不是背叛彼此而是在展現民主精神。

我效忠的是廣大的選民,而不是安華或民聯。如果我欺騙選民的話,那我就犯了背叛罪。所以儅我把影片公諸於世以解釋'鑽石案'的背後真相時,我其實是正在執行著我對選民的義務。

我自己本身可能很不喜歡儸斯瑪,但那些小冊子指控的是儸斯瑪買了那枚鑽石戒指,而現實裏儸斯瑪根本就沒那麽做。事實上,那個故事是在那鑽戒被送囘美國才散播出來的。

我的忠誠是在於陳述事實的理念。而事實是,那枚鑽戒是在被送來馬來西亞后就被送囘美國,而那個故事是在以後才傳出的。我的義務是把那位送鑽戒到大馬的人要解釋的東西公諸於世,而我所做的正是如此。所以說,我並沒有背叛選民和我對陳述事實的理念。

當然,很多人都不會相信我所揭開的那個故事。這是很正常的----就如會有人不相信猶大和30銀片的故事,或猶大背叛耶穌的故事,甚至是猶大和耶穌存在的事情。

總歸而言,你會相信那些你要相信,那些可以讓你死後上天堂的事情。

如果說我發佈的影片是指認儸斯瑪想買那枚鑽戒的,那Alfred E. Neumann 還會稱我為猶大進而猜疑我的忠誠嗎?當然不會!他有很大可能會把我捧為耶穌呢!

而 這就是所有事情的根基所在。

 

Mengupas hujah (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

Posted: 31 Mar 2013 08:33 PM PDT

Now, using what many of you will now say is my warped logic (and you say so only because you cannot find any argument to counter this argument), if the NEP should be abolished because, as you say, it is being abused by those people in high places to benefit themselves, should not other things be banned as well for that very same reason?

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

I am sure, as a Malaysian citizen who should be able to speak the national language, Bahasa Malaysia, you know what 'mengupas hujah' means. If you don't then you really do not deserve Malaysian citizenship. I mean, even here in the UK, before you are given British citizenship, you need to first pass your English test. And if you can't speak English then you do not get British citizenship.

Anyway, I would like to kupas some of your hujah that you have bandied about the last few weeks. One of these hujah, of course, is regarding the New Economic Policy (NEP) where you have concluded that the NEP is being abused by certain people in power and hence should be abolished.

Actually, that is not something new. I and other members of the Malay Chamber of Commerce have said the same thing 30 years ago back in the mid-1980s. Some of you who are younger than 30 were not born yet at that time while you who are in your 40s were still in primary school in the 1980s and, as the Malays would say, belum sunat lagi.

So perish the thought if you feel clever about coming out with that statement. You are not the inventor of that statement and neither are you the first to utter it. It is an old and expired statement that we used to throw into Umno's face and is now as basi as the word Umnoputera, which I can proudly claim to have been the inventor of during a seminar around the same time, the mid-1980s, that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.

So you want the NEP to be abolished and your reason for wanting so is because it is being abused by certain people in high places. That is the same reason being applied by the anti-gun lobbyists in the United States. They want guns banned because they say that the US has a very high rate of deaths/murder due to guns. The pro-gun lobbyists, however, oppose this and say that it is their right to bear arms, as guaranteed in the American Constitution, and that it is not guns but people that kill.

In other words, their argument is that people and not guns are bad. And it is people and not guns that kill. So why should guns be banned because of the fault of the people. You should not punish guns for the crime committed by people.  Cars kill more people every year than guns do. Hence should not cars be banned for causing the death of people? Why should guns be banned but cars are not banned?

Incidentally, in the US, there are 12.3 road fatalities per 100,000 inhabitants compared to only 3.59 per 100,000 inhabitants for the UK. In Malaysia it is 24.1 per 100,000 inhabitants, twice that in the US and about seven times that of the UK. By 2015, it is expected that traffic accident related deaths would be lower than gun related deaths in the US because of a large drop in traffic accident deaths. (SEE CHART BELOW).

Okay, in the US, cars kill more people than guns do and yet you want to ban guns but not cars. And since your argument for wanting to ban guns is because guns kill, then cars should also be banned for that very same reason.

Now, using what many of you will now say is my warped logic (and you say so only because you cannot find any argument to counter this argument), if the NEP should be abolished because, as you say, it is being abused by those people in high places to benefit themselves, should not other things be banned as well for that very same reason?

Many of you say that the Malaysian Election Commission (SPR) is being abused by people in power to remain in power. The general elections are not fair, you say. There is rampant fraud and blatant gerrymandering. Chinese-majority seats see voters as high as 120,000 while Malay-majority seats see voters as low as 5,000. Hence 70% of the seats are Malay-dominated seats while the non-Malay seats are in the minority. The ruling party needs to win only 45% of the votes to remain in power while the opposition needs to win 60% or so of the votes to form the federal government.

That is what you say and you are not terribly wrong. The election process is being abused, just like the NEP is, by those in power to immorally and unfairly stay in power. The people/voters are being cheated by those who walk in the corridors of power. The election process merely legitimises an illegitimate government.

Hence, since there is rampant and blatant abuse of the election process, just like in the case of the NEP, should not general elections be abolished, just like what you propose for the NEP? Anything that is being abused by those in power for their own benefit should be abolished, as what you argue.

We all lament about the Malaysian Cabinet. Those members of the Cabinet, the Ministers, abuse their power and perpetuate corruption to enrich themselves, their families, and their friends. Malaysia, it seems, has lost billions because of this corruption and abuse of power. And it is still going on even as you read this. The latest is the 'nationalisation' of the IPPs to the tune of tens of billions of Ringgit.

Do we, therefore, need a Cabinet? Should we not abolish the Cabinet and save the country hundreds of billions of Ringgit? If we abolish the Cabinet and there are no more Ministers, who is going to run the country? I do not know who is going to run the country but for use we will be saving hundreds of billions because there will be no more Ministers to abuse their power and corruptly spend the country's money.

Another two very abused agencies are the PDRM and MACC, Malaysia's police force and anti-corruption commission. As what many of you have said, these two agencies appear to be serving Umno's interest rather than serving the nation. Hence these two agencies serve no purpose other than to keep Umno in power. If Malaysia did not have any PDRM and MACC then there would be no one to serve Umno. And maybe then we will be able to kick Umno out.

So it is in the interest of the ABU movement that we abolish the PDRM and MACC. What will Malaysia do if it did not have a police force or an anti-corruption commission? I am not sure what we would do but for sure it may be easier to kick out Umno without a police force and an anti-corruption commission that props up Umno.

And now we come to the legal system (the courts and the AG Chambers) and all those other agencies that serve Umno's interest...and not forgetting the worst one of all, religion.

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Mengupas hujah

现在,应用回这个你们称之为'有漏洞的逻辑'(你们会这样讲,是因为你们根本就找不到论点来反驳我以上讲的),NEP因被滥用而应该被废除,那是不是代表其他被滥用的政策也应该被废除呢?

原文:Raja Petra Kamarudin

译文:方宙

我相信,身为马来西亚人的你应该精通马来文,所以你应该懂'mengupas hujah'是什么意思 但如果你不懂,那你根本没资格自称是大马公民。在英国,如果你没通过英文考试的话,你是拿不到英国公民权的。

话说回来,我在此想kupas 你们在过去几个星期的hujah。其中一个hujah就是有关NEP的;你们争议NEP因被有心人骑劫而应该被废除。

早在30年前我就和其他马来商会会员提起这点了。你们当中有人当时根本还没出生,而对于现在40岁的读者,你们当时还是,套一句马来文,'belum sunat lagi '的小学生呢。

所以说,如果你因这个论点而洋洋自喜,那就得了吧!你们根本就不是第一个提出那个论点的人。那个论点基本上已经'过期'了,就如Umnoputera这个词一样(我上个星期就提起了,我是这个词的发明者,而我为此感到很骄傲)。

你们现在呼吁NEP因被高层人士骑劫而应该被废除。这个论点和美国的反拥枪主意是一样的。他们认为美国现时的高死亡/谋杀率是和枪械有直接关系的。而赞同拥枪主意的则说拥枪权是美国宪法所保障的,再者,杀人的是人,不是枪。

换句话说,他们争议的是人,而不是枪械的错,那为什么我们就应为人的错而去抵制枪械呢?车子每年比枪械致死更多人,那是不是我们就应该抵制用车呢?为什么我们要抵制拥枪而不是汽车呢?

在美国,每年每10万人内就有12.3人在公路上死亡,英国则是3.59。大马的死亡率是24.1人,是美国的两倍,英国的七倍。预测显示,在2015年,车祸死亡的个案总数会将会低过因枪械死亡的个案总数(请看以上英文版内的图表)。

在美国汽车每年比枪械致死更多人,然你要抵制枪械而不是汽车。你的论点是,因为枪支会致死所以我们必须抵制枪支。那照理来说,汽车也应该被抵制,因为因汽车致死的人更多。

现在,应用回这个你们称之为'有漏洞的逻辑'(你们会这样讲,是因为你们根本就找不到论点来反驳我以上讲的),NEP因被滥用而应该被废除,那是不是代表其他被滥用的政策也应该被废除呢?

你们讲说选举委员会(Malaysian Election CommissionSPR)是在权人士滥用来巩固自己地位的。大选是不公平的,贿选和傑利蠑螈是司空见惯的。华人选区的选民数可以高达12万人,而有些马来人选区的选民数可以低达5千人,所以,有70%的议席都是来自马来人选区。而执政党只需45%的选票就能进驻布城,但反对党则需60%以上才能。

你所讲的没错,我们的选举制度,正如NEP,是被在权人士滥用。人民/选民都被那些走在权利走廊上的人欺骗。我们的选举制度所做的只是在合法化一个不合法的政府。

所以,既然我们的选举存在着显而易见的,猖獗的滥用(正如NEP),那我是不是应该废除选举呢?所有被在权人士所滥用的东西应该被废除,这正是你所争论的。

我们也为我们的内阁哀叹。我们的部长们都通过滥权和贪污而让他们自己,家人,朋友等暴富。我国为此损失了上百亿。最新的就是牵涉上百亿的独立发电厂的国有化课题。

所以我们需要内阁吗?我们是否要摒弃内阁以便国家可以不用花那上百亿的冤枉钱呢?但如果我们放弃内阁的话,请问我们该找谁来打理国家呢?我不知道这个问题的答案,但可以肯定的是,我们会因那些贪官的不存在而为国家省下了很多钱。

还有两个经常会被滥用的是我们的警队和反贪局。你们说这两个机构是为巫统而非国家服务的,所以他们是没有存在的必要性,因为他们只会巩固巫统的权利。只要没有了警队和反贪局那巫统就没了'走狗',而我们就会有机会把巫统踢出局。

即是说,解散警队和反贪局将会对ABUAsalkan Bukan Umno)运动大大有利,但一个没有警队和反贪局的大马将是个怎样的国家呢?我也不知道这个问题的答案,但也可以肯定的是,没了这两个机构的保护,我们将会更容易得铲除巫统。

我们将进而谈到废除我们的司法和其他被巫统滥用的机构。。。。到最后,我们将会碰到最为棘手的问题----宗教。

 
Kredit: www.malaysia-today.net

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Why is Malaysiakini three-cornering PSM?

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 10:11 PM PDT

S Arutchelvan

I refer to the article 'Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) may force three-cornered fights with PKR' yesterday and take offence to the title by Malaysiakini which I find to be unfair, biased and manipulative. I do understand that some PKR leaders are shareholders of Malaysiakini but that should not be used to belittle other parties.

Let me put the below record straight and let the people decide who is three-cornering who or is it that Malaysiakini is trying to three-corner PSM to create a biased opinion poll.
 
Semenyih seat - there is no member of PKR who has ever stood in this seat. In 2004, PAS stood in the seat and in 2008, I as the secretary-general of PSM stood in the seat borrowing the PKR logo as the PSM party was not registered yet. How then can this seat, which was never contested by any member of PKR, has suddenly become a PKR seat and PSM is accused of three-cornering the seat? I did not ever become a PKR member.

Why was the Semenyih seat given to PSM to stand in 2008? The answer is that PSM did exchange this seat to the Bukit Lanjan seat where PSM stood in 2004. Now you will understand how the Bukit Lanjan seat became a PKR seat and not a DAP seat.
 
Kota Damansara seat - this seat has never been contested by a PKR member. In 2004, the seat was contested by PAS and in 2008, PSM's chairperson Dr Nasir Hashim contested in the seat. Dr Nasir exchanged the Subang Parliament seat he stood in 2004 for the Kota Damansara state seat.

Now, how can the Kota Damansara state seat which was never contested by any member of PKR before become a PKR seat and how come now PSM is accused of three-cornering the seat?
 
Sungai Siput seat - Dr D Jeyakumar, a PSM central committee member, stood in this seat in the 1999, 2004 and 2008 election borrowing DAP and PKR logo. No member of PKR has ever stood in this seat. How come this seat suddenly become a PKR seat and we are accused of three-cornering the seat?
 
Jelapang seat - the Jelapang seat is perhaps the only seat where there is a real dispute. This is a new seat. In 2004, there was a three-cornered fight between BN, DAP and PKR. In 2008, there was a three-cornered fight between BN, DAP and PSM which DAP won.

In this election the PSM candidate is claiming that the seat should be given to PSM since the DAP member jumped ship to BN, while DAP claims that they won the seat and they deserve to stand again. PSM has requested for third party NGOs and activist to help resolve this dispute and PSM will adhere to the suggestion by this neutral  group on who should stand in Jelapang.
 
PSM has also stated that PSM is only standing in the same seat like last election, only that the party is registered now. Even at the eleventh hour, PSM is still seeking to ensure that there is a straight fight with BN. It is ridiculous for Malaysiakini to state that PSM will three-corner PKR when PKR members have never stood in any of these three seats.
 
While PSM believes that the big picture is to defeat BN and we all have a big task towards this, yet this does not give any immunity to any party to bully and manipulate the situation.


S ARUTCHELVAN is PSM secretary-general.

 

Position paper 1: On car prices

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 09:32 PM PDT

The local councils should operate free shuttles from your homes to the train and bus stations, as well as within the city -- where you can get from one place to another free by just jumping onto the shuttle. And there should be only five-minute intervals between shuttles at peak time and ten or 15 minutes off-peak.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

On the one hand, while I agree that car prices in Malaysia are ridiculously expensive, on the other hand I do not agree that cars should be cheap in Malaysia.

I know this sounds contradictory so allow me to explain what I mean.

In the UK, I can buy a brand new BMW that will cost roughly ONE year of my gross salary -- assuming I am earning £22,000-24,000 a year, say, as a chef in a restaurant.

In Malaysia, doing that same job, the same BMW would cost me about twelve years of my salary. That means in, Malaysia, it costs 12 times what it costs in the UK.

So I do not convert the Pound to the Ringgit and worry about the actual cost of the car in Ringgit. I compare my earning capacity to the number of years it would cost to own that car based on that earning level.

Cars should cost about one to two years of your earning capacity and houses about ten years. That would mean you have quality of life.

Now, while cars should be affordable to own, they should be heavily taxed when you drive them. Currently, they are heavily taxed even if you don't use them and they sit idle in your garage or driveway.

Hence we should implement congestion zones where you pay heavily to drive in these congestion zones but not when you drive on the highways and country roads. And you also pay heavy parking fees when you park in the cities and towns.

Hence, also, cars would be cheap to own but expensive to operate. And the more you drive and park, the more you pay. So it is better you 'abandon' your car and use public transport to get where you want to get to.

The local councils should operate free shuttles from your homes to the train and bus stations, as well as within the city -- where you can get from one place to another free by just jumping onto the shuttle. And there should be only five-minute intervals between shuttles at peak time and ten or 15 minutes off-peak.

We must also be very careful about reducing car prices overnight. If you have just spent RM120,000 to buy a new car, you would not want that same car being sold for RM80,000 the following year. That means your RM120,000 car would suddenly become RM50,000 in value. You would expect your (second-hand) car value to be at least RM80,000 but how can it be RM80,000 when you can now buy a brand new one for that same price?

Pakatan Rakyat has made promises about reducing car prices without looking at the implications of that move. Firstly, many Malaysians would see their asset value depreciating drastically. Secondly, we will see many more cars on the road. What we want to see is lesser cars on the road, not more cars. The traffic jams and pollution in Malaysia is so bad that we should discourage rather than encourage Malaysians to drive.

Of course, for all this to happen, we need a more efficient public transport system. And herein lies the problem -- Malaysia's public transport system sucks.

And am I glad I will not be in the government that needs to worry about all this.

Anyway, the local councils and town planners need to look into this. And this is why we need local council elections. Then we can kick out those councillors who are not doing their job. Currently, local council positions are used as a reward for loyal party supporters.

And herein lies the other problem -- our local councils suck.

 

Rift in Hindraf widens

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 08:25 PM PDT

A faction in Hindraf calls co-founder Waythamoorthy a "traitor" for concealing the fact that he had registered the organisation two days prior to his hunger strike

Priscilla Prasena, FMT

Calling Hindraf co-founder P Waythamoorthy a traitor, a faction of the group today claimed that he had concealed the fact that he had registered Hindraf as an organisation a month ago.

"This registration of an organisation called Persatuan Hindraf Malaysia (Hindraf) was approved on March 8. This was two days before Waythamoorthy began his hunger strike.

"During the hunger strike he attacked the Opposition for the benefit of Barisan Nasional," said S Jayathas, the former Hindraf leader and information chief.

"The authorities were adamant in not allowing us to register Hindraf as an organization for so long…but now since he is attacking the opposition, he is given the registration approval."

Speaking at a press conference, Jayathas, who is now with PKR, said the approval to grant Hindraf an organisation status, would have to come from the higher ups, like the Home Ministry.

"Waythamoorthy's meeting with the Prime Minister (Najib Tun Razak) just two weeks after the hunger strike proves that he is working with the Barisan Nasional," he added.

He said grassroot leaders want Waythamoorthy and his Hindraf faction to explain why they had concealed the registration of Hindraf.

Uthayakumar surprisingly silent

Jayathas said Waythamoorthy should be working towards Hindraf's goals instead of creating confusion in the minds of Indian voters.

Jayathas said Indians have been deprived of their rights for far too long and they are not going to change their minds just because the government accepts Hindraf's blueprint on the eve of elections.

READ MORE HERE

 

Weekend jottings

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 06:44 PM PDT

Yes, on stage, in front of a crowd of tens of thousands, I warned Umno to not try anything. I also told the non-Malays to stay home in case race riots do happen. I told the non-Malays that the Malays from the opposition would handle Umno. And I warned Umno that there are more Malays in the opposition than in Umno. I cautioned Umno that the Malays in the opposition are fighters and unless Umno is prepared to see blood on the streets then don't even try to start anything.

THE CORRIDORS OF POWER

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Actually, today I am not really in much of a mood to write because of the various 'good tidings' I am enjoying. First of all, my essay has been returned with an 'excellent' comment and my Oxford tutor informed me he will be recommending me for full credits.

For someone who refused to study beyond college because I believed in the doctrine that studying causes permanent brain damage, I am, of course, elated that I have passed with full credits three courses over two years. I suppose this is all about self-esteem and personal satisfaction. I have proven to myself that I did not go to university back in 1970 not because I am stupid but because I thought I do not need a university degree to get through life.

Anyway, forgive me for bragging. This is just like a new grandfather boring everyone in the pub with photographs of his newly born grandchild. Only to the grandfather does the baby look cute. The other pub goers would rather ogle the barmaid's boobs and butt.

The second good tiding is that my wife, Marina, and I will be celebrating our 40th wedding anniversary tomorrow, 14th April 2013. I mean 40 years of marriage is longer than many of you reading this have been alive. And even after 40 years Marina still has to push me off and ask me to take a shower to cool down, if you know what I mean.

We were hoping to celebrate our 40th wedding anniversary together with the grand opening of our kopitiam, Gossip on Broadway. Unfortunately that is no longer possible and we may instead have to open after the 13th General Election of 5th May 2013 -- yet another good tiding.

The place, an old 1800s building, needed more extensive renovations than we originally thought (some parts of the building had rotted away and was threatening to collapse). Hence the two months delay. And my budget has inflated from RM250,000 to RM600,000…sigh…not so good tiding.

Anyway, we are ready to roll and by the first to second week of May 2013 we should be open for business. I hope to also apply for a live music licence so that those of you who want to jam on Saturday night can do so. Once the licence is approved I may have to spend a bit more money on a keyboard. I already have the electronic drum set and it works just great.

While on the subject of music, I also managed to get two tickets to The Rolling Stones concert in Hyde Park on 13th July 2013. And that is my fourth good tiding. The tickets for the first concert on 7th July 2013 were sold out within mere minutes so they decided to hold a second concert on 13th July for those who were not able to get tickets to the first concert.

The tickets were on sale from 9.00am on 12th April and I managed to get my tickets after waiting 20 minutes for the website to be 'free'. That shows how many people wanted tickets. The website was so jammed that we were put on hold. The tickets, which cost 100-300 quid, are now selling for as high as 12,000 quid on the black market. Crazy!

Then, on 18th July 2013, I will be going to the Santana concert in Manchester -- my fifth good tiding. That, as far as I am concerned, is the ultimate in concerts so you can understand why I am so elated.

Well, there you have it -- five good tidings in a row. So what more can a person want? So you can understand why going back to Malaysia is not at the top of my priority list. There is just so much going on here that I do not see myself returning to Malaysia any time soon.

Anyway, just to change the subject, one reader posted a comment today lamenting that we are quite unfair in whacking all Chinese for the racist comments of a mere handful of people.

I agree, maybe less than 100 of our 700,000 or so readers post racist comments so not all Chinese should be painted with the same brush. But maybe you can read the statement below by pastor Martin Niemöller.

You see, when Malays make racist statements, other Malays whack them. I am sure you have read what Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday regarding what would happen (meaning race riots) if Pakatan Rakyat takes over Johor. And I am sure you also read PAS leader Datuk Mahfuz Omar's response to that here: http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/newscommentaries/55878-pas-will-shield-all-from-race-clash-veep-vows

Those of you who have been following my columns/articles since back in the Reformasi days can remember when in 1999 I said that PAS gives the non-Malays a guarantee that in the event of a May 13 Version 2 happening the Malays are going to come out in full force to defend the non-Malays (I quoted Dr Hatta Ramli).

Those of you who attended the 2008 election rallies and ceramahs would also remember me openly and publicly giving a warning to Umno to not threaten the non-Malays and that in the event of a May 13 Version 2 happening it is no longer going to be Malays killing Chinese but Malays killing Malays.

Yes, on stage, in front of a crowd of tens of thousands, I warned Umno to not try anything. I also told the non-Malays to stay home in case race riots do happen. I told the non-Malays that the Malays from the opposition would handle Umno. And I warned Umno that there are more Malays in the opposition than in Umno. I cautioned Umno that the Malays in the opposition are fighters and unless Umno is prepared to see blood on the streets then don't even try to start anything.

So you see, when Malays threaten the non-Malays, the Malays -- such as I and those in PAS -- come forward and openly declare our non-racist stand. We openly declare that we shall protect the non-Malays. But when the non-Malays make racist statements, the other non-Malays either keep very silent and not whack their fellow Chinese and Indians or they add more fuel to the fire.

So, yes, maybe just a handful of Chinese and Indians make racist statements and it is not fair to whack all non-Malays for what just a handful of people do. But silence is consent. Even if you do not add fuel to the fire by joining the anti-Malay (or anti-Islam) chorus, even if you just keep quiet, that is still bad, as pastor Martin Niemöller demonstrated.

Islam teaches Muslims amar makruf, nahi munkar. This means do good and oppose bad. Hence 'doing good' is just not good enough. You must also oppose bad. And when someone does or says something bad, even if they are people of your same race and religion, you must do something about it. Saying that I did not say it but someone else said it -- but you keep silent while they say it -- is not good enough. By keeping quiet that means you agree with what was said.

And that is why when a handful of non-Malays say and do something racist, I whack all the non-Malays. And I will continue whacking all the non-Malays until they come out to condemn the acts of their fellow non-Malays. If I can stand up on stage in front of tens of thousands to warn Umno not to threaten the non-Malays and warn Umno that we Malays will come out to face them in defense of the non-Malays, the least you non-Malays can do is to condemn your fellow racists.

 

Wrangle over who goes where

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:54 PM PDT

by Zakiah Koya and Pathma Subramaniam, fz.com

WITH the April 20 nomination day just days away, political coalitions in the country are still scrambling to finalise their candidate list, despite both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) previously boasting that they are all ready for the 13th general election (GE).

BN chairman Datuk Seri Najib Razak has, from the dissolution of Parliament on April 3, warned that eager contenders who fail to be picked as candidates are only allowed to sulk for 24 hours, after which he expects them to kiss, make up, and go all out to campaign for BN.
 
Najib also said all should keep in mind that the ultimate purpose of an election is to form a formidable government, and not an avenue to fulfil personal objectives.
 
With such "advice" dished out openly, one can only imagine the kind of heavy lobbying that must be going on among local BN warlords hoping to secure a candidacy.
 
This is happening not only in Umno, the party with the lion's share of seats, but in MIC as well.
 
Its president Datuk Seri G Palanivel is said to have booted out another MIC leader, Datuk S K Devamany, from the parliamentary seat of Cameron Highlands so that he is almost sure of a comfortable win in what is considered a safe seat. Devamany would be moved to Sungai Siput instead.
 
While individual candidates vie to be nominated, parties in BN are also said to have started squabbling, based on speculation that certain seats traditionally belonging to certain parties may be loaned to fellow parties this GE all in the name of "winnability". 
 
MCA president Datuk Dr Chua Soi Lek, who has decided to sit out this GE, had to "console" MCA members and say that MCA will get back the "loaned" seats after the delineation exercise, which will be carried out after this election.
 
The second biggest party in BN is said to have been urged by fellow member party leaders to give way to Umno, MIC and PPP. 
 
In Johor, caretaker menteri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman of Umno offered to contest in the MCA seat of Gelang Patah after DAP's Lim Kit Siang was announced as the candidate there, while MCA's Kota Laksamana state seat in Malacca goes to PPP and the Kuantan parliamentary seat in Pahang has been loaned to Umno.
 
And then there is the Wangsa Maju parliamentary seat which is currently caught in a tug of war between Umno and MCA. Other MCA seats "under negotiation" are the parliamentary seats of Tebrau (Johor) and Padang Serai (Kedah) and the state seat of Tanah Rata (Perak).   
 
All this is causing BN chairman Najib a real headache as he tries to sort out just who is winnable, who is undroppable and who is a liability for the coalition.
 
The jostling for seats is not confined to BN.
 
Within Pakatan Rakyat, fellow parties PAS, PKR and DAP have squabbled both openly and behind closed doors over some seats, and in some cases, it has come down to "who makes the announcement first". 
 
Piecemeal or incomplete announcements so far have only added fuel to allegations of infighting and "undemocratic" practices within the opposition coalition.
 
DAP and PKR in particular have had major disagreements over seat allocations in Johor, Pahang, Sabah and Sarawak, with the former insisting on contesting all the Chinese majority seats. One can only guess what impact any bad blood caused by ths issue between Pakatan partners, will have on the election results. 
 
Seat allocation discussion between Pakatan Rakyat and PR-friendly parties such as  Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) have also run aground, with PKR insisting that the socialist party contest under its banner, which they did in 2008.
 
But PSM, which is eyeing the Jelapang, Kota Damansara, Semenyih and Sungai Siput seats, wants to contest under their own banner this time around.
 
DAP is also refusing to give way to PSM to contest in Jelapang, while both Semenyih and Kota Damasara may see a three-cornered fight between PKR, PSM and BN.
 
In Sabah, PKR de facto chief Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who was supposed to announce the PKR candidate list in Likas today, had to cancel it at the last moment over unresolved conflicts.
 
At this rate, we will only really know whose standing where for sure come nomination day.

 

Much at stake over BN's Johor fortress

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:49 PM PDT

The problem for Mr Chua is that despite being head of PKR Johor, he lacks support within the party or the PR coalition, being a relative new member. He was a transport minister under the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional but defected from BN partner Malaysian Chinese Association in 2009 after two failed attempts to become MCA president.

By Ooi Kee Beng, For The Straits Times

WHEN an army becomes restless, the general must fly into decisive action to signal that the waiting is over, and that battle plans are in place.

Wearied by months, if not years, of waiting for Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak to dissolve Parliament and call for elections, impatience had been setting in on both sides of the political divide.

This was more obvious in opposition ranks, for they had to watch and wait while Mr Najib announced and implemented a series of expensive populist instant measures designed to tempt fence-sitters.

Unavoidably, some bickering was bound to set in within the opposition coalition Pakatan Rakyat, and serious cracks in the ranks began showing.

Democratic Action Party (DAP) Johor state head Boo Cheng Hau voiced his suspicion that party ally PKR's state head Chua Jui Meng was behind anonymous attacks on the DAP. This soon took the form of jostling over which party and which candidate was to contest in Gelang Patah.

This was probably the trigger that decided DAP leader Lim Kit Siang's mind to contest in his home state of Johor, the seat that Chua is known to have been seeking to run for.

The problem for Mr Chua is that despite being head of PKR Johor, he lacks support within the party or the PR coalition, being a relative new member. He was a transport minister under the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional but defected from BN partner Malaysian Chinese Association in 2009 after two failed attempts to become MCA president.

The 72-year-old Mr Lim had been unwilling for many months to agree to a move away from Ipoh Timor - his present seat in Perak state - to his home state of Johor. This seemed partly due to family concerns about his health.

His move has certainly strengthened his party's position in Johor. In the process, it ended the squabble over which member of the PR coalition would contest Johor and has energised opposition supporters significantly. The move is consistent with Mr Lim's long political career as he had given up safe seats to contest in strategically more important but less predictable seats before.

A major tenet in the ancient Chinese war classic, Sunzi Bingfa (Sun Tzu's Art of War), is that one should choose the battleground, and let the enemy react. Gaining the initiative is the key to a successful campaign.

The ruling BN should hold the upper hand given its incumbent control of election timing which allows it to time its own vote-getting measures. But it has lost that initiative through Lim's move.

The depth of BN's anxiety can be seen in the actions of Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the United Malays National Organisation's long-term and most effective strategist.

The 87-year-old former prime minister, who seems intent on leading the BN campaign whether the present prime minister likes it or not, has taken to attacking his long-term opponent fervently, calling on Johoreans to end Mr Lim's long political career; and threatening the country once more with the scenario that a victory for the DAP's Mr Lim would "bring about conflict and antagonism between the races".

Mr Lim's decision to raise the stakes by moving to Johor brings into focus some trends pushing Malaysia towards a new political order.

Johor has not only been a fixed deposit state for the Barisan Nasional's two major parties, Umno and the MCA. It is also the state whose political structure influenced much of the country's political structure.This is the state where Umno started and where its coalition partner MCA has had its strongest support; and where many in the country's first Cabinet came from. The active and innovative political consciousness and acumen of its elite were responsible for the founding of Umno, which has contributed to today's brand of Malay politics.

The coming elections will pose a fundamental challenge to the BN model of coalition politics with Malay-based Umno and Chinese-based MCA as key partners. For one thing, MCA's position as the party representing the Chinese vote bank is under full frontal attack from the DAP.

The DAP has already won hugely in the northern urban areas in 2008, reaching as much support as the Chinese population there could realistically give it.

The Sarawak state elections of 2011 saw it gaining more ground in urban seats there as well. The decision to assail the Umno-MCA fortress is therefore a predictable and potent stratagem.

Though Johor is not likely to fall to the Pakatan Rakyat, the MCA will most likely be taking quite a beating in its strongest state, and may nationally be reduced to irrelevance.

Already, MCA president Chua Soi Lek has demonstrated a remarkable lack of confidence by announcing that he will not be contesting at all. Some of the party's traditional seats throughout the country are being "loaned" to its allies in the BN.

Malaysia has to be ruled by a coalition representing all major ethnic groups, and the coalition that fails to project that image cannot be stable. For Umno and its allies, a new formula will have to be found even if they get the majority of seats.

If the MCA loses most of its parliamentary seats in the coming elections - it has 13 in Johor and across the country - then BN will be without proper Chinese representation.

Much is at stake in Johor.

 

GE13: Anwar has hands full with seat squabbles

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:42 PM PDT

(Borneo Insider) - KOTA KINABALU: The Pakatan Rakyat coalition plus is embroiled in a bitter fight over six parliamentary seats, as each of the partners stake a claim saying they are winnable.

PKR de facto leader Datuk Anwar has now left it to the Sabah PR together with its allies, Angkatan Perpaduan Sabah and Pertubuhan Pakatan Perubahan Sabah to untangle the mess.

The troubled seats are Tuaran, Kota Marudu, Tawau, Labuan, Keningau and Kota Belud.

The most noticeable is the Tuaran seat where incumbent Datuk Wilfred Bumburing, who leads an ad-hoc non-governmental movement aligned to Pakatan Rakyat (APS), is facing stiff opposition from PKR veteran Ansari Abdullah, the Tuaran PKR chief.

Ansari, is often seen as a loyalist to Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, and is closely aligned to Azmin Ali, but he rocked the boat earlier when  he openly proposed his name for Tuaran amid seat-sharing discussions with Pakatan leaders.

Tawau is sought by the PKR which gave way to the DAP for the Kota Kinabalu and Sandakan parliamentary seats. But the DAP is still insisting that it is a more "winnable" choice for Tawau.

The PKR is keen to field lawyer and former state minister Datuk Kong Hong Ming in Tawau while DAP's choice is the party's Tawau information chief Chan Foong Hin.

The PKR has also asked PAS to make way for its candidate, Tan Sri Ibrahim Menuddin, (annpunced by Anwar on Friday) for the Labuan seat.

PAS has named the party's Labuan information chief Hadnan Mohamad (picture) as its choice for that seat.

Hadnan subsequently insisted that he would be contesting the seat as he had been named the Opposition candidate there.

Ibrahim quit Umno last year before signing up with PKR.

Anwar, in trying to play down tensions on Friday, described the existing relationship between PKR, APS and PPPS as "special and important" because the candidates from their allies would be using the PKR symbol in the GE13.

He also stressed that it was also important to maintain the friendship with PAS and Democratic Action Party.

He said they have learned from previous experiences, and that the people today are more open and exposed to information.

"They want to see qualified Member of Parliament (MP) and Adun (assemblyman) (to represent them). Being popular does not qualify you to become a MP and ADUN, but you may be suitable for other posts, like that at the Municipal Council.

"But one of the most important factor to becoming a candidate is the ability to support the Party's struggle and loyalty, especially in facing giant party like Barisan Nasional, as they have funds," he said.

 

Anwar changes tone on SAPP

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:35 PM PDT

Hoping to capitalise on voter discontent in the state, the opposition leader now tells Sabah PR leaders to continue talking with Yong Teck Lee 

Queville To, FMT

KOTA KINABALU: In a surprise move, Pakatan Rakyat de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim re-opened the door for cooperation with the opposition Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP).

The opposition leader who is hoping to capitalise on voter discontent in the state, told Sabah PR leaders to continue talking with SAPP president Yong Teck Lee.

He said the gesture was in view of the fact that SAPP supports PR's policy and leadership, unlike the Sabah State Reform Party (Sabah Star) which has always opposed the opposition.

He told reporters this during a press conference held at PPPS head Lajim Ukin's residence in Likas, near here, on Friday.

Anwar's change of tone came as a surprise to many as, only two weeks ago, he announced during his visit to Sabah that Pakatan Rakyat would not engage in any more talks with local opposition parties.

He charged that SAPP and Sabah STAR are untrustworthy and that PR would instead focus on solidifying its agenda in Sabah together with its local allies Pertubuhan Pakatan Perubahan Sabah (PPPS) and Angkatan Perubahan Sabah (APS).

Touching on Tuaran PKR chief Ansari Abdullah's proposed candidates', Anwar promised "it will be given a serious consideration".

He said PKR deputy president Azmin Ali is in constant communication with Ansari on the matter and said that no public announcement would be made to avoid misunderstandings.

"We will take the proposal positively, especially with the discussions with APS and PPPS still ongoing. They are worried that their proposals are being ignored.

"But we never forget and ignore any proposals and suggestions. I have also told them that we will consider and we accept it as serious suggestions," he said.

Unresolved issues

Ansari controversially announced that prominent surgeon and activist Dr Chong Eng Leong would be Pakatan's candidate in Sepanggar, Mazhry Nasir (Putatan), Anthony Mandiau (Kota Marudu), Mursalim Tanjul (Kudat), Saidil Semoi (Kota Belud) and Jonathan Yassin (Ranau).

Anwar said the delay in announcing the Sabah PKR candidate line-ups for the 13th general election was due to "unresolved issues" and overlapping claims by Pakatan coalition parties in at least six state seats.

"The decisions (on candidacies) will be made by the state leaders, unless there is any conflict, then we (the top leaderships) will look into it. However, about 90% of the decision are made by the Sabah leadership.

READ MORE HERE

 

Avoid three-cornered fights: Karpal

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:32 PM PDT

Edmund Lee, The Sun Daily

All the component parties in Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition must ensure there would not be a three-cornered fights among themselves in the 13th general election, says DAP national chairman Karpal Singh.

Karpal said the coalition of PKR, PAS and DAP must consider the danger of having this tussle before the election on May 5.

"There must be a compromise among the three parties to make sure it does not happen," he told a press conference in Air Itam this morning, which saw several market-goers and passers-by supported him when they passed by the area.

Calling for the three-cornered clash "must be avoided" at all costs, the parties should carefully consider this circumstance as there has to be a compromise to be made within the coalition partners, Karpal who is a veteran lawyer pointed out.

Karpal was asked by reporters over a report that DAP is prepared to go for three-cornered fights in Kedah if it is not given the additional seats which the party had been asking for.

Prior to this, DAP deputy chairman Tan Kok Wai had asked PKR to allow DAP to contest the Alor Setar parliamentary seat, Bakar Bata and Bakar Arang state seats. It was reported DAP was upset after PKR de factor leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's announced Kedah legal bureau chief Gooi Hsio Leong as the candidate for Alor Setar.

Nonetheless, there is a possibility of such tussle happening in Sungai Acheh state seat as PAS had announced state PAS Youth chief Yusni Mat Piah for the seat which PKR's Badrul Hisham Shahrin or better known as Chegubard is to be fielded.

Karpal mentioned there must be a "give and take" among the PR parties to ensure that these fights do not occur in any seats.

On calls for Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr Ramasamy to be dropped in the election, Karpal added that the state DAP and its committee comprising of advisor Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, Tan, and he would be deciding on this matter.

 

GE13: ‘Chinese can never control Parliament’

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:27 PM PDT

(The Star) - The Chinese will never be a dominant political force in Malaysia, even under Pakatan Rakyat, said PAS deputy president Mohamad Sabu.

As both MCA and DAP would be vying for the limited number of Chinese-majority seats, they would only be eliminating each other, he said.

Only one would emerge winner in each seat, and the number of Chinese-majority seats remained the same, he added.

As such, it would be impossible for the Chinese to wield greater influence in Parliament, he said at a ceramah in Kupang on Thursday night.

It was Mohamad's inaugural ceramah in Kedah after PAS announced him as its Pendang parliamentary candidate.

Mohamad also pointed out that Pakatan Rakyat fielded 23 more Malay Muslim candidates compared with Barisan Nasional in the 2008 general election.

 

GE13: ‘Third force will determine GE13 outcome’

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:23 PM PDT

(The Star) - Non-partisan voters will be instrumental in determining the outcome of the 13th general election (GE13), said social entrepreneur Anas Zubedy (pic).

The principal consultant and Zubedy (M) Sdn Bhd founder said the "third force" had the power to decide which party got the two-thirds majority at GE13.

"We want less bickering and politicking, and we want work to be done with focus on developing the economy and cutting down on corruption," he said in an interview with SwitchUp.tv's GE13: Showdown programme, hosted by Anne Edwards.

Anas believed the last election had left a positive impact as the Barisan Nasional government, under Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak's leadership, had implemented many transformation programmes.

"At the same time, the Opposition coalition has had a chance to run a few states, which is good, as they get to know the realities of running a state," he said.

However, Anas remained cautious on whether Malaysians had become more politically mature since the 2008 general election.

"A survey we did among young Malaysians last year revealed that many did not know what Article 153 of the Federal Constitution was about," he said.

"Also, nearly 100% of the respondents quoted the Article inaccurately," he said.

In a bid to help non-partisan voters understand how their votes could affect the GE13's outcome, Anas highlighted five election outcome possibilities.

One was to hand Barisan a very strong mandate, allowing for governance the "China way", where government projects were implemented with speed rather than the "India way" where every project was debated.

The second possibility was to hand the same mandate to Pakatan Rakyat, giving them a chance while expanding the talent pool of leadership beyond Barisan.

"Another is a hung parliament, after which the most influential person would be the Agong. We will leave it to his wisdom to create a new coalition," said Anas.

The fourth was to give Pakatan a chance to lead but with a very slim majority, so that its leaders would "continuously be on their toes".

The last possibility was to maintain the status quo, which meant that voters would give the current government another five years, suspending their judgement until the next general election.

 

SAPP bemoans Pakatan’s ‘overbearing Malaya political elite attitude’

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:14 PM PDT

Boo Su-Lyn, TMI

Sabah Progressive Party (SAPP) president Datuk Yong Teck Lee has grumbled about being accustomed to Pakatan Rakyat's (PR) "overbearing Malaya political elite attitude" in a fight over seats ahead of Election 2013.

Yong (picture) said he was willing to cede the Penampang and Sandakan parliamentary seats to PKR and the DAP, respectively, in the 13th general election ― both of which he said SAPP could field "winnable candidates" ― but pointed out that the PR parties still insisted on contesting the state seats.

"They think they're so great; they can roughshod over Sabahans," Yong told The Malaysian Insider in an interview at the SAPP operations centre here this week.

"I'm utterly disappointed, but not surprised," added the former Sabah chief minister.

Yong said SAPP was open to PR contesting the majority of the 25 federal seats in Sabah, but stressed that the state seats should be left to local parties.

"Pakatan is forcing three-cornered fights on us. Anwar and Lim Kit Siang said Pakatan does not expect to win Sabah. So we don't know why they want to disturb the state seats," he said, referring to Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and DAP stalwart Lim.

"Let the local parties have the majority of state seats and we'll let them capture most of the parliamentary seats. Pakatan just wants six, seven, twelve MPs," added Yong.

Yong said his party would contest most of the 60 state seats in Sabah.

SAPP, which left Barisan Nasional (BN) in September 2008, currently has two MPs ― Datuk Eric Enchin Majimbun in Sepanggar and Datuk Chua Soon Bui in Tawau ― as well as two assemblymen within the Kota Kinabalu parliamentary constituency, Datuk Liew Teck Chan in Likas and Melanie Chia in Luyang.

The ruling coalition swept the state in Election 2008, with the DAP winning only the Kota Kinabalu federal seat and the Sri Tanjong state seat.

Yong also said SAPP would support Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan, chief of the Sabah State Reform Party (STAR), in the Bingkor state seat in Keningau.

READ MORE HERE

 

PAS will shield all from race clash, veep vows

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:08 PM PDT

Debra Chong, TMI

PAS will protect all Malaysians from any racial confrontation that may happen after the May 5 polls, Datuk Mahfuz Omar pledged even as he lashed out at its instigator, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The vice-president of the Islamist opposition party accused Dr Mahathir of being an author of racial strife bent on selling the politics of fear through the former prime minister's blog.

"It's no secret that Dr Mahathir is very afraid to face the general election this time, in fact he has been reported saying he was more worried about his grandchildren's safety compared to his own if Pakatan Rakyat wins," Mahfuz was quoted saying today by PAS news portal, Harakah.

"His writing clearly is a desperate attempt by Dr Mahathir to spread his fear to the rakyat and an invitation to share in his personal fears," he added, referring to the veteran Umno politician's latest blog posting two days ago, titled "Gelang Patah".

In it, Dr Mahathir warned Malaysians that a "racial confrontation" was imminent if the DAP's Lim Kit Siang were to win the Gelang Patah federal seat in Johor, the birthplace of Umno at the 13th general election.

Seemingly rushing to defend Lim, his political ally in the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, Mahfuz was reported holding up Dr Mahathir's statement as further evidence that the ex-prime minister was fearful to face the people's anger towards Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition it fronts in the May 5 polls.

He said PAS had not only worked to prevent racial strife, which he claimed to be stoked by Umno via Dr Mahathir's blog entry, but was committed to ensure the safety of all races.

"But we give our commitment to protect and care for the safety of all Malaysians, regardless if Malay, Chinese or Indians if a racial confrontation happens as Dr Mahathir aspires in his blog," the Johor PAS chief was quoted saying.

READ MORE HERE

 

‘Esok lepas kita menang, anda semua tukar kereta Camry,’ kata calon PKR

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:06 PM PDT

(Bernama) - Calon PKR Parlimen Balik Pulau Muhammad Bakhtiar Wan Chik, 48, menunjukkan sikap tidak patriotik beliau apabila mengagungkan kereta import berbanding kereta buatan tempatan dalam satu ceramah di sini malam tadi.

Dalam ceramah anjuran pakatan pembangkang di pasar awam di sini yang dihadiri 300 orang, Muhammad Bakhtiar, seorang aktivis reformasi sejak 1998, berkata: "Esok selepas kita menang, anda semua tukar kereta Camry daripada Proton Wira yang digunakan sekarang."  

Yang turut hadir, Pesuruhjaya PAS negeri, Datuk Mohd Salleh Man, Pengerusi DAP negeri, Chow Kon Yeow, Setiausaha Politik Ketua Menteri Pulau Pinang, Zairil Khir Johari dan calon PAS Dewan Undangan Negeri Bayan Lepas, Asnah Hashim.

Terdahulu, ketika berceramah di Teluk Bahang petang semalam, Muhammad Bakhtiar dilihat hadir dengan menaiki kereta mewah Porsche Cayenne S berwarna hitam bersama pemandu peribadi beliau.

Berucap hanya kira-kira 10 minit beliau memberi alasan isi ucapannya telah disampaikan aktivis DAP, Hew Kuan Yau sebelum giliran beliau.

Dua hari lepas 100 penyokong dan anggota PKR membantah keputusan ketua umum parti itu Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mempertaruhkan Muhammad Bakhtiar bertanding kerusi Parlimen Balik Pulau pada pilihan raya umum ke-13 (PRU13), 5 Mei ini.

Anwar mengumumkan keputusan itu pada satu ceramah di Sungai Ara 5 April lalu. 

Kumpulan itu mengadakan perhimpunan secara aman di Jalan Baru di sini bagi menyatakan sokongan terhadap penyandang Mohd Yusmadi Mohd Yusoff untuk mempertahankan kerusi itu.

 

DAP told to attend ROS inquiry on April 18

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:02 PM PDT

Opalyn Mok, TMI

DAP has been told to attend an inquiry by the Registrar of Societies (ROS) on April 18.

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh said the party received a letter from the ROS on April 9 instructing the party's election returning officer Pooi Weng Keong and election strategist Ong Kian Ming to attend the inquiry as witnesses.

The inquiry, which will start at 10am, will be conducted by investigating officer Insp Mohd Nawawi Mat.

The inquiry is regarding the party polls in December last year where a 'technical glitch' occurred, resulting in an error in the vote count which saw none of the Malay candidates being elected into its central executive committee (CEC).

A recount was conducted which saw Zairil Khir Johari elected to the CEC where the actual votes received by him totalled 803 as compared to 305 in the erroneous results.

The whole CEC lineup remains unchanged despite the recount.

The party then conducted audits of the recount, led by Ong and also by an external chartered accountant firm, and confirmed the results of the recount as accurate and free from error.

This issue attracted criticisms from the party's political foes and also from disgruntled members who filed complaints with the ROS.

"We have been requested to supply documents relating to the party elections including notices sent out to delegates during the inquiry," Karpal said in a press conference at the Air Itam Market this morning.

"We will supply all the information and documents in support of the party elections in compliance with ROS," he said.

He pointed out that the errors in the party polls were due to a technical glitch so there was no fraud or misrepresentation involved.

"There have been calls for DAP to be deregistered. The deregistration of a party is a serious matter," he said.

He said the ROS may have the power to deregister a party but this can only be done after an in-depth investigation had been conducted and backed up by solid evidence.

"As the investigation falls on April 18, it is virtually impossible that they will make a decision before April 20, which is the nomination date, so the ROS should refrain from making decisions before then," the incumbent Bukit Gelugor MP said.

READ MORE HERE

 

GE13: The good, the bad and the ugly

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 02:53 PM PDT

Malaysia is probably living one of its most exciting times, with delayed polls, never before seen handouts and an opposition strangulating the regime to its last breath. 

Ali Cordoba, FMT

Malaysia's upcoming general election on May 5 seems to be scripted from the Hollywood western, 'The Good, The Bad and the Ugly' but there is a surprise on the timeline.

The battle to govern the nation is pitting Pakatan Rakyat leader, Anwar Ibrahim, who is living the greatest political revival in Malaysia's history, against a regime that has probably overspent its days in power.

The irony of the parallel to the United States is that the ruling Barisan National is run by an old guard, shadowing a younger generation with similarities to the Republican Party.

The BN, with Umno at the helm, headed by Najib Tun Razak, is intricately mired in the gripping embrace of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The behind the scenes politics and the power deals that form part of the BN's litany of errors  have in a sense contributed in catapulting the opposition to greater heights.

Mahathir, fighting for his legacy and for the new Malays he helped create, is putting Umno into jeopardy, forcing it to embark on a suicidal mission to defy the people and maintain the status-quo.

The bunch of old men, gunslingers of the past, have laid down the rules for Umno and BN in the wake of the GE13 and it is with their dusty intentions that the ruling coalition is going into the battle against Pakatan, re-branding the old tune into a new ring tone.

Again behind the scenes, is Daim Zainuddin and to a lesser extent Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, clamouring for BN to remain in power while the people seem to understand they are struggling to keep alive their own legacies.

The legacy of the Mahathir era is rigged with incidents and events that have marred the country for good, including the 'Malaysia Boleh' slogan, the Memali incident, the al-Maunah episode and the reformasi era.

Mahathir is not opposing Anwar to secure the memories left behind by the street battles of the reformasi crowd seeking change in the country, but he is batting for the total recall of such vivid memories.

And by recall, it clearly means the erasing of the history of the reformasi movement with the elder statesman calling for Anwar to be burried in GE13.

The sinking ship

Mahathir and men of his ilk are defending their legacies of ISA arrests, the beating of Anwar in jail and of his supporters in the streets, the fallacies of the Sodomy 1 and 2 saga and cronies eating up the wealth of the country are the uglier ones in Malaysia's political arena.

Then came the Najib Tun Razak era, tainted with the Scorpene scandal and the Altantunya Shaariibuu affair, with a government that did everything to become the copycat of the policies formulated by the opposition.

Najib will be remembered for the lackluster BN in power, shackled by Anwar's exuberance and his forceful character whom they could not eliminate despite the plethora of ugly sex videos.

READ MORE HERE

 

Jui Meng champions PR cause

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 12:23 PM PDT

http://mole.my/sites/default/files/images/mole-chua-jui-meng.jpg 

(The Malay Mail) - Johor PKR chief confident, gives full support to Lim in Gelang Patah

TMM: Are you upset that DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang is replacing you in Gelang Patah?

Chua Jui Meng : If I were upset, I would not be making all these statements or speak to you. Previously I said in my press conference that I welcome and honour Lim in Gelang Patah. I even told the 40,000 people during the announcement to fully support him. I told them that Lim is a leader of integrity and had even sacrificed his comfortable seat in Ipoh Timur to contest in Gelang Patah.

TMM: How was your relationship with Johor DAP and PAS after all the controversy?

CJM: Excellent. I have a good relationship with PR in Johor. Today, we went along together for my election campaign at Kampung Abdullah, Jementah and other places to meet the public. The DAP candidate, Pang Hock Leong (former Bekok assemblyman) whom I will be replacing also spoke during a press conference and expressed full support for me.

TMM: There is speculation that some members of the public especially DAP voters in Segamat aren't supporting you as a candidate. Is that true?

CJM: It's not true, it's only a rumour. As I said earlier, Pang cleared the issue by speaking to the people in Segamat on that matter.

TMM: As the Johor PKR chief what are your expectations for 13th general election in Johor?

CJM: My expectations! That PR will at least win a minimum of 13 or 14 seats from the 26 parliamentary seats in Johor. As for the state seats, we stand a chance to form a government by winning a minimum of 29 from 56 seats. But I'm not going to tell you which seats we consider as winnable seats.

TMM: What's next for you, and what will you bring to Segamat?

CJM: I ought to win the Segamat seat. My message for them during the campaign is change and reform. However, most importantly, my emphasis is that people are the focus of our government's activities, we will not allow cronyism or family networks to interfere.

TMM: What's next for you, and what will you bring to Segamat?

CJM: I ought to win the Segamat seat. My message for them during the campaign is change and reform. However, most importantly, my emphasis is that people are the focus of our government's activities, we will not allow cronyism or family networks to interfere. 

Tun Mahathir calon Putrajaya ganti Ku Nan?

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 12:17 PM PDT

http://www.sinarharian.com.my/polopoly_fs/1.38839.1350553431!/image/image.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_400/image.jpg 

(Sinar Harian) - Apakah Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad akan menentang calon Pas, Datuk Husam Musa merebut kerusi Parlimen Putrajaya pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13)?


'Arkitek' pembangunan Putrajaya itu dikatakan sudah mengadakan pertemuan dengan Pengerusi Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak untuk berbincang perkara berkaitan kerusi di kawasan pusat pentadbiran kerajaan persekutuan itu.

Sumber Sinar Harian yang mendapat maklumat daripada Pejabat Perdana Menteri juga mengesahkan tentang pertemuan antara Najib dan bekas perdana menteri itu baru-baru ini.

Dr Mahathir yang menjadi perdana menteri sejak 1981 bersara pada Oktober 2003 dan tidak bertanding pada pilihan raya umum 2004 dan 2008.

Beliau telah beberapa kali menyatakan tidak berhasrat untuk kembali aktif dalam politik termasuk bertanding dalam pilihan raya umum.

Bagaimanapun beliau berkempen dengan kuat bagi Umno dan BN sejak empat tahun lalu khususnya selepas Najib menjadi perdana menteri.

Dr Mahathir dipercayai mungkin mengambil keputusan bertanding kerusi Parlimen Putrajaya itu setelah mendapati sebahagian besar pengundi di Putrajaya adalah dari Kelantan di mana mempunyai sentimen kuat terhadap Pas dan calon Pas pula berasal dari Kelantan.

Kesungguhan Dr Mahathir menawarkan diri untuk bertanding pada kali ini dikatakan dibuat bagi memastikan Putrajaya yang dibangunkan dari pemikiran dan aspirasi beliau terus kekal di tangan BN.

Penganalisis politik, Prof Datuk Mohamad Abu Bakar berkata, Dr Mahathir, bekas Presiden Umno dan Pengerusi BN, mempunyai pengaruh yang kuat dan kini dilihat begitu bekerja keras berkempen di seluruh negara.

"Najib kemungkinan mengambil perhatian serius terhadap tawaran yang disuarakan bekas perdana menteri itu untuk bersaing Husam merebut kerusi Parlimen Putrajaya.

"Perdana menteri akan buat keputusan terbaik menentukan calon BN di kawasan tersebut dan kemungkinan terpengaruh dan mengambil kira tawaran Mahathir untuk bertanding itu," katanya.

Najib dijangka mengumumkan senarai calon BN Selasa ini.

Mohamad yang juga ada mendengar berita mengenai hasrat Dr Mahathir bertanding di Putrajaya itu memberitahu, pemimpin berstatus negarawan itu akan berhadapan dengan dua implikasi jika bertanding kali ini.

"Pertamanya, jika Mahathir kembali bertanding dalam pilihan raya, ia akan melambangkan BN kini ketandusan calon boleh menang," katanya.

Keduanya, kata Mohamad, Dr Mahathir akan dilihat telah mengambil pendirian bertentangan dengan semangatnya sebelum ini yang sering menasihati pemimpin veteran berundur bagi memberi laluan muka baru.

"Sebelum ini Mahathir lantang menegur pemimpin veteran seperti Mursyidul Am Pas, Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat dan Penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang supaya berundur.
"Jika Mahathir bertanding pada PRU13 ini akan lebih memperlihatkan BN terdesak dan ketandusan calon," katanya.

Mohamad juga tidak menolak kemungkinan faktor kenegerian memainkan turut memainkan peranan mempengaruhi undi.

"Penduduk di Putrajaya majoritinya adalah Melayu, generasi kelas menengah yang kini hidup selesa di mana mereka tidak kisah parti mana yang memerintah sama ada Pakatan Rakyat atau BN.

"Malah ia satu yang tidak mengejutkan jika ada yang mengatakan majoriti penjawat awam di situ berasal dari negeri Kelantan," katanya.

Sekarang terpulang kepada Setiausaha Agung Umno dan BN, Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor sama ada mahu beralah melepaskan kerusi itu.

Laporan media sebelum ini menyebut Tengku Adnan yang mesra dengan panggilan Ku Nan akan bertanding mempertahankan kerusi tersebut.

 

Mahathir blasts S'pore to rally poll support for BN

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 12:13 PM PDT

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(Straits Times) - FORMER Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who is one of those tasked with campaigning for the Barisan Nasional slate in Johor, has reached for an old playbook in order to drum up support - by hitting out at Singapore.

In a blog posting on Thursday, he accused the opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) of wanting to end the traditional Malay-Chinese cooperation in Malaysia.

This concord, he said, is premised on the kongsi, or sharing, principle of "not taking all our entitlements for ourselves but sacrificing some so others may get their share".

Instead, the DAP wants to implement meritocracy, which he said the ruling People's Action Party in Singapore champions and is "about the winners taking all".

"The meritocracy promoted by the DAP will mean diminishing opportunities for the Malays in education and in business," he said. "This will result in the Malays becoming less and less qualified and poorer."

He went on to say that if DAP leader Lim Kit Siang wins Gelang Patah, a closely watched seat in Johor, an "unhealthy racial confrontation" will be the result.

Tun Dr Mahathir also voiced a similar theme during a speech last Saturday to rally support for the BN in Selangor.

"DAP uses the PAP way. When PAP was in Malaysia, it used the slogan 'Malaysian Malaysia'. It said Malays took everything, others nothing. Is that true?" he said. "We see that other races have wealth.

"There are hundreds of millionaires among them today."

He added that while Singapore closed Chinese vernacular schools, Malaysia allowed them, although most of its leaders are Malay.

This shows the government's "fairness", which contrasts with the "racism of DAP".

At recent Umno rallies in Johor, the state closest to Singapore, speakers alleged that Malay Singaporeans had been marginalised, and warned local Malays of a similar fate if they voted opposition.

Read more at: http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/asia-report/malaysia-elections/news/story/mahathir-blasts-spore-rally-poll-support-bn- 

Longhouse chiefs: Land shown in Global Witness video exists

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 12:08 PM PDT

http://sarawak.home.net.my/sites/sarawak.home.net.my/files/u114/masing%20_0.jpg 

(Borneo Post) - They decided to come forward after reading Minister of Land Development Tan Sri Dr James Masing's remarks, which was front-paged by The Borneo Post yesterday, that he doubted the existence of the land.

 

The piece of land in Julau which was highlighted in the controversial video produced by London-based Global Witness exists.

http://cdn.theborneopost.com/newsimages/2013/04/tekuyong-p1.png 

 

Two longhouse chiefs from Julau, who is laying claim on part of the said land, said details of the land shown in the video were genuine.

 

Tuai Rumah Banggom Alan from Nanga Bangkit Ulu Entabai and Tuai Rumah Pius Juyuk showed a copy of land details to The Borneo Post yesterday to prove their claim.

 

They decided to come forward after reading Minister of Land Development Tan Sri Dr James Masing's remarks, which was front-paged by The Borneo Post yesterday, that he doubted the existence of the land.

 

Masing said most of the land around that area (in Julau) had been cultivated by shifting cultivators for more than a century as it was one of the earliest settlements in the state, and as such there was no more timber of value left.

 

"I know Julau land very well; it is very hilly and undulated and, therefore, it is not suitable for agricultural purposes. Only a stupid fool will buy it," said Masing.

 

Based on an extract of the document, the land comprising an area of approximately 5,000 hectares is located in Section/Block No. 018 and Parcel/Lot No. 00002 of Tekoyong Land District.

 

It has been issued to a company as a Provisional Lease of State Land for a period of 60 years – from February 8, 2011, to February 7, 2071.

 

The land is classified as Mixed Zone Land, categorised as Country Land and is meant for agricultural purposes. Its annual rent is RM12,500.

 

Banggom and Pius claimed they did not know the 'new' owners of the said land. "We are only interested in the land as we believe part of it is our native customary right (NCR) land.

 

"It is our hope that we will get it when the Land and Survey Department carries out a perimeter survey later on".

They added that they were told the land had not been surveyed yet.



 

Pak Samad tells voters to oust BN

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 10:48 PM PDT

Bersih 2.0 co-chairman Datuk A. Samad Said openly called on voters on 6 April 2013 to support the opposition and use this "once chance" to end BN rule in GE13, reports Syed Jaymal Zahiid of the Malaysian Insider

This is the first time the national literary icon, popularly known as Pak Samad, has openly urged Malaysians to back the federal opposition coalition to "overhaul" the government and "amend the broken machinery" like health care and education, which Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has promised to deliver.

"This is our chance… the time has come for us to overhaul the government to that power would fall in the right hands.

"This is our opportunity to amend the broken machinery like health care, education and democracy of which have been promised by the opposition," he said at an event organised by polls reform group Bersih 2.0 in Selayang.

Bersih 2.0, a coalition of over 80 non-governmental organisations, has in the past been forced to defend itself against criticisms calling it a partisan group, largely due to the immense support it had received from PR leaders for its street protests.

The former national laureate Samad said now is a critical time for voters to ask themselves why the same coalition has ruled Malaysia for more than five decades and why is it those in power are only Malays. "I am also a Malay but I often asked why is it that the powers above me are only Malays?

"Tunku Abdul Rahman was a Malay, (Tun) Abdul Razak was a Malay, (Tun) Hussein Onn was a Malay, (Tun Dr) Mahathir (Mohamad) is not a pure Malay but can be considered a Malay… (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) is also a Malay," he said.

Despite a solid Malay leadership for 56 years, Samad pointed to the racist tactic used by the ruling coalition to keep the country's ethnic majority on its side.

"So why are we repeatedly reminded that the Malay rights will be threatened?"

The private screenings of controversial 'Tanda Putera' film, purportedly depicting the May 1969 racial riots, only to Malays in the run-up to the elections was a testimony to the racism perpetrated by the BN government, he added.

"It is to sow fear in the heart of the Malays," he said.

Bersih 2.0 is now leading the campaign to reform Malaysia's polling system, which the coalition of rights groups claimed is rife with irregularities.

It is also launching a nationwide tour to educate voters on election laws aimed at making them 'citizen observers' and to reduce fraud including curbing vote-buying under its 'Jom Pantau (Let's Monitor)' campaign.

Samad pointed to widespread vote-buying when the Najib administration gave out cash handouts to key constituents under the People's 1 Malaysia Aid (BR1M) programme, which he said signalled BN's fear that its rule would come to an end soon.

"You must ask why is it that the government had suddenly want to give out money? This government is desperate, that is why they even promised more BR1M," he said.

READ MORE HERE

 

All systems go for Uthayakumar

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 10:34 PM PDT

With the election deposit paid, Uthayakumar is set to contest for the Kota Raja parliamentary seat and the Sri Andalas state seat.

Alyaa Azhar, FMT

Hindraf leader P Uthayakumar is going ahead with his plans to contest for the Kota Raja parliamentary seat and Sri Andalas state seat in the 13th general election.

"Right now, it's all systems go, regardless of whether I'll stand as an independent candidate or under the Pakatan Rakyat banner," said Uthayakumar after paying his election deposit for both seats at the Selangor Election Commission office today.

A sum of RM10,000 was paid for the Kota Raja parliamentary seat with an additional RM5,000 for campaign materials, and RM8,000 was paid for the Sri Andalas state seat, inclusive of campaign materials.

Uthayakumar also explained why he is "forced" to contest in the coming election.

"We are forced to contest because as opposed to Pakatan's promise made in 2008, it has failed to deliver even one of Hindraf's 18-point demands.

"Even Pakatan's manifesto has nothing to deliver for the Indians and Anwar Ibrahim has refused to sign our 18-point demands," he said.

He stressed that at least one Hindraf MP is needed to put pressure on Pakatan not to implement racist policies against the Indian poor.

"The Indian poor need to focus because the problems plaguing them are critical," he said.

Uthayakumar, who is also Human Rights Party Malaysia's (HRP) pro-tem secretary-general, said that out of the 222 parliamentary seats and 576 state seats, Pakatan has refused to make way for even one seat for Hindraf.

"This is unfair. I have even agreed to contest under the Pakatan ticket against BN so that there won't be a split of opposition votes but Pakatan has rejected me.

"If Pakatan does not make way for us, Pakatan is the one splitting the vote," said Uthayakumar.

READ MORE HERE

 

Malaysia GE13: 'Racial confrontation' if Lim Kit Siang wins Johor seat, says Mahathir

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 10:29 PM PDT

(Straits Times) - Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad has claimed that there will be conflict between races if opposition veteran Lim Kit Siang wins a seat in Johor.

Writing on his blog (chedet.cc) on Thursday, Dr Mahathir said Johor has been a stronghold for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition since independence, and people there "do not have strong racist feelings".

"But Kit Siang is going to bring about conflict and antagonism between the races, to wage the Chinese to dislike and hate the Malays," he wrote.

He added: "An unhealthy racial confrontation would replace Sino-Malay cooperation which has made Malaysia stable and prosperous."

Mr Lim announced last month that he would move from his longtime seat in Perak to contest in Johor's Gelang Patah seat.

Fast-developing Gelang Patah is at the heart of Iskandar Malaysia and houses Johor's administrative capital, Nusajaya. More than half of the voters are Chinese.

Dr Mahathir, who has emerged one of BN's chief campaigners, urged voters over the weekend to make the seat a "burial ground" for Mr Lim's politics.

 

Anwar cancels announcement of Sabah PKR candidates, cites conflicts

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 08:29 PM PDT

Boo Su-Lyn, TMI

Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has cancelled his announcement of Sabah PKR candidates, citing unresolved conflicts over a few seats.

The PKR de facto leader also said today that he has assured Tuaran PKR chief Ansari Abdullah that the latter's list of proposed candidates would be considered.

"In Sabah, the reason why I'm not announcing the candidates now is because although many seats have been finalised, there are still conflicts over one or two," said Anwar (picture) at a press conference in Likas here today.

"I don't want to complicate matters. I'm not ready to announce yet," added the opposition leader.

PKR deputy president Azmin Ali dismissed Ansari's candidate list last Friday as "mere suggestions".

Ansari had announced that he would contest the Tuaran federal seat, besides naming candidates for six other parliamentary seats.

The current Tuaran MP is Datuk Seri Wilfred Bumburing, who had defected from BN component party UPKO and formed his own party called APS in alliance with Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

READ MORE HERE

 

Ambiga: I don’t campaign for Pakatan

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 08:18 PM PDT

Responding to her critics, the Bersih chairperson says she focuses on voter education and is willing to speak on the same issue at BN ceramahs, if she is invited.

RK Anand, FMT

This is a rose which never ceases to be a thorn in the flesh of Barisan Nasional. To the point that some have even called for her citizenship to be revoked.

And now her recent ceramah in Seremban, which drew a mammoth crowd who braved the rain, is said to have rattled those in the ruling coalition once again.

Following this, Bersih co-chairperson S Ambiga has come under fire, with critics again taking a swipe at her for gracing opposition events despite insisting that the polls watchdog is non-partisan.

Defending herself, the former Bar Council president told FMT that it is the opposition parties which invite her to educate voters on their rights.

"I don't campaign for anyone. This is about voter education. I impress upon them the importance of good governance and call on them to vote out corrupt politicians and those who abuse their powers.

"Unless BN fits the bill, they have no reason to be worried or complain," said Ambiga, adding that she would be more than willing to attend BN functions if invited.

However, the Bersih chairperson stressed that even if she is invited to speak at a BN ceramah, she would state the same points vis-a-vis the absence of a level playing field, the elections are not clean and that the rotten must be voted out.

She also pointed out that Bersih has invited BN leaders to attend its events on numerous occasions, but none of them turned up.

"This is like a spoilt brat who does not attend a birthday party despite being extended an invitation and later complains about the other guests who show up," she said.

Ambiga also explained that voter education included telling the people not to be afraid of change.

"There are those who frighten the people on the ground, especially the Indian community with talks of riot and whatnot if there is a change in government.

"I tell voters not to let fear dictate their choice, it is their freedom of choice. This is not campaigning for the opposition but getting the message across to voters on their rights," she said.

While Ambiga said she has no problems with being scrutinised, she however hoped that the spotlight would be turned on the Election Commission instead, which she accused of being partisan in the discharging of its duties.

'I am not contesting'

The Bersih leader also reiterated her stand of not contesting in the general election after speculations resurfaced following her recent visit to Cameron Highlands.

She had attended a Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) fund-raiser and this led to rumours of her wanting to take on MIC president G Palanivel, who is slated to contest the parliamentary seat.

READ MORE HERE

 

Again, PKR leaves Khalid’s future as MB open to speculation

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 08:07 PM PDT

Syed Jaymal Zahiid, TMI

PKR president Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail has refused to confirm if the party would keep Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim as Selangor mentri besar should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) retains Selangor in Election 2013, further fuelling speculation that he may be axed from the post.

When asked on the matter, Dr Wan Azizah said there are other capable leaders suitable for the post and the candidacy is not an issue as long as the coalition implements good governance in the country's industrial capital.

"We have a few capable leaders, now as many as Barisan Nasional, so crowded, but Khalid is one of them because he has a track record, doesn't matter as long as the right policies are there," she told reporters at the party's headquarters here.

Asked if that means Khalid will likely be dropped, Dr Wan Azizah refused to comment but said the former could still be the mentri besar.

"There is a probability that he will be MB but like I said there are other capable leaders," she said.

The Malaysian Insider had previoulsy reported that uncertainty hangs over Abdul Khalid's political future in Selangor as sources in PR have indicated that the interim mentri besar could lose his post even if the pact retains the state in Election 2013.

The PKR leadership has so far refrained from confirming if Khalid (picture) would be selected to defend his seat, in light of growing anger among locals who purportedly view the politician as an "absent" representative.

The Malaysian Insider understands the party leadership had also, at one point, considered dropping Khalid as its Ijok candidate following concerns that the mentri besar could lose the seat.

Talks that Khalid would be dropped first surfaced when PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced in October last year that the former would remain as PKR's Bandar Tun Razak parliamentary candidate but did not state if Khalid (picture) would defend Ijok.

READ MORE HERE

 

The question of cowardice (UPDATED with Chinese Translation)

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 07:08 PM PDT

The problem is: they disparage me for refusing to return to Malaysia. However, if I do return to Malaysia and nothing happens, they will say I have made a deal with Umno. And if I return to Malaysia and I get arrested, they will say that it is merely wayang to stop people from saying I have made a deal with Umno.

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

According to Haris Ibrahim's blog, I am a coward for living in exile in the UK.

It is interesting that Haris came out with this anti-RPK campaign at the same time that I published my article 'The consistency of change'. It looks like Haris, too, has changed his stance. He now feels I should be in jail rather than in Manchester.

I suppose he is of the opinion that if I support Pakatan Rakyat then I should be in Manchester but if I do not support Pakatan Rakyat then I should instead be in jail.

I thought justice was about getting a fair trial and about being spared selective prosecution cum political persecution and not about you should be free only if you are anti-government but behind bars if you are not anti-government.

Anyway, laws are always subject to one's interpretation and most times people twist laws to conveniently suit their political agenda. The government does it and so does, it appears, the opposition as well.

I remember that Haris was one of those who disagreed with my plan to stay in Malaysia and risk a third detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA). He was also one of those who disagreed with my plan to refuse bail and instead serve time in the Sungai Buloh Prison while awaiting trial. He, together with my wife who was in tears, pleaded with me to accept bail because, according to Haris, I would be more useful as a free man running Malaysia Today rather than behind bars with no one to manage the website.

Haris was also the one who almost had a punch-up in Bangkok with the police officers from Malaysia because they wanted me to follow them to the Malaysian Embassy in Bangkok. Haris felt that it may be a trap to arrest me and smuggle me back to Malaysia and he was adamant that I stay in the hotel than risk getting trapped in the Malaysian Embassy where the Thai government would be powerless to help me.

I was prepared to take that risk but Haris told my wife to lock me in the hotel room and not allow me to leave while he and another lawyer, Amarjit Sidhu, follow the police officers to the Embassy to establish what was going on. Later that night they returned to the hotel and told me that they smelled a rat and that I should not go to the Embassy.

I am not blaming Haris for me being here in Manchester but he made it very clear, and even publicly stated so, that he was dead opposed to me spending my days in jail. Now he has changed his mind and feels that I am a coward for refusing to go to jail. So what I wrote in my article 'The consistency of change' that people do change has been proven right after all.

Anyway, I think it is an insult to Sun Yat-sen to say that those who choose exile over jail are cowards. Sun Yat-sen, too, spent time in exile in Japan and was financially supported by a democratic revolutionary named Miyazaki Toten. Sun Yat-sen also spent time in exile in Europe, the United States, and Canada where he raised money for his revolutionary party and to support uprisings in China.

Sun Yat-sen is definitely not considered a coward for refusing to go back to China to spend the rest of his days in jail. In fact, in 1896, Sun Yat-sen was detained at the Chinese Legation in London. He was released after 12 days through the efforts of James Cantlie, The Times, and the British Foreign Office, resulting in him becoming a hero (not a coward) in Britain.

Sayyid Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini, too, spent 14 years in exile and only returned to Iran in 1979 after the Shah had been toppled. Joseph Stalin was also in exile and only returned to Russia in 1917 when the Russian Revolution succeeded, as did Vladimir Lenin -- both heroes, and not cowards, of the Russian Revolution.

I do not like to use Prophet Muhammad as another example lest people misinterpret this as me comparing myself to the Prophet but he too spent eight years in exile until he had a large enough army to return to Mekah unmolested in 630.

In fact, history is rife with political exiles -- Englishmen exiled in France and Frenchmen exiled in England. Voltaire, Norodom Sihanouk, Bahadur Shah II, Alberto Fujimori, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Erich Honecker, Alan García, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, King Zog, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Napoleon Bonaparte's nephew Louis-Napoléon, and many, many more all spent time in exile -- the list is just too long.

Anyway, what I had commented on was the call for Malaysians to kill and/or die to prevent phantom voters from casting their votes on 5th May 2013. My contention is that Malaysians would be the last one to put their life on the line when even getting them to register to post comments in Malaysia Today is impossible. Hardly 1% would dare do that because they fear that their identity may be known.

If they do not even dare reveal their identity how can we expect these people to kill and/or die to prevent phantom voters from casting their votes?

Do you know that many people do not even dare vote because they are worried that their vote is not secret and the government or police would know whom they voted for? There is even a protest because the ballot papers are marked with serial numbers. So what if people know who you vote for? What is wrong with that?

Whenever I vote I proudly hold up my ballot paper for all and sundry to see and to make sure that they can see that I voted for the opposition before I put it into the ballot box. And here people refuse to vote in case others get to know whom they voted for. And these same people call me a coward? If I am a coward for showing everyone my ballot paper then what do we call those who refuse to vote because they fear people will find out who they voted for?

Malaysians are real strange creatures indeed. And they don't realise that when they insult me they also insult Prophet Muhammad, Sun Yat-sen, Khomeini and thousands of other people whom history has labelled as great people and heroes because they went into exile.

The problem is: they disparage me for refusing to return to Malaysia. However, if I do return to Malaysia and nothing happens, they will say I have made a deal with Umno. And if I return to Malaysia and I get arrested, they will say that it is merely wayang to stop people from saying I have made a deal with Umno.

And the question is: why do they now want me to return to Malaysia and go to jail whereas in the beginning they were adamant that I stay free and out of jail? Only an idiot would require me to answer that question.

***************************************

懦夫的問題

他們鄙視我,說我不敢回去。但如果我真的囘去了而沒有事情發生的話,他們會說我私底下早和巫統僑好了。即使我真的被捉,他們還是會講這只是場'wayang',演出的目的是要阻止所有人講説我私底下早就和巫統僑好的。


原文:Raja Petra Kamarudin
譯文:方宙

Haris Ibrahim的博客裏寫到,我是個流放英國的懦夫。

能夠看到在我發表'不變的改變'(http://www.malaysia-today.net/mtcolumns/no-holds-barred/55836-the-consistency-of-change )這篇文章的同時Haris 也提出'反RPK運動',這真的是很有趣。看起來Haris也在改變中,他現在認爲我應該在監獄裏而不是曼徹斯特。

我想,他應該是這樣認爲的:如果我支持民聯那我可以待在曼徹斯特,反之我則應該在監牢裏度日。

我還以爲正義是你能夠得到公平的審訊,而不是得到含選擇性或政治性的檢控,也不是說你反政府就能自由而你贊同政府就得入獄。

無論如何,法律是很視乎個人詮釋的,很多時候很多人會扭曲法律來達到他們的政治議程。囯陣這麽做,現在看來民聯也是。

我記得Haris 是其中一個不贊同我留在馬來西亞而冒著第三次被政府用内安法令扣留的危險。他也不認同我不要交保釋金而要在Sungai Buloh扣留所等候發審的想法。他當時和我那淚流滿面的妻子一起哀求我交保釋金,他認爲我出來操作Malaysia Today會好過我在監獄裏一無所為。

Haris 也在曼谷因爲大馬警察要'陪伴'我到大馬大使館而幾乎和他們拳腳相加。他認爲那是個圈套,儅我進了大使館以後他們就會扣留我再而把我遷囘大馬。他堅決要我留在酒店裏而不是被套在泰國警方無法保護我的大使館裏。

正當我準備要冒險時,Haris叫我妻子把我鎖在酒店内,然後他和另一個律師Amarjit Sidhu親自到大使館看個究竟。當晚他們回報說他們覺得有問題而勸我別去。

我並沒有因我現在身在曼徹斯特而怪罪Haris ,他之前也很清楚地表明他不想我在監牢内度日,他甚至還爲此寫了公開文。但現在他改了想法,認爲說我是個不敢進牢的懦夫。所以我寫的那篇'不變的改變'的内容是很正確的。

我認爲那些發表'不去監牢而選擇流放的是懦夫'言論的人是對孫中山先生大大不敬的。孫中山先生曾經流放日本,而在當地他也接受了宫崎滔天(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T%C5%8Dten_Miyazaki ),一個民主革命士的金錢資助。孫中山先生也曾流放美國,歐洲,加拿大等地向當地華人籌資來推動他的革命。

沒有人會因爲孫中山先生拒絕回到當時清朝統治的中國的監獄而把他稱爲懦夫。事實上,孫中山先生1986年在倫敦被中華使館拘捕。在James Cantlie,泰晤時報,和英國外交辦事處的周旋下,他于12天后獲釋。當時他被稱爲是英雄而不是懦夫。

Sayyid Ruhollah Mostafavi Musavi Khomeini也一樣流放他國14年。他在1979年巴列维王朝
被推翻后才回到伊朗。史大林和列寧這兩名俄羅斯革命英雄也是在1917年革命成功后才結束流放的。

我不大喜歡用先知默罕默德舉例,因爲其他人可能認爲我把自己比喻成他。但是,先知也曾在外流放8年,直到630年,在他擁有強大的軍隊后他才回歸麥加。

事實上,人類歷史是充滿政治流放的。Voltaire, Norodom Sihanouk, Bahadur Shah II, Alberto Fujimori, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, Erich Honecker, Alan García, Jean-Bédel Bokassa, King Zog, Kurmanbek Bakiyev, Napoleon Bonaparte外甥Louis-Napoléon,還有很多很多人都曾在外流放過。

話説回來,我要提的是,我呼籲所有馬來西亞人要'不惜一死'來防止幽靈選民在5月5號投票日投票。我此話的根據是,馬來西亞人是很'怕死怕輸'的,不到最後一秒鐘他們都不會行動。看看MT的讀者就知道,要他們註冊留言也難。只有至多1%的讀者敢那麽做,因爲其他人都害怕暴露他們的身份。

如果他們連暴露身份都不敢,那你還奢望他們能'不惜一死'來防止幽靈選民在5月5號投票日投票?

你知道嗎,很多人是連票都不敢投的,因爲他們擔心他們的選票並不保密,政府和警方都會知道他們投的人是誰。他們還因爲選票上有編號而投訴。如果真的有人知道你投誰,那到底有什麽問題?哪有什麽不對經呢?

儅我投票時,我會很自豪地高舉我的選票給四周圍的人看,我要他們看清楚我投的是反對黨。而在這裡他們就因爲擔心別人知道他們投給誰而連票也不敢投。這些就是把我叫成懦夫的人?如果我這個懦夫敢把我的選票公開給所有人看的話,那些不敢投票的人又是什麽?

馬來西亞人真的是個很奇怪的生物。儅他們侮辱我的時候他們並不知道他們也在侮辱著先知默罕默德,孫中山先生,和其他成千上萬曾經流放過的歷史偉人。

他們鄙視我,說我不敢回去。但如果我真的囘去了而沒有事情發生的話,他們會說我私底下早和巫統僑好了。即使我真的被捉,他們還是會講這只是場'wayang',演出的目的是要阻止所有人講説我私底下早就和巫統僑好的。

最後的問題是,爲什麽現在他們要我回去坐監,而之前他們堅決地認爲我應該保住自由之身不應該坐牢呢?只有白痴才需要我解釋吧!

 

PAS Leader Sex Video: The Conspiracy Theories

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 05:12 PM PDT

Farah Harith, Malaysian Digest

The latest sex video allegedly involving an opposition politician may hit a snag almost as quickly as the video going viral.

The video showing a man resembling PAS secretary-general Dato Mustafa Ali having sex with a woman in a hotel room was uploaded first by a blog Kedah69ers.com at 8.30pm last night.

It was then shared by several others with lengthier clips of the same video. The initial clip was a mere 4 seconds, with hapraknews.blogspot.com having an 11 minute version of it.

However, according to a posting on theflyingkick.blogspot.com today, the woman is believed to be Mustafa's second wife.

Another blog, daengselili.blogspot.com posted that an unnamed source has confirmed that the woman is in fact Mustafa's second wife, and that Mustafa is slated to hold a press conference today to explain the situation along with a copy of their marriage certificate.

As of press time, there has been no word yet on the press conference.

Meanwhile, PAS vice president Datuk Husam Musa, in a report on Malaysiakini this morning believes that the video is 'fake' and that PAS does not need to investigate the matter further.

Husam is confident that videos can be made up and this is an example of one such effort that is merely politically motivated.

"This does not effect Pakatan's campaign in any way," he added.

Earlier, controversial blogger, Papa Gomo had insinuated that the woman was hired by PKR, and that the whole scandal is part of the opposition coalition's alleged infighting.

That led to Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) today denying any involvement in the distribution of the video cip.

Malaysiakini reported that PKR vice-president N Surendran issued a statement saying that the relations between PKR and other Pakatan Rakyat party component is cordial and that they are united in their fight to bring down Barisan Nasional (BN).

It was earlier rumored that several Angkatan Muda Keadilan (AMK) members had been arrested in Terengganu for distributing VCDs of the video clip.

However a report on The Star quoted Terengganu CID Chief Assistant Commissioner K Manoharan as saying that while the police managed to seize the VCDs and several photographs, no arrests have been made.

Meanwhile, Suara Pakatan Rakyat came out with an article last night, after the release of the video clip, claiming that they were the first to report on the existence of a sex clip implicating Mustafa.

The blog, which the opposition coalition has denied having any control over, said that the first time they mentioned the existence of the video was in May last year.

They also allege that the 'hands' behind the video was a small group within PAS itself, in an effort to oust Mustafa.

 

Police confirm sex videos seizure of Pas leader

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 04:22 PM PDT

(NST) - KUALA TERENGGANU: Police confirmed the report and seizure of several video compact discs containing the footages of an alleged Pas leader engaging in a lewd act with a woman at a hotel room.

State Criminal Investigation Department chief Assistant Commissioner K. Manoharan said a report was lodged at the  Kampung Raja police station in Besut yesterday morning after policemen patrolling Kampung Alor Lintang area received information from the public.
 
"Checks led to the finding of 16 envelopes, each containing one VCD. Other case items, including some pictures had been taken to the Besut district police headquarters for investigation," he said.
 
Manoharan added that investigations under Section 292 (a) of the Penal Code for distributing pornographic material were underway.
 
An 11-minute sex video depicting a couple engaging in sexual intercourse in which a man resembled a Pas leader was widely spread in the cyberspace and online blogs yesterday.

 

GE13: Pakatan targeting fence-sitters in social media reach

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:57 PM PDT

(The Star) - Pakatan Rakyat's strategy in social media is in targeting the fence-sitters, many of whom are active on Facebook.

PKR strategic director Rafizi Ramli said the party was targeting fence-sitters in its social media reach.

"You can have one million followers but liking' doesn't mean anything. It's the number of shares' that matters, not likes'," he said.

The party, said Rafizi, was focused on putting content on a few Facebook profiles with a huge following, and getting readers to share this and comment with their friends.

What mattered most, he said, was content and the use of graphics.

"Posts on pure politicking don't gain any traction whatsoever. What gets the most shares are bread-and-butter issues," Rafizi pointed out.

It was possible, he said, for PKR's social media strategy to be managed with a small team of around four people, reaching out to an estimated number of between 1.5 million and 2 million people online every day.

PKR, he said, also had an election smartphone app, available from Google Play and Apple, showing users the locations of future ceramah and even has a function allowing voters to check their eligibility.

"Young voters are very tech savvy and apps are something they would consider sexy," he said.

Admitting that his party is not a pioneer when it comes to social media, PAS election director Dr Hatta Ramli said it was getting "ambassadors" to get voters to return to PAS-led states such as Kelantan for the polls.

"We have ambassadors for each of our voting districts to reach out to people personally and through social media," he said.

DAP National Publicity Secretary Tony Pua said his team was working around the clock through Facebook and Twitter to gear up for the elections.

The party, he said, was also making various poll-themed videos, more of which would be revealed through the launch of its Ubah TV.

 

GE13: PSM being squeezed out by Pakatan

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:51 PM PDT

(The Star) - The bigger boys in Pakatan Rakyat are trying to squeeze Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) out of three of the four seats which the party intends to contest.

Apart from the Sungai Siput parliamentary seat, where there appears to be a consensus for PSM central committee member Dr Michael Jeyakumar to defend, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) wants to field its own candidates for the Kota Damansara and Semenyih state seats in Selangor, with DAP staking its claim to the Jelapang seat in Perak.

The Kota Damansara state seat, held by PSM chairman Dr Nasir Hashim, is being eyed by a lawyer aligned to PKR deputy president Azmin Ali, who reportedly has given the green light for the lawyer to campaign.

"We feel this is quite ridiculous because Dr Nasir held the seat," said PSM secretary-general S. Arutchelvan yesterday after declaring his assets.

His assets comprise a Perodua Kelisa worth RM14,000, an RM85,000 low cost house, RM5,000 in fixed deposit and RM1,356 in a savings account as well as a monthly income of RM3,000 and RM1,000 as Kajang municipal councillor, the amount of which goes towards financing his employee.

For the people: Dr Nasir showing a copy of PSM's manifesto. For the people: Dr Nasir showing a copy of PSM's manifesto.

Denying allegations that Dr Nasir was facing health problems, Arutchelvan said: "He just had knee surgery and the doctor has given him a clean bill of health."

Arutchelvan is expected to contest in Semenyih while the party's deputy head M. Sarasvathy is slotted to stand in Jelapang.

PSM candidates had contested under the PKR banner in the March 2008 general election as their party was waiting for its registration to be approved, which came about in June 2008.

Several PKR leaders who are lobbying for the seats object to PSM using its own logo to contest in this general election and claimed that the seats were won thanks to the PKR label.

"We are determined to carry on even if we are forced to stand on our own as we are confident of winning all four seats with our credible candidates,"Arutchelvan said.

He said PSM hoped to strike a compromise with the Pakatan parties when they meet Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the weekend.

Anwar is scheduled to announce the PKR candidates for all the seats in Selangor on Sunday night in Hulu Klang.

 

GE13: Barisan all ready to slug it out in cyberspace

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:43 PM PDT

(The Star) - Learning its lesson from the 2008 general election, Barisan Nasional has increased its presence radically in cyberspace, which Pakatan Rakyat had dominated.

Now thousands of cyber troopers from both sides are waging an epic battle which began several months ago, long before the dissolution of the Dewan Rakyat and state assemblies.

Barisan has trained thousands of "cyber activists" who have been disseminating information on the coalition's programmes and achievements on social media platforms, including Facebook and Twitter.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin said the cyber activists were also tasked with countering opposition allegations.

He added: "We learned our lesson in the 2008 general election, when the opposition had used the platform to woo voters and spread lies about Barisan. This time round we are prepared."

As polling day approaches, Khairy said the next few weeks would be a critical period to counter opposition attacks "with evidence and facts".

Barisan has also introduced the "BN Youth" mobile application for Android users which will be further developed in the weeks ahead to offer election news for the iOS platform.

Khairy, who has almost 250,0000 Twitter followers on his account @khairykj, said Barisan's online efforts for this general election were better coordinated than previously.

"But we have to be realistic. We will try our best but it's a tough landscape.

"The social media are the opposition's mainstream and we are on hostile ground there," he said.

MCA Youth central committee member Chong Sin Woon said the party had at least 300 members who are actively posting comments, rebutting opposition accusations and promoting MCA activities online.

MCA also has about 1,000 friendly supporters helping to disseminate information via social media.

Chong acknowledged that the opposition cyber troopers "virtually controlled" the Malaysian online political scene for the first two years after the March 2008 general election.

This was changing, he said, adding: "We sense more people are realising that Pakatan cyber troopers are making all sorts of unfounded accusations."

He said cyber war is unavoidable as many people, especially the young and first-time voters, are getting their information online.

"All we want is for the public to understand current issues, and by questioning the opposition online, we force them to explain their rationale," Chong said.

Putera MIC coordinator P. Kamalanathan said the party had mobilised a social media team of 50 volunteers for the elections, as well as set up an MIC online TV and the Nambikei website.

He added that party president Datuk Seri G Palanivel, deputy president Datuk Seri S. Subramaniam and himself had personalised apps on Google Play for people to download.

 

PAS will be MB if Pakatan wins Johor

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:39 PM PDT

(The Star) - Pakatan Rakyat stands a "pretty good chance" of making a breakthrough in Johor in the general election, said DAP election strategist Dr Ong Kian Ming.

He described party adviser Lim Kit Siang's move to contest in the Gelang Patah constituency in the elections as bold.

"He has made a bold move in wanting to create a Johor tsunami... that he is being followed by outgoing Bukit Bendera MP Liew Chin Tong shows that we are definitely serious about wanting to make inroads in Johor.

"PKR and PAS have also named high profile candidates to contest in Johor, and we see our chances as good," he said in an interview with SwitchUp.tv's GE13: Showdown programme, hosted by Anne Edwards.

First-term parliamentarian Liew will be contesting the Kluang parliamentary seat, and is expected to lock horns with MCA's Hou Kok Chung, the outgoing MP.

Meanwhile, Dr Ong believed it was "only natural" that should the Opposition coalition win Johor, a candidate from PAS would become the mentri besar.

"The consensus is that the party which contested the most seats in the state gets to name the mentri besar, and in the case of Johor, that party is PAS," he said.

Dr Ong also dismissed suggestions that the party would consider teaming up with Barisan Nasional component parties to form the Penang state government should PKR fail to win enough seats there.

"It is a non-starter. We are committed to working with PAS and PKR, and we are confident that both the parties will deliver more seats in the general election," he said.

On allegations that the Opposition coalition had trained professionals to create chaos during the election, Dr Ong said they were "far from the truth".

"Pakatan Rakyat does not stand for nor accept political violence by anyone, regardless of our coalition, Barisan Nasional or other parties," he said.

 

Check facts before sticking ‘vote-buyer’ tag on Selangor, Bersih told

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:27 PM PDT

Debra Chong, TMI

Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim chided Bersih today for accusing his Selangor administration of attempting to "canvass for votes" ahead of the May 5 polls, telling the elections watchdog to check its facts first.

Selangor is the latest to be blackballed by Bersih in its public name-and-shame list for purportedly violating its code of conduct for a caretaker government, after Khalid's administration dished out several awards, including a RM300 bonus to each state civil servant and land titles to villagers in Bestari Jaya earlier this month.

"The Caretaker Government has merely implemented decisions made earlier to ensure that the interest and welfare of the people of Selangor are protected during the caretaker period.

"It must be stressed that the decisions and actions conducted are thus not tantamount to canvassing for votes," Khalid said in a statement, citing from the state legal advisor's report.

He told Bersih that the state Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administration was committed to ensuring a functioning bureaucracy and his administration was mindful of abusing public funds and state resources now that it is now in a caretaker mode pending the results of the 13th general elections.

"The state government hopes that Bersih will ascertain all the facts and legal details before casting any aspersions," he said.

Bersih steering commmittee member, Irene Fernandez had hit out at Khalid and his executive council for abusing their office to win votes from Selangor residents in a bid to continue their hold on Malaysia's wealthiest state.

"(It is) tantamount to vote buying," Fernandez was quoted saying by news portal Malaysiakini.

READ MORE HERE

 

Pemimpin PAS tolak pendedahan video seks, fokus kepada PRU13

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:19 PM PDT

Md Izwan, Zurairi AR dan Ida Lim, TMI

Pemimpin PAS menolak pendedahan video seks terbaru yang mengejut tersebat di Internet, mendakwa ianya "palsu" dan "taktik kotor" oleh lawannya menjelang Pilihan Raya 2013.

Semalam, penulis blog Papagomo dalam satu artikelnya menyenaraikan beberapa blog pro-Umno mengandungi gambar dan video menyerupai pemimpin tertinggi PAS yang terlibat dalam satu skandal seks.

Naib Presiden PAS Husam Musa mendakwa video tersebut mungkin palsu, sambil mempersoalkan masa video seks itu dikeluarkan hampir dengan hari penamaan calon pada 20 April dan hari mengundi pada 5 Mei.

"Masa ia dikeluarkan sangat dekat, berkemungkinan juga ia bermotifkan politik," kata Husam semasa ditemui di Putrajaya hari ini.

Walaubagaimanapun, Husam berkata fokus Pakatan Rakyat (PR) adalah untuk menang Pilihan Raya 2013 dan tidak akan menghiraukan isu terpinggir itu.

"Saya yakin PR akan fokus kepada pilihan raya. Cerita sampingan itu sengaja diada-adakan, kami abaikannya," katanya lagi.

Dalam laporan The Star hari ini, pihak polis Terengganu telah merampas 16 VCD mengandungi video yang disebarkan oleh beberapa individu tidak dikenali namun tiada sebarang tangkapan dibuat.

Bagi ahli parlimen (MP) Pokok Sena, Datuk Mahfuz Omar penyebaran video seks terbaru tersebut membuktikan lawan mereka terdesak sehingga terpaksa bermain politik kebencian dan fitnah bagi memburukkan PAS.

"Ini bukti Umno terdesak dengan bermain dengan politik kebencian dan fitnah ini," kata naib presiden parti Islam yang yakin rakyat boleh buat penilaian sendiri sama ada benar atau palsu video tersebut.

Video 3 saat berwarna tersebut yang menunjukkan seorang lelaki bersama seorang wanita dalam keadaan intim melakukan hubungan seks di dalam sebuah bilik, serta direkodkan pada satu sudut mengadap pasangan tersebut.

Pesuruhjaya PAS Selangor, Dr Rani Osman pula mengganggap video seks terbaru itu bukan satu mengejutkan malahan akan banyak lagi bahan lucah diedarkan menjelang pilihan raya paling sengit dalam sejarah negara.

"Saya tidak terkejut dengan video terbaru ini, memang dijangkakan... ini taktik kotor, saya tidak percaya video seks itu asli," kata Dr Rani.

Dr Rani juga berkata situasi sama dihadapinya di Meru, kawasan dewan undangan negeri yang disandangnya apabila mendapat maklumat gambar beliau berpelukkan dengan seorang wanita juga telah diedarkan secara meluas.

"Gambar saya berpelukkan dengan makwe (teman wanita) pun dah tersebar di sekitar Meru ini," ujarnya lagi.

Pengarah pusat penyelidikan dan pembangunan PAS, Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad mengkritik keras taktik kotor dan jijik yang masih berterusan ini serta menggesa lawan mereka mengamalkan politik sihat.

"Politik yang dibawa oleh Umno ini berlawanan dengan konsep politik yang Islam anjurkan... sepatutnya kita berpolitik secara sihat tentang polisi dan dasar, bukannya menyerang peribadi," tegas Dzulkefly, yang juga merupakan MP Kuala Selangor.

READ MORE HERE

 

GE13: Another of Hiew’s sidekicks ditches the DAP

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:14 PM PDT

Mujie (centre) hands over his application form to Dompok (3rd from right), meanwhile watch by Jimbangan (2nd from right) and several senior UPKO leaders.

Samantha Rae, Borneo Insider

PENAMPANG: Like some married couples who succumbed to the 'seven-year itch', Sabah DAP leader Edward Mujie too decided to 'change partner', after having fought alongside the party for the last seven years.

On Thursday, he followed the footsteps of his former party colleague Steven Jimbangan to quit the party to join Barisan Nasional (BN) through United Pasokmomogun KadazanDusun Murut Organization (UPKO).

Mujie who was Sabah DAP Vice Chairman cum Karambunai branch chief handed over his membership application form to UPKO President Tan Sri Bernard Dompok at Puru Lounge in Kampung Putaton, here.

Mujie's exit from DAP comes barely a week after the party's Kepayan chief Stephen Jimbangan and 128 of his supporters quit the party to join UPKO.

Like Jimbangan, Mujie too said his 'change of heart' was because he was both touched and impressed by the on-going efforts by UPKO, PBRS and PBS to unite the KDM community through 'Gelombang Tataba', a joint program the three KDM based BN component parties have initiated and launched last month.

Certainly, it had nothing to do with the fact that the DAP had earlier decided that both Jimbangan and Mujie would not be among its candidates for the 13th general election.

A hardcore critic of BN prior to this, he categorically stressed that his move had nothing to do with not being nominated as a candidate for the 13th general election.

A former Secretary of the Kota Kinabalu Municipal Council (KKMC) before it was elevated to a City Hall, Mujie earned his nickname 'The Point Man' for constantly pointing at bad roads, blogged drains, faulty lamp posts, manholes with missing covers, abandoned government buildings, etc.

"I started considering making the move soon after reading and hearing about 'Gelombang Tataba'… I made up my mind voluntarily, no one coerced me into this decision because I look at this positively, for KDM community's sake," he said when asked how long it took him to decide to quit DAP and join UPKO.

To the question if his supporters may follow suit and join BN too, Mujie reluctantly replied, "wait-and-see".

In a prepared statement distributed to the media, Edward noted that he was accepted in DAP in 2007 and that he leaves it to the rakyat to judge his track record as far as his service to the community is concerned all those years.

"Having considered all factors plus the current scenario,  I have decided to relinquish all my posts in Sabah DAP and resign from the party with immediate effect. I wish all my former comrades the very best and good luck.

"I thank God for making me realize that the unity of the indigenous people is the most sensible thing to do now that the KDM unity is in disarray. I therefore would like to throw my full undivided support in the effort to unite the KDMs through 'Gelombang Tataba'.

"With that I have decided to join UPKO led by Tan Sri Bernard as my platform to assist the accomplishment of the unity mission," he said.

Mujie added that he found that UPKO is genuinely sincere in fighting for the rights of Sabahans especially the KDMs.

"UPKO is very vocal on all issues affecting the rakyat as well as in finding solutions to the illegal immigrant problem in Sabah where the Prime Minister Datuk Najib Tun Razak has finally agreed to set up the Royal Commission of Inquiry which is on-going now.

"The proposal for the re-issuance of MyKad which is mooted by UPKO is a daring move and deserves full support from all political parties and the rakyat," he said.

"I admire Datuk Seri Najib's courage in introducing new positive transformation in the country such as repealing the Internal Security Act (ISA), by recognizing Malaysia Day, implementing the GTP and ETP, his swift actions durng the Lahad Datu intrusion etc.

"Datuk Seri Najib among others has also successfully implemented non-qouta to the Holy Land, therefore it is only fair for all the rakyat in Sabah especially to give their undivided support to Datuk Seri Najib to achieve the required mandate so that he could effectively implement his sincere agendas in developing the country for the benefit of the rakyat" he said.

Meanwhile, when approached for comment, Dompok said Mujie's joining of BN is a resounding testimony that UPKO, PBS and PBRS' efforts to unite the KDM is gaining support from the people including the opposition.

READ MORE HERE

 

For politicians, it’s only about power

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:04 PM PDT

The politicians forget that it is us, the rakyat, who decide on their fate. It is us who decide if we want them to govern us. 

CT Ali, FMT

I read that a blogger (I am sorry but I cannot bring myself to utter or write his name!) is going to stand as an independent against Anwar Ibrahim in Permatang Pauh.

What does he think this 13th general election is going to be? His road to glory, fame and wealth?

Do wannabe politicians no longer measure their ability to succeed in the electorate that they intend to contest by their ability to serve the rakyat? By their ability to present themselves as candidates deserving of the rakyat votes? Are elections a joke now?

And why does he want to contest?

Not to better the people's lot! Not to serve his electorate! No! He wants "to expose more alleged sex videos during the campaigning period".

How insulting is this to the constituency that he will contest in? Does he think that they would prefer sex tapes to food on their table? Is that now what budding politicians should strive to do?

How do Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat choose their candidates? Winnability, they say. The electorate be dammed!

What matters is winning the election. And if this is the public façade that these politicians willingly allow us to see, imagine what they will do within the four walls of their political enclave in order to ensure that they do win.

Do you not worry at the things they will do, the intrigues they will indulge in and how "winning" will excuse any act, however foul as long as it will ensure "winning"? What madness is this?

How are we to choose our representative that we send to Parliament to represent us? How do these candidates translate "winnibility" into votes for themselves and for the party that closes all eyes to anything else but the getting of political power?

It would seem that both BN and Pakatan are now seriously descending into an orgy of handing out cash through BRIM or any other plausible avenues in the name of helping the rakyat.

There are promises of cheaper petrol, cars, promises of more gutter politics, promises of burying each other in god knows what.

Anything but nation building. Anything else but the common good of our people and our nation.

Anything else but decent, open, responsible and good governance.

Winning at any costs

Look at the Malaysia we have today: a blogger could even think of challenging the leader of the opposition because he thinks that the "sex tapes" he has is reason enough for him to do so.

A national debt of over RM502 billion and still this BN government keeps making beggars of its own people because it keeps giving out cash handouts.

And a Pakatan opposition that now joins this irresponsible BN government in the race to give out more to the people.

READ MORE HERE

 

‘What has Anwar achieved?’

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 03:01 PM PDT

Besides being a fiery orator, Kelantan opposition leader Md Alwi Che Ahmad says that Anwar Ibrahim does not have an impressive track record.

Hawkeye, FMT

Voters should evaluate the track record of Anwar Ibrahim before they support the notion of him becoming the next prime minister.

Anwar did not just become an overnight politician, the former has a track record of service and experience in government previously, said Kelantan opposition leader Md Alwi Che Ahmad.

Speaking at the launching of the state Barisan Nasional supplementary manifesto, Alwi reminded voters that Anwar had served as a minister in the Youth and Sports, Agriculture and Education Ministeries before becoming deputy prime minister and finance minister in the Umno government.

"Ask yourself what did Anwar achieve in those ministries and what were the impact of his policies on the country, particularly on the economic part," he said.

He added that this has nothing to do with his questionable moral values but rather Anwar's capabilities and abilities as a leader.

Apart from his oratory skills, Alwi questioned what were Anwar's other achievements.

He stressed that finding fault with others is the easiest part of politics but showing the ability to lead and having the right formula to govern a multi-ethnic nation like Malaysia, is another.

"Umno knows too well who this soul [Anwar] is. He has many deficits, but he also knows how to mislead. We, in Umno, were his first victims," he said.

Alwi claimed that Anwar is not confident of "misleading the people alone" and thus hides behind PAS and DAP.

"Anwar is hiding behind the likes of Karpal Singh, Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and Lim Kit Siang just to up the odds of him becoming prime minister," he said.

READ MORE HERE

 

Stop being greedy, PKR told

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 02:57 PM PDT

DAP Pahang is upset that PKR is taking over it seats in Johor and other states.

Athi Shankar, FMT

A DAP leader said that PKR should stop being greedy and not usurp seats belonging to Pakatan Rakyat allies.

DAP's Pahang vice-chairman J Apalasamy is upset that PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim failed to respect DAP's influence and its grassroots strength in Johor.

Referring to PKR's "theft" of Segamat parliamentary constituency, he said Anwar and company had denied DAP a chance to field an Indian candidate for the seat.

PKR is fielding former MCA leader and former health minister Chua Jui Meng in Segamat against Barisan Nasional incumbent S Subramanian, a MIC strongman.

"PKR should put a stop to its greediness if Pakatan is serious in capturing the federal government from BN," said Apalasamy in a statement to FMT.

In the last 2008 general election, PKR contested nine parliamentary and 10 state seats in Johor. It lost all.

Apalasamy said Chua candidacy in Segamat would virtually be a "walkover" victory for Subramaniam.

He said Chua's public spat with Johor DAP chairman Dr Boo Cheng Hau over Pakatan's seat formula had spoilt the former MCA man's winning chances.

Moreover, he said Chua had also lost all credibility as a Pakatan leader after DAP supremo Karpal Singh launched seething criticisms on Chua's long stay in MCA and BN.

Due to Anwar's scheming, he lamented that DAP has missed an opportunity to field a talented Indian candidate against a MIC heavyweight in Segamat.

Multi-racial politics

It's learnt that the DAP wanted to field Malaysian Indian Busieness Association (MIBA) president P Sivakumar and later party national vice chairman M Kulasegaran for Segamat.

"Being a pan-Malaysian party, the DAP has fielded and tested many of its leaders across the country.As a multiracial party, the DAP is duty-bound to field racially balanced candidates," he said.

He pointed out that PKR had a knack of stealing DAP's Indian seats to field non-Indian candidates on grounds of multi-racial politics.

Segamat aside, he said other seats were Teluk Kemang federal seat in Negeri Sembilan, Ijok state seat in Selangor and Lunas state seat in Kedah.

In 2000 by-election in Teluk Kemang, he said the DAP was forced to make way for PKR candidate Ruslan Kassim.

"Until now PKR failed to return Teluk Kemang to DAP," said Apalasamy.

READ MORE HERE

 

2 Anggota AMK ditahan polis, penyebaran video aksi Mustafa Ali

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:41 PM PDT

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(Malaysian Review) - Telah disahkan dua orang anggota AMK ditahan berhubung penyebaran video aksi membabitkan seorang lelaki menyerupai Setiausaha Agung PAS, Mustafa Ali dengan seorang wanita warga asing.

Kedua-dua orang anggota AMK tersebut kini ditahan polis untuk soal siasat.

Dalam laporan awal, seorang lelaki telah ditahan oleh anggota polis di Kampung Alor Lintang, Kampung Raja, Besut Terengganu. Pemeriksaan di hadapan pintu pagar di kawasan Perumahan Lorong Sekolah dan Lorong Hidayat, Kampung Alor Lintang itu menemui 16 sampul surat yang mengandungi sekeping VCD setiap satu pada lelaki terbabit.

VCD aksi melibatkan Setiausaha Agung PAS, Mustafa Ali bersama-sama seorang wanita bukan warganegara, bukannya cerita baru. Dah lama sangat dah tetapi kurang popular berbanding klip video seks sejenis membabitkan Anwar Ibrahim. Malah amat kurang popular berbanding klip video gambar ke…….. wanita dan ke……. lelaki membabitkan seorang Ahli Dewan Undangan PAS Kelantan.

Sumber memberitahu, PARASIT PAS telah mula mengedarkan VCD lucah yang dikatakan membabitkan Mustafa Ali dikesan di Kampung Alor Lintang, Kampung Raja, Besut, Terengganu. Bagaimanapun, pengedar telah ditangkap oleh pihak berkuasa dan apabila pemeriksaan dilakukan, pada lelaki berkenaan terdapat 16 sampul surat yang mengandungi sekeping VCD dotdot setiap satu.

Video berdurasi 11 minit 25 saat itu, memang jelas telah dilakukan secara cermat untuk memusnahkan Mustafa Ali.

Kaum PARASIT PAS sebenarnya terlibat secara langsung apabila dari awal lagi mereka telah menyatakan kebencian terhadap Mustafa Ali dan enggan membaiahnya sebagai pemimpin. Mustafa Ali seringkali disifatkan sebagai 'TERKENANG-KENANGKAN ZAMAN PERPADUAN UMNO-PAS' di mana dia telah dilantik sebagai salah seorang anggota kabinet.

 

Bancian Manifesto Pilihan di Portal Sinar Harian 'Dipadam' Atas Arahan Siapa?

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:31 PM PDT

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Terdapat tiga bancian mengenai manifesto pilihanraya hilang dari paparan. Salah satu bancian berbunyi "Jika anda seorang pengundi, manifesto parti mana yang memikat perhatian anda?". Hasil bancian dari lebih 10 ribu responden menunjukkan 81% memilih manifesto PR manakala selebihnya 19% berpihak kepada BN.
 
Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) 
Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) hari ini berasa terkejut dengan sikap luar biasa yang ditunjukkan oleh portal Sinar Harian apabila beberapa kotak bancian online di sebelah kanan portal tersebut telah dipadam.

Sebagai media arus perdana baru yang mengamalkan 'media baru', SAMM memuji portal Sinar Harian di atas pelbagai bancian yang dipaparkan di satu sudut demi mendapat maklum balas dari pembaca. Ia Berbeza dengan era media konvensional yang sehala.

Namun bancian undian yang berkisar mengenai pilihan di antara manifesto Barisan Nasional dan juga manifesto Pakatan Rakyat tidak bertahan lama seperti kebiasaannya. Kali terakhir bancian tersebut kelihatan di portal Sinar Harian ialah pada lewat malam tadi.

Terdapat tiga bancian mengenai manifesto pilihanraya hilang dari paparan. Salah satu bancian berbunyi "Jika anda seorang pengundi, manifesto parti mana yang memikat perhatian anda?". Hasil bancian dari lebih 10 ribu responden menunjukkan 81% memilih manifesto PR manakala selebihnya 19% berpihak kepada BN.
 
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http://malaysianreview.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/poll-sh1.jpg 

Mengapa bancian online tersebut hilang secara tiba-tiba? Sedangkan sering kali bancian online di portal Sinar akan terpapar sepanjang masa dan tidak hilang walaupun bancian yang baru masuk mengambil tempat.

Apakah ada tekanan dari Kementerian Dalam Negeri atau SKMM agar tiada bancian mengenai manifesto dipapar? Apakah bancian mengenai manifesto pilihan itu mengancam keselamatan negara dan boleh menimbulkan huru-hara sehingga perlu dipadam?

Dalam perkara ini, SAMM sesekali tidak menyalahkan pihak portal Sinar Harian. SAMM yakin dan percaya bahawa Sinar Harian merupakan media yang telus dan berani dengan penyiaran berita yang neutral. Dengan keberanian ini juga, Portal Sinar Harian telah menyiarkan bancian manifesto yang kemudiannya dipadam.

SAMM tidak menolak kemungkinan ada tekanan besar dari pihak yang terdesak agar bancian online itu ditarik dari terus dipaparkan. 

SAMM juga mendesak supaya pihak portal Sinar Harian memberi sedikit penjelasan apa yang sebenarnya telah berlaku. Jika benar Sinar Harian ditekan, nyatakanlah kebenaran itu dan rakyat akan bersama dengan kebenaran.

Kesempatan ini juga SAMM mengucapkan syabas kepada media neutral Sinar Harian kerana acap kali melaporkan berita tanpa berselindung sepertimana yang diamalkan oleh media konvensional arus perdana yang lain.

Sekian, 

Edy Noor Reduan
Pengarah Propaganda
Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM)

 

Dilemma of rural Sarawakians

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:26 PM PDT

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I thought that when the state government started intensive logging more than 40 years ago, the state government's plan was to bring development into rural Sarawak and hence transform the life of the rural folk for the better. Wasn't the logging industry meant to act as a catalyst to better the life of rural Sarawakians? 

Stephen Then, The Star 

"ATAP masih bocor, minta perintah bikin baru". (The roofing is still leaking, am asking the government to do repair work).

That was the candid requests by many of the Iban folk I spoke to at Rumah Ngumbang, a settlement of 300 people located deep in ulu Teru sub-district, about 150km inland from Miri, when Baram incumbent MP Datuk Jacob Dungau Sagan went to visit them last weekend.

Men and women folk with handwritten letters in their hands, lined up to present Sagan with their needs, each of them appealing for financial help to repair their "bilik" in the 50-door longhouse.

I would have thought that such problems like leaking roofs, rotting verandahs and rickety ladders and walkways, muddy footpaths, leaking toilets, cracked walls and holes in the ceilings would have been overcome long ago.

After all, more than two years ago, the Federal Government had announced allocations of massive financial grants to urgently repair dilapidated longhouses of those living in interior Sarawak and Sabah.

I remember many national and state leaders visiting rural communities and telling them that their longhouses would be repaired with grants from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry.

Each longhouse would be getting up to RM100,000, depending on their needs and population size.

Apparently, there are still many areas where these repair works have not been accomplished.

No wonder in places like the Baram parliamentary constituency, longhouse folk are still deprived of the very basic.

Rumah Ngumbang, like so many other longhouses throughout Sarawak, still does not have treated water supply.

Last Saturday, Sagan and officials from the Rural and Regional Development Ministry launched a waterfiltration project in Rumah Ngumbang.

The folk there, will at least from now on, have access to clean and safe water to drink.

The question that has been bothering me is why is it that development of such very basic amenities have come so late for the rural folk of interior Sarawak.

Every one of the remote settlement that I have visited, from the ones in Baram in northern Sarawak to those in ulu Belaga in central Sarawak and Sri Aman in southern Sarawak, still seems to be plagued by infrastructural and amenity woes of all sorts.

After 50 years of independence through the formation of Malaysia, our rural Sarawakian brothers and sisters are still suffering from hardship caused by the lack of these very basic amenities.

Today, the state government leaders are talking about constructing 12 new dams in the remote areas to spur economic development.

State leaders have been aggressively drumming this message across. Even here in interior Baram, the state government's latest dam plan is to construct a RM4bil dam in Long Kesseh.

The leaders of the state administration are saying that there is a need to build these new dams so as to open up these interior regions to create jobs, new townships, new roads, schools, clinics, new business opportunities for a new life for the rural poor.

I thought that when the state government started intensive logging more than 40 years ago, the state government's plan was to bring development into rural Sarawak and hence transform the life of the rural folk for the better.

Wasn't the logging industry meant to act as a catalyst to better the life of rural Sarawakians?

Why was that objective not achieved? It would seem that the only ones benefiting from the logging industry in Sarawak are the big companies, not the local natives from whose land the timber logs were extracted.

After the logging came the oil palm industry.

Hundreds of thousands of hectares of land that had been logged and cleared of their valuable timber, are now planted with oil palm trees.

During my helicopter ride to ulu Teru from Miri Airport, I looked out from both sides of the windows and saw endless stretches of oil palm estates, both newly cleared and old ones.

These oil palm estates extended as far as the eye can see. Were not these oil palm schemes meant to improve the life of the rural poor?

Why was it then that the rural Sarawakians are still so deprived of the very basic when there are thousands of acres of oil palm estates surrounding their settlements?

Are the oil palm firms the only ones benefiting big-time from the palm oil yields on these interior native land?

There are of course some longhouse folk getting dividends from taking part in jointventures with the oil palm firms but it would seem that these dividends had not come in such great amount that were enough to revolutionise the rural communities.

Has something gone very wrong with all the development plans that the state government had put in place for the rural folk that had resulted in our rural people being still left so far behind in terms of social and economic progress?

During the dialogue organised by Sagan at Rumah Ngumbang, longhouse chiefs and elders from about a dozen settlements came. Almost all of them spoke about the need for the very basic amenities. My heart goes out to these folk.

I believe that what is happening now is that plans devised to develop rural Sarawak have become lost in implementation.

I hope the next government to be formed after the 13th general election will carry out a thorough review of the development masterplan for rural Sarawak.

 

GE13: Rough ride for Nurul Izzah in Lembah Pantai

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:24 PM PDT

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(fz.com) - If the results of an Barisan Nasional survey are anything to go by, incumbent PKR Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah Anwar is losing ground in the battle for Federal Territory's hottest parliamentary seat.

According to the Barisan Nasional Youth Volunteers (BNYV), roughly one-third of about 200 Lembah Pantai constituents who took part in a phone survey over the last month are leaning heavily towards Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister, Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, the BN candidate for the seat.

(The remaining 70% was unevenly split between fence sitters and opposition supporters, according to the survey, which is only meant for BN's internal use.)
 
BNYV is a volunteer programme under BN Youth that was set up June 2012 to provide a platform for BN youth supporters outside the official party campaign machinery to play a role in GE13.
 
The group has an estimated 10,000 volunteers who are spread over its seven state chapters, and its headquarters in Jalan Telawi, Bangsar has been working the ground and phone lines in Lembah Pantai.
 
Pakatan captured the BN stronghold in the 2008 general elections when Nurul Izzah defeated incumbent Datuk Seri Sharizat Abdul Jalil by a majority of 2,895 votes.
 
Since then BN has been on a warpath to reclaim this prized seat from the first-term politician, whom they claimed rode to victory on her father (opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim)'s coat tails.
 
And so PKR's Puteri Reformasi is expected to face Umno's Lembah Pantai chief in one of the fiercest fights that will officially begin come nomination day on April 20.
 
An Umno personality, however, has observed that Nurul Izzah is in "big trouble" due to the reactions that BNYV has been receiving from the survey respondents.
 
"When asked who their MP is, many of them are already naming Raja Nong Chik because they see him more and relate to him better," said the source, who asked not to be named due to the confidentiality of BNYV's survey results.  
 
"Izzah is strong in Bangsar Utama and Lucky Garden but not in Kerinchi. But we're not too worried about residents in these two areas because many of them are either expatriates or non-constituents."
 
Lembah Pantai's 72,533 voters are divided between the urban, wealthy Bangsar and Pantai Dalam, which houses a combination of affluent and working class Malays.
 
When asked to weigh in on the survey results, BNYV's Director and National Coordinator Zaidel Baharuddin pointed out that for voters to recognise Raja Nong Chik as their MP instead of a national figure like Nurul Izzah spoke volumes.
 
He added that Nurul Izzah's position as a national figure is a double-edged sword as far as her groundwork is concerned as it took her away from her constituents.
 
"She's famous but she travels a great deal throughout the country and Lembah Pantai hardly sees her," Zaidel stated. 

"When Izzah speaks at ceramahs outside Kuala Lumpur, Raja Nong Chik will be attending five functions in Lembah Pantai."

Read more at: http://fz.com/content/ge13-rough-ride-nurul-izzah-lembah-pantai 

Who 'owns' Wangsa Maju?

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:21 PM PDT

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(The Sun Daily) - MCA was in fact merely "returning" the seat to Umno.

Political horse-trading on seats to contest has resulted in some dissatisfaction which now appears to threaten Barisan Nasional (BN) component cooperation, but MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek yesterday allayed such fears, citing his confidence that the BN spirit of consensus will prevail.

One such seat of contention is Wangsa Maju, which was contested by MCA in 2008.

In the face of speculation that BN will be represented by Umno this time around, the Wangsa Maju MCA division has said it will pull out of all campaigning efforts if its chief, Datuk Yew Teong Look, is not fielded.

It has been speculated that Umno Wangsa Maju has been eyeing the seat since 2008, and plans to field its division chief Datuk Shafie Abdullah, the political secretary to prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Abdul Razak, who is Umno president.

Speaking to newsmen after chairing the MCA central committee meeting yesterday, Chua confirmed that the Kuantan parliamentary seat as well as the Tanah Rata (Pahang) and Kota Laksamana (Malacca) state seats will be "loaned" to Umno, Gerakan and PPP respectively.

"We exchanged Tanah Rata for Ketari, and Sabah BN has also given us the Luyang state seat.

"However, we are not giving up the Padang Serai and Tebrau parliamentary seats," said Chua, adding that no consensus has been reached on other hot seats traditionally held by MCA.

They include Wangsa Maju, Pandan, Gelang Patah, Jelapang and Tronoh, which other component parties have voiced interest in contesting.

Reiterating that MCA did not give up any seats without a fight and that "loaning" and seat swapping was done "in the spirit of the BN coalition", Chua said it was also based on the understanding there will definitely be more parliamentary and state seats drawn up in the delineation exercise after the general elections.

"The seats that are loaned out by MCA will come back to us after the delineation," said Chua.

BN secretary-general Datuk Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, however, denied that Umno was "taking away" the Wangsa Maju seat from MCA.

Tengku Adnan, who is also Umno secretary-general, said MCA was in fact merely "returning" the seat to Umno.

He claimed that in 2004, when he was Federal Territory state liaison chief, it was suggested that an Indian candidate from BN contest the newly-formed constituency of Wangsa Maju, on the grounds that there were over 100,000 Indian voters in Kuala Lumpur.

"I suggested an Indian should be a candidate but I don't know what happened along the way, but the seat was given to MCA, on loan.

"Now MCA is returning it to (Umno) because they are rational and understand the situation.

"We (Umno) are not taking away any seats. BN has never done that because we discuss matters until we reach a consensus," said Tengku Adnan after officiating the 2013 KAR1SMA aid presentation programme in Putrajaya yesterday.

Pressed further to confirm if Wangsa Maju will be contested by Umno, Tengku Adnan replied: "As of now, perhaps."

Meanwhile, Chua declined to elaborate on the fate of incumbent Pandan MP Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, saying negotiations with Najib are still underway.

The Chinese press had reported that Ong had received blessings from Najib to defend Pandan, which raised concerns among party leaders.

He also confirmed he will not be contesting any seat to make way for fresh faces to represent the party.

"I want to prove a point that I am fighting for a cause, that MCA is still relevant. So I will continue to lead the party without standing for elected public office," he added.

 

GE13: Analysts: Husam's chances of winning Putrajaya difficult

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:19 PM PDT

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(fz.com) - In his bid for the Putrajaya parliamentary constituency, Datuk Husam Musa is expected to beat a path to only one destination – a journey into oblivion.

Factors which might serve as stumbling blocks to the PAS vice-president are many. One of them is that he is an unknown contesting in a Barisan Nasional (BN) stronghold.
 
The other is the strong support from public servants for the legacy of the charismatic Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, the two-term incumbent who is close and popular among the constituents.
 
According to several political analysts, these factors are among several which will pose major obstacles for Husam to get the support of the 15,798 registered voters.
 
"Through Tengku Adnan, BN has an excellent service record in Putrajaya. What more, he also established the Putrajaya Umno division," Datuk Dr Junaidy Abu Bakar told Bernama here yesterday.
 
The Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris deputy vice-chancellor (student affairs) said public servants in Putrajaya and nationwide leaned towards the BN government which was responsible for the current healthy national economic environment.
 
"They definitely want (Prime Minister) Datuk Seri Najib Razak who has successfully transformed the government, to continue ruling, and by extension, the BN.
 
"Thus, PAS is confused and has calculated erroneously if it thinks Husam has a chance to win in the 13th general election.
 
"Or, maybe, PAS is not confused, after all. On the other hand, it could be gambling on Husam's political future as he is probably, unwelcome by other PAS leaders in Kelantan.
 
"And, the best way to marginalise him is by kicking him out of the state?" asked Junaidy.

He noted that Husam was often mentioned as a potential replacement for Kelantan Menteri Besar Datuk Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, and this 'factor' was certainly not to the liking of his political rivals who might have similar aspirations.

Read more at: http://fz.com/content/ge13-analysts-husams-chances-winning-putrajaya-difficult 

Another sex scandal rocks PR

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:15 PM PDT

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(The Star) - Another sex scandal has rocked Pakatan Rakyat, this time involving a video implicating a high-ranking senior PAS leader.

Political blog Kedahan69ers.com had first uploaded a four-second preview of the clip at about 8.30pm yesterday.

It depicted a man resembling a PAS leader putting on his underpants while seated on the edge of a bed in what appeared to be a hotel room. The man was clad only in a white singlet.

Later, another political blog Medan Info Kita uploaded a longer version of the video at 9.04pm.

In addition to the previous footage, this 25-second teaser showed the man in bed with a woman in the same room and screenshots of the duo getting dressed separately.

On this blog, it is stated that a source said the footage had been taken using a hidden camera placed directly across the bed in a hotel room.

At about 11pm, the blog posted a few screengrabs from the video, some showing the man and the woman undressing, having sex and later getting dressed.

Blogger PapaGomo also posted images taken from the video, which showed the woman clad in a white towel as well as the man dressed in a white singlet and loose white pants.

Terengganu police have seized 16 VCDs allegedly depicting the sexual act of the man resembling the PAS politician.

It is learnt the videos were distributed along with nude photos of the man in Jalan Sekolah and Taman Hidayah in Besut, Terengganu, at about 7.40am yesterday.

Terengganu CID chief Asst Comm K. Manoharan said the VCDs and the photos were packed in envelopes.

"Villagers who alerted the police claimed several unknown men distributed the items. Police personnel were dispatched to the scene and seized the items," he said yesterday.

ACP Manoharan said no arrest had been made and called on witnesses to help with investigations.

 

MCA president to sit out May 5 election

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:13 PM PDT

http://www.stasiareport.com/sites/straitstimes.com/files/imagecache/story-gallery-featured/ST_20130412_VCHUA2_3609701e.jpg 

(Straits Times) - MALAYSIAN Chinese Association president Chua Soi Lek has announced he is not a candidate in this general election, the first time that a sitting MCA president has opted out from contesting national polls.

"I will be leading the charge in the election campaign running up to the polls but will not be offering myself as a candidate," he said in a statement yesterday.

This is part of a "renewal process" to groom new leaders, he said.

The MCA is the second-largest party in Prime Minister Najib Razak's Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition, after Umno.

The decision to avoid the contest suggests pressure on Datuk Seri Chua from the opposition, which is gaining in the contest for the Chinese vote, as well as forces within his own coalition.

It also comes among widespread speculation on who will stand and who will be dropped as Malaysia heads into its most keenly contested election in years.

As PM Najib's BN fights to retain power, it would not want to field anyone not considered a "winnable candidate".

Chinese support for the MCA has waned since 2008, and Dr Chua previously warned that the trend could lead to the community having no representation in a future BN government.

The status and electability of Dr Chua, 66, has been a topic of speculation. In 2008, a secretly filmed video was leaked showing him having extramarital sex. He resigned from all ministerial and party posts, and did not contest the 2008 general election.

He came back to helm the MCA in 2010, following a fierce internal power struggle after the party performed poorly in the 2008 elections.

Dr Chua is now busy trying to quell dissent among MCA grassroots members over its diminished share of seats among BN component parties.

At a press conference yesterday, he urged members to accept the "loan" of seats to allies, in the spirit of ensuring victory and harmony for the BN.

Read more at: http://www.stasiareport.com/the-big-story/asia-report/malaysia-elections/news/story/mca-president-sit-out-may-5-election-2013041 

 

Malaysians in Singapore scramble to make plans to vote

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:11 PM PDT

http://www.stasiareport.com/sites/straitstimes.com/files/imagecache/story-gallery-featured/ST_20130412_VFIVESTAR_3609662e.jpg 

(Straits Times) - MINUTES after Malaysia's election date was announced, Mr Lim Khoon Yang was at his computer feverishly searching for flights to Penang, his home state. The 30-year-old software developer, who has been working in Singapore for the past two years, has never voted before.

Now, with the date of Malaysia's highly anticipated electoral contest finally revealed, he cannot wait to be home for the May 5 polls.

"I'm so relieved, I've been waiting for far too long," he said.

Wednesday's announcement galvanised some of the 400,000 Malaysians living in Singapore. While not all will be going home, especially those who failed to register in time, those who did register are scrambling to make travel plans.

Postal voting was finally allowed for overseas Malaysians this year, but not for those living in Singapore, Brunei, southern Thailand and Kalimantan in Indonesia.

Malaysians in these places must return to cast their vote.

A check with four coach companies that operate buses from Singapore to Malaysia revealed that tickets for the weekend of May 5 are running out or fully sold for destinations such as Kuala Lumpur, Taiping, Ipoh and Penang.

Tickets have also been selling fast for buses leaving on May 1 and the night of April 30.

May 1 is Labour Day, a public holiday in both Singapore and Malaysia.

Some customers do not care what time the bus leaves, so long as they get a ticket, said Mr Leong Ying Ken, a manager at Golden Coach Express.

Five Stars Tours, which has 50 buses going to Malaysia every day, is considering doubling services to 100 a day for the May 5 weekend.

Read more at: http://www.stasiareport.com/the-big-story/asia-report/malaysia-elections/news/story/malaysians-singapore-scramble-make-plans-vot 

 

BN woos Indian votes but indifferent to Hindus

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 01:08 PM PDT

penang hospital

It is appalling that the higher-ups in the civil service are totally not bothered about Hindu sensitivities, observes P Ramakrishnan citing his experience with medication supplied at a general hospital.

The Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional have been very busy going after the Indian Malaysian votes. They seem to be addressing some issues to pacify the Indians in their attempt to win them. The Indian vote is very crucial to the BN and they are desperately trying to woo them.

But it would appear that they are not bothered about the sensitivities of the Hindus. It is appalling that the higher ups in the civil service are totally not bothered about Hindu sensitivities. They are indifferent and insensitive to the Hindus.

One good example is the medication that is provided by the General Hospital.

Those suffering from IBS (irritable bowel syndrome) have been put on the medication 'Duspatalin'. I am one of those taking this medicine for a number of years.

This particular medication was easily available for some years now. But when I went for my supply in February, I was given 'Mebetin' capsules and the packaging was different. When queried, the explanation was that it is the same medicine – only the packaging was different.

On reaching home, my wife examined the box containing the medicine. Horror of horrors, she discovered printed on the box the wording "Bovine coated". Immediately, she alerted me and told me that as an Hindu I couldn't take it as there was a beef extract added to the medicine.

We went back to the hospital, met up with the pharmacist and told him of my predicament. He understood my problem, went to the back of the store and came back with 80 tablets of Duspatalin. That was all they had, he told me.

Another pharmacist, an Indian, came to see me and assured me that she would bring this to the notice of those above her. I was told that I would be contacted the following week.

But there was no call so I went to see them. This time they told me that they were trying to source the Duspatalin and had not been successful.

In the meantime I went to my private pharmacy to make enquiries. Fortunately they had this supply of Duspatalin. I went back to inform the hospital but I was told that they managed to source from the Bukit Mertajam hospital.

When I went back for my supply of Duspatalin in March, I was happy that it was available. I remarked that all Hindus must be receiving this from now onwards. "No", he told me, "you are the only one in Penang receiving this."

When I asked why, the reply was that I was the only one who complained!

This is preposterous! Most patients simply consume the medicine given to them. They hardly read the write-up; there are others who can't read and therefore they are not aware that certain medicines are "bovine coated". Also, many don't understand what is "bovine".

My wife is on Omeprazole for her gastritis. She has been on it for a number of years. In March when she went for her supply, she was given Omerprazole capsule, the packaging of which was different. She was assured that it was the same medicine. On reaching home, she discovered that this was also "Bovine coated".

I had occasion to discuss this problem with a doctor when I went for my next consultation. I asked him why this was not raised with the higher-ups. His reply was that they had but the response from those above was, "They are a minority. If they don't want to take, they don't have to take."

This kind of attitude is totally unacceptable. They are callous and indifferent and they don't deserve to be where they are. They are a disgrace to the human race!

In the past, medicine used to be porcine coated. The Ministry of Health rightly stopped this in deference to the sensitivities of the Muslims. This is the correct thing to do.

By the same token, the sensitivities of the Hindus should have been addressed as well and taken care of. But it was not and deliberately so.

If the Prime Minister was not aware, no one can blame him or fault him. But now that it has been revealed what would be his reaction? Would he condemn those insensitive people who are not bothered? Would he direct the Ministry of Health to stop this indifferent attitude and put a stop to this atrocious behaviour?

Will he address the sensitivities of the Hindus as astutely as he is wooing the Indian votes?

 

Tindak Malaysia challenges Tunku Aziz to respect & the EC to Enforce the Voter’s Right to ...

Posted: 11 Apr 2013 12:57 PM PDT

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It appears to be a concerted attack on Tindak Malaysia by a person who have not attended our polling agent training programmes. Yet he took it upon himself to condemn us. We are very sad and disappointed with Tunku Aziz's allegations.

pywong, Tindak Malaysia 

We refer to Tunku Aziz's accusations against Tindak Malaysia of plotting to cause chaos in:



WHO ARE WE?
Tindak Malaysia is an electoral movement made up of Malaysian volunteers who care for and want to do our bit for the nation. We do it through voter education and polling agent training for the public. 

  • Our strategy is To Educate, To Empower, To Mobilize and To Act.
  • Our Goal is to Free and Fair Elections


WHY US?
We are puzzled why the Election Commission (EC) would make use of Tunku Aziz to do their dirty work of demonizing Tindak Malaysia for them? Are they afraid to face Tindak Malaysia?

Since July 2012, after their one and only briefing for Tindak Malaysia at EC HQ in Putrajaya on the polling process and indelible ink, we have been trying to engage the EC in more dialogue to clarify and improve the polling procedures. We sent repeated emails to them seeking clarification.

It was only when everything else failed that we had to resort to press releases and videos to reach out to the public to explain what are the problems with the current polling process. And they are serious problems.

WATCH OUR VIDEOS
You can study some of the problems at YouTube, myDurianTV (or bit.ly/myDurianTVinTM):

  • EP03 Indelible Ink,
  • EP04 Phantom Voters,
  • EP05 Hidden Dot
  • plus a few more coming up on Transparency in the voting process, Election Cost and Time available for a voter to vote).


ROLE-PLAY DEMO ON 'AJARAN SESAT'
We even invited the EC Chairman and Deputy Chairman to come for an 'Ajaran Sesat' Role-play Demo this Sat, 13th Apr 2013 from 2pm – 6pm at S20, Mosaic Community Studio at Bandar Utama Center Point, PJ to review and correct us on our training methods. We will present through role-play with the participation of the audience to identify which parts would constitute 'ajaran sesat'. And if they are too 'busy' to attend, to send their experts on law and polling processes instead.

WHAT IS THE ISSUE?
Finally, after all the sound and fury created by Tunku Aziz, if we are to clear through the smoke and obfuscations, what really is the issue?

The EC is an election management body appointed by the Yang DiPertuan Agong on the basis of public confidence in them. 

The issue "Is this election managed by the EC for":

  1. UMNO/BN, or
  2. The Rakyat?


If an election is managed for the Rakyat, why is Randomizationan issue?

WHAT IS RANDOMIZATION?

Randomization is a process whereby ballot papers are issued to a voter from anywhere inside the ballot book so that no one can match the serial no. of the ballot paper with a voter, in order to protect the secrecy of his vote. During the public hearing by the Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform (PSC) during Dec 2011 in Kota Kinabalu, the Deputy Chairman of the PSC enthusiastically supported Tindak Malaysia's proposal on randomization. Or least he appeared to be. He even went to the extent of suggesting that the EC clerk should tear the whole ballot book, place the ballot paper face down and allow a voter to choose any piece. Unfortunately, this was not included in the 22 recommendations in the final report of the PSC issued in Apr 2012.


WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Tindak Malaysia has trained thousands of Malaysians on voter education and polling agent training all over the country. Talking to the people, a constant theme kept recurring. Voters do not trust the EC and were worried that their votes were not secret. 

ELECTION INCIDENCES

This was reinforced when:

· BN politicians go round threatening the people "We know how you vote!" 

· EC Clerks record the voter reference no. on the ballot paper counterfoil even though it is an election offence since May 2006,

· Presiding officers recite the serial no. of the ballot paper as a voter enters the polling station (Apr 2011, SK Tanjung, Batu Danau, Sarawak), again an election offence,

WHY ARE EC OFFICIALS ABLE TO ACT WITH SUCH IMPUNITY?

Because Section 6 of the Election Offences Act states:

Offences against this Part


6. (4) A prosecution for an offence under this Part shall not be instituted without the sanction of the Public Prosecutor.
Like Prime Minister Najib Razak declared in the Sibu By-election in May 2010 "You help me, I help you!"

WE HAVE A CRISIS!

Public Confidence in the EC is at a rock-bottom and Public Confidence of the EC members is a requirement specified Federal Constitution Article 114 (2). If they cannot command the confidence of the public, they should do the proper thing and step down. Instead they try every trick possible to frustrate the people's desire for Free and Fair Elections. And instead of facing the problems head-on, the UMNO/BN and the EC resort to propaganda warfare through the Mainstream Media to demonize their critics and then send in the Police to harass them.

IS VOTER SECRECY PROTECTED BY LAW?

Voter secrecy is protected under the following Election Acts or Regulations:

· Election Act, Section 13 (2) states that the vote shall be secret.

· Election Offences Act, Section 5 Maintenance of secrecy at elections.

· Section 9 Undue influence

· Conduct of Elections, Regulation 13 (3) requires a screen at the voting counter to maintain secrecy.

· Regulation 19 (2) As each voter requests for a ballot paper….. This does not specify that the ballot paper has to be issued sequentially. There is no prohibition against a voter asking for a random paper.

· Regulation 19 (5), (7) & ( all support the requirement to maintain secrecy of voting.


So Tindak Malaysia challenge:

  1. Tunku Aziz to declare that he respects the Voter's Right to Secrecy At Elections &
  2. the EC to Enforce the Voter's Right to Secrecy At Elections!


To the EC: Implement Randomization for this election to prove your sincerity.


REPEAT INVITATION TO BOTH TUNKU AZIZ AND THE EC. 
Come, if you dare, this Sat 13th Apr 2013, 2pm – 6pm at S20, Mosaic Community Studio, Bandar Utama Center Point to have a dialogue with us in presence of the public and the Press. Don't hide behind the Mainstream media and throw your wild accusations at Tindak Malaysia.

By the way, Tunku, you really should do your homework. It is clear you have not attended any of Tindak Malaysia's PACABA Training. If you had and if you had asked about randomization, you would have known:

In a meeting in October last year, Pakatan Rakyat and BERSIH 2.0 pleaded with us to stop the teaching of randomization. They explained that the Deputy EC Chairman in an election briefing in Johor Bahru claimed: "We have consulted with the Attorney General on the issue of randomization and the advice we got is that any voter who asks for randomization will be "invited" to leave the polling station without being given the ballot paper." 

We were shocked that the EC would countenance such an act. Under Section 4(d) of the EOA, it is an election offence to prevent a legitimate voter from voting. The penalty is two years jail or up to five thousand ringgit fine or both. 

Why would the EC would put their presiding officers at risk and resort to such a measure to prevent a voter from ensuring the secrecy of his vote?

Is it to inflict fear in the voter?

If a voter had his finger marked by Kerani Pengundian KP2 and then have his ballot paper refused by KP3 because he asked for randomization, and evicted, he would be in a very difficult situation. There could be chaos if the EC resorted to such underhand tactics to prevent randomization.

To avoid the risk of the EC abusing their powers and prevent a voter from voting, Tindak Malaysia has since Oct 2012 stopped the teaching of randomization. When a participant queried us why we stopped teaching randomization, we explained that we had to avoid chaos in the polling station and the risk of a voter losing his vote. We told them "If you see randomization in the polling station, you will know that particular presiding officer is fair and respects your right to secrecy of voting. If you don't see randomization, you know that the EC is trying to cheat you. In that case, punish them by voting accordingly!"

Regards,


Py wong 
Tindak Malaysia
pywong@tindakmalaysia.com
Forum www.tindakmalaysia.com Registration www.network.tindakmalaysia.com/


Personal - wong piang yow
Tindak Malaysia - tindakmalaysia.com 
Malaysia Electoral Reform Program - 1 Juta Rakyat Menyokong Reformasi Sistem Pilihan Raya
FAQ - Tanya Tanya Tindak Malaysia - Ask Tindak
Rat Race System - Malaysians4Change


Malaysians4Change - piang yow wong
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myDurianTV

 

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