Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Azmin Ali: speaking up or damage control?
- Friday sermon warns Muslims they face scorn after split votes in GE13
- Police investigating racial sentiments during campaigning: AGC
- DAP open to suggestions over Chinese representation in govt: Kit Siang
- Don't underestimate Anwar Ibrahim, warns Raja Petra
- Chinese lack multiracial spirit, historian tells Utusan
- Will Azmin’s move scuttle Anwar’s plan?
- 1BestariNet becomes political hot-button issue
| Azmin Ali: speaking up or damage control? Posted: 09 May 2013 05:35 PM PDT
The only revelation he made about the Permatang Pauh by-election in 2008 was that Anwar had whispered to him to be ready to take over as Selangor MB as at that time, party leadership was disappointed with Tan Sri Abdul Khalid's performance. (Malaysian Digest) - Did Azmin really 'speak up' or did an overnight damage control take place? Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) deputy president Azmin Ali yesterday told the press that the time has come for him to speak up and reveal what transpired in the Permatang Pauh by-election in 2008 after incumbent Datuk Seri Wan Azizah, PKR President stepped down to make way for her husband Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to contest. In the past few days, rumors have been rife about Azmin stepping down. Azmin himself, via his Twitter account sent cryptic tweets which hinted a dissatisfaction with PKR and Anwar. @AzminAli Gagal ke Putrajaya? Salah siapa? Ikuti penjelasan dalam masa terdekat. #fb @AzminAli Laungan reformasi harus bermula dengan bisikan dalam hati sendiri. Jangan heret rakyat kalau kita sendiri gagal! #fb @AzminAli Terima keputusan rakyat. Maju ke hadapan dengan dasar peduli rakyat bukan membuli rakyat demi kesejahteraan dan kemakmuran negara. #fb @AzminAli Rakyat letih dengan asakan politik melampau. Terima hukuman. Muhasabah diri. Akui kelemahan. Maju kehadapan. Tumpu rakyat bukan kerabat. #fb Utusan Malaysia yesterday carried out a piece saying that Azmin is hitting out at Anwar based on his tweets and the fact that Azmin was not present at Wednesday's 'Suara Keramat Suara Rakyat' rally in Kelana Jaya.Most of the hints that Azmin gave out to the press yesterday was sugar-coated and downplayed in his press conference today.
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| Friday sermon warns Muslims they face scorn after split votes in GE13 Posted: 09 May 2013 05:25 PM PDT
(TMI) - Muslims in Malaysia were told today that they were on the threshold of becoming a people who are scorned in their own country following the results of Election 2013, according to today's Friday sermons prepared by federal Islamic religious authorities. Barisan Nasional (BN) won the federal elections with less than half of the popular vote for the first time since 1969 when its main parties contested as the Alliance. Analyses of voting suggest that BN won the largely rural vote while Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties scored big in urban centres across all racial demographics. PR parties also made rural inroads, but malapportionment of constituencies saw BN win the elections. The inroads made by the opposition suggests a Malay shift to PR parties which appeared to have been alluded to in today's Friday sermon uploaded onto the Islamic Development Department (JAKIM) website. "Muslims are counting the days and are on the threshold to face the fate of becoming a people who are scorned in their own country." The sermon urged Muslims to stay united, and "not feel too comfortable in their own land, as heirs to this land." As the "majority race", Muslims were told they could no longer depend on political power that was being eroded. Muslims were asked in the sermon to learn from the unity of other communities "who are prepared to defend their honour and interests." Politics had crept into the government's official sermons in recent months before last Sunday's vote, with a noticeable bias for maintaining the political status quo. Last month, Muslims were told to be loyal and grateful to the current leaders of the country, in a sermon that carried the same theme as BN's political manifesto for Election 2013. The sermon was entitled "Menepati Janji, Membawa Harapan (Fulfilling promises, carrying hope)", which are the exact words used by BN for its manifesto. But the sermon did not explicitly endorse any political party or leader. In the aftermath of last Sunday's vote, some Umno leaders have openly accused Chinese voters of going against a "Malay government" by largely backing PR parties. But it has emerged that significant numbers of Malay-Muslims had also backed PR.
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| Police investigating racial sentiments during campaigning: AGC Posted: 09 May 2013 03:20 PM PDT
(Bernama) -- The Attorney General's Chambers (AGC) said police were investigating reports against political leaders who allegedly raised racial issues in their campaigns during the 13th general election. AGC prosecution chief Abdul Wahab Mohamed however, did not name the alleged leaders, as the cases were still under investigation. "It is not appropriate for us to reveal their identity. We have never disclosed the names of politicians or political leaders involved in any investigation until they are charged," he said in a press conference here today. Abdul Wahab said the AGC received 327 police reports on offences allegedly committed by Election Commission (EC) officers on polling day. Among the complaints were that the indelible ink used during the general election could be easily washed off, that observers were asked by the polling officer to leave the polling centre for 30 minutes after the voting process had ended and before the vote-counting process began. Some of the reports also alleged that names of voters who had cast their ballots via post were still in the electoral list, that voters who came to cast their ballots found their names already crossed out in the electoral list, that EC workers marked the ballot papers before handing them to voters to place inside the ballot boxes, he said. Abdul Wahab said four people would be charged in the Magistrate's Court in Telok Datok, Banting and Klang tomorrow for election offences. He said a man would be charged in the Telok Datok Magistrate's Court for obstructing a police officer from carrying out his duties. Two men would be charged in the Klang Magistrate's Court for participating in a riot and possession of weapons (iron rod and crash helmet) while another man would be charged with causing mischief by breaking the glass screen of a bus that belonged to Cityliner Sdn Bhd, he added.
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| DAP open to suggestions over Chinese representation in govt: Kit Siang Posted: 09 May 2013 03:12 PM PDT
(Bernama) -- The DAP is open to suggestions on the need for Chinese representation in the government and will respond to them later, advisor Lim Kit Siang said here today. "There seems to be a lot of suggestions and proposals. We (will) give them time to come out with suggestions. We will wait and see," Lim told a press conference when asked to comment on calls for the DAP to join Barisan Nasional (BN) to ensure Chinese representation in the government. Former information minister Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin yesterday said this would obviously be difficult for DAP and BN and their supporters, but needs to be done in the interest of harmony and political stability in the country. MCA central executive committee member Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan in an interview with Sin Chew Daily yesterday said the DAP can represent the Chinese community's interest at federal government level. In 13th general election (GE13), BN won 133 parliamentary seats out of the 222 at stake to again form the government with a simple majority, while Pakatan Rakyat took 89 seats. Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who took his oath of office as Prime Minister before the Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Monday is short of Chinese candidates for his new Cabinet. This is because BN component the MCA, which only won seven of the 37 parliamentary seats contested has decided to forego Cabinet representation. Meanwhile, Gerakan deputy president Datuk Chang Ko Youn said the party will not follow the MCA by rejecting all government posts. Gerakan won only one parliamentary seat and three state seats. It had contested in 11 parliamentary and 31 state seats nationwide.
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| Don't underestimate Anwar Ibrahim, warns Raja Petra Posted: 09 May 2013 02:13 PM PDT
(Harakah Daily) - While there are voices among Pakatan Rakyat supporters who appear not to fully endorse opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim's current post-general election campaign, prominent blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin - himself a critic of Anwar - thinks otherwise. Giving his series of analyses of the latest developments especially after Anwar vowed not to accept the results of the election until PR achieves its Putrajaya goal, Petra reminds cynics that Anwar is not someone to be dismissed easily.
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| Chinese lack multiracial spirit, historian tells Utusan Posted: 09 May 2013 01:10 PM PDT Boo Su-Lyn, TMI Umno's Utusan Malaysia quoted a historian today as saying that the Chinese do not understand the importance of unity as their racial sentiments still burn strong since the community first came to Malaya. The Malay daily's front page was headlined "Suara tokoh Cina" and historian Professor Emeritus Tan Sri Khoo Kay Kim was quoted as saying that Chinese voters do not have the multiracial spirit that national leaders have always tried to push forth. "Many among them do not think of Malaysia as their own country; instead they always feel like they are being colonised," Khoo (picture) was quoted by Utusan Malaysia as saying. "That's why their racial sentiments are still very strong. What we worry is that if disasters happen, the country will be forced to face loss of revenue when investors stop coming here. This will affect the country's development," he added. The Umno-owned broadsheet has been running reports that appear to blame the Chinese for Barisan Nasional's (BN) historic losses in Election 2013 after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak dubbed the May 5 general election a "Chinese tsunami". Utusan Malaysia has also attacked the DAP, saying that the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) component party's alleged campaign to sow hatred against BN justified the newspaper's incendiary headline on Tuesday, "Apa lagi Cina mahu? (What more do the Chinese want?)". Malay literature professor Dr Lim Swee Tin was reported today as saying that the Chinese community could not afford to split from the Malays and the Indians because the country's administration required national unity. He was also quoted as saying that the Chinese would not be able to fight off the "evil intentions" of certain parties either from outside or within Malaysia on their own. "I'm very confident with Datuk Seri Najib Razak's ability to fix this situation through national reconciliation," said Lim. Universiti Malaya Tionghua Studies Department senior lecturer Dr Thock Ker Pong was quoted as saying that the Chinese swung against BN merely because of PR's promises.
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| Will Azmin’s move scuttle Anwar’s plan? Posted: 09 May 2013 12:07 PM PDT
The question will remain if Azmin's decision – whatever it may be – is also a sideshow to keep BN distracted while Anwar gets defecting MPs to form the government (FMT) - PKR supremo Anwar Ibrahim has his hands full right now. In one hand he is fighting against Najib Tun Razak, Barisan Nasional and the Election Commission for 'stealing' the elections through fraudulent means. On the other, he is said to be trying to pacify his most trusted aide Azmin Ali from not ditching the fight by walking out of PKR – all apparently because he (Azmin) is being overlooked again for the Selangor Menteri Besar's post. And most interestingly, on the third front, he is fighting against time to ensure he has enough BN members of parliament who are willing to jump ship so that Pakatan will have the numbers to form the government. According to blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin, Anwar is looking at "stealing a government" by having enough defectors to form Pakatan government. First the Azmin saga. For days now Azmin is said to be sulking over the reluctance shown by Anwar in naming him as the Selangor Menteri Besar, to replace Khalid Ibrahim. Azmin is said to have the support of at least 17 out of the 22 divisions in Selangor, as well as the support of a number of party's state representatives and PKR parliamentarians. But, the party leadership is believed to be in favour of Khalid for the top post. Likewise, both DAP and PAS have also indicated that they wanted Khalid to continue as the MB. With this tiff going on, Azmin did himself no favour yesterday with a series to tweets which questioned the need for public rallies to protest against the election results. At one look, it appears as though the target of his ire is Anwar, who is the architect behind the rallies to protest against the "illegitimate BN government". Azmin was the sole senior PKR leader who was absent at the rally in Kelana Jaya on Wednesday. Anwar in fact is planning a nationwide series of public rallies to get the rakyat to support his call for the election results to be declared in his favour. However by the time he starts his next rally, he may have lost his most trusted lieutenant – Azmin. Azmin's PC on Friday Party sources said that his decision was made on Thursday following a meeting with the 17 PKR divisions who support him. "He was in tears when he said that after being loyal to Anwar for more than 30 years, Anwar has decided not to support him as the Selangor MB," said an insider who attended the meeting. Read more at: https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2013/05/10/will-azmins-move-scuttle-anwars-plan/
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| 1BestariNet becomes political hot-button issue Posted: 09 May 2013 11:58 AM PDT
(fz.com) - 1BestariNet will cost the Malaysian taxpayer RM1.5 billion (nearly US$500 million) at least, and would take 13 years. ONE of Malaysia's most ambitious technology-in-education projects has been dogged by controversy and has become a political hot-button issue. The vision is bold: To propel all the nation's 10,000 schools into the digital age with laptops for every child and Internet connectivity for every school, thus creating a virtual learning environment and in the process, transforming teachers and the education system as a whole. Dubbed 1BestariNet, the project will cost the Malaysian taxpayer RM1.5 billion (nearly US$500 million) at least, and would take 13 years. The first steps had already begun more than a year ago and was later folded into the National Education Blueprint that the Barisan Nasional government unveiled late last year. The project was mooted at one of the many labs or brainstorming sessions organised by the Performance Management & Delivery Unit (Pemandu) of the Prime Minister's Department as part of the Malaysian Government's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP). Then in 2011, a tender was announced with 19 companies making bids. By August, they had been shortlisted to six: Celcom Axiata, Jaring Communications, Maxis, Multimedia Synergy Corp, Telekom Malaysia/Time dotCom Bhd (which submitted a joint bid) and YTL Communications. Then something unusual happened: In October of that year, without much fanfare, the Ministry of Education posted a notice on its website that the project had been awarded to YTL, which operates the YES 4G wireless network - then took down the notice two hours later. Those two hours were enough to foment murmurs of discontent throughout the industry, especially since the VLE solution would be provided by another YTL-owned company, FrogAsia. This was followed by a period of silence until May 2012 when YTL Communications, part of the politically-connected YTL Power International Bhd, officially announced that it had been awarded the project and would be rolling out the first phase. In April this year, the Malaysian Government announced that 10 million schoolchildren, teachers and parents would be provided laptops for free - but only if Barisan Nasional is returned to power in the general election. And the laptops would be Chromebooks running Google Apps, the Mountain View, California tech giant's cloud-based solution suite - a move that was lauded by the company's chief executive officer and co-founder Larry Page. Industry sources on three fronts - those which wanted to provide the Internet connectivity, the software and/ or the hardware - that Digital News Asia (DNA) spoke to then and even as recently as last month have complained about the tender's evaluation process. None wanted to speak on the record, but sources in a few different companies said they felt that their solutions were not given a fair shake, and that request for meetings with Ministry officials to make their pitches were rebuffed. "We were blocked at every turn; it was as if they had already made up their minds," said one source who requested anonymity. The murmurs of discontent have moved up the grapevine to become a political issue, with Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim promising to cancel the project, describing it as a crony deal, if his Pakatan Rakyat alliance were to form Malaysia's next government. 'Don't politicise the issue' Just about every aspect of the project rollout has come under attack. Teachers at one school where 1BestariNet has rolled out complained to DNA they could only get Internet access in one room, and connections dropped when they moved around the school compound.
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