Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- DAP polls: Chin Tong tops the list
- ‘Beware of DAP’s gang of four’
- EC to announce Sungai Limau state by-election date on Oct 3
- Jamil Khir: ‘Shiah moles’ no power to change Islamic policy
- Mufti’s statement on ‘Malaynization’ regrettable – Leiking
- Ex-NST boss: Why, only now, is Anwar offering olive branch?
- DAP polls: Ngeh-Nga out of favour?
- Citing unity, mufti wants Sabah’s Bumiputera Muslims made Malay
- Chinese influx in Malaysia part of ‘southbound invasion’, says historian
- The new face of terror
- ‘Fight extremism’
- Why Najib hightails it to New York and such…
| DAP polls: Chin Tong tops the list Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:55 PM PDT The 20 members elected into the CEC were the same as the ones elected in the December polls although there were some differences in the final ranking and votes obtained today. P Ramani and Leven Woon, FMT The DAP central executive committee (CEC) re-election today produced a major surprise with its Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong claiming the top slot in the 20-member list with 1,438 votes. Liew received more votes than DAP giants such as parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and chairman Karpal Singh. Kit Siang obtained 1,436 votes while Karpal bagged 1,421 votes, taking the number 2 and number 3 spots respectively. Guan Eng who held the number two spot in the December election dropped to number 5, with only 1,304 votes. The 20 members elected into the CEC today were the same as the ones elected in the December polls although there were some differences in the final ranking and votes obtained in the re-election today. The party's office bearers would be selected from these 20 elected leaders. However no major changes are expected in the party leadership line-up. Ten other leaders will be appointed to the CEC. Major gainers Also making significant improvement in the ranking were Ipoh Barat MP M Kulasegaran and Seputeh MP Teresa Kok, who obtained 1,088 and 1,127 votes today, up from 984 and 925 they got last time. Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari remained the sole elected Malay candidate, but saw his votes increased from 803 to 1,132. In contrast, Taiping MP Nga Kor Ming and Beruas MP Ngeh Koo Ham recorded a tremendous drop in their votes, as they rooted to the bottom two elected positions with 956 votes and 809 votes respectively. Nga and Ngeh bagged 1,075 and 824 votes respectively in the last round. Their sudden drop in ranking seems to suggest that a widely circulated ouster attempt targeting them have taken effect. The re-election was held today after the Registrar of Societies (ROS) had declared the December polls as invalid following mistakes in vote tallying.
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| ‘Beware of DAP’s gang of four’ Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:51 PM PDT Disgruntled ex-Teratai rep Jenice Lee says Karpal Singh, Lim Kit Siang, Lim Guan Eng and Tan Kok Wai now hold immense power to decide the fate of all DAP elected reps. Leven Woon, FMT Former DAP's Teratai assemblywoman Jenice Lee alleged that DAP is now being run by a powerful gang of four that could make arbitrary decisions that overrule the party constitution. She told reporters that the gang involves DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng, parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, chairman Karpal Singh and deputy chair and disciplinary committee chief Tan Kok Wai. "They control everything in the party, the candidates, the organisation, etc. They no longer refer to the party constitution when deciding whether something can or cannot be done. "If they can make such arbitrary decisions, what for do we need our party constitution?" she claimed at the sidelines of the DAP central executive committee (CEC) elections today. She said for example, she has appealed against the party's decision to sack her in April within the stipulated 14-day period, but she never received a formal letter informing her the reason behind her sacking. Lee was accused of being involved in a corruption scandal, an accusation she vehemently denied. DAP then decided to drop her in the 13th general election in May, but she contested as an independent candidate against DAP and BN opponents. This resulted in her being sacked from the party. She also lost in the polls. However, in a turn of events, the Registrar of Societies declared that the party's elections last December as null and void, hence she was reinstated as a member as the body which sacked her was deemed unconstitutionally formed. As a result, she is entitled to vote in today's re-election as a delegate.
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| EC to announce Sungai Limau state by-election date on Oct 3 Posted: 28 Sep 2013 07:44 PM PDT
(The Star) - The Election Commission will meet on Thursday to decide and announce the date for Kedah's Sungai Limau state seat's by-election. The by-election was triggered by the death of its assemblyman and former Kedah Mentri Besar Tan Sri Azizan Abdul Razak (pic) on Sept 26. In a statement, the EC said that it received a notice Sunday from the Kedah Legislative Assembly Speaker Datuk Md Rozai Sapian to inform the commission of a vacancy in the constituency following the death of Azizan. The meeting will start at 10am at the EC headquarters in Putrajaya and will be chaired by the commission's chairman Tan Sri Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof. A press conference to announce the nomination and by-election dates will be held after the meeting ends. Meanwhile, in ALOR SETAR, Md Rozai said the by-election was likely to be held before the Kedah 2014 Budget meeting in mid-November. The state's four-day budget meeting is scheduled to be held from Nov 18. However, he stressed that the final decision on the date rested with the EC. Sungai Limau's incumbent Azizan had died due to blood infection and multiple organ failure at the Sultanah Bahiyah Hospital intensive care unit. The by-election must be held within 60 days of the incumbent's death.
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| Jamil Khir: ‘Shiah moles’ no power to change Islamic policy Posted: 28 Sep 2013 07:39 PM PDT
(MMO) - Minister Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom is unfazed by claims that Shi'ites have infiltrated government religious departments, saying any such follower would not have the power to manipulate national policies. The minister in charge of Islamic affairs also warned Muslims against accusing others of being Shiah followers without sufficient evidence, to prevent any perceptions of unfair prosecution. "Actually, the question of manipulating policies does not arise... Our policies are not only made by one party," Jamil Khir told reporters after a charity golf event in Kota Kemuning here. The minister in the Prime Minister's Department explained that there are fatwa councils in every religious departments, whether at state or federal level. "At every level there are check and balances... It becomes a factor that will streamline each other," he added. A local Muslim non-government organisation (NGO) leader claimed yesterday that Shiah followers are infiltrating federal and state religious departments to manipulated religious policies in their effort to take over as Malaysia's foremost school of Islam. Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia's (ISMA) Mohamad Ismail told a thousand-strong audience at a Malay Muslim symposium that followers of Shiah are sowing discord among political leaders and Islamic religious scholars, or ulama, by trying to brand and discredit those who are anti-Shiah as followers of the fundamentalist Wahhabi movement. Shiah, also spelled as Syiah locally, is the second-largest sect in Islam after Sunni, with around 10 to 20 per cent of Muslims worldwide identifying themselves as a follower, mostly in Iran, Iraq, Azerbaijan and Bahrain. Malaysia only accepts the Sunni school of Islam as the official practice, other denominations are frequently regarded as deviant teachings. |
| Mufti’s statement on ‘Malaynization’ regrettable – Leiking Posted: 28 Sep 2013 06:24 PM PDT "And as a Kadazan myself, I sympathize with him for his lack of historical knowledge about the major ethnics in Sabah," Leiking said in a statement emailed to the Borneo Insider. The Member of Parliament for Penampang, Darell Leiking, had today express his regret over the 'Malaynize' (to make Malay) programme proposal mooted by the Mufti of Sabah, Ustaz Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar. Leiking also said the mufti also erred in his statement that the Kadazan race is an "invented" ethnic made of non-Muslim Kadazan-Dusun people who are mostly Catholics as it is a fact that the Kadazans had existed long in Sabah long before the independence. "And as a Kadazan myself, I sympathize with him for his lack of historical knowledge about the major ethnics in Sabah," Leiking said in a statement emailed to the Borneo Insider. Bungsu stirred up controversy when he told a symposium discussing the "Malay Leadership Crisis" that many of the indigenous Muslims in the north Borneo state still refused to call themselves Malay, unlike ethnic groups like the Javanese and Bugis in Peninsular Malaysia who today identify themselves as belonging to one Malay race. Unhappy with Sabah's Bumiputera Muslims for identifying themselves according to their tribal roots, the state's mufti proposed a programme to convert them into Malays. Said Leiking: "My stand is very clear on this matter. "Sabah agreed to form Malaysia together with Peninsular Malaysia, Singapore and Sarawak for security, economic prosperity, development, better education/healthcare and not in any way to become another Malay-majority state in the federation". Notwithstanding the issue is only related to the Muslim bumiputera in Sabah, Leiking also took a swipe at the Mufti for being narrow minded.  Ustaz Bungsu, the mufti "Let's take an ethnic A that has an equal ratio of Muslims and non-Muslims as an example. "Would it make sense if a programme to Malaynize the Muslims within ethnic A take place considering that their language and hereditary customs are totally different with the Malays in Peninsular Malaysia? "It is understandable for the Mufti to say that the Javanese and Bugis in the Peninsular now refer themselves as Malays since these 3 ethnics share the same language and hereditary customs but I don't think the Dusun and Murut ethnics in Sabah do," Leiking argued. The suggestion by the mufti clearly shows his lack of understanding and is a total mockery to the spirit of Malaysia Agreement espoused by the founding fathers of Malaysia, he added.
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| Ex-NST boss: Why, only now, is Anwar offering olive branch? Posted: 28 Sep 2013 05:52 PM PDT
(MM) - Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim's latest offer reconcile with political foe and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak four months after the divisive May 5 general election remains an object of deepest suspicion from within the pro-establishment ranks. Former New Straits Times (NST) group editor-in-chief Datuk A. Kadir Jasin questioned today the opposition leader's recent bid to bridge the yawning political chasm while abroad in New York City when Najib also happened to be visiting.
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| DAP polls: Ngeh-Nga out of favour? Posted: 28 Sep 2013 05:44 PM PDT
A 'menu' that urges DAP delegates to vote against Ngeh-Ngah cousins has appeared, while 17 candidates have pulled out of the race at the last minute. Leven Woon, FMT DAP's central executive committee (CEC) re-election today started with the circulation of a 'candidates list' that urged the delegates to vote against Ngeh-Ngah cousins, and withdrawal of 17 candidates from the race. Although Perak DAP leaders Ngeh Koo Ham and Nga Kor Ming formed an influential power bloc in the state, their names were however excluded from the favourable candidates list by the so-called mainstream fraction in the party. The 20-men name list, or "menu" in local political term, contained the names of most of the candidates elected in the December elections but left out Ngeh, Ngah and Johor DAP chief Boo Cheng Hau. Detractors have criticised Ngeh and Nga for running their own show in Perak, and said the duo's insistence in fielding their own men in the 13th general election as among the reasons for Pakatan to fail in recapturing Perak. In last December's CEC election, Ngeh clinched the 19th slot with 824 votes while Nga came at number 12 with 1,075 votes. The results have been declared null and void by the Registrar of Societies, resulting in the party holding a re-election today. DAP has 2,076 eligible delegates, of which 1,720 can cast the votes today, ad hoc returning officer Ong Kian Ming said. Meanwhile, 17 of the 68 candidates withdrew from contesting, adhering the call of the central leadership to maintain the same 20 candidates who were elected in December.
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| Citing unity, mufti wants Sabah’s Bumiputera Muslims made Malay Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:39 AM PDT
(MMO) - Unhappy with Sabah's Bumiputera Muslims for identifying themselves according to their tribal roots, the state's mufti proposed today a programme to convert them into Malays. Bungsu @ Aziz Jaafar told a symposium discussing the "Malay Leadership Crisis" that many of the indigenous Muslims in the north Borneo state still refused to call themselves Malay, unlike ethnic groups like the Javanese and Bugis in Peninsular Malaysia who today identify themselves as belonging to one Malay race. "We need a programme to 'meMelayukan' [make Malay] these Malay tribes... If Sabah and Sarawak did not vote in the last polls, maybe we would had a change in the government," the mufti said. "For the sake of the Malay Muslim community, these Malay tribes who are already Muslims must be made Malay," he said, referring to the Dusun, Bajau, Murut and other ethnicities that make up Sabah's many indigenous tribes. Bungsu had compared the situation to the Kadazan, which according to him was an allegedly "invented" ethnic group made of non-Muslim Dusun people, who are mostly Catholics. The mufti however did not specify the details of such a programme. Bungsu was speaking before a thousand-strong audience in a symposium titled Facing Foreign Agenda (MEGA), jointly organised by Muslim non-government organisations (NGOs) Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (ISMA) and Pembina here. In the first dialogue session this morning, the symposium had discussed five threats against Muslim Malays, which it had identified as the teachings of the Shiah school of Islam, an alleged "invasion" of the Chinese, free trade agreements including the high-profile Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Americanisation, and Christianisation. Bungsu also was not shy to admit what he labelled a "successful" mass "Islamisation movement" of Sabahans in the 1970s, which according to him played a role in making Islam the religion of the State. In the original 20-point agreement drawn up before the formation of Malaysia, it was agreed that there should be no state religion in North Borneo, and the provisions relating to Islam in the present Constitution of Malaya would not apply to North Borneo. The Sabah Constitution was amended in 1973 by the state government to make Islam the religion of the state of Sabah. Muslims now make up 65.4 per cent of Sabah's population according to the latest census in 2010, up from 37.9 per cent based on a North Borneo census in 1960, three years before its independence. |
| Chinese influx in Malaysia part of ‘southbound invasion’, says historian Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:34 AM PDT
Puan Zaharah Sulaiman, a writer and historian from the Malaysia Archaeology Association (MMO) - This "invasion", backed by foreign Western powers at times, has since stripped the ancient Malay peoples of their riches and knowledge, causing their descendants to be inferior to other races despite being ostensibly one of the oldest civilisations in the world. The influx of the Chinese into the Malay archipelago, including Malaysia, had been part of a "southbound invasion" from China towards Southeast Asia called "Nam Tien", a historian claimed in a symposium today. This "invasion", backed by foreign Western powers at times, has since stripped the ancient Malay peoples of their riches and knowledge, causing their descendants to be inferior to other races despite being ostensibly one of the oldest civilisations in the world. "All expertise have been lost with the peoples. Malays are called lazy and not innovative, but it's because the knowledge, the peoples who have the knowledge have gone extinct," Zaharah Sulaiman, a writer and historian from a society called Malaysia Archaeology Association, told a thousand-strong audience at the Facing Foreign Agenda Symposium (MEGA) here.. "Foreigners were jealous of us because of what Malays had, the expertise in mining gold and tin. Actually we were the best in it, the earliest in starting everything. "When foreigners came to Tanah Melayu, they grabbed (our riches) and killed Malays, they took over our tin and gold mines. That is being left out in our history," she added. "Nam tien", a Vietnamese term literally meaning "South march", generally refers to a southward expansion of Vietnamese territory from its original heartland in the Red River Delta between the 11th and 18th century. Zaharah was among several Malay Muslims speakers at the symposium on the theme of the "Malay Leadership Crisis", which is jointly organised by Muslim NGOs, ISMA and Pembina, and is held at the Dewan Seri Siantan here. In the first dialogue session this morning, the symposium discussed five threats against Muslim Malays, which it identified as Shiah teaching, an alleged "invasion" of the Chinese, free trade agreements and the Trans Pacific Partnership Agreement (TPPA), Americanisation, and Christianisation. Zaharah also blamed Western invaders, particularly the colonial British, for helping these southbound Chinese immigrants grab land from the Malays, and gave as example the alleged award of land in Penang by British trader, Francis Light, to the Chinese. Malays' riches were then used to financially support the British conquest across the world, and later to fund Dr Sun Yat-Sen's democratic revolution leading to the formation of the People's Republic of China, she claimed. The British had also restricted the Malays from attending schools and entering town during colonial times but not the Chinese and Indians, she said, suggesting that the move had caused Malays to be late bloomers and to generally adopt a lackadaisical attitude. "We were only allowed to go to school in 1925, but only until Standard Four. But Chinese and Indians were allowed to attend schools starting from 1819. The gap was too far," said Zaharah. She also added that the Chinese had access to wealth much earlier than the Malays, and as such managed to expand their economy at a much faster rate. According to Zaharah, the Cham people who had settled in ancient Champa, is where central Vietnam is located today, were ancient Malays who was then conquered by the Dai Viet who came from South China. Similarly, the Funan Kingdom which is now part of Cambodia, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, were also settled by ancient Malays before they were conquered by the Tai people, also from South China. The Tai, Zaharah said, were the ancestors of the Thai people, who had then tried to conquer the Malay people in the Malay peninsula. The Malays and Bumiputera make up the majority of Malaysia's population at an estimated 67.4 per cent of the 28.3 million population, followed by the Chinese at 24.6 per cent, according to the most recent census at 2010. The Chinese in Malaysia were mostly brought into Malaya from Southern China provinces such as Fujian and Guangdong by British colonists during 19th and 20th century to make up their workforce in the then booming tin mines and rubber plantations. However, Chinese settlers have also been recorded as early as the 15th century during the spread of the Malacca Empire, which even then had formed friendly diplomatic relations. |
| Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:31 AM PDT
(The Economist) - The West thought it was winning the battle against jihadist terrorism. It should think again A FEW months ago Barack Obama declared that al-Qaeda was "on the path to defeat". Its surviving members, he said, were more concerned for their own safety than with plotting attacks on the West. Terrorist attacks of the future, he claimed, would resemble those of the 1990s—local rather than transnational and focused on "soft targets". His overall message was that it was time to start winding down George Bush's war against global terrorism. Mr Obama might argue that the assault on the Westgate shopping mall in Nairobi by al-Qaeda's Somali affiliate, the Shabab, was just the kind of thing he was talking about: lethal, shocking, but a long way from the United States. Yet the inconvenient truth is that, in the past 18 months, despite the relentless pummelling it has received and the defeats it has suffered, al-Qaeda and its jihadist allies have staged an extraordinary comeback. The terrorist network now holds sway over more territory and is recruiting more fighters than at any time in its 25-year history (see article). Mr Obama must reconsider. Back from the dead It all looked different two years ago. Even before the killing of Osama bin Laden in 2011, al-Qaeda's central leadership, holed up near the Afghan border in Pakistan's North Waziristan, was on the ropes, hollowed out by drone attacks and able to communicate with the rest of the network only with difficulty and at great risk. Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), its most capable franchise as far as mounting attacks on the West is concerned, was being hit hard by drone strikes and harried by Yemeni troops. The Shabab was under similar pressure in Somalia, as Western-backed African Union forces chased them out of the main cities. Above all, the Arab spring had derailed al-Qaeda's central claim that corrupt regimes supported by the West could be overthrown only through violence. All those gains are now in question. The Shabab is recruiting more foreign fighters than ever (some of whom appear to have been involved in the attack on the Westgate). AQAP was responsible for the panic that led to the closure of 19 American embassies across the region and a global travel alert in early August. Meanwhile al-Qaeda's core, anticipating the withdrawal of Western troops from Afghanistan after 2014, is already moving back into the country's wild east.
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| Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:30 AM PDT
PM'S CALL AT UNITED NATIONS: Moderation can be a powerful tool and Muslims must unite against those using religion to commit violence (NST) - NEW YORK: PRIME Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has called for an end to the atrocities being committed in some Muslim countries, saying the situation has become "a burden we can no longer afford to bear". Speaking at the 68th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) here yesterday, he urged Muslims to unite in the fight against extremists who used religion as an excuse to commit violence. "And one of the most powerful tools we have to do so is al-wasatiyyah: the practice of moderation." Addressing the UNGA for the first time after a general election that had returned Barisan Nasional to power and gave him a fresh mandate to run the country, Najib urged the international community to give their all to resolve the political problems that had raised tensions in the Muslim world. "It is time to end the killing and concentrate instead on building a common agenda for peace and prosperity," Najib articulated to a rapt audience comprising high-level foreign dignitaries yesterday. Najib has been consistent in promoting the moderate approach in tackling religious extremism since his maiden speech as prime minister at UNGA in September 2010, when he proposed the Global Movement of Moderates. Najib, who was sharply dressed in a black suit and maroon tie, spoke for nearly 20 minutes. Present were Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Seri Anifah Aman, Najib's wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, and officials from the Malaysian embassy in the United States. Najib is also expected to stress a similar stance on moderation when he holds talks with US President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping during the two leaders' visit to Malaysia next month. When delivering Malaysia's statement during the General Debate on Saturday, he cited cases in Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and Pakistan, where, cumulatively, thousands of people have been killed following violence by extremist militants, stemming from the conflict between the Sunnis and Shias. He said the conflict between the Sunnis and Shias was threatening the lives of millions of Muslims, and Islam was being twisted by extremists who were deploying false arguments to foster division and justify violence. Across the Islamic world, extremists were wrapping their perverse agenda in religious garb, tearing families, countries and the ummah apart, he added. "The corrosive influence of extremism cannot be easily countered. But we are not powerless to act. I believe moderation in religion and the political process can stem the loss of life and liberty in the Muslim world. "By reaffirming our commitment to moderation and solving the political problems that drive instability, we can seize back the centre ground. We can marginalise the extremists. And we can advance an agenda for peace, harmony and justice." Najib said "we should not mistake moderation for weakness", adding that to face those baying for violence and call for calm instead was a sign not of frailty, but of strength. Muslim leaders, he added, should speak up and condemn violence, lest their silence was mistaken for acceptance. On the Syrian conflict, Najib said Malaysia was opposed to any unilateral action to resolve the conflict, stressing the need for a Syrian-led inclusive political process instead. "All sides must come together to work out a political settlement." Najib called on the international community to intensify efforts to explore all possible diplomatic options for peace under the auspices of UN. "We must also find the vision and the political will to commit to a just solution for Palestine. "We fervently hope that progress towards a viable Palestinian state, based on pre-1967 borders and with East Jerusalem as its capital, will be made and that the US and other members of the Quartet continue to play their roles as honest brokers in the process." Najib also said the Arab Spring movement showed that the Muslim world was crying out for change. "Governments must answer that call. We must provide good governance to fight corruption, create jobs to tackle poverty and deliver sustainable growth that builds a world of opportunity for our citizens. We must create economies in which people can fulfil their own aspirations, not those of extremists." After speaking at UNGA, Najib is scheduled to lead the Malaysian delegation to bilateral talks with Bangladesh. Later, he is scheduled to drop by the Global Citizen Festival at Central Park and host a dinner for Malaysians here. |
| Why Najib hightails it to New York and such… Posted: 28 Sep 2013 11:26 AM PDT
(TMI) - Here is one reason why Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak enjoys being outside the country so much: it is only in the rarefied air of the United Nations assembly or in meeting rooms at the swanky Waldorf Astoria in New York that an audience still buys his talk about Malaysia being a model of moderate Islam. Back home, here in Malaysia, with the right wing very much in ascendancy in Umno and with religious and racial intolerance at red flag levels, any mention of the word "moderation" is met with cynicism. Or worse yet, disdain. It was revealed in Parliament that the Prime Minister spent a staggering RM44 million on travel abroad between March 2008 and May 2013. It is a fact that has raised eyebrows even among Umno politicians. Some of them wonder why attending the UN assembly or opening the Khazanah Nasional office in San Francisco is so important, or why it was necessary to go to Thailand for his second break after the May 5 general election. Actually, there is a simple explanation why he enjoys being outside the country so much. He needs a diversion from the daily mess that is Malaysia, a mess compounded by his willingness to allow shrill, fringe voices to dictate the tone of this country. And his inability to tackle the laundry list of issues from endemic corruption to the breakdown in law and order. A laundry list that also includes: an increasingly right-wing Umno; an inept Cabinet; a combative opposition; fractured and irrelevant BN component parties; a widening budget deficit and the insatiable appetite of businessmen and cronies; and, not least, the hulking presence of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad. Against this backdrop, putting some space between Malaysia and himself is Najib's preferred option. Think about it. What happens to children in a house where peace and quiet is a rare commodity and where the air is pregnant with tension and where every day seems like a battle? Usually the children find excuses to hang out in a friend's house, stay over with a cousin, where they may receive praise and affirmation. What happens to a student who feels overmatched in school, overwhelmed by the demands of parents and teachers and under pressure from bullies? Chances are that the student will play truant, or do his best to limit his appearances in the classroom. So it is with the Malaysian PM. Those who have been part of his entourage say that he is relaxed when away from home and loves pressing the flesh with foreign leaders and businessmen, talking about the Global Movement of Moderates and impressing them with his smooth delivery, sharp dressing and his ability to speak the language that Westerners like to hear. In New York before an appreciative audience at the Council of Foreign Relations, he was applauded for arguing for "dialogue over confrontation, negotiation over conflict". The irony is that in Malaysia, the country he leads, there is more confrontation than dialogue on race and religion. Read more at: http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/why-najib-hightails-it-to-new-york-and-such |
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