5-Day Countdown to 13GE – Dr. Mahathir, Najib and the BN have abandoned and forgotten Vision 2020

As we approach the historic 13th general elections, Malaysians must make a crucial decision between choosing for a better, brighter future under Pakatan or to continue to suffer the broken promises offered by the Barisan Nasional (BN).

There is no better reminder to Malaysians of BN’s broken promises than the total and abject failure of its leaders to remember, much less to seek to live out, the lofty ideals put forth by Malaysia’s longest serving Prime Minister, Dr. Mahathir in his Vision 2020.

Indeed, the person must guilty of totally abandoning the nine challenges in Vision 2020 is none other than Dr. Mahathir himself.

Over the past few months, Dr Mahathir has outdone himself by going around the country to create unnecessary, unproven and unsubstantiated fears about the future of this country under Pakatan Rakyat.

In fact, he has been campaigning more aggressively for the BN than even Prime Minister Najib!

By doing so, Dr. Mahathir has shown that the BN is incapable of leading Malaysia to the objectives set out by himself in Vision 2020.

In fact, the BN administration led by Najib, has failed to live up to each of the 9 challenges of Vision 2020 during his 4-year term as Prime Minister.

Let me go through each challenge in order to remind Malaysians again of what Vision 2020 is supposed to entail and the BN’s response to each of these challenges.

Challenge 1: The first of these is the challenges of establishing a united Malaysian nation with a sense of common and shared destiny. This must be a nation at peace with itself, territorially and ethnically integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership, made up of one ‘Bangsa Malaysia’ with political loyalty and dedication to the nation.

Failure 1a
: The continuation of BN’s divide and rule policy by promoting the so-called 1 Malaysia on the one hand and by stoking fears of a ‘Christian nation’ among Malaysia, of an ‘Islamic state’ among the non-Malays through government mouthpieces such as Utusan Melayu and The Star on the other.

Failure 1b
: The selective screening of the controversial film “Tanda Putera” to FELDA settlers and IIU students and the unacceptable and shameful defense of these selective screenings by the so-called Minister in charge of National Unity in the Prime Minister’s Department, Dr. Koh Tsu Koon

Failure 1c
: The failure of BN to condemn any of the actions undertaken by PERKASA and its leader, Ibrahim Ali, including threatening to burn Malay bibles in Penang.

Challenge 2: The second is the challenge of creating a psychologically liberated, secure, and developed Malaysian Society with faith and confidence in itself, justifiably proud of what it is, of what it has accomplished, robust enough to face all manner of adversity. This Malaysian Society must be distinguished by the pursuit of excellence, fully aware of all its potentials, psychologically subservient to none, and respected by the peoples of other nations.

Failure 2a
: Led by Dr. Mahathir, the BN has continued to harp on Malay fears that their rights would be taken away under a Pakatan Rakyat, in contravention to all the evidence shown by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership and the examples of the Pakatan Rakyat state governments that Bumiputera rights are upheld together with the rights of all the other communities in Malaysia as enshrined in the Federal Constitution. Instead of moving towards a psychologically liberated society, Dr. Mahathir and the BN are dragging Malaysians back to a time of fear mongering towards each other.

Challenge 3: The third challenge we have always faced is that of fostering and developing a mature democratic society, practising a form of mature consensual, community-oriented Malaysian democracy that can be a model for many developing countries.

Failure 3a
: Najib’s failure to stand up to the challenge that is part and parcel of any established and mature democracy which is to have a publicly televised debate with opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim

Failure 3b
: Najib’s failure to ensure a free and fair elections as is practiced in mature democracies including having an independent Election Commission, a clean electoral roll, a free and uncontrolled media, freedom of speech and of assembly.

Failure 3c
: Najib’s failure in putting in place a caretaker government that would refrain from using state resources and machinery and from making any major policy announcements or the handing out of electoral goodies after the dissolution of parliament

Challenge 4: The fourth is the challenge of establishing a fully moral and ethical society, whose citizens are strong in religious and spiritual values and imbued with the highest of ethical standards.

Failure 4a
: The total inability of Najib’s administration to investigate and prosecute cases of ‘grand corruption’ in this country most notably with regard to the many accusations, with accompanying documentary evidence, levelled against the Chief Ministers of Sarawak and Sabah. This calls into question the standards of morality or ethics as practised by the BN government and its leaders

Failure 4b
: The continued reliance by the BN, through their cybertroopers, on gutter policies such as the release of purported sex tapes and photos involving Pakatan politicians and even the targeting of the children of Pakatan leaders through baseless lies

Challenge 5: The fifth challenge that we have always faced is the challenge of establishing a matured, liberal and tolerant society in which Malaysians of all colours and creeds are free to practise and profess their customs, cultures and religious beliefs and yet feeling that they belong to one nation.

Failure 5a
: Dr. Mahathir’s role as the advisor to PERKASA and the tacit support given to this organization by many BN leaders is testimony of the lack of any sincerity whatsoever on the part of the BN to make all Malaysians feel as if they belong to one nation.

Failure 5b
: The decision by the Attorney General’s Chambers to appeal the decision on the use of the word Allah by Christians shows the lack of sincerity of the BN government to protect the freedom of religion in the country. The fact of the matter is that Malaysian Christians in Sabah and Sarawak have been using the word Allah for hundreds of years.

Challenge 6: The sixth is the challenge of establishing a scientific and progressive society, a society that is innovative and forward-looking, one that is not only a consumer of technology but also a contributor to the scientific and technological civilisation of the future.

Failure 6a
: That innovation and the advance of science is being stifled in our universities by restrictive laws and practices which are politically motivated and which seek to control the minds and actions of our academics as well as our students

Challenge 7: The seventh challenge is the challenge of establishing a fully caring society and a caring culture, a social system in which society will come before self, in which the welfare of the people will revolve not around the state or the individual but around a strong and resilient family system.

Challenge 8: The eighth is the challenge of ensuring an economically just society. This is a society in which there is a fair and equitable distribution of the wealth of the nation, in which there is full partnership in economic progress. Such a society cannot be in place so long as there is the identification of race with economic function, and the identification of economic backwardness with race.

Challenge 9: The ninth challenge is the challenge of establishing a prosperous society, with an economy that is fully competitive, dynamic, robust and resilient.

Failure 7, 8 & 9
: That instead of creating a just society that is economically vibrant, the BN has created an economy which favours its cronies at the expense of the majority of the nation and especially the bottom 40% of households who are earning less than RM15,00 a month.

Dr. Mahathir is a living reminder of the continued failure of the BN in living up to the objectives of Vision 2020 despite all the jargon and acronyms coined as part of Najib’s many pseudo transformation programs. Malaysians need to vote for a new vision for the country. Malaysians need to vote out the BN and vote in Pakatan Rakyat in order for this new vision to be realised.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 April 2013, 7:42 pm and is filed under
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A Smiling Bully

By Thomas Fann

www.newmalaysia.org

Walking towards a Pakatan rally at Kampung Melayu Dato Sulaiman Menteri in Johor Bahru, I could hear loud music coming from the open area where the ceramah was suppose to be. Initially I thought it was the pre-rally entertainment to amuse those who came earlier but as I got closer I could see UMNO and BN flags waving from where the mega sound system was, just 40 metres from the Pakatan truck which acted as the mobile stage.

Around 30 of these flag waving UMNO supporters were hurling verbal abuses and taunting the crowd of several thousands that night who came to hear what Anwar, Kit Siang, Guan Eng and other Pakatan leaders have to say.

Scores of police personnel had to act as human barricades to separate this small group of hostile supporters from the larger crowd who to their credit was peaceful and not provoked. Rock music and UMNO songs blasted non-stop for more than 4 hours for the whole duration of the ceramah.

When different speakers were on stage, abuses would come through the UMNO sound system and the Negaraku was played at least 5 times to interrupt the speech. Anwar got it the worse and as he attempted to speak, one could hear “Penipu, pembohong” being shouted at him.

Like many right-thinking Malaysian that night, I was disgusted, saddened and ashamed of the level some segment of our society has descended to – the gutter!

It wasn’t my first encounter with such childish attempts to sabotage an event which the ruling government does not agree with but this was the worst case so far for me.  With the Parliament dissolved and official campaigning about to start, I am afraid the worst is yet to come.

Something just doesn’t jive, it doesn’t make sense.

In recent weeks I have been coming across billboards of PM Najib smiling sweetly with children of different faces and the text “This is Happiness” or “This is Stability”. On the TV we hear commercials using well-known personalities to “advise” voters to choose wisely, to choose peace, stability, happiness and even Malaysia. Songs about choosing wisely were commissioned and sung by fresh faced, white attired multi-ethnic singers. It just feels so good and gives you the warm and fuzzy feeling inside.

The image portrayed by the mass media of the Barisan Nasional government is one that is peace-loving, gracious, gentle, stable, mature, tolerant, inclusive and progressive. But these are just mere images and words conjured up by some professional public relation consultants who are no doubt paid tens of millions of ringgit.

The reality is shockingly different.

Intolerance of opposing views and values are the norm for this government and their supporters. Anyone who does not agree with the regime is fair-game.  We recall the shameful butt exercises done in front of Datuk Ambiga’s house by ex-soldiers and the mock funeral at the gate of Lim Guan Eng’s residence.  Shameful and uncouth behaviours for Malaysians. We are better than these.

Political violence is almost a daily occurrence these days, with attacks on Pakatan’s ceramah events with the milder antics like playing loud music to the more serious ones like rock-throwing, wind-screen smashing, red paint-throwing and beatings. Granted that violence is not exclusive to BN/UMNO supporters but by far the lion-share of it comes from them.

When the Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein predicted that more disruptions at ceramah events can be expected and that the police on the ground is never enough, is he not giving the go-ahead for these thugs?  Hey, did the rakyat pay you to do predictions or to take firm action against hooligans regardless of political affiliation?  And to blame the opposition for the provocation is really a cheap shot. To top it off, all these words were said after he roused up the emotions of the Gombak BN Youth against PKR’s Tian Chua. They shouted “Potong kepala dia (chop off his head)”. Shameful.

Action speaks louder than words. The thuggish acts of BN supporters are a reflection of their leaders who rules this nation with an ironfist through fear and intimidation.

Over 56 years of uninterrupted rule has allowed them to enact laws that took away our freedom and gave themselves wide-ranging powers to act against political opponents. Mahathir’s sacking of Tun Salleh Abas, the Lord President of the Federal Court in 1988 destroyed the independence of our judiciary, a citizen’s protection against injustice and abuse of power.

State institutions like the Police, Election Commission, M’sian Anti-Corruption Commission, Registrar of Societies, and many more, who are suppose to serve and protect the citizens, have been neutered and transformed into BN/UMNO’s agencies to carry out their agenda of domination by the elite few.

I have never seen a more hapless bunch of police than that night in Johor Bahru. I could see that they want to do their job and stop these instigators but their hands are tied. As I said they were neutered. No actions has been taken against these UMNO thugs even though most of their violence were caught in video and widely circulated on the Internet.

Without doubt, the stake for this General Election is high and perhaps for the first time in our nation’s history, we have an opportunity to put an end to the reign of this big bully called Barisan Nasional.

A smiling bully in white playing a Chinese drum making sweet promises that there will be peace and stability should he get re-elected but all hell may break loose ala May 13 if otherwise, is still a bully.  No amount of public relation exercise and doling out of public funds to buy our hearts and votes will change the fact that you are a thug and your only weapons are fear and intimidation.

If the hallmark of this election is violence and disruption, it only serves to reveal the true colours of this government. Thank you for helping us see clearly the choice before us and we can’t wait to cast our votes. We are Malaysians and we have had enough!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 April 2013, 4:30 pm and is filed under
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Call on everyone of Najib’s outgoing Cabinet Ministers to declare whether they or their family members own off-shore companies

Following the
exclusive report by Malaysiakini
 yesterday that top Malaysian politicians, their family members and well-heeled associates are among those owning secretive offshore companies in Singapore and the British Virgin Islands, I call on every member of Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s outgoing Cabinet Ministers to declare whether they or their family members own off-shore companies.

From files obtained by the Washington-based International Confederation of Investigative Journalist (ICIJ) and examined by Malaysiakini, more than 1,500 Malaysians own offshore companies in Singapore as well as the British Virgin Islands (BVI).

Politicians and political operatives who own offshore companies include former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s son Mirzan, Federal Territories and Urban Well-being Minister Raja Nong Chik Zainal Abidin and Michael Chia, the alleged ‘bagman’ for Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman.

In an “exclusive” yesterday, Malaysiakini reported:

“The ICIJ list comprises a curious mix of Forbes-listed tycoons, parliamentarians, retired politicians, civil servants and their spouses, members of royal families, famous and infamous businesspeople, underworld kingpins and even former beauty queens.

“While some of the offshore companies carry out legitimate transactions, others are likely to be part of the RM871.4 billion estimated by Washington-based financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) to have been lost through illicit outflows over a 10-year period.

“In 2010 alone, GFI reported that close to RM200 billion of dirty money was siphoned out of Malaysia, putting the country second only to Asian economic powerhouse China in global capital flight.”

Najib has been failing test after test as to whether he is serious and sincere in elevating accountability, transparency, integrity and good governance as major goals of his administration.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 April 2013, 7:31 pm and is filed under
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EC puts up drama of disappointment over poor overseas voters’ response — a result of its very own doing!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 April 2013, 4:13 pm and is filed under
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In Dr M, BN has a de facto campaigner-in-chief

By Debra Chong

The Malaysian Insider

April 05, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 5 — Ten years after leaving office, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and some of his old Cabinet colleagues have emerged in recent weeks as the face of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) campaign to return to power in Election 2013.

The 87-year-old Dr Mahathir has become a de facto campaigner-in-chief, going on the stump with the vigour of a much younger man as BN faces what is seen as its stiffest challenge ever from the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact.

As Election 2013 moves into overdrive, Dr Mahathir has been the most visible face of the ruling coalition – apart from Datuk Seri Najib Razak and Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin –  criss-crossing the country expounding on BN’s power-sharing formula to drum up support for Team Najib.

The former prime minister who served for 22 years has been hitting the campaign trail hard in the past few weeks to bat for Najib, the son of his former political patron Tun Razak Hussein, in a way he never had for Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi who succeeded him in October 2003, as he urged Malaysians to vote in the BN if they wanted continued stability and prosperity.

“Malaysians who love this country should uphold the only concept that can work in this multiracial country—the kongsi concept,” the 87-year-old politician said in his column today in the New Straits Times daily.

“Only BN can provide this kongsi. The opposition simply cannot kongsi. A mandate for the opposition will be disastrous for Malaysia,” he added, using the Malay word meaning “sharing” in the English-language newspaper to refer to the 13-party coalition’s formula that has kept it in power at the federal level since the country’s Independence in 1957.

According to Dr Mahathir, the three opposition parties that make up the PR bloc, has attempted to replicate the BN’s power-sharing concept that has sustained Malaysia’s political and economic stability and ensured the country’s diverse racial and religious communities all get a slice of the pie.

“But theirs is not a kongsi. Theirs is a ‘pakatan’,” he said, using the Malay word meaning “pact” to refer to the PKR-DAP-PAS partnership as he strove to distinguish the two political blocs.

The three opposition parties have not registered their political partnership and as such, their candidates in the upcoming polls will be running under three different flags, unlike the BN which has a common banner—the widely-recognisable white scales on an indigo background—since its set-up in 1973 to succeed the Alliance front that brokered the country’s emancipation from colonial British rule.

“Kongsi is about sharing. Pakat is about a temporary cooperation for a certain purpose. There is no give and take. There is no sharing,” the Umno veteran said.

He said the pact was akin to a “conspiracy” and suggested that even if PR won Election 2013, the three parties would not be able to sustain its partership and work as a true coalition government to take the country forward.

“Each will pull in its own direction,” he said.

Despite his age, Dr Mahathir has been keeping a tight schedule touring every corner of the country, including across the South China Sea in remote villages in the two Borneo states of Sarawak and Sabah—the latter where a guerrilla war has been raging since February when Filipino Muslim gunmen claiming an archaic royal link invaded.

The fourth prime minister appears to be Najib’s campaigner-in-chief as he fronts the BN’s ceramah circuit to spread its power-sharing formula for stability as the world continues to be rocked by political and economic crises that have increased the number of jobless and created social unrest in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

Senior members of the Mahathir Cabinet also appear to be ditching their low-public profile after retirement from the government to pitch similar messages and swing voter support for Najib.

Former Finance Minister Tun Daim Zainuddin emerged from his political cocoon recently and advised Najib to axe the deadwood from within the current Cabinet.

The 74-year-old government pensioner’s remarks appeared to be sharp criticism of the present administration, but Daim was also reported to have said that Najib was doing a “fairly good job” as the country’s sixth prime minister and was confident the BN would win the elections.

Most recently, former Works Minister Datuk Seri Samy Velly was reported declaring himself a “winnable candidate” to stand for elections although he lost his Sungai Siput federal seat by a substantial 1,821-vote majority to political greenhorn and socialist Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj in Election 2008.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 April 2013, 6:01 am and is filed under
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TV3 and other  TV station should cancel live coverage of Najib’s presentation of BN Manifesto tonight unless similar facililities are also extended  to Pakatan Rakyat election manifesto

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will unveil the Barisan Nasional (BN) election manifesto in a speech at 8.30 pm tonight, which is to be broadcast live by TV3 and other  TV stations.

This is a gross abuse of power and the latest in the long list of violations of the Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M)’s Election Integrity Pledge to conduct free, fair and clean elections which Najib signed with such fanfare some 45 days ago.

If the Barisan Nasional election manifesto is to be given live coverage over TV3 and other  TV stations, similar facilities should also be extended to the Pakatan Rakyat’s election manifesto.

TV3 and other TV stations should cancel  the live coverage of Najib’s presentation of BN Manifesto tonight unless they are prepared to offer similar facilities to the Pakatan Rakyat election manifesto.

Otherwise, this is the latest vindication as to why substantial sections of the Malaysian population have grave doubts that the general elections will provide a level playing field for competing political parties and candidates to compete for voter support in the 13GE and which is the cause for  the mammoth Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 rallies in support of free, fair and clean elections.

It is becoming evident that caretaker Prime Minister Najib is not prepared to abide by the conventions of a caretaker government after the dissolution of Parliament  which prohibits the making of major policy decisions or entering into major contracts which tie the hands of the new government being elected.

Najib’s announcement yesterday of three major projects in Cyberjaya totalling about RM8 billion –  RM6 billion Cyberjaya city centre, a RM600 million environmental-friendly mosque and a RM1.02 billion mixed development project – during his tenure as caretaker Prime Minister must therefore be deplored in the strongest possible terms, as it is  most unethical and  a gross violation of the TI-M Election Integrity Pledge.

Under Bersih’s guidelines for  a caretaker government, the caretaker Prime Minister is barred from activities like  “lay foundation stones etc., of projects or schemes of any kind; or make any new promises of construction of infrastructure or the carrying out of public projects”.

The guidelines are adopted from the Cabinet Office of the United Kingdom, the Australian Capital Territory, the Election Commission of India, and the Inter Parliamentary Union, the last which Malaysia is a member of.

Najib should explain whether he is bound by caretaker government conventions and principles or whether he is of the view that he is not constrained in any manner as caretaker Prime Minister despite the dissolution of Parliament from making major policy decisions or to enter into major contracts committing the next government of Malaysia.

(Media Conference Statement in Batu Pahat on Saturday, 6th April 2013 at 11am)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 6 April 2013, 5:31 pm and is filed under
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4-Day Countdown to 13GE – Call for ushering of new politics in Malaysia of  good governance in 13GE and the beginning of the end of politics of race which had haunted the country for 56 years

When launching the Barisan Nasional election manifesto for the 13th General Elections at the carefully orchestrated rally of 15,000 Barisan Nasional supporters at the Stadium Putra in Bukit Jalil in Kuala Lumpur last night, Datuk Seri Najib Razak posed the question: Who do you trust to lead Malaysia? BN chief Najib Razak, PKR leader Anwar Ibrahim or PAS President Hadi Awang?

As expected, the BN crowd of 15,000 roared back: ”Najib”.

When I posed the  question whether the people trust  Najib or Anwar as the Prime Minister at the DAP Taman Molek ceramah at Johore Jaya close to midnight,  the  response from the  thousands of Malaysians who have spent more than four hours at the DAP ceramah was a spontaneous, ringing, categorical and thunderous support for Anwar and not Najib!

I believe that the spontaneous response of the Malaysian public at the DAP Taman Molek ceramah last night is more reflective of the real mood and aspirations of ordinary Malaysians in the country than the synthetic and even mercenary response of the BN rent-a-crowd gathering at Bukit Jalil Stadium last night.

Although Najib expressed glee and satisfaction at the positive  answer from the 15,000-strong BN crowd at Bukit Jalil Stadium last night, I do not think it had fully removed the hurt and humiliation he suffered when tens of thousands of people at the Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year Open House in Penang shouted in unison three times each that they were “Ready” for the South Korean global K-pop star, Psy, but “No, No, No” and therefore “Not Ready” for the Barisan Nasional!

In the past 54 days, the cries that Malaysians were “ready” for Psy but “No, No, No”  for Barisan Nasional had reveberrated throughout the country almost every night of Pakatan Rakyat gatherings, and  it is no exaggeration to say that some 500,000 Malaysians would have taken part in this unique “public opinion” poll of saying “No, No, No” to Barisan Nasional since the second day of the Chinese New Year on Feb. 11.

It is both pathetic and unprofessional for Najib’s political and propaganda consultants to believe that the  public vote-of-no-confidence in the nation-wide declarations of “No, No, No” for Barisan Nasional could be undone by one orchestrated rally of 15,000 BN supporters.

I have  been informed that since the very next day of the Penang Chinese New Year Open House disaster, all BN supporters who had been bussed from one function to another throughout the country, had been indoctrinated  to answer in the affirmative if they are asked whether the people are ready for BN at the BN functions.

But it has taken Najib some 54 days before he could muster the courage to pose the question in public asking for a vote of public confidence, which was what he did yesterday, without really satisfactory results.

Malaysians should confront and grapple with the real issues in the forthcoming 13GE, which is for the ushering of a new politics in Malaysia of good governance and issue-oriented debate and the beginning of the end of politics of race which had haunted the country for 56 years, and which is being perpetuated by the old politics of UMNO/Barisan Nasional based on the “divide and rule” of communal politiking in the country.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 12:49 pm and is filed under
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BN Manifesto aka Gua Tolong Lu, Lu Tong Gua Money-presto!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 12:30 pm and is filed under
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BN’s GE13 “Money-Presto”!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 12:20 pm and is filed under
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In uncharted waters

By
Clive Kessler
 | APRIL 07, 2013

The Malaysian Insider

APRIL 7 ― We are in uncharted political waters.

Parliament has been dissolved, already days ago, but the election has yet to be called.

The dates for nomination of candidates and for “going to the polls” to vote have yet to be declared.

The nation now finds itself stalled. It can do nothing but wait. We are caught in a strange interlude, a moment of suspended political animation.

And we are already in new political territory.

Where exactly we are, and what the political “lie of the land” is, remain unclear.

But we know that we are on new ground.

Just one indicator.

In his April 3 dissolution address, the prime minister most commendably declared that, win or lose at federal or state level, people including those on his own side should accept the result, honour the decision of the democratic electoral process.

Implied in his words was a remarkable concession by the prime minister that, however unlikely he may believe it to be, Umno/BN could conceivably lose not just control of some state governments but even the federal election.

There it was, in broad daylight: The almost shocking admission that his long-ruling party could conceivably lose control of the federal government, and could be ousted from power by popular rejection.

No Malaysian prime minister or Umno leader has ever, in living memory, made any such admission.

None before PM Najib Razak has ever been in the situation where he needed to do so, where there was any such possibility of popular political rejection and loss.

But the prime minister made that statement, that admission of personal and party vulnerability.

Clearly, and to his great credit, he felt that he had to do so.

But it was not an admission that could have “gone down easily” with many in Umno. Many of the old-timers and “hard men” in the organization must surely have considered it an error.

Or even much worse: a sign of weakness, a terrible mistake, a culpable admission of failure on the eve of battle, even before the fight itself had begun.

“Is that bold and courageous leadership?” one can easily imagine them saying, in rage and despair. “Is that the Malay way of exercising power?”

But, remarkably, the prime minister said so, he said exactly that.

Why?

Because things, this time, are different.

And different battlefield conditions require a different approach, a different strategy and the deployment of different forces than those customarily employed.

We are beyond the familiar old game of Malaysian elections.

And a different approach ― as many have recognized and remarked ― is now being adopted.

For the first time in this country since 1957, the prime minister and his government are fighting for political survival, for their political lives.

They are in a tough fight, and they know it.

In such  circumstances, you have to look at the situation, consider closely the resources available both to your own side and your adversaries, and choose a strategy that maximizes your own situational advantages and an approach that minimizes those of the opposition, one that places them in the greatest uncertainty and under the greatest stress.

That, as we wait for the Election Commission to meet this Wednesday, is what is now happening in Malaysia.

On this new ground, many of us have already been proven wrong.

We are moving from “blitzkrieg” to a war of attrition and positional manoeuvre.

This election will be no “12-day wonder”, no sudden mad rush that will be over in the proverbial blink of an eye.

Instead, one week after Parliament was dissolved, on April 3, the Election Commission will meet.

Then, on April 10, it will presumably announce the date of the nomination of candidates and of the poll itself.

The likeliest possibility at the moment seems to be that April 13 will be nomination day and April 27 will be “D-Day”, Decision Day.

If so, the total election period from nomination to decision will be 17 days, or two and a half weeks ― and from dissolution to decision 24 days, or three and a half weeks.

Nothing less, or shorter, than that seems conceivable.

Something longer than that is possible, but at this stage seems unlikely.

Unless a string of further great surprises is in store…

An election period of between two and three weeks is, in international comparative terms, not very long. Most countries have more protracted and gradual arrangements for conducting a national election.

But for Malaysia this is remarkable.

Remarkable, and in modern times unprecedented.

In 1969 the campaign period went on for five weeks.

The Tunku wanted to give the country a full opportunity to consider the issues and to debate its future.

And then came May 1969.

Five weeks? “Never again!” was the response.

When elections resumed in 1974, the polling schedule was very tight, greatly abbreviated.

And with only minor relaxation, the election “countdown” timing in Malaysia since then has always been very constrained and limited.

In 2008 the then prime minister consented to a 13-day campaign period, two days more than the previous pattern of 11 days.

To this minor relaxation some recent commentators have attributed — quite illogically — the political “tsunami” of that year and the dramatic setbacks which Umno/BN experienced at the GE12 polls.

This year, things will certainly take longer than that.

Clearly, the current prime minister’s strategists do not fear inviting another tsunami of anti-government sentiment by extending even further the campaign period.

On the contrary, they must calculate, or hope, that extra time will be to the prime minister’s and his party’s advantage.

And they are accordingly proceeding to the battlefield with all “deliberate”, meaning unrushed, haste ― “steady as she goes,” “half-speed ahead”, and also sideways.

That’s often the way in Malay politics.

When things get difficult, those in power use their advantage to slow things down, stall, play politics in “slow-motion.”

That way of proceeding stops momentum developing for the other side, to the adversary’s advantage.

More important, for those in charge it increases their own “elbow room”, their “room to manoeuvre or “fudging space.”

And, perhaps most significantly, it also increases their ability to exert and maintain detailed control.

This has often been the way in customary Malay politics.

But in an election context this is quite new, a notable departure from recent practice.

There has been nothing so protracted since 1969, yet this current election process may now be dragged out almost as long.

The prime minister’s strategists seem to have in mind a new kind of political and election campaign.

They evidently want to run an almost “Obama-esque” presidential “progress” or triumphal cavalcade across the nation ― the entire battlefield.

US presidential campaigns are a kind of war of attrition, a protracted siege of the nation by the aspiring presidential candidates, their personal organizations and their party machines.

The US political cycle now covers the full four years, and more.

It’s now the same here, too, in Malaysia, it seems.

That is how long Prime Minister Najib’s campaign for a personal mandate and renewed party and government legitimacy has been running.

But here, with PM Najib rather than President Obama playing the role of the people’s hero, or trying to do so, it could all still misfire badly.

Even for the side that has the power to “call the shots”, there are great risks as well as potential advantages in such a strategy, in the choice to opt for the rigours of protracted warfare.

Time tests all players, not only the weaker and less advantageously placed of them.

We must all wait and see what will be.

At this time, in this strange moment of the pre-battle lull, politics for all but the principal players is very much a waiting game.

*
Clive Kessler is Emeritus Professor of Sociology and Anthropology at The University of New South Wales, Sydney.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 10:22 am and is filed under
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Malaysia needs more Ibrahim Alis, says Dr M

by Koh Jun Lin

Malaysiakini

Apr 6, 2013

The country would be saved if there were more people like Perkasa chief Ibrahim Ali, said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The patron of the Malay supremacist group said this today when endorsing Ibrahim to contest the Pasir Mas parliamentary seat under BN’s ticket.

“This is repayment, because in BN we repay good deeds… God willing if he is made a candidate, I would go to Pasir Mas to campaign.

“Perkasa is no small ‘party’, it has 400,000 members. It is probably bigger than PAS, but is not greedy.

“If there are many people like Ibrahim, this country is saved,” he said amid the cheers of a 3,000-strong audience.

Mahathir was speaking at Perkasa’s ‘Save Selangor Rally’ today held on a waterlogged field in Shah Alam.

Mahathir also praised Ibrahim for making the rally the success although he is not contesting in Selangor, which shows that Ibrahim was not serving his own interests in organising the rally.

Ibrahim is currently the incumbent Pasir Mas MP, after winning the seat in the 2008 general election under the PAS ticket with a majority of 8,991 votes.

He has since defected to become a BN-friendly independent MP.

When asked at a press conference later on what if Ibrahim is not picked to contest there as the BN candidate, the still-influential Mahathir said his priority is to ensure that BN wins.

“But I hope my friend here (Ibrahim) whom I have put into prison under the Internal Security Act (ISA) would be given a chance.

“It’s terrible. How long was he detained under ISA?” he said.

In his speech, Mahathir also launched a scathing attack on top Pakatan Rakyat leaders.

Among others, he said it was his mistake to allow his former deputy Anwar Ibrahim to rise through Umno’s ranks, thinking that he is a pious person trying to further Islam through Umno, only to find out later that his only goal was to take power.

I wish Malaysia had 50 or 100 ‘PMs’

“I wish Malaysia has 50 or 100 ‘prime ministers’ so that we can give him one. If he wants Putrajaya so badly, perhaps we can give him a room there,” he quipped, as his audience burst into laughter.

As for PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat, he criticised him for allegedly saying that Umno’s three million members would not get pahala (divine reward) for praying because the party has rejected Islam.

Mahathir said such statements could divide the Muslim community, although Islam advocates kinship. Hence, he said Nik Aziz is merely a party leader vying for power, and not the religious leader that he is perceived to be.

“He wants to go to Putrajaya too; no problem! As we would give Anwar a room, we can give him a chair there and sit in a room,” he said.

After a pause to let the audience laugh at the apparent sexual innuendo, he continued, “Not in the same room as Anwar, separate rooms.

“We would put a thick wall in between. He is strong you know? We have to put a thick wall there,” he said.

The 87-year-old politician also urged DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang to retire from politics, noting that he has been active since 1964 and is still a DAP leader.

“Lim tells everyone to change. Yes, he should change, only then would his words have credibility.

“I have already changed, I have quit and let someone else (to be prime minister). I didn’t want to hoard everything and be prime minister until death,” he said.

Dr M: Just cross the dacing

He urged the crowd to save Selangor in the upcoming general election.

“We should come out in full force to vote for BN, don’t care who the

candidates are, don’t look at their faces, and just cross the dacing (BN logo).

“The voters should remember that it is the party that forms the government, not the candidates.”

At the press conference after the event, Mahathir also supported the idea of sending a top politician, such as Johor caretaker menteri besar Abdul Ghani Othman, to Gelang Patah to ensure Lim’s defeat in the upcoming general election.

This was despite the seat already being considered a BN stronghold.

“Of course a ‘big shot’ should fight a ‘big shot’. I think if Lim loses, that would be the end of his political career. Otherwise, he won’t stop.

“So send Ghani or whoever else to face and defeat him (there),” he said.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 8:50 am and is filed under
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Talking to the Malays

— Zaid Ibrahim

The Malaysian Insider

April 06, 2013

APRIL 6 — So at last we are going to have a general election after all. The months of waiting have taken its toll on most people, but it’s important that they continue to have energy and spirit and to work hard to make this GE a meaningful one.

This week I want to talk to the Malays. They form the biggest block of voters and to them I say, this is your chance to have a new government. A new government will enable you to make a comparison with the one we have now. You have been told time and again that no one besides Umno/BN can govern and protect you, but wouldn’t it be better for you to try to find out for yourself? How can we know if Pakatan would be worse than Umno if we do not give them a chance?

You have to be brave and not let others bully you with fear and intimidation. The opposition parties have more Malays than BN so they will not harm you. They have worked hard and deserve a chance. For all you know, you may get better schools, better teachers for your children (as they may devote more time to teaching than politicking) and better security from the police and the army. Even your household income may improve as there will be more for the government to share with less corrupt leaders at the helm.

You will not lose if you vote for the opposition. If the opposition gets stronger because of your support but BN still wins, then you will get more cash handouts than they had promised. Money and projects have only been given to you because the opposition was strong — if the opposition had been weak, you wouldn’t have gotten the BR1M 1.0 and BR1M 2.0. It makes sense to vote for the opposition if you want more from the BN. Learn to value your votes to improve your livelihood.

Umno will use all the scare tactics in its arsenal, like telling you that Islam will no longer become the official religion and that the Malay Rulers will disappear if the opposition wins. You should ask your children and grandchildren if any of these can come true. Even they will tell you that this is all nonsense, just fear mongering by those desperate to cling to power when everything else has failed.

The Malays need to change their loyalty and support PAS as their protector. PAS is a Malay party just like Umno. The difference is that PAS has never been entrusted to rule the country. If the Malays can give Umno 50 years to govern, surely it’s not too much to give PAS at least five years. The opportunity for PAS to rule (in coalition, of course, with PKR and the DAP) is an historic moment for the Malays to seize. If PAS is not able to govern well then the people can always go back to Umno. Choice is what the Malays need for their own wellbeing — they have not had it in the last 50 years.

I know it’s easy to persuade the Malays to support their leaders and not go against them. They will be reminded of the cash and all the help that’s been given to them. They will be told to be grateful. They will be told that BN and the government are one and the same so if you want more from the government, then only BN leaders can help you.

Again, I urge you to talk to your children and grandchildren. The monies/salaries that BN leaders give in exchange for votes do not belong to them, but to the people of this country. It’s wrong for leaders to bribe you for votes. They have not been sincere to you. It’s not wrong for you to vote for the leader/party of your choice and still keep the money. In fact, if you vote for the opposition then BN will have to give you more next year. Either way, you win by supporting the opposition. — zaiduntukrakyat.com

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 9:44 am and is filed under
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Umno and its lackey Perkasa

By
Ali Kadir
 | APRIL 06, 2013

The Malaysian Insider

APRIL 6 — How nice? Ibrahim Ali says that he will drop bombshells on Pakatan Rakyat’s leaders and shock the nation.

And what is he waiting for: the go-ahead from none other than Prime Minister Najib Razak.

So now the Umno gang can drop all the wayang and confirm what the rest of Malaysia have known all along: that Ibrahim Ali and Perkasa are just an extension of Umno, a nauseating and disgusting extension of a politics which has outsourced its dirty work.

But then again, nothing should shock us anymore.

This is a political party and NGO nexus which has brought us political violence on a scale never before seen in Malaysia; a partnership that has promoted racism and chauvinism like never before and political strategies rooted in the bowel thinking.

Ibrahim Ali and Zulkifli Nordin are cut from the same cloth, both pretending to be not linked to Umno but really part of the underbelly of this once political institution. They do the dirty work that Umno leaders are unwilling to do themselves.

And when you look at Ibrahim and Zulkifli, you look at Umno. Both and their political masters have no credibility, not enough one iota.

What does it say of our leaders who depend on men like these?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 7 April 2013, 12:36 pm and is filed under
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27 Years Later…Electoral Reforms Still Remain But An Illusion For The MCA?

by Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 7:36 pm and is filed under
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3-Day Countdown to 13GE: BN’s Manifesto shows that it is fundamentally incapable of transforming, much less reforming, Malaysia

Despite having more than a month to thoroughly scrutinize the Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto – Pakatan Harap Rakyat – the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Manifesto, which was launched to great fanfare on the 6th of April, shows that it is a coalition that is fundamentally opposed to and incapable of introducing significant and much needed reforms in the country.

They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

While we have no problems with the BN trying to incorporate our ideas into their own manifesto, it is laughable to see that even this copying is half-hearted, like many of the so-called transformation initiatives of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

The BN promises to reduce car prices by 20%-30% but stays absolutely silent on the unfair and opaque system of Approved Permits (AP) allocations that have been given to many BN cronies.

The BN promises to expand the Rapid Bus System to every state but does not allow the state governments or the local authorities to provide their own bus services.

The BN promises to increase the number of PDRM officers but does not want to reallocate special branch officers to crime fighting.

More seriously, the BN Manifesto once again is a reminder that as a coalition, headed by UMNO, which has been in power for 56 years, it is fundamentally unwilling and incapable of reforming the country in any significant way, shape or form.

I will merely highlight five important areas here.

Firstly
, the BN Manifesto is deathly silent on the issue of
Electoral Reform
.

The huge turnout for the third Bersih Rally and the brutal police crackdown on the participants forced Najib to call for the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on Electoral Reform.

This is clearly an issue which many Malaysians are deeply concerned with especially after the evidence from the Sabah Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) revealed that hundreds of thousands of ICs were given out to foreigners for the purpose of padding the electoral roll.

And yet, there is no mention of cleaning up the electoral roll as part of a larger process of electoral reform in the country.

One cannot but think that the BN is fearful that if a free and fair electoral system is implemented, the chances for BN to remain in power would be reduced to zero.

Secondly
, the BN Manifesto lacks credibility on the issue of
Corruption Eradication
.

It is all well and good for the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to have its own powers of recruitment through a Service Commission.

But if the institution itself and its heads are still not independent, these new-found recruitment powers are useless.

The very fact that the current MACC does not even dare to prosecute the Chief Minister of Sarawak Tan Sri Taib Mahmud despite the stacks of evidence gathered and made public is testament to the still-born nature of any initiatives on the part of BN to eradicate corruption.

Despite signing the Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) Elections Integrity Pledge, Najib himself dares not lift a finger against the Chief Minister of Sarawak, fearing that this would lose the BN seats in the “not-so-fixed-deposit” state of Sarawak.

Thirdly
, the BN Manifesto is shockingly hypocritical on the issue of
Economic Competitiveness
.

While the BN talks the talk in wanting to implement ‘pro-growth policies’ and the ‘divesting of non-strategic GLCs’, the reality from the past four years is vastly different.

Public divestments of non-strategic GLCs have been given to only a small number of players, most notably Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, who was allowed to buy over Proton, Pos Malaysia and the Penang Port, just to name a few.

At the same time, other GLCs have bought over private companies such as SP Setia (by PNB) and Sunrise (by UEM), thereby decreasing the role of the private sector in the construction and property industry.

The largest 4G-LTE spectrum was allocated to Puncak Semangat, a company with no experience whatsoever in the TELCO industry but is linked to Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary.

Prime land parcels in what will be the Tun-Razak Exchange (T-REX) and the Sungai Besi TUDM airbase was ‘sold’ at below market prices to 1MDB, an opaque fund whose activities have been called into question by many newspapers and opposition politicians alike.

Fourthly
, the BN Manifesto gives false assurances on the issue of
Environmental Protection
.

The BN promises to allocate more space for green lungs within major cities. And yet, it is allowing PNB to build a 118-storey tower on the site that was once an important public park – Taman Tun (also known as Taman Merdeka Negara). It is allowing parts of Bukit Kiara and Bukit Gasing to be handed over the private parties for property development.

The BN promises to revitalize rivers and streams and prevent deforestation and yet the aggressive dam building and illegal logging activities continue unabated in Sabah and Sarawak.

The BN promises investment in more renewable green energy and yet, the majority of the quotas for solar power were given to politically-connected individuals and companies.

The BN has no qualms about using the people in and near Kuantan as guinea pigs in exposing them to the potential dangers of the LYNAS plant.

The BN has no serious plan to investigate and resolve the problem of cyanide poisoning in Bukit Koman in Pahang.

The BN has done no serious EIA and SIA study on the multi-billion ringgit RAPID project in Pengerang, Johor.

Fifthly
, the BN Manifesto gives scant respect on the issue of
State Rights
.

Malaysia is a federal state in its constitution but the federal government holds a disproportionate control over revenue and government policy.

While Pakatan has promised to decentralize more authority and autonomy to the state governments, the BN wants to continue the tradition of dominating and dictating policy through Putrajaya.

No matter how BN spins its Manifesto through the BN controlled mainstream media, the people of Malaysia won’t be fooled. The BN does not have a leg to stand on when it comes to being able to deliver on fundamental reforms because this will be detrimental to the self-interests of the BN.

If Prime Minister is serious about having a national discussion on the BN’s Manifesto, then I call upon him to have a ‘live’ debate on public television and streamed through the internet with the leader of Pakatan Rakyat, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim so that the people of Malaysia can genuinely compare and contrast the promises of both coalitions.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 11:33 am and is filed under
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Academics call upon Barisan and Pakatan to declare policy positions on national finance and debt

CPIASIA

Recent financial crises have visited economic calamity upon ordinary citizens in the countries of the East and West alike. Experience tells us that there can be no complacency about a nation’s financial state.

Concerns voiced in various reports and the media call for special attention to Malaysia’s finances and their management. These concerns are:

A record-breaking capital flight out of Malaysia.
 Financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reported that a total of RM880 billion of funds were illegally transferred out of the country between 2001 and 2010.

A sharply rising trend in government debt.
 This debt almost doubled from RM274 billion at the beginning of 2008 to RM502 billion at the end of 2012. International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics expect it to grow by RM277 billion to RM779 billion in 2017.

Incomplete information about the Malaysian government’s full exposure to debt.
 The official figures for government debt exclude debts that are called contingent liabilities. These include off-balance-sheet borrowings and the debts of banks, government-linked companies and other private-sector enterprises that the government has guaranteed to pay off in the event that these entities default. One estimate of these hidden debts in 2011 placed it at RM117 billion.

Rapid growth of the share of total government debt owed to foreign holders.
 This has soared from 0.1% in 2003 to 6.7% in 2006, 11.8% in 2009, and 26.8% in 2012. Although 97% of this debt remains Ringgit-denominated, this trend is a cause for concern, and compromises future policy autonomy as well as heightens exposure to capital flight in the event of financial panic.

Possible massive losses by 1Malaysia Development Bhd.
 Recent revelations indicate that this strategic company, wholly owned by the government of Malaysia and tasked to lead in market driven initiatives to help transform the Malaysian economy, may have incurred losses of as much as RM4 billion through mispricing of its bond issue.

Inconsistencies in Bank Negara reports regarding Malaysia’s total debt.
 While one portion of Bank Negara’s statistics tallies with the official total debt of RM695.4 billion for 2011 and RM737.6 billion for 2012, elsewhere in its reports it is implied that Malaysia’s total debt is more than twice larger, at about RM2.025 trillion for 2011 and RM1.743 trillion for 2012. The latter would ordinarily be considered crisis-level figures.

Fears of an imminent credit bubble in Malaysia and other East Asian countries.
 Households in Malaysia have amassed a consumer debt in excess of RM600 billion according to an IMF country report. Various financial analyses claim that Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan are at risk of a household debt crisis.

The lack of sustainability of Malaysia’s GDP growth.
 Rapid liquidations of natural capital such as petroleum and forests to finance deficit spending or to fulfill debt obligations have adverse economic and ecological implications for present and future generations. Moreover, unproductive investments and expenditures are recorded as positive GDP in the national accounts even if they yield returns that do not cover borrowing costs.

A lack of discipline in adhering to Malaysia’s statutory ceiling for debt.
 The ceiling has been raised on the debt limit from 40% of GDP set in 2003 to 45% in 2008 and subsequently to the present 55% in 2009.

The above details signal an alarming trend.

Decisive action is required to safeguard Malaysia’s development potential and forestall a crisis situation such as in Greece.

In line with public interest, therefore, and as a first step towards democratising the management of government finances, we, the undersigned, call upon Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, the main contenders for government in the 13th Malaysian general elections, to openly lay out detailed policy positions on how they intend to manage the nation’s finances.

In their policy briefs on national finance and debt, the two political coalitions must provide the following minimum feedback:

Justify the projections for the borrowings that they anticipate making in the coming five years under their respective watch;

Spell out plans for tackling fiscal deficits and ballooning government and household debts;

Explain how their election manifesto promises on government spending will be consistent with sustainable debt and resource management;

Declare their commitment to investigating illegal financial outflows and repatriating these monies as prescribed by the United Nations Convention against Corruption;

State explicitly whether they will support the foundations of public transparency and accountability in our national finances by

establishing a continuously updated ‘debt register’ that will be publicly available on the Internet, which records the stock of debts, the sources of these debts, interest/dividend payments made on these and details of the uses made of these borrowings;

establishing a multi-partisan parliamentary committee for debt oversight and approval;

holding public fora and referenda on spending or debt decisions of great import; and

other possible measures.

We urge the two major political coalitions to produce their national finance and debt policy briefs focusing on the proposals set out above as soon as possible.

The voters of this country deserve to go to the voting booths with better knowledge of what to expect in the management of Malaysia’s finance and debts from the new government in power.

Signatories

Dr Cheong Kee Cheok

Dr Fatimah Kari

Dr Terence Gomez

Dr KJ John

Dr Cassey Lee

Dr Lee Hwok Aun

Dr Lim Teck Ghee

Dr Rajah Rasiah

Pak Sako

Rozilini M Fernandez- Chung

Yew Siew Yong

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 9:07 am and is filed under
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Battle of Gelang Patah to fulfil the Malaysian Dream of an united multiracial Malaysian people rising above race which was envisioned by the great Johore Malay leader and founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaffar six decades ago

The battle of Gelang Patah is not just a battle for Lim Kit Siang, DAP or Pakatan Rakyat.

It is a battle for all Malaysians, the nation as well as future generations, with two portentous, unprecedented and far-reaching meaning and significance.

Firstly, the battle of Gelang Patah is to launch off a political tsunami in the 13th general elections from the south spreading all over the country, crossing the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak, to complete the unfinished business of the “political tsunami” of the 2008 general elections which saw the fall of Umno/Barisan Nasional in five states and the deprivation of the UMNO/BN two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time in Malaysian history.

The 2008 “political tsunami” emanated from the north in Penang, Kedah and Kelantan coming down south to Perak (although in less than a year there was an undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional “power grab” orchestrated by Datuk Seri Najib Razak and which await a restoration of Pakatan Rakyat Perak State government in the 13GE) and Selangor, fizzling out in Negri Sembilan and leaving the three fixed deposit states of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak virtually untouched.

However, the 2008 “political tsunami” has brought about a tectonic shift in the political landscape, as only five years ago it was completely unthinkable and impossible for anyone to hope or dream that there could be a change of federal government through the ballot box.

Now, such a democratic alternation of power, first time in the 56-year history of Malaysia, is not only thinkable, possible but even probable, which is why the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had agonised for the past four years as to when to dissolve Parliament to hold the 13GE, as for the first time in Malaysian electoral history, the incumbent UMNO/BN government could be voted out of office and replaced by Pakatan Rakyat.

However, if the “political tsunami” of 2008 has yet to reach its full capacity to climax with the first peaceful and democratic change of Federal government in the 13th general elections, Pakatan Rakyat must make a significant breakthrough in the three “fixed deposits states” of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak which have a total of 83 parliamentary seats by winning more than a third of the seats – or better still, some 40 per cent of the total number of parliamentary seats in the three states, i.e. 33 parliamentary constituencies.

Then Pakatan Rakyat will be on the way to Pakatan Rakyat to form a new Federal Government and appoint the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.

However, there is also a second unique significance of the Battle of Gelang Patah – the fulfilment of the Malaysian Dream.

I have a Malaysian Dream, which I am sure, is shared by Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or time.

The Malaysian Dream envisions a plural society where all her citizens are united as one people, rising above their ethnic, religious, cultural and linguistic differences as the common grounds binding them as one citizenship exceed the differences that divide them because of their ethnic, religious, linguistic and cultural divisions .

In this Malaysian Dream, we all owe undivided loyalty to the country, we share in one motherland and we come together as one people to develop the greatness of the country deriving from the best from the diverse races, religions and cultures which have made a home in Malaysia so that Malaysia can become one of the leading nations of the world in all fields of human endeavour.

This Malaysian Dream does not exist only today. It had existed even before the founding of Malaya and Malaysia.

Let the Battle of Gelang Patah fulfil the Malaysian Dream of a united multiracial Malaysian people rising above race which was envisioned  by the great Johore Malay leader and founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaffar six decades ago

Although Onn was founder President of UMNO, he became increasingly dissatisfied with UMNO’s racist and communalist polices, leading him in 1951 to call on UMNO to open up membership to all Malayans as well as proposing that UMNO should be renamed as the United Malayans National Organisation.

When his recommendations went unheeded, Onn Jafaar left UMNO on August 26, 1951 to form the Independence of Malaya Party (IMP).

Onn’s son, Tun Hussein Onn, shared in this Malaysian Dream, although I do not know whether Onn’s grandon, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, the current Home Minister, agreed with his father and grandfather in this Malaysian Dream.

Sixty-two years after Onn’s call for the opening up of UMNO to non-Malay members and to change UMNO to mean United Malayans National Organisation, it is most fitting and proper that the banner of a Malaysian Dream of all visionary and patriotic Malaysians down the ages be re-hoisted to seek support and endorsement from the people of Gelang Patah, Johore and Malaysia in the 13th general elections.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 4:17 pm and is filed under
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Courage Rises Up Again and Again

By
Thomas Fann

www.newmalaysia.org

Have you ever been confronted by a menacing snarling dog who is ready to pounce on you? And for the briefest of moment, both of you glared into each other’s eyes. In your heart you felt sure the dog will sink his teeth into you and you would be his lunch.

But then something arises in you, a courage you never knew you had, and with your eyes fixed unflinchingly on his eyes, you lunge forward towards the dog and… lo and behold, he turned around and ran off with his tail tucked between his legs. Seizing the moment for complete victory, you gave chase, shouting after the terrified beast. Hurray, you have become top dog in your neighbourhood.

Nice thought but I doubt if many of us have had such stories to tell because most of the time we just make sure we don’t ever have to come face to face with such a snarling dog. We would “elak” or avoid such a confrontation by making a detour if we know that the neighbourhood bully dog is lying there.

This article is not about dogs but about fear and courage. Fear is a very human emotion and a necessary one to keep us safe and alive. But when fear becomes the dominant emotion in our life, it paralyses us from doing what is right.

Not many would admit to being fearful but would gloss over our fears with such rational sounding terms like – “We just have to be wise” or “Why be a hero?”  Meanwhile, that neighbourhood bully dog still reigns.

But there is a gentle but steady wind of change blowing and something is stirring deep inside us. Could it be courage?

The political landscape of our country in the last five years has been nothing short of extraordinary. Malaysians from all walks of life have, as if, woken up from a fifty year old coma. Suddenly we realised that the world has changed so much after our fifty years of slumber and we don’t like how it has changed.

Instead of going back to our sleep, some of us decided to do something about it, we decided to confront the neighbourhood bully dog. We are tired of making long detours and pretending that we are not afraid.. Yes, courage, the only antidote for the paralysing disease of fear, has arrived.

The hundred of thousands of Malaysians who overcame their fears in the various Bersih rallies, Himpunan Hijau rallies and culminating in the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat mega rally at Stadium Merdeka on 12th January 2013 are testament of this fact – the people are no longer afraid.

Now with the mother of all General Elections in our nation’s history just a matter of weeks away, we are at that point where we are glaring into the bully dog’s eyes. It is more than just a contest between the two contending coalitions but it is a showdown between the people who want change and the people who don’t.

Who is going to flinch or blink first? Would it be the usual victims of fear or would it be the dog?

Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi wrote in Freedom from Fear –

“Within a system which denies the existence of basic human rights, fear tends to be the order of the day. Fear of imprisonment, fear of torture, fear of death, fear of losing friends, family, property or means of livelihood, fear of poverty, fear of isolation, fear of failure.

A most insidious form of fear is that which masquerades as common sense or even wisdom, condemning as foolish, reckless, insignificant or futile the small, daily acts of courage which help to preserve man’s self-respect and inherent human dignity.

It is not easy for a people conditioned by fear under the iron rule of the principle that might is right to free themselves from the enervating miasma of fear.

Yet even under the most crushing state machinery courage rises up again and again, for fear is not the natural state of civilized man.”

Courage rises up again and again.  No, this time it is not us who would turn but the dog. We sense victory, we could smell it for we have seen the fear and desperation in the dog’s eyes.

At this hour of victory, this is not a time to be weary or be discouraged or be side-tracked by petty issues.  We need to lunge forward together to complete the victory. We need to shout it out loud – “Enough is Enough!” – “Ini Kalilah” as we march forward to cast our votes and take back what is rightfully ours – our FREEDOM. Merdeka! Merdeka! Merdeka!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 8:27 am and is filed under
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Defeating the people’s will

by
Aliran
 on 7 April 2013

Tota urges the people of Perak to teach the BN a lesson at the polls for subverting the will of the people expressed in the last general election.

In the GE12 held in 2008, the people of Perak voted for a Pakatan Rakyat state government. The Umno-dominated BN decided to use dirty politics to subvert the people’s choice.

Many evil forces – BN, led by Najib, the state secretary, the police, parasites with power, and immoral and unscrupulous political frogs – conspired, connived and colluded to steal the rightfully elected government allegedly through bribery and corruption.

GE13 will be held soon. As a patriotic Malaysian, I see the people of Perak placed in a unique position to ensure once and for all no politician or party would again dare to defeat the people’s will through crooked means. Such an opportunity does not come often to a state to make history. Vote every BN candidate out. Better still ensure everyone of them loses his/her deposit!

This will send the strongest message to political scoundrels that if they ever break the people’s will, they will be punished mercilessly. Let Perak lead the way. It will be Perak’s greatest contribution to ensuring that Malaysia is a genuine democracy where elections are free and fair.

Come on, people of Perak, show that People Power (Makkal Sakti) is supreme and that people are the boss and politicians are their servants. Let Perak be the heart of true nationalism and patriotism.

I quote below M Bakri Musa, noted surgeon and writer:

The lack of political sophistication and wisdom gets worse as we examine Mahathir’s successors.  More recently there were the political crises in Perak and Selangor, both the consequence of the political tsunami of the 2008 general elections. Again, both demonstrated the failure of Malay leadership. In Perak, the Sultan proved unable to escape his feudal mentality. He treated his ‘People’s Representatives’ in the state assembly as his henchman, ready to do his bidding, – legality and political ramifications aside. The political crisis quickly degenerated. Instead of being part of the solution, he was quickly reduced to being part of the problem, and a very significant one at that.

The Perak crisis demonstrated another significant point. It is often assumed that if only we have qualified and experienced people in charge, then no matter how battered or inadequate our institutions are, these individuals will rise to the challenge. In Perak, we have a sultan who by any measure is the most qualified and experienced, having served as the nation’s top judge and later, King. Yet his critical decision following the 2008 election, which demanded the most judicious of judgment, proved unwise and premature. And that is putting it mildly and politely.

The principal political protagonists there were Barisan Nasional’s Zambry Kadir, a Temple University PhD, and Pakatan’s Nizar Jamaluddin, a professional engineer fluent in multiple languages. The election saw the defeat of the incumbent Barisan government with Pakatan’s Nizar taking over as Menteri Besar. The state of affairs was short-lived. Through shady machinations, Barisan successfully persuaded a few Pakatan representatives to switch sides. That triggered a political tussle that quickly degenerated into a major constitutional crisis. It did not have to end that way; the wise course would have been to call for a formal vote of ‘no confidence’ in the assembly and then have fresh elections called.

The Barisan folks, however, were unsure of their standing with voters. There were real concerns that voters would not approve of the ‘representative buying’ and Barisan risked even greater losses. So, in cahoots with the Sultan, Barisan concocted a novel scheme where he, the sultan, would decide which party had the citizens’ confidence dispensing with a formal Assembly vote.

From there it was a short but steep slide to seeing the Pakatan speaker of the Assembly being manhandled and dragged out, with chairs thrown all round.  The sultan (actually his representative, the crown prince), was reduced to cooling his heels in an adjoining room, unable to address the Assembly because of the mayhem.

The pathetic part to the whole ugly spectacle was the despicable behaviour of members of the permanent establishment, form the sultan’s counsellors and State Secretary to the Legal Advisor and Chief of Police. They should have played an impartial and mediating role, to act as an effective buffer mechanism. Instead they too became thickly embroiled, getting hopelessly ensnared in the mess through their highly partisan performances.

As for the judiciary, it failed to appreciate the urgency or gravity of the crisis. The case did not merit an expedited hearing and was left to meander through the usual slow judicial process. By contrast, the lawsuit triggered by the 2000 American presidential elections over the Florida ballots ended at the Supreme Court for a definitive decision in a matter of days, not months.

When you examine the credentials of the principal players in the Perak mess, they were all impressive. In performance, however, they were no different from the thugs in an ugly street brawl. Their impressive diplomas meant nothing; they only looked impressive when framed and hung on office walls.

Excerpt from ‘Liberating the Malay Mind’ by M Bakri Musa.

P.S. Every Malaysian must read this excellent book to understand the serious ailments plaguing our beloved country.

Tota is the pseudonym of an occasional contributor to Thinking Allowed Online.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 7:56 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s independent radios jammed, sites hit by cyberattacks

The Malaysian Insider
 | APRIL 07, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 – Two independent radios, Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Free Malaysia, have been jammed in Malaysia and their web sites inaccessible due to cyberattacks, says its founder.

The two stations broadcast from London on short-wave frequencies and are available online through their websites and online database Soundcloud.

“There have been attempts at broadcast interference on both radio stations by jamming from different parts of the world over the past few days. These have had limited success so far and we have been working on tracing the perpetrators,” founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.

Coordinated cyberattacks on their respective web sites were recorded all yesterday; they “came from all over, it appears, but mainly from the US and Malaysia, and our servers had to close down”, she added.

The Sarawak Report web site, the first launched by Rewcastle-Brown, similarly came under attack but was holding out.

“I think that all such attacks only show the weaknesses of the people behind them, who are evidently so dishonest and fearful that they resort to these underhand tactics against even the slightest attempt at a free broadcast media.

“The BN is throwing in very large sums of money to suppress our voice, but all the BN is doing is demonstrating to the world that its pretence of holding a democratic, free and fair election is a sham,” Rewcastle-Brown said.

“If these two radio stations are doing nothing else, they are showing Malaysia’s BN coalition for what it really is to the rest of the world.”

Podcasts of Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Free Malaysia programmes are, however, still available at Soundcloud, the online audio database, the Malaysiakini report said.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 8:45 am and is filed under
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Malaysia’s Multi-Ethnic Coalition Near Collapse

by
John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

05 April 2013

UMNO may have to go it alone as Chinese, Indian parties crumble

Regardless of who wins Malaysia’s 13th* general election, expected to be held on April 27, the historic multi-ethnic coalition that has ruled the country since independence will have likely collapsed.

“Whatever the results, the Barisan coalition will cease to exist as we know it because the Malaysian Chinese Association, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian Congress will be wiped out,” a Kuala Lumpur-based businessman told Asia Sentinel. “Assuming UMNO forms the government with Sabah and Sarawak parties, there will be no Chinese and Indian representatives in the government. And that is not a good scenario to have.”

The Barisan and the opposition, made up of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat headed by Anwar Ibrahim, the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party and the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia are embroiled in what is being called the closest election in the country’s history, with both sides predicting victory. One opposition strategist said the race would probably come down to a margin of 10 seats either way in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, or parliament.

For most of the time from its 1957 inception as an independent nation, the country has been governed by a carefully engineered amalgam of ethnic parties led by the United Malays National Organization, the Malaysian Chinese Association, the Malaysian Indian Congress and, to a lesser extent, Gerakan, which has faded in recent years.

However, in the debacle of the 2008 election, the MCA was left with just 15 seats in parliament. Gerakan, the second mostly Chinese ethnic party, ended up with just two seats. The MIC was left with three. UMNO won 78.

In the upcoming polls, political analysts say the MCA could see its total seats fall to just one or two, roiled as the party is by years of major scandals and political infighting that once impelled one of the contending factions to secretly film party leader Chua Soi Lek having a sex romp in a hotel room in a vain effort to drive him from politics. The resurgent opposition Democratic Action Party expects to claim the vast majority of Chinese voters. Gerakan, whose base is in Penang, which is controlled by the DAP, could be wiped out completely, the analysts say. The MIC is equally riven by scandal and infighting, with its members and leadership gravitating away towards the Hindu Rights Action Force, or Hindraf.

This is not a scenario conjured up by the opposition. It has been discussed within UMNO councils for months as the party has watched the other components of the Barisan drift into disaster. It is at least partly responsible for the rise in race-baiting in recent months as UMNO and its attack-dog ancillaries such as the Malay supremacy NGO Perkasa raise the spectre that ethnic Chinese, and particularly Chinese Christians in a Muslim country, will take over the reins of power.

Ethnic Malays make up 50.4 percent of the population, Chinese 24 percent and Indians 7.1 percent, according to the CIA World Factbook. UMNO sees its chance to keep its leadership of the country intact by winning every available ethnic Malay vote and hopefully luring ethnic Indians back into the fold.

Thus indigenous tribes, most of them in East Malaysia, with 11 percent of the population, probably hold the key to the 2013 election, most political analysts feel. The states of Sabah and Sarawak and the federal territory of Labuan control 57 of the 222 seats. The 165 peninsular seats are almost equally divided between the Barisan and Pakatan Rakyat.

As the MCA in particular descended into chaos, an UMNO operative told Asia Sentinel months ago that UMNO basically decided it would have to go it alone in the 13th general election. While the other ethnic parties will field candidates in the election, UMNO will try to take as many constituencies dominated by ethnic Malays as possible and hope the component parties can have some impact.

If not, the 57 East Malaysia seats — depending on how the parties controlled by the current chief ministers fare in the election — will control peninsular Malaysia’s destiny. In both Sarawak and Sabah, the bonds of loyalty that keep elected lawmakers tied to particular parties are slippery indeed. In one case in the 1980s, when the opposition unexpectedly took control of the statehouse in Kota Kinabalu, the victorious coalition locked their winning members behind a chain link fence to keep them from being bribed away by the losers.

Should the collapse scenario actually take place, it will produce a “mono-ethnic and unelectable opposition that will be constrained to the Malay belt” in the Peninsula, where 20 million of the 28 million Malaysians make their home — without the help of the East Malaysian states. Both chief ministers have been implicated, although not indicted, in scandals involving untold amounts of money in bribery for timber sales. They would be pleased to talk to the opposition in exchange for immunity from prosecution.

If UMNO is to rebuild the coalition, win or lose it means its gamble to conduct the election by appealing to the fears or prejudices of its Malay constituency has failed the country at large, and that it must regain the trust of the complex ethnic mosaic that makes up the rest of the country.

“What’s left is UMNO seats, high Malay-majority seats,” said an opposition political operative. “They might be propped up with some Malay seats in Sarawak, and some Sabah UMNO seats. If they lose, they would have to reconstitute. They have to start moderating their line and to try to get back the support of the minorities. Assuming they hold power, I would assume over the next five years they would have to reconstitute.”

It is unsure what the implications are for Malaysian society as a whole. Tension has simmered for decades, since 1969 riots took the lives of hundreds on both sides of the ethnic divide, exacerbated by the New Economic Policy created in 1971 to give economically disadvantaged rural Malays a leg up. Malays get the majority of government jobs and places in universities. The country has been on a 30-year campaign to ensure rising ethnic Malay ownership of the commanding heights of the business community.

So-called Ali Baba companies dot the landscape, with the “Ali” being an ethnic Malay usually sitting behind a polished and empty desk, while “Babas,” a nickname for Straits-born Chinese, run the business from the backroom. Billions have been wasted on government-linked companies given to UMNO cronies to run into the ground. An explosive report by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists released today said as much as RM200 billion* was funneled out of Malaysia last year to Singapore, an astonishing burst of capital flight.

“Malaysia’s system of holding back the dynamic Indian and Chinese minorities has turned it into a bastion of mediocrity in a fast-growing region,” Wall Street Journal columnist Hugo Restall wrote in an editorial today. “The country’s best and brightest leave because the cronyism and racial quotas in education and employment hold them back.”

*Corrections. Typo. Originally read 12th general election. Originally read US$200 billion. We apologize for the errors.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 10:36 am and is filed under
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Penang dances to opposition’s tune in poll battle

By
Jeremy Grant
 in Penang

Financial Times

When Korean rapper Psy performed at a Chinese New Year concert in Penang recently, it was not only a sign of the singer’s crowd-pulling power in Malaysia.

The gig was hosted by the Penang branch of Barisan Nasional, the country’s governing coalition. Barisan clearly hoped to inject some “gangnam style” into its campaigning as the political temperature heats up ahead of a general election in this multi-ethnic nation of 28m, expected within weeks.

The poll will be the closest fought since Malaysian independence from Britain in 1957. Psy’s appearance has helped thrust Penang, on Malaysia’s western coast, into the limelight as Barisan faces an intense, and many believe unwinnable, battle to take it back.

For Barisan’s dominant member, the United National Malays Organisation (Umno) of prime minister Najib Razak, Penang was a painful loss at the last election in 2008, when it was snatched by the Democratic Action Party, the opposition’s ethnic Chinese party.

That catapulted its leader, Lim Guan Eng, to the post of chief minister. Mr Lim, 52, is no favourite of the ruling coalition in Kuala Lumpur, the federal capital. He twice spent time in jail, once under a now-repealed internal security act in connection with race riots, and again in 1998.

Mr Lim remains one of the opposition’s most effective public speakers, regularly appearing alongside Anwar Ibrahim, leader of the opposition coalition, and making lacerating attacks on the government in a weekly blog.

For Umno, the party of the Malay majority population, this might not matter if Penang was an economic and political backwater. But the state is one of the most developed of Malaysia’s 13 states, with the third largest economy after Selangor and Kuala Lumpur.

Its 1.6m population is dominated by ethnic Chinese, an important constituency because they make up a quarter of the national population. Awkwardly for Barisan as it tries to shore up support wherever it can get it, they have deserted the ruling coalition since the last election amid disappointment that more has not been done to roll back policies favouring majority Malays.

Mr Lim, an economics graduate of Australia’s Monash University and qualified accountant, has managed to turn Penang around, transforming the “Pearl of the Orient” – as Penang was known in British colonial times – with little help from the federal authorities.

His track record in Penang is likely to become a valuable tool for the opposition as it campaigns nationally, providing a counter to criticism from Barisan that the opposition’s lack of experience in government means it can’t be trusted with the stewardship of Malaysia.

“Penang is a shining example of economic recovery and doing so in a more or less non-corrupt manner,” says Oh Ei Sun, senior fellow at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.

In his office, Mr Lim displays toy stuffed cats on a shelf next to official photographs – a play on an acronym he adopted on taking office. “Our motto is ‘CAT’ – competency, accountability and transparency,” he says. “We’ve run this state better than they [federal government parties] did for the last 50 years.”

After years of manufacturing decline Penang has not only reversed an exodus of foreign investors to rival locations in Thailand and Vietnam, but has managed to attract more than any other state except Johor, in the south, and Kuala Lumpur.

Foreign investors have committed an average M$5bn (US$1.6bn) a year to projects in Penang since Mr Lim took office. That is a 48 per cent improvement on the amount the state attracted in the five years preceding his term, according to federal government data.

Most of the investment in manufacturing – which makes up half of Penang’s economy – goes to electronics. In a sign of Penang’s increasing links to global supply chains, DHL, the express delivery company, last month boosted capacity at its Penang hub by 30 per cent.

Mr Lim attributes some of this success to his efforts to sell Penang as a “basically corruption-free” state. He and his top officials declare their assets annually online – a rarity in Malaysia where the line between personal and government business is often blurred.

“We are the only state in the country that declares our assets publicly,” Mr Lim says. “It’s simple stuff: separation of powers, making sure you have policies on internal controls. You don’t need to be a rocket scientist.”

In Penang city itself, there is evidence of a revival as tourism has flourished. many of the once-crumbling facades of George Town, a district packed with 19th century “shophouses”, are being converted into boutique hotels.

Mr Lim says the revival has happened in spite of an “obstructionist” federal government that refuses to approve funding for infrastructure or expansion of public transport.

Barisan has tried to exploit recent data showing a 73 per cent slump in combined foreign and local manufacturing investment in Penang last year, compared to 2011.

However InvestPenang, an agency that handles inward investment, argues that the fall was partly caused by a global slowdown in the electronics industry.

Barisan has also accused the opposition of going into the election campaign having still not named a shadow cabinet. However Lim says: “Our experiences in Penang have shown that while there was no shadow minister, when the time came we could appoint the [chief] minister – and do a good job.”

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 7:30 pm and is filed under
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Should we pity MCA?

by
Stanley Koh

Free Malaysia Today

April 8, 2013

A party strongman pleads for voters’ mercy, but some people believe that hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny are unpardonable.

COMMENT

Not for the first time in its recent history, MCA is now reduced to begging for votes.

“I hope the people will give us some votes. Don’t make us eat egg,” party vice-president Donald Lim said in a recent interview with Oriental News Daily, a Chinese language online newspaper.

He claimed that MCA, despite its disastrous showing in the 2008 election, had spent the last five years working hard to regain voter support, implying that it deserved pity, if not appreciation.

Lim’s plea was directed primarily at voters in Selangor, where he is MCA’s state liaison chief, but the humble pie he ate came from the same oven that baked the one Ong Ka Chuan felt compelled to swallow just before the 2008 election, when he was the party’s secretary-general.

Addressing voters in Perak’s Kinta Valley, Ong said: “If you have five people in your household, I plead with you to give one vote to MCA.”

According to English theologian Frederick William Robertson (1816-1853), there are three things that deserve no mercy: hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny.

Many of MCA’s detractors would say that the party has been guilty of all three sins.

In 1986, the party’s think-tank pointed out the need for electoral reforms, arguing that Barisan Nasional’s gerrymandering of electoral constituencies made a mockery of the one-man-one-vote principle.

What has MCA, as Umno’s oldest partner in BN, done to press for reform from this unjust system? Nothing.

The party’s leaders have not lifted a finger in defence of democratic values, but have certainly been raising their hands in support of constitutional amendments to legalise and perpetuate this injustice. They did this in 1973 and again in 1994.

Current party president Dr Chua Soi Lek has even openly rejected accusations that the electoral system was unfair and accused Pakatan Rakyat and polls watchdog Bersih of lying about irregularities in the voter rolls.

Special relationship

Yet Chua, who has sat in many MCA steering committees over the years, is fully aware that the party leadership has been working in cahoots with Umno, which has a special relationship with the Election Commission.

The minutes of MCA meetings on the delineating of constituencies over the years would give ample proof that the party’s state leaders have been working hand in glove with the various chief ministers and menteris besar to preserve BN’s strategic election interests.

Instead of answering the public’s call for fairness and a just electoral system, the MCA has been ditching democratic principles and values for its own interests.

In 2001, when Chinese NGOs and community leaders pleaded with the party leadership not to acquire Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press, did MCA listen? Did it care for the Chinese community’s interest in the strengthening of democratic institutions, including a free press?

Chua, who was then a member of the party’s central committee, fully supported the move to acquire the Chinese newspapers.

Last month, commenting on DAP’s strategy of moving its representatives out of their traditional seats, Chua said they were “running away” because they had failed to serve their constituents.

Has he forgotten about the 1990 general election, when then party president Dr Ling Liong Sik shifted from Bagan to Labis?

At the time of Ling’s switch, Chinese voters made up 63% of the Bagan electorate, but only 46% in Labis. He did win in Labis, but only 15% of the Chinese voted for him.

It is already common knowledge that MCA cannot survive without the support of the Malays, or rather Umno, as figures from past general elections indicate. No wonder many current MCA leaders behave as if they owe more gratitude to Umno leaders than to the voting public.

A political image is like a cement mix, according to American politician Walter Mondale. “When it’s wet, you can move it around and shape it. But at some point in time, it hardens and there’s almost nothing you can do to reshape it.”

This is the predicament facing MCA. The voting support from the Chinese community is at its weakest, and the public is eager to see whether the party will, as Chua has pledged, withdraw from active governance in the event that it performs worse than in 2008.

If MCA has been deaf to the public’s pleading against its support of the hundreds of constitutional amendments that facilitate power abuse, why should the public now listen to its pleas?

As a consolation to Donald Lim, we should remind him that eggs are nutritious, after all. Utter defeat may be just what MCA needs in order to reform itself.

Stanley Koh is a former head of MCA’s research unit. He is now a FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 8 April 2013, 10:45 am and is filed under
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