Racism must be rejected by the people

by
Ravinder Singh

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 1 — Actions speak louder than words. BN’s words splattered all over the landscape proclaim 1Malaysia, which people have been made to believe is about all races and religions living as one big family while practicing their own religions and cultures. However, its recent actions show the hidden agenda behind the facade. The ugly head of racism has been put up for all to see.

The appearance of BN billboards with the extremely racist message “Do you want to see your grandchildren praying in this Allah’s house?” is something all peace-loving Malaysians of all racial and religious backgrounds must condemn. I’m sure many Malays too do not condone this racial bigotry of stirring up racial feelings for the sake of winning elections.

Such billboards could not have gone up if the head of the BN had firmly given instructions that religious and racial issues were not to be used for campaigning. On the contrary, that BN campaigners have boldly put up such boards is evidence that they have the tacit blessings of their head and of personalities such as Dr. M and Ibrahim Ali of Perkasa to whom 1Malaysia means 1 race, 1 religion, 1 language and 1 culture. Dr M had not minced his words when saying that other races in a country must assimilate and become one with the main race and religion in the country.

It was the head of the BN who had proclaimed that he and his party would defend Putrajaya at all costs, even with crushed bodies and broken bones. So are they hoping to bring about crushed bodies and broken bones by stirring up racial and religious strife?

This shows the hypocrisy of the BN leaders, particularly the head of the BN. Could Najib please tell Malaysians whether Malays had never attended Christian Mission Schools in the past, and if they did, how many were converted to Christianity?

To my knowledge, many of the UMNO people themselves, some of whom became leaders of the country, and many other Malays who became top civil servants or some big guys in the private sector, had had their education in the Christian mission schools in Malaysia. Those Malays who attended school overseas, particularly the UK, did not attend Islamic schools but Christian schools. How many of them became Christians?

I can vouch for it that the missionary teachers in schools never tried to convert any non-Christians to become Christians, and neither did any Malay children in these schools convert to Christianity although they were exposed to Christianity daily for the many years they were in these schools.

Having spent the first three years in a Malay school, many of my Malay classmates and I moved to a Christian missionary school (the only English medium school in the district at that time) to continue our education in English. We were put in a special stream as we did not know a word of English though we were in Std. 4. The class was known as Special Malay One, or SM1. Following year, SM2, then Std. 6. From form 1 they were mixed with children who had started Std. 1 in English.

These Malay children became proficient both in Malay and English. They did well in life as civil servants, some held very senior positions; some went into the private sector and others into politics. Every morning they had stood respectfully for the Christian prayer to be recited before classes commenced, just like the doa recited in National schools. I don’t know of anyone of them who converted to Christianity. They did not have any negative words for the Christians.

Some politicians have gone too far in condemning others in trying to get support. They are openly and freely breaking the law on racial sensitivities. Leaving alone the man-made law (the Penal Code), can they, as Muslims, show us where in Islam are they allowed to create racial and religious strife between people who are living peacefully. Najib’s silence on this can only mean that he condones what his party members are doing.

Those politicians and parties that do not reject racism, but embrace it for personal purposes, must be rejected by peace-loving Malaysians. Malaysia can only be a better place without such racial bigots in politics in a multi-racial country.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 1 May 2013, 5:11 pm and is filed under
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3Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day:  Jadikan 5 Mei sebagai hari menamatkan fitnah 13 Mei dan pembohongan perkauman UMNO-BN

Jadikan 5 Mei sebagai hari menamatkan fitnah 13 Mei dan pembohongan perkauman UMNO-BN. Hanya dengan memilih Pakatan Rakyat – PAS, PKR dan DAP – rakyat Malaysia dapat membuka lembaran baru untuk mendedahkan apa yang benar dan apa yang fitnah.

Golongan yang memfitnah saya dengan tuduhan menjadi dalang peristiwa 13 Mei 1969 masih terus berbuat demikian tanpa sebarang tindakan tegas daripada pihak yang berkuasa, termasuk daripada Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan calon saingan saya bagi Parlimen Gelang Patah, Dato Abdul Ghani Othman.

Golongan yang memfitnah saya telah memutarbelitkan fakta untuk mengelirukan pengundi, terutamanya orang Melayu, dengan mengapi-apikan sentimen perkauman. Mereka menyangka rakyat Malaysia masih hidup dalam tahun-tahun 1960-an yang mudah terpengaruh dengan emosi kaum.

Oleh itu, saya dengan rendah diri, memohon agar semua pengundi Malaysia menjatuhkan hukuman berat kepada golongan penyebar fitnah ini bersama dengan para pemimpin yang merestui perbuatan keji mereka dalam PRU ini. Caranya mudah sahaja, semua pengundi perlu membuat pilihan bijak dengan mengundi mana-mana calon Pakatan Rakyat di seluruh negara pada hari mengundi 5 Mei ini.

Seperti mana yang saya jelaskan semalam, dengan mandat baru oleh pengundi Malaysia, saya akan mencadangkan kepada Parlimen dan Kerajaan Persekutuan di bawah pimpinan Pakatan Rakyat supaya menubuhkan satu Suruhanjaya Bebas Parlimen untuk menyiasat apa, mengapa dan siapa punca sebenar berlakunya tragedi 13 Mei 1969.

Ini adalah penting kerana sampai sekarang tiada siapa yang tahu mengapa, apa dan siapa yang menjadi punca peristiwa 13 Mei itu. Lagi pun, kerajaan UMNO-BN selama ini tidak mempedulikan cadangan itu. Malah, pimpinan UMNO-BN terus membenarkan penyokong mereka menabur fitnah menuduh saya menjadi dalang peristiwa itu.

PRU ini bukan lagi sekadar persaingan di antara Pakatan Rakyat dengan Barisan Nasional. PRU ini adalah perjuangan di antara seluruh RAKYAT Malaysia menentang BN yang semakin teruk korupsi mereka dan tidak boleh lagi dipulihkan keangkuhan kuasa mereka.

Dengan itu, saya menyerus supaya semua pengundi membuat pilihan yang bijak, terbaik dan amat penting untuk diri, keluarga dan masyarakat serta masa depan anak-anak kita pada hari Ahad 5 Mei ini untuk membuka satu lembaran baru untuk Malaysia.

Ubah! Ini kali lah!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 May 2013, 3:41 pm and is filed under
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Gelang perkauman patah di Gelang Patah

Oleh
Rahmat Haron
 | 12:56PM Apr 18 2013

Malaysiakini

Laporan maharaja lawak ‘April Fool’ yang lalu memberitakan khabar mantan perdana menteri Dr Mahathir Mohamad menyeru rakyat Johor menjadikan pertandingan PRU13 kerusi Parlimen Gelang Patah sebagai kubur kerjaya politik tokoh veteran DAP Lim Kit Siang.

Malah ke tahap melampau, Dr Mahathir membakar api perkauman dengan menyatakan kemenangan Lim Kit Siang akan mengakibatkan perseteruan antara kaum.

Menteri besar kerajaan sementara Johor Abdul Ghani Othman pula menambah rencah menjadi wira Melayu kununnya dengan berkata kemenangan Lim Kit Siang bakal menggugah keharmonian kaum di Johor.

Gelang Patah menjadi ‘kubur’ Lim Kit Siang merupakan suatu saranan yang teramat munasabah untuk politik tahun 1983. Di zaman kebenaran paling muktamad hanya didapatkan daripada tiga saluran tivi warna, dengan imej wajah ‘dewanya’ tidak lain dan tidak bukan ialah Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Tetapi pada tahun 2013 ini, di zaman pencerahan Internet, ia menampakkan sikap yang menggelabah. Kerana maklumat dan pengetahuan telah pun mematahkan gari ideologi, gelang perkauman yang merantai kita selama ini. Orang sudah tahu.

Cukup bedebah sekalian kita, manusia Melayu terutamanya, kerana puncanya telah pun tertulis pada tembok grafiti dalam babak filem Kembara Seniman Jalanan arahan Nasir Jani, terbit tahun 1986. Contengan di dinding kota bertulis, “Ke mana lesapnya RM 2.5 bilion duit Bank Bumiputera?”

Kita juga telah mendengar lagu dendangan penyanyi Ito, di tahun 1998 dengan judul
Raggae Jalil Ibrahim
, tentang “kezaliman di bumi tersayang, haruskah berdiam, kita biarkan.”

Kita perlu memahami bagaimana politik-ekonomi Mahathirisme bekerja. Di sini, Mahathirisme bukanlah semata-mata seorang manusia tetapi idea dan fahaman seorang manusia yang telah menjadi sistem dalam jaringan kerja dan struktur organisasi kuasa serta budaya yang rumit.

Malah kini, struktur dan sistem organisasi kuasa itu sedang menemui jalan buntu dengan perebutan yang bertambah sengit, malah di kalangan sesama mereka sendiri.

Politik-ekonomi Mahathirisme bekerja dengan perkakas-perkakas institusi awam yang tidak demokratik, mengamalkan ekonomi kapitalisme semu – kroni monopoli, penuh rasuah dan pecah amanah, menipu pilihan raya, dengan rekod demokrasi dan pelanggaran hak asasi manusia yang buruk.

‘The Banker Who Knew Too Much’

Kerana jika kita memahami Mahathirisme kita akan faham bahawa segala cakap-cakap tentang semangat Melayu/ Islam, hak istimewa orang Melayu/ Islam, kepentingan Melayu/ Islam, bumiputera, dasar ekonomi baru dan sebagainya itu hanyalah belit, ‘gormal’, penipuan, gebang kosong yang hanya berjaya dilakukan pada era penguasaan media tivi.

April tahun lalu, saluran tivi AETN – Crime & Investigation, Asia menayangkan sebuah dokumentari berjudul “The Banker Who Knew Too Much.”

Penerbitan dokumentari ini akan membawa kita memahami kepura-puraan Dr Mahathir dan mereka yang berpegang pada ideologi perkauman sempit yang kununnya berteraskan kebudayaan dan tata negara Melayu itu. Kununnya, didongengkan kekayaan negara perlu dimiliki hanya oleh orang-orang Melayu.

Filem dokumentari itu merungkai kes pembunuhan misteri akauntan muda, juruaudit Bank Bumiputera pada tahun 1983.

Jalil sebenarnya ditugaskan untuk mengaudit akaun anak syarikat Bank Bumiputera di Hong Kong, iaitu Bank Bumiputera Finance (BMF). Sewaktu di Hong Kong, Almarhum Jalil mendapati banyak keraguan terhadap cara BMF memberi pinjaman.

Beliau mendapati hampir kesemua pinjaman BMF disalurkan kepada syarikat-syarikat milik Carrian Group. Carrian Group pula dimiliki oleh George Tan, ahli perniagaan Hong Kong, etnik Cina, warga negara Singapura, kelahiran Malaysia.

Dalam dokumentari The Banker Who Knew Too Much itu kita didedahkan bahawa Carrian Group sebenarnya hanyalah rumah untuk merompak duit Bank Bumiputera. Kerana tanpa pinjaman Bank Bumiputera tidak mungkin ada Carrian Group dan George Tan.

(Untuk butiran lanjut kejadian kes pembunuhan itu, silakan menonton sendiri di
YouTube
)

Bank Bumiputera ditubuhkan pada tahun 1966 bermatlamatkan kununnya membantu orang-orang Melayu dan Bumiputera Malaysia.

Tetapi akhirnya Bank Bumiputera dibankrapkan kerana memberi pinjaman terhadap George Tan, dan nyawa seorang tokoh Melayu muda, Almarhum Jalil Ibrahim telah pun diragut oleh seorang ahli perniagaan Klang – yang tiada kaitan dengan Bank Bumiputera dan BMF – bernama Mark Foon Tan.

Bukan gila, tapi terkutuk

Malah seperti kes pembunuhan mendiang Altantuya, pembunuh yang disabitkan kesalahan juga tiada motif.

Lihatlah asas perkauman Mahathirisme. Ia hanya pada lidah menghasut dan lidah itu semakin kelu kerana perbuatan, perlakuan dan rekod sejarah menunjukkan sebaliknya.

Kerana hari ini, orang akan bertanya, jika benar Melayunya kenapa Almarhum Jalil, seorang Melayu dibunuh, kenapa diberi pinjaman yang banyak kepada syarikat Carrian Group, milik George Tan, seorang etnik Cina sehingga membankrapkan Bank Bumiputera, kunun milik Melayu itu?

Kebankrapan syarikat Carrian Group merupakan rekod bankrap paling besar, di Hong Kong sehingga ke hari ini, di Timur dan di Dunia pada waktu itu. Ia melibatkan kerugian bernilai lebih AS$1 bilion pada 1983.

Ya, pada waktu itu tahun 1983, tahun sebahagian besar umat Melayu masih percaya pada penipuan propaganda tivi dan menerimanya sebagai kebenaran. Sehinggakan imej propaganda terhadap Lim Kit Siang pada waktu itu jatuh ke tahap sentimen kebencian kaum.

Dimainkan momokan Cina kafir, pengikut komunis Chin Peng, si pemakan babi bermata sepet yang niatnya mahu merampas hak-hak orang Melayu dan akhirnya memerintah Malaysia menjadi negara komunis sama seperti di China.

Kini, di tahun 2013, apakah kita masih lagi percaya, bahawa golongan perompak Bank Bumiputera itulah yang akan menyelamatkan umat Melayu Malaysia, setelah terang jelas juga rekod-rekod pengkhianatan dan kemusnahan yang disebabkan golongan ini?

Sehingga saat ini, kerajaan Malaysia masih belum memulakan apa-apa siasatan dan pendakwaan terhadap pembunuhan Almarhum Jalil dan skandal BMF ini, setelah 30 tahun kes berlalu.

Umat Melayu, bertanyalah diri dengan jujur, adakah kita tetap akan berkata, Lim Kit Siang itu rasis perkauman walau beliau pernah memperjuangkan isu skandal kebangkrapan BMFdan pembunuhan Almarhum Jalil Ibrahim di Parlimen Malaysia?

Jika jawapannya masih lagi ya, makna kata kita bukan sahaja gila, malah terkutuk!

RAHMAT HARON seorang seniman ‘outsider’. Artikel ini pandangan peribadi penulis dan tidak semestinya melambangkan pendirian rasmi rasmi Malaysiakini.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 May 2013, 11:17 pm and is filed under
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Gerakan stalwart backs Hadi’s May 13 stand

Malaysiakini

May 1, 2013

A Gerakan veteran emerged today to back PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, who accused Umno of masterminding the May 13 racial riots in 1969.

Hadi told a political rally in Kuala Kangsar, Perak, on Monday that the bloody racial riots 44 years ago were orchestrated by Umno to cling on to power.

“May 13 was not an ethnic phenomenon. It was a political occurrence,” former Gerakan leader Goh Cheng Teik told Malaysiakini.

“Only those who were members of Umno or associated with it were involved. PAS members had nothing to do with May 13.”

Goh, 70, who served as a deputy minister and a Penang executive councillor 25 years, had done extensive research on the riots when he was a lecturer at Universiti Malaya and published a book, ‘The May Thirteenth Incident and Democracy in Malaysia’, in 1971.

He joined politics three years later and was appointed parliamentary secretary to then prime minister Abdul Razak Hussein.

According to Goh, the riots in Kuala Lumpur started even before the counter-procession was held by Umno in response to opposition victory marches in the wake of the unprecedented gains by PAS, DAP and Gerakan in the 1969 general election.

“Members, supporters and well-wishers of a ruling party that prides itself in upholding the rule of law rioted before the start of a ‘victory’ procession in front of the official residence of the state chief minister,” he said.

A day of shame and sorrow

Goh still believes there was no need for the nationwide declaration of the State of Emergency as the violence was localised, much like the recent militant incursion into Lahad Datu in Sabah, and argued that the riots were mostly politically-driven.

NONE”That is why the disturbances were not national in character, according to (then prime minister) Tunku Abdul Rahman, but virtually confined to Kuala Lumpur.

“No serious breach of the peace or act of violence took place in any other part of Peninsular Malaysia on or after May 13.”

The declaration of Emergency paved the way for the suspension of Parliament.

Goh, who holds the distinction of being Malaysia’s first Harvard scholar, is currently an adjunct professor with Sunway University.

Asked why he was speaking out on the issue now, he said young people today should know the truth behind May 13, an issue repeatedly raised in the ongoing campaign for Sunday’s general election.

“May 13 was not a day of glory for Malaysians. It was a day of shame and sorrow,” lamented Goh.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 May 2013, 6:17 am and is filed under
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The Penang effect

The Economist

Apr 28th 2013, 6:53 by Banyan | SINGAPORE

THE story of Lim Guan Eng, chief minister of the Malaysian state of Penang, tells much about how Malaysian politics has been transformed in recent years. Mr Lim heads the Democratic Action Party or DAP, a member of the three-party opposition coalition hoping to wrest power from the ruling Barisan Nasional in a general election on May 5th.

This is the first time since independence from Britain in 1957 that the opposition has a genuine—if still outside—chance of winning a federal-government election. That follows its startling advance in the previous general election in 2008, when, as this year, 12 of Malaysia’s 13 states held simultaneous elections. One of the opposition’s triumphs was to win the thriving state of Penang, an island off the west coast famous for its electronics and tourism industries.

So Mr Lim took up perhaps the highest-profile establishment position ever held by an opposition politician in Malaysia. This was quite a step up from his past as a jailbird. In 1998 he was
sentenced to 18 months in prison
 for “sedition” and “spreading false news”. The offence dated back to 1995 when he spoke out about a case in which a 15-year-old girl named 15 men with whom she had had sex. Of these 14 were charged with statutory rape. The 15th, a senior politician, was not.

Such apparent injustices seemed to run in his family. His father, Lim Kit Siang, also led the DAP, which draws most of its support from Malaysia’s ethnic-Chinese minority. He was twice jailed under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act, first in 1969, after the country suffered its worst race riots, and again in 1987 when the authoritarian prime minister of the time, Mahathir Mohamad, used a row about Chinese-language education as a pretext to lock up dozens of critics. Dr Mahathir was impervious to foreign criticism of this act of repression, and a decade later, equally indifferent to the international
outrage at Lim Guan Eng’s fate
.

The elder Mr Lim is also back on the stump for this election, contesting a seat in one of  Barisan’s strongholds, the southern state of Johor. The Lims are able to point to Penang to counter one of the government’s most strident arguments: that the opposition is untested in office, rash in its promises and  its victory would be followed by a collapse in investor confidence. In fact, under the DAP, Penang has
impressed outside observers
. The opposition’s confidence that it will win the federal election may be for show. But the certainty the DAP expresses about retaining Penang seems real.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 2 May 2013, 4:18 pm and is filed under
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2-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day: Hari Kebebasan Akhbar Sedunia pada hari ini 3 Mei 2013 dicemari di Malaysia dengan semua media arus perdana berkempen untuk Barisan Nasional serta menyebar fitnah dan pembohongan terhadap Pakatan Rakyat

Hari Kebebasan Akhbar Sedunia pada pada hari ini 3 Mei 2013 dicemari di Malaysia dengan semua media arus perdana berkempen untuk Barisan Nasional serta menyebar fitnah dan pembohongan terhadap Pakatan Rakyat.

Semua media arus perdana, sama ada Utusan Malaysia, The Star, TV3, RTM dan sebagainya, telah melanggar dan mencabul segala undang-undang, peraturan dan kod etika kewartawanan yang wujud. Dan tidak ada satu tindakan pun dikenakan oleh pihak berkuasa.

Media massa sepatutnya bersifat dan bersikap adil dan objektif. Ia tidak boleh berpihak dan ia hanya menyiarkan laporan yang benar dan berfakta tanpa rasa takut. Undang-undang tidak boleh dikenakan terhadap laporan yang tepat dan benar. Tetapi di Malaysia, semua ini telah dicabul oleh kerajaan UMNO-BN.

Saya sendiri telah menjadi mangsa fitnah dan pembohongan oleh media massa, terutamanya media berbahasa Melayu, yang menuduh saya sebagai anti- Melayu, anti-Islam dan sebagai pencetus rusuhan kaum 13 Mei 1969. Semua ini telah terbukti bohong.

Saya telah dituduh menjadi dalang 13 Mei, saya telah dituduh kencing di tiang bendera di rumah Menteri Besar Selangor dan saya dituduh menghasut rakyat pelbagai kaum untuk bergaduh. Semua ini juga telah terbukti fitnah.

Saya tidak berada di Kuala Lumpur atau di mana-mana tempat berlakunya rusuhan kaum pada  13 Mei 1969. Sebenarnya pada 13 Mei 1969, saya berada di Kota Kinabalu, Sabah untuk berkempen bagi pihak calon-calon Bebas yang sama perjuangan dengan DAP. Hal ini telah disahkan oleh pihak kerajaan, khususnya pihak polis dan Kementerian Dalam Negeri.

Namun, walaupun media massa kawalan UMNO-BN sedar tentang fakta-fakta ini, media-media tersebut terus menyiarkan fitnah dan pembohongan tanpa dikenakan sebarang tindakan oleh pihak berkuasa.

Ini membuktikan UMNO dan Barisan Nasional merestui fitnah dan pembohongan serta pelanggaran undang-undang, peraturan dan kod etika kewartawanan. Inilah yang UMNO-BN telah lakukan sejak lebih 50 tahun lalu. Mereka tidak peduli sama ada perbuatan mereka itu kotor, jijik serta tidak berakhlak.

Inilah yang telah dan yang akan terus dilakukan jika rakyat masih memilih UMNO-BN dalam PRU kali ini. Dengan itu, rakyat tidak boleh lagi menyokong parti atau kerajaan yang zalim, korup dan menyalahgunakan kuasa.

Untuk mewujudkan media yang lebih adil, bersih dan berani, semua pengundi perlu membuat pilihan yang bijak. Pakatan Rakyat – PAS, PKR dan DAP – tampil untuk menawarkan alternatif yang terbaik untuk Malaysia yang lebih adil, sihat dan makmur.

Ubah! Ini kali lah!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 3 May 2013, 5:36 pm and is filed under
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1-Day Countdown to 13GE Polling Day – Coming-of-Age of Malaysian Dream, with PR campaigning on “hope” while BN campaigning on “fear”

Let the 13th General Elections tomorrow mark the coming-of-age of the Malaysian Dream, uniting Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region, in a common national vision and destiny to build a more united, democratic, free, just, competitive and prosperous nation for all Malaysian citizens.

In my 47 years in politics, I have always regarded myself as a Malaysian first and last. I have never regarded myself purely as a Chinese, but as a Malaysian of Chinese ethnic descent whose loyalty is unswervingly to the Malaysian nation, having common cause with all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region to build a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.

Loyalty to the Malaysian nation is however not the same as loyalty to the government of the day.

It is a complete misunderstanding and misperception of the meaning of “loyalty” for the caretaker Prime Minister and Barisan Nasional leaders to equate support of the government-coalition of the day with loyalty to the nation.

Najib talks of wanting to make Malaysia the best democracy in the world, but he does not understand that it is sheer heresy in any meaningful or accepted democratic nation to equate support for the ruling party with loyalty to the country – for it negates the very meaning of the right of the electorate to periodically choose the government they want in general elections.

Malaysians who reject UMNO and the Barisan Nasional are not disloyal to Malaysia but are patriotic Malaysians exercising their constitutional and democratic right to vote and help decide the political future of the country because they have a different but very legitimate vision on what is best for Malaysia from those of UMNO/BN.

When will Najib and the UMNO/BN leaders learn and accept this rudimentary understanding of a parliamentary democracy?

In the 15-day 13GE elections, Pakatan Rakyat campaigned on hope and the politics of the future in contrast to Barisan Nasional campaign to instil fear among the the different races with completely different messages to perpetuate the racial and corrupt politics of the past.

The three trump cards of the BN campaign in the 15-day campaign period are:

1. Money, Money, Money.

2. Lies, Lies, Lies.

3. Fear, Fear, Fear.

Fifty-six years after Merdeka in 1957 and 10 general elections, the time has come for Malaysians to say good-bye to the UMNO/BN politics of the past.

Najib boasts of “transformation” but he has taken the three Umno/BN trump cards of “Money Money Money”, “Lies Lies Lies” and “Fear Fear Fear” to a new level, with the politics of money, lies and fear in the 13GE putting previous general elections to shame!

Yesterday, Betty Chew wife of Lim Guan Eng, Penang Chief Minister, led 100 Penangites in a “going bald” ceremony to express their anger, outrage and disgust with Najib’s “Money Money Money” campaign outsourced to individual tycoons and today 55 persons in South Johor (signifying 5th May, Polling Day) went bald in support of the Penang protest and to register a clear message – that not just Chinese and Penangites, but all Malaysians regardless of race and religion all over the country are angry and outraged by the indecent, disgraceful and disgusting “Money Money Money” campaign of Najib in the 13GE.

The Umno/BN triple campaign of “Money Money Money”, “Lies Lies Lies” and “Fear Fear Fear” have still to reach their full climax of show their full deviousness and evilness.

It has been bruited, for instance, that financiers of UMNO/BN have prepared a special fund to tempt and buy over successful Pakatan Rakyat candidates in the 13GE tomorrow – RM10 million for each PR MP elected and RM5 million for each PR State Assemblyman elected.

Has the UMNO/BN’s “Money Money Money”, “Lies Lies Lies” and “Fear Fear Fear” plumbed to a new low in the 13GE in the next 48 hours?

This itself justifies the call for “UBAH” in the May 5 general elections!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 4:51 pm and is filed under
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100,000 rally in Penang in wake of vote-buying claims

by
Susan Loone

Malaysiakini

8:31AM May 4, 2013

PENANG
 Pakatan Rakyat held several gatherings in Penang yesterday, including a mammoth rally at the Esplanade which was swarmed by about 100,000 people who stayed until midnight.

This is the coalition’s biggest rally on the island where it managed to collect a record RM505,000 in donations from its supporters.

 The carnival-like event, which included a stage and canopy, dozens of hawker stalls and DAP’s own merchandise sales corner, kicked off at 5pm while about 500 people watched a mini-concert by local bands such as Zombie Station, TUC, and Sweet Scream.

The open field facing the iconic British-styled Town Hall building was packed by 8pm, including youths and senior citizens, and the crowd spilled over onto the surrounding roads.

Several small separate rallies were held in front of the Town Hall and nearby Clock Tower with groups of supporters waving opposition party flags while blowing the vuvuzuela, wildly deafening to the ears.

 The overwhelming support for Pakatan dismisses fears that its candidates would lose out to BN in Penang due to alleged money politics in the form of betting, lucky draws, cash handouts, free meals and outdoor entertainment.

At one point, BN supporters also held a small protest nearby, outside the Umno Tanjung operations centre along Bishop street; but there was no report of clashes between the group and their rivals en route to the Esplanade.

The crowd was delighted when DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang took the stage, saying he should be in Gelang Patah for an event but “vote buying” tactics in the state drove him into heading  to Penang due to the

 “I feel very angry that my daughter-in-law Betty Chew and our supporters had to go bald to protest against money politics,” he said, referring to yesterday morning’s event at the Kek Lok Si Temple.

“How come our politics have descended to such a low level?” he asked. “Penangites and Malaysians are crying. Who bears the responsibility for this situation?” he queried.

The crowd shouted “Goh Choon Lye!” in reply.

Goh, a well-known property developer once known as the ‘diamond king’, was reported in the Chinese press to have dished out RM100 in cash at a 1Malaysia dinner two days ago.

The diners had reportedly rushed to get the money and the situation became so chaotic that Goh decided to set up a RM20 million charity fund instead.

However, Kit Siang reminded the crowd that it was caretaker prime minister Najib Razak who should be held responsible for vote-buying because he condoned such a blatant display of it in Penang.

“BN buying votes is an insult to Penangites. We hope on May 5, Penangites will decide to make Najib the last prime minister from BN,” he said, drawing loud applause.

Kit Siang serenades crowd

Kit Siang then broke into a classical Mandarin song titled “I have a lot of money” to express his disgust at the situation.

 Accompanying him were Pakatan leaders including DAP chairperson Karpal Singh, secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PAS deputy president Mohammed Sabu, better known as Mat Sabu, who were greeted with great enthusiasm by the mostly Chinese crowd.

Kit Siang accompanied by his son, Guan Eng, after the latter’s speech, left the ceramah venue for the airport at about 9pm to return to Gelang Patah in southern Johor where he is facing off against caretaker Johor Menteri Besar Abdul Ghani Othman.

 Mat Sabu (left) also left after his speech to be greeted by about 1,000 people in Tasek Gelugor, an Umno stronghold in Penang where PAS is seeking to wrest the parliamentary seat from its rival.

Last night’s rally was in stark contrast to a gathering held by Umno in Seberang Jaya yesterday where about 1,000 turned up to meet former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

Similarly, only about 400 attracted to a free musical concert organised by the 1Malaysia Penang Welfare Club, which is publicly aligned to Najib, at the Queensbay Mall last night.

The crowd size at the Esplanade also clearly outnumbered the 10,000 strong crowd which took part in a free dinner and mega-musical concert held by the 1Malaysia Club in honour of Najib in Rifle Range three days ago.

At the event, Najib announced the building of 9,999 low, medium-cost and affordable apartments for the local folks there.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 12:16 pm and is filed under
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13GE – Justice for Teoh Beng Hock

Malaysiakini

DAY 14

What’s happening during the election campaigns around the country today? Quotable quotes, planned events and unplanned incidents as they take place.

11.15pm – Pasir Gudang: Soh Cher Wei, the wife of political aide Teoh Beng Hock who died mysteriously at the premises of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), asks the help of the audience of some 3,000 to “lend” her their votes to seek the truth behind Teoh’s death.

Speaking at a Pakatan function for the second time after yesterday’s ceramah at Kulai, the civil servant is unfazed that action could be taken against her for speaking at Pakatan ceramah.

“I would come (and speak at Pakatan ceramah) for the third, fourth or fifth time (if I’m asked to). I don’t think they would pardon me but at least I die (penalised) for a cause.”

Soh reminds the audience that the truth is still being denied four years after Teoh died.

“I have been waiting for four years. It should not be like this.

“Yesterday at Kulai, I reminded myself not to mention BN nor the government or sensitive words if possible. Today I also reminded myself not to mention Najib so I may have a chance (not to be penalised).

“But I cannot help it. I still want to ask you, when do you want to give us the truth? You took him away, you are responsible to give us the truth,” says the teary mother.

“If your son dies, can you accept that he died for RM2,400?” she asks, wiping her tears away with a piece of tissue paper.

“Those who rear cows don’t have to die, those who purchased things with exorbitant prices don’t have to die, why does a person who bought things with only RM2,400 have to die?

“My son is already three years old, he has never seen his father, he has every right to know the truth. So Najib, return justice to us! Return the truth to us! How did Teoh die?” she queries, drawing a round of cheers from the floor.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 7:27 am and is filed under
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A changed Malaysia come May 6

By Jahabar Sadiq

Editor

The Malaysian Insider

May 04, 2013

COMMENT,
 May 4 — No matter which coalition makes the government in the early morning of May 6, one thing is certain — Malaysia has changed and it is business unusual for the new administration.

With the respected Merdeka Center for Opinion Research’s latest survey showing a dead heat between both Barisan Nasional (BN) or Pakatan Rakyat (PR), the winner’s first job is to respond to a populace that questions and demands more from its government.

Forget the docile and subservient citizenry that thought government always knew best. That worked for some 55 years but this is a new Malaysia where the people are more advanced and ambitious in thought than their politicians.

A population where pensioners and the bloated civil service are no longer a sure vote bank, where racial barriers have collapsed and people are one as Bangsa Malaysia — concerned more about the economy than the personal lives of politicians.

This single-mindedness and unity comes despite the overt racist tones in the campaign since Nomination Day on April 20 or the fear-mongering being played out by certain political parties.

The results of the latest Merdeka Center poll — 42 per cent of the voters agreeing that PR could govern the country against 41 per cent who felt only BN should rule Malaysia — reflect how far the country has come from elections where politicians just pleaded to be a strong opposition.

“Change happens all the time and in the same way that none of us can ever imagine Malaysia regressing to an age where women are not allowed access to education, we cannot ever imagine going back to a politics that is simplistic, patronising, top-down and unchallenged.

“Even the former opposition parties have learned, over the past five years, what it is really like to be in power and having to be accountable to NGOs and public opinion. It’s been a learning experience for all of us, and I believe we have grown a little wiser too,” well-known academic Dr Farish A. Noor wrote in an essay today.

That wisdom has meant that no government can now simply implement a top-down decision without being questioned by the people or told in no uncertain terms how unpopular some ideas are.

Ideas are being shared and shaped through the Internet, people, young and old, are coming together and ahead of politicians whose mindsets belong to the trunks of their forefathers who travelled in the previous century.

The old must make way for the new, just like party-owned newspapers that will be held accountable for their reportage. The days of being the only source of credible news is over for the likes of the New Straits Times, The Star, Berita Harian or Utusan Malaysia.

There is now a proliferation of news portals and growing rise of video clips that tell a story better and faster than any propagandist can. The new media has become the standard way of creating and consuming news and information, leaving in its wake shrinking audiences for newspapers and state broadcasters that refuse to step into the 21st century.

Why? Because there are more young people now than ever before. More of who want a say in their country Malaysia. More who will come to vote tomorrow as eagerly as those Malaysians abroad last Sunday.

We have changed as Malaysians. We are no longer bystanders and an audience of a national narrative written by politicians. We are the active participants shaping Malaysia’s direction and discourse, looking askance at politicians who think nothing of shifting thousands of voters across the country before the polls.

This is the new Malaysia that will vote tomorrow for a better Malaysia for all who proudly call themselves Malaysians. The Malaysia that keeps its government on its toes for fear of losing its job.

This May 6 the new government will be one that learns more from the people than it can teach the people unlike the past 55 years.

* Jahabar Sadiq runs The Malaysian Insider.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 7:46 am and is filed under
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After 56 years, will Malaysia finally get a new government?

by
HARI RAJ

Former journalist for The Star in Malaysia

Crikey

Every four or five years since they won independence from British rule in 1957, Malaysians have shuffled off to the polls. Every four or five years, they have woken up the next morning with the status quo intact. The country’s ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, has been in power for every one of the past 56 years.

Malaysia goes to the polls again on Sunday. But many of the country’s citizens are buoyed by an unfamiliar sentiment: hope for change.

In the past six years, many previously apathetic Malaysians have been politically galvanised largely by two things — the internet, which provides an unregulated forum for opposition, in stark contrast to the neutered mainstream media; and the efforts of Bersih, a non-governmental organisation preaching electoral reform that has organised three hugely successful rallies, some in the face of heavy-handed reactions from the authorities.

These contributed to the results of the 2008 election, in which Barisan Nasional lost its two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time, along with its often-exercised power to make unilateral amendments to the constitution. Next week it may lose more still, in an election expected to be the tightest in Malaysia’s history.

Rumbles of dissatisfaction have grown loud in the 15 years since Anwar Ibrahim, now the leader of the Pakatan Rakyat opposition coalition, served jail time and a decade-long ban from politics after a trumped-up sodomy conviction. Anwar was ousted from his position as then-prime minister Mahathir Mohamad’s deputy; his calls for reform, and the word itself, were turned into a slur against the government. This was reasonably successful — in a country that has only had one government and a chokehold on the media, supporting the opposition is tantamount to treason.

Online, however, the tales of corruption and abuse of power that never made it into the local papers grew into tangible, pointed coverage. Current Prime Minister Najib Razak has faced continued allegations and
international attention
 regarding his involvement in the murder of a Mongolian socialite. The family of Taib Mahmud, the Barisan Nasional-loyal chief minister of Sarawak, Malaysia’s largest state, has allegedly been profiting from
under-the-table dealings
 for decades. Teoh Beng Hock, a journalist and opposition political aide, died under
highly suspicious
 circumstances.
Gerrymandering
 is rife.

While the scandals make headlines, many Malaysians also speak of a constant stream of frustrations — from the endemic corruption that resulted in the country being ranked third in the world in terms of
illicit capital outflows
, to a sharp rise in crime rates — and the populace has grown more invested and interested in politics than ever before.

These aren’t just younger Malaysians. There will be
2.6 million first-time voters
 on Sunday, up from 638,000 new voters in 2008, a sizeable increase in a country where voting is not compulsory. Some are old, some are not, but most are better informed and more vocal than the generations that preceded them. Responding to public pressure, Malaysia has opened up postal voting to all eligible citizens living overseas. Previously available to only a select few, the million or so Malayians living overseas were able to have their say on April 28.

In Melbourne, home to the largest Malaysian community in Australia, about 1700 Malaysians registered to vote at the consulate on St Kilda Road. Some queued for hours, or travelled to the other consulates in Perth and Canberra; one man flew from
Sydney to Perth
 to vote because of a mix-up on the electoral roll.

There are an abundance of Facebook and YouTube postings from Malaysians abroad travelling home to vote and exhorting others to do so. The government’s unsubtle efforts to
purchase votes
 have also been enshrined on social media —
anonymous texts
 and pre-recorded phone calls urging support for Barisan Nasional,
cash handouts
, and a performance by Korean superstar PSY that ended up as a
public embarassment
 for Najib.

More recently, there have been accusations that
illegal immigrants have received citizenship
 on the condition they vote the government back in to power. The latter carries with it the unsavoury undertone of
racial prejudice
 that still haunts Malaysian politics — there are Right-leaning elements in both the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat coalitions, and tit-for-tat social media campaigns pointing this out have done neither side any favours. Also worrying was
an explosion at a Barisan Nasional operations centre
 that injured one person.

Still, more prosaic concerns over Sunday’s elections remain — lingering fears over tampered ballots, phantom voters, and that new favourite national oxymoron,
delible indelible ink
. The opposition has called for reform, away from cronyism and corruption. The
government has tweaked
 draconian internal security and media laws.

Come Monday, Malaysians will have decided what flavour of change they desire.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 3:52 pm and is filed under
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DAP mempertahankan kedudukan istimewa Melayu; jangan terpedaya dengan fitnah UMNO-BN

DAP mempertahankan kedudukan istimewa Melayu; jangan terpedaya dengan fitnah UMNO-BN. Saya merayu kepada semua pengundi Malaysia, terutamanya orang Melayu, supaya menolak fitnah dan pembohongan tentang diri saya dan DAP.

Sebagaimana yang saya jelaskan sebelum ini, saya tidak terlibat dengan peristiwa 13 Mei 1969. Saya tidak pernah berada di Kuala Lumpur pada 13 Mei 1969 kerana saya berada di Kota Kinabalu, Sabah pada masa itu. Hakikat tentang perkara ini ada dalam rekod pihak berkuasa polis dan Kementerian Dalam Negeri.

Dengan itu, sebarang pembohongan tentang saya berada di Kuala Lumpur untuk mencetuskan rusuhan atau menjadi dalang peristiwa 13 Mei adalah fitnah semata-mata. Jangan percaya perkara karut ini, terimalah kebenaran yang hakiki.

Satu lagi fitnah yang terus dilemparkan kepada DAP ialah kononnya DAP mahu menghapuskan hak orang Melayu. Ini juga tidak masuk akal, tidak bertanggungjawab dan sangat rasis. Ia amat berbahaya untuk perpaduan kaum di Malaysia.

Saya ingin menjelaskan sekali lagi bahawa DAP sebagai sebuah parti politik yang taat kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan sistem Raja Berperlembagaan sentiasa akur dan menghormati Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Saya harap tiada siapa yang akan percaya kononnya DAP adalah parti cauvinis yang mahu merosakkan negara dan menghapuskan hak orang Melayu. Jika kita berfikir sejenak, sudah tentu mana-mana parti yang berniat jahat seperti itu sudah lama diharamkan oleh kerajaan.

DAP menerima, menghormati dan mempertahankan kedudukan istimewa orang Melayu dan Bumiputra serta hak-hak sah kaum-kaum lain seperti yang termaktub dalam Perkara 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

DAP menerima, menghormati dan mempertahankan Islam sebagai agama rasmi Malaysia dan memelihara kebebasan beragama untuk agama-agama lain seperti yang termaktub dalam Perkara 3 dan Perkara 11 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

DAP menerima, menghormati dan mempertahankan Bahasa Melayu sebagai Bahasa Kebangsaan, seperti yang termaktub dalam Perkara 152 Perlembagaan Persekutuan, dan DAP juga menggalakkan penggunaan dan pengajian bahasa-bahasa ibunda lain di kalangan pelbagai kaum di Malaysia, termasuk Iban, Kadazandusun, Tamil, Cina dan lain-lain.

Inilah kebenaran yang hakiki yang tidak boleh dipertikaikan oleh sesiapa pun. DAP dan Pakatan Rakyat telah lama menjadi mangsa politik rakus, zalim dan kejam UMNO-BN. Masanya telah tiba untuk rakyat Malaysia bersuara dengan tegas. Semoga kita dapat menerima kebenaran dan menolak fitnah.

Ubah! Ini kalilah!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 4:21 pm and is filed under
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Elections in Malaysia: “Ubah” you can believe in?

The Economist

May 4th 2013 | PENANG |From the print edition

“NO TO racism, no to corruption,” bellows Anwar Ibrahim from a stage in front of 50,000 delirious supporters, braving heavy rain to acclaim their idol in Penang. It is the last week of campaigning before Malaysia’s general election on May 5th and the leader of the opposition has been criss-crossing the country to shore up his support and make inroads into government territory. The task before Mr Anwar (pictured) is one of the most daunting in the annals of modern democracy: to unseat the world’s longest continually elected governing coalition, the Barisan Nasional (BN). It has ruled Malaysia since independence from Britain in 1957.

He will never have a better chance than now. In the latest poll, in 2008, Mr Anwar’s Pakatan Rakyat coalition won five out of 12 state contests and for the first time robbed BN of its two-thirds majority in parliament. This time it could be closer. Mr Anwar’s rallying-cry of “ubah”, meaning “change”, has captured a widespread feeling among younger, mostly urban and increasingly affluent voters that their country requires fundamental restructuring to break out of the “middle-income trap”, to move away from the race-based politics of BN, and to become a modern democracy. No fewer than 2.6m new voters have registered (out of a total of 13.3m). Their tweets and texts will have a vital say in the outcome of the election.

Mr Anwar’s problem, though, is that the prime minister, Najib Razak, is wooing exactly the same voters by campaigning for much the same vision—a “transformation” he calls it—and he is doing it even more effectively. Over the past two years Mr Najib has repealed many oppressive colonial-era laws, for instance, and encouraged private-sector business with his Economic Transformation Programme. His argument is that if voters want more change then they should stick with the incumbent. He is embellishing this message with rallies featuring pop and television stars, aimed at his target audience.

But BN is trying to have it both ways. To balance this appeal to the young, it is simultaneously running an almost separate campaign to bolster its older ethnic Malay base. The dominant party of the BN coalition is the United Malays National Organisation (UMNO), founded to uphold the rights of the majority Malays (about 67% of the population) over the minorities of Chinese (25%) and ethnic Indians (7%). UMNO forced through the affirmative-action policies for Malays in the early 1970s. These have since been watered down, but are still widely resented, even by some Malays. Indeed, Mr Anwar’s main target in this campaign is the corruption and racism produced by these policies.

Mr Najib is the leader of UMNO but has been wooing younger, more liberal voters by further dismantling the system of Malay privileges. Out in the countryside, however, UMNO is conducting a very different campaign to scare voters away from the Pakatan and reassure the party’s base—older rural Malays known as bumiputra (“sons of the soil”)—that UMNO will continue to champion Malay rights. Mahathir Mohamad, an 87-year-old former prime minister and stalwart supporter of Malay privileges, has been stoking up the Malay heartlands, interrupting his campaign only to attend the funeral in London of Margaret Thatcher.

In particular he has been campaigning alongside leaders of the extremist Perkasa organisation. Founded in 2009, it claims a membership of 300,000 and is against any erosion of Malay privileges. It has often been accused of racism and has been officially disowned by UMNO, yet experts reckon that about 80% of its members also belong to the party. Mr Mahathir’s cultivation of Perkasa should increase Malay support for UMNO, which could be crucial. Yet his strategy also gives the organisation plausible deniability.

The overall effect is that it will be as hard as ever for Pakatan to win extra votes in the rural areas it needs to win power. Having won 82 seats in 2008, Pakatan must pick up at least ten more in each of the states of Sabah, Sarawak and Johor, all BN strongholds, to stand any chance of getting a majority in the 222-seat parliament. It is a tall order.

There are also real questions about the integrity of the poll itself. In the crucial battleground state of Selangor, for instance, the Pakatan state government dissected the register and found that 27% of newly registered voters (more than 134,000 of them) could not be identified—raising suspicions that they are “phantom voters”.

For the veteran Mr Anwar the election is a final fling. He has promised he will retire if he loses.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 10:51 am and is filed under
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Hail the Comrades for Change!

by
Kee Thuan Chye

Yahoo! Malaysia

The purest and most heartwarming feature of this upcoming general election, predicted to be the dirtiest ever in Malaysian history, is the solidarity of the Malaysians who are calling for ubah (change) and proclaiming, “Ini kalilah!” (This is the time to do it!)

In the course of a year, it has swelled into a movement. Partly from the Bersih rallies that brought people closer together because they went through adverse circumstances together. Partly from the rallies organised by the Opposition coalition, Pakatan Rakyat, that gave hope of a viable alternative to Malaysians disenchanted by 55 years of Barisan Nasional (BN) rule.

No one person or party organised the movement. It evolved naturally and organically, thanks partly to the new media. Everyone in this loose fraternity is drawn to the movement by one single goal – kicking out BN and bringing about ubah – and there is a passionate zeal in their quest. It came from the fact that many of them became politically sensitised after the 2008 general election, which was a wake-up call for Malaysians to take an active part in shaping their country’s destiny.

What they stand for is change for the better, change for a country rid of a corrupt and deceitful government, change for a brighter future for themselves, for their children. And what drives some of them is the anger they feel against BN for the indefensible wrongs it has committed.

Converting this into action, they have thronged the Pakatan ceramahs in the current election campaign, mobilised fence-sitters to attend them, contributed funds to Pakatan parties, helped out directly with Pakatan’s campaigning, volunteered to be polling and counting agents for election day.

In informal ways, they have helped to indirectly campaign for Pakatan by circulating e-mails exposing BN’s excesses and abuse of power, blogging, posting comments on media websites, tweeting and Facebooking.

On Facebook lately, their statement of change has seen expression in many like-minded Netizens adopting the ubah mascot as their profile photos. This gives ready recognition of themselves as comrades for the same cause, as well as a group identity.

The more creative ones have contributed towards creating greater awareness by producing videos to spread the message of change and sharing them on social media. Landscape artist Ng Sek San came up with the idea of planting ‘flowers’, dubbed “Malaysian Spring” and made of small flags in the colours of Pakatan’s component parties, in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur. They have since sprouted in other locations, planted by other comrades for change.

Out in the streets or in public places, strangers warm up to one another and behave as if they were old friends when the subject of politics comes up and complaints about the BN Government surface, followed by the theme of the need for change. I have encountered this myself a few times.

So have a few of my friends. One was in a taxi coming back from the airport when he and the driver started talking about politics. It seemed like the natural thing to do. It also seemed natural that the driver condemned the Government, and when my friend arrived at his destination and was getting out of the taxi, the driver said to him, “Remember to ubah ah?”

A friend in Singapore reported that while he was waiting at a bus stop, a middle-aged man who must have recognised he was Malaysian, suddenly came up to him with a frown on his face, gesturing to him to look at his smartphone. It was showing a news update about the DAP’s decision to contest under the symbols of PAS and PKR because the Registrar of Societies (ROS) had derecognised the DAP’s central executive committee.

“Stupid idiots! So damn dirty!” the man shouted. Then he grinned at my friend, and my friend grinned at him, and they both shook hands.

Another friend told me that as she was walking out of the consulate in New York City after casting her overseas vote on April 28, a fellow Malaysian who had done the same but whom she didn’t know from Adam turned to her and asked, “Have you done your part?” Without a moment’s pause, she replied, “Definitely!”

Clearly, the comrades for change are candid about their choice and have no qualms about declaring it openly. They don’t abide by the precept that one’s vote is a secret. They even go about to share their sentiment with others to get them to join the cause. They are proud to state their stand.

In contrast, BN supporters appear more muted. Er … probably with the exception of actress Michelle Yeoh. But she found out, to her exasperation, that her public endorsement of BN chairman Najib Razak for prime minister was ill-advised. It incurred the wrath of many Malaysians who bombarded her Facebook page with devastating diatribes. In the course of it, she lost many fans.

Among the comrades for change are Malaysians residing overseas. Some of them have resolved to come home to vote, from even as far as the United States of America.

Those across the Causeway in Singapore have been organising even before the dissolution of Parliament was announced to come back in groups, by car-pooling or chartering buses. A group of about 20 Malaysians resident there were even going around an MRT station bearing placards urging Malaysians to go home and vote.

Their major concern is that every vote is going to count, taking into consideration the allegations of expected widespread cheating through the participation of phantom voters and foreigners illegally given identity cards. And now, as BN secretary-general Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor has admitted, voters flown in by his coalition from Sabah and Sarawak as well. The numbers arriving, alleges Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, are in the tens of thousands.

If Pakatan Rakyat still manages to win the general election despite the odds, it will owe a great debt of gratitude to the comrades for change. It can also be certain that they will expect Pakatan to deliver on its promises. And that they will continue to assert themselves and voice their dissatisfaction if they are disappointed.

On the other hand, if BN wins, they will remain a strong pressure force. BN will face an even tougher time ruling the country being watched closely by these people who have now stepped forward to take responsibility for their country.

A new spirit has arisen in Malaysia. And the clamour for change will continue to resonate. The best scenario is for the wave for change to sweep the entire nation and carry along with it fence-sitters and even BN supporters as well. In fact, it is now growing in momentum and may peak on polling day in a Pakatan victory if the election is free of fraud. But there may yet be many a slip ’twixt the prediction and the result.

As the proverb goes, nothing is for certain until the fat lady sings, and she’s still two days from singing.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 1:01 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia

— Farish A Noor

The Malaysian Insider

May 04, 2013

MAY 4 — It is close to midnight and I am typing this as I try to pack up my things and finish off the fieldwork that I have been doing for the past two weeks, covering the election campaign in three different places — Temerloh, Kuala Selangor and Kota Kinabalu.

Lugging an antiquated laptop that dates back to the Jurassic age made of granite has not helped, and my back is wrecked as a result. My eyes are failing me, so excuse the typos as you come across them, too.

I have been following elections in Malaysia for ages, in 1999, 2004, 2008 and now this one, in 2013. In the course of my work as a wandering academic I’ve also covered elections in Pakistan, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the Philippines.

And I have since grown somewhat cynical about the promises that are made during campaigns, for I have seen them broken too many times as well.

I have also noticed that despite the rhetoric that has been dished out to people across Asia by Asian politicians, there has almost never been a radical break from the hegemony of the Washington consensus, and the dominance of the ideology of market-driven democratic pluralism.

I have also seen too many instances where market-driven democracies lead to narrow communitarian politics of group-identity and where pluralism ends up being an excuse for race and religion-based politics.

But perhaps this is the juncture we are at today, and it is a symptom of the times we live in, living as we do in an age of late industrial capitalism and where the rule of the market seems unchallenged.

Even China, an ostensibly Communist country, is basically a capitalist economy and its real challenge to the West is not a military one but rather a commercial one.

Notwithstanding my cynicism and jaded eyes, I still believe in Malaysia, and that we have a future together. I am wrapping up my work in Sabah and I hope to fly to KL in time to vote tomorrow. (I hope however that I won’t be hounded by any election observers who may think I’m some mamak outsider who has come to vote for money!)

My faith rests on my view as a historian who looks at Malaysia from the perspective of someone who walks through history. There are some among us who lament and fear change and during my interviews with some of the kindly aunties and uncles in the coffeeshops of Kota Kinabalu that’s precisely what I heard. They worry about the future, as the elderly are wont to do, but my job as a teacher is to remind them that change has already happened.

As I said to a tiny aunty whose hands kept reaching for her bag of tissues: “But Aunty, you remember when you went to school right? Remember how in the past people thought girls like you and my mother should not even go to school to learn to read? Their parents thought it was improper for girls to do that.

“But look around us today and aren’t you proud that you went to school, that your daughter did, and that your grand-daughter did too? Has that not changed our society for the better?”

It was nice to see a little smile peek out from the corner of her tiny face then.

At my university I teach philosophy, discourse analysis and also the history of Southeast Asia. One of the courses I teach is on Malaysian history and society, and I always begin my course with the question: “What is Malaysia”. At the end of my course I ask the same question again: “What is Malaysia?”

Indeed, what is Malaysia?

Well, from the standpoint of being in Sabah at the moment, I can tell you Sabah IS Malaysia, for starters. So many things have happened to this country of ours, so many events, some of them unprecedented, some unanticipated, some unpredicted, some unwelcomed.

But time and again Malaysia has survived them and Malaysia — as an entity, as an idea — continues to exist. Why? Because Malaysia is not simply an empty signifier that is polysemic and diachronic, but it is also an idea whose meaning is shared by a community of believers.

People like you and me who are Malaysian believe in Malaysia, and who keep Malaysia alive. WE are Malaysia, and not the trees or rivers or malls or skyscrapers we see around us. It is we — Malaysians — who are the inheritors, depositories, purveyors and transmitters of the Malaysian idea.

Malaysia is a small-to-medium-sized country with no hegemonic ambitions; we know we are not among the world’s giants. But even as a country of our stature, we too demand respect from others, as we ought to demand respect for and of ourselves.

It has been said that this election has been the dirtiest of our nation’s history. I would not doubt that, but I’ve also seen much, much worse in elections elsewhere.

But what touched me this time round were the manifold instances when I encountered good politicians from different parties who still injected the Malaysian idea in their work and their campaign. I was touched to see and hear Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad of PAS and Saifuddin Abdullah of Umno, both of whom are my friends, speak well of their opponents; and to insist on keeping their campaigns clean and fair.

It is upon their shoulders — and yours and mine — that I pin my hope that the Malaysian spirit will continue to thrive long after I’ve kicked the bucket. (Which may be sooner than later at the rate I’m smoking.)

Whatever the result of the elections will be — and here I have to emphasise that I honestly cannot, for the life of me, predict the outcome of the vote on May 5 as this has been the closest and most confusing election I’ve ever covered — and whoever wins the election this time round, change has already happened.

We have already seen how the high have been brought low, how trust has now got to be earned and not demanded, how fear has been overcome, and how the old school of politics of patronising drivel has been superseded by the politics of statistics, data, argumentation and debate.

Change happens all the time and in the same way that none of us can ever imagine Malaysia regressing to an age where women are not allowed access to education, we cannot ever imagine going back to a politics that is simplistic, patronising, top-down and unchallenged.

Even the former opposition parties have learned, over the past five years, what it is really like to be in power and having to be accountable to NGOs and public opinion. It’s been a learning experience for all of us, and I believe we have grown a little wiser too.

I just want to end with a reminder to myself, to you and crucially to our future public representatives who we will be voting into office tomorrow. Remember that in our national language there are two words that share a common etymological root. They are “Warganegara” and “Keluarga” (Citizenship and Family).

The etymological link is lost in English, but it is clear in Bahasa Malaysia, for the two words share the same root — “warga”, “to be a member of”. To be a citizen (warganegara) and a family member (keluarga) mean that we are all members of the same national family, the Malaysian family. I would like us to remember that, and our politicians ought to do so in particular.

Like some of you, I have grown tired of the bile and venom that our representatives have been spewing out to each other, in the form of taunts, insults, slander and abuse. It demeans them, but it demeans us too, for they represent us.

And as a Malaysian academic teaching in Europe and other parts of Asia, I am embarrassed when I hear people snigger about Malaysia’s political antics and when people say “That’s Malaysian politics for you”. No, that is not how Malaysian politics ought to be, and there are plenty of Malaysian politicians I know who would not stoop to that.

And we, Malaysians, should not stoop to that either. Our politicians have to remember (and be reminded) that the opponent who sits across the floor from him or her is a fellow Malaysian, a warganegara, who belongs to the same Malaysian family/keluarga as he/she does. That is not your enemy, but a fellow citizen who has been elected by your other fellow Malaysian citizens to represent them, as you have.

It is upon this simple, foundational idea — of universal citizenship — that all our dreams of a better Malaysia can be built on, for all Malaysians.

The answer to the question that I ask my students — “What is Malaysia?” — is a simple and complex one at the same time. It is an idea that is carried in the hearts of 29 million human beings who wish to live in a society that is civil, civilised, upright, honourable and where each citizen is accorded his or her rightful portion of dignity and respect.

Our dreams are many, and they are confounding. Our dreams may differ, and even be at odds with one another. But all of us couch our dreams in the framework of a Malaysia that we wish to see grow and prosper; and in that future prosperity we seek, we see that it is also a prosperity that is shared with others.

And our Malaysia has changed, and has changed for hundreds of years, and will continue to do so in the future. We have been blighted by colonialism, imperialism, two imperial wars not of our own making, an insurgency, a confrontation, a Cold War not of our own choosing, and numerous disasters. And yet Malaysia lives on.

Come May 6, whatever the outcome of the election results, we have to remember this: that despite our faults and weaknesses, our squabbles and differences, we remain that complex family whose destiny is bound together.

That is the meaning of Malaysia, if it is to have any.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 10:16 am and is filed under
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Malaysian government-linked corporations crowd out private investment

by
Jayant Menon, ADB and ANU, and Thiam Hee Ng, ADB

East Asia Forum

April 25th, 2013

Private investment in Malaysia never fully recovered from the impact of the Asian financial crisis.

Foreigners have continued to shun Malaysia, but it now seems that even domestic investors are fleeing, with Malaysia becoming a net exporter of capital since 2005. One explanation for the sluggish performance of
domestic private investment
 relates to the crowding-out effect of the growing dominance of government-linked corporations (GLCs) in many sectors. The influence of GLCs, however measured, is both widespread and pervasive.

The GLC share of operating revenue is approximately one-third in the aggregate, and they control more than half the industry share in utilities, transportation, warehousing, agriculture, banking, information communications and retail trade. GLCs employ around 5 per cent of the national workforce and account for approximately 36 per cent and 54 per cent, respectively, of the market capitalisation of Bursa Malaysia and the benchmark Kuala Lumpur Composite Index.

The pervasiveness of GLCs suggests they may present a formidable barrier to both competition and the entry of new private firms. This is also evident in their ability to exercise significant market power and use their special access to government and regulatory agencies to their advantage. Provisions in the government’s
affirmative action program
, the New Economic Policy (NEP) and its more recent incarnations also tend to favour GLCs, such as through government procurement restrictions. Indeed, many GLCs were spawned as vehicles to achieve the redistributive objectives of the NEP. Since a key target was to increase the Bumiputera (Malay and indigenous peoples) share of wealth, rather than income, to 30 per cent, GLCs seemed the perfect instrument. While this target has yet to be met, the wealth share of Malays has increased at the same time that income inequality within the Malay community has worsened considerably. Many point to the rise of GLC-centred
crony capitalism
 and a culture of
corruption and patronage
 as contributing to this rise in inequality.

Recognising the problems with GLCs, and in a bid to improve the investment climate, the government launched its 10-year Transformation Programme in May 2004, with divestment of GLCs a key objective. With the deadline looming, progress has been lacklustre — of the 33 GLCs up for divestment, only 15 had been completed as of February 2013. Worse still, this limited divestment has been offset by new investments, with a spate of acquisitions by GLCs in private sector finance and property development for instance, making it more of a
diversification than a divestment program
.

So, are GLCs really crowding out private investment? For the first time, we provide empirical evidence on this relationship using a detailed dataset of 443 publicly listed firms covering the period 2007 to 2011 from
Oriana
. After accounting for the other determinants of investment, it is clear that a stronger GLC presence generally has a discernible negative impact on private investment. Also in question is whether there is a threshold effect when it comes to the share of GLC presence in an industry; that is, whether private firms tend to invest less to begin with if the share of GLC revenue in an industry is particularly large. It would seem that when GLCs account for a dominant share of revenues in an industry, investment by private firms in that industry is significantly negatively impacted. Conversely, when GLCs do not dominate an industry, the impact on private investment is not significant. Even by varying the threshold by 10 percentage points in both directions, this change does not affect the original finding of a significant negative relationship between GLC share and private investment.

To revive private investment in Malaysia, the government must not only redress its
growing fiscal deficit
, but also expedite its program of divestment. While a growing fiscal deficit and the rising dominance of GLCs may both be crowding out private investment, a genuine privatisation program designed to reduce the role of GLCs would also address the fiscal constraint, providing a further boost to the investment climate. An improvement in overall governance and transparency would be an important, indirect, plus.

Jayant Menon is Lead Economist at the Office of Regional Economic Integration,
Asian Development Bank
, and Adjunct Fellow at the
Arndt-Corden Department of Economics
, the Australian National University.

Thiam Hee Ng is Senior Economist at the Office of Regional Economic Integration, Asian Development Bank.

The views expressed in this paper are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Asian Development Bank, or its Board of Governors or the governments they represent.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 4 May 2013, 1:12 pm and is filed under
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Anwar vows no retributive justice for political foes

by Susan Loone

Malaysiakini

May 4, 2013

Pakatan’s prime minister-designate Anwar Ibrahim has vowed that his political opponents will not face “retributive justice” should he assume power in Putrajaya tomorrow.

His political enemies, among others, is his former boss,ex-premier Mahathir Mohamad.

“I have no intention of taking revenge against him nor will we be conducting any investigation on him,” said Anwar at a press conference in Kubang Semang today.

“However, this does not mean that the wealth of Petronas will continue to remain a monopoly in the hands of his cronies,” he was quick to add.

“Such ill gotten wealth must be returned to the people,” he stressed.

“I can understand his hysterical outburst recently but no one said we will go after him,” he quipped.

Anwar, a former deputy prime minister, insisted that his government will follow due process of law when implementing justice.

Praise for caretaker PM

“We believe in justice and rule of law and we will follow the due process,” he said

At the press briefing, Anwar thanked caretaker Prime Minister Najib Razak for promising a smooth transition of power and calling for civility in campaigning.

On his being the Pakatan federal government’ premier Anwar played safe, saying “it would be decided by consensus”.

“We do not want to pre-empt the campaign which is why we did not make any announcement,” he said, adding he was aware that some quarters have made such a declaration.

On the posts of deputy prime ministers, Anwar said that too had been agreed by general consensus but no announcement had been made.

This was in reference to DAP national chairperson Karpal Singh who said at the mammoth rally at the Esplanade last night that PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang would be DPM 1 and senior leader Lim Kit Siang DPM 2.

Meanwhile, Anwar also announced a slew of measures for the 100 days in power if the coalition takes over Putrajaya tomorrow.

Among others, Anwar declared May 6 a federal holiday “to ease the rakyat’s travels home, after voting”.

He also announced the launch of the “Freeing the Parliament” agenda in which the Pakatan government would seek to amend or abolish all anti-rakyat laws.

These include the Publications and Printing Presses Act 1984, 1971 Universities and University Colleges Act, and reinstatement of the 20 percent petroleum and hydrocarbon royalties to Sabah, Sarawak, Terengganu and Kelantan.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 7:07 am and is filed under
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BN faces fight of its life in this general election

by Stuart Grudgings, Reuters

Malaysiakini

May 5, 2013

Malaysians vote on Sunday in an election that could weaken or even end the rule of one of the world’s longest-lived coalitions, which faces a stiff challenge from an opposition pledging to clean up politics and end race-based policies.

Led by former finance minister Anwar Ibrahim, the opposition is aiming to build on startling electoral gains in 2008, when the Barisan Nasional (BN) ruling coalition lost its customary two-thirds parliamentary majority.

The historic result signalled a breakdown in traditional politics as minority ethnic Chinese and ethnic Indians, as well as many majority Malays, rejected the National Front’s brand of race-based patronage that has ensured stability in the Southeast Asian nation but led to corruption and widening inequality.

Under Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the blue-blood son of a former leader, the coalition has tried to win over a growing middle class with social reforms and secure traditional voters with a $2.6 billion deluge of cash handouts to poor families.

He can point to robust growth of 5.6 percent last year as evidence that his Economic Transformation Program to double incomes by 2020 is bearing fruit, while warning that the untested three-party opposition would spark economic ruin.

Najib, who is personally more popular than his party, has had some success in steadying the ship since he was installed as head of the dominant United Malays National Organisation (Umno) in 2009. Formidable advantages such as the coalition’s control of mainstream media, its deep pockets and a skewed electoral system make it the clear favourite.

But opinion polls suggest a tightening race that could further reduce the coalition’s majority and lead the opposition to dispute the result over claims of election fraud.

The opposition alliance has been buoyed by unusually large, enthusiastic turnouts at campaign rallies in recent days. It says its “X factor” may be a surge in young, first-time voters who are more likely to be attracted to its call for change after 56 years of rule by the BN coalition.

“The momentum is far greater in 2013,” Nurul Izzah, Anwar’s daughter and an opposition member of parliament, said at a meeting with journalists and foreign diplomats on Friday.

“I’ve never enjoyed so much support everywhere. That’s our only hope, to ensure a good turnout.”

A failure to improve on 2008’s performance, when the BN won 140 seats in the 222-seat parliament, could threaten Najib’s position and his reform programme. Conservative forces in Umno, unhappy with his tentative efforts to roll back affirmative action policies favouring ethnic Malays, are waiting in the wings to challenge his leadership.

Anwar’s last stand?

The election represents possibly the last chance to lead Malaysia for Anwar, a former rising UMNO star who was sacked and jailed for six years in 1998 following a feud with then prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who remains an influential figure.

The 65-year-old former deputy prime minister says his corruption and sodomy conviction was trumped up. He received a new lease on political life last year when a court acquitted him of a second sodomy charge.

His alliance, which includes an awkward partnership between a secular ethnic Chinese party with an Islamist party, is riding a growing trend of civil-society activism, which has been most evident in a series of big street protests in recent years calling for reform of the electoral system.

A clumsy police response to a rally in 2011 led Najib to roll back draconian colonial-era security laws, though critics say he did not go far enough and demands for electoral reform have not been fully addressed.

A narrow victory for the ruling coalition on Sunday would almost certainly spark opposition complaints of voter fraud, which could spill over in street protests. Anwar has accused the coalition of flying up to 40,000 “dubious” voters across the country to vote in close races.

The opposition, which can present a viable alternative from its record of governing in four states it took over in 2008, is running on a platform of transparency and integrity, saying it will break down an entrenched network of patronage that has grown up between UMNO and favoured business tycoons.

It pledges to replace policies favouring ethnic Malays in housing, business and education with needs-based assistance.

It can bank on ethnic Chinese voters, who make up about 25 percent of Malaysians and who abandoned the ruling BN coalition in 2008. Maintaining its momentum among ethnic Malay voters may be more difficult amid warnings from the BN that they would be at risk from Chinese economic domination if the opposition won.

“We’ve seen a consolidation of Chinese support. I think the question for us to a large extent is how the silent majority of Malay voters will go,” said Ong Kian Ming, who is running for a seat in an ethnically diverse constituency near Kuala Lumpur.

– Reuters

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 5:47 pm and is filed under
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M’sians can forgo Ghani, but not Kit Siang

P Ramakrishnan

Free Malaysia Today

May 5, 2013

Today is a crucial day for Malaysia. It is crucial that a corrupt government be defeated in this momentous GE13. Malaysians must rise to this challenge and create a golden opportunity for all Malaysians.

Tied up with this effort is the fate of Lim Kit Siang. Kit Siang is a true-blooded Malaysian patriot who has sacrificed his entire life for the good of this nation. He has been incarcerated in Kamunting twice unfairly and unjustly but they could not break his spirit or deter him from his pursuit of a just society.

He has stayed the course in spite of many tremendous obstacles. He has criss-crossed the country bringing hope and opportunity for change. He is the epitome of selfless struggle so that Malaysia will attain its place as a truly democratic and incorruptible country among the nations of the world.

This man’s fate and fortune is in the hands of voters in Gelang Patah. The voters here are poised to create history for all of us. Their overwhelming support for Kit Siang will spur the tsunami to lash across the whole of Johor and bring about a new dawn of hope and opportunity for Malaysia and Malaysians.

Malaysia can do without Abdul Ghani Othman. There are thousands of Umno members who can easily take his place and replace him without any loss to this nation. His defeat in the election will not be a shattering event for Malaysia.

But for Kit Siang – and for all Malaysians – his loss in this election will be unthinkable. It would be devastating if Kit Siang were to lose. His loss would be irreplaceable. The energy and dedication that he has brought to this democratic cause can never be emulated by any other. No one can replicate Kit Siang!

It is the prayer of all Malaysians of goodwill that he be elected and returned to Parliament. This may be his last election. Let him, if he has to step down after this election, go in glory with the admiration and affection of all Malaysians. We owe this to him.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 5:37 pm and is filed under
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My Malaysian Dream – all the way back to 1957

  One for all and all for one

    We care not what colour, creed or religion you belong

    For aren’t each of us Malaya’s son

    Then why let silly racial quarrels prolong?

(from poem written in 1957 for class magazine – when I was 16 and in Form III in Batu Pahat High School)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 7:49 am and is filed under
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Ordinary Malaysians, extraordinary day

by Bridget Welsh

Malaysiakini

May 5, 2013

GE13 SPECIAL
 On this historic day of GE13, Malaysians are bravely stepping into the unknown. Some are already queuing up to vote, and yet others are waiting for the crowd to disperse before heading out to the polling stations. Every Malaysian knows today will not be an ordinary day.

There are four intense but quiet battles taking place that will shape whether May 5 will indeed bring about change.

The first battle is a personal one, national in scope, taking place deep in the hearts of every Malaysian. It is a contest over what sort of country Malaysia should be. Many Malaysians are voting for a different moral foundation for the country’s politics.

The anger and sense of disbelief of BN governance runs deep, from the issues of corruption to its racial polemics. While there are many Malaysians who strongly support the status quo, among this group are many who question whether something is not quite right.

Indeed, today the country will be voting for its soul.

At issue are dignity, respect, and perceptions of a shared national community. The questions being asked are: What role should principles play in politics? How should government treat its citizens? And, importantly, how should Malaysians treat one another?

This election is deeply personal and it cuts across all communities.

Malay hearts and minds

The most intensive arena where this soul-searching battle is being played out is within the Malay community. Over the last 15 days, focus has centred on the predominantly Chinese political awakening in the south, with little in-depth analysis of the struggle that is going on within the divided Malay community.

For the opposition, they have projected a new vision for the Malays, a community that is confident in itself and assured in the knowledge that their place – both politically and economically – is secure. The message sent has been one in which there are no longer any wars to be fought and as such fears should not be the driver of political participation. Malays as Malays should be rightly proud of who they are and confident in their futures.

This message has stood in contrast to the BN’s projected image of uncertainty, displacement and dependency, pushed quietly in the kampung.

This battle for ‘what it means to be a Malay’ in Malaysia has been national in scope, as this battle affects other communities as well.

The urban and young have been more receptive to the positive messaging, while older and rural Malays have not. Among the fiercest contests nationally have been those in the rural Malay heartland states of Kedah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perlis, Pahang and, of course, Johor.

It is not a coincidence that Najib visited the Malay heartland on repeated occasions. After all, the national legitimacy of the country’s leadership has been closely tied to the Malay heartland. It is also not a coincidence that PAS’ efforts at inclusiveness and moderation are being sorely tested in this election as well.

PAS is redefining itself as a national party and the need to engage outside its traditional rural conservative base. Their success today will depend on their outreach to young Malays (as well as support of non-Muslims). This is why they are facing the political reality of appointing and selecting more capable technocratic professionals as candidates.

Umno, PAS and PKR are all struggling with how to represent the Malay of the old, along with the Malay of the present and future.

Throughout this election, Umno has been fighting to maintain its eroding Malay base, and today will show whether its choice to adopt the Mahathir tactics of the past, coupled with money allocations, were successful or whether they failed.

Minority representation

The BN is also now facing the music of its many years of marginalising ethnic minorities. The most number of seats affected are in East Malaysia. In this 50th year of Sabah and Sarawak’s inclusion in Malaysia, there has been an ongoing political reassessment by East Malaysians about their position in Malaysia.

This has been gathering steam for some time among East Malaysian Chinese, but over this electoral campaign has also struck a raw cord among non-Muslim bumiputera. The Lahad Datu intrusion and Royal Commission of Inquiry into Immigrants has only served to bring the issues of marginalisation to the surface in Sabah, while in Sarawak, international attention to the alleged corruption of its top leaders and their open disrespect of the Dayaks has awakened even remote communities.

During the campaign, the BN attacks on Christianity have evoked emotive responses in these states, and nationwide. The Dayaks in Sarawak and the Kadazan, Dusun and Murut (KDM) in Sabah will determine whether the opposition can win the seats needed in East Malaysia to deliver victory.

These communities have faced years of marginalisation and been on the frontline of the excesses of land development. They are among the poorest in Malaysia, despite coming from two of the country’s richest states in terms of natural resources.

The battle for the non-Muslim bumiputeras who used to be the majorities in these states has been intense, with constant ‘bombings’ of money. East Malaysians will now choose whether to go with a local patron, stick with the status quo or opt for a new leadership coalition that promises them a more inclusive role in governance. Pakatan’s victory is dependent on whether their local leaders have built enough trust and outreach to get their messages across.

In the peninsula, the battle over the minorities has been equally intense. Indians have been wooed like never before. Tamil-language papers have featured unprecedented promises, with many of the Indian community receiving record amounts in vote-buying efforts. In Perak, Kedah, Johor, Selangor and Pahang, the Indian community will make the difference in the final tallies.

A smaller group, the Orang Asli, has faced similar patterns of marginalisation and is seen as a vote bank in seats such as Tapah and Cameron Highlands. Some reports show Rela (People’s Volunteer Corps) groups surrounding these communities on the eve of the polls.

The strategy has been to tap into the economic and political vulnerability of minority groups, who ironically have been perceived to be marginalised by the pattern of current governance. Today, this battle for minority communities has been heightened as they have the power to determine the majority vote.

Institutional integrity

A final battleground involves the integrity of Malaysia’s institutions. The entire push for reform since the 1999 election has been about strengthening Malaysia’s governance – from reducing corruption to enhancing the rule of law. Today, the battle for institutional integrity is being fought over the electoral process.

There has already been worrying reports of electoral disenfranchisement, fraud and administrative bias. Within the Electoral Commission, the police force and government-linked Rela and other paramilitary groups, the battle is on the respect for the rakyat’s right to vote and that their votes be counted fairly.

Unprecedentedly, those inside government and government-linked institutions have spoken out about their concerns of electoral manipulation, with leaked reports by army and police officers, airline staff and local government officials.

Those managing the election know they are being watched and assessed, and are under intense pressure to do the right thing. They are the ones who now carry the burden to make sure the lights do not go off at the critical counting time, to assure that voters are only given one ballot paper each and to make sure that the indelible ink does not wash off.

They are the ones to make sure that only Malaysians vote and when the votes are counted, that they are done accurately. The battle for fairness and basic professionalism is critical for the outcome of GE13.

Ordinary heroes

The reality is that all polling and number estimates favour Pakatan, while the control of the system favours the incumbent.

It is a close contest coming down to how 20 percent of the seats will swing. Overall, the tide has moved to Pakatan during the 15-day campaign, but this election is now being shaped by whether the integrity in the electoral process will be respected. This is why there are already concerns with electoral irregularities.

Rather than give numbers and predictions in this final pre-election piece of this special series in Malaysiakini, my focus has been to highlight the main battles in the campaign. Morality, Malay identity, minority representation and institutional integrity are now being assessed as the voters ink their fingers and decide their leaders.

Traveling across 12 states in 15 days, I have seen first-hand the dignity and graciousness of many Malaysians. Most understand that how the process is conducted is as important as the final result. Despite the dirtiness of the polls and the many negative reports, on the ground there is much to be proud of during this election campaign.

While there is less confidence in the system than ever before, there is great confidence in and among the people themselves. Today, the heroes are ordinary Malaysian voters, who at long last will decide whether 505 (May 5) is about change or continuity, and whether today will in fact become an extraordinary day.

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University. She is travelling around Malaysia to provide her GE13 analyses exclusively to Malaysiakini. Bridget can be reached at
[email protected]
.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 6:11 pm and is filed under
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Psy war as both sides leak GE13 ‘win’ numbers

By Jahabar Sadiq

Editor

The Malaysian Insider

May 05, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Both Barisan Nasional (BN) and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) began leaking numbers of possible wins in the tight Election 2013 race just as voters finished casting their ballots today.

The BN is confident of winning 145 federal seats, with at least 118 in the white list, said sources from the coalition’s war room.

But PR is also bullish about capturing Putrajaya, with sources saying that it can win at least 117 federal seats. It is understood that an independent poll showed possibly taking at least 125 seats, with at least 40 per cent of the Malay vote in the bag.

The Umno-controlled Berita Harian has also been publishing an exit poll of various hot seats that indicate BN are in the lead. It is learnt that the numbers are from the BN war room.

PR sources say that their worst-case scenario is taking 100 federal seats and possibly wresting the Perak and Negri Sembilan state assemblies while keeping Kelantan, Kedah, Penang and Selangor.

But BN sources say they are also confident of keeping Perak and taking Kedah and Kelantan as part of their “Blue Wave” campaign.

The BN war room sources said the coalition is expected to win in Setiawangsa, Titiwangsa, Lembah Pantai and Putrajaya in the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory.

In Penang, BN has pushed an aggressive campaign but it only expects to pick up an extra seat in Balik Pulau apart from retaining Kepala Batas and Tasek Gelugor.

In Selangor, BN is tipped to win the key race in Shah Alam, where Perkasa vice-president Datuk Zulkifli Noordin is on the coalition’s ticket against PAS’s Khalid Samad.

In its bastion state of Johor, BN is confident of taking at 17 of the 26 federal seats but has given up on Gelang Patah where DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang is facing four-term state mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman.

Among the seats that BN believes it can win are Sekijang, Labis, Pagoh, Ledang, Muar, Parit Sulong, Sri Gading, Sembrong, Mersing, Kota Tinggi and Pengerang.

In Sabah, BN is gung-ho about getting 20 out of the 25 federal seats in the state including Labuan, Kota Belud, Papar, Kimanis, Keningau, Libaran and Kinabatangan.

In Sarawak, BN believes it will take 20 out of the 31 federal seats there including Petra Jaya, Kota Samarahan, Tanjong Manis, Kapit and Hulu Rajang.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 6:26 pm and is filed under
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This is about us!

By Joan Lau

Managing Editor

The Malaysian Insider

May 05, 2013

KUALA LUMPUR, May 5 — Polling Day. It’s here at last. Today, we — the 13.3 million of us who are eligible to vote anyway — are going to determine what the next five years will be.

The last two weeks of campaigning has brought out the best and worst in not just the candidates but in us. The ones who were being wooed.

Some people say this has been the most contentious election ever because friends and even family members have fought with each other because of opposing views.

This has always been the case but now with Facebook and other social media available, the “fighting” just gets bigger and is spread faster.

But this, this is true democracy in action. Even before a single ballot has been cast, we already bear witness to the messy disagreements and ugly unfriendings on Facebook and elsewhere but it’s perfectly okay.

Finally, we are learning to voice out our opinions. We are learning to speak up. It doesn’t matter if you don’t agree with what your friend is saying. It really is okay that you think he is an idiot for supporting a certain candidate.

Out of this, we will hopefully learn how to disagree with each other. Living in harmony is a dream we were sold by our leaders for so many years. We were told that harmony means being quiet, swallowing our disagreements, eating our anger.

But there can be harmony even when there are loud disagreements. We just have to remember everybody has a right to an opinion, a choice. Then shout away.

GE13 also saw many Malaysians getting involved in droves: middle-class citizens signing up to be polling agents and volunteers, giving up precious family time to get trained for this important “job”; neighbours gathering together to make and “plant” multi-coloured flags all over the city and in Petaling Jaya to show they cared about these elections, this country.

For the first time. middle-class chatter was transformed into action. People broke out of their comfort zone to engage with each other. To do something for the greater good.

So no matter what happens today, the winner has already been determined: it is us.

And as we go to cast our votes today, let us remember just that. This is not about Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat. This is about us.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 5 May 2013, 8:04 am and is filed under
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