Malaysia’s most dangerous woman

by Mariam Mohtar

Malaysiakini

May 26, 2014

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, the DAP candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election is the opposition coalition’s secret weapon. She rocketed to fame like the rocket logo of her party, the Democratic Action Party (DAP). Dyana does not conform to the narrow, twisted and prejudiced view of the Umno Baru world. Unlike her, the modus operandi of Umno Baru Youth is to issue threats and create violence. Dyana engages the rakyat, using her brain and her rhetoric.

To some, especially those from Umno Baru, Dyana is everything that they are not. To others, Dyana represents the new Malaysia, someone who knows what she wants, who speaks her mind, who is ready to accept a challenge and who is not afraid of fulfilling her dreams, through fair and just means. Dyana represents the pulse of modern Malaysia.

When Dyana attracted the ire of veteran political figures like Shahrizat Abdul Jalil and former PM Mahathir Mohamad, there can be only one logical conclusion – Dyana is on a winning streak. Umno Baru is afraid.

The emergence of Dyana signals a major shift in Malaysian politics. Umno Baru supporters with their siege-like mentality, will soon realise that they have been duped and their potential stunted by Umno Baru policies. Malay support for Umno Baru will wane. The party will disintegrate.

For years, the Malays were considered the privileged lot and envied by the other races. As a result of the affirmative action policies, and the educational opportunities given to every Malay child, Malays are expected to be blindly loyal to the government and by extension, Umno Baru.

Malays must obey without question. They become zombies. If they see an unjust act, they must hold their tongues. If they hear of racism or religious persecutions (non-Islam) against non-Malays and non-Muslims, Malays must keep quiet.

All that changed for Dyana, when she said, enough is enough and joined the DAP; “I chose DAP. For its principle of multi-culturalism. For its principle of standing up for all Malaysians, regardless of race or religion. For its principle of doing what is right, despite the risks and repercussions.”

Dyana is young, while most of those in Umno Baru are long past their sell-by date. She is articulate, whereas the majority of Umno Baru politicians and their supporters, communicate using  threats, thuggery and acts of vandalism.

Dyana aims to get rid of racial politics, whilst all in Umno Baru are aware that their survival depends on dividing the rakyat with race and religion. Having graduated as a lawyer from a local university, she started work as a political secretary, before entering politics. Many Umno Baru supporters and politicians survive on patronage and a lifestyle funded by exploiting the taxpayers’ money.

Brought up by a mother, Yammy Samat (right), whose own life has been shaped by Umno and Umno Baru politics, Dyana has seen her mother struggle with treachery and betrayal by her own Umno and Umno Baru party members.

Choosing to confront Umno Baru

One would expect Dyana to steer clear of politics. Instead, she has chosen to confront Umno Baru and all the aspersions which they want to throw at her. Her career path is not for the faint-hearted. Within hours of her nomination, she has already experienced criticisms and sexist attacks designed to tarnish her reputation.

Dyana joins the long list of confident Malay women who do not need a tudung to show they are both religious and Muslim. They are equally comfortable in a baju kurung or modern attire. Although she is a product of a local university, and not educated in the west, Dyana is articulate in both English and Malay.

Dyana has been criticised because her head is not covered. They say she is too liberal and that she is not pious. Would they say the same of Mahathir’s wife, Siti Hasmah Mohd Ali or his daughter, Marina, who are not tudung clad?

For decades, the tudung has been used as a political and social device to control Malay women. To wear a tudung increased the chances of being accepted in an institution. For some, it was a means of getting promoted.

Inside sources claim that Umno Baru would suggest that women who refused to wear the tudung were not devout Muslims. Are Malays that easily deceived by the evil machinations of a political party? Umno Baru is trying to suggest that women should wear tudung to become more religious. Just like Shahrizat, who showed the nation that she is a pious Muslim, with her handling of the scandal which has become known as ‘Cowgate’.

What of Dyana’s rival in Teluk Intan? Mah Siew Keong (left) belongs to the Gerakan party. If only Mah had the courage to lead his party away from the crippling embrace of Umno Baru. Gerakan was once a formidable and respectable party but now, all attention is on Dyana.

It really does not matter if Dyana wins or loses, because she has set a precedent and raised the bar in politics. She is one of many young Malaysians who are prepared to challenge the racist and divisive policies of Umno Baru. Her finger is firmly on the pulse of modern Malaysia. That is why 27-year-old Dyana Sofya is the most dangerous woman in Malaysia.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a defender of the truth, the admiral-general of the Green Bean Army and president of the Perak Liberation Organisation (PLO).

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 27 May 2014, 7:30 am and is filed under
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Vote me and you send 5 messages to Barisan, says Dyana

by Anisah Shukry

The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2014

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud said last night a vote for her in this Saturday’s Teluk Intan by-election will send five messages to the long-ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.

The DAP candidate told a crowd of about 3,000 people in Anson Industrial Park, Teluk Intan, that casting a vote for her would tell BN that the people rejected the rising price of goods.

“We oppose the rising prices of goods. Before the (13th) general election (last year), they promised all sorts of things. Now, the promises are forgotten. The (price for) electricity has increased, petrol has risen, sugar has risen.

“But our salaries have not risen, although our blood levels have increased. We reject the rising price of goods,” she said.

She said voting DAP would also show BN that they rejected racist politics, noting that the ruling pact constantly used race to divide the people.

“I don’t know why they keep trying to divide us. As the government, they should be uniting us,” said Dyana.

Yesterday, Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the Chinese were “ungrateful” for voting DAP in last year’s general election.

He said the Chinese traders and businessmen owed it to the Malays and the Indians for their thriving businesses. Yet, once wealthy, they voted for DAP instead of BN, Zahid had said.

Dyana said: “If they (BN) want to play racial politics, go ahead. The rakyat can oppose their racial politics.”

The third message, she said, was voters rejected political violence and hooliganism, as BN supporters had often harassed her since she began campaigning here.

“The other day, we went to campaign, they caused a disturbance, they didn’t allow us to meet the locals and voters. They stopped us.”

Last week, several thugs revved their motorcycles in Dyana’s direction while she was on her walkabout.

“The fourth message is that we are giving recognition to women and increasing the number of women in Parliament. Teluk Intan has never had a female representative. This might be the first time.

“Last, we must send another young voice to Parliament. So we have five pecial messages for the BN-Umno government by voting me in.”

She also promised voters she would raise local issues in Parliament, including a school BN had promised to build in 2012 in Kampung Bahagia with an allocation of RM27 million.

“They said it would be done by this year, but I looked at the site, and there is not even a sign there. Never mind a RM5 billion highway, they cannot even fulfil their promise of a RM27 million school,” said Dyana.

She was referring to the West Coast Expressway launched by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on Sunday, which he had claimed would bring huge growth to Teluk Intan once completed.

“If I am given the mandate, I promise I shall work hard for Teluk Intan. If I were working for myself, five hours would be enough. But I will be working 24 hours for the people of Teluk Intan,” said Dyana.

Later, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said at the same ceramah that Teluk Intan residents would “profit twice over” by voting in Dyana.

He said that if Dyana won this Saturday, she would become a young MP representing their interests, while her rival, BN candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong, would become a minister “through the back door”.

“As a minister, Mah will be able to deliver all his promises in his manifesto, and you will have Dyana as an MP to keep an eye on him,” he told the audience.

Mah had unveiled his manifesto yesterday and among his promises were to make the Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan a Unesco World Heritage Site and to have a sports stadium and university built in the constituency. – May 27, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 27 May 2014, 9:18 am and is filed under
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Why Dyana Sofya is the underdog in Teluk Intan?

by Dr. Ong Kian Ming MP for Serdang

27th of May, 2014

Why would the DAP candidate, Dyana Sofya, be considered the underdog in a seat won by the DAP with more than 7000 votes in the 13th general election? Is it merely a ploy to gain more sympathy votes for DAP on the 31st of May?

There is no doubt in my mind that there is a very real possibility that Dyana and the DAP would lose this by-election. While her candidacy has been a breath of fresh air and has been applauded by various quarters at the national level, there are a few important factors which are at work against Dyana among the people who matter most in this by-election, namely the Teluk Intan voters themselves.

A whispering campaign has already started among certain quarters to appeal for Chinese voters to vote for a Chinese representative in Teluk Intan. This was always a challenge which was recognized by the DAP from day one – that fielding a Malay candidate in a non-Malay majority seat would cost the party some votes, especially among the Chinese voters.

At the same time, the fact that Dyana does not hail Teluk Intan would be used against her especially since the BN candidate, Dato Mah Siew Keong, is a local boy with an influential and well-known family backing him. We fear that the fact that Dyana relocated to Gelang Patah, Johor as part of her responsibility as Lim Kit Siang’s political secretary and that she would do the same if elected as the MP for Teluk Intan would be drowned out by this ‘local’ versus ‘outsider’ campaign message. Of course, lost in this message is the fact that NOT being local did not prevent two Perak born former MCA presidents – Dr. Ling Liong Sik and Ong Ka Ting – from serving as MPs in Johor for most of their political lives.

It is noteworthy that Mah Siew Keong received 4606 more votes at the parliamentary level compared to his BN colleagues in the state seats of Pasir Bedamar and Changkat Jong even though he went up against local DAP three term Pasir Bedamar ADUN – the late Seah Leong Peng. Mah’s split voting advantage in GE2013 is an indication of the strength of the Mah family ‘brand’ in Teluk Intan where such ties matter especially among older voters.

Dyana’s age, her gender and her appearance have also been heavily criticized and attack especially by UMNO politicians and in the mainstream media.

These attacks will be the most effective among older Chinese voters whose support for Pakatan is noticeably lower than among younger voters. For example, in the Jalan Market Barat polling station, which is 92% Chinese, 72.5% of older voters in the first polling stream (or saluran) vote for DAP in GE13 compared to 85.1% among the youngest voters in the 4th (and final) polling stream who voted for DAP.

Older Chinese voters also outnumber younger Chinese voters in Teluk Intan. 40% of Chinese voters in Teluk Intan are above 55 years of age compared to only 21% who are under 35. In comparison, only 28% of Malay voters are above 55 years of age compared to 34% of voters who are below 35 years of age.

Younger, more pro-Pakatan Chinese voters, are also more likely to be working or studying outside Teluk Intan and may not come back home for this by-election. Turnout in GE2013 was a remarkably high 80.6% compared to only 70.0% in GE2008. A large reason for this high turnout is the return of outstation voters who came back to vote in GE2013. The turnout for this by-election will most certainly be lower than in GE2013. It is expected that the turnout rate would be between 65% to 70%.

One also cannot underestimate the possible impact of PAS’ attempt to table a private members bill for the implementation of hudud in Kelantan especially among the Chinese voters.

These factors – lower support for a non-Chinese DAP candidate who is not seen as a local, a larger proportion of older Chinese voters, a lower turnout rate especially among outstation young voters and the possible impact of the hudud issue – means that DAP’s support among the Chinese voters – at an estimated 85% in GE2013 – would almost certain drop in the upcoming by-election. The Chinese support for DAP is expected to drop by between 5% to 15%.

Among the Indian voters, who supported PR at a 62% rate in GE2013, similar arguments – lower turnout especially among the young, the hudud issue, the Mah family factor – will also explain why Indian support for Dyana and for DAP will fall in the by-election. Factors such as the resignation of Hindraf leader Waythamoorthy as Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister department over the inability of the Prime Minister to deliver on the Hindraf Blueprint will not likely be salient. The Indian support for DAP is expected to drop by between 5% to 10%.

It was and is not anticipated that Dyana’s candidacy would increase PR’s support among Malay voters in Teluk Intan. While fielding Dyana has a candidate has galvanized many young voters including young Malays all over the country to pay attention to this by-election, the local sentiment in Teluk Intan among Malay voters will be hard to overturn within a 2 week campaign period. It will take many years to win the hearts and minds of a majority of Malay voters especially in the Malay majority Changkat Jong are. Hopefully Dyana will have a chance to undertake this challenge but for this by-election at least, it is unlikely that the Malay support for DAP will increase from the 25% we received in GE2013. It would already be an achievement if we managed to preserve the Malay support at 25% given the incessant attacks against Dyana by top UMNO leaders and the many government handouts which have been given in Teluk Intan during this campaign.

Under a relatively optimistic projection, if turnout is at 70%, Malay support is maintained at 25%, Chinese support falls by 10% to 75% and Indian support falls by 5% to 55%, DAP will maintain this seat with a majority of just over 1000. Under a more pessimistic projection, if turnout were to fall to 65%, Malay support falls by 2% to 23, Chinese support falls by 15% to 70% and Indian support falls by 10% to 50%, DAP will lose this seat by slightly more than 1000 votes.

Turnout is key. If voters feel unmotivated to turn out, as was the case for the Bukit Gelugor by-election, and turnout falls below 65%, DAP will almost certainly lose this seat. If turnout is at 70% or more, then the chances for the voters of Teluk Intan to have a young, energetic and idealistic Member of Parliament will be bright.

Dr. Ong Kian Ming is the MP for Serdang.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 27 May 2014, 6:01 am and is filed under
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Zahid, Umno’s absurd vote-catcher in Teluk Intan

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

May 26, 2014

Does Umno and Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi expect the Chinese to vote for Datuk Mah Siew Keong just because the Umno vice-president said they are ungrateful if the Gerakan president does not win this Saturday?

Is this a show of tough love or just the same kind of vile and disgusting mindset of politicians who have been in power too long and now expect people to show their gratitude instead of the other way round?

The absurd thing is this – Zahid made the remarks on the same day he was seen having his arms around Mah – the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate facing DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

And yet Mah and Gerakan and the MCA have the cheek to share the same stage with Umno in the Teluk Intan campaign.

Here’s what Zahid said today: “I would feel sad if DAP won again in Teluk Intan. The Malays would be sad. The Indians would be even sadder.

“But the Chinese would be fine, because they have all sorts of businesses. But if it weren’t for the Malays or Indians who buy goods from them, they wouldn’t have any business.

“It is the Malays and the Indians who help Chinese businessmen. And when they vote, they choose DAP.

“They are ungrateful,” Zahid told about 100 Malays in Durian Sebatang, Teluk Intan today.

Zahid probably has some Chinese associates, including those on stage with him, but just for a few votes and headlines, the Umno vice-president is willing to slag off an important group of Malaysians who form the biggest bloc of votes in Teluk Intan.

How despicable or stupid can a politician be? Insult people and expect to still get their support.

For the record, Teluk Intan has 60,349 eligible voters comprising 23,301 Malay voters (38.3%), 25,310 Chinese voters (41.9%) and 11,468 Indian voters (19%).

Would they all be ungrateful if they voted for Dyana Sofya? Or only the Chinese because they form the majority?

Is racial politics still the way to go for Umno and its allies? Or just plain old insults and bullying tactics to force voters to support BN?

It is time for Malaysians to tell politicians that it is the politicians who have to be grateful for the opportunity to represent the electorate and run the government of the day. Not the other way round.

Politicians such as Zahid and the politicians who share the stage with him should be put in their right and proper place. In the rubbish heap of history. – May 26, 2014.

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DAP and the Malay voters of Teluk Intan

 – Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

May 28, 2014

Today, DAP is a much-envied party. Its political ideals and more important, the resolute leadership qualities have gained new adherents.

Young and open-minded Malays are not easily taken by the simple labelling of DAP as a racist and chauvinist party. It is seen as a champion for the underdog, champion for rule of law, for good governance, for the pursuit of policies that are fair and just.

It is fully committed to making changes through the ballot box. It is not a militant group. These are causes that gain traction among Malaysians of all races.

A practical and strategic choice

The choice of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as its candidate for Teluk Intan is both practical and strategic. It was not a choice that went down easily among the DAP grassroots initially.

Eventually, as I have noticed over and over again, the wisdom by the DAP’s CEC prevailed.

As Teluk Intan is a majority Chinese seat, it was logical to put up a Chinese DAP candidate. It is also an incumbent seat held previously by the late Seah Leong Peng – a DAP MP.

Putting up a Chinese candidate would have definitely secured Chinese support in any circumstances; but the political impact would just be that – DAP once again would have confirmed its legitimacy as the preferred choice by Chinese.

It would only reaffirmed DAP’s Chineseness as the expense of improving its image as a party working on a bigger national presence. A bigger national presence that can be gained by promoting a Malay candidate.

DAP cannot confine itself as a perpetual opposition as it is usually seen as, but it can be an important part of government. As I always say in my ceramah, kita semua mahu naik Roket, pergi ke Bulan mahu dapatkan Keadilan.

Support from the Chinese in Teluk Intan is just an academic point. If the Chinese had voted for Datuk Mah Siew Keong, he would have won on the last two previous occasions.

The fact that he did not, showed that he has no powerbase among the Chinese. He cannot get Chinese support and he is contesting against a Malay who will get Malay support – how can Mah wins?

Can he hope to gain from the Chinese this time? He will not because there have been no changes in the political climate of which he can leverage on.

The people are angry at many issues – increasing cost of living, worsening race relations seen as being created by Umno bully boys – aggression can only come from the big boys; political bullying by Umno and its surrogates.

Mah is seen as impotent to stand up against these issues. So, what positive points are there in Teluk Intan now which could reverse Chinese thinking which did not on the last two occasions when Mah Siew Keong lost? Nothing. So by logic alone, how can he hope to secure Chinese support?

For DAP, the Chinese in Teluk Intan is already its vote bank and its own fixed deposit. The battle ground is the Malay heartland and to a lesser extent, the Indian vote.

Malay factor a bigger national presence and national interests

The decision to field Dyana confirms that DAP acknowledges the Malay factor as a reality in Malaysian politics.

Putting up a Malay candidate has the immediate effect of breaking up the Umno stranglehold on the Malay mindset. It is indisputable proof that DAP is committed to strengthening its Malaysian ideal of inclsusiveess – something that Umno is afraid to do.

Teluk Intan Malays will see this move as a much sacrificed concession on the part of the DAP and this goodwill can only invite reciprocal goodwill. It will attract more Malay support in Teluk Intan.

DAP makes no pretentions that it wants to attract more Malay support. There is nothing wrong with this. Choosing a Malay candidate is a move that takes out the thunder from Umno.

It is now Umno that is caught out with its Malay-first in everything cause. It is now having difficulties in explaining why it, as a champion for Malay first in everything is asking Malays in Teluk Intan to vote for a non-Malay?

Umno unlike DAP is a monolithic bloc comprising of Malays only, real or adopted or made honorary. Their founding principle does not include it being a multi-racial party. While I concede that Umno may say it wants a multiracial nation and its 1Malaysia this and that, DAP has more positivity because it is itself a multiracial party and is committed to a multiracial nation.

The practical thing is, it breaks down the mental block among Malay voters and steals the thunder from Umno. – sakmongkol.blogspot.com, May 28, 2014.

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de guerre of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri, the MP for Raub, Pahang.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 11:53 am and is filed under
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Dyana ada 3B tangkis serangan Umno, kata Kit Siang

OLEH HASBULLAH AWANG CHIK

The Malaysian Insider

May 28, 2014

Lim Kit Siang menyifatkan Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud mampu menangkis serangan pemimpin Umno dengan ciri 3B yang dimiliki calon DAP itu bagi bertanding dalam Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Teluk Intan Sabtu ini.

Ketua Parlimen DAP itu berkata, ciri 3B yang ada pada Dyana bukan sahaja membuktikannya seorang yang cantik tetapi berani melakukan perubahan kepada landskap politik di Malaysia.

“Pemimpin Umno kata apa guna undi seseorang yang memakai gincu. Seorang lagi kata Dyana bukan terlalu cantik dan tidak seperti dalam gambar.

“Semua ini jatuhkan politik kepada satu tahap yang sangat rendah. Saya ulangi Dyana ada 3B. Dia ada beauty (kecantikan), brain (kecerdasan) dan bravery (keberanian),” katanya ketika berucap di depan ribuan pengundi Teluk Intan di Jalan Mahkota, malam tadi.

Naib Presiden Umno, Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi ketika berucap di depan 200 anggota polis pada Ahad berkata, pengundi tidak harus memilih Dyana hanya kerana rupa parasnya kerana beliau sebenarnya tidaklah secantik seperti yang dipaparkan dalam gambar dan televisyen.

Katanya, beliau sendiri pernah bertemu dengan Dyana sekali dan tidak kagum dengan penampilannya.

“Undi awal, dan undi calon terbaik di kalangan semua calon yang baik. Jika anda mahu memilih seseorang yang cantik, tetapi tidak boleh berkhidmat kepada anda, apa gunanya?”

“Beliau tidak tinggal di sini. Saya melihatnya, berdepan dengannya dan berjabat tangan, beliau tidaklah cantik sangat. Dalam gambar, beliau memang cantik, dalam televisyen, cantik sedikit sahaja,” kata Zahid.

Lim berkata, apa yang dikatakan oleh Datin Paduka Marina Mahathir ada kebenarannya dan tidak ramai pemimpin Umno yang mempunyai keberanian seperti Dyana.

Katanya,atas dasar itulah Dyana meneruskan perjuangannya untuk melihat satu Malaysia baharu yang memecahkan benteng perkauman.

“Dyana dipilih bukan kerana dia cantik tetapi kerana memiliki buah fikiran seperti yang dikatakan Marina, dia boleh berfikir, menulis dan menyuarakan. Tidak ramai pemimpin Umno yang boleh buat begitu.

“Itulah sebab dia berjuang tetapi hari ini, saya kesal bekas naib canselor UiTM pun ambil bahagian untuk kempen bersama Umno. Dia kata Dyana tidak ada kecantikan dalaman. Mungkin dia cantik tetapi tiada kecantikan dalaman,” katanya.

Ahli Parlimen Gelang Patah itu turut bertanya adakah impian presiden pertama Umno, Datuk Onn Jaafar dapat direalisasikan pada 2014 untuk melihat semua kaum berada dalam satu parti.

Katanya, 1951 mungkin waktu yang belum sesuai tetapi 2014 adalah medannya jika pengundi Teluk Intan mahukan perubahan.

“Pada 1951, Onn menjadi presiden pertama Umno mencadangkan Umno patut buka pintu untuk semua rakyat dalam negara ini termasuk bukan Melayu untuk menyertainya. Mungkin masa itu terlalu awal dan dia dipaksa untuk meninggalkan Umno.

“Tetapi sekarang 2014, selepas 63 tahun cadangan Onn, adakah generasi muda yang mahu lihat satu impian Malaysia menjadi realiti terlalu awal? Inilah ujian kita dalam PRK Teluk Intan. Kita perlu buat begitu. Jika tidak, tiada harapan untuk Malaysia,” katanya.

Sementara itu, Timbalan Presiden PAS, Mohamad Sabu berkata orang Melayu di Teluk Intan perlu mengundi Dyana kerana DAP merupakan parti yang mengangkat martabat perjuangan Melayu.

Katanya, DAP sebelum ini mengangkat calon Melayu dalam PIlihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13) dan mereka yang dicalonkan menang besar walaupun bertanding di kawasan majoriti bukan Melayu.

“Seperti yang disebut pemimpin Umno, Dyana menjadi alat kepada DAP dan Cina tetapi dia sebenarnya akan jadi alat Cina, Melayu, India dan alat kepada penduduk seluruh Teluk Intan.

“Dyana masuk DAP, semua orang Umno kena sokong dia. Ertinya Dyana mahu menguatkan orang Melayu dalam DAP dan rakyat Malaysia dalam Parlimen,” katanya.

Mohamad berkata, Ahli Parlimen Raub, Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz dan Ahli Parlimen Bukit Bendera, Zairil Khir Johari adalah dua contoh wakil rakyat Melayu yang berjaya diketengahkan DAP.

“Di Raub, MCA lawan di situ dengan calon Cina tetapi PRU13, DAP letak calon Melayu, Ariff menang dan ke Parlimen. Ertinya kekuatan orang Melayu di Parlimen ditambah oleh DAP.

“Bukit Bendera, 90% orang bukan Melayu. DAP kalau letak calon Cina mana pun menang. Tetapi dia letak Zairil, anak orang Umno. Bukan Dyana sahaja anak orang Umno. Sudah banyak. Banyak orang meninggalkan Umno pergi ke Pakatan Rakyat.

“Zairil menang majoriti lebih 30,000 di Bukit Bendera bererti DAP kuatkan Melayu dalam Parlimen. Betul tak?” katanya.

Mohamad berkata, tidak menjadi masalah jika PRK Teluk Intan, DAP mengenengahkan calon bukan Melayu namun atas dasar kepelbagaian kaum, Dyana dipilih untuk membuktikannya.

“Di Teluk Intan, jika DAP letak Cina atau India boleh menang. Tetapi dia letakkan Melayu untuk menjadikan parti pelbagai kaum untuk menang 31 Mei ini.

“Isu perkauman yang dikenakan kepada DAP adalah bankrap, lapuk, bodoh dan bahalul,” katanya. – 28 Mei, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 10:45 pm and is filed under
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May 31 a rare opportunity for Teluk Intan voters of all races to demonstrate that they are more patriotic and and better Malaysians  than UMNO and  Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders

Polling day on May 31 is a rare opportunity for Teluk Intan voters of all races to demonstrate that they are more patriotic and better Malaysians than UMNO and Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders.

Dyana Sofya’s candidature on behalf of DAP/Pakatan Rakyat in the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31 has brought unprecedented  focus on Teluk Intan which boasts of a history going back to the early 16th century of some 500 years.

The national and international attention enjoyed by Teluk Intan in the past 11 days since the announcement of Dyana’s candidature  exceeds  all the attention which Datuk Mak Siew Keong could bring to Teluk Intan in his two decades of public life, which includes one term as Pasir Bedamar Assemblyman and two terms as Teluk Intan Member of Parliament, which includes a Deputy Ministership.

I do not think anybody could contradict me  even if I say that Teluk Intan had never received so much national and international attention in  its 500-year history than in the past 11 days because of  Dyana’s candidature in the Teluk Intan by-election.

Dyana’s candidature in the Teluk Intan by-election has captured the imagination of the nation and the Malaysian diaspora in the world, as it is a battle between new politics and old politics, the future vs the past and the politics of Malaysian nationalism against the politics of race.

It is a test whether 57 years after Merdeka in 1957 and 51 years after the formation of Malaysia in 1963, there is a greater  Malaysian consciousness among the citizens of the country, or whether we are still separate and divided as Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans.

Even more important, whether 57 years after Merdeka and 51 years after Malaysia,   the vocal and noisy racial and religious extremists in the country  are a small minority  as compared to  the overwhelming majority of Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans who  are moderates and  want Malaysia to succeed as a united, harmonious, tolerant,  multi-racial, multi-religious, progressive, competitive and prosperous nation?

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is on  an official visit to China to mark 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Malaysia and China.

Unfortunately, this historic occasion had been marred by racist and extremist  campaigning by UMNO/BN leaders in the Teluk Intan by-election, for example the attack by the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi on Chinese voters, especially those with successful businesses, as “ingrates” if they support the DAP.

Zahid justifies his attacks on the ground that the Chinese are abandoning Malays and Indians who contributed to their wealth.

Zahid said: “I will be sad if the people of Teluk Intan choose DAP again. The Malays will be sad, and Indians even sadder.

“It is fine for the Chinese as they are traders, but what will happen if the Malays and Indians do not support the Chinese traders by not buying their goods. They can’t survive either.

“So the Malays and Indians support the Chinese traders… They become successful, and vote for DAP. They are ingrates, right?”

Zahid cannot be more wrong he has become the latest victim of what I had once  described in Parliament as “Mahathirish perverse illogic”.

This is because in the year 2014, the Chinese are not the only traders in Malaysia – as even Malays have become traders.

Secondly, it is not the Chinese voters who, together with the Malay, Indian, Kadazan and Iban voters, who  support the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat parties for political change who are “ingrates”, for they are only exercising their constitutional rights, as those who act in discharge of their constitutional rights and obligations cannot be “ingrates” or the Constitution would have no meaning.

There are indeed “ingrates” in the country, and Zahid will belong to such a category – people who like “kacang lupakan kulit” who behave as if they have the divine right to be Ministers and Deputy Ministers,  forgetting that it is the ordinary people as voters  who bestowed on them the trust of high public office which they must never betray or abuse.

What is even more deplorable is the  implication from Zahid’s strictures that the Chinese in Malaysia are not loyal to Malaysia, when the Chinese, together with the Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans must given due credit for the present development and achievements of Malaysia.

As a result, such baseless and mischievious attacks on the loyalty of the Chinese in Malaysia for exercising their constitutional rights for choosing the  elected representatives and the government they want has cast a long shadow on the 40th anniversary celebrations of the establishment of Malaysia-China diplomatic relations.

Let me stress that no one, including Zahid, can question the loyalty and patriotism of the

the electorate, including voters in Teluk Intan in the by-election on May 31, for supporting DAP and the Pakatan Rakyat in the pursuit of political change  to usher in justice, freedom, accountability and good governance.

For this reason, I call on the Teluk Intan voters of all races to demonstrate that they are more patriotic and and better Malaysians  than UMNO and Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders by uniting solidly to vote in support of DAP/PR candidate Dyana.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 3:52 pm and is filed under
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Outstation voters to decide Teluk Intan’s fate

Ram Anand

Malaysiakini

May 28, 2014

ANALYSIS
 After nine days of campaigning, the fate of the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election could ultimately be decided by voters not even residing in the constituency itself.

A return of these outstation voters would likely result in a DAP victory, while a low turnout could well work in BN’s favour.

Like many small towns in Perak, a large population of Teluk Intan’s registered voters are residing outside the town, mainly working in the Klang Valley.

By BN’s candidate Mah Siew Keong’s estimate, almost 30 percent of registered voters live away and need to return to Teluk Intan to vote, most of whom are young people inclined to the opposition.

This is why DAP has launched a Jom Balik Undi campaign, to urge voters to return to Teluk Intan this Saturday, while its leaders consistently stress the need of a high turnout for the party to confidently win the by-election.

In the last general election, Teluk Intan registered a 80 percent turnout, the highest ever recorded in the constituency.

But with the aim to takeover Putrajaya no longer feasible a year on, it remains to be seen if the outstation voters would return in droves to vote in this by-election.

DAP gets antsy

DAP had even started calling and messaging some voters to remind them about this by-election, but there had been some mixed signals as to how the young voters are responding to this tactic.

While there might be many who would return after the reminder, there are also some who have voiced their discontent with the approach itself.

The antsy party has also arranged for subsidised transportation for voters in Klang Valley and Singapore in order to bring in the votes.

For Mah, the opposite is true. A lower turnout is likely to benefit him and BN.

This way, elders who are residing in Teluk Intan would influence their children instead of the the other way around, which is what he said happened in the 2013 general election.

Mah may see the low turnout of just 56 percent in the recent Bukit Gelugor by-election as a sign of hope, while for DAP, it rings an alarm bell.

But unlike in Bukit Gelugor where DAP’s Ramkarpal Singh Deo was a clear favourite, Mah and DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud are in a tough fight for the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat.

Neck-to-neck campaign

The presence of a host of BN ministers throughout the campaign period to help Mah has brought new attention to the plight of the people here, especially those on the outskirts of the city.

Despite the late MP Seah Leong Peng’s solid 7,600-vote majority in the last general election, DAP this time has brought in their own Pakatan Rakyat powerhouses, and even raised campaign funds from the public to keep up with BN’s razzle dazzle.

This neck-to-neck style of campaignning in Teluk Intan may, however, not be reflected outside the borders of the small town or inspire outside voters to return.

With such uncertainty in the air, both sides are claiming to be underdogs and keeping their feet on the ground to avoid blame in the event of a defeat.

DAP had said that optimistically, they would only win by 1,000 votes, while as at yesterday, Mah had given himself a 45 per cent chance of winning the polls.

When the Teluk Intan goes to polls this Saturday, the voting pattern will decide if the mammoth momentum for change generated in the 13th general elections is still alive, a year on.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 12:08 pm and is filed under
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Pertarungan dua generasi di Teluk Intan

A Shukur Harun

The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2014

Tidak syak lagi Pilihan Raya Kecil Parlimen Teluk Intan pada 31 Mei ini akan menarik perhatian umum kerana ia amat mempunyai signifikan, terutama kerana ia ditandingi oleh seorang calon muda, professional, cerdas – Dyana Sofya daripada DAP.

Lawannya ialah seorang ahli politik veteran daripada Gerakan, Datuk Mah Siew Keong.

Mengapa pertarungan di Teluk Intan ini mempunyai makna yang besar dalam arena politik tanah air?

Untuk pertama kali, DAP/Pakatan Rakyat mengemukakan seorang gadis Melayu profesional untuk bertanding di kawasan itu.

Sekiranya dia menang, maka untuk pertama kali dalam sejarah kawasan itu akan diwakili seorang Melayu dalam Parlimen Malaysia.

Kedua, calon DAP/Pakatan Rakyat ini adalah daripada kalangan ahli politik generasi baru, menentang calon generasi lama.

Berdasarkan demikian ramai pengundi baru seperti yang dilihat dalam pilihan raya umum yang lalu, maka DAP/Pakatan Rakyat merasakan ada keperluan yang amat sangat untuk meletakkan calon muda untuk bertanding di situ.

Maka, saya kira, Dyana Sofya dipilih untuk bertanding mewakili generasi baru, bukan kerana cantiknya, tetapi kerana melihat potensinya untuk menjadi ahli politik yang berjaya.

Dia seorang profesional, seorang peguam, cerdas fikirannya, terbuka, sikapnya menentang perkauman dan mengetahui matlamat mengapa dia berjuang dalam politik; iaitu untuk memperjuangkan hak dan keadilan rakyat tanpa mengira kaum dan agama.

Inilah sebenarnya aspirasi generasi muda yang mahu membetulkan pelbagai kepincangan yang berlaku dalam negara. Generasi muda yang diwakili oleh Dyana ini sangat perlu diberikan sokongan dari pelbagai bangsa.

Kepada generasi muda inilah sebenarnya terletak masa depan negara, maka adalah sangat wajar pengundi Teluk Intan memberi sokongan kepadanya pada 31 Mei ini.

Jika menang nanti, Dyana akan bersama rakan muda dalam Dewan Rakyat nanti, seperti Nurul Ezzah, Rafizi Ramli, Tony Phua, Zairil Khir Johari, Ramkarpal Singh yang baru menang di Bukit Gelugur dan lain-lain rakan muda mereka.

Ini tidak bermakna kita menolak kalangan ahli politik veteran atau generasi lama dan tidak pula mereka ini dianggap tokoh politik kitar semula, justeru pengalaman dan perjuangan politik mereka masih berguna.

Yang dimaksudkan di sini, biarlah ada perubahan dalam Parlimen Malaysia, ada suara baru yang mungkin mempunyai idea bernas untuk dikemukakan di Dewan Rakyat itu di samping suara lama yang bermutu.

Bagaimanapun, terdapat ramai ahli Dewan Rakyat yang ada sekarang, terutamanya daripada Pakatan Rakyat yang memberikan hujah dan cadangan bernas. Sama ada pandangan mereka diterima oleh ahli Dewan Rakyat yang lain atau sebaliknya, itu adalah persoalan lain.

Kita sudah melihat hujah bernas yang dikemukakan oleh, antara lain, Hanifa Maydin, Dato’ Kamarudin Jaafar, Khalid Samad, Raja Bahrin, Dr Hatta Ramli dan ramai lagi dari PAS/Pakatan Rakyat.

Mereka memenuhi hasrat rakyat yang sangat berkehendakkan perbahasan yang dynamik, bersifat intelektual, iaitu berbahasan yang bermutu. Bukan bercakap hal-hal yang remeh temeh, sentiment kaum dan seumpamanya.

Rakyat mahukan perbahasan yang benar-benar memenuhi kehendak mereka, bukan pendapat yang dipaksa untuk diterima mereka.

Kerana itu kita yakin calon DAP, Dyana Sofya mempunyai kemampuan untuk menyuarakan kepentingan rakyat dengan berkesan.

Yang penting di sini ialah DAP/Pakatan Rakyat membuat pembaharuan dengan mengemukakan calon muda profesional. Sebab itu sangat wajar pengundi Teluk Intan memilih Dyana Sofya pada 31 Mei ini.

Parlimen Teluk Intan mempunyai dua kawasan DUN, iaitu DUN Pasir Bedamar dan Changkat Jong, di mana DUN Changkat Jong pernah dimenangi oleh calon PAS dalam PRU ke-12, tetapi tewas dalam PRU ke-13 yang lalu.

Manakala Dun Pasir Bedamar menjadi kubu kuat DAP sejak dulu lagi. Suatu ketika dulu DAP pernah meletakkan calon Melayu di situ, iaitu Fadzlan Yahya dan menang.

Menurut pemerhati, pengundi Cina di Teluk Intan melebihi 40%, bermakna DAP hanya memerlukan lebih kurang 15% undi Melayu dan India untuk menang. Tetapi kalau dapat undi Melayu lebih daripada itu tentu lebih baik.

Sementara itu, PAS mempunyai kekuatan di Teluk Intan sendiri, terutama di Changkat Jong. Sebab itu, jentera pilihan raya PAS/Pakatan Rakyat banyak memberi tumpuan di DUN Cangkat Jong ini, di samping menolong di tempat lain.

Sangat menarik untuk diperhatikan bagaimana jentera PAS dan PKR bergerak serentak secara maksima, berkempen menolong calon DAP dan ini membuktikan kesepaduan Pakatan Rakyat yang tidak mungkin dapat digugat oleh musuh politiknya.

Teluk Intan terletak di selatan negeri Perak, adalah pusat pentadbiran dan bandar terbesar di daerah Hilir Perak.

Ia dilingkungi oleh aliran Sungai Perak dan Sungai Bidor dan ia adalah bandar terbesar di selatan Perak.

Nama asal Teluk Intan ialah Teluk Mak Intan diambil dari seorang janda lawa bernama Mak Intan.

Beliau seorang peniaga wanita yang berasal dari Mandahiling, Sumatera dan peneroka yang membuka Teluk Intan di sekitar awal abad ke-19. Pada waktu itu, kawasan yang diterokai oleh Mak Intan dikenali sebagai Pekan Mak Intan.

Berikutan penerokaan ini, ramailah orang seberang keturunan Jawa, Rawa, Mandahiling, Minangkabau, Kampar dan kemudian India-Bombay datang mendiami kawasan yang baru diterokai itu.

Mereka bertani dan berdagang barangan tradisi seperti rempah ratus, kain, inggu, kacip, parang dan sebagainya. Berkuatkuasa pada 1 Januari 1982, bandar ini bertukar nama dari Teluk Anson kepada Teluk Intan.

Kesimpulannya, ramai yang menjangkakan kemenangan DAP di Bukit Gelugor Ahad lalu memberikan ransangan dan semangat kepada petugas Pakatan Rakyat untuk mencapai kemenangan di Teluk Intan pula. – 27 Mei, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 7:46 am and is filed under
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Teluk Intan and the divine right of rulers

John R.Mallot

Malaysiakini

May 27, 2014

In ancient days, kings claimed that they had a divine right to rule, and that they were accountable only to God. They thought that they and the country were one and the same, and that everything and everyone belonged to them.

They could confiscate your lands and wealth, or they could give you property and riches. They could lock you up in the Tower, or make your dreams come true. It was all up to them. King Louis XIV, who ruled France for 72 years, famously said, “L’etat, c’est moi” – I am the country.

And so it is with Umno. Because it has ruled Malaysia continuously since independence in 1957, Umno has come to believe that it, the government, and the nation are all one and the same.

Because it is the self-proclaimed defender of the Malay race – a people whom Umno says are still constantly under threat despite 57 years of protecting their interests – Umno thinks that all Malays should support it.

If a Malay does not, then they risk being denied business and educational opportunities, tried for sedition, or even branded as a “traitor,” as Umno Wanita leader Shahrizat Abdul Jalil brazenly suggested DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was one last week.

Foreigners who criticise the authoritarian ways of the Malaysian government, such as myself, are labeled “anti-Malaysia.” Some, like Australian senator Nick Xenophon, are denied entry; others, as I discovered during my recent visit to Malaysia, just two weeks after United States President Barack Obama came, are on a “watch list.”

Because Umno has been in control of the government for nearly six decades – reportedly longer than any other political party in the world – it probably is understandable that they have come to think that party and government are one and the same, and that what belongs to the government also belongs to the party.

But in a parliamentary system, the political party or coalition that won a majority of votes is asked to “form” the government. They do not “become” the government. The word “form” has a special definition in this regard: it means “to compose” or “to serve as” the government.

There is a clear recognition, which is lost on most Umno politicians, that the party is only “the government of the day.” The party does not “own” the government, its personnel, or its resources.

Abuses of gov’t resources

The election campaign in Teluk Intan has provided a number of examples of Umno’s confused mind, and how it misuses government resources for the ruling coalition’s political benefit. It is a case study in how Malaysia’s electoral system is tilted against opposition candidates.

Here are just a few examples that I have found in the past few days; I am sure Malaysiakini’s readers will find more in the days ahead.

    Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan used a school for a political gathering and said, “I do not see why I cannot hold a ceramah here. I am a BN deputy minister. This is a government school.”

    Home Affairs Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi campaigned before an official gathering of government paramilitary members, Rela, and turned it into a political party rally. He said, “I promise that if (the BN candidate) Mah (Siew Keong) wins, I shall immediately buy you new uniforms.”

    Zahid also said Teluk Intan would get a constituency allocation from the government of RM1 million, but only if the voters elected Mah. He bluntly informed them, “I don’t have to tell you how much you stand to lose if you choose others.”

    In that same Rela gathering, Zahid said chillingly, “In the 13th general election, 2,019 Rela members did not vote. I checked one by one, and I know who did not go out to vote. We must make sure they vote this time around.”

    Communications and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek said his ministry is prepared to improve broadband facilities in Teluk Intan, but only if it is represented by a BN representative.

    Bernama, the government-owned wire service, had an article that sought to label Dyana as an outsider to Teluk Intan. Far from balanced, it had five quotes calling her a carpetbagger, one neutral quote, and no one speaking in her defence.

Separation of party and state

Malaysia is a member of the International Parliamentary Union (IPU), an organisation of 164 parliaments around the world. In 1994, the IPU adopted a Declaration on Criteria for Free and Fair Elections.

Among other points, it said that its member states, such as Malaysia, should “ensure the separation of party and state.” This, of course, is something that Umno and the Malaysian government have failed to do for years.

All this brings us back to the encounter between Shahrizat and Dyana the other day.

Shahrizat (right, sitting) believed that Dyana, as a Malay and a graduate of Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UiTM), is obligated to support Umno. If not, then she is a “traitor.”

Dyana brilliantly countered, saying that not all Malays support Umno. Going to UiTM does not require you to support Umno; UiTM is funded by taxpayers of all races and not just those who voted for Umno.

Shahrizat, rejected by the voters in 2008 and surrounded by the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) scandal, still holds a prominent position in Umno as head of Wanita. She reminds me of everything that is wrong with today’s “Umno culture,” with its focus on greed and self-interest that holds Malaysia back from reaching its true potential.

But young people like Dyana give me hope for the future. She has shown me and so many others that there are many young Malaysians – Chinese and Indians and Malays – who truly believe in the Malaysian dream and want only the best for all of the country’s people, regardless of race or religion.

JOHN MALOTT is former US ambassador to Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 12:22 am and is filed under
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UiTM, antara tanggungjawab sosial dan kecemerlangan

Shahrulazwad Ismail

The Malay Mail Online

May 27, 2014

26 MEI — Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) sering diperdebatkan baru-baru ini semenjak pencalonan calon parti politik DAP, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud untuk kerusi Parlimen Teluk Intan. Pada tahun lepas, Dyana yang merupakan seorang graduan Fakulti Undang-Undang UiTM telah mencadangkan agar sebuah institusi seperti UiTM dibuka kepada golongan bukan bumiputera yang berpendapatan rendah.

Sesetengah pihak menganggap Dyana mahu UiTM dimansuhkan ataupun paling tidak dibuka kepada semua kaum. Dyana turut juga membangkitkan kepincangan dalam pengambilan pelajar apabila golongan Bumiputera yang kaya diterimamasuk sebagai pelajar lantas telah mengambil hak golongan bumiputera yang miskin untuk belajar di situ.

Sekurang-kurangnya satu kesan positif yang timbul daripada isu panas ini ialah timbul kesedaran tentang peranan UiTM dikalangan rakyat walaupun diiringi dengan pelbagai kritikan, prasangka dan juga hinaan dan cacian secara terbuka di media-media. Saya yakin ramai sudah maklum serba sedikit tentang sejarah dan matlamat penubuhan institusi ini dan tidak kurang juga tentang Artikel 153 Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Pelbagai hujahan telah ditulis oleh pelbagai pihak baik dari pihak UiTM, para graduan UiTM (selain Dyana), para majikan dan tidak kurang juga golongan awam. Eloklah kita ambil kesempatan ini untuk menilai tahap kejayaan UiTM ketika ini dan mengenalpasti halatuju selanjutnya.

[Harap maklum bahawa penulis juga merupakan graduan Fakulti Undang-Undang UiTM sejak sepuluh tahun yang lepas.]

UiTM tidak wujud serta-merta sebagai sebuah universiti. Sejarah UiTM bermula dengan misi dan skala yang kecil selaras dengan matlamat untuk memajukan golongan luar bandar yang majoritinya ialah bumiputera. Bermula dengan Dewan Latehan RIDA, kemudiannya Maktab MARA dan berkembang pesat menjadi Institut Teknologi MARA (ITM) sehinggalah ke hari ini sebagai UiTM.

Perkembangan UiTM adalah organik dan semakin maju seiring dengan keperluan. Kursus-kursus yang ditawarkannya bukan sembrono. Permulaannya hanya tahap Sijil, kemudiannya Diploma, Diploma Lanjutan dan akhirnya Ijazah Pertama, Sarjana (Master) dan Doktor Falsafah (Phd) Kesemuanya dianjurkan dengan kerjasama badan-badan professional dan universiti-universiti antarabangsa dan diiktiraf di dalam dan di luar negara.

Kita tidak dapat menafikan bahawa UiTM telah berjaya mengubah kehidupan golongan bumiputera yang zahirnya tidak mungkin memperolehi peluang untuk mengubah kehidupan generasi mereka berikutnya. Bermula dengan sedikit ilmu ataupun kemahiran yang disokong dengan persijilan yang diiktiraf, anak-anak petani, pekebun ataupun nelayan tidak lagi terpaksa mewarisi pekerjaan turun-temurun nenek moyang mereka.

Memang hakikatnya, golongan bumiputera adalah yang termiskin pada 50 tahun yang lepas. Ia adalah hasil pemerintahan penjajah British yang mengamalkan sistem identiti kaum di mana kaum Melayu dikekalkan dengan pekerjaan tradisi seperti petani, pekebun dan nelayan, kaum India dibawa sebagai pekerja estet dan kaum Cina sebagai pelombong dan selebihnya peniaga.

UITM setelah sekian lama sebelum dinaiktaraf menjadi UiTM telah dikenali sebagai institusi yang bukan universiti menawarkan kelulusan tertinggi Diploma Lanjutan dan kemudiannya Ijazah Pertama pada tahun 1996. Misi ITM adalah untuk mengimbangi kekurangan tenaga kerja profesional dan separa profesional di kalangan bumiputera dan ITM telah berjaya dalam misi ini.

Secara ringkas, ITM melatih graduannya untuk dunia pekerjaan dan berjaya memenuhi keperluannya ketika itu.

Tanggapan popular ketika itu ialah ITM sebagai tempat pelajar bumiputra yang tidak cukup kelayakan dan/atau tidak cukup kemampuan kewangan ke universiti.

Universiti pula tidak banyak seperti sekarang. Memang begitulah dilemma yang sinonim dengan golongan bumiputera ketika itu; sama ada tidak cukup layak dan/atau tidak cukup kemampuan kewangan. Status sosial bumiputera yang diwarisi daripada nenek moyang tidak mudah diubah hanya melalui satu generasi.

Meritokrasi masih terpakai walaupun dikalangan bumiputera. Tiada graduan yang lulus percuma. UiTM masih sehingga kini dikawal selia oleh agensi kerajaan dan rakan-rakan universiti antarabangsa.

Persoalan Dyana tentang golongan bumiputera yang kaya menjadi pelajar di UiTM ada juga rasionalnya. Di antara calon-calon yang layak, pasti ada yang gagal dan tidak adil jika bumiputera yang miskin dinafikan haknya dan tempatnya diambil oleh bumiputera yang kaya, walaupun dia layak dari segi akademik. Kelayakan status sosial perlu menjadi titik penentu dalam pengambilan ke UiTM. Tidak wajar golongan kaya diberikan subsidi dalam pendidikan.

UiTM difahamkan mempunyai aspirasi global. Apabila ITM dinaiktaraf menjadi UiTM pada tahun 1999, ia adalah satu permulaan yang baru. UiTM mustahil menjadi universiti elit ala Ivy League dengan sekelip mata. UiTM mengejar reputasi akademik tetapi masih memegang tanggungjawab sosial terhadap golongan bumiputera.

Menurut ranking universiti dunia kelolaan QS setakat tahun 2013, UiTM berada ditangga 201-250 di Asia dan 701+ di dunia. Di Malaysia, UiTM berada ditangga ke 8 berkongsi dengan Universiti Teknologi Petronas (UTP) dan di atas Universiti Tun Hussein Onn Malaysia (UTHM), Limkokwing University of Creative Technology (LUCT), Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN), Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR), Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) dan universiti-universiti lain yang tidak tersenarai.

Syarat kemasukan UiTM hanya kepada golongan bumiputera wajar dikekalkan. UiTM telah menggunakan budibicaranya dengan baik apabila membuka tempat kepada pelajar bukan bumiputra tajaan kerajaan untuk program persediaan luar negara di International Education Centre (INTEC), sebuah institusi milik UiTM.

Selain itu, pelajar antarabangsa juga ditawarkan untuk belajar program lepasan ijazah di Insitute of Graduate Studies (IPSIS), UiTM.

UiTM tidak boleh dibandingkan dengan universiti-universiti biasa. Dalam mengejar reputasi sebagai universiti terkemuka di dunia, nampaknya UiTM sudah berada dilandasan yang betul tanpa perlu taksub dengan ranking.

Tanggungjawab sosialnya masih dipikul contohnya melalui program Destini Anak Bangsa. Mungkin di masa hadapan, pihak Senat UiTM boleh menimbang untuk menerima pelajar bukan bumiputra ke IPSIS sahaja. Ini tidak akan menjejaskan tanggungjawab sosial UiTM dan UiTM akan mempunyai peluang lebih cerah untuk menjadi universiti mega dengan matlamat sosial yang cemerlang di dunia sepertimana California State University (CSU) dan State University of New York (SUNY) di Amerika Syarikat.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 6:38 am and is filed under
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Will ‘David’ beat ‘Goliath’ in Teluk Intan?

Malaysiakini

May 27, 2014

COMMENT
 She is no mummy’s girl.

But, as the daughter of Yammy Samat, an Umno loyalist, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud who is contesting a by-election in the northern state of Malaysia is a roaring tiger.

Although soft-spoken, Dyana is the kind of ‘no holds barred’ young woman who would challenge Umno, which has been the backbone of the ruling party since 1951.

As a Malay candidate for the predominantly Chinese DAP, where 41.9 percent of its voters are Chinese, Dyana has a tough battle ahead to woo voters in Teluk Intan, dominated by three major ethnic communities – with a total of 25,310 Chinese, 23,301 Malays and 11,468 Indian voters.

Traditionally, a seat held by Gerakan, from the ruling BN, her DAP predecessor, Seah Leong Peng, was able to win the seat in last year’s general election with a majority of 7,000. Seah’s unexpected departure on May 1 due to cancer left the seat vacant.

Dyana is up against the 53-year-old Mah Siew Keong, who is both Gerakan party president and a two-term MP for the constituency, before losing to DAP’s M Manogaran in 2008.

Mah was a former deputy minister, while Dyana has only entered into politics when she was first introduced by DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang at the DAP national conference in January 2012.

But her entry into politics has already riled, among others, former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who had chided Yammy for her failure as a mother to inculcate in her girl about the numerous contributions Umno has made to the Malay race.

Yammy’s statement showed that she, too, was a woman of fibre. “I tried to raise her like Mukhriz, but she turned out to be another Marina,” she was quoted as saying, referring to the two grown-up children.

In a country largely populated by Muslims, she was also not spared a variety of allegations, including posing nude. Sex scandals are often used to bring down an opponent. In the run-up to the by-election, doctored pictures of her in a pink bikini were posted on Umno-linked blogs.

It was meant to discredit the 27-year-old lawyer and political secretary to Kit Siang, but netizens and online media friendly to the opposition immediately identified the body as belonging to a Filipina actress. This, however, has worked to Dyana’s advantage.

According to Malaysiakini, since her candidacy for the by-election was announced, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud has been a key word for Internet searches, with more than 4.3 million results on Google.

”The number of fans on her Facebook page, which was set up less than three days ago, has skyrocketed to over 30,000,” the online portal reported.

Now, Dyana’s name is spoken of not only within her party, but talked about by her opponents. Even Umno strongman and former editor-in-chief of the New Straits Times Press group, A Kadir Jasin, wrote in his blog: “When I woke up this morning, I saw five messages from a former Umno divisional secretary on my cellular telephone. One read: ‘Dyana is said to be the latest state of the art Samsung 5S (sic) while Mah is Nokia. Sigh!’”

‘Traitor to her race and sex’

Umno is largely infuriated by Dyana’s entry into politics as a candidate of the DAP, because they believe she is a traitor to her race and sex.

Despite the seat being a Chinese majority, Dyana is slated to win the by-election against Mah, but whether she will be able to garner 25 percent of the Malay voters, as her predecessor, Seah, did, will send a strong message to Umno. Broadly, the Chinese and Indian sentiments have been with the Pakatan Rakyat since 2008.

When Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil (right) called her a traitor of the Malay race, Dyana’s rebuttal was quick, saying that she will certainly not be a traitor of all Malaysians. “I will not be a traitor of the country, Malaysia!” she roared during a political speech.

She was also quick to rebut the offer by Communication and Multimedia Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek, who tried to woo young voters with better Internet connections if the ruling party won the seat.

“It doesn’t matter who wins this coming by-election, it is still the responsibility of the ministry to improve broadband speed in the area,” Dyana told an online portal. “Not necessarily just for Teluk Intan, but the entire country.”

The Internet connection in the township has remained sluggish, despite the country’s push for a knowledge-based economy since 1996. Currently, the broadband speed in Malaysia is 5.48 megabytes per second (MBps), but in Cambodia, it is already 5.9 MBps while in Vietnam it is 14.2 MBps.

Another Umno minister, Abdul Rahman Dahlan, had labelled all those who vote for a pretty face as ‘stupid’ but to Dyana, what matters most is her ability to carry the people’s voice to Parliament, not just a pretty face.

Social activist Marina Mahathir is probably among those who have given a more flaterring description of Dyana.

Calling her ‘a smart girl who can think’, the daughter of Mahathir gave Dyana Sofya the thumbs up. “She can articulate. She can write,” Marina wrote in a Facebook posting recently. “That’s three up over most politicians already.”

Her opponent, Mah (right in photo) had conceded that he, too, did not mind Dyana’s popularity. A pragmatic Mah agreed that extravagant events used by his coalition in the past to woo voters no longer work, with the current sentiments to change the ruling party.

The 57-year-old regime that Mah represents is increasingly alienating itself from the rest of the country’s population, with Umno’s hardline position already turning voters against the ruling coalition in the past two general elections.

Although she is prepared to accept the people’s decision, on one hand, Dyana Sofya’s win against Mah will undoubtedly send jitters to Umno, post-2008, that their strategy of ‘divide and rule’ no longer works, as voters are now less likely to vote along ethnicity. On the other hand, she is the epitome of a younger generation of Malaysians, whose sentiments are turned against the ruling party led by Umno.

Putting Teluk Intan on the map

And for the voters, Teluk Intan may yet again boast that it not only has the famed Leaning Tower of Teluk Intan (named after the Tower of Pisa) but this third largest town in the state of Perak has one of the youngest Malay ladies as its parliamentarian.

Her name bring memories of the late Lady Diana Spencer.  “My father named me after the late princess,” Dyana chuckled as she revealed this to Asia Sentinel. “The sudden focus on me has been overwhelming in some ways, but I think it is a great opportunity to highlight the beautiful town of Teluk Intan, and given the chance I would use this to further the cause of the good people of Teluk Intan.”

As to her style, should she win the election and become a parliamentarian, she said: “My approach has always been to speak my mind and uphold the principles I share with the party. I think people of all communities can accept me for who I am and I don’t see myself being alienated by anyone.”

It is the voters in Teluk Intan to decide this coming May 31 election, whether this young and inexperienced, but witty and smart ‘David’ will beat the strong and mighty ‘Goliath’ and his entire Philistine army in the battle of generations and ideologies.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 28 May 2014, 7:13 am and is filed under
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Answers to key questions on the MH370 mystery

MAY 29, 2014 |
TMI

Almost three months after flight MH370 went missing, there is still no sign of what happened to the plane which was carrying 239 people on a routine flight from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

When ping signals were detected in the Indian Ocean in April, hopes rose that they were emanating from the aircraft’s black box flight recorders, and the search intensified in their vicinity.

Yet a sophisticated mini-sub searching the ocean floor near the sounds has found no sign of the plane and some experts now believe they did not come from the jet.

Here are answers to some key questions:

Q: Are the ‘pings’ from MH370?

A: It cannot be ruled out, but international consensus is now that the series of acoustic transmissions at the heart of the Indian Ocean search did not come from MH370’s black box, according to a senior US Navy official.

Australian search chief Angus Houston had previously described the signals detected using US Navy equipment as “consistent” with those from aircraft black boxes.

But US Navy deputy director of ocean engineering Michael Dean told CNN today there was now broad agreement that they came from some other man-made source.

The US Navy later downplayed his comments as “speculative and premature”, even though Dean said other countries involved in the Australian-led search had reached the same conclusions.

Q: What happens next?

A: The pings, combined with the failure of a massive aerial and sea surface search to locate any wreckage from the plane, have been at the centre of the undersea search.

Scott Hamilton, managing director of US-based aerospace consultancy Leeham Co. said officials would now have to re-evaluate all the data “from start to finish” to see if any of it had been misinterpreted, including the Indian Ocean search arc itself.

Because the plane’s communications systems appear to have been shut down around the time it went missing, officials have been forced to piece together its supposed journey using satellite signals, radar data and aircraft performance calculations.

“Since the Inmarsat (satellite) data sent them to the Australian area, this will come under particular scrutiny,” Hamilton said via email.

“They either validate their original conclusions and figure the ‘recorder pings’ were in error but the satellite data was valid; or they decide the Inmarsat analysis was incorrect.”

Terence Fan, an aviation expert at Singapore Management University, said the discounting of the pings alone was unlikely to change the course of the search, which is expected to move into an intensified underwater hunt in the same region.

“It’s not official, and I don’t think there is anything conclusive,” he said of the latest revelation. “Everything is up in the air now… But that’s the best thing we have.”

Q: Should the search be called off?

A: Experts believe it is crucial the wreckage is recovered to determine whether mechanical failure is behind the mystery to prevent future accidents.

Hamilton said while the new development could alter the course of the sea search, pending a re-evaluation of data, it would probably not end the search itself.

“If you mean do they stop looking for the airplane entirely and just write it off as missing forever, I would say, ‘Not yet’,” he said.

“They need to exhaust all analysis. Remember, it took two years to find (Air France flight) AF447, and they had a general idea where to start looking. I think it will be some time, perhaps years, before they completely throw in the towel.”

Q: If the pings are not from MH370, might the plane never be found?

Even if the pings are confirmed not to be from MH370, the Air France example shows that success is still possible.

Its black boxes were not located before their signals expired, necessitating a two-year search using submersible drones and other means to locate a debris field.

But authorities had a better idea where the Air France crash occurred than what happened to MH370.

Hamilton said based on the information currently available, finding the plane seemed unlikely. “They need some breakthrough of some kind,” he said.

Q: Was the plane commandeered by hijackers or terrorists?

A: This theory gained early attention due to the revelation that two Iranian passengers boarded using stolen passports, and after Malaysian authorities said the plane appeared to have been deliberately diverted.

But Interpol said the Iranians were apparently just illegal immigrants heading to Europe, and Malaysian police have said investigations had “cleared” all of the plane’s 227 passengers.

Q: Did one or both of the pilots go rogue?

A: Malaysian authorities have said a knowledgeable flyer likely diverted the plane and that its communications systems appear to have been shut off around the time MH370 went missing, suggesting deliberate action in the cockpit.

All of this has led to intense scrutiny of Captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah, 53, and First Officer Fariq Abdul Hamid, 27, but no evidence has yet emerged to suggest either held extremist views, had psychological problems or any other motive.

Q: Did MH370 become a “ghost plane”?

A: This idea gained traction after Malaysia revealed that the plane apparently flew for nearly seven hours after vanishing from radar.

“Ghost planes” – in which the crew is incapacitated, leaving the plane to fly on aimlessly – have occurred before. In 2005, a Greek Helios Airways plane with 121 aboard flew for hours after a sudden lack of oxygen incapacitated the cockpit crew. It crashed, killing all aboard.

Some believe MH370’s pilots diverted the plane due to such an event – possibly attempting to return to Kuala Lumpur airport – but were subsequently incapacitated, leaving the plane to fly on autopilot.

The shutting off of communications systems may have been an attempt to stem a fire cause by faulty electrical circuits.

Aviation expert Ron Bishop, from the University of Central Queensland, said the fact that no debris was found suggested the plane did fly for a long time and eventually ran out of fuel.

“If it glided into the water at a good altitude and a decent airspeed.. there might not have been a fireball, it might not have broken up because that plane is designed not to break up,” he said.

Q: Do we know everything the authorities know?

A: Families of passengers aboard MH370 have accused Malaysia of withholding crucial satellite data, saying this week that long-awaited report is incomplete and does not prove the plane crashed in the Indian Ocean.

Authorities on Tuesday released a 47-page summary of communication logs from the Malaysia Airlines plane recorded by British satellite operator Inmarsat but critics said the government failed to provide crucial supporting details.

Malaysia has insisted it is doing as much as it possibly can in an unprecedented situation.

But the perceived lack of transparency has helped sustain conspiracy theorists who allege that the truth is being hidden or manipulated by Malaysia’s authoritarian government.

Q: What aviation changes might arise from MH370?

A: The aviation industry has a history of learning from disasters and implementing safeguards, making air travel one of the world’s safest modes of transport.

MH370 has already sparked new discussion of implementing real-time satellite tracking of airliners to stop them going missing, and possibly reassessing the pilot’s ability to turn off communications systems. – AFP, May 29, 2014.

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Beware of Princess Dyana

Iskandar Dzulkarnain |	 May 29, 2014

Free Malaysia Today

In this satirical piece, the writer nails home some home truths in a humourous way.

COMMENT

Dyana SofyaThe antics of Umno Youth who seemed to act like organised thugs in the storming of the Penang State Assembly should not be blamed on Umno and BN for no apparent reason.

Neither should they be blamed for the manifestation of unmitigated gangsterism, racism, hooliganism, foul language, threats, destruction of property, the baying for blood, sexism, fake photographs, rowdiness and mob violence by motorbike gangs plaguing the current Teluk Intan by-election campaign.

Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has issued a statement that BN does not condone violence or sabotage. Umno is very neutral since it not contesting any seats and therefore have no reason whatsoever to cause any ruckus. More likely the outbreak of violence should be attributed to Independents or sympathetic BN supporters.

Unlike DAP who wants to conquer every seat, Umno is more ‘inclusive’ to allow other coalition parties and even Independents a fighting chance to contest.

Is it a wonder why more and more NGO’s, Independents and other mosquito parties are starting to support BN?

Hitting below the belt

Umno is simply annoyed that DAP is fielding a ‘SYT’ (sweet young thing) to battle against a political giant like Mah Siew Keong.

That is totally unfair as Mah is more than twice her age and twice her political experience.

Remember, Gerakan is considered a ‘Godzilla’ in Malaysian politics compared to DAP which used to be a mosquito party many years back.Mah is the president of the prestigious Gerakan party and has also the experience of losing twice, so voters should give him a third chance to win back a seat.

The Home Minister has pointed out that Dyana’s beauty is only skin deep, and she only looks beautiful in the media and not in real life.

Meanwhile, the Sports and Youth Minister insists that she lacks political experience which Teluk Intan voters should reconsider.

In today’s dog eat dog world, experience is everything and Mah is everything that Dyana is not.

Used as a political tool

Umno leaders seriously believe that she is a traitor to the core who sold her race out. How can she even be seen gallivanting with the enemy DAP, let alone become one of their future leaders?

Where are the true blue blooded Malays going to hide their faces?

As an UITM graduate who benefited from the NEP, she should return the favour to Umno by not contesting, and be used as a tool by DAP to confuse Teluk Intan voters from voting for a great Chinese leader like Mah.

If she really wants to be in politics, she could easily have joined Puteri Umno or Perkasa like her mom, and become a divisional leader instead, and God willing, she may one day lead Wanita Umno by the time she touches 60 years old.

After all, there are no shortcuts when it comes to climbing up the political ladder as even cows have to wait their turn.

But no, she wants to skyrocket herself up the political ladder on the DAP rocket vehicle, throwing caution to the wind and not paying due heed to her race, religion and royalty and her rightful place in the kitchen.

Many Umno leaders are sad, dejected and genuinely disappointed that poor Dyana has been deceived by her political masters to divide the racial unity of Teluk Intan.

They also know that one day DAP is going to dump her like a hot potato, once they have no more use for her.

The Teluk Intan dilemma

Today, Teluk Intan voters especially the Chinese are faced with a great dilemma to either vote in a great experienced Chinese leader or an inexperienced Malay novice with a pretty smile.

How can DAP subject Teluk Intan voters with such great mental torture? Have they no shame?

DAP must also stop accusing an innocent BN or Umno for all the slander levelled against Dyana. She deserves it for her stupidity.

The bikini clad photos of someone who looks like Dyana, found in mosques and in the villages, is definitely not the work of BN or their agents. Because if it is, BN would have unreservedly admitted it!

Even Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s ‘hilarious joke’ to Rela members have been taken out of context by DAP leaders. He had merely called on Rela members to exercise their right to vote, but who they vote for is not relevant.

He also explained that every BN MP’s has a financial allocation, so if BN won, Rela members could expect free uniforms.

That’s why for Teluk Intan voters, a BN win will be very advantageous for the townsfolk.

Is Dyana worth her weight in salt?

Seriously, other than her beauty, what else does Dyana possess? Brains!? But there’s no proof of that! Experience!? Definitely not if compared to great experienced Umno leaders of high calibre like Wanita chief Shahrizat who is an economic wizard. And unlike the gutsy Gerakan candidate Mah, Dyana would not have the marbles to stand up to Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

Sadly, many voters in Teluk Intan are now beginning to think that Dyana is a candidate who can make a difference.

They think that she possesses many qualities of a natural leader. Not only is she young and beautiful, she has brains, personality, influence and fiercely independent.

She comes through as trustworthy and many believe that she would be able to bridge the different races together in peace and harmony.

In short Teluk Intan has a new Princess Dyana to call their very own.

Umno leaders however think that Dyana should do the right thing before it’s too late, and inform the EC to drop out of the race.

I am sure EC would give her due consideration since it is not a last minute stunt like the Bukit Gelugor Independent candidate Abu Backer.

Remember, if Gerakan Mah wins, Teluk Intan will become a gem of a town. Rela members will get new uniforms. And there will be no more Mat Rempits revving their motorbike exhausts at ‘SYT’s.’

The town will be cleaner, lesser traffic jams and there will be much development brought on by BN as the town is just a stone throw away from Lumut Port.

However, if DAP wins, Teluk Intan will become a royal town with a fairy tale princess. There will be more men loitering around her constituency office much to the chagrin of their jealous wives.

Tour consultant, sports pilot and naturalist Iskandar Dzulkarnain has been writing a few years now, especially satirical articles like this. He is an FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 10:45 am and is filed under
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Bizarre twists at DAP members joining BN bash

Ahmad Fadli KC

Malaysiakini

May 28, 2014

TELUK INTAN
 With the clock ticking down for polling day on Saturday, it was supposed to be a feather in BN’s cap: scores of DAP members would cross over to the ruling coalition.

Or so the media was told.

But what transpired in Teluk Intan late last night was something different from the script.

And some DAP members were bewildered when they found out the real reason behind the event.

One such person was 46-year-old taxi driver S Shantini.

Not being informed about the purpose of the event, Shantini was shocked when it was announced that she was one of 150 former DAP members who now support BN.

“I do not support BN. I have supported DAP since I was 21.

“I am a taxi driver and I came here to have my picture taken. I am still a (DAP) member. I was asked to come, so I came,” she told reporters.

Shantini was then asked to leave by the organiser, known as “ayahanda” Arjami Ali from Malay non-governmental organisation Pewaris Malaysia.

MIC leader blames language barrier

MIC Wanita chief Mohana Muniandy, who was also present, blamed the confusion on language barrier.

“In what language did you ask her? Sometimes language is a barrier,” Mohana (right) told the journalists, who then informed the politician that the question was framed in Bahasa Malaysia.

Asked why Shantini was told to leave the event early, Mohana said the taxi driver was asked to retrieve her DAP membership card.

There were some 100 people like Shantini in attendance but they could not be interviewed. Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan was also there and even presented BN T-shirts.

The media, who were earlier told that the “former” DAP members wanted to join BN, were later informed that there would be no switching of camps.

On the contrary, these individuals would be considered “BN friendly”.

At a press conference later, Changkat Jong assemblyperson Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin said the event was to welcome their support for BN.

Not BN culture to cut cards

When photographers asked the so-called DAP members to cut their membership cards as a symbolic gesture of leaving the party, Umno’s Ahmad intervened.

Ahmad said it was not BN’s culture to do such things.

Some of the participants, sporting BN T-shirts and caps, had to wait for two hours in the dark, due to the lack of proper lighting, in order to receive a 1Malaysia box each after the event.

Journalists who tried to interview the participants as to the contents in the box, were prevented from doing so by Arjami who described the journalists as “busybodies”.

Before leaving, members of the media asked the organisers to bring one more participant to be interviewed and they brought in a 60-year-old woman.

However, Arjami again stepped in to prevent the interview from taking place.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 9:51 am and is filed under
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Credibility of Malaysian government at stake if Najib does not present White Paper on MH370 disaster followed by full-scale parliamentary debate on June 9

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 29th May 2014)

Three reports today on the missing MH 370 Boeing 777, entering into its 82nd today, have completely shot into smithereens the authority and credibility of the Malaysian government, which have never fallen to such a low depth internationally in our nation’s 57-year history.

The three reports today are:

1. CNN report entitled “Four pings no longer believed from MH370’s black box, says US official”;

2. Wall Street Journal (WSJ) write-up that the raw satellite data and other documents released by Malaysian and Australian authorities in a 45-page official report on MH 370 lacks details on explaining where the plane could have gone down.

3. The statement today by the Australian authorities whose retired Australian air marshal Angus Houston heads the Joint Agency Co-ordination Centre (JACC) responsible for the largest and longest multi-national air, sea and sub-sea search for MH 370, declaring they are ending the search for the missing Malaysia Airlines aircraft in the southern Indian Ocean as they have come to the conclusion after deepsea hunts using a drone submersible have not been able to detect any trace of aircraft debris in more than 850 square kilometres of the ocean floor in the area. The Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) has accordingly advised that the search in the vicinity of the acoustic detections can now be considered complete and in its professional judgment, the area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH 370.

These three reports are at odds with the announcement by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, at a sudden 10 pm media conference on March 24 that MH 370 “ended its journey” in the southern Indian Ocean, an announcement which I had described in Parliament the next day as an attempt to bring about “a closure without closure” to the families and relatives of the 239 passengers and crew members – as not a single piece of wreckage or debris had been found, which continued to be the case for the next 66 days.

The credibility and even authority of the Malaysian government are at stake if Najib does not present a White Paper on MH370 disaster when Parliament reconvenes on June 9, with a full-scale parliamentary debate on on the first day of Parliament.

In fact, both the Malaysian Government and Parliament will be doubly remiss in their responsibilities if this is not done, for both will become a laughing stock in the world for failing to give first priority to a matter which had obsessed the world for close to a hundred cays when Parliament reconvenes on June 9.

To salvage the credibility and authority of both the Malaysian Government and Parliament,at least three things must be done:

1. White Paper on MH 370 disaster and tragedy for Parliament by latest June 9.

2. Full debate on MH 370 disaster and tragedy as the first item of parliamentary business for the June meeting of Parliament.

3. Establishment of an Opposition-headed Parliamentary Select Committee to investigate into all aspects of the MH 370 disaster and tragedy.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 6:18 pm and is filed under
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Families frustrated over delayed MH370 tracking data, question its authenticity

by Muzliza Mustafa

The Malaysian Insider

May 28, 2014

The families of MH370 passengers have reacted with scepticism to raw tracking data released by the global satellite company Inmarsat yesterday on the missing jetliner, saying the fact that the data was not in its original format has raised suspicions that it may have been edited and manipulated.

Lokman Mustafa, whose sister was on board the plane, said although he appreciated Inmarsat’s move to publish the data, he could not help wondering why the British satellite company decided to publish it with an explanation and analysis instead of raw computer pages.

“The satellite company has extracted crucial lines from the logs and published it with an explanation and analysis. In addition, they have not published the raw computer pages and this raises the question ‘why not?’

“Surely the authorities know that all our hopes are pinned on the data,” he said, adding that delay in releasing the data has also caused resentment among families.

“With this release, crowdsourcing with the aim of narrowing down the search region can now be carried out by various individuals.

“Hopefully, the announcement that flight MH370 ended in the southern Indian Ocean can now be validated (or invalidated) by a wider group of technical experts working voluntarily to solve one of the biggest mysteries in commercial aviation history,” he said.

Malaysia’s Department of Civil Aviation and Inmarsat yesterday released the data used to determine the path of the lost plane following mounting calls from passengers’ relatives for greater transparency.

The data communications log comprises 14 pieces of data from seven “handshakes,” or pairs of numbers, between the aircraft and the satellite, Inmarsat said last week. One number is time information, the other is frequency.

Sarah Bajc, partner of passenger Philip Wood voiced scepticism over the released data, saying instead of releasing it in its original format, “they” chose to “manage” what was released.

“There should have been a file version including the ‘logfile’ data in data form, not in pdf form; it’s a little tweak to make people work harder needlessly,” she said.

Although the data itself is meaningless to her and the average person who may not be able to interpret a log file, Sarah said it is not something hard to crack for industry experts.

She also questioned the delay in releasing the data more than two months after the plane vanished on March 8.

“The report is anti-climactic. Our original request for the data was over two months ago. We were trying help in the investigation. A few other family members and I had solicited input from some reputable experts in the industry who were willing to take a crack at cross-validating the formulas, assumptions and analysis,” she said.

She said the release of Inmarsat data was only one of the things that the families had asked from the government and those involved in the investigation.

“This was one of dozens of things we asked for, and it was only partially given.” she added.

Inmarsat used a wave phenomenon to analyse the seven pings its satellites picked up to determine the route of MH370.

The findings led Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to conclude on March 24 that the Boeing 777 crashed thousands of miles away in the southern Indian Ocean, killing all on board.

The pings, automatically transmitted every hour from the aircraft after the rest of its communications systems had stopped, indicated it continued flying for hours after it disappeared from its flight path from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing.

From the time the signals took to reach the satellite and the angle of elevation, Inmarsat was able to provide two arcs, one north and one south that the aircraft could have taken.

Britain’s Air Accidents Investigation Branch was also involved in the analysis. – May 28, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 12:34 am and is filed under
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Former UMNO Minister and just sacked Bank Rakyat chairman Sabbaruddin Chik would have voted for Dyana Sofya if he is a voter in Teluk Intan as there are no signs that Umno/BN have  the political will either for reform or  to launch an all-out war against corruption and abuses of power and win over young Malaysians

(Media Statement in Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, 29th May 2014)

I have no doubt that my old friend, Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik would have voted for Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as Member of Parliament for Teluk Intan if he is a voter in the Teluk Intan by-election on Saturday, May 31, as there are no signs that the present UMNO/Barisan Nastional (BN)  have the  political will either for reform or to launch an all-out war against corruption, cronyism and abuses of power to win over the young generation of Malaysians.

Sabbaruddin has just been sacked as Bank Rakyat Chairman by the Minister for Domestic Trade, Co-operative and Consumerism Datuk Seri Hasan Malek because Sabbarruddin and the bank’s board of directors refused to comply with the Minister’s directive to approve the settlement of a RM32 million loan without calculation of any interest, but on a 120 post-dated cheques to be cashed in by the bank over a 10-year period.

Today, Sabbaruddin warned that Barisan will lose Putrajaya in the 14th general election (GE14) if young voters remain unimpressed with the coalition and its handling of issues such as corruption and transparency.

He said the younger generation was no longer stupid, and Umno and BN were in for an unprecedented nightmare should Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his administration carry on without any meaningful reforms.

“In the next general election, I am worried that if we do nothing, we will face bigger problems… most of the Generation Y are not with us,” Sabbaruddin told The Malaysian Insider.

In 2013,  70% of the estimated 4.2 million unregistered voters were between the ages of 21 and 40. Some 450,000 Malaysians turn 21 each year, the eligible voting age in the country.

Sabbaruddin did not rule out the possibility that BN would lose half the seats it managed to cling to in last year’s general election, which already saw the ruling coalition lose the popular vote in its worst polls showing in history.

Sabbarruddin, who was UMNO Secretary-General in 1996, said: “If there are no serious changes, we will lose half. Now, (we have lost the) two-thirds (majority)”.

 “Corruption, leakages and transparency must be emphasised,” he said, adding that these were the main factors behind the youths’ rejection of BN.

Sabbaruddin said only luck had helped Najib remain in power until now, although his leadership had led BN to its worst showing in the 13th general election last year.

“Najib was lucky because he took over from Pak Lah,” said Sabbarudin, referring to Abdullah by his popular moniker.

“If Najib had taken over from Dr Mahathir (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad), he would have had to resign as well. Najib may be lucky, but he cannot rely on luck forever,” he added.

Sabbaruddin was one of the “promising young blood” brought into UMNO/Barisan government from the civil service in the early eighties, serving as Deputy Minister and Minister for close to two decades.

But the infusion of “promising young blood” into UMNO and Barisan since the eighties which had included Anwar Ibrahim at the time, have not seen the triumph of  national reform, regeneration and rejuvenation but worsening  corruption, cronyism and abuses of power in all aspects of political life, particularly in the decade of the 22-year Mahathir premiership.

In the five terms we served together in Parliament from 1982 to 1999, Sabbaruddin has always struck  me as a down-to-earth, decent and humble politician who had no airs whatsoever. He had always been forthright and never minced his words, as what was important to him were the truths and to call a spade a spade.

Sabbaruddin is a firm believer that UMNO members at all levels should not abuse their position in the party and should not allow friends or members of the family to influence decisions or take advantage of the positions of power that is entrusted to UMNO leaders.

As he had said many a time, when UMNO is given the mandate to lead and serve Malaysians, it is not for UMNO to serve themselves and make them rich. UMNO should be fighting for the benefits and prosperity of the masses and not some individuals only.

Such Umno Ministes and leaders appear to have become an endangered species or he would not have been sacked as Bank Rakyat Chairman.

Dyana’s victory in the Teluk Intan by-election will be an electrifying message of advent of the new Malaysian politics of justice, freedom, accountability and good governance to replace the divisive and destructive politics of racial hatred, corruption and cronyism.

Let it be a final warning to UMNO and Barisan that they are heading for the dustbin of history unless they heed  the voices of the young voters and Malaysians like Dyana Sofya for change, and change urgently and immediately.

History will be made in Teluk Intan and Malaysia on May 31 if Dyana is elected as MP for Teluk Intan, especially if her  first parliamentary tasks is to demand full accountability from Najib for the sacking of Sabbarruddin Chik as Bank Rakyat Chairman when Parliament reconvenes on June 9.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 2:50 pm and is filed under
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Four pings no longer believed to be from MH370’s black box, says US official

The Malaysian Insider

May 29, 2014

Four acoustic transmissions that have been the focus of the search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight 370 are no longer believed to have come from the plane’s black box, a US official said today.

The US Navy’s deputy director of ocean engineering Michael Dean told CNN there was now broad agreement that they came from some other man-made source unrelated to the jet that disappeared on March 8 carrying 239 people.

Speaking to CNN, Dean said that if the pings had come from the recorders, searchers would have found them.

Dean added in the CNN report that other countries involved in the search for MH370 had come to the same conclusions.

“Our best theory at this point is that (the pings were) likely some sound produced by the ship… or within the electronics of the Towed Pinger Locator,” the CNN report quoted Dean as saying.

“Always your fear any time you put electronic equipment in the water is that if any water gets in and grounds or shorts something out, that you could start producing sound.”

Dean added that while it was not possible to absolutely exclude the theory that the pings had come from the flight’s black boxes, there was no evidence now to suggest that they had.

The acknowledgement came as searchers concluded the first phase of their effort in which they scanned 239 square miles of the ocean floor without finding any trace of wreckage.

The acoustic transmissions played a key role in the search for MH370, the most extensive and expensive effort in aviation history. Authorities had earlier said that technology greatly increased the chances of success while search officials expressed “cautious optimism” in the pings when they were discovered last month.

However, experts had warned that crash damage or deep ocean pressure could alter the pinger frequency, a caution which stemmed from the pings’ 33.3 kHz frequency – slightly lower than the design frequency of 37.5 kHz. They also raised concerns regarding the ping detection sites which were miles apart, noting that sounds can travel far, and even echo, in underwater environments.

In the CNN report, Dean said officials were also concerned because although pings had been detected twice on April 5, searchers had difficulty reacquiring the pings the next day.

Yesterday, British satellite company Inmarsat had defended the accuracy of its data, saying that it had been checked by other parties as well.

Inmarsat vice-president of satellite operations Mark Dickinson had told CNN that many other parties who had done the same work with the same numbers had agreed on the data’s accuracy.

“We have also compared the data here with data pertaining to other flights around the same time as well as the data from previous flights by the same aircraft,” Dickinson added.

According to feedback received by CNN, families of passengers on board MH370 agree that the data should have been released sooner, but are not of one mind on the impact it has on current investigations or on the search for the missing aircraft.

CNN also reported that other families, especially those in Malaysia, said they do not care for the data and whether it is 100% accurate or not, wanting only some kind of debris to enable closure over the traumatic incident.

Flight MH370 was carrying 227 passengers and 12 crew when it vanished on March 8. Although authorities have not ruled out mechanical failure, they said that the loss of communication suggests the plane was deliberately diverted from its scheduled route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. – May 29, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 9:13 am and is filed under
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