Call on Cabinet tomorrow to formally apologise to family and nation for the trigger-happy police killing of 14yr-old Aminulrasyid and measures to end all police shooting deaths

I fully support the demand by Aminulrasyid Amzah’s family for a direct apology from the Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, Selangor Chief Police Officer Deputy Comm Datuk Khalid Abu Bakar and the Home Ministry for tainting the 14-year-old Form III student’s name after the heinous,  criminal and fatal shooting of Aminul by trigger-happy police on April 26 at 2 am some 100 metres from his Shah Alam house.

Aminulrasyid’s uncle, Kamarudin Hassan, said today that the family wants a direct apology from the IGP, the Selangor CPO and the Home Ministry as well as retraction of the statement that a parang was found in the vehicle.

Kamaruddin said:

“We appreciate and thank the authorities for their speedy action in charging the police corporal but we want Aminul’s name to be cleared.

“Since this incident occurred, the IGP and everyone else never once apologised to us for calling Aminul a robber and saying that they had found a weapon in his car.

“If they can bring the police corporal to court, it shows that Aminul was not a suspected criminal as claimed.”

I will go a step further and call on the Cabinet at its weekly meeting tomorrow to formally apologise to Aminulrasyid’s family and nation for the trigger-happy police killing of 14yr-old Aminulrasyid and measures to end all police shooting deaths.

Scrap the joke of the Special Panel headed by the Deputy Home Minister Datuk Abu Seman Yusop and instead, take the bold step to set up a Royal Commission of Inquiry headed by former Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Hanif Omar to inquire into all police shooting deaths since 2005 and recommend measures which will bring an end to all police shooting deaths.

Specificially, the IGP, CPO and the Home Ministry also owes 15-year-old Azamuddin Omar, Aminul’s friend who was in the fated vehicle when Aminul was killed at the steering wheel with a bullet from the back of his head.

It is a clear defamation that both the teenagers were described by the Police as

“robbery suspects” in a vehicle with a parang, when there were no evidence whatsoever to support such preposterous allegations.

Recently, the country had been shocked by a spate of police shooting cases including fatal ones giving the world the atrocious image of Malaysia as a lawless country where instead of the police being guardians of law and order,  few “black sheep”  in the Police are  allowed to take the law into their own hands to execute  summary justice!

This not so much the fault of individual miscreants in the police force but a major breakdown of a proper institutional system of check and balances and the principles of accountability, transparency and democratic policing.

If the Najib government is to take the first step to restore public confidence in the police as well as the whole system of governance under his premiership, then the time has come to establish the Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC).

There can be no argument that the five-year delay in the implementation of the key recommendation of the Police Royal Commission in 2005 to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional and world-class police service to keep crime low, eradicate poverty and uphold human rights, the establishment of IPCMC,  as resulted in further deterioration of police standards of accountability and transparency.

If the IPCMC had been in place in the past five years, Aminulrasyid would still be alive today as the spotlight of public accountability would have created a more accountable and efficient police environment which would make it less susceptible to irresponsible actions like the criminal and  heinous trigger-happy killing of Aminulrasyid.

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is coming to Sibu tomorrow. I hope he can give a comprehensive account of the Cabinet decision to assure Malaysians that the crime and tragedy of trigger-happy police  killing of Aminulrasyid will never happen again in Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 May 2010, 6:15 pm and is filed under
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Can Malaysia go the way of Greece becoming a bankrupt country and can Sarawak be spared if Malaysia is bankrupt?

The SUPP leadership does not want the Sibu voters in the “By-election of the Century” in Sarawak to be concerned about big national issues – and this is the great difference between the DAP and Pakatan Rakyat on the one hand and the SUPP and the Barisan Nasional on the other.

In fact, today I ask the Sibu voters and Sarawak people to ponder one serious question: Can Malaysia go the way of Greece becoming a bankrupt country and if Malaysia is bankrupt, can Sarawak be spared its awful consequences?

There was recently a television documentary regarding Greece ‘s financial fiasco, enumerating  the why’s and how’s that this historic and beautiful country came to grief.

The diagnosis as to how the great nation of Greece ended as a financial “basket-case” are:

Bureaucracy
:  Greece’s bureaucracy is famous in the whole of Europe ! To open a cafe or pub there are 25 processes to go through! This is a country of rules and regulations.

Bloated civil service
: There are 1.05 million civil servants (excluding police and armed forces) . The population of Greece is only 10 million! More than 10% are govt servants! Salary increases every year and benefit for civil servants in Greece is one of the best in Europe! More and more money is needed to upkeep this bloated civil service . The retirement age is 62 yrs old.

Corruption
: Greece is the most corrupted nation in the Eurozone. Citizens pay “under table ” money to:

# admit into a public hospital

# pass a driving licence

# to enter public service

# renovate your business premises or your home

# avoid income tax

Every govt project is awarded to political cronies and at hugely inflated prices! Transparency International compared the prices of the construction costs of stadiums built for the Athens Olympics recently with similar structures in China –500% more expensive than the Chinese , compared to Los Angeles and Sydney — 50 % more expensive!! All these with tax payers money and borrowings!

Tax evasion
: Officially 80% of its citizens are supposed to pay tax but only 37% are doing so. Big businessmen and corporations have refined tax evasion to a fine art (or have the tax men taken some coffee money?)

No transparency in governance
: The politicians and bureaucrats falsified economic data and painted a rosy and manageable picture while the economy was rotting away.

Unabated borrowings
: Meanwhile, the politicians and bureaucrats continue to issue government bonds to keep afloat, series after series. They were trying to cover up the financial mess they have created creating one big hole to cover up the previous!

Lacking political will power to reform
: To keep hold on to political power, politicians are prepared to lie, commit economic and political fraud. If reforms were taken some five years ago, the country need not go bankrupt and its citizens need not suffer so much. Political expediency and greed to political power over-rides everything and hence Greece is now a bankrupt country. Luckily, it is part of the European Union and its currency is EUROs, otherwise Greeks will have to eat grass to survive!

Laid back attitude
: Tourism is THE ONLY industry in Greece and over the years the Greeks have had an easy time. Many flocked to see the historical sites and enjoy summer vacation on the islands. But they forgot that not many tourists will return after visiting the sites –there are so many other tourists attractions in the world, maybe more exotic and perhaps cheaper! So once tourism wanes and coupled with higher costs of living, the Greeks could not and refused to adapt and transform – still partying and having a nice time; maybe the Greek Gods will bless them! Greece have no natural resources, no electronics industry, no R & D –no anything! They were so laid-back –cannot see what is coming and crashing down on them. Even now, the civil servants refused to take a pay cut — the world owes them a living!

Conclusion
: The producer of the documentary had hired a taxi driver to go around while doing this documentary. The taxi driver had studied economics for four years in US and this was his parting words:

“My biggest mistake was returning 15 years ago, I should have stayed back in US. My nationalist instinct made me returned. The politicians screwed me. I loved my country but my country did not love me.”

Can Malaysia go the way of Greece?

The people of Sibu, Sarawak and Malaysia can see that many of the factors which had brought down the great historic nation of Greece to its knees, begging for European financial rescue, are already to be found in Malaysia after 53 years of Merdeka in 1957 and 47 years since the formation of Malaysia.

It is not that the Barisan Nasional leaders are not aware of the national crisis facing Malaysia, although they would only admit it in rare moments.

One such rare occasion is the publication of the New Economic Model (NEM)  crafted by national and international experts who are not in the Barisan Nasional Cabinet

The report of the New Economic Model warned that “the progress we have made over the past half-century has slowed and economic growth prospects have weakened considerably”.

It said that Malaysia is “caught in a middle income trap – we are not amongst the top performing global economies”.

It also admitted that “Our  economic growth has come at considerable environmental cost and has not benefited all segments of the population. The government must confront these realities and  make tough decisions.”

Lets look at some of the ill afflicting Malaysia which have been identified by the New Economic Model (NEM):

“We are not developing talent and what we have is leaving. The human capital situation in Malaysia is reaching a critical stage. The rate of outmigration of skilled Malaysians is rising rapidly.”

“The gap between  rich and poor is widening.”

“Almost all economies of East Asia are poised to achieve high economic growth in this decade. But Malaysia runs the imminent risk of a downward spiral and faces the painful possibility of stagnation.

Grave problem of “rent-seeking, patronage and often opague government procurement.  This has engendered pervasive corruption, which needs to be addressed earnestly.”

The NEM gave a stern warning: “We must act now before our position deteriorates any further”.

All these ills of Malaysia sounds very familiar to the ills of Greece!  The very same problems of corruption; abuse of power; cronyism  instead of meritocracy; brain drain; public confidence in the major institutions of governance like the civil service, the judiciary, police, the anti-corruption agency, election commission; etc.

Have SUPP leadership showed any concern over  the unchecked decline of Sibu, Sarawak and Malaysia?

Let the people of Sibu ask the SUPP leadership this question:

“Can Malaysia go the way of Greece becoming a bankrupt country and can Sarawak be spared if Malaysia is bankrupt?”

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 May 2010, 10:37 am and is filed under
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Mahathir said he was not a dictator but after he unconstitutionally declared Malaysia as an Islamic State on Sept. 29, 2001 not a single SUPP leader in the past 10 years dare to say in Parliament and Cabinet that Malaysia is a secular state

Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad said yesterday that he was not a dictator in his 22 years as Prime Minister but the incontrovertible fact is that after he arbitrarily and unconstitutionally declared Malaysia as an Islamic State at the Gerakan National Delegates Conference on Sept. 29, 2001, not a single SUPP leader in the past 10 years dare to say in Parliament and Cabinet that Malaysia is a secular state as provided by the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Agreement 1963.

It is also incontrovertible history that although Mahathir unilaterally, arbitrarily and unconstitutionally declared Malaysia is an Islamic State in what DAP had described as the “929 Declaration” without first consulting and getting the agreement of the other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties, the BN Supreme Council was convened within a week where all BN component parties including SUPP fully endorsed Mahathir’s unconstitutional “929” Declaration.

Only DAP stood up firm and fast in declaring that Mahathir’s “929” was unlawful and unconstitutional, in violation of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and the 1963 Malaysia Agreement – pointing out that in the Cobbold Commission Report, the Malaysian Government  made categorical assurance that Malaysia was and would remain “secular” when referring to reservations and fears expressed by Sarawakians and Sabahans about “freedom of religion”.

Now, SUPP leaders have betrayed the first generation of SUPP leadership in surrendering the fundamental constitutional feature of Malaysia as a secular nation with Islam as the official religion but an Islamic state.

It is a great shame for SUPP leaders that PAS, which they accused as being extremist, could be so moderate and open as to support the use of the term of “Allah” by Christians not only Sarawak and Sabah but also in West Malaysia – something the SUPP leaders dare not do, for fear of stepping on the toes of UMNO leaders.

In fact, the SUPP candidate for Sibu Lau Hui Yew , under the directive of the SUPP leadership, is even trying to out-Umno Umno by proposing that the Allah term controversy should be prohibited from discussion in Parliament!

Over the decades, Umno has become more extreme and intolerant than PAS, while PAS is showing a more open, moderate and accommodative policy in recognition of Malaysia as a multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-cultural and multi-lingual nation.

What has the SUPP leadership got to say for their retrograde political attitudes going against the interests of the people and the currents for the future?

The SUPP “killer weapon” of  “A vote for Rocket is a vote for an Islamic state” is a lie but a very powerful one with great destructive force.  One of the reasons DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh and I were defeated in the 1999 general elections was because of this “killer weapon” which was fully exploited by SUPP’s counterparts in the Peninsular Malaysia – MCA and Gerakan.

Since the unveiling of the SUPP “killer weapon”, the DAP momentum in the Sibu by-election to regain the advantage in the  unfavourable “40% to 60%” odds on Nomination Day had been seriously affected.

After two days of campaigning, I had estimated that we have developed a by-election momentum gaining 2% each day to “44% to 56%”, but after the SUPP had come out with the “killer weapon” of falsehood that  “A vote for Rocket is a vote for Islamic State”, the DAP/PR by-election momentum had been seriously halved – and I can only estimate gaining of ground of one per cent yesterday or an overall odds of 45% to 55% in favour of SUPP candidate.

At this rate, DAP/PR candidate Wong Ho Leng will lose on polling day on Sunday.

The SUPP “killer weapon” can stop the momentum to turn the Sibu by-election around, not because the SUPP lie “A vote for Rocket is a vote for Islamic State” is  true but because there is not enough  time to reach out to all Sibu voters to tell  them the real truth in the next five days.

I call on the voters of Sibu to destroy “killer weapon” of lies and falsehood that “A vote for Rocket is a vote for Islamic State” in the Sibu by-election on Sunday.

This “killer weapon” has been destroyed in Peninsular Malaysia which is why 85% of the Chinese voters in Kuala Sepetang fishing village voted for Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin, PAS/PR candidate in the Bukit Gantang by-election in April last year and why 82.5% of the Chinese voters in Rasa voted for  the PR candidate Datuk Zaid Ibrahim in the Hulu Selangor by-election despite the RM3 million carrot for a new Chinese primary school in Rasa which was dangled by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak.

In Peninsular Malaysia, the Chinese do not believe the lie that “A vote for Rocket/PR  is a Vote for an Islamic State”.

If the people of Sibu destroy this “killer weapon”, it would have far-reaching implications for Sarawak and Malaysian politics  for it would mean the end of one of the most potent weapons blocking political change in the country and signal  that Sarawakians, together with Sabahans and Peninsular Malaysians, are prepared to take the March 8 political tsunami of the 2008 general election to its fullest impact in the next 13th  Malaysian general elections with a change of power in Putrajaya.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 May 2010, 1:36 pm and is filed under
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PM’s 3 minutes lightning visit to Tua Pek Kong temple – tweets

Updated

At #Sibu TuaPekKong Procession gathering w candidate HoLeng MPs JianRen Loke CTong n several SAs from Sarawak Penang Perak Selangor

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 6:46 PM

Air of excitement 4great #Sibu religious event 2begin Estimated 7k all over country n overseas taking part in procession 50k ppl waiting

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:04 PM

Historic n unprecedented #Sibu TuaPekKong Procession formed by 119 groups w 7k particpants  waiting 4arrival of PM @730pm 2begin

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:13 PM

#Sibu RM1.5 million 120yr 7-storey TuaPekKong Pagoda major historic/tourist attraction of New Fuchou Whole area brightly lit-up Memorable

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:25 PM

Najib arrives Surrounded by escorts Although DAP MPs SAs nationwide stands on front row Najib did not c us PM has left! Not even 3 mins!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:32 PM

After 3 mins he left RT @Reading_Monk: @limkitsiang YAB not taking part in procession??

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:51 PM

Walking streets of #Sibu in procession Frankly all Ppl disappointed Najib could only spare 3 mins News rpts say PM wld lead procession #P212

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:08 PM

#P212 Najib comes like Emperor of yore rather an elected PM of a democratic Msia This is why #Sibu 4Change needed 2launch new politics/ Msia

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:45 PM

#P212 If in vital #Sibu byelection Najib can only spare 3mins 4 120yr TuaPekKong Temple after so much publicity what does it imply?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:04 PM

#P212 #Sibu TPKTemple procession ended Unforgettable nite Entered into lore/history Sibu Will b talk 4next century incl PM’s 3min scandal

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:15 PM

Star rprted Najib “witnessed start of #Sibu TPK festival street procession”. Untrue. He came n went even b4 start of procession. All 3 mins!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:34 PM

#P212 Advance publicity Najib would lead TPKTemple prcsn, wld give speech n all told 2clap 2make Najib happy but he never stepped in2 temple

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:45 PM

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 9:31 pm and is filed under
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Two Open Tweets to Cabinet for its urgent consideration this morning

I have before 8 am this morning sent two Open Tweets to the Cabinet for its urgent consideration at today’s weekly meeting.

The two Open Tweets to the Cabinet are:

OPEN TWT 2Cabinet: Condemn May 13 Melayu Bangkit rally KT insensitive extremist incendiary total mockery of inclusive 1Malaysia slogan

OPEN TWT 2Cabinet(2):Cabinet Apology 2 #Aminulrasyid/Azamuddin n fmly; Compensation 4police killing Aminul; Establish RCI 2end fatal police shootings; Present IPCMC Bill in June Parliament 4passage

I hope the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak will have good news for Malaysians after the Cabinet meeting on these two burning issues of the day, the trigger-happy police killing of 14-year-old Form III student Aminulrasyid Amzah and the outrageous and insensitive May 13 “Malays Unite” rally in Terengganu on the 41st anniversary of the blot in national history as if it is a great triumph worthy of celebration!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 May 2010, 9:08 am and is filed under
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Dr M should encourage rally for reconciliation

By
Dr Lim Teck Ghee

We are heartened that the controversial ‘Melayu Bangkit’ rally in Terengganu planned for tomorrow to commemorate May 13 has been postponed indefinitely.

It would be even more reassuring to hear that any future events to remember this fateful date in our history will take a more constructive note. May 13 should be a collective reaffirmation by all of Malaysia’s peoples that such an incident must never again happen.

In any country in the world which has experienced a tragic outburst of national racial violence, its anniversary is normally one of sombre reflection, collective shame and reconciliation.

The rally organizer is however, Gerakan Kebangkitan Rakyat — its acronym ‘Gertak’ translated into English means ‘to intimidate’ — and thus an organization whose name has an ominous ring to it.

Gertak has endeavoured to rouse a single race at a time when groups and individuals should come together to condemn the shedding of innocent blood and vow to walk the path of peace.

It is simply beyond belief that Dr Mahathir Mohamed has allowed his name to be associated with a gathering that might be misconstrued as reminding Malaysia that the senseless and brutal events of May 13, 1969 could possibly reoccur.

How can Dr Mahathir justify his participation if inadvertently, he becomes the possible catalyst for another spasm of ‘uprising’ as the jingoistic name of the movement ‘Kebangkitan Rakyat’ implies?

We urge Dr Mahathir to give sober thought to how he wants to go down in history. The right of freedom of assembly was severely curtailed during his administration. Now that he is in retirement, it appears he has made an opportunistic about-turn to support the democratic value allowing citizens to peacefully gather.

As a former Prime Minister of the country, Dr Mahathir should instead have advised the rally organizers that they must not only seek to ‘motivate’ the Malay community – an approach that could be misinterpreted as pitting the dominant race against the minorities.

Rather than a mono-racial mammoth rally to stir up the Malays as the theme ‘Bangkit Melayu’ suggests, the anniversary of 13 May ought to be a day of national reconciliation.

It is for all the communities to remind ourselves of the senseless deaths and the folly of seeking revenge or aggravating old hurts and wounds. The timing and the purpose of this ‘Bangkit Melayu’ rally implies reopening a dark chapter with sinister motives.

A silver lining behind this episode is that cooler heads have prevailed and many across the political spectrum have come out to condemn the proposed rally.

The ball is in now Dr Mahathir’s court to persuade the rally organizers not merely to postpone but to cancel it altogether unless they can undertake to promise a coming together that engenders goodwill in the spirit of the Prime Minister’s 1 Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 May 2010, 10:00 am and is filed under
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #14

By
M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 2:  Why Some Societies Progress, Others Regress

Culture As Society’s Looking Glass

Culture also influences the way one views the world, both physical and social.  Culture acts as a collective looking glass.  In my earlier book The Malay Dilemma Revisited, I recounted how the British, in trying to encourage Malays to save, increased the interest rates on postal saving accounts (the only banking facility subscribed to by Malays then).  To the surprise of the British, Malays did not respond.  The greater the inducement (higher interest rates) the less responsive Malays were.  It appeared to those British economists that Malays did not respond to the usual economic incentives.

            It took the brilliance of an indigenous economist, Ungku Aziz, to appreciate that on the contrary, Malays are indeed diligent savers.  Visit any Malay house in the kampong of the past, and there hanging in the roof of the serambi (verandah) was a cut bamboo, tabong, in which the homeowner had put his saved money.  When the time of need arrived, the bamboo would be split open and out came the savings.  Malays saved for the pilgrimage to Mecca (dear to all Muslims), weddings, and old age.  They did not use the conventional institutions because Malays equated interest with usury, which is haram (forbidden) in Islam.  Thus Malays viewed the colonials’ raising the interest rates as enticing us to a life of sin. Those white devils!

            Ungku Aziz successfully overcame Malays’ reluctance to savings by setting up a mutual fund-like institution, Tabong Haji (Pilgrimage Fund), and declared the returns not riba (interests) but faedah (dividends).  Thus by putting a different spin, he managed to overcome what seemed like a monumental cultural barrier.  Today Tabong Haji, a vehicle for Malay savings, is the biggest mutual fund in Southeast Asia.  Its success is an enduring tribute to the brilliant imagination of one man.

            A subtle yet very revealing effect of culture is demonstrated by how the Canadians and Americans view that wonder of nature:  Niagara Falls.  Many outside of North America would lump the Canadians and Americans into one “western” or American culture.  Nothing would offend the Canadians more than to be thus considered.  Americans and Canadians may look alike but culturally there is a subtle if not vast difference.

            To the Americans, Niagara Falls represented a source of cheap energy, to be harnessed.  And they did, building the first hydroelectric power plant and introducing alternating current as a means of widely distributing that energy efficiently.  Industry soon rapidly developed on the American side of the falls, with great textile and other manufacturing plants.  The area rapidly became an industrial heartland.

            The Canadians on the other hand view the waterfalls esthetically, valuing their natural beauty, and not as a resource to be exploited.  They want to share with all of mankind this natural wonder, and created a booming tourist industry around it.  Niagara Falls is now a traditional destination for honeymooners.

            Fast forward to half a century later, with the discovery of cheap oil other industrial centers developed in America.  With that the industrial might of the city of Buffalo on the American side of Niagara Falls was eclipsed.  Today, many of those great industrial plants of yore are shuttered.  Buffalo epitomizes America’s rustbelt.  Meanwhile on the Canadian side, tourists are still flocking to see this wondrous sight.  That same American culture that viewed nature as something to be conquered, tamed, and exploited that worked so wonderfully well in the past is now an obstacle.  What has changed is the external environment, in this case the availability of cheap oil.

            In discussing the role of culture we have to be careful of two things.  One is to discern the truly effective contributory attributes and not just the accompanying epiphenomenona of success; that is, the causes and not the effects.  Two, in trying to modify one’s culture to adapt to modern changes, we do not threaten the very integrity of that culture.

            There is some squeamishness in discussing culture in the context of human development.  Done crudely and with the wrong choice of words, you will be miscast as a racist.  It does not help that many who advocate the crucial role of culture often let slip their underlying prejudices and stereotypes.  The recent drumbeat of those who loudly proclaim the supposed superiority of Asian values, in their smugness, do let slip and expose their darker side.  Confucian values may or may not be the reason for the Asian economic miracle, but this same culture that values familial loyalty and blood ties also contributes to cronyism and clannishness.  In its extreme form it gives rise to triads and other secret societies.  And if those esteemed Confucian values were indeed responsible for the recent Asian miracle, then why did they fail in Mainland China?  Communism could not save China from the perversion of Confucianism, but capitalism (albeit limited) does.

            Another example is the potlatch ceremony of Native Americans of the Northwest where the host family would lavishly distribute gifts to invited guests with the full expectations that such gestures would be reciprocated.  This later degenerated into an orgy of wasteful expensive exchanges.  Anthropologists have long sought an explanation for this phenomenon.  To my mind this was an early form of wealth circulation, later to be corrupted into wanton wastefulness and conspicuous ostentations.  Whatever the rationale, such rituals were banned in 1884 because of the flagrant waste.  The ban was not lifted until a later age of enlightenment in 1951, but by that time the natives had long lost interest in the tradition.

            In discussing culture it is good to be reminded of the wise observation of the former Harvard scholar and longtime US Senator, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, as quoted in Culture Matters, “The central conservative truth is that it is culture, not politics, that determines the success of a society.  The central liberal truth is that politics can change a culture and save it from itself.”  The abolition of the potlatch ritual is one such example of a beneficial cultural mutation brought on through the political channel.

            The pertinent lesson here is that culture can be changed, both slowly and abruptly, for the good of its members.  It is this observation that provides the impetus and rationale for the modern study of the role of culture in human progress.

Next:   The Seminal Role of the Individual

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 May 2010, 9:57 am and is filed under
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Najib’s 3-minute lightning visit to Tua Pek Kong Temple leaving before start of procession a disappointment as advance publicity said the Prime Minister would speak at temple and lead the procession

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s three-minute lightning visit to Sibu Tua Pek Kong Temple last night, leaving even before the start of the historic procession is a disappointment all-round as advance publicity said the Prime Minister would speak at the temple and would lead the procession.

The Tua Pek Kong Temple procession was to start at 6 p.m but was held back till 7.30 p.m for the arrival of the Prime Minister.

Because of the SUPP build-up in the advance publicity for the Prime Minister’s visit to Tua Pek Kong temple to lead the procession, there was excitement and expectancy among the thousands who gathered at the Temple for the start of the procession and the tens of thousands of people lining the roads of the procession.

Together with DAP/PR Candidate for Sibu, Wong Ho Leng and a battery of DAP MPs and State Assemblymen from throughout the country, including parliamentarians Chong Jien Ren (Kuching Bandar) Anthony Loke (Rasah), Liew Chin Tong (Bukit Bendera),  we had waited for an hour at the head of the queue in front of the Tua Bek Kong Temple entrance to welcome the Prime Minister’s visit.

However, we never get to greet the Prime Minister, as his entourage came like a storm, with his escorts pushing  and shoving away the crowd of pressmen as well as the public  (reckless of  safety of children and womenfolk  in the crowd).

Before the public could recover from the storm of pushing and shoving by the Prime Minister’s entourage entering the temple, there was immediately another storm of pushing and shoving  by the Prime Minister’s entourage leaving the temple – as Najib came and went in less than three minutes!

During the patient hour-long wait by thousands for the arrival of the Prime Minister, the waiting public were repeatedly reminded to show that Sibu is a cultured and civilized place which appreciate the visit of the Prime Minister and to clap vigorously when the Prime Minister deliver his speech.

But the Prime Minister did not give any speech. Neither did he lead the Tua Pek Kong Temple procession. In fact, Najib’s visit was so “lightning-short” and all over in three minutes – that the organizers did not even have the time to present the Prime Minister with the souvenir they had prepared!

The SUPP leadership owes the people of Sibu, Sarawak and  Malaysia an explanation they created the publicity build-up in the last few days saying that the Prime Minister would speak at the Temple and would lead the procession.

Public disappointment that the Prime Minister had neither given a speech nor lead the procession as publicized earlier was palpable all round, as reflected by my tweets at the Tua Pek Kong Temple procession last night, viz:

At #Sibu TuaPekKong Procession gathering w candidate HoLeng MPs JianRen Loke CTong n several SAs from Sarawak Penang Perak Selangor

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 6:46 PM

Air of excitement 4great #Sibu religious event 2begin Estimated 7k all over country n overseas taking part in procession 50k ppl waiting

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:04 PM

Historic n unprecedented #Sibu TuaPekKong Procession formed by 119 groups w 7k particpants  waiting 4arrival of PM @730pm 2begin

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:13 PM

#Sibu RM1.5 million 120yr 7-storey TuaPekKong Pagoda major historic/tourist attraction of New Fuchou Whole area brightly lit-up Memorable

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:25 PM

Najib arrives Surrounded by escorts Although DAP MPs SAs nationwide stands on front row Najib did not c us PM has left! Not even 3 mins!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:32 PM

After 3 mins he left RT @Reading_Monk: @limkitsiang YAB not taking part in procession??

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 7:51 PM

Walking streets of #Sibu in procession Frankly all Ppl disappointed Najib could only spare 3 mins News rpts say PM wld lead procession #P212

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:08 PM

#P212 Najib comes like Emperor of yore rather an elected PM of a democratic Msia This is why #Sibu 4Change needed 2launch new politics/ Msia

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 8:45 PM

#P212 If in vital #Sibu byelection Najib can only spare 3mins 4 120yr TuaPekKong Temple after so much publicity what does it imply?

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:04 PM

#P212 #Sibu TPKTemple procession ended Unforgettable nite Entered into lore/history Sibu Will b talk 4next century incl PM’s 3min scandal

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:15 PM

Star rprted Najib “witnessed start of #Sibu TPK festival street procession”. Untrue. He came n went even b4 start of procession. All 3 mins!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:34 PM

#P212 Advance publicity Najib would lead TPKTemple prcsn, wld give speech n all told 2clap 2make Najib happy but he never stepped in2 temple

Wednesday, May 12, 2010 9:45 PM

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 May 2010, 10:01 am and is filed under
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Sibu people thankful for Najib’s RM15 million for Chinese schools in Sibu but the Prime Minister should be reminded that it should be at least RM30 million if not RM150 million cheques he should have distributed yesterday

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak came to Sibu yesterday as a very-early Santas Claus in the month of May instead of Dec. 25, with bags full of goodies and presents.

At a gathering of some 1,000 Chinese educationists and school teachers yesterday, Najib presented financial allocations of RM15 million for 65 Chinese primary schools and five independent Chinese secondary schools in Sibu.

This works out to RM10 million for the 65 Chinese primary schools and RM5 million to the five independent Chinese secondary schools.

This means that the five independent Chinese secondary schools gets RM1 million each while the 65 Chinese primary schools will get RM153,846 each.

The people of Sibu are  thankful for Najib’s RM15 million for Chinese schools in Sibu but the Prime Minister should be reminded that it should be at least RM30 million if not RM150 million cheques he should have distributed yesterday.

Why?

Firstly, government financial allocations for schools, regardless of stream of education, should be part of citizens’ right and not a gift from the government, as the government funds are derived from the people’s taxes.

Secondly, government financial allocations for schools should be institutionalized and not personalized depending on whether there are by-elections or not.  This is to avoid abuses of power and injustices to different groups of Malaysian citizens in the country.  As such, will Najib give an undertaking that what he allocated yesterday for the Chinese primary schools and independent Chinese secondary schools will be an annual feature of his administration to demonstrate that Malaysia is a government of laws and not of men?

Thirdly,  if the RM10 million allocation to the 65 Chinese primary schools and RM5 million allocation to the five independent Chinese secondary schools are to be an annual feature, this will work out to RM15 million a year.  As this year Najib’s second year as Prime Minister, he should have signed cheques for RM30 million to include last year and the new year ahead.

Fourthly, the figure should actually be higher than RM15 million a year. Taking into consideration the great contributions Chinese primary schools and Chinese independent secondary schools in Sibu had made to nation building particularly in the education and creation of highly-qualified human resources (many of whom are forced to leave Sibu and even go overseas to find a living), what the Federal Government should allocate annually should be in the region of RM1 million for each Chinese primary school and RM2 million for each independent Chinese secondary school – which will work out to RM65 million for Sibu’s Chinese primary schools and RM10 million for the five Sibu independent Chinese secondary schools, i.e. RM75 million. For two years of Najib’s premiership, this will work out to RM150 million.

This is why the people of Sibu, while  thankful for Najib’s RM15 million for Chinese schools should remind  the Prime Minister that it should be at least RM30 million if not RM150 million cheques he should have distributed yesterday.

After all, if the Federal Government can spend RM77 million just to secure a meeting between Najib and President Barack Obama during the Prime Minister’s recent visit to Washington, and the country can write off RM320 billion-worth of the oil-and-gas rich Blocks  L and M in South China Sea to Brunei in trying to secure the Sultan of Brunei’s consent to drop their  territorial claim to Limbang (and failing), the people of Sibu are fully within their rights to ask for an annual allocation of RM75 million for Chinese schools in Sibu.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 May 2010, 1:21 pm and is filed under
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SUPP (SOAP) OPERA IN SIBU!

By
Martin Jalleh

The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP), Sarawak’s oldest political party, knows that it would be in real political hot “supp” (soup) if it loses in the coming by-election in Sibu.

The PM who recently received a slap in the face by the Chinese community in Hulu Selangor will have to turn the other cheek if the Chinese who are the majority in the Sibu constituency fail to support SUPP.

This helps to explain why the second coming of Najib (to Sibu) which just took place was so necessary. The PM descended on Sibu like a savior determined to deliver its citizens from the evil Opposition by offering the Chinese a slew of expensive gifts.

You do not need to make an educated guess why Najib presented the Chinese educationists and others allocations totaling RM18 million.

Though it was not a very educated thought, many outside Sibu could not help but wish that the days of their own MPs on earth would be few so that they too can enjoy the PM’s saving grace.

The PM’s message was very simple: “You help me, I help you” or to be more accurate: “You help me, I will help you by giving you back your money!” In other words: “Please help me to bribe you with your own money!”

He also said: “”It won’t cost you anything to give us what we want. We will do what we should to give you what you want. And you know what I want.” It was yet another example of “education being ‘prostitutionalised’ in the name of political gains” (Dr Azly Rahman).

But in the BN where there is political gain, there is no shame!

Many in the audience were close to tears when they heard Najib’s motherly plea: “As prime minister, I want to deliver. And trust me, I shall definitely deliver (to the people of Sibu)!” For so long the Federal Government has treated East Malaysia as though it is not their baby. Will it abandon Sibu after Najib’s delivery?

Najib even starts his buy-election sojourn on a spiritual note by witnessing a procession (albeit only three minutes) which was held in honour of Tua Pek Kong, one of the major Chinese deities worshipped in Bolehland. The gods are watching, PM, but then Najib has gained deity status close to the God of Prosperity after giving away RM18 million.

“SUPPversion”

Coming back to SUPP, with its very own political survival at stake, the party is bent on SUPPlanting (supplanting) the DAP’s growing popularity and scudding the soaring rocket! It has decided to follow Umno’s style of scare tactics, saber-rattling tricks and sinister theatrics.

It resurrects a silly and archaic ploy which even the MCA has shelved.

In order to achieve their strange “Don’t want change: Want Reform” objective, SUPP employs the BN mantra “One vote for DAP is one vote for PAS and an Islamic State”.

Ironically its candidate Robert Lau Jr proudly professes: “I belong to the new generation”!

Why does SUPP not wait close to polling day to bring out its secret “killer weapon”? According to Lim Kit Siang it is because SUPP strategists are panicking. One can only laugh as one traces the steps that lead to SUPP’s desperate efforts to SUPPvert (subvert) the DAP/PR campaign.

Sensing the sentiments of the predominantly Christian population in Sibu, DAP candidate Wong Ho Leng from the very start of his campaign revealed that one of his key issues which he would seek to address and try to solve if elected would be the ban on non-Muslims’ use of the word “Allah” by the BN government.

On 7 May, DAP leaders in Sibu held a closed-door dialogue with some 60 church officials from the constituency on issues such as the Allah ban, the printing and distribution of the Al-Kitab, and the impounding of bibles from Indonesia by the Customs Department.

There were church leaders who still remained unconvinced with the government’s assurance that Christians in Sabah and Sarawak would be still be allowed to use the word “Allah”. This is understandable considering that the assurance came from Nazri Aziz (see “Martin Jalleh, Nazri Aziz – the Minister of Lies” on Google).

Only common sense would suffice for one to come to a simple conclusion that the “solution” to the Allah issue by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department is sheer stupidity! Can we have separate rules for Semenanjung and Sabah/Sarawak? It will reduce 1Malaysia further to one big joke!

Wong asked Robert Lau to make a stand on the Allah ban. Lau kept silent for a while and then sneered at Pakatan leaders for bringing ‘national issues’ into the by-election. The councilor of the Sibu Municipal Council must have forgotten he was campaigning to be a Member of Parliament!

Lau continued to sidestep the issue by sermonizing on religion being a personal thing (then why deprive the Christians of their personal right to worship God in the language they choose to?) and that the Allah row should not be brought into the campaign to avoid mixing politics and religion.

“Religion is personal relationship between yourself and God, let us not politicise that…Politics deals with human, social issue not so much about divinity… We don’t politicise religion, this has not happened in Sibu. Religion is divinity, politics is humanity.”

Alas, Lau makes a “lausy” (lousy) and lame Christian with his narrow, nebulous and naïve definition of religion. Whilst there are personal dimensions of faith, there are also social dimensions that require Christian believers to live and take their faith into the public and political arena.

SUPPression

Having failed to preach and promote their pietism, personalized salvation and faith being a purely private affair Lau and his cohorts resorted to pathetic attempts to portray the DAP and its partnership with PAS in a poor light, thereby contradicting themselves and stumbling over each other’s statements.

SUPP Sibu publicity secretary Daniel Ngieng who dramatically told the Opposition to “please leave religion out of politics” and not to try to apply “peninsula politics to poison Sarawak” contradicted himself by religiously challenging the DAP to either declare their support for (peninsula-based) PAS and their dreams of an Islamic state or leave

the Pakatan Rakyat!

Lau, who very ironically and proudly claimed that “I’m my own man” and “we cannot just harp on old issues” jumped on Ngieng’s bandwagon and parroted SUPP Sibu chief Wong Soon Koh’s declaration that a vote for Rocket and DAP/PR candidate is a vote for PAS and an Islamic State – which is not only an old issue but a non-issue!

SUPP president George Chan fell into his own trap when he accused the DAP and PR of playing a “very dangerous” game by mixing religion with politics. When questioned about SUPP’s campaign tactic in equating a vote for DAP with a vote for PAS and its vision of an Islamic state, he sidestepped the issue saying “it is unrelated”!

“We are not discussing a religious issue, we are just saying that we don’t want PAS or an Islamic state,” Chan continued to crow, clown and crap. What about the Islamic State which Najib had declared on 17 July 2007? It is an Islamic State which non-Muslims do not feel very safe in whether alive or dead!

Will Chan challenge the PM to state that Malaysia is a secular, and not an Islamic, state or will he continue to lead SUPP in supine and servile submission to Najib and Umno?

The truth be told, there is really no need to fear PAS. Many Christians (Catholics in particular) in Shah Alam voted for the PAS candidate Khalid Samad, who was overwhelming acknowledged when he visited the Church of the Divine Mercy in his constituency to thank the Catholics there for their support!

Further, PAS’ stance on the Allah issue has been clear, consistent and courageous. No party has engaged in inter-faith dialogue with the Christians as much as PAS. MP for Parit Buntar and PAS National Unity Committee chairman Dr. Mujahid Yusuf Rawa for example spoke to capacity crowds in the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit (Penang), the

Church of the Immaculate Conception (Penang), the Church of the Nativity (Butterworth), Church of St Anne (Bukit Mertajam) and St Louis Church (Taiping).

The PAS/PR paranoia which SUPP is desperately promoting becomes even more preposterous when one considers the fact that in the Bukit Gantang by-election last year, 85% of the Chinese voters in Kuala Sepetang voted for the PAS candidate Nizar Jamaluddin and in the recent Hulu Selangor by-election, 82.5% of the Chinese voters in Rasa

voted in support of the PR candidate.

Could it be that SUPP’s soap opera is also a desperate way to deflect the attention of the rakyat in Sibu from the party’s internal bickering and infighting caused by factors such as the discontent of its Bidayuh members, problems related to the Engkilili and Dudong branch and the Lau Hieng Ding controversy which resulted in the Foochow community wanting to overthrow Chan?

It will only be a matter of time when the public discovers the reality of SUPP’s supposed unity. Will the people of Sibu “sup with the devil”? The SUPP (soap) opera continues for a few more days with the Police playing a SUPPortive (supportive) role!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 13 May 2010, 5:41 pm and is filed under
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Latest QS Asian University Rankings 2010 a sorry tale of unchecked  drop/decline of the standards/international standing  of Malaysian public universities.

The country’s premier institution of higher education, Universiti Malaya, has dropped two places to 41 this year from 39 last year, while Universiti Sains Malaysia which was granted Apex status in 2008 only managed to maintain its ranking at 69 – just like Universiti Teknologi Malaysia at 82.

Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, however, took a tumble from 51 to be placed 58, with Universiti Putra Malaysia improving its ranking from 90 to 77.

The continued drop of ranking of  Malaysian Universities in Asia is  part of the larger disease of Malaysia becoming the “sick man of South-East Asia” –  resulting in a decade of economic stagnation and national decline in all aspects of national life, whether educational excellence, good governance, institutional professionalism, human rights or environmental protection.

This is why the New Economic Model (NEM) crafted by a panel of local and foreign experts have sound the warning: “We must act now before our position deteriorates any further”.

Unfortunately, although the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak as acknowledged the national  ills and decline exposed and highlighted by the NEM, he has yet to demonstrate that he has the political will to bring about government far-reaching reforms.

In 2004, Malaysia was still included in the Times Higher Education Supplement-QS Top 200 Universities Ranking, with University of Malaya ranked  in 89th position.

In that 2004 international ranking, University of Malaya was ranked the 10th Top Asian University – but it has now fallen even further to No. 42 in Asia – overtaken by more than 30 other Asian universities in a space of six years!

During my schooldays in the fifties, students do not think about foreign universities unless their results were not good or their parents have a lot of money. This was because University of Malaya, which had just separated from its Singapore campus to spawn two separate universities with University of Singapore, was recognized internationally as one of the world-class universities.

Today, the first option of Malaysian students  is to get places in foreign universities and local placing in Malaysian public universities is their last choice, because of the drop and decline of standards and prestige of Malaysian universities.

This is not progress but going backwards.

During my school days, we do not think too highly of Hong Kong University for instance for we believe that University of Malaya was comparable if not a better university!

What a world of a change in a matter of 50 years under Umno/Barisan Nasional rule!

In the Asian University Rankings 2010, three of the top four come from Hong Kong – with University of Hong Kong (first), The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (second) and the Chinese University of Hong Kong (fourth) out of the top 200 Asian universities.

The top 20 Asian universities in the 2010 Ranking are:

1.	Hong Kong University (HK)

2.	Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HK)

3.	National University of Singapore (Spore)

4.	Chinese University of Hong Kong (HK)

5.	Tokyo University (Japan)

6.	Seoul University (SKorea)

7.	Osaka University (Japan)

8.	Kyoto University (Japan)

9.	Tohoku University (Japan)

10.	Nagoya University (Japan)

11.	Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan)

12.	Peking University (China)

13.	Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology (KAIST) (SKorea)

14.	POHANG University of Science and Technology (POSTECH) (SKorea)

15.	City University of Hong Kong (HK)

16.	Tsinghua University (China)

17.	Kyushu University (Japan)

18.	Nanyang Technological University (NTU) (Spore)

19.	Yonsei University (SKorea)

20.	Tsukuba University (Japan)

Having been placed Top Tenth Asian University in the 2004 Times Higher Education Supplement (THES), the Prime Minister and Malaysian people (and the Sibu voters) must regard the dismal placings of Malaysian public universities in the Asian Universities Ranking 2010 as a final warning not only of the advanced nature of the Malaysian educational  crisis but  also Malaysian nation-building crisis.

The warnings of the NEM bears repeating here:

•	We are not developing talent and what we have is leaving.  The human capital situation in Malaysia is reaching a critical stage.

•	Globalisation has created a fierce competition for talent, forcing companies and government to recognise that people are the most valuable assets. To compete on a regional and global scale, Malaysia must retain and attract talent. Malaysia must be seen by its people and by others as a land of equal opportunity to earn a good living and provide a secure, happy life for each individual and the family.

The Prime Minister and the Barisan Nasional parties, including SUPP, dare not tell the people the truth about the nation-building crisis facing the country. As I asked the other day, can Malaysia go the way of Greece and become bankrupt and if Malaysia goes bankrupt, can Sarawak be spared? No answer from PM and CM at all.

These are hard questions the SUPP and BN leaders do not want to share with the people or raise in Parliament.

This is why right from the beginning I had said that the Sibu by-election is the Battle of the Century,  as demonstrated by the presence not only of the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister, but virtually the entire Sarawak State and Federal Cabinets – as if for the past week, the capitals of Sarawak state and Malaysian nation have shifted to  Sibu and not Kuching and Kuala Lumpur respectively.

For the sake of Sibu,Sarawak and Malaysia, I call on the voters of Sibu to vote for the future, to write history and create miracle by sending Wong Ho Leng to Parliament as MP for Sibu to signify that the “fixed deposit” states of Sarawak and Sabah are ready with the rest of Malaysia to complete the March 8 “political tsunami” of  the 2008 general elections to effect a change of government in Putrajaya in the 13th General Elections as well as to end the rule of “Peh Moh” in Sarawak in the forthcoming Sarawak state general election.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 14 May 2010, 1:40 pm and is filed under
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A town at the crossroads (1)

By
Bridget Welsh
 | Malaysiakini

Malaysia’s 11th by election since March 2008 is only one day away. It comes on the heel of the important BN win in Hulu Selangor and before the much anticipated Sarawak state elections.

For the ruling BN, and Prime Minister Najib Razak in particular, this election provides an opportunity to convince voters nationally and his Umno party that he has a national mandate and can deliver the votes.

For the opposition Pakatan Rakyat, this contest provides a chance to stem the momentum of the BN in gaining support, further forge relations among the opposition component parties and even the score in the now increasingly important and contested marker of two-thirds in Parliament due to PKR defections.

A strong victory for BN may even open the way for early national elections. No doubt this by-election has national importance. The town on the mighty Rajang River has come into the national spotlight, although few Malaysians have visited it.

Allow me to provide some context for two analyses that will follow. Sibu is a wonderful charming town that has historically played a crucial role in the development of Sarawak as the centre for the timber trade and a financial hub.

The boom years of the 1980s and 1990s translated into the creation of an economically wealthy elite tied closely to the state government of Chief Minister Taib Mahmud. This elite comprises a crucial group within the SUPP, and have lived relatively autonomously from the federal government, although their wealth in newspapers and the corporate world has had national importance.

Politically, the ties of ordinary voters with West Malaysia are weak as the impact of the federal government in bringing infrastructural development and prosperity has been relatively minimal, especially compared to Miri, Bintulu and Kuching. Thus, it is ironic that Sibu now plays a crucial role in setting the direction nationally.

Unresolved issues

Most in Sibu are hard-working small businessmen, entrepreneurs whose personal investment and grit have paid off, labourers in the service sector, small farmers and civil servants. There are only a handful of professionals.

The economic vitality of the boom years did trickle down to the community for a number of decades as many fulfilled their dreams of home ownership and financial security. The majority of Chinese in the area are Foochow, who are known for their economic success and strong support of their community.

Others are Henghua, who retain strong ties to their identity, Iban and Malay/Melanau and a handful of Orang Ulu, Indians, Bidayuh and other indigenous groups. All are genuine straight-forward people who have saved for their children, most of whom left Sibu for their education and jobs. Population levels have declined overall, largely as a result of emigration. Some of this has been offset by migration from nearby rural areas.

Like those in many Malaysian towns, the focus of residents is not politics. Concerns with family and community run deep in this relatively conservative town. ‘Politics’ is a distant phenomenon, brought home only irregularly every few years during elections.

Yet, the failed resolution of political issues and weak governance are felt every day by Sibuans.

Unresolved land rights and land leases underscore concerns for economic security. Land issues are intertwined with bread-and-butter issues of employment and wages. There is a strong sense of community in the clan associations, religious organisations and local triads, which reinforce a parochial orientation.

Decline and neglect

The mood is less optimistic than it once was during my first visit here in the 1990s. Over the last decade, the town has suffered a relative decline as the timber sector has contracted. Most in Sibu are facing a more uncertain future. Employment opportunities are scarce, with wages shockingly low. Many earn less that RM500 a month.

Costs are higher in Sarawak, and thus the gap between income and needs is even wider than in West Malaysia. Sarawak is after all the poorest state in the country, despite its oil and gas wealth, and, sadly, in Sibu it shows. Some everyday costs are offset by a robust illegal economy and smuggling trade, but overall the cost of living is high and many live frugally.

The community that feels the economic pinch the hardest is arguably the Iban, who comprise 15 percent of the voters. Poverty remains a serious challenge in this community, with many live on the edge. The longhouses are emptying out, as many young Iban leave in search of a future, leaving behind their parents and in some cases their wives.

Many of the Malays and Melanau who comprise 17 percent of the voters face a similar struggle, especially for the more remote communities that have been relocated further from the city centre.

While the town has developed roads and facilities and is wired with Internet access, it suffers from regular flooding and a degree of neglect, as the shine of the boom years has rubbed off on the declining local infrastructure. Drainage and sewage disposal remain below standard, despite the wealth of Sibu’s famous tycoons.

Changing fortunes

Sibu reflects transformations taking place in Sarawak as a whole. Not coincidentally, geographically the town stands at the crossroads of the rural and urban nexus in the centre of the state.

Like in Sabah, there has been increasing development of the plantation economy in Sarawak, which has not generated adequate local employment and increased inequalities and food insecurity. This has given more power to outsiders and exacerbated economic inequalities. Unlike Kuching, which is relatively thriving, Sibu is hurting economically.

For Sibu, the national question of what will be the engine of growth and how will the country get there is especially pertinent as it now stands at a crossroads. It remains unclear how Sibu will continue to thrive financially. Hope is being placed on the shipping and service sectors.

The role that the state and federal government will play in the economic expansion of the town is more opaque than it was earlier, pointing to a real challenge for BN to show that it can deliver new concrete development opportunities.

Sibu, like many Malaysian towns, is full of potential and awaiting investment, despite the fact that its tycoons are concentrating on their investments elsewhere.

Politically, the ties to the state government are also no longer as central as they once were, as the reliance on state contracts has ebbed. Many, although not all, businessmen are investing outside of the state and increasingly operating independently.

Fragmentation of political power

The economic transformation has coincided with loss of political clout for local communities. The role of Chinese Sarawakians, for example, has eroded.

This is best seen in the political power of the SUPP, whose role as representing the Chinese in Sarawak has been undermined by its losses in the 2006 state elections, the perceived weak and compromised leadership of Dr George Chan, intense party infighting – even in Sibu – and, more fundamentally, less substantive engagement with the ordinary person on the street.

Similar to what has happened in Sabah, politically the Chinese Sarawakians have been sidelined, as their traditional ‘kingmaker’ role has evolved into more leaving the ‘court’ for their own endeavours with large numbers leaving the ‘kingdom’ altogether. This change has contributed to the increasing Chinese Sarawakians exodus to the DAP.

The change of the Chinese follows the earlier pattern of the marginalisation of the Iban community. In the late 1980s, redelineation removed the two local Iban-majority seats in the area, resulting in the Iban community losing political representation.

This fragmentation of political power has continued in the Iban political parties and been exacerbated by infighting. Respected and autonomous local Iban leaders are scarce. Not surprisingly, the level of demoralisation among the Iban community is high.

For the Malays and Melanau, there is, in contrast, a sense of representation. They do feel included and have a voice through the chief minister, but some in the local kampungs express a sense of being taken for granted.

They openly question the distribution of wealth in the Malay community, particularly with the high-profile visits of leaders from the Semanunjung.

Common concerns

All of the communities share strong feelings about their long-time chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud.

For his supporters, there is real concern about his health and the unresolved succession plan, even in his party PBB. For his detractors, these is open disdain for his and his family’s wealth and alleged corruption and abuses of power.

More than any other issue, the CM provokes strong reactions. All acknowledge that the leadership of Sarawak is facing a crossroads, like the town of Sibu itself.

This by-election serves to draw more attention to the challenges ahead, but, to date, has offered few solutions to address them. It is thus understandable that the level of engagement with this by-election by Sibuans has been muted and the level of fence-sitters relatively high.

The campaign remains fluid and uncertain, much like the state leadership as well as the political and economic transformations in Sarawak as a whole.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 May 2010, 5:58 pm and is filed under
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Last 24 hours of the “Battle of Century” Sibu by-election – Tweets

#P212 #Sibu Battle of Century further effects – Swak Chief Minister announces 50% reduced rates 4renewal of urban land titles Victory 4Sibu

Friday, May 14, 2010 9:31 PM

#P212 #Sibu Dap/PR candidate HoLeng speaking 2biggest crowd @Rejang Park He spoke of DAP’s battle 4just deal 4renewal 4land titles since 06

Friday, May 14, 2010 9:37 PM

#P212 #Sibu is indeed Battle of Century PM Najib coming back 2Sibu again w more Angpaus tmw He will appear @Rejang Park Let Sibu do a Rasa!

Friday, May 14, 2010 10:08 PM

#P212 #Sibu Urged Sibuans 2vote Rocket 4fourth mission – 2save Msian democracy as denial of 2/3 BN majority in Parliament now in grave peril

Friday, May 14, 2010 10:21 PM

#P212 Final 24hrs campaign 4Battle of Century #Sibu Who say DAP/PR candidate Wong HoLeng cannot do anything? He has done what SUPP cannot do

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:11 AM

#212 Tkz 2HoLeng both capitals of Swak nMsia shifted from Kuching/KL 2 #Sibu 4ten days Almost all Federal/State Ministers here. Glory 2Sibu

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:15 AM

#212 Tks 2HoLeng Chinese Iban Malay voters #Sibu get unprecedented attn/ allctns totally beyond SUPP capability. Even Najib back 2Sibu 2nite

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:19 AM

#212 Let #Sibu tell Najib/BN: many tkz but after 47yrs just not enuf! 1Malaysia talk but no action not enuf. Let MPHoLeng explain in Parlmnt

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:24 AM

#212 4 SibuSwakMsia vote Rocket Now 1 more historic mission 4 #Sibu – Don’t allow Umno/BN 2wrest back 2/3 parl majority Save democracy/Msia

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:31 AM

#212 Can HoLeng win #Sibu Its Touch-n-Go. From 40-60% odds Nomination 2some 50-50% in 8 days, victory is up for grabs. Last lap 2 decide all

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:49 AM

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 May 2010, 9:58 am and is filed under
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Malaysian Swan Song in Sarawak By-Election

Written by
Mariam Mokhtar

Friday, 14 May 2010

?National ruling coalition appears to be coasting to a win on pork delivery

The Sibu by-election in Sarawak on 16 May is a test on several fronts. A win for the Barisan Nasional, which appears likely, would put the Barisan within striking range of taking back its two-thirds majority in the national parliament.

Beyond that is the old rivalry between two sworn enemies – the Sarawak United Political Party for the ruling Barisan Nasional coalition and the Democratic Action Party for the opposition Pakatan Rakyat banner. As with all of the by-elections that have occurred since the national elections of March 2008, it is being hard fought, even harder perhaps.

As an indication of the importance the government places on the seat, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak recently made a second appearance in Sibu, a picturesque town of about 250,000 people on the upper reaches of the Rajang River, offering his hand of friendship to the Chinese community and proclaiming, “As prime minister, I want to deliver. You can trust me that this government will deliver to the people of Sibu.”

He might as well have said, “Trust me. I am a politician.”

The people of Sibu must have wondered if Christmas and Gawai, the harvest festival, had come early. The campaign circus has breathed a short-lived booming economy into the town, nestled on the banks of the river. Hotels and restaurants are fully booked. There is free karaoke and beer. Food has been ordered for the various meetings in the longhouses. Election bunting, banners and billboards are everywhere. Boats going up-river are filled to capacity. And best of all politicians are promising building projects, more development and they are signing checks, with the promise of more.

But the reality is far from rosy. There is cyclical flooding, poor infrastructure, a lack of social services, rising prices, declining business and employment. In addition, the people are furious about the mismanagement of resources by Sarawak’s chief minister, Abdul Taib Mahmud, who has run the state since 1981 and has been accused perennially of lining his pockets through resource-extraction companies owned by his family.

When the Chinese Foochow clan settled on the shores of the Rejang at the beginning of the 20th Century, there were visions of agricultural prosperity and trade with the interior. But the dream soon became a disaster. Development was sluggish, just like the boggy marshland surrounding Sibu. Only a handful of hotels, mansions, shopping malls and office blocks owned by the timber giants, thrived.

Improbably, the swan is depicted as the town symbol despite the fact that swans are not a naturally occurring species there or anywhere else in Malaysia. The majority of the community especially its indigenous people, have no strong attachment to this adopted ‘Symbol of Sibu’. They consider the swan too artificial and feel it a reflection of their sentiments for this election.

Therefore, the election will be an interesting test of Barisan Nasional’s ability to reclaim the Chinese votes it lost earlier in the Hulu Selangor by-election on the Malaysian mainland. The constituency has 54,695 voters, of which 66 percent are predominantly Foochow. The other groups are Malay/Melanau (17 percent), Ibans (15 percent) with the remainder from the Bidayuh, Orang Ulu and Indian communities. There are 2,537 postal voters from the police and army personnel at two military camps.

The division of votes between the Sarawak United People’s Party, representing the Barisan, and the opposition Democratic Action Party – both predominantly Chinese — will indicate the sway in the state elections, expected around mid-2011, which are to play an important role in national politics.

The battle of a political greenhorn, SUPP’s Robert Lau, against the experienced DAP chairman, Richard Wong, is also a fight between rich and poor. Lau’s family is linked to timber, oil palm plantations, printing and newspapers of the KTS group. His political adversary, Wong, hails from a poor family from the outskirts of Sibu and is noted for his crusade against poverty, injustice, and unfairness.

The Barisan has been forecast to win and the DAP would find it difficult to concede defeat. Its members have canvassed for several years, with no payment, unlike their BN counterparts.

Political observers have predicted that the win will come from the conservative Foochow and Iban voters, who continue to believe in the Barisan’s promises for ‘development’, an oft-repeated theme in the last 47 years. Optimism runs high even with little visible progress or development.

Religious issues, like the ban on the word ‘Allah’ are unlikely to influence the electorate. The SUPP has accused the DAP of condoning the formation of an Islamic state with Parti Islam se-Malaysia, and termed them “strange bedfellows” with opposing ideologies. The SUPP party information chief asking, “If they are not hugging together, why did they ask PAS to come and campaign here?”

When the DAP advisor, Lim Kit Siang invited the Sibu SUPP chief, Wong Soon Koh to a public debate about the Islamic state issue, the offer was declined. SUPP’s Wong was then accused of ‘shying away’ and received a stinging rebuke, “If he truly believes that a vote for DAP is a vote for PAS and an Islamic state, then why is he running away? It shows that he has a lot to hide.”

Ironically, threats by the Sarawak CID chief to use the Internal Security Act (ISA) in the ‘Allah’ issue have inadvertently led to greater discussion of the ban and more resentment against Umno.

At the Tua Pek Kong temple, Najib became the first prime minister to attend a celebration in honor of a Chinese deity. Roads around the temple were repaved for his visit. It is not only the Prime Minister who is trying hard to appeal, using religious sentiment. DAP leaders were already assembled at the temple an hour before the procession started. Even Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was to make an appearance in this four-day celebration.

The crowd was instructed to give thunderous applause to the prime minister. When Najib and his entourage, which included the BN candidate, arrived 10 minutes before the start of the procession, they were quickly ushered into the temple to unveil a plaque and pose for a photo. Within minutes, Najib was whisked away, to his next stop, a church.

When addressing the Christian leaders, Najib promoted his 1Malaysia slogan as being “the only spirit and philosophy that can hold this country together”. He added that, “There is no reason why Muslims and Christians cannot work together under the spirit of 1Malaysia”. One couldn’t help noticing the cooperation between his opponents, the DAP and PAS, to achieve unity.

Najib handed RM18 million in financial assistance to 65 Chinese schools and told the people in Sibu to trust his leadership. That included RM10 million for Chinese primary schools, RM5 million for Chinese independent secondary schools and RM3 million for Christian missionary schools.

We will honor our promises,” Najib told the crowd. “We don’t need the DAP. We are already solving the flood problems in Sibu.”

He then took a swipe at the opposition, saying that people “can promise many things, but they can also hoodwink the people. As prime minister, I want to deliver. And trust me, I shall definitely deliver to the people of Sibu.”

Najib sought to address the rural poor have who lost their farms and their ancestral Native Customary Rights (NCR) to plantations, timber companies and hydro-electric dams. These people resettled in the shanty communities around Sibu, which lack clean water and electricity. If they had hoped to find employment, education and health care, they only found menial work in massage parlors, coffee shops or construction sites. For many, their longhouse traditions have been replaced by squalor, despair and alcohol.

Local issues and practical considerations are paramount. Money politics is willingly repaid with votes. The people are not as concerned with corruption, anti-racism, good governance, transparency, accountability, clean elections, justice, care of the elderly or social reform. For them, issues of material development and livelihood take precedence.

So in the end, the tiny minority of well-informed Malaysians with access to the alternative media, who are politically aware, who will vote for better governance, individual liberties and progressive policies, will be just that, a minority. They will not make a difference.

Najib appealed to the Chinese to support BN and vote for SUPP’s Robert Lau: “Please, I help you, you help me. That way we have a very fair and happy relationship”. His words remind us of the phrase “You scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours.” Did that plea signal the swan song for the DAP?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 May 2010, 7:47 am and is filed under
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Sarawak : Poverty Midst of Plenty

By
Tunku Abdul Aziz

Although I have in my travels seen abject poverty in such diverse places as Addis Ababa, Dhaka, Dar es Salaam, Kolkata, Mumbai and Manila, I must confess to a feeling of utter revulsion and anger when confronted by stark deprivation in our supposedly well-governed and prosperous Malaysia.

The pockets of rural poverty in the Malay heartlands of Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu are islands of prosperity compared to the scene that churned my stomach and assailed my sense of guilt and outrage when I first ventured into the Iban long houses on  the majestic Rejang.

It is not enough that we have robbed them of their ancestral lands and impoverished them in the process, but we also felt constrained to strip them naked of any residual personal dignity that they might still have by introducing policies that have succeeded in reducing them to the fringes of mainstream economic life. The Orang Asli tribes and the Orang Hulu, the Malays from the interior, have a great deal in common with their Dayak friends. For all we care, they are Malaysia’s forgotten people, but not quite. Whenever an election is underway, be it a by-election or a general election, they find themselves the centre of attention, in great demand by the rich and powerful, all claiming to love and care for them.

 Before the day is out, they are the proud possessors of a handful of crisp 50 ringgit notes. Four or five hundred ringgit is a princely sum to them, a king’s ransom, no less, in exchange for their votes. If some of them have become cunning, manipulative supplicants and sacrificed their values for a fistful of ringgit, remember it is we who have corrupted them.

Years of exposure to extreme poverty and unbridled exploitation have rendered many of these once proud and noble people, nature’s gentlemen, inured and insensitive to their own traditional values and value systems. They are reduced to living from hand to mouth, on handouts, from day to day. What a tragedy to befall a people whose only sin is to trust those sworn to protect their native rights. They are bewildered to find themselves dispossessed, as their land is taken away without as much as “by your leave” for commercial exploitation by the towkay friends of the powerful.

Talking to many of them, the Ibans, I mean, I believe the only way we can restore their pride and dignity is by providing opportunities for regular employment. We are dealing with an ancient people with a distinctive culture. Even those among them whose lives have taken on an urban aspect continue to cling strenuously to their traditional practices. We who are strong have a duty to help the weak by not foisting on the Ibans and others our culture of corruption and other despicable practices.

Some years ago, an Indonesian anti-corruption activist friend of mine visited our country during the 11th general elections, as part of a privately funded election observer mission. His group spent a great deal of time in Sarawak and Sabah and told me that he was shocked by the scale of vote buying. I was greatly embarrassed by his revelation because at an anti-corruption conference in The Hague at which I was invited to speak and he was a participant some two months earlier, I had said that while vote buying was rampant in party elections, the practice was unknown in general and state elections. I was unbelievably naïve to believe the Barisan Nasional government propaganda. The scale of vote-buying must have been so massive as to shock my Indonesian anti-corruption fighter, used as he was to living and working in a corruption-infested nation. It is not that easy to shock an Indonesian over a corruption issue. But unlike Malaysia, Indonesia is on the mend as far as fighting corruption is concerned. In Malaysia, on the contrary, it is in indecently robust health.

Malaysia is blessed with rich natural resources and poverty as we have seen in Sabah, Sarawak, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan and Terengganu can only be explained in terms of governance grounded on corruption and political excesses. When we look at the personal wealth accumulated by Chief Minister Taib of Sarawak at one extremity and the Ibans at the other, one begins to wonder what the future holds for Malaysia. I am not at all sanguine.

The thieving and plundering by those in power must stop because, as history tells us, it is only a matter of time before the forbearance of the long suffering poor takes on an ugly aspect, with consequences too dreadful to contemplate. The Government of Malaysia and the state governments of Sabah and Sarawak in particular can alleviate poverty by governing in the sole interest of the people. Najib’s people first is under close public scrutiny.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 May 2010, 12:54 pm and is filed under
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Sibu’s new political awakening (2)

By
Bridget Welsh
 | Malaysiakini

Tomorrow is polling day in Sibu. After days of quiet campaigning, there is now finally a growing sense of excitement. This non-political town is having a national awakening as both sides have gone all out to win voters over.

In Sibu square, BN leaders are making earnest appeals to the voters, while the big guns of the Pakatan Rakyat are gearing up for a final ceramah tonight and concentrating their day’s activities in the pivotal Iban areas.

Prime Minister Najib Razak is making a personal gamble by returning for the second time in the campaign period to appeal for votes, gambling that his popularity wins support.

Traditionally, local factors and perceptions have shaped the outcome in this constituency of 54,695 voters, and they are still relevant. Increasingly, however, national concerns are swaying voters as Sibuans are recognising their important role in the country’s future. And they are feeling a sense of empowerment never felt before.

?In this final lap, the opposition is gaining ground in a contest that was initially firm in the hands of the BN. The DAP, working with its Pakatan partners, now has a real fighting chance.

The BN on its part is doling out goodies, making promises and pushing its resources to the maximum for a win. The cool breeze from the Rajang River and a morning drizzle belies the real political heat on the ground.

Stark choices

Sibu voters are faced with contrasting choices for this campaign. Foremost is the choice to vote for money, or vote for change.

It is a ‘buy-election’ after all and in Sarawak, money politics are the norm. The promises for school funding, flood allocation, new land lease rates (announced last night) are all part and parcel of election promises.

To this end, BN has the advantage of access to three sources of financial muscle: access to both federal and state resources, as well as the personal resources of the candidate.

?Voters have been given ‘grants’ of RM600, longhouse tuai heads allocated RM10,000 to RM20,000 to sway residents, and ordinary voters across the races promised RM100 as an advance on a possible victory, with more cash to come. It is important to understand that these sums are not small change for many impoverished voters.

The combination of development promises – for real problems such as flooding and education – and inflows of cash present difficult choices for voters, particularly those who are less enthusiastic about the ability of the opposition to deliver substantive change.

On its part, the opposition has urged Sibuans to vote with their conscience, appealing for the need for a stronger opposition voice in government, and suggesting that a vote for the opposition will in fact bring about more engagement and resources from federal and state leaders.

The latter is doubtful as neglect of this town is deep-seated, but the reality is that the contrast in approach is becoming sharper as the campaign evolves.

BN corners itself

The BN has slowly created its own dichotomy in this campaign: a vote for delivery or vote for discussion.

Their main attack on the opposition appeals to the pragmatism of Sibuans. In their mantra label on the opposition as “all talk, no walk”, they are focusing on deliverables. This message is couched subtly in a framework that aims to discredit the opposition as a viable coalition partnership and undermine its struggling leadership.

?The defections of PKR members, the Islamic state discussion about the DAP’s partnership with PAS, the court case against Anwar Ibrahim all comprise this frontal attack on the opposition.

Many Sibuans hold deep suspicions of West Malaysia and lack familiarity with national players, and this strategy has confused many voters. This tactic to muddying the waters isn’t quite as muddy as the Rajang River, but it has gained traction as the BN has appealed for support as the prime candidate for effective governance.

Ironically, this approach backfires on BN as it opens the ruling coalition to serious questions about what it has delivered in Sibu over the past years. The decades of dire neglect in the state increase the BN’s vulnerability.

SUPP in particular is seen as weak and ineffective, and this has forced the BN to turn to Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud (who has considerable political baggage from his 29 years in office) and national leaders such as Najib in framing its engagement with the town.

For the opposition, they face a serious challenge of delivering on their promises, and have been cautious in their promises of deliverables. That caution went out the window last night in the final appeal to make sure that Sibu voters have a national voice.

Voters here are reflecting on the difficult choice of whether they want concrete deliverables or a voice challenging the lack of deliverables.

Local loyalties

?These choices are compounded by a difficult decision over the two local boys: the local candidates. It is, after all, a small town with personal and professional ties to both candidates – Robert Lau Hui Yew (left) and Wong Ho Leng (right).

The SUPP is appealing the electorate to vote for the legacy of the late Robert Lau, to remind voters of the boom years and the former tycoon’s contribution to the town.

Meanwhile the DAP has focused on the record of Wong Ho Leng as a fighter against injustice.

The candidates have thus far acted responsibly and avoided personal attacks. The mud in Sibu has stayed in the river instead of being thrown on the campaign trail. This speaks to the shared fraternity and civility of both candidates – both lawyers in a small town – and the quiet dignity of Sibuans in how they conduct their daily lives.

This does not mean that there have not been the occasional swipes, as voters themselves have contrasted the dichotomy of rich and poor, in the upbringing of the SUPP and DAP candidate respectfully.

Both men have baggage, but Robert Lau Jr’s lack of political experience and engagement with the electorate, broadly as well as his party’s extremely poor machinery, has arguably been more weight to carry around. He has yet to capitalise effectively on his strengths as a member of a powerful tycoon family.

Najib’s personal contest

As the awakening evolved in Sibu, there is a growing recognition of the national stakes. Like Hulu Selangor, Najib has made this a personal contest. He has taken a bold risk by putting his credibility on the line.

?This shows some degree of daring from a man who has been touted as overly cautious, and signifies how important this contest in a remote town in Borneo means for his leadership. It also shows a degree of increasing confidence, riding on the impressive first quarter economic growth of 10.1 percent.

The reality is that Najib cannot implement needed economic reforms without a mandate, and cannot introduce a strong economic plan, devoid of a simplistic debate over affirmative action and the NEP, without a clear decisive win.

For Pakatan, this contest has also had real meaning, as a victory here opens up the possibility of winning national power. They desperately need East Malaysian seats to offset PKR defections in West Malaysia to build a credible national alternative.

Voters in Sibu are beginning to understand this difficult choice – to give a mandate to Najib or to open further opportunities for an opposition which badly needs positive momentum.

Deciding factors

Given the choices for voters, it is thus important to lay out what will shape the outcome on this last day.

1) Changing of the playing field

Little attention has been placed on what may prove ultimately decisive: the changing of election dynamics in Sibu.

The movement of one army battalion out of the constituency – lowering the votes usually given the BN – and the relocation of one major pro-DAP Chinese polling station to the neighbouring Lanang constituency, involves potentially over 3,000 votes.

?The movement favours the BN overall, although it may backfire as it tightens the remaining contests. This voter relocation is important in this close contest, and will put pressure on the need for a high turnout on all sides.

The opposition has strengthened its machinery, and now for the first time can assign polling station agents to areas never covered before – some with previous 99 percent victory to BN. This accountability improves the process overall.

Many voters, however, remain fearful their votes are not secret despite the Election Commission’s remarks yesterday which reaffirmed a fair process. Insecurity on the part of many voters remains, as rumours of phantom voters persist.

Tomorrow, the integrity of the election process will be put to the test and it will be the responsibility of the EC to assure that the votes of Sibuans are genuinely and fairly counted.

2) Voter turnout and mobilisation

Every vote will count. This constituency has always had low turnout, less than 70 percent in parliamentary contests, given the high numbers of voters living in remote areas and their “non-political” orientation.

Voter turnout in this race will be very important. Who and how many people come to the polls will determine the outcome.

A high voter turnout in the Malay and Iban areas will favour the BN, where it has traditionally won over 80 percent of the votes. DAP needs the Chinese voters to show up in droves, as they have secured more than 62 percent of their vote in the past.

?I predict that the final majority will be small, less than 3,000 for either side, and thus less than 10 percent of the voters could shape the final outcome.

The major contest now is winning over fence-sitters or newly politicised voters. Voters are engaging like never before, although many remain unsure who to vote for. The BN is relying on financial incentives to mobilise, while the opposition is working on building mood for change.

Given the energy at the ceramah of both coalitions last night, Pakatan is winning support on the ground. The real war will come tonight as the opposition faces off against Najib’s personal appeal.

3) Ethnic swings

The fight for votes focuses on winning key ethnic constituencies. The most contested community has been the Iban.

Usually easily bought over, there appears to be more openness to the opposition this round as concerns over poverty and more communication with younger Ibans working outside have raised questions about the relative living standards of this rightfully proud community.

?Whoever wins this contest will need an Iban swing. Here the choice for money or change is most stark.

The other two major communities are important as well. DAP gains among the Chinese will give them a victory, if they can push their support level above 72 percent. This is where the issue of candidates and deliverables will be most crucial, although more and more Chinese Sibuans are thinking about the national direction in areas of religious freedom and fair representation.

For the Malay community, the stalwart BN base in Sibu, any movement will be a bonus for either side.

This contest has had less of the ultra-chauvinist overtones of other by-elections since March 2008, but it’s still there and percolating over issues of rights, corruption, distribution and charges of Malay betrayal on the part of the opposition leadership.

The BN needs their Malay base more than ever in this round.

4) Local alliances and gambling

In this heated contest tied to voter mobilisation and ethnic swings, local networks factor in.

Friends supporting friends, calling on others to vote, will matter. Indirect and direct ties to parties will matter. Discussions in the coffee shops, churches and children’s day care are intense. Women voters will be decisive as many have not voted before and are less politically mobilised.

Beyond social networks and personal connections to the parties and candidates, the role of the local imam, samseng, clan and professional associations and gambling pools will make a difference.

It is a small town after all, and local leaders and groups have an impact. Traditionally, of these local dynamics the most important has been gambling, as the gaming odds have been manipulated with financial backing to swing votes in favour of one side as voters vote to win their bets in favourable odds.

Given the antipathy of local tycoons – in which the Lau family is a major player – and the closeness of the contest itself, this could also prove important, although this time around, it may not be as crucial a factor as in earlier contests.

Sibuans deserve better

The main gamble that will matter when the contest is over is whether the PM gets his mandate or the opposition gets its momentum, and whether investing personally paid off for Najib or whether bringing in national politics in the form of a multi-ethnic alliance benefited the DAP in Sibu.

?The stakes are high and choices difficult. Sibu voters may be waking up to their national role, but are not sure exactly what they are waking up to.

Like most Malaysians, they want (and deserve) a better, more effective, fairer government that allows them to live in peace and prosperity.

They have a dream. Tomorrow they will choose who they will entrust to carry it out.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 15 May 2010, 8:01 pm and is filed under
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“Battle of Century” Grand finale ceramah – tweets

#P212 #Sibu DAP grand finale crmh near Paramount Hotel MPs ChienJen Teresa NieChing SAs To speak Karpal Anwar Hadi LGE WHL Huge crowds bldg

Saturday, May 15, 2010 8:17 PM

#P212 Roaring +10k crowd near Paramount Hotel – record ceramah turnout in #Sibu history: testimony Sibuans want 2lead change 4Sibu/Swak/Msia

Saturday, May 15, 2010 9:53 PM

#P212 PM Najib in 3rd visit #Sibu promised RM5 mil Rejang 4flood mitigation if BN wins The +10k ppl roared approval 2hold Najib 2account (1)

Saturday, May 15, 2010 9:59 PM

#P212 If Najib does not honour RM5mil flood scheme when HoLeng is wins MP #Sibu serves notice dat Najib will b Opp Leader not PM after 13GE

Saturday, May 15, 2010 10:05 PM

#P212 From chanting +10k crowd #Sibu is prepared 2Lead Swak/Msia 4Change. 2hrs 2go – Odds r now 50-50. We have fighting chance. Go Sibu Go!

Saturday, May 15, 2010 10:18 PM

#P212 Karpal Hadi NgaKorMing rcd tumultous applauses 4their speeches PR leadership w Anwar  on stage joined by +10k ppl sang “Just Change”

Saturday, May 15, 2010 10:39 PM

#P212 Mass singing took place under skies providentially brightened by superb fireworks marking it as a sign of destiny 4Sibu Swak Msia

Saturday, May 15, 2010 10:44 PM

#P212 #Sibu +10k ppl grown 2near 15k HoLeng pays tribute 2his wife Irene He explain Taib’s  reduction of land lease renewal not good enuf

Saturday, May 15, 2010 10:55 PM

#P212 #Sibu Anwar lifted up by 15k crowd convinced Sibu can chart history of Swak Msia Thunderous applause when Anwar reaffirmed united Msia

Saturday, May 15, 2010 11:01 PM

#P212 #Sibu grand finale ceramah ended w LGE as anchor speaker summoning Sibuans 2lead change Great end 2campaign of Battle of Century

Sunday, May 16, 2010 12:06 AM

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