Police must serve to protect, not persecute

— The Malaysian Insider

Sep 09, 2012

SEPT 9 — It is commendable that police took swift action to detain a man who apparently waved a gun while chasing away youths who were blocking Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s entourage in the Jelajah Merdeka Rakyat function in Malacca yesterday.

No one should display their firearms just to invoke fear in public. And if that man, a bodyguard employed by Anwar, is liable for prosecution, so be it.

But what is more disturbing is how the event unfolded. That there are people out there who were blocking a road just so that people, including Anwar, cannot attend a  function organised by PKR. And the police were there and did nothing.

According to media reports, there were plainclothes policemen and Special Branch officers who were there observing the PKR function. They did nothing to stop the youths. They only sprang to action when the bodyguard apparently waved his gun.

Malacca state police chief Datuk Chuah Ghee Lye has said the man has been detained for questioning, adding “Let us investigate the matter first as it is still premature to determine if the man had actually pointed the weapon at the public, or he was just brandishing it as an act of protecting someone.

“He could have taken out the gun and accidentally showed it to the people gathered there,” he said.

Yet, nothing is done to ensure that people have right of way to their own event? Couldn’t the police have stopped these youths from such hooliganism? When have politicians resorted to such action to stop their opponents from campaigning?

Here, the police must serve to protect all because all of us are staying in this country. They cannot be selective and just persecute one side. How ironic is it that there are groups who lodged a report against the bodyguard for displaying his gun but are themselves guilty of blocking the free passage of others.

And why haven’t the police taken action against these people? Do the police need reports lodged when their own men are there and witnessed what can be politely termed as an illegal blockade?

The police serve the people, not the interests of certain political quarters. Unless they reinforce this principle, the police will only invite ridicule and derision from the public whom they have sworn to protect. Do we have a public police force or one that acts on the behalf of vested interests?

We hope the police know better. Take action against the bodyguard if he committed an offence. But also take action against those who impede and block others from carrying out their business. That is the right thing to do.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 September 2012, 4:43 pm and is filed under
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Review 18-Point Agreement to end Sarawak CLIB curses

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will lead the Federal Cabinet to Bintulu on September 16 to celebrate the 49th Malaysia Day.

I still remember that on the 51st Merdeka Day on 31st August 2008, I reiterated my call that Malaysia Day on September 16 should be declared a national public holiday, which would mean that Malaysia would have two National Days each year – August 31 as Merdeka Day to commemorate Malaya’s Independence in 1957 and September 16 as Malaysia Day to celebrate the formation of Malaysia with Sarawak and Sabah.

It was only in the following year that the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that Malaysia Day would be a national public holiday from 2010 – an example of the change DAP and Pakatan Rakyat can bring about although we are still in the Opposition, whether nationally or in Sarawak and Sabah.

After 49 years in Malaysia, Sarawak is afflicted with the curse of CLIB – corruption, Land (NCR) injustices, Infrastructure (backwardness) and Borneanisation (breach).

1. Corruption

Although Fighting Corruption is one of the priority six National Key Result Areas (NKRA) of Najib’s Government Transformation Programme (GTP), Malaysia’s corruption has gone from bad to worse in the past three years as tracked by Transparency International’s annual Corruption Perception Index.

In Malaysia, Sarawak is one of the top states where corruption  is most rampant and intractable.

So far, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has nothing to say about investigations into serious allegations of corruption and abuses of power against the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Taib Mahmud.

It is precisely because corruption is one of top problems in Sarawak after 49 years that the theme of tonight’s ceramah is “Clean Governance – Our Hope”.

2. Land (NCR) injustices

The second major issue in Sarawak five decades after the formation of Malaysia is the plight of the Dayaks of Sarawak over Native Customary Rights (NCR) land.

As the Kuching High Court judge, Justice Linto Albert said in his judgment in the landmark “Pantu” NCR case:, “These are cries for justice because one cannot simply throw one’s hands in the air and say that is how life is”!

I endorse the statement by the Sarawak DAP State Chairman, MP for Sibu and State Assemblyman for Bukit Assek, Wong Ho Leng, “as the largest state in Malaysia, no one in Sarawak should be land hungry” but clearly this principle can only be established by Pakatan Rakyat and not  Barisan Nasional.

3. Infrastructure (backwardness)

Just like Sabah, where I had just come from a four-day visit to the Sabah interior, one of the greatest grievances in Sarawak is the failure to provide the most basic infrastructure facilities, like roads, piped water and electricity.

Both Sarawak and Sabah are  states with rich natural resources, whether oil, gas, or timber, but the wealth of the state have been hijacked by BN leaders and their cronies instead of being ploughed back to ensure that the people in two states enjoy the most basic of infrastructure resources – instead of the scandalous situation in many places in the two states, where there are water pipes without water or electric poles without power supply.

4. Borneanisation (breach)

Barisan Nasional’s failure to honour the “Borneanisation” undertaking contained in the 18-Point Agreement was recently highlighted by the proposal  by Tun Zaki Azmi, chairman of the Special Review Commission on Civil Service Transformation, to lower the requirements for Dayaks and ethnic minority groups to enter the civil service so as to address the imbalance of racial composition within the civil service.

Zaki’s proposal had been lambasted by Dayaks leaders on both sides of the political divide as an insult and mockery of the Dayak community, as they contended there are enough qualified people from Dayaks and the minority groups but the problem is the absence of meritocracy not only for recruitment but also promotion in the civil service.

Zaki must be thanked for highlighting the failure of the Barisan Nasional government to implement Borneanisation as promised in the 18-Point Agreement in the past five decades, resulting in the sense of grievance, marginalisation and discrimination by the Dayak and ethnic minority groups with regard to the civil service.

The theme of 55th Merdeka Day and 49th Malaysia Day is “Janji Ditepati” but it is clear that as far as Sarawak is concerned,  the promises for the establishment of Malaysia 49 years ago had not been fulfilled not only in these four major instances, but in many other areas as well.

The  18-Point Agreement should be reviewed so as to end Sarawak CLIB curses – Corruption, Land (NCR) injustices, Infrastructure (backwardness) and Borneanisation (breach).

(Speech -part 2 – at the Bau DAP “UBAH” Ceramah held in Bau, Sarawak on Saturday Sept 8, 2012 at 9 pm)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 September 2012, 3:13 pm and is filed under
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The rise of political hooliganism must not be condoned

—  The Malaysian Insider

Sep 09, 2012

SEPT 9 —The rise of what can only be described as political hooliganism in Malaysia must not be tolerated.

And as the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional (BN) must take the lead to condemn such behaviour as recent cases show that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) politicians have been at the receiving end of such hooliganism.

A few months ago unidentified thugs threw rocks and eggs at a PKR ceramah in Kuala Lumpur, injuring a few members of the public.

It has become common for opposition politicians to face unruly gangs at rallies around the country.

Yesterday a bodyguard of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim allegedly waved his gun when confronted with a crowd of hooligans trying to block the opposition politician from attending a rally.

BN leaders and the authorities cannot just claim that they are not responsible for the hooliganism.

If BN political parties and leaders are not responsible they must then take the lead to pressure the police to take action, as well as publicly condemn it.

If doing the right thing is not motivation enough they should realise that the public does not condone such behaviour.

And BN will end up taking the blame anyway.

The typical middle class Malaysian in particular is growing into a very angry person.

Why?

Because he or she wants a level playing field, a mature Malaysia, a competition of ideas.

Violence and hooliganism is not the path forward for a mature democracy.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 September 2012, 9:15 pm and is filed under
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What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, Dr M

By
P. Ramakrishnan

September 08, 2012 | The Malaysian Insider

SEPT 8 — Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s warning that the country may never see a Barisan Nasional (BN) government again if Pakatan Rakyat (PR) is voted into Putrajaya, would provoke the response, “Good riddance to bad rubbish!” from many Malaysians who are totally fed up with BN rule.

After 55 years of BN rule, it is time to say, “Enough is enough! It’s time to go!!”

Dr Mahathir should stop whining that the federal opposition would do “everything possible” to stay in power forever if they were to form the next government.

What’s wrong with that, Tun?

Didn’t you do that, Tun, to stay in power forever? Why is it when you did “everything possible” to cling on to power, it was the proper thing to do but it is utterly wrong now for others to aspire to, as you did.

Didn’t you refuse our beloved Tunku Abdul Rahman, the honest Tun Hussein Onn, the fearless Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and others admission into Umno Baru so that you could remain in power forever without any opposition from within the party?

Didn’t you introduce the system of 10 bonus votes for every nomination you received from Umno divisions to ensure that you would continue to be the president of Umno without any threat of a challenge?

Didn’t you fix a minimum number of nominations from Umno divisions to be eligible to contest the president’s post? And didn’t this effectively prevent Tengku Razaleigh from challenging for the president’s post?

Didn’t BN amend the Federal Constitution to disqualify those who resigned their seats and thereby force a by-election so that you could not be put to the test again? The amendment came soon after Shahrir Samad resigned as a BN parliamentarian in 1988, forcing a by-election in Johor Baru, which he won convincingly as an independent, thus embarrassing you in the process.

Didn’t you have absolute control of the party and government so that your position would remain unassailable as long as you chose to stick around?

Wasn’t BN guilty of gerrymandering to ensure that it had the best advantage to win the elections so that you and the coalition could lord over the nation forever?

Didn’t you destroy the judiciary in 1988 when you played a role in the sacking of the then Lord President, Tun Salleh Abas? Wasn’t it to preserve and perpetuate your position?

Didn’t you shackle the powers of the royalty by holding semarak gatherings throughout the country to run down the royalty and by amending the constitution so that you and BN could remain in power forever without any obstacles or obstruction?

Didn’t BN deny allocations for all elected MPs and state assembly members — unfairly and unjustly — so that it could continue to rule forever by pulling the purse strings?

Didn’t BN engineer the overthrow of the legitimately elected Pakatan government in Perak ignoring the choice of the voters so that it could forever continue to be in power by whatever means?

Isn’t BN hounding Anwar Ibrahim through trumped up charges and all other foul means to prevent his political ascendancy, which threatens BN’s greed to remain in power forever?

Isn’t it because BN wants to be in power forever — and by any means — that it is going after the brave Bersih leaders who had inspired Malaysians to march in their thousands demanding free and fair elections?

Aren’t you, in your desperation to ensure BN remains in power forever, indulging in undemocratic actions to deny the opposition the space and opportunity to form an alternative government that would guarantee the demise of BN?

Why is it, dear Tun, that only you and BN can have the licence to do everything possible to remain in power forever? Why are you denying the loyal opposition the same opportunity to protect and preserve their position?

Haven’t you heard of the saying, “What’s sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander”?

Your hypocrisy is really nauseating, Tun!

* P. Ramakrishnan is an Aliran executive committee member

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 9 September 2012, 2:45 pm and is filed under
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And we call this Merdeka?

By
Rom Nain
 | 2:46PM Sep 6, 2012

Malaysiakini

At the rate this regime is going about dealing with its citizens, it could quite easily turn out to be the most despised one for a long, long time. There’s just no finesse, no class, in the way it handles things.

Granted, it is arguably an extension of previous regimes, but, at least with the one led for a long time by that doctor, there was no pretence at being a democracy.

With this Najib Abdul Razak pack, there’s constant bleating, especially by its media apparatchiks, about rakyat didahulukan (people first) and the accompanying mantra of ‘transparency’, ‘transformation’ and, of course, ‘reform’.

But, as we have seen, time and time again the regime does the exact opposite, riding roughshod over the requests of its citizens, bludgeoning many aside in a desperate attempt to cling on to power without integrity, without dignity.

The recent eve of Merdeka ‘celebrations’, such that it was, and the ongoing aftermath, provide us with a clear illustration of this.

Right from the get-go, it was quite clear that the regime was going to (ab)use the occasion. Government resources were utilised for endless idiotic logos, tired slogans and seemingly copycat songs that for many did not celebrate the spirit of Merdeka but merely served up crass propaganda for the BN regime.

Propaganda that was being paid for from public funds.

And when Malaysian civil society opted to organise its own celebrations – which essentially is what Janji Demokrasi was about, an invitation to celebrate Malaya’s independence while reminding the regime of its responsibilities – sadly and ironically, it was not provided that independence.

What, indeed, is the point of ‘enjoying’ 55 years of independence and apparent freedom if the rakyat is not allowed to freely gather and celebrate it? Unless, of course, they ‘apply for permission’ first to hold such a ‘freedom’ gathering or go along with the ‘officially-sanctioned’ celebrations.

Surely there’s a major contradiction there somewhere? A contradiction which I’m sure the so-called liberals in the regime, like Saifuddin Abdullah, Gan Ping Sieu and Khairy Jamaluddin are well aware of.

But, evidently, after being ‘advised’ about the need and wisdom of the amendments to the Evidence Act, this trio, and their less valiant colleagues in the BN corner, appear to have very little to say. The phrase, ‘cat got your tongue’ comes to mind.

Be that as it may, since that eve-of-independence celebration on the evening of Aug 30, last Thursday, the way that the mainstream media has been harping on about a couple of incidents, you would think that all hell had broken loose and that an attempted revolution had taken place.

If ever there was a clear case of overreaction, it was the official and media responses to Janji Demokrasi.

Catalogue of complaints

Let’s look at the catalogue of complaints, the list of transgressions. Yes, indeed, let’s see what the fuss is about.

Top of the list so far has been the silly mooning of photographs of the PM, his wife, and a couple of others by an exuberant young man.

Sure, it was rude. Granted, it was in very poor taste. But did he deserve being expelled from his college for this act of, at worst, tomfoolery?

It is reported that the higher education minister (no less) said that the decision was “appropriate since the action by the individual had tarnished the good name of the institute of higher learning”.

But, really, how serious was his indiscretion, as compared to the real crime of the rapist Noor Afizal Azizan who was recently released because, according to the judge, among other things, he has a ‘bright future’ ahead of him?

For heaven’s sake, the lad mooned a few photographs; he didn’t exactly attempt to physically sit on their faces.

Talk about getting our bearings, our priorities, all wrong.

Next was what seemed like an immediate nationwide hunt for a number of individuals allegedly caught on camera stomping on, yet again, the poor PM’s photo – and, I’m told, his beloved wife’s as well.

A young girl all the way in Johor was then arrested, cuffed like a common criminal, and driven all the way to KL to be charged, reportedly under the Sedition Act.

It would serve us well to remember that on July 11 this year, the PM had announced the repeal of the Sedition Act, to be replaced (but, of course) with the orchestra-sounding National Harmony Act.

Perhaps some people weren’t listening to the PM’s speeches, because, left and right, it would seem, Malaysian citizens – young and old – with no criminal record to speak of, are now being threatened with charges of sedition for stomping on photos, for flying flags and for reciting poetry.

No nationwide manhunt then

To take a step back, it would also serve us – and those who are supposed to represent us in making laws in Parliament –  well to remember, that previously there were widely reported cases of groups of people urinating on Nik Aziz Nik Mat’s photograph, stomping on Lim Guan Eng’s portrait, and, I believe, doing equally despicable things to the photo of the BN’s Koh Tsu Koon.

And do you remember a nationwide manhunt being launched then? No, I didn’t think so.

But now, flying a different flag from the Jalur Gemilang, is being deemed seditious. And those who did this dastardly act are now being hunted down and condemned by, among others, officially approved ‘historians’.

Frankly, looking at the flag the authorities are now labelling a ‘threat’ to our way of life, it does look very much like the Umno flag. Perhaps the authorities are right, after all.

But, seriously, folks, one mooning incident? A few revellers stomping (accidentally perchance?) on some photographs? Some kids flying a flag that looks oddly familiar? And a 77 year-old national laureate reciting his gentle poem to a boisterous and noisy crowd that would have hardly heard him?

And you want to lock them all up, hoping to silence them?

At a time when you’ve got rapists walking free on our streets? Gangsters disrupting peaceful gatherings? Bags being snatched? Drug dealers offering home delivery service? Corrupt politicians openly fleecing the rakyat?

As the tennis great, John McEnroe, would put it: You cannot be serious.

____

ROM NAIN is a media analyst and academic who is weary of incompetent, unethical leaders and their apologists and spin doctors in the media who try to get away with murder while professing to rub shoulders with God’s angels.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 5:28 pm and is filed under
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Jabu gets a tongue-lashing

Joseph Tawie | November 24, 2011

Free Malaysia Today

A landowner has accused the deputy chief minister of twisting the truth over a joint-venture project.

KUCHING: A native customary right (NCR) landowner gave Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Numpang a verbal slap yesterday for twisting the truth and claiming that the government was supportive of native rights.

Declining to be named, the landowner said he and many others were present during the “Kanowit incident” in 1996 which Jabu had referred to at the State Legislative Assembly sitting yesterday.

“We were there in 1996. We know about the joint-venture (JV) concept. We were cheated of our rightful dividends,” he said in reference to Jabu’s accusation that DAP was the stumbling block to poverty eradication programmes among the rural community.

Jabu, during his debate on the state’s 2012 budget yesterday, revisited the 1996 Kanowit incident and recalled that some 20 to 30 DAP members had objected to the government’s NCR joint-venture poverty eradication programmes to assist rural Sarawakians.

“In 1966, about 1,500 landowners turned up for the launching of the NCR joint-venture concept at the Dewan Suarah Kanowit. We then saw some 20 to 30 DAP members climbed on stage to protest against the programme,” said Jabu.

He also pointed out that Machang assemblyman Gramong Juna and Land Development Minister James Masing were also witnesses to the incident.

“NCR landowners and the people of Sarawak can never and will never forgive DAP for its selfish attitude,” he added.

“DAP is the stumbling block to poverty eradication programmes in the rural communities.

“The rough and dirty political tactics by the opposition are very dangerous because they can incite racial feelings… they can also deprive the rural people of the opportunities to benefit from the programmes of the Barisan Nasional to eradicate poverty,” Jabu said.

‘We’re suing the government’

Jabu’s verbosity in the state assembly, however, could not match the anger spewed by the landowner who said 100 of the JV project participants were now suing the government for failing to pay them dividends.

“More than 100 of us are suing the government and the company for not paying us dividends since the launching of the JV project (15 years ago).

“We have engaged Baru Bian (Ba’Kelalan assemblyman) to sue the government and the company. We want to withdraw from the JV.

“Now who is suppressing the NCR landowners – DAP or the state BN government?” asked the frustrated landowner.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 8:26 pm and is filed under
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Losing ground over FELDA

By
Sakmongkol AK47
 | September 10, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

SEPT 10 — What is happening to FELDA now, illustrates the state of our democracy under Umno. Settlers and employees got 200.6 million of the 2188.9 million shares to be sold.

The people representing the majority and overriding interest are the settlers and the employees. There are 112,635 settlers and 3835 employees. These represent directly the interest of FELDA people. They are the majority on whose backs and on whose name, this listing was supposed to be done for and benefits meant.

A question to FELDA people. Why get only 200.6 million out of the 2.188 billion shares offered and own the same from the 3.6482 billion of the enlarged share capital? That’s 5.5 per cent of the interest in FELDA. What Najib Razak and the government are doing to you is just cosmetics.

Because you are 116,470 strong you are bribed with RM15, 000, RM380 duit raya, 810 shares worth RM3685 at listing and that your sons’ and daughters’ PTPTN are being paid by the government using money that belongs to YOU. Najib will do anything to keep you corralled and addicted to the cocaine of handouts.

A question to Najib. If settlers represent your vanguard in the agenda to transform the economy, why assign only 5.5 per cent of the enlarged capital? Why not allow FELDA people through their KPF, own 70 per cent?

Because minority and moneyed classes control the actions and decisions of FELDA and the same with government.

So what has the FGVH issue got to do with the state of democracy under Umno? It illustrates that special interest groups determine our democracy instead of the wishes of the majority. The listing of FGVH has more to do with the agenda of the moneyed class than the agenda of the un-moneyed settler class.

Similarly the same is happening to the state of democracy under Umno. The country’s future is being determined by special interest groups who are self-selected and thrive on a single chosen issue.

When the FGVH shares rose up to near RM6 per unit, everyone said that was a testament of the confidence people have with FGVH. But who are the people exactly?

The “people” a nebulous and hazy term which could be infused with whatever meaning one wishes, refers to the various state governments that were asked to buy the shares and the various GLCs that Najib directed to buy FGVH’s stocks.

More important, the “people” are really the moneyed and special interest groups. And, of course, Najib alone represents the people and naturally he wasn’t shy to pat his own back. He must have been an accomplished contortionist.

Now that the price has gone down to around RM4.78, everyone who previously jumped up and down, says that the normal course in share trading. Going down is part of the normal course, but going up is taken to mean much more?

Our take is this: Going by the logic of the majority of us with only weak school certificates to vouch us by, the reduction in price, must be testament to lack of confidence. If the trending is more downwards than upwards, then lack of confidence is the stronger force.

We are not confident FGVH will take settlers to new heights nor are we confident Najib, Umno and BN can take our country to new heights. Najib’s only strategy in economics is to give out money, here, there and everywhere.

Right from the beginning, the listing of FGVH and the choice of the vehicle for listing of FELDA’s business interest was questionable.

There weren’t any settlers’ rep on its board. FGVH does business mostly overseas. Its business record was far from good or sufficiently good enough to inspire confidence that it can bring FELDA to new heights. It incurred continuous losses in its business most of the time and only made spectacular rebound on the profits near the listing date. FGVH may not do this, but we have heard of many cases where companies en route to listing cooked up the numbers.

Most of its profits came from the portion it owns in FELDA Holdings. Now what does FELDA Holdings do? The business done by FELDA Holdings is its brick and mortar business — planting of palm oil trees and selling CPO to the world. It wasn’t anything bordering on rocket science that seems to be preferred by FGVH.

FGVH wasn’t managing FELDA Holdings’ business. It was managed separately. If FGVH was managing FELDA Holdings and the company made profits consistently, then we can argue that perhaps, the profitability was due in part to FGVH management quality.

The facts are: FELDA Holdings made profits, its management was better. FELDA Holdings would be a better choice to buy out FGVH shares in Holdings. With FGVH out of the picture in Holdings, the other owner of FELDA Holdings — the KPF, representing settlers and employees’ interest can own 100 per cent. KPF, who then owns 100 per cent of FELDA Holdings, can hire a management company that can bring in more profits.

It was just paper shuffling. Ask investment bank A to come out with a proposal, it comes out with one that promises an initial listing price of RM5. Ask investment bank B, it comes out with a price of RM6. Hey, investment bank B is better.

A higher initial offer price means more money for the backroom boys. Those who have not soiled their feet in the plantations and perhaps may not even see a palm tree before.

Now that the price is going down, Najib is doing all the firefighting. That is the reason why Najib announced that FELDA is financing all the 91.2 million shares. He has read the writing on the wall. If he doesn’t finance the settlers, they will go up in arms. At stake are the 50 over seats in FELDA areas.

At RM4.55, FELDA will spend RM41,496,000. That’s RM41.496 million. It is a small sum to appease the 112, 635 FELDA settlers. And now has just up the ante, he says FELDA will pay all PTPTN loans of settlers’ children. We don’t know how much.

A number of inferences can be drawn from that. The fact that Najib has to continuously bribe settlers could mean support from settlers isn’t that solid. The additional fact that Najib has decided to finance the FGVH transactions and now pay for the PTPTN loans taken by settlers’ children can only mean that indeed support from the FELDA people isn’t as solid as he would want everyone believe.

Najib’s every move now reveals his true character. He hasn’t got a well thought-out plan and instead he makes it up as he goes along. I have to repeat myself: The settlers were supposed to buy the share with bank loan that came with a RM200 processing fee and a 5 per cent monthly rest. If I am not mistaken, the loan was supposed to be repaid in 6 months.

Otherwise imagine this. The settlers who have held on to their 810 shares must pay 810 x 4.55 = RM3685.50 plus RM200 processing fee. That is a total of RM3,885.50.

If they now sell at RM4.78, they earn RM3871.80. Each settler who now sells loses RM13.70.

That’s chicken feed. But RM13.70 loss represents the anger of one settler. And there are 112, 635 of them. If each settler family has 4 voting members, that will represent 450,000 angry voters.

So it is as I have said from the very beginning. FELDA and Najib were selling an abstract idea formed from illusions and unclear business strategy. It’s just paper shuffling designed in the end to enrich holders of large chunks of stock, the investment bankers, the hordes of consultants.

What new, ground-breaking businesses are offered by FGVH? Nothing other than planting more oil palm and opening up more estates. That’s, the very same business that has been done quite well by FELDA on their own without FGVH.

You change the management, tweaked here and there giving the impression that FGVH has evolved into something super. It’s all a corporate BS.

FELDA got RM10 billion. Najib gave FELDA RM5.99 billion. Where did the balance go? Most probably as promised by the FELDA CEO, the money went to the minister in charge of FELDA:  Najib himself. The PMO got almost RM4 billion to play around to implement the principal economic strategy of Najib — giving out money to buy votes and allegiance.

Let’s see how votes bought stand up against votes given because of beliefs and convictions. —
sakmongkol.blogspot.com

*
Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 2:01 pm and is filed under
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PAGE responds to NST interview with Deputy Prime Minister/Education Minister

By
Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim, PAGE Chairman
 | September 10, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

Sept 10 — We read with interest NST’s Sunday Interview with the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) “Improving quality in all areas of education” (9 Sep 2012) in particular the response given to the question on the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in English (PPSMI).

It appears that the DPM is more afraid that his ministry is seen as flip-flopping on the policy than its impact on our children and their future.

Although PAGE had representatives in most state dialogue sessions there were also even more supporters of the policy who are in favour of it to continue as an option, to be exact 250,000 online.

No doubt English proficiency is important, learning the scientific and mathematical knowledge, in its lingua franca which is English, our second language, should be capitalised on and not discouraged, a basic management strategy.

By abolishing the policy, the DPM is preventing many of our children from learning the knowledge in a language they are most comfortable with, a belief UNESCO has always advocated.

The objective of PPSMI is to learn the knowledge in science and mathematics and not to learn English. The DPM appears to have failed to understand this distinction.

In ignoring PPSMI in the blueprint, the DPM has failed to have a proper science policy in place to arrest the decline in the interest in science. The government has cautioned that of the 28 per cent of students who do proceed to higher education, only 17 per cent of these students pursue the science stream, and falling.

If it is the delivery method which failed the policy, then we must ask why it failed and how it can be corrected and improved upon. The answer is not to abolish it even more so after RM5 billion has been spent.

The government under the Prime Minister (PM) wants to bring the nation forward through 1Malaysia, science, technology and innovation but the policies of the DPM (specifically the abolition of PPSMI) are pushing the nation backwards in the acquisition of knowledge and in enhancing racial integration which is crucial for our continued success.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 2:22 pm and is filed under
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Patriotism

by Allan CF Goh

(A poem)

Patriotism is the lifelong love,

For one’s country and nation.

It expects the very best of us,

For its greatest progression.

It values a country’s achievements,

With a sincere devotion.

Patriotism will support the best

Efforts to build the nation.

It culls good values from all cultures,

Nurtures wisdom to fruition.

Policies that need the adjustments,

Are done with best attentions.

In times of war, the patriot will fight

To quell foreign aggression;

Even does the supreme sacrifice,

To defeat that invasion.

During peace time, he fights to defend

The sanctity of the constitution.

He will strongly defend righteousness,

Safe-guard the population,

Ensure folks’ inalienable rights,

Realise folks’ aspiration.

He will always follow ‘right is might’,

In scorn of wild aspersion.

A true patriot willingly sweats blood,

To build up the best nation.

He will sacrifice comfort and self,

To stop all degradations,

Be they environmental concerns,

Politics, education,

Economics, societal issues,

Or freedom of expression.

The patriot loves a harmonious peace,

With honour a foundation.

Mutual respect is a way of life;

That’s people’s hope, expectation.

Truth and fairness must rule the country,

For each without exception.

Blind loyalty is not patriotism:

It condones exploitation,

Ignores people’s legitimate rights,

And panders to corruption.

When wrongs are allowed to perpetuate,

They start a nation’s corrosion,

With ‘might is right’, there’s no real value,

That’s the death of a nation.

Being always ‘obedient’ mindlessly,

Is no patriotic action.

When citizens accept wrongs quietly,

Truth loses its firm traction,

Starting a sad downward slide unchecked…..

Doing things without question,

Being bad to cause dastardly mischiefs,

Is a traitor’s vile option.

Patriotism needs reciprocity

Of honourable intentions.

When a country loves, honours its folks,

People will love the nation.

Love can only truly developed,

Without disinformation.

Mutual trusts and respects must be forged,

To create the greatest nation.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 8:59 pm and is filed under
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The Dayak tea party

by June Rubis

The Malaysian Insider

Sep 10, 2012

SEPT 10 ― It must have been a beautiful day for an outdoor tea party in West Kalimantan. It is the early 1980s when Borneo’s forests are still comparatively lush although the forests would have to struggle to survive an onslaught of slash-&-burn for commercial rubber plantations and wide-scale logging.

In the meantime, all is serene along the banks of the Kapuas River where the Javanese and Sumatran wives of managers of a rubber plantation wait for their guests to arrive.

The guests were the wives of local Dayak tribesmen, who upon arrival, gathered up all the food, and left, leaving their shocked hostesses in their wake.

The managers dismissed this as part of the “strange and difficult culture” of the Dayaks, while ignoring the fact that this behaviour was aberrant in Dayak culture and thus was a political statement of conflicting economic and political interests.

The Dayaks of the area were facing the loss of their forests and subsequently source of food, due to the appropriation of traditional lands for the rubber plantation. There were reports that the Dayaks were unhappy with the compensation received.

An eye for an eye, albeit a small victory of appropriating the plantation’s food, in protest of unfair appropriation of their native lands, one might say.

The managers who reported the incident claimed that the loss of food was a small matter. In fact, they were most upset that this behaviour had frightened their wives.

Yet it could be said that the Dayaks clearly intended for their behaviour to be strange and frightening, or at the very least, offensive. By forcibly taking the food, the Dayak women overturned a situation of “planter generosity and worker indebtedness” into one of self-empowerment and political statement.

The tea party incident and subsequent analysis are described in one of the chapters of a book detailing the history of marginal peoples and global markets in Borneo, entitled “The Banana Tree at the Gate”, by Michael R. Dove (2012)*.

Dove further argues that the managers’ construction of the incident is disingenuous as “the planters’ rhetoric diverted attention away from the economic dimensions of the conflict in favour of spurious cultural dimensions.” (Dove, 2012).

Dove cites a situation in Sumatra where planters on colonial plantations similarly tended to misconstrue conflicts over competing economic interests as conflicts over inferior cultures.

Three decades later, the Dayaks whether in Kalimantan or neighbouring Sarawak, still face similar discrimination but with a twist. Today in Sarawak, we observe wilfully deceptive constructions by economically- and politically-empowered Dayaks over the rural communities that they are supposed to represent, in the latter’s attempts to reclaim land now appropriated by the State for oil palm plantations or mega-dams.

During the State debate on the 2012 Budget, the Deputy Chief Minister of Sarawak Alfred Jabu Numpang (of Dayak origin), described a protest against a government-planned joint-venture on native customary lands, as an Opposition tactic. He further
blamed an opposition party
for being the “stumbling block to poverty eradication programmes in the rural communities”, despite the ruling political coalition being in power for the past several decades.

We see this similar rhetoric of any rural community uprisings against state economic plans for Dayak native lands, over and over again. Misleading rhetoric such as “Opposition tactic”, or “NGO agitation due to Western interference” divert attention from basic conflicting economic interests over land.

Most of these problems stem from conflict between government-linked companies and Dayak communities for fair compensation. Oil palm plantations are developed on native land consisting of fruit groves, rubber and pepper gardens, swidden fallows: all of which provide important economic benefits to the communities. Dayak politicians do their constituents much injustice by dismissing their concerns over land appropriation and compensation as manipulation by outsiders.

Several days ago, the divergence of Dayak political polarity came together in protest over a proposal made by the Civil Service Commission chairman Tun Zaki Azmi to lower the criteria for Dayaks to enter the civil service.

Dayaks in political power were quoted by the mainstream media to have similar sentiments with what would be their traditional foe: Peter Kallang, chairman of the Miri Orang Ulu National Association and also chairman of the SAVE Rivers, a coalition to stop State appropriation of native lands to build mega-dams in Sarawak.

All had felt that there were enough qualified Dayaks and other minority groups who could serve in the civil service. However, as a result of what Kallang had bitingly described as discrimination by the recruiters, such Dayaks have since fallen behind thus resulting in only two per cent of the federal civil service manpower.

The proposal has been described as an “insult and mockery” to the Dayak community, for we can attest to many qualified and talented Dayaks who have made their mark in business, federal government, and much recently, in the Olympics.

Yet when it comes to Dayaks defending their lands, or trying to claim fair compensation for land appropriation, the legitimacy of their struggle is misrepresented by the discourse from the political and economic elite.

Like how many Pakatan Rakyat supporters have dismissed the rural Dayak voters as “stupid and naive” for seemingly continuing to vote in Barisan Nasional (despite overwhelming claims that the electoral roll have been manipulated over the years; the past Sarawak state election in 2011 in fact inspired the now-famous Bersih 2.0 walk for clean and fair elections), this damning conclusion seems to suit the Dayak political elite just fine, as they similarly dismiss any struggle for native land rights as “political manipulation of the naive Dayak”, whether by opposition or NGO.

Unless, of course, this construction threatens and mocks their position in an urban setting such as the civil service, do we then see the elite rise to the defence of the Dayak honour.

Despite the slurs, Dayaks continue to carry on with varying symbolisms of the infamous 1980 tea party coup, to fight for what we believe is our right.

Whether the Dayak land struggle, or the national struggle for political ambition, we need to search within and debate the true discourse instead of being continuously distracted by rhetoric spun by the elite (for example, see recent furore over claims to change the national flag, the uninvited Sultan, etc.).

And when in doubt, take the goddamn food home and leave them with no cake.

* Dove, M.R. (2012) “The Banana Tree at the Gate.” Singapore: NUS Press Singapore.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 8:11 pm and is filed under
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Two conventions, two Americas. Seldom has the divide been greater

Michael Cohen

The Observer

Sunday 9 September 2012

Witnessing both conferences is to see anger from the Republicans and abiding hope from the Democrats

Over the past two weeks, both major American political parties held their nominating conventions – and that’s pretty much where the similarities end. After interminable speeches, cloying videos and occasional moments of rhetorical eloquence, the philosophical and tonal divide between them has never felt broader. Quite simply, Democrats and Republicans operate in two completely distinct realms, one that is defined by an attachment to reality and one that is increasingly detached from it.

If their three-day convention in Tampa is any indication, Republicans reside in a fantasy world where government plays no role but that of malevolence, where the free market is the salvation to all that ails this nation and where the country is locked in a Manichaean struggle between the forces of freedom and a failed, socialist interloper named Barack Obama.

It was a point driven home to me in Tampa when I overheard a Republican delegate declare in a sweet voice, reflecting more pity than anger: “There’s a communist living in the White House.”

For four decades, Republicans have relied on an undercurrent of white resentment toward social and economic change to maintain their pre-eminence in national politics. But with an African-American president and the country moving closer to “minority-majority” status, that dominance is slipping away and it feeds the sense of anger and desperation they tried to keep hidden in Tampa, but that all too often crept to the surface. Indeed, the entire Republican “you didn’t build that” attack against Obama (a line taken brazenly and dishonestly out of context) is reminiscent of decades of Republican talking points that sought to cast their party as the defender of hard-working Americans and the Democrats as the defender of dependency, particularly for poor minorities.

There was in Tampa a genuine sense of frustration about the direction in which the country is heading, which led to an often harsh message, perhaps best exemplified by New Jersey governor Chris Christie, who declared: “Our leaders of today have decided it’s more important to be popular, to say and do what’s easy and say yes rather than to say no, when no is what is required.” The dominant political attribute of the last four years is the increasing ideological inflexibility and lack of social empathy from the Republican party, and the convention only confirmed it. On the flipside, the Democrats in Charlotte were practically unrecognisable in their self-confidence and the discipline of their political message. Michelle Obama’s well-crafted speech sought to cast Democrats as the true defenders of the middle class, while Bill Clinton’s rambling brilliance on Wednesday offered a sweeping defence of Obama’s record and an indictment of Republican intransigence.

Moreover, a party once derided for playing interest-group politics showed no hesitancy about going down that road in Charlotte. The convention was full of obvious appeals to women, gays, blacks, Hispanics, young people and, in the constant references to the successful bailout of the US car industry, organised labour. These are the groups that form the backbone of the Democratic coalition and are essential to the party’s long-term success. Democrats far better than Republicans appreciate the destiny of demographics and they have done a far more effective job of cultivating these voters. Indeed, the contrast between the hues in Charlotte and Tampa was remarkable. The Democratic party is a party that looks like the palette of the American experience, not just in skin colour, but in class level. The Republican party (the one in the Tampa convention hall) is one that looks like Sunday brunch at a country club.

Even on national security, an issue on which Democrats have long suffered in comparison with Republicans, the party that killed Osama bin Laden and brought US troops home from Iraq didn’t just flex its military muscles, it openly derided Republicans. When Obama joked: “My opponent and his running mate are new to foreign policy,” it felt like a transformational moment in the politics of national security.

On economic issues, Democrats have a tougher hand to play as the blame for the country’s mediocre recovery is pretty much the only thing standing between Obama and re-election. Nonetheless, Democrats sounded the note of economic populism, as they attacked Mitt Romney for his wealth and support for tax cuts for the richest Americans. There was a time when Democrats recoiled from such obvious appeals to class warfare; now they seem to revel in them, secure in the knowledge they face off against an opponent and a political party (because of its unstinting opposition to upper-income tax increases) that can be so easily confronted on this issue.

In her populist speech in Charlotte, Massachusetts Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren declared: “Our middle class has been chipped, squeezed and hammered… people feel like the system is rigged against them. And here’s the painful part: they’re right.” According to Warren: “The Republican vision is clear: ‘I’ve got mine, the rest of you are on your own’.” Warren wasn’t blowing smoke. Consider the words of Republican vice-presidential candidate Paul Ryan: “I never thought of myself as stuck in some station in life. I was on my own path, my own journey, an American journey, where I could think for myself, decide for myself… that is what we do in this country. That is the American dream. That’s freedom and I will take it any day over the supervision and sanctimony of the central planners.”

Compare this with how President Obama defined freedom in his speech: “We, the people, recognise that we have responsibilities as well as rights; that our destinies are bound together; that a freedom which asks only what’s in it for me, a freedom without a commitment to others, a freedom without love or charity or duty or patriotism, is unworthy of our founding ideals and those who died in their defence.”

The choices offered by Ryan and Obama are essential issues in this campaign. One party wants to use the powers of government to ameliorate social inequalities; the other seeks to reduce it into oblivion. The irony is that Americans are generally predisposed to take Ryan’s side of this argument, but the uncompromising manner in which the Republicans speak of economic freedom has left them vulnerable to the Democrats’ more inclusive, hopeful and optimistic message.

With a decided advantage in the electoral college and a stubborn but narrow lead in the polls, Obama has the political wind at his back. The conventions, while preaching mainly to the converted, have likely given him a near-term boost. While hardly impossible, it’s difficult to see what Romney can do to shift the trajectory of the race. But even more difficult is seeing how Republicans, if they lose, can find a long-term message that competes with the Democrats’ vision. If the national conventions showed us anything, it is that the winds of political fortune are not blowing in a Republican direction.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 10:14 pm and is filed under
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Umno: Sumbat di sini, bocor di sana

By Aspan Alias | September 10, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

10 SEPT —  “Ahli-ahli Umno yang didapati mensabotaj parti dalam pilihanraya nanti akan di singkirkan keahlian mereka. Mereka yang bekerja dan mengundi parti-parti pembangkang adalah mereka yang tidak setia dan Umno tidak memerlukan mereka”.

Itulah lebih kurang kata-kata Muhyiddin Yassin dua hari yang lepas semasa merasmikan perwakilan salah satu bahagian di Johor dua hari yang lepas..

Inilah sebenarnya masalah yang sedang dihadapi oleh Umno apabila menghadapi PRU yang akan datang. Masalah itu merupakan masalah yang terbesar yang Umno sedang hadapi dan jika Umno menumpukan mengkritik dan membidas DAP, PAS dan PKR, itu merupakan tumpuan dan “priority” yang salah yang dilakukan oleh Umno.

Parti-parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat itu hanyalah parti-parti yang halal dan bukannya menjadi kesalahan bagi sesiapa untuk mengundinya termasuklah ahli-ahli Umno sendiri seperti yang telah dilakukan oleh sebahagian besar ahli-ahli Umno dalam pilihanraya yang lalu.

Lain-lain perkataan parti-parti pembangkang bukannya musuh BN. Pakatan Rakyat hanya menawarkan pilihan kepada BN yang kian hari kian bercelaru dengan masalah “inter-party” dan “intra-party” dalam BN.

Musuh Umno ialah ahli-ahlinya sendiri. Saya tidak putus-putus dihubungi oleh ramai ahli-ahli Umno yang biasa di bawah-bawah ini sejak saya menjadi ahli DAP awal Januari yang lepas.

Mereka tidak berpuas hati dengan parti mereka sendiri dan ingin saya meyakinkan mereka yang menyokong Pakatan Rakyat itu adalah tindakan yang tidak bersalah-salahan dengan perjuangan politik rakyat dan negara.

Mereka mahukan saya memberi tahu dan meyakinkan mereka mengundi DAP dan parti-parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat itu merupakan tindakan yang halal malahan ia merupakan langkah kearah perubahan dan hijrah untuk rakyat termasuk orang Melayu sendiri.

Mereka mahukan saya memberikan pandangan yang perubahan kali ini adalah satu perkara yang sudah menjadi kemestian untuk kita lakukan. Mereka merasakan yang mereka hanya dijadikan “kuda pelejang” untuk pemimpin-pemimpin korup yang tidak bermoral dan beretika dan jika Umno masih mendapat mandat kali ini mereka merasakan usaha untuk menyelamatkan negara akan tertangguh lagi.

Sementara hendak menunggu satu lagi pilihanraya negara kita akan kering kotang dan negara akan menghadapi masalah yang amat sukar untuk diperbetulkan pada masa itu nanti. Pendeknya mereka kata untuk melakukan perubahan itu adalah sekarang dan tidak boleh ditangguhkan lagi.

“It”s better late than never,” kata seorang rakan saya yang baru saya kenali di Seremban baru-baru ini. Apabila kita mengutamakan negara, kita tidak boleh lagi memberikan Umno bermaharajalela.

Umno akan melakukan banyak perkara yang menekan rakyat termasuklah kepada ahli-ahlinya sendiri. Dengan amaran Muhyiddin itu ia menampakkan yang Umno sedang menghadapi masalah dari ahli-ahlinya sendiri.

Masalah dalaman parti Umno, adalah seperti orang yang menghadapi masalah dalaman. Penyakit dalaman tubuh kita selalunya akan membawa kita ke tahap penyakit yang “terminal” yang akhirnya membawa maut kepada kita sendiri.

Bagimanakah Umno akan membuang ahli-ahli Umno yang mensabotaj calon BN itu? Bukankah undi itu sulit?  Kali ini bukan masalah sabo-menyabo. Sekarang ini adalah masalah untuk menghapuskan rasuah yang dilakukan oleh BN.

Muhyiddin  nampaknya hendak menekan ahli-ahlinya sendiri dan itu pun budaya Umno sejak akhir-akhir ini. Umno tidak kisah bagaimana masyarakat melihat dan memberikan persepsi kepada parti itu sendiri. Yang penting mereka (ahli-ahli Umno) mesti undi BN. Apa pun perasaan yang ada di dalam hati ahli-ahli  Umno itu, pimpinan mereka tidak ambil peduli.

Bagaimana Umno hendak mengambil tindakan kepada ahli-ahlinya yang ramai yang mengundi pembangkang? 1.5 juta ahli Umno menyokong pembangkang dalam pilihanraya yang lalu berapa orang yang telah di ambil tindakan?

Umno tidak sedar yang ahli-ahli Umno itu adalah manusia bukannya haiwan belaan dan mereka mempunyai perasaan dan maruah juga. Jika pun Umno memecat ramai ahli-ahlinya ia menunjukkan yang Umno itu merupakan parti yang rapoh dan lemah.

Jika pecat memecat menjadi budaya dalam Umno ia hanya akan memberikan persepsi yang Umno bukanlah parti yang di sayangi oleh ahli-ahlinya. Tetapi jika Umno itu kalah dalam pilihanraya seperti yang diyakini oleh ramai, bagaimana mereka hendak memecatnya?

Jika lah benar Umno itu masih sebuah parti yang kuat dan di terima baik oleh rakyat kenapa keluar kenyataan yang nyata memberikan persepsi yang Umno itu tidak percaya kepada ahli-ahlinya sendiri.

Pimpinan Umno sekarang mempunyai persepsi yang tidak baik kepada ahli-ahlinya sendiri. Pimpinan-pemimpin Umno “suspect everybody and trust nobody” terhadap semua ahli-ahlinya.

Situasi ini sememangnya merupakan indikasi yang jelas yangUmno tidak akan boleh bertahan dihati rakyat ramai. Kenyataan seperti yang keluar dari mulut seorang pemimpin utama parti itu dengan sendirinya membuatkan rakyat merasa kurang keyakinan mereka.

Kalau ahli-ahlinya sendiri tidak boleh dipercayai, tentulah yang tidak menjadi ahli itu tidak akan dipercayai oleh Umno.

Bagi ahli Umno, jika mereka memberikan undi kepada Pakatan Rakyat seperti yang mereka lakukan dalam PRU yang lepas mereka tidak akan mendapat apa-apa mudharat kerana berada di dalam Umno pun tidak menjamin yang kita tidak akan menerima mudharat akibat kelemahan pimpinan yang tidak dapat menolak dugaan yang mereka hadapi seperti rasuah dan salahguna kuas.

Ahli-ahli Umno sendiri berkata yang jika seseorang yang dipilih menjadi calon, itu merupakan tiket untuk mereka membuat dan membina kekayaan peribadi. Hendak ditegur mereka tidak akan berubah. Caranya ialah untuk menolak calon-calon itu sebagai pengajaran yang berkuasa ialah rakyat, bukannya mereka yang di beri mandat itu.

Menjadikan orang ramai untuk menjadi kerbau untuk membajak sawah sahaja tidak lagi dapat diterima ramai. Cukup-cukuplah setakat ini.

“Jika mereka dipecat pun bukannya ada apa-apa yang hilang pun, kerana semasa kita belum dipecat pun keadaan tidak menentu. Apa bezanya kalau dipecat? Selama ini pun Umno tak nampak bergerak pun. Tidak lagi berada dalam Umno pun hidup kita serupa juga,” kata seorang AJK Bahagian dari Negeri Sembilan kepada saya.

Seorang rakan yang menganggotai AJK Bahagian di Selangor memberi tahu saya, “By all means, Muhyiddin can sack us and suit himself. After all Umno is unrecognizable, bang Aspan! Dah lah! Sumbat sana bocor kat sini. Sumbat kat sini berlubang kat sana”. —
aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Monday, 10 September 2012, 1:51 pm and is filed under
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Events of past fortnight building up a scenario befitting the Greek saying:  “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad”

The events of the past fortnight reminded me of the Greek saying: “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad”.

There have been a series of events which are quite inexplicable as they defy  logic, common sense and reason.

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak today spoke up against “mooning” by a youth on August 30 describing its “un-Malaysian”.

I agree with him that “dropping one’s pants in public” or stomping on pictures of national leaders  are “nothing to be proud of” and should be deplored and discouraged.

But what is most saddening and disappointing to Malaysians as a whole is the double standards of the Prime Minister, the Barisan Nasional leadership and the enforcement authorities, who could not see anything wrong in similar deplorable conduct against Pakatan Rakyat leaders like Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, and PAS Mentri Besar Datuk Nik Mat Nik Aziz and civil society leaders like Bersih Co-Chairman Datuk S. Ambiga whether perpetrated by UMNO or UMNO-sponsored activists.

Why didn’t Najib speak up and insist that “the law must run its course” when the pictures of Pakatan Rakyat leaders were stomped upon, urinated at and even funeral rites performed?

Yes, mooning and stomping on pictures of national leaders are “un-Malaysian”, but is the application of double standards by the government-of-the-day as illustrated by the handcuffing of Ong Sin Yee  to be accepted as a Malaysian trait and character – something for Malaysians to be proud of?

Let me reiterate my call on Saturday from Sarawak to Najib to fully accept the apologies tendered by the two 19-year-old teenagers Mohammad Ammar A. Rahman and Ong Sing Yee as well as by their parents bearing in mind that “To err is human, To forgive divine” and to ask the Attorney-General drop all charges against the duo.

Another instance is the persistent, reckless and irresponsible campaign of lies led by top UMNO leaders, including the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin accusing the Pakatan Rakyat of wanting to change the national flag and amend the Constitution to abolish the system of Malay monarchy although Pakatan Rakyat leaders have repeatedly denied these falsehoods.

UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders are most guilty of the politics of hatred, hooliganism and lies, and yet loudest in accusing Pakatan Rakyat leaders of these infractions although totally without any proof whatsoever.

Last Saturday, Muhyiddin announced that UMNO would sack members proven to have sabotaged its candidate in the next general election, forcing the other Barisan Nasional component parties to echo the same call.

Post-mortem studies of the 2008 general election results showed that between 1 – 1.5 million UMNO members did not vote for UMNO  candidates, as UMNO only obtained two million votes out of 5.7 million Malay votes in 2008 while UMNO boasted of a membership of over three million.

Is Muhyiddin seriously suggesting that UMNO should sack over one million UMNO members for “sabotage” of UMNO in the 2008 general elections?

Similarly, the majority of MCA and Gerakan members did not vote for the Barisan Nasional candidates in the 2008 “political tsunami”.

Is Muhyiddin seriously suggesting that MCA and Gerakan should expel the majority of their memberships for their “sabotage” of the BN candidates in 2008?

Another illogical, unreasonable and vindictive action of the Barisan Nasional government is its harassment and persecution of human rights organisation, Suaram, in retaliation against  Suaram’s campaign to expose the truth about the multibillion ringgit Scorpene submarines scandal.

If Najib is sincere and serious about the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) and its NKRA targets particularly in fighting corruption, all government agencies including the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) should co-operate with SUARAM to allow the whole truth about the Scorpenes submarine scandal to be told instead of launching a witch-hunt against Suaram.

The on-going persecution of Suaram should  be halted as it is a clear message and admission by the Najib administration  to Malaysians and the world that it has a lot of dirts to hide about the Scorpene submarines scandal.

The hijacking of the 55th Merdeka Day and 49th Malaysia Day by using the Barisan Nasional election campaign theme of “Janji Ditepati” provides the overall backdrop to the building up of the recent  scenario where the Greek saying “Those whom the gods wish to destroy they first make mad” is most apt and appropriate.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 September 2012, 1:57 pm and is filed under
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Tsunami over FELDA

By
Sakmongkol AK47
 | September 11, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

SEPT 11 —  If my friend, Pirates of Putrajaya had been a little bit more patient, he will find his views on the FGV vindicated. Probably he underestimated the will of the government to use GLCs under its control to shore up the FGV price.

Nevertheless, his views will be vindicated soon and I and millions of others hope he will come back into blogosphere to share with us, his rapier sharp analyses.

What Najib is doing right now is just putting out fires. He forgot that it all needed but a single spark to light up the prairie fire.

He has given an advance of RM15,000 each to Felda family. I hear, full payment hasn’t been given out yet. Perhaps Felda will use its gain of RM5.99 billion to pay the balance of what has been promised by Najib. Felda pays unto itself using its own money.

He has given almost RM43 million as raya bonus. Each family got around RM382.  That amount was useful to buy cookies, lemang , fresh meats and maybe new curtains for the missus. Because of the drop in FGV share price, he has also announced that Felda will pay for the settlers’ purchase of FGV shares. Once again, that will probably come from the RM5.99 billion.

Finally to placate the settlers’ anger, he has announced that Felda will pay for PTPTN loans taken by the Felda children.

That is his economic strategy. We don’t have to go the Chicago, Princeton, Oxford or Cambridge to do that. Not even Nottingham.

What was the real agenda really? Maybe all this corporate bullshit was about saving FGV. It has done extensive futures trading and had incurred huge losses.  That was why some brainy people came up with the idea, the only way to save FGV was to have it buy out KPF’s share in Felda Holdings and go for listing.

At closing time today, FGV share was RM 4.68, earning the holders of the stock a premium of 13 sen.  If Najib hadn’t come up with the brilliant idea of ordering Felda to finance settlers’ purchase, each settler ends up with a RM94.70 loss.

Actually FGV bought out Felda Holdings to save itself. It has incurred heavy losses doing futures trading. We don’t know how much FGV got by selling its shares. There was no cash payment involved as the purchase was financed by the issue of new shares which were sold to the public through the IPO.  Part of the proceeds were used by Felda to pay its EPF loan amounting to RM6 billion.  Then EPF is instructed to buy FGV shares, now it owns 7% of FGV bought for RM 1.2 billion. Foreign interests are selling down to cut down losses.

What is even more pernicious and atrocious is the betrayal to Felda people. 360,000 hectares of land have been forfeited which could be used in future to create 80,000 new settlers.

It’s dark days looming over Felda and no amount of PR exercise can mitigate the anger that is shoring up. There is a tsunami looming over Felda. —
sakmongkol.blogspot.com

*
Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de plume of Datuk Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz. He was Pulau Manis assemblyman (2004-2008).

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 September 2012, 12:06 pm and is filed under
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Umno’s unscrupulous vendetta against Suaram

by John Berthelsen

Asia Sentinel

Monday 10 September 2012

Media Monitor

CPI foreword

During the past few months, Umno and its hatchet organizations and supporters have launched a concerted series of attacks on Suaram, the human rights organization. The latest of these attacks have involved the despicable use of what should be politically neutral state authorities such as the Companies Commission, social security agency Perkeso and the Department of Inland Revenue to investigate allegations of irregularities in the management of the organization.

Clearly these allegations have been concocted by politically partisan parties but are given legitimacy by the use of state bodies to pursue selective and unwarranted prosecution of targeted individuals and organizations. This modus operandi of state-sanctioned prosecution has been repeatedly used by Umno and is one main reasons for the ruling party’s stranglehold on power over the past 50-odd years.

In the case of Suaram, the objective of such attacks is to discredit and ultimately destroy this leading NGO which has been pushing for truth and transparency in the multi-billion ringgit procurement of materiel, specifically Malaysia’s purchase of two Scorpene submarines.

Suaram’s probe are connected with the massive bribes and kickbacks allegedly paid by the French naval defence company DCNS.

Only the Umno version of the case against Suaram has so far been permitted to appear in our national and other mainstream media. It is a version that needs to be dissected and subjected to public scrutiny to uncover its odious political agenda. Not to do so is to fail in our civic duty.

In the article below, we are linking a recent article in the Asia Sentinel which traces the roots of the covert ‘war’ against Suaram and explains why Umno is so determined and anxious to take the NGO down.

Umno’s underhanded vendetta against Suaram must be challenged, resisted and not allowed to succeed.

The Centre for Policy Initiatives calls on Malaysians of conscience to voice their concern and opposition to this Umno attempt to kill off a patriotic Malaysian NGO that has consistently fought for justice, democracy and human rights in the country.

*************************************************

Malaysia’s UMNO Goes After A Critic

Written by John Berthelsen

Thursday, 06 September 2012

Never mind 150 million euros in bribes, a dead woman and a global scandal, go for the whistle-blower’s throat

In November of 2009, Suaram, the Kuala Lumpur-based human rights NGO, asked a French investigative law firm to look into what appeared to be huge bribes and kickbacks paid to Malaysian politicians by the French state-owned defense company DCN and its subsidiaries for the 2002 purchase of two submarines and the lease of a third.

The story was complicated by the sensational 2006 death of a Mongolian translator and party girl, Altantuya Shaariibuu, who was shot by two of then-Defense Minister Najib Tun Razak’s bodyguards and her body was blown up with military explosives. While the bodyguards were convicted of her for-hire killing, the court appeared to have actively suppressed any mention of who allegedly paid the two to kill her, raising Suaram’s concerns that there would be no justice delivered.

In the intervening three years, Suaram’s request to the law firm, headed by the Paris-based William Bourdon, resulted in a probe that exposed nearly 150 million euros in questionable funds paid to a close friend of Najib Tun Razak, now Malaysia’s prime minister.

Eventually, when a Paris-based investigating magistrate began to examine the evidence, the court turned up voluminous memos, emails and other documents from a raid on DCN’s offices indicating that massive bribes had been paid with the full knowledge of Alain Juppe, the French foreign minister, Mahathir Mohamad, then the prime minister of Malaysia, and Najib, who had negotiated the purchase. The evidence detailed a host of other sleazy dealings.

Some 133 documents listing the alleged criminal dealings were obtained independently by Asia Sentinel and
posted here on June 25
on the Internet. Although the documents are in French, those who do not speak the language can get them onto their computer screens and click on Google Translate. While the grammar is somewhat primitive, their meaning is very clear. Those who do not want to bother may read two stories that Asia Sentinel published on the subject on 25 June. They can be found
here
 and
here
.

The publication of the documents kicked off a storm in France and Malaysia. But what the publication of the French documents or the investigation did not do was spur any probe of the purported criminal activities in Malaysia.

What it did do, however, was to precipitate an unprecedented attack by a wide range of pro-government bloggers, ruling coalition politicians and others on the reputation and integrity of Suaram, and by extension against Asia Sentinel for printing the documents.

Suaram, an acronym for Suara Rakyat Malaysia, or Voice of the Malaysian People, was born in the wake of the infamous 1987 Operation Lalang ordered by Mahathir to use the Internal Security Act to jail 108 opposition members, union officials, activists and others. Suaram was created to work for the abolishment of the ISA and to protect the rights of those who had been jailed and others like them. Suaram insists that it is a nonpartisan organization although its leaders do include many opposition members including Kua Kia Soong, a former Democratic Action Party member of parliament who was detained for more than a year under the ISA, Syed Husin Ali, currently deputy president of Parti Keadilan Rakyat, Anwar’s party, and many others.

Cynthia Gabriel, the Suaram director, has particularly borne the brunt of the attacks. “If you ask me, they are spinning, just spinning, blackening our name, attempting to cause disrepute so that the public will lose trust in us,” Gabriel said in an interview.

In particular, she said, her organization has been falsely accused of money laundering and terrorism by a lawyer for the ruling United Malays National Organization.

In addition, Ismail Sabri Yaakob, the domestic trade, cooperatives and consumerism minister and a prominent member of the United Malays National Organization, also called the reform organization’s accounts were “highly suspicious” and demanded an investigation. Accordingly, Suaram has become a target for Malaysia’s Companies Commission, the Social Security Administration, UMNO, the Inland Revenue, the controversial Malay supremacy organization Perkasa, and the UMNO-owned newspapers Utusan Malaysia and the New Straits Times, Gabriel said.

In July the companies commission attempted to raid Suaram’s offices – without a valid warrant — despite the fact that the NGO had already agreed to produce all the documents required for the commission’s investigation.

Suaram reaffirmed its intent to cooperate with the authorities for documents although the companies commission has neither asked for the documents nor notified the organization it was under investigation. That was followed by the Social Security Administration’s demand on Aug. 3 to produce a list of documents by Aug. 30 although the officer in charge was “clueless to our presence even after being shown the letter sent to us which was signed off by none other than himself,” Suaram said in a press release signed by Nalini Elumalai, the organization’s executive director.

One blog, “the Unspinners,” accused Suaram of being an agent of the US Central Intelligence Agency, presumably to overthrow the country, and of “foreign subversion” despite the fact that Malaysia is one of the US’s staunchest allies in the region and that US soldiers train on its soil.

The popular blog Rocky’s Bru, written by Ahirudin bin Attan, a former editor of a variety of UMNO-owned publications, spent days on the question of why Suaram and Asia Sentinel were publishing the documents. A flock of other blogs have asked the some questions. The Unspinners demanded that “Don’t bullshit about the submarine case. Suaram have no proof and their facts are all wrong! They are slanderous.”

Unfortunately what none of the bloggers, politicians, government bureaucrats or newspapers have been able to refute is the 133 documents themselves that were presented by French police to the French investigating magistrate. They were not created by Suaram’s lawyers or Suaram or Asia Sentinel. The bulk of them came from DCN’s files and they dealt with Malaysian contacts. They were presented to the court on April 7,2010 by investigators from the anti-organized crime unit of the French Directorate of Judicial Police, not Suaram, not Suaram’s lawyers and not by Asia Sentinel.

Taken together, they reveal allegations of attempted blackmail, bribery, influence peddling, misuse of corporate assets and concealment, among other allegations, both in France and Malaysia. They tie Altantuya Shaariibuu to the case despite numerous protestations by the critics that she had never visited France or had anything to do with the submarine transaction.

The documents indicate that DCN and its subsidiaries steered the money to two companies controlled by Prime Minister Najib’s best friend, Abdul Razak Baginda, in contravention of the OECD convention on bribery by routing the money through companies controlled by Jean-Marie Boivin, the former DCN finance director, who stepped out of the defense contractor to in effect become the thin wall of insulation between DCN and the Malaysian officials who got the money.

As much as UMNO and the UMNO cronies would like to discredit Suaram, the one thing they can’t discredit is those documents. But they can certainly be expected to keep trying.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 11 September 2012, 9:42 am and is filed under
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National Education Blueprint needs more work

— Ramon Navaratnam

The Malaysian Insider

Sep 12, 2012

SEPT 12 — The ASLI-Centre for Public Policy Studies (CPPS) welcomes the release of the Preliminary Report, Malaysian Education Blueprint (2013-2025) as timely and necessary for preparing the future intellectual and social and human capital of Malaysia, in a globalised world.

We recognise that there has been lot of hard work and effort in drawing public opinion and in the compilation of this report. We therefore congratulate this participatory effort especially through the town hall meetings for feedback as well as the academic and professional evaluative work.

We also recognise that the five system aspirations (page E-9) and the 11 shifts (page E 10) to transform the educational system are necessary and strategic.

However, we note that there are also major and serious gaps in the report and therefore urge the Ministry of Education to undertake further consultative processes to review the findings and plans and to actually incorporate public views that are now overlooked.

In reading this extensive blueprint, we have noted a number of areas that require further work as it does not reflect a comprehensive understanding of the educational requirements and aspirations of all the Malaysian communities. If ignored this can lead to greater polarisation and national dis-unity due to the following issues:

First, the report rightly recognises the need for strengthening language proficiency in both English and Bahasa Malaysia (page E-10) including new provision at the primary level with intensive remedial support for struggling students after school hours (page E-12). The target of specific targeting vernacular stream students in Bahasa Malaysia is most urgent, but specific recommendations have to be spelt out to ensure proper implementation.

Second, the report also rights places emphasis on improvements of the quality education (page E-14) through the effective recruitment and training of teachers. The supervisory and support systems for teachers must be addressed.

In this context, while the entry requirements of teachers by merit is very important, nonetheless, there is a no mention of the urgent need to have ethnic balance of both teaching staff especially in primary and secondary schools, including headship positions and positions in education departments at the Federal, state and district levels. This is very critical in ensuring the national character is maintained in all the educational streams and choices.

Third, there is a major conceptual issue to the way “the ethnically homogeneous environments” ((page E-7, 3-21, 7-15) are described and analysed. While the document rightly highlights the unparalleled degree of choice for parents, the selective use of data focusing on vernacular schools in the context of national unity is regrettable. It’s almost blaming the vernacular schools as the cause of polarisation when in reality, the national schools are driving many students of all races away from the national schools.

There must be a clear revelation of data across all the 20 categories (page A-8) of educational institutions, including the composition of students in residential schools, technical & vocational schools, matriculation and through other provisions such as preschool through Kemas or secondary through MSRM institutions. The student and staff population by ethnicity is not revealed nor identified as one contributing factor separating Malay students from non-Malays, especially in the secondary school system. “Where then is the transparency to encourage confidence in the blueprint?”

In this context, the root reasons for the exodus of non-Malay students is due to the imbalanced cultural and religious environment in a majority of NATIONAL schools. This must be noted and addressed to win credibility and support for blueprint. In addition the document only adopts the approach of ‘direct interaction’ among students from various ethnic communities. However, it must be noted that even within homogeneous environments, there can be an effective orientation towards multiculturalism, which can be fostered in order to enable student interaction in multi-cultural situations. It has to be emphasised that multi-culturalism can contribute to national unity.

The section on “Enhancement of unity in schools” (page 7-15 to 7-18) does not focus on how to ensure the environment of the school and the approach adopted by the school is truly appreciative of the multi religious, multi ethnic and multi-cultural reflection of Malaysian society.

Fourth, the document lacks substantive data and statistics such as breakdown of data across the 20 categories of schools. The release of data in the blueprint has been selective and therefore not comprehensive. The earlier documents entitled “Pembangunan Pendidikan” (2001-2010) and the “Pelan Induk Pembangunan Pendidikan” (2006-2010) provided more comprehensive charts and tables, which enabled the general public to appreciate the complexity of issues as well as hold ministry officials accountable.

Fifth, the blueprint misses the opportunity to ensure an inclusive educational system. There is no specific mention how vernacular schools, mission and religious schools, currently categorised as “national type”, which also implies limited funding for infrastructure development can be truly incorporated as fully funded schools and national schools. A majority of students in mission schools are Malay students and therefore, a review of this issue is essential. Therefore, the time has come in our NATIONAL EDUCATION POLICY to bring an end this dichotomy and ensure each of the different streams achieve the national character and inclusive nature in the interests of national unity.

This is why the objective of wave 3 (page7-18) with the objective working towards “schools of choice for all” continue to create insecurities over constitutional protections towards vernacular and religious schools. It is therefore imperative that the blueprint takes the long-term view that the parental choices will remain—however with no compromise on the national agenda of national language, national unity and nation building.

It is in this context that CPPS feels that many of the community concerns raised by ordinary citizens and parents have been censured by some professionals and foreign and local consultants. Thus, we would like the Ministry of Education to release the reports (page A-5) of the Independent Review Panel chaired by Prof Tan Sri Dzulkifli, the findings of the National Dialogues chaired by Tan Sri Dr Wan Mod Zahid as well as the commissioned academic and UNESCO reports. This will enable ordinary citizens to review these in the light of the blueprint document.

The nation is looking for freshness in addressing the strongest asset of this country namely our younger generation. We need boldness and innovation from a critical but constructive dimension to ensure that our educational policy its implementation and institutions bring out the best in our children to develop their full potential to serve the common good of this nation.

We need to put into practice the slogan “people first, performance now” to ensure our education policy is truly transformed to enable our country to progress and not regress due to a lack of political will to move innovatively and boldly forward.

* Tan Sri Ramon Navaratnam is chairman of the ASLI-Centre of Public Policy Studies (CPPS).

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 7:44 pm and is filed under
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Past 13 years, three Education Ministers have each produced Education Blueprint but Malaysian education standards have gone from bad to worse

When launching the Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak  said the government is not in denial over Malaysian students’ poor ratings in international assessments and vowed to move our students from the bottom one-third to the top one-third of the world.

Najib doth protest too much as his claim that the government is not in denial can easily rebutted, and I will give two instances:

Firstly, the ludicrous claim by the Deputy Prime Minister cum Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin early this year that the Malaysian education system is one of the best in the world and that Malaysian youngsters are receiving better education than children in the United States,  Britain and Germany.

Secondly, the government’s refusal and denial for almost four years to admit  Malaysia’s disastrous showing in the Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2007, the four-yearly international comparative assessment of the achievements and attitudes towards mathematics and science of Year 4 and Year 8 secondary students, and ascertain the causes to immediately arrest and reverse such decline.

At the eighth grade level of the TIMSS evaluation, Malaysia plunged from No. 10 placing in mathematics in TIMSS 2003 to No. 20 placing in TIMSS 2007, dropping a hefty 45 score points from 519 points in 1999, 508 in 2003 to 474 in 2007 (500 is the TIMSS mathematics scale average).

With the disastrous showing in mathematics at the eighth grade level, Malaysia not only lost to the five top Asian countries which took the first five places, namely Taiwan (1), South Korea (2), Singapore (3), Hong Kong (4) and Japan (5) but also to Hungary (6), England (7), Russia (8), United States (9), Lithuania (10), Czech Republic (11), Slovenia (12), Armenia (13), Australia (14), Sweden (15), Malta (16), Scotland (17), Serbia (18) and Italy (19).

Imagine Malaysia having worse ranking in student mathematics attainments when compared to countries like Hungary, Russia, Slovenia, Armenia, Malta, Serbia and Italy, and yet we have an Education Minister who could boast of the country having one of the best education systems in the world!

The incontrovertible fact is that in the past  13 years, Malaysia has three Education Ministers and  each has  produced an Education Blueprint but Malaysian education standards have gone from bad to worse in this period.

Tan Sri Musa Mohamad who was Education Minister from 1999 to 2004 produced the 10-year Education Development Plan 2001-2010 while Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein who was Education Minister from 2004 to 2009 set it aside and produced his own blueprint, Education Development Master Plan 2006-2010.

Will Muhyiddin’s Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 break the jinx of one Education Blueprint after another resulting in further deterioration in the educational standards in the country?

What is there to make Malaysians believe that Muhyiddin’s Education Blueprint will be more successful than Hishammuddin and Musa’s blueprints, as to catapult Malaysian students from the bottom one-third to the top one-third in international assessments?

If Najib is sincere and serious that the Malaysian Education Blueprint 2013-2025 should  effect a transformation of the entire education system, “lifting achievement for all students”, then he should support the establishment of a Parliamentary Select Committee on Education when Parliament reconvenes on Sept. 24, which should be given three months to submit its report on the 12-year Malaysian Education Blueprint.

One of the terms of reference of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education should be to find out why the two previous Education Blueprints of the two former Education Ministers had the opposite results since 1999, causing Malaysian student performance in both mathematics and science to  fall below the international average with a commensurate drop in ranking – and worse of all, hiding such a crisis of the  Malaysian education system  from the Malaysian public in the past four years!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 5:47 pm and is filed under
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Rahsia Umno dalam tangan Dr M

By
Sakmongkol AK47
 | September 12, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

12 SEPT — Dr Mahathir Mohamad kata kalau Pakatan Rakyat memerintah, dia orang akan perintah selamanya. Mengikut Dr Mahathir dia tahu beberapa rahsia. Rahsia yang Dr Mahathir maksudkan itu mesti yang buruk dan yang tidak baik.

Kerana apabila PR memerintah, orang akan tahu rahsia buruk Umno- rasuah, rompakan, lanun, manipulasi jentera kerajaan, komisyen kepada menteri, KSU yang korap, pegawai kerajaan yang korap, rasuah dalam syarikat milik kerajaan,skendel pembinaan lebuh raya, pelabuhan, jambatan bengkok, skendel IPP. Semua rahsia ini menyebabkan rakyat tidak mahu lagu memilih Umno.

Umno akan jadi 4 huruf yang melambangkan segala yang mungkar kepada orang melayu yang Bergama Islam. Sebagai orang Islam , semua orang Melayu tahu bertaqwa bererti jangan buat mungkar dan menyeru kepada makruf. Umno mewakili kuasa yang mungkar dan kerana itu, orang Melayu akan menolaknya. Prinsip ini amat mudah difahami.

PR akan berkuasa lama selagi ia menjalankan dasar dan pemerintahan yang makruf. Apa yang sukarnya mengenai rahsia ini? PR bukan kerana Anwar Ibrahim. PR adalah kerana mereka mewakili suara rakyat yang mahukan kerajaan yang lebih baik.

Apa yang Umno dakwa, semua orang lain boleh buat. Perjuangkan orang Melayu? Semua orang Melayu dalam PAS, PKR, bahkan DAP pun boleh berjuang untuk orang Melayu. NGO dan pertubuhan-pertubuhan bukan kerajaan pun boleh bersuara untuk orang Melayu. Umno tidak memiliki monopoli berjuang untuk orang Melayu. Zaman Umno memonopoli semua sudah berakhir.

Berjuang untuk Islam? Dengan sumber yang ada, semua orang boleh buat. Memelihara instutusi istana? Selagi orang Melayu hendakkan institusi itu dan ada perlindungan undang-undang, ia tetap kekal. Tidak ada masaalah.

Pendeknya, apa yang Umno kata mereka boleh buat, orang lain boleh buat dengan baik. Membangunkan negara? Sedangkan Umno dengan half six leadersnya boleh buat, mustahil orang dalam PR tak boleh buat. Faktanya, kepimpinan dalam PR lebih berkualiti dari yang masih ada dalam Umno.

Bukan Dr Mahathir seorang sahaja yang tahu rahsia. Ramai lagi tahu bagaimana Umno terutama bila Dr Mahathir jadi PM dan presiden Umno mengekang minda orang Melayu. Kita tahu rahsia Umno kekal berkuasa.

Umno kekalkan kuasa dengan menakutkan orang Melayu. Umno kekal sebab orang Melayu diperbodohkan. Umno kekal kerana orang Melayu dijadikan bangsa meminta minta dan bergantung kepada Umno.

Ini sangat berlawanan dengan semangat yang hendak dibawa oleh Tunku Abdul Rahman dan Tun Razak. Orang Melayu jadi punah bila Dr Mahathir ambil alih memimpin orang Melayu.

Orang Melayu diperbodohkan dengan menanam dalam minda mereka bahawa jika Umno tidak ada, maka masa depan orang Melayu gelap. Kenapa, walaupun setiap keududukan kuasa dikuasai oleh orang Melayu, keududukan orang Melayu ketinggalan juga?

Ini membuktikan bahawa disebalik laungan Umno berjuang untuk bangsa, agama dan tanah air, kepentingan yang mereka perjuangkan ialah kepentingan segelintir yang terpilih. Pendapatan orang Melayu selepas merdeka, selepas Umno berkuasa RM100 berbanding dengan Cina (1,500) dan India (1,200). Kenapa ini terjadi?

Suatu petang sebelum pertandingan ketua pemuda Umno Malaysia berlansung, saya berada dirumah Datuk Seri Najib Razak di Jalan Duta. Antara topik yang dibualkan ialah mengenai penglibatan Dr Mahathir dalam pertandingan Umno.

Terutama kerana ketika itu, anak Dr Mahathir pun bertanding untuk jawatan Ketua Pergerakan Pemuda. Saya menyatakan apa hal Dr Mahathir ini, tidak ada yang kena bila orang lain jadi PM selain dari dia dan tidak ada yang baik jadi Ketua Pemuda selain anak dia.

Najib telah menjawab, Dr Mahathir ni nak sibuk mengenai orang lain. Dedah keburukan orang lain. Kalau kita dedahkan hal dia, pelabuhan lah, leburaya lah, TOL lah, IPP lah… banyak lagi lah.

Inilah Umno. Jaga rahsia sama sendiri.

Kita tahu bahawa DR Dr Mahathir tidak akan bertanding lagi.  Tapi oleh kerana dia sekarang sudah menjadi jurucakap kepada Umno, maka kita attack dia. Lagi dia bising, kita suka sebab ia menjadi alasan dan semangat kepada kita untuk mendedahkan keburukan Umno. Objektif kita ialah menjatuhkan Umno.

Umno bukanlah pilihan mutlak untuk orang Melayu. Orang Melayu sekarang ada banyak pilihan. Tidak ada Umno, orang Melayu dan Malaysia tetap akan membangun dan maju. Tidak ada Umno, kepentingan orang Melayu tetap dijaga. Perkara ini tidak dapat dielakkan kerana majority penduduk negara ini adalah Melayu.

Daripada 18 juta orang Melayu, ahli Umno hanya 3 juta. Daripada 6 orang Melayu, hanya seorang ahli Umno. Jika seorang ahli Umno mati, ada 5 lagi orang Melayu. Jika 3 juta ahli Umno tidak ada, ada 15 juta lagi orang Melayu. Jadi tidaklah benar, jika Umno tidak ada, maka orang Melayu akan terbiar.

Orang Melayu tak sedar, bahawa bila Dr Mahathir ambil alih sebagai PM lah , maka sedikit demikit sedikit, DEB dihapuskan. DEB ertnya, orang Melayu membangun secara organik, diberi sumber ekonomi, membagunkan diri mereka, memperolehi pengalaman dan kemahiran dan bersaing. Semangat DEB ialah memberi orang Melayu joran atau pancing supaya mereka boleh memancing hari hari dan makan ikan hari.

Dr Mahathir tidak percaya dengan pendekatan ini. dia kata cara ini lambat. Cara yang lebih baik ialah “jumpstart” ekonomi orang Melayu. Caranya ialah dengan memilih golongan tertentu supaya melajukan ekonomi orang Melayu. Ekonomi yang laju ialah ekonomi mereka yang Dr Mahathir pilih dan Dr Mahathir pilih Cina dan India sama.

Majoriti orang Melayu ketinggalan. Itulah sebabnya mengapa perbezaan pendapatan dikalangan orang Melayu sendiri adalah perbezaan yang terbesar. Pengagihan kekayaan antara cina sama cina, India sesama India lebih adil. Sesama Melayu kurang adil, sebab Umno pilih bulu.

Ini rahsia Dr Mahathir. —
sakmongkol.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 12 September 2012, 10:27 am and is filed under
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