Happy New Year (a poem)

by Allan CF Goh

Farewell to Two-O-One-One;

Let us count our blessings and wants,

As we sing the “Old Lang Syne”,

To this full year’s departing sign.

Firstly, thanks to have survived;

Our future needs to be revived.

We have maintained our good health,

And have not squandered all our wealth.

We still have our wits around;

Our family safely surround;

Our blessed friends remain good friends,

Despite any contrary trends.

Welcome to Two-O-One-Two!

May it bring you good tidings, too.

Let last year’s unpleasantness

Be replaced with joyful goodness.

The birth of this brand new year,

Heralds the coming of things dear

To you and your family,

Living in perfect harmony!

May your wishes come to past,

To bless your days with this year’s pass.

My humble prayer, this is:

May it happen with actual ease!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 December 2011, 9:00 pm and is filed under
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Malays should not fear the DAP

—
Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 02, 2012

JAN 2 — I am not going to respond to the xenophobic responses around news that Aspan Alias and Sakmongkol are about to join the DAP. No explanation will be able to change preconceived biases. So why bother? So we are about to join or have joined the DAP.

The DAP is a democratic party committed to the rule of law, good governance and good government. It abhors corruption and abuse of political office. To me those are attractive propositions. Umno, on the other hand, has turned its back on these. It harps only on one primal worry of Malays — when Umno is threatened it shares the threat with Malays at large. So a threat to Umno is translated mindlessly into a threat to Malays as a whole. Nothing can be farther from the truth. That is how Umno has approached politics in Malaysia basically — make its fears public, make the gains private for selected Malays within Umno.

I have only one message to that; those salad days and that halcyon period are over.

Umno is trapped by its own successes. Indeed its supporters and leaders assume ownership of the wrong things and end up digging in to support the wrong choices.

My answer is, if we do indeed change our political vehicle that is what we are actually doing. Don’t read our move as blasphemous or treasonable. The DAP is more relevant and functional in achieving a more democratic and abuse-free society. As a Muslim, we are changing wadah not aqidah.

So, I thought it would be more substantive to answer my critics by writing an article, why shouldn’t Malays embrace DAP politics? That’s the only way to dominate and conquer your fears.

How has DAP politics been inimical to the general political health of this country? Can any DAP Chinese leader be a PM when it’s contesting only at most 50-55 seats? Can any DAP non Malay leader harbour the dream of becoming a PM in a country dominated by Malays? Has the DAP threatened the institution of the Malay Rulers? The DAP has never done that or will not be mad to countenance such rebellious idea, but Umno, on the other hand, has insulted the Malay Rulers way back in the 1998 constitutional crisis. Can we reasonably accept the allegation that the DAP is instrumental in claims that Malays are being converted into Christians when most DAP members are themselves not Christians? We have to do better than that to take Malays as imbeciles. Only Umno seems to do that.

But the DAP is a Chinese chauvinist party and anti-Malay. I will answer by examining the deeds rather than slogans. When I was an ADUN in the Pahang Legislative Assembly (2004-2008) I have never heard the lone DAP member ever speak about anti Malay themes. He spoke about abuse of power, about mindless spending, he spoke about maladministration. The first book Lim Kit Siang wrote that I read was “Time Bombs in Malaysia”. After that I read so many books written by Kit Siang that touched on the Maika scandal, the BMF financial scandal and so on. If we are honest enough, we have to admit, the issues raised were never about one race dominating the other but were always about the abuses of those in power, corruption, and a continuous attack on policies that are ruinous to this country. So we are going to oppose Kit Siang on the basis of the fact that these things are spoken of by a Chinaman?

To the Chinese, Umno is also a chauvinist Malay party except their leaders can be easily bought. The Malay will sell all to abandon their cause. Er…correction, the Umno Malay, I mean.

I would also like to respond by saying why Malays should consider joining the DAP en masse. It’s a party committed to democratic principles and rule of law. I can only imagine so many can prosper under a regime of freedom of speech within the DAP. I can speak on the plight of the displaced and disowned Malays with more energy than allowed in Umno. The interest of Malays can be fought on any political platform other than Umno. That is what Umno fears. Its monopoly is broken.

So the past week I have had many friends calling me asking whether it’s true I am joining the DAP? Some folks in my hometown Pekan refer to me now as Datuk DAP. I find the responses somewhat amusing and comical.

There was a comment reminding me and Aspan as to who started May 13? The thrust of that reminder is to remind us, of his and others’ belief, that the DAP started the May 13 incident.

OK, you want to play ball, we play ball too. Since you want to know, what if I say Tun Razak allowed it to happen because the ensuing troubles would give him an excuse to kick out Tunku Abdul Rahman? The point is there was no single contributor to the May 13 incident. But I would place some blame on Tun Razak who, as home minister, allowed things to degenerate. He allowed it so that a proclamation of emergency could be made.

Finally, let me deal with certain responses from certain pro-Umno bloggers. The chief spokesman is of course that paid lackey and buffoon of a regurgitating machine. He does nothing but regurgitate material passed on to him by his paymasters. The material he writes and posts therefore emits the strong smell of vomit. The owner of the lard-layered brain does what he does best — spewing personal attacks. And so he invites comments from likeminded mental gnomes to do what he has orchestrated.

Why the paranoia? If we are not good, failed ADUN, bankrupt politicians, it will be cinch for any winnable Umno candidates to beat us. So, it’s no cause for concern or a sleep depriver. But please remember to stop telling lies about us so that we can promise not to tell the truth about you.

I see a sense of hopelessness. They cannot attack our nationalist credentials because we are as Malay as they are too (to some we are in fact more Malay in appearance and in thinking) — so they do what they do best. Attack me on the personal side. No big deal. My advice to these Umno bloggers is simple. Please stop telling lies about me, and I promise not to tell the truth about you people. And telling the truth about you people includes telling the truth about top Umno leaders including the PM who is Pekan Umno division head.

If we are so easily beatable, then why all the fuss? We can’t do damage to invincible Umno. We, on the other hand, see Umno as the party before, presently and forever stealing, pillaging and ruining the country.

* 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, 2 January 2012, 2:54 pm and is filed under
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NEP’s Failure to Nurture Malay Entrepreneurs

by
Bakri Musa

Chapter 11 :     Embracing Free Enterprise

Encouraging Entrepreneurialism

As a long distance observer, let me suggest some reasons for NEP’s failure in this endeavor.

They all boil down to that basic defect of too much central planning and too rigid top-down command. Instead of trying to create an environment where budding Bumiputra entrepreneurs could thrive, the government went much further to actually select which individual Bumiputras would thrive and succeed.

These central planners presume to know the traits of a successful would-be businessman. That these planners—politicians and bureaucrats—have no experience in starting or running a business is conveniently ignored. Such hubris!

No surprise then that the pseudo entrepreneurs that the system produced were more adept in cashing in their close association with the politically powerful rather than being true creators and builders of wealth. They in turn perpetuated that same system in choosing their own set of suppliers, subcontractors, and vendors. Thus was born a class of Bumiputra entrepreneurs and businessmen more skillful at commercializing their political ties rather than being true wealth creators; a class of rent seekers and economic parasites rather than of genuine entrepreneurs.

            These individuals with their new wealth and political clout began flexing their power. They easily convinced the government that juicy public contracts and privatization projects be reserved for them in the belief that their enterprises would quickly reach a sufficient size and strength that they could then take on the world. They wanted to create their own kampong version of the Japanese keiretsu and Korean chaebol. These big Bumiputra companies would then act as a locomotive to carry the rest forward. That at least was the theory.

            The reality, as with all centrally hatched plans, was far different. The relationship these new companies had with their suppliers and vendors down the feeding chain was more predatory than supportive. These companies acted less like locomotives and more like the head of a serpent devouring every competitor, Bumiputra and non-Bumiputra alike. They effectively snuffed out other new entrants.

            One example would suffice to illustrate the massive clout of these new Bumiputra pseudo entrepreneurs and their destructive predatory behaviors. In Kuala Lumpur of the 1970s, the government issued a number of bas mini (mini bus) permits to provide transportation services to the many small suburbs sprouting around the capital city. These new settlements were too small to merit regular bus services. Thus the bas mini was an ideal compromise between cheap public buses and the more expensive taxis.

            That brilliant strategy resulted in many mini bus owner-operators. The program succeeded in creating a class of true small-time entrepreneurs not only in the form of owner operators but also in the supporting services, including repair shops and coach builders. The public too benefited from the frequent and convenient bus service. It became a point where these mini buses became ubiquitous in the capital city, and plans were afoot to introduce them at other major urban centers. They also have a cute acronym, BMW – Bas Mini Wilayah (Federal Mini Bus). It would certainly impress your co-workers when you assert that you come to work in a BMW!

            It did not take long for the powerful government-sponsored pseudo entrepreneurs to muscle in. They convinced the government to cancel those permits and to give the franchise to their major bus companies instead. Overnight these owner-operators saw their investments became worthless. The government decided, persuaded undoubtedly by the politically connected entrepreneurs, that the big bus companies could provide a better service than the mini bus operators. Of course the government never bothered to ask the consumers.

            A better strategy would have been to let them battle it out in the marketplace. Whoever provides the better service would win. This hubris of top government officials presuming to be able to pick winners in the private sector is major factor in the economic crisis of 1997. Sadly, the government has yet to learn its lesson. It continues with the same pattern. Only this time some other new favored players are replacing the Tajuddin Ramlis and Halim Saads of yore. Contracts and projects are still being awarded sans competitive bidding. A decade hence the story would be the same, only the characters and ventures would change.

            I suggest that if the Malaysian government were to invest in future business tycoons it would be more fruitful to seek these individuals at our Sunday and night markets rather than nurturing those armchair “entrepreneurs” in their business suits who frequent UMNO’s divisional meetings and general assemblies. In 1976 I read a book written by a Canadian economist who was in Malaysia documenting the economics of these small-time hawkers. I would have expected that pioneering research to spawn other studies, but I have not come across many.

            Let us take the simple enterprise of selling fried bananas. This simple business has all the ingredients of a major corporation. There are all the details of cash flow, marketing, sales, expenses, and inventories. These hawkers could all be taught the basic concepts of a business enterprise by using his roadside stall as a ready and concrete example. Thus someone could organize them into a purchasing group so they could buy their supplies (flour, cooking oil, gas and other perishables) in bulk to effect substantial savings. And lowered costs would contribute directly to the bottom line. This is true with multinational corporations as well as roadside hawkers.

            Then someone could teach these hawkers to expand their “menu.” They could for instance, expand into providing cold drinks or tea. That would directly add to the revenue. Or to use the sophisticated business term, diversifying their product line. Additionally they could plant their own bananas instead of buying them. To put it in business terminology, bringing their suppliers in house; or vertical integration. That would definitely reduce their costs and boost profits.

            The improvement or learning process does not stop there. The more enterprising hawkers might consider offering a gourmet menu by using the sweet tasty variety of bananas like pisang raja (royal banana), charging extra of course for the premium product. Or they might cater to health-conscious customers by using low-salt, low-calorie, and low cholesterol ingredients. They might even go further upscale and make not the routine fried bananas but instead baked them in molasses, and then serve them in nice plates just like they do in fancy American restaurants. Call the new product banana flambé! They can even add rum to the concoction for their non-Muslim customers. Or serve them as ala mode combination with ice cream. All these product enhancements would serve to increase the value and hence the price that could charge. There is literally no limit to the potential with even the lowly fried banana business.

            To those who dismiss such possibilities, think what they have done with the simple cup of coffee. It spawned the Starbucks chain, where the humble 50-cent cup of coffee now goes for a couple of dollars! There might just be a enterprising hawker out there who, with the proper encouragement, support, and skills, could spawn a banana ala mode chain of convenient snack foods.

            What could be done for the lowly fried banana sellers could be also be done to other low level entrepreneurs like the small time service providers: barbers, cosmeticians, tailors, mechanics, plumbers, and the like. I would provide them with low-cost loans to start and or expand their businesses. With the tailor, for example, I would fund him to further his skills so that he could update his fashion designs. Similarly with barbers and hairdressers, so they can charge more for doing more creative and personalized hairstyling and cutting, instead of the usual tempurong (straight cut) style for every one.

Next:   Starting Small

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 January 2012, 2:21 pm and is filed under
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Zakat funds abuse vs abuse of NFC funds

by Mat Zain Ibrahim

2 January 2012

For last year, several thousands of “Amils”(tithe collectors)were appointed nationwide. KL about 800 with a collection of RM7.5 mil. Selangor with 2437 amils that collected about RM16 mil.

The action taken against one amil in Kulaijaya for misappropriating RM19,510 should not undermine the integrity of the amils to be appointed for the coming Ramadhan 2012.

The action taken by Johor Police should be lauded and act as a deterrent to future amils.

However we are worried what would happen should many of the amils this year, make use of the tithes collected by themselves for personal matters after seeing what happened in MAIWP as confirmed by the Auditor General?

What would the Government say if many of the amils said they have used their collections first to pay for their medical expenses,or for preparations of  their school-going children,or for performing Umrah or to settle several traffic summonses?,and that they would reimburse the money after getting some funds from somewhere?

If the Minister in charge of Islamic affairs can make use of the zakat funds, why can’t the amils? It is not a question of amount misused. The question is whether the zakat funds can be used other than those already stated in the Quran and the laws. Certainly the Zakat funds are not managed like “the Ah Longs” and “chettiars” run their business!

It would not be fair for the PM to maintain his silence on this matter for the sake of shielding Jamil Khir, Che Mat & Shamsuddin. When one amil in Johor has been sent to 4 years and 3 stroke of the rattan for misuse of tithe funds.

It would not be fair also, if the PM only takes action against Jamil, Che Mat, Shamshuddin and the errant amils, if he does not take actions against Sharizat’s family for the NFC fiasco.

Misappropriating Zakat Funds or Public Funds are both criminal offences as stated in the Penal Code.The ingredients required to prove the cases are the same. If misusing the zakat funds temporarily  even for a day is an offence, so would it be in the case of misuse of public funds.

If for misusing RM 19.510 of tithe funds, Reduan Mohd.Said got 4 years and 3 strokes of whipping,then Sharizat’s family members should get more, proportionate to the amount they have misused for their own benefits.

Each and everyone of the 28 million people of Malaysia, you and I included not forgetting our children and grandchildren stand to lose RM9/-each of our rights to make up the RM 250 million granted to Sharizat and the children to do whatever!

Even the so called Productivity Incentive Bonuses for 95,945 Felda settlers come to only RM102.58 mil which was about 40% of the amount given just to Sharizat’s family of 5 (equivalent to RM50 mil each).

The much talked about Felda listing through FGV Global the govt say would bring windfall to the 220,000 settlers. How much? I suppose about RM 30,000 each, at the very most….an illogical estimation though since the entire exercise is valued at RM7 Bil.

Anyway the 30k the settlers hope to get in a lifetime, is what each and everyone of Sharizat’s children are getting every month. Compare that to the allowance to the holder of the Nation’s Highest Bravery Awards.! A meager 2k a month.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 2 January 2012, 2:48 pm and is filed under
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Hutang Umno pada budi orang Melayu

— Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 03, 2012

3 JAN — Dalam masa seminggu ini saya di hujani soalan adakah benar saya dan saudara Aspan Alias akan memasuki DAP? Cuba baca berita yang mula2 di keluarkan oleh The Malaysian Insider. Disana di nyatakan bahawa tiada keputusan yang di capai. Ertinya, karya TMI itu bersifat spekulatif. Demikian juga rencana yang di keluarkan oleh Free Malaysia Today. Artikel itu juga bersifat spekulatif dan menimbulkan lebih banyak persoalan dari memberi jawapan.

Tidakkah terfikir oleh sesiapa bahawa jika kami berdua cederung menyokong DAP atau parti lawan Umno, sikap tersebut ialah kerana di dorongi oleh kepercayaan dan prinsip2 tertentu? Kita tidak boleh konsisten jika hanya di dorong oleh rasa frust, dendam dan sebagainya. Sikap konsisten hanya datang dari asas yang lebih stabil dan kekal- seperti di pacu oleh keyakinan dan kepercayaan kepada prinsip2.

Sebagai contoh, kami berdua merasakan Umno sudah bertukar watak menjadi suatu Frankenstein yang tidak lagi boleh di kawal. Ia menjadi wadah untuk mencuri harta benda rakyat, membelakangkan political decency, memanipulasi rule of law, dan paling dasyat sekali melupakan budi orang Melayu kepada Umno.
 Dan kami telah lama menerima apa yang di sebut oleh Presiden Umno yang paling lama mengetuai Umno iaitu Dr Mahathir yang menyatakan Umno is rotten to the core dan kerajaan Umno korap dari atas hingga ke bawah.  Izinkan saya membawa perhatian orang Melayu kepada suatu perkara yang sangat tidak betul pada Umno. Seringkali kita di banjiri dengan nasihat supaya orang Melayu mengenang budi Umno. Tapi bagaimana pula dengan Umno yang tidak mengenang budi orang Melayu? Bukankah Umno itu hidup atas budi orang Melayu dan amanah yang di pertanggungjawabkan?

Biarkan saya menyimpul pendekatan Umno hari ini. Pimpinan Umno hari ini meniru apa yang John Kennedy ucapkan dalam pidato sulung ketika menerima perlantikan sebagai Presiden USA. Kita dapat membayangkan mana2 pemimpin Umno hari ini menyatakan: jangan tanya apa Umno boleh lakukan kepada kamu, tanya apa yang kamu boleh lakukan kepada Umno.

Inlah titik tolak penentangan kami kepada Umno kerana sikap seperti ini merosakkan orang Melayu. Ia menjadi orang Melayu peminta sedekah kepada Umno. Umno bukan pemberi rezeki orang Melayu yang beragama Islam. Sanggupkah kita menerima dan melihat orang Melayu tertunduk tunduk sebagai tambi suruhan? Inilah yang di lakukan oleh Umno hari ini kepada orang Melayu.

Bahagian pertama ungkapan tersebut jangan tanya apa Umno boleh lakukan kepada kamu memberi pengertian bahawa Umno itu tuan dan ahlinya adalah hamba. Umno itu penaung dan rakyat adalah yang bergantung kepada mereka. Umno itu bersifat ketuhanan yang mesti disembah kerana ianya pemberi segala rezeki kepada orang Melayu.

Bahagian kedua ungkapan tersebut tanya apa kamu boleh lakukan kepada Umno membawa erti bahawa Umno itu sesuatu yang perlu ditaati dan di takuti serta punca segala kesenangan untuk orang Melayu.

Kedua2 bahagaian ungkapan tersebut merosakkan orang Melayu dan bertentangan dengan piagam orang yang berjiwa merdeka. Orang Melayu yang berjiwa merdeka akan melihat Umno sebagai suatu wadah dengan dan melalui nya, mencapai obejektif 2 besar dalam masyarakat. Umno bukan sesuatu yang mesti disembah atau dalam bahasa yang selalu di sebut oleh pimpinan Umno — mesti mengenang budi Umno.

* 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, 3 January 2012, 6:59 pm and is filed under
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Is the Felda Global Venture Holdings listing in the interest of settlers?

— Dr Lim Teck Ghee

CPI

Jan 03, 2012

JAN 3 — During the past few months, the government and Felda authorities have been engaged in a public relations exercise aimed at persuading Felda settlers as well as the public that the proposal to float Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGVH) on Bursa Malaysia is in the best interests of the settlers.

But is it really so?

What has emerged from the government-controlled media has been almost exclusively the government version as to why the listing should go ahead. What is missing are answers to the questions raised by the opposition and independent analysts on the real benefits to settlers as well as a credible response to allegations that the interests of settlers are being subordinated — and even marginalised — in favour of other parties.

The stakes involved in the proposed listing exercise go well beyond those of any past Bursa listing exercise. At stake are not simply concerns of how well the offering will be received by investors; the initial IPO pricing; and other market-related issues. This is not your ordinary listing exercise aimed at reconciling the interests of a small group of initial shareholders with those of other new parties; neither is it a question of how much gains the initial settlers and shareholders can make from this listing exercise.

There are over 100,000 settler households; 240,000 members of Koperasi Permodalan Felda. Together with their immediate and other dependent family members, Felda settlers and their children number several million of our citizens. This very large group has formed the backbone of our agricultural community. The implications of the listing will not only affect their immediate future but it could also reshape the structure and dynamics of the rural peasantry. Many of these settlers presently eke out a modest but sustainable living from the land. Modernisation and adaptation to changing market conditions are important and necessary. But is this listing exercise the right way forward?

The overall objective of the exercise must not simply be about “unlocking value” or “creating the largest plantation entity in the world” or “expanding Felda’s international business footprint” — rhetoric that is as misleading as it is misguided. It should be about protecting the interests of our rural peasantry, ensuring that they remain landed (the original mission of Felda was to give land to the landless) and making sure that the benefits of any restructuring primarily accrue to them and are not hijacked by other parties.

In what way does the listing advance settler’s income and general wellbeing in the short, medium and long term? This needs to be fully elaborated and explained with data and figures, based on various best and worst-case scenarios. In particular, there is a need to address the concern that the scripts which the settlers will get in exchange may be disposed of for quick gain.

What is the downside for settlers? Again this needs to be carefully evaluated — not simply by general statements by anti- or pro-government politicians or supporters but by credible and independent analysts that are given equal coverage in the media — especially government-controlled media of radio and TV — so that the public, including settlers, can have access to and weigh the different points of view.

Internet-driven disquiet on the listing

Many of the dissenting opinions in the Internet on the listing have been ignored by the authorities. They relate not only to the details of the swap agreement affecting the different stakeholders but also to issues of governance and the windfall gains to key individuals and interest groups that are major players in the deal making.

On governance, unsettling questions have emerged with regard to FGV’s track record with losses allegedly running in the hundreds of millions ringgit during the past few years. Concern has also been expressed as to whether the exercise may be a devious plan to cover up massive losses incurred, especially by FGV’s foreign investments.

Other opinions expressed are more pungent and the sample below gives some idea of the intense behind-the-scene battle on the proposed listing.

A: One thing I can see – is that every bugger is shifting allegiance depending on where they can make a quick buck!

As for the listing – I am still not sure if it really is about helping the Felda settlers – because the folks who will really make the big bucks are CIMB and certain individuals who will get the bulk of the pink forms with very large blocks.

As I see it they want to move the profitable part of Felda into the loss making part – list it, take the plum bits and then cash out.

B: R… is obviously off his rocker and becoming too big for his britches. He is hiding behind this new pressure group so he can extract contracts from Felda well before it gets listed. This is an old trick of crony capitalists, though R… takes the cake – after all, who is he to say yes or no to Felda’s listing – why does the government need his permission to list Felda. Also, how looney can this businessman get, to say he will examine the terms of Felda’s listing before he blesses the deal… he really is power hungry enough to throw the dice at Felda, hoping he will become it’s chairman (that is why he is stirring the pot for Isa Samad to be sacked as Felda chairman) and if this does not work out, he has already got in his hand the hapless and clueless Samshuddin, the head of Felda settlers, to join him in creating a pressure group to bait for contracts. This Rozali and Sam are real shams – anything to promote their self-interest.

C: The reality actually is that the peneroka will not benefit from this listing. The listed entity will take away about 1 billion in Felda profits and [will] gain a one-off payment to Felda of about 6 billion. The profit taken away will impact social and economic programs for the Felda settlers and if you do simple maths, the listing money will only last 6 years. Then where will Felda get money to pay for these programs? The harsh reality is that the peneroka land is not as profitable and when you take the “cash cow” land out of Felda that does not belong to the peneroka but from Felda proper and transfer to FGVH, you have a serious long term hole you need to cover. This is the actual truth and that’s why the DG wants a thorough a study to be done first. He is a true Felda man and is a good man. The second generation Felda folk do not understand this and only see the short term again. The opposition is saying to the peneroka not to support listing as they will GIVE the land to them. This complicates things as other people now think that the DG supports the opposition. This is sooo not true. He is a loyal civil servant and the reasoning behind his questioning is purely for the good of the peneroka and NOT BECAUSE OF SUPPORT FOR THE OPPOSITION. People need to be clear on this.

D: The DG Dzulkefly has never been a opposition man. He’s always been a Felda man! He understands the background and the motives of Felda. The listing will benefit settlers in short term cash but the bulk of the money will be gained by CIMB and a select group of cronies. He like many don’t want to sacrifice the profitable part of Felda for the loss making one… – the Felda DG is being victimised and unfairly treated by Isa and Najib. He needs all the support and his side of the story to be told.

E: FGV is part owner of FH and many of the personalities in the management may be the same, but they are DEFINITELY NOT the same entity. FH has a separate set of shareholders, KPF. FH has a relatively focused set of business activities, most of them related to the plantation industry in one way or another, and has solid financial results. The only real disadvantage to KPF shareholders is their holdings are not liquid i.e. they are not freely tradeable shares. It pays very good dividends, though.

FGV has this other set of business, messy , unfocused, many of them making losses. The fact is, even if there is no wrongdoing, FGV has clearly got itself into business ventures that it doesn’t understand and doesn’t know how to manage.

Knowing Bolehland culture, the “No wrong doing” assumption is a very questionable one. Merging a solid, profitable, non-fully owned subsidiary into a troubled holding parent, while legal, raises many ethical questions. ….Most of the time the majority shareholders who mastermind such deals are either up to no good, or using it to cover up past mistakes or misdeeds.

Will the government ignore the growing groundswell of opposition?

In the coming days and weeks, the public may finally get the opportunity to get a better picture of the pros and cons of the planned listing from the anti-listing side. This is happening as those opposed to it are organizing a groundswell which is making it impossible for the government, Umno and Felda authorities to ignore.  On 29 December, eleven non-governmental organisations joined hands to form the Save Felda Movement (GSF) aimed at stopping the listing of FGVH.

Leading the group is National Felda Settlers’ Children Association (Anak), which has been revealing wrongdoings in the land authority and was one of the first of the stakeholders opposing the listing.

Besides ANAK, the other NGOs in GSF are Teras, Muslim Youth Movement of Malaysia (Abim), Ikram, Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM), Pan-Malaysian Coalition of Islamic Undergraduates  (Gamis), National Muslim Students Organisation (PKPIM), Seniman Paksi Rakyat (Paksi), Kumpulan Media Independent (Kami), Felda Settlers Action Front (Bangkit) and Felcra Participants Action Front (Bapa).

Last week separately, four KPF members filed an injunction to stop the public listing of FGVH. The court set January 4 for hearing the application, a day before KPF’s extraordinary general meeting on the listing scheduled on January 5.

What next?

It is important that the government does not clamp down on the public discourse. Other important voices such as those responsible for coverage in the media business community also should do the right thing by permitting the different stakeholders equal access to having their arguments disseminated. This coverage needs to be supplemented by the perspectives of independent analysts from business and other professional groups since the ramifications of the listing are of national concern.

In the latest development the president and chief executive of Felda Global Ventures Holdings, Sabri Ahmad, has said that plans to list on Bursa Malaysia in April 2012 are on track and that FGVH was firm in its mission to get the listing done within this time frame.

That is his opinion. If the groundswell of settler and public opinion runs in the other direction, there can and should be a delay until all the concerns are fully and transparently accounted for. The Felda authorities should not fear delay. Indeed it should welcome delay or even abortion of the proposed listing if this is found to be the better option for the settlers.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 January 2012, 6:25 pm and is filed under
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Pertembungan di antara Umno dengan rakyat bertambah serius

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 03, 2012

3 JAN — Sejak berita yang dilapurkan oleh The Malaysian Insider dan Utusan dan beberapa blogger yang pro Umno beberapa hari yang lepas, blog saya telah dibanjiri dengan pelawat yang ramai dan kebanyakkannya memberikan sokongan kepada saya jika saya menyertai DAP.

Media perdana Utusan dan blogger Umno telah menulis dengan panjang lebar dan membuat kritikan keras terhadap saya. Tetapi yang menggalakan ialah sokongan dari orang-orang biasa ini sangat menggalakan dan ianya benar-benar membuka minda ramai orang Melayu yang sebenarnya menyertai DAP itu bukannya satu jenayah dan juga tidak “unpatriotic”.

Tidak ada parti akan dibenarkan untuk ditubuhkan jika parti-parti itu tidak memperjuangkan kebaikan untuk negara dan rakyatnya. Apa yang asas kepada segala-galanya dalam penubuhan parti itu ialah Bab Asas dan Tujuan dalam Perlembagaan sesebuah parti itu. Kalau di selidik secara teliti semua parti yang terdaftar dengan halal di negara ini bertujuan yang tidak lari dari kandungan dan peruntukan dalam Perlembagaan Persekutuan.

Semuanya mempunyai matlamat menyatukan rakyat berbilang kaum dan agama di negara kita ini. Apa yang membezakan dari satu parti dengan parti yang lain ialah samada pimpinan sesebuah parti itu benar-benar mengikuti apa yang diperuntukan di dalam Bab Asas Dan Tujuan yang terkandung di dalam parti-parti itu. Baik atau tidak sesuatu parti itu bergantung samada pimpinan parti itu benar-benar mengikut lunas-lunas yang telah di tulis dalam Perlembagaan parti itu.

BN pada asasnya bukannya tidak baik, tetapi semangat yang ada di dalam BN itu tidak di sempurnakan dengan betul sehinggakan rakyat tidak lagi berselera dengan komponen itu.
 Asasnya ialah rakyat atau kaum yang menganggotai parti-parti dalam BN itu bersatu dan seterusnya parti-parti yang berada di dalam BN itu bekerjasama dengan baik dan menjadikan komponen itu sebagai wadah untuk mencapai matlamat yang satu iaitu perpaduan kaum (national unity).

Apabila BN tidak lagi melaksanakan matlamat yang baik itu maka rakyat mula berasa tersentuh dan meninggalkan BN itu sekarang ini. Oleh kerana BN khususnya Umno dipimpin oleh pemimpin Melayu yang lemah maka pimpinan dan ahli-ahli Umno memainkan isu rasis yang menebal bertujuan untuk menyatukan orang Melayu di bawahnya untuk mengekalkan kuasa yang mereka sangat seronok mendapatnya. Bagi Umno asalkan orang Melayu bersatu mereka mendapat kuasa tetapi tidak bertanggungjawab kepada keseluruhan rakyat dan merelakan perpecahan di kalangan rakyat berbilang kaum.

Tetapi meniupkan isu bangsa dan bersifat rasis yang keterlaluan maka rakyat berbilang kaum telah berpecah dan ianya membunuh semangat rakyat di antara kaum untuk bersatu. Umno menggunakan isu perkauman dengan mengingatkan insiden 13 Mei 1969 dahulu sebagai senjata untuk menakut-nakutkan orang Melayu sedangkan perkara itulah yang sepatutnya cuba di baiki oleh BN, bukannya menggunakan 13 Mei itu sebagai cara untuk mendapatkan sokongan orang Melayu.

Apabila perkara ini terjadi ia bukan sahaja menjadikan MCA dan MIC bermasalah, ianya juga telah menjadikan semua rakyat merasa tidak selamat jika BN yang dipimpin oleh Umno itu terus-menerus mentadbir negara dengan cara menakut-nakutkan rakyat. MCA pula terpaksa menjadi chauvinis cina untuk mendapatkan sokongan kaum cina terhadap mereka. Tetapi DAP pula yang di tuduh chauvinistic dan ini lah yang tidak dapat disabarkan oleh rakyat lagi.

Sifat chauvinis Cina MCA itu menaikkan lagi suhu perpecahan kaum dalam BN sendiri sedangkan rakyat sudah tidak mahu lagi sentimen perkauman ini dimainkan kerana mereka mahu hidup dalam keadaan aman dan muhibbah di bawah ini. Rakyat sekarang sudah menolak isu-isu rasis ini dan inilah sebenarnya perjuangan kita selama ini. Rakyat telah bersabar menantikan pembaikpulihan sikap dan perangai pemimpin dalam BN itu untuk terus diberikan mandat, tetapi nasi sudah menjadi bubur. BN tidak mungkin mampu lagi untuk melaksanakan tugas menyatukan rakyat lagi.

Secara tidak sedar atau secara sedar rakyat mula tidak lagi mempercayai momokan Umno terhadap PAS dan DAP yang selama ini mereka dengar melalui media masa perdana dan percakapan pemimpin-pemimpin Umno. Dalam keadaan “keferasatan” rakyat terhadap BN mereka telah berusaha menolak BN dan di dalam pilihanraya yang lalu BN hanya memenangi 85 kerusi di Semenanjung dan PR pula memenangi 82 kerusi. Kalau tidak kerana sumbangan kerusi dari Sabah dan Sarawak BN sepatutnya telah tumbang dalam pilihanraya yang lalu.

Rakyat melalui PR telah berjaya mengambil alih pentadbiran lima buah negeri, tidak termasuk Wilayah Persekutuan yang tidak mempunyai legislatif negerinya sendiri. Sejak itu negeri-negeri tadbiran Pakatan Rakyat seperti di P. Pinang telah menunjukkan bakat kepimpinan kerajaan yang baik dengan etika dan pentadbiran yang jauh lebih baik dari pentadbiran BN dahulu.

Keadaan ini tidak menyenangkan pihak BN yang telah dikalahkan oleh rakyat itu. Segala usaha dilakukan oleh pihak penyokong BN di negeri itu untuk “discredit” kerajaan P. Pinang sehinggakan kumpulan penyokong BN telah menghantar kek berbentuk tahi kepada Ketua Menteri negeri itu. Inilah contoh-contoh buruk yang sedang dilakukan oleh penyokong BN di P. Pinang dan pemimpin-pemimpin Umno di negeri itu tidak langsung mahu menegur sikap buruk penyokong-penyokong mereka itu.

Itu adalah tindakan desperado. Tindakan meloyakan ini membuatkan imej Umno dan BN di P. Pinang bertambah buruk dan tidak memungkinkan BN akan menjadi pilihan rakyat bukan sahaja di negeri itu tetapi menyeluruh di seluruh negara. Perkara buruk ini juga dilakukan oleh penyokong BN di Selangor, Kedah dan Kelantan dengan menggunakan TV3 dan Utusan sebagai “kuda pelejangnya”. Setiap malam media perdana ini meyiarkan perkara-perkara seperti ini untuk membantu BN mendapatkan kembali sokongan yang sudah ditarik balik oleh rakyat itu.

Jika ditanya saya samada usaha mereka, media perdana, itu akan berjaya, saya dengan jelas menjawabnya yang itu merupakan mimpi di siang hari sahaja. Rakyat sudah mempunyai persepsi buruk terhadap media perdana ini kerana tujuannya sangat mudah untuk difahami oleh rakyat yang ramai… iaitu untuk memecah belahkan rakyat. Selalunya Umno hanya berjaya dalam keadaan perpecahan.

Sesudah bercakap tentang perkara yang telah di cakapkan ini, siapa yang sebenarnya yang patriotik? Orang yang patriotik ini sebenarnya orang yang macam mana? Adakah orang dan pemimpin yang telah memperkosa harta rakyat itu patriotik? Adakah pemimpin yang menggunakan kedudukannya untuk membelasah harta rakyat itu pemimpin patriotik?

Adakah pemimpin yang menambah harga perlengkapan persenjataan negara itu untuk mendapatkan “kickback” itu patriotik? Adakah pentadbiran yang beretika dan bersih yang dilakukan oleh DAP di P. Pinang dan kerajaan PAS di Kedah dan Kelantan itu tidak patriotik? Adakah sayangkan Umno itu sahaja yang patriotik walaupun pemimpin yang mencuri di sana sini itu adalah pemimpin Umno?

Adakah tindakan membawa keluar wang negara secara haram sebanyak RM1 trillion keluar negara itu tindakan yang sangat patriotik? DAN yang mengkritik pemimpin negara kerana membiarkan wang yang bertrillion itu tidak patriotik. Siapa sebenarnya manusia dan rakyat yang patriotik kepada pemimpin Umno dan penyokongnya?

Masing-masing boleh membuat penilaian dan menjawab samada segala tindakan semua pihak itu tindakan yang patriotik. Buatlah keputusan sendirian. Yang penting sebelum membuat keputusan kita mesti berfikir sedalam-dalamnya dan bertanggungjawab ke atas keputusan yang kita ambil itu.

Jangan kita menyalahkan orang lain di atas kesilapan dan kesalahan kita sendiri. Kita sepatutnya ada rasa malu sikit-sikit kerana rakyat sedang memerhatikan kita semua. Silapnya Umno ini, mereka memandang orang ramai ini semuanya tidak pernah ke sekolah dan tidak tahu membaca dan menulis dan seterusnya tidak berkemampuan untuk berfikir.

Pada Umno rakyat khususnya orang Melayu senang dipersendakan dan mereka (orang Melayu) tetap akan sokong Umno sampai hari kiamat. Mungkin itu jugalah cara setengah blogger pro Umno berfikir… memaki hamun mereka yang tidak menyokong Umno dan mengharapkan orang ramai akan mengikut mereka.

Pengamal media perdana serta penulis-penulis dalam alam cyber nampaknya terus-terusan mewujudkan keadaan yang berlawanan di antara rakyat dan Umno. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 January 2012, 6:01 pm and is filed under
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Siapa yang pengkhianat? Introspeksi betul-betul

—
Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 02, 2012

2 JAN — Isu saya yang dispekulasikan akan menyertai DAP membuatkan pihak tertentu marah-marah dan yang marah-marah itu seorang dua memang saya kenali. Saya tidak bercadang untuk menjawab dan melayani mereka ini kerana seperti yang saya katakan mereka ini masih bercabang kencingnya dan belum lagi kenal yang mana satu tangan kanan untuk menyuap nasi dan yang mana satu tangan kiri untuk beristinja’.

Bagi pihak yang mengkritik saya ini, mereka tidak ada isu untuk membahaskan apa yang telah saya perkatakan selama ini: tentang apa yang terlalu kurang dalam Umno. Mereka ini belum pun pandai menyebut nama Umno itu tetapi bercakap mempertahankan Umno itu seolah-olah mereka telah lama mengenali Umno dan perjuangannya.

Saya ini kononnya bangkrap politik dan telah menjadi barang “reject”. Kalaulah betul apa yang dikatakan terhadap diri saya itu saya hairan kenapa isu ini diperbesarkan sedangkan saya ini adalah barang “reject” dan bangkrap politik.

Saya ingin menyatakan dengan terang dan jelas. Yang telah bangkrap ialah Umno dan yang sedang di “reject” ialah Umno dan keseluruhan sekutunya. Mereka yang kononnya pejuang ini harus berfikir bukankah Umno hanya tinggal 56 kerusi sahaja di Semenanjung dan 13 kerusi sahaja di Sabah. Jumlahnya hanya 69 semuanya. Umno telah kalah dalam banyak kerusi dan akan kalah banyak lagi dalam pilihanraya yang akan datang ini.

Siapa yang kena “reject” ini? Kalau Umno kena “reject” tentulah ada sebabnya. Orang seperti saya bukan suka-suka hendak “reject” Umno tetapi oleh kerana keadaan yang membuatkan Umno itu terpaksa di “reject”. Saya perhatikan pemimpin-pemimpin Umno dan penyokong-penyokongnya yang membela membabi buta ini hanya mahu mendengar apa yang mereka hendak dengar sahaja.

Segala hujah kami tidak pernah dibahaskan dengan cara baik, sebaliknya melakukan “name calling” yang tidak berbudaya dan beradab dengan bahasa yang sangat hina dan membosankan. Oleh kerana mereka tidak mampu memberikan perbahasan yang baik mereka terpaksa menyerang orang seperti saya dengan kata-kata nista. Membina budaya kotor merupakan satu kejayaan besar Umno.

Sesungguhnya apabila seseorang yang berbahas dalam hal politik itu menggunakan bahasa kasar dan “name calling” seperti yang kita dengar sekarang, secara automatik parti dukungan mereka akan di “reject” oleh rakyat kerana cara itu merupakan “self defeating” bagi mereka sendiri. Menggunakan perungkapan kotor itu bukan bahasa dan adab Melayu. Bagaimana nak kita katakan Umno itu pejuang Melayu sedangkan bahasa dan budayanya pun bukan budaya dan bahasa seorang Melayu.

Menyertai mana-mana parti adalah perkara biasa yang berlaku dalam sistem demokrasi. Menyertai DAP yang begitu telus itu bukannya pengkhianat seperti yang dilabelkan kepada saya dan Ariff. Untuk pengetahuan mereka yang masih lembut ubun-ubun ini, menggunakan wang rakyat yang berbillion ringgit untuk menyelamatkan perniagaan anak itu adalah pengkhianat negara. Menyalahgunakan wang pinjaman mudah untuk memelihara lembu untuk negara itu adalah pengkhianat. Wang yang mudah didapati kerana pengaruh menteri itu telah di gunakan untuk membeli kondo mewah di Kuala Lumpur dan Singapura adalah kerja khianat kepada negara.

Pemimpin-pemimpin yang telah diberi gaji oleh rakyat tetapi masih mencari wang tambahan melalui rasuah itu adalah pengkhianat negara Sesiapa yang menyokong pengkhianat ini adalah dua kali ganda pengkhianatannya kepada negara.

Menggunakan wang zakat jika tidak termasuk dalam asnaf yang lapan itu adalah pengkhianat. Membawa wang ke luar negara yang berjumlah 1 trillion ringgit itu adalah pengkhianat negara. Membeli kelengkapan pertahanan dengan menambah harga belian untuk rasuah itu adalah pengkhianat yang tidak ada tolok bandingnya.

Memecah belahkan rakyat itu juga pengkhianat. Rakyat sekarang mahukan perpaduan tetapi berpadu di luar Umno dan kalau ada usaha untuk memecah belahkan rakyat yang mahukan perpaduan itu adalah pengkhianat.

Kalau DAP itu parti haram macam PKM, bolehlah mereka yang menyertainya sebagai pengkhianat. Tetapi DAP adalah parti halal. Kalau saya mengambil keputusan untuk menyertai parti itu, kenapa dianggap pengkhianat? Bukankah DAP adalah satu parti yang berdisiplin dan jelas ketelusannya. Bukankah rakyat selama ini marah kepada Umno kerana tidak ada ketelusan. Apa sahaja yang dilakukannya oleh pemimpin Umno mesti ada ufti untuk pemimpinnya. Itu adalah pengkhianat kerana memakan wang rakyat secara rasuah.

Kita mesti ingat, agama kita kata sesiapa yang makan rasuah itu serupalah seperti orang yang memakan daging saudaranya sendiri. Itu sebabnya saya tidak berhenti-henti menulis pasal rasuah ini. Rasuah bukan isu kecil. Banyak negara di mana kepimpinannya jatuh kerana rasuah. Rakyat mereka sayangkan harta benda mereka dan tidak berkompromi dengan rasuah ini. Itulah sebabnya parti LDP Jepun tumpas di tangan rakyat setelah berkuasa selama 5 dekad kerana rasuah dan rasuah di Jepun itu adalah kecil jika dibandingkan rasuah di sini.

Jika rakyat masih boleh menerima perasuah sebagai pemimpin kita maka kita telah berkonspirasi dengan perasuah dan berdosa besar. Itu pendirian saya. Dosa yang sedang saya tanggung pun tidak terkira, takkanlah nak tambah lagi dengan dosa yang sama seperti memakan daging saudara kita sendiri itu lagi.

Sesiapa yang mengkritik saya secara semborono itu, adalah mereka yang merelakan negaranya di runtuhkan oleh mereka yang di sokong mereka. Mereka menilai upah yang mereka terima dari pihak yang ingin mempertahankan kejahatan mereka dari menjaga masa depan negaranya.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 January 2012, 12:04 am and is filed under
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Umno fears loss of monopoly

By
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz
 | January 3, 2012

Free Malaysia Today

Some folks in my hometown Pekan are now calling me Dato’ DAP. Its quite amusing and comical.

The most common question to me is why DAP? Weren’t they the ones who started May 13?

The thrust of that reminder is to remind us – fellow blogger Aspan Alian and me -of their commonly-held belief that DAP started the May 13, 1969 incident.

Well since they want to know, what if I said Tun (Abdul) Razak allowed it to happen because the ensuing troubles would give him an excuse to kick out (then Prime Minister) Tunku Abdul Rahman?

The point is, there was no single contributor to the May 13 incident.

But I would place some blame on Tun Razak who as Home Minister allowed things to degenerate. He allowed it so that a proclamation of emergency could be made.

Anyway, lets step back a look at DAP.

When I was an ADUN (assemblyman) in the Pahang legislative assembly (2004-2008), I have never heard the lone DAP member ever speak about anti-Malay themes.

DAP never raised ‘race’ dominance

He spoke about abuse of power, about mindless spending and he spoke about maladministration.

The first book Lim Kit Siang wrote that I read was ‘Time Bombs in Malaysia’. After that I read so many books written by Kit Siang that touched on the Maika Scandals, the BMF financial scandal and so on.

If we are honest enough, we have to admit, the issues raised were never about one race dominating the other.

It was always about the abuses of those in power, corruption, and a continuous attack on policies that are ruinous to this country.

So tell me how has DAP politics been inimical to the general political health of this country?

Can any DAP Chinese leader be a PM when it’s contesting only at most 50-55 seats? Can any DAP non-Malay leader harbor the dream of becoming a PM in a country dominated by Malays?

Has the DAP threatened the institution of Malay rulers? DAP has never done that or will not be mad to countenance such rebellious idea, but Umno on the other hand insulted the Malay rulers as far back as in 1998 constitutional crisis.

Can we reasonably accept the allegation that the DAP is instrumental in claims that Malays are being converted into Christians when most DAP members are not themselves Christians?

We have to do better than that to take Malays to be imbeciles. Only Umno seems to do that.

Umno fears loss of monopoly

What is noteworthy is that DAP is a democratic party committed to the rule of law, good governance and good government. It abhors corruption and abuse of political office. Umno on the other hand has turned its back on these.

Umno harps only on one primal worry of Malays- when Umno is threatened it shares the threat with Malays at large.

So a threat to Umno is translated mindlessly into a threat to Malays as a whole.

Nothing can be farther from the truth. But that is how Umno has approached politics in Malaysia.

Umno basically makes its fears public and gains private for selected Malays within its fold.

To the Chinese, Umno is a chauvinist Malay party whose leaders can be easily bought.

The Umno Malay will sell all to abandon their cause.

Enough reason to encourage Malays to join DAP en masse!

It’s a party committed to democratic principles and rule of law. I can only imagine, so many can prosper under a regime of freedom of speech within DAP

The interest of Malays can be fought on any political platform other than Umno’s. And that is Umno greatest fear. It will no longer have monopoly.

________

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman and a FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 January 2012, 12:32 pm and is filed under
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What we dream of

By
Ambiga Sreenevasan
 | January 03, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

JAN 3 — Dare we Malaysians dream that in 2012:

• Bersih 2.0’s eight demands will be implemented before Parliament is dissolved.

• the run-up to the elections will bring out the best in everyone and not the worst.

• we have free and fair elections run by an Election Commission which is empowered, independent and brooks no cheating.

• the selling of our country to foreigners for votes (as is widely believed to be happening) will be halted and punished as the highest treason.

• every single registered voter votes in the 13th general election.

• justice will be done in Sodomy II.

• our Christian friends (who are a minority in this country) will not continue to be the target of baseless attacks and humiliation by a few.

• the government will show some guts and leadership in dealing with those who spew racism and religious hatred (this is unlikely).

• some of our leaders will get treatment for schizophrenia and compulsive lying.

• many of our leaders will educate themselves to understand the following concepts:

a. conflict of interest.

b. human rights.

c. democracy.

d. good governance.

e. telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

f. that it is wrong to rob from the rakyat.

g. that there is no such thing as “the government’s money” — it belongs to the rakyat.

• preserving our environment will take priority over making money (note Lynas).

• justice will be done for those who have lost their lives at the hand of the authorities and those incarcerated without trial.

• the government apologises to the EO6 and compensates them for wrongfully and baselessly detaining them for 30 days.

• the government dumps the Peaceful Assembly Bill.

• Amanah comes to life and does more than give nice speeches.

• we will finally see the peaceful and just society we all crave.

Rakyat — over to you to add to the list.

For me

Dare I dream that in 2012, Sivarasa, Haris, Chin Huat and I will be able to attend the Sarawak Rainforest Music Festival?

Happy New Year to all!

________

Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, the immediate past president of the Bar Council, joined the legal fraternity in 1982. She was Bar Council president two years in a row from 2007. A litigation lawyer, she runs her own practice.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 3 January 2012, 12:30 pm and is filed under
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Designed to make us free

– Ang Jian Wei

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 04, 2012

JAN 4 — Upon returning from the New Year’s countdown, the last thing I expected to read was news of a clash between the police and the student body that decided to hold a sit-in outside Universiti Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). The latter did so to champion academic freedom.

The result of that clash is a terrible way to start the year. The reaction of a just government should always be measured and proportional to the incident at hand — even if it’s done in the name of security. That did not seem to be the case in Tanjung Malim. It was way out of line and uncalled for.

It bordered on paranoia.

The numbers don’t add up. Why on earth do we need the police to demand the dispersal of a sit-in demonstration that we all know is temporary? These are students and their most lethal weapons are probably flashlights and an amplifier. I don’t think that will cause anybody to wet his/her pants.

They weren’t asking for a coup d’état. The authorities should have provided the students with a space where they could scream their lungs out and when it’s over, shake hands. They can then all go back to whatever it is they do to celebrate the dawn of a new year. And we can all read about the weather the next morning. Apparently that’s rocket science!

The truth is that it was not the students that the authorities (or whoever they represent) were so afraid of. It is the idea of academic freedom that somewhat scares them, I think.

The logic goes that if there aren’t regulations in place to control what the campuses can teach, publish or say, then the unfettered freedom would prevail and anarchy will soon descend. I’m sorry to burst the bubble, but there’s a problem with that. Absolute academic freedom is not possible, even if every restrictive law is rolled back.

The limit of academic freedom is one’s own stupidity. The academic arena is not a place for a dead sport. It’s a circus of opinions and only the strongest ideas survive. If anybody has the guts to throw a view out there, be my guest! But he/she has to prepare for the scrutiny of his/her peers that will soon ensue. If they think the idea is rubbish, they won’t hesitate to say so, albeit in a very refined or possibly boring manner — like you know… published journals.

Our universities are supposed to be fertile ground of “higher learning.” Have we ever asked what is it that is “higher” in our higher education? It is understanding that the world is not a homogenous place and that a prerequisite to an educated society is one that can suspend its own judgment to listen to differing views.

If we still don’t agree, then we can all retreat to our favourite mamak stalls and bitch about it without engaging in a fistfight. Should professors be allowed to superimpose their own views in their teaching? It would be academically imprudent, but why not? We do not attend universities to kiss their asses. We go there to engage, on their own turf if need be! That is the sort of graduates we should be producing.

I just want to end by saying that I took a class at my university pertaining to the Palestine-Israel Conflict. It was a class of 300 students. If there were an international quagmire that sends zealous passions off the roof, this would be it!

My professor confessed that at the beginning of the semester he had to meet the Dean to discuss options in the event that violence were to break out in the lecture halls. They considered stationing campus security details… just in case. But they didn’t do it. And it wasn’t a comfortable class. People argued — with passion. But you know what’s beautiful about that class?

When someone spoke, everybody listened. There wasn’t any violence either.

Free speech can at times hurt! But freedom of speech, in which academic freedom is a subset, is not meant to protect the things we like to hear. It’s there to ensure we hear the things we hate. And neither is it designed to make us comfortable.

It is designed to make us free.

* Ang Jian Wei’s thoughts are currently with those who were physically injured in Tanjung Malim. Though it’s a blemished start, he wishes everyone a Happy New Year. He blogs at lowfatketupat.com

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 January 2012, 10:40 pm and is filed under
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How sincere is Najib?

— Jacob Sinnathamby

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 04, 2012

JAN 4 — I just read the report in The Malaysian Insider that Prime Minister Najib Razak is to meet selected Christian church leaders for lunch today.

I have some sympathy for the church leaders because, if they were to poll their individual congregations, then the overwhelming view would be that the likes of Archbishop Murphy Pakiam and his friends should decline to break bread with Najib because the administration and even the PM have not been honest in their dealings with Christians. If anything, certain individuals and groups have been given the freedom under the Najib government to denigrate Christianity like never before.

But some of the main tenets of the faith are forgiveness and compassion, so I can understand why many Christian leaders will go ahead and meet Najib today. Still, may I caution all Christians to remember a few things and events and not to view the lunch in isolation.

Fact 1: The last time Najib met church leaders for a meal last year, after the discredited claims by Umno bloggers and Utusan Malaysia of Christians wanting to take over Malaysia, he ended up asking them to reaffirm their commitment to Federal Constitution and Islam’s primacy. He DID NOT apologise to them for this defamation nor chastise Utusan.

Fact 2: On his return from the Vatican, Najib spoke to a group of Umno members and told Christians to respect the Islamic leadership of the country. This move was ridiculous given the fact that Christians have been law-abiding citizens all along and have given the Federal Constitution its greatest respect. Najib was just posturing and decided to use Christians as the whipping boys.

Fact 3: During the Umno assembly, the PM did not say one word when his party members whacked DAP as agents of Christianity. I would have expected the PM to step in and say that while it is OK to attack a political opponent, it is not OK to attack a religion. But I guess politics is more important than anything else.

Fact 4: Despite absolutely no evidence of large scale apostasy or conversion to Christianity as alleged by the discredited Utusan Malaysia, the Najib administration has kept silent.

The simple fact is that Christians have been treated like the enemy by Umno and its agent, Perkasa. And the PM has allowed all this to happen under his watch.

He probably wants to have a meal because elections are near. It would not surprise me if Najib offers a few “goodies” to church leaders. After all this is what happened just before the Sarawak elections.

But possibly the worst attack on the integrity of Christians in Malaysia in the history of this country was allowed to prosper in the months after the Sarawak elections.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 4 January 2012, 1:40 pm and is filed under
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109: The day we must move on

By
Zairil Khir Johari
 | January 05, 2012

The Malaysian Insider

JAN 5 —  Three-and-a-half years ago, in line with the fad of reviving old TV drama serials such as “90210” and “Hawaii-5-O”, Malaysians were treated to a remake of a soap opera that began its first run in 1998. Though the original had been universally panned by industry critics and foreign audiences, it nevertheless enjoyed somewhat limited domestic success. Of course, it also helped that the producers of the drama also controlled every media outlet in the country.

As is the case with unimaginative remakes, the same formula is once again rehashed. And while a coterie of new characters including a young, tall and handsome antagonist was thrown into the fray in an attempt to inject some semblance of freshness, the same actor, now visibly aged, was re-casted as the reluctant protagonist.

In staying true to the spirit of the original version, Malaysians were once again treated to a roller coaster of absurd plot twists, logic-defying scenarios and draggy story arcs involving numerous sub-plots detailing tales of sordid sex, DNA manipulation and — in keeping with the times — leaked video tapes.

Now, 3½ years on, we have come to the cliff-hanger that customarily punctuates the series finale. Thus, with less than a week to go, the question on everyone’s lips is: come 109, will Anwar Ibrahim go in or stay out?

There are a few ways it could end. In the first and most widely expected scenario, our protagonist will be found guilty. In all likelihood this will also entail a prison sentence long enough not only to strip him of his parliamentary seat, but also to ensure that he cannot contest for five years following his eventual release. In other words, it will be the death knell to his political career.

The basis for such an action would be to precipitate a leadership crisis within the opposition coalition. Rendered headless, Pakatan Rakyat will be left flapping around directionless. On the flip side, however, a renewed campaign for Anwar’s freedom will almost certainly provide a populist election theme.

In a second and more unlikely scenario, Anwar will be acquitted. By some miraculous occurrence, the absurdities of the trial will be admitted for what it is and justice will be seen to be served. Or more realistically, some technical flaw will deem the case invalid thus providing no recourse other than to release him.

Such an event will then set the stage for an all-out contest between the prime minister and the opposition leader in the coming general election. Unbound by his legal chains, Anwar will finally have the freedom to lead his motley coalition against the might of the government. Until he is re-arrested on a third round of sodomy charges of course.

There is a third scenario that may occur. In this instance, Anwar will be convicted and sentenced. Except he will also be granted a stay of execution pending an appeal that will last even longer than the original trial. This will have the effect of branding him guilty, yet at the same time avoiding any unnecessary martyrdom. Though Anwar will be “free”, he will remain severely handicapped and distracted.

Whichever way the outcome goes would depend very much on who the puppet masters behind the scenes are. If the first scenario occurs and Anwar is sent to jail, then it will mean that his former mentor still remains as relevant as ever. Jailing him would be the ultimate coup de grâce taken directly out of the Machiavellian handbook of power — crush your enemy totally. After all, if the job had been done right the first time around, we wouldn’t be here today.

The second scenario would be too risky a move. It is one that could end up being a masterstroke, or potentially a regime-ending mistake. In other words, it is not a move that would be made either by a risk-averse prime minister or those who have invested so much — and stand to lose much more — in Anwar’s downfall. Therefore, given the players involved, an acquittal is highly unlikely.

Unlike the surgical strike of the first scenario and the heavy risk involved in the second, the third, and in my mind likelier outcome, would be one that bears all the trademarks of the current administration. It will be a decision that brings neither any benefit to the incumbent regime nor any significant disadvantage to the opposition. There will be no clear winner or loser. In other words, it will be status quo. A wishy-washy solution befitting a wishy-washy regime.

In my mind, whatever happens, whether Anwar Ibrahim turns out to be the prime minister who will usher us into a new era of democratic reform and good governance, or whether he will become the sacrificial lamb that will pave the way for a peaceful revolution, the bottom line is that Malaysia is already on an irreversible path towards change. And while there is no doubt that Anwar has been pivotal in catalysing change in our country, there should also not be any doubt that change will happen, with or without him.

And so, whether the verdict results in a killing blow or a surprise twist or just more of the same, 109 must be the day that Malaysia moves on. Or be doomed to suffer another remake.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 January 2012, 2:03 pm and is filed under
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Churches tell Najib: Respect law, remove anti-Christian rules, policies

By Debra Chong

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 05, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 5 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak should respect the law and start removing rules and policies that have seen Christians being victimised by the bureaucracry, a national group representing over 90 per cent of churches said yesterday.

In a strongly-worded statement, the Christian Federation of Malaysia (CFM) called on the prime minister to check the growing systematic religious attacks against Christians nationwide over the past one year.

It also called on Najib to act and stop the attempts to “murder” and “destroy” his commitment and legacy to religious moderation he is championing.

Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing, who heads the CFM, urged the PM to set up a non-Muslim religious affairs ministry to safeguard and protect the interests and rights of not only Christians but Buddhists, Sikhs, Taoists and Hindus.

“We hope that there will be maximum consultation in respect of the structure and operations of the ministry,” he said, adding that it was only a first step as Christian leaders were not naïve enough to assume their religious issues would be solved without the commitment and collaboration of all other ministries and organs of government.

Ng, who is also the head of the Anglican diocese of West Malaysia, urged Najib to lift the government ban against Christians using the word “Allah” to also refer to their god.

He said Christians nationwide had been victimised enough by groups with “a selective reading of the Federal Constitution that is intentionally used to legitimise discriminatory laws and practices which favours one community over another.”

He said Christians were now resorting to raising their issues publicly because it was the most effective way for the government to take action.

He added church leaders have exhausted meetings with Putrajaya “at the highest ministerial level” and see inertia in resolving all remaining issues constructively and expeditiously.

“There is a very wide and alarming disconnect between what you intend to happen and what is happening on the ground.

“The policy of moderation which you uphold does not seem to have filtered down to all levels of government,” he said, just hours after sitting down to lunch with the country’s sixth PM yesterday.

The government had also issued a statement after the lunch meeting, promising full engagement and consultation on Christian issues starting with the mission schools, Bible knowledge education and tax-exemption status for the creed’s organisations in what is seen as an attempt to repair relations with churches.

Christians say their constitutional rights have been systematically been eroded since winning a landmark court victory to use the word “Allah”.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 January 2012, 7:52 am and is filed under
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The government doth protest too much

— Azmil Tayeb

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 05, 2012

JAN 5 — In my previous incarnation as a student in the United States, I occasionally attended gatherings at the Malaysian Embassy and consulate offices, some of which were hosted to receive various ministers and other high-ranking government officials.

In addition to being stuffed with delicious home-made Malaysian food — the main reason why I think most of us were there — we were also fed with the exhortations that we were not supposed to get involved in politics, not to pay any attention to the political issues currently brewing in Malaysia, and instead to solely focus on our studies.

Don’t sweat your innocent, highly impressionable minds with all these slanders and negativities you hear from home, said the avuncular minister. The time will come soon enough for you to get involve and subsequently enjoy the experience of being bashed senseless in the head by the FRU.

Okay, the minister didn’t say that last part. But the point I’m trying make here is that there’s no better moment to assume a proactive role in the society than during this unique window of time and place occupied by these so-called innocent, highly impressionable minds.

The recent “controversy” concerning the lowering of the PM’s banner at PWTC by the students and the alleged assault on student activists at UPSI on new year’s day by the police brings to light the familiar issue of whether Malaysian students should be allowed to get involved in politics, particularly via protests and other acts of civil disobedience.

For me it’s not the question of if, but why the rights of these young people must be protected and not abridged, and how do we as a country that claims to be democratic accommodate the needs of this very important segment of the society.

Here are the reasons why it is imperative upon the powers-that-be to allow the students the freedom to express their beliefs and grievances, and for the woefully crafted laws that impede on this right to be revised or abolished.

Even with a cursory grasp of historical knowledge, one should be able to detect at least one universal tie that binds most prominent figures throughout history: they started young. We don’t have to look far beyond our regional shores for examples. Colonial Malaya was full with student activists agitating against the British, one of which is the former prime minister and Umno’s very own Dr Mahathir Mohamad.

The site of the recent bloody confrontation, UPSI, or formerly known as Sultan Idris Training College for Malay Teachers (SITC), was called the “hotbed of Malay nationalism” (according to the government’s own high school history curriculum), which gave birth to the nationalist figures such as Ibrahim Yaacob, Hassan Manan and others. This delicious irony was certainly lost on the authorities when they decided to crack the skulls of the student protesters there.

Even some of the current figures in Malaysian politics can definitively trace their career back to student activism, namely Anwar Ibrahim and Ibrahim Ali. Elsewhere in the region, there were also other student activists cum nationalist figures such as Sukarno, Hatta, Tan Malaka and others in Indonesia, Jose Rizal in the Philippines, and Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, to name but a few.

I’m sure there were conservative people back then, same as now, who advised these aforementioned figures not to waste their time as rabble rousers and just focus on their studies. Where would Malaysia and the other countries be now had these former student activists heeded the advice of their risk-averse elders of that bygone era?

What, then, is the appropriate age to get involved in politics? The voting age in Malaysia is 21-years old, which itself an anomaly among functioning democracies around the world. Even the shining beacons of democracy such as Myanmar, China and Zimbabwe set their population’s voting age at 18-years old.

It’s like saying the young Malaysians under this superficial age limit are incapable of thinking for themselves and take charge of their own destiny. They are constantly told that they should not be paying attention to what’s going in the society, to simply walk around encased in a transparent force field to better deflect these “corrupting” influences.

Of course, this is the kind of scenario one can only find in Steven Spielberg’s movies or in the fertile imagination of our politicians and technocrats. Various studies have been done to refute this preposterous claim (for example, refer to Niemi & Sobieszek, 1977). Political socialisation starts at a young age and continues throughout a person’s a life. To say that young people cannot get involved in politics before they reach this glorified age is simply the height of arrogance and flies in the face of established convention.

Some of the detractors also seem to forget that not all people under 21-years old are students. In fact, quite a sizeable number of them are regular working people, some already have families of their own. Some are even in the police force and the military. It’s more or less telling them that it’s perfectly okay to die for their country but heaven forbids that they should not participate in politics until they reach the ripe age of 21-years old.

As someone who teaches political science I always encourage my students to make the connection between theory and practice. We discuss and debate various case studies around the world to better illustrate the theories on democracy, elections, civil society, revolution and others. It certainly helps to deepen their understanding (and mine) of these contested concepts and theories.

But what takes learning to a whole new level is to experience these classroom materials first-hand, meaning to actively participate in the society and see for themselves these concepts and theories at work.

I’m not one for clichés but the oft-cited “life is the best teacher” certainly rings true in this context. University education should not only prepare students for the working life but also mould them into well-rounded citizens who are very much invested in their society, and combining lecture notes and extracurricular activism is the best way to accomplish this.

Young people’s involvement in politics, particularly students, is an irrevocable part of life. Give me one example in history when young people are not part of social change and I will sell you a Beemer for the price of a Kancil. It just never happens.

Just look around us today. Who are the people that topple the authoritarian regimes in Egypt and Tunisia? The people who brought down Suharto in Indonesia and Marcos in the Philippines? There’s simply no way to overstate the important role of young people in affecting changes in the society.

The sooner we acknowledge this the better we will become as a country.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 January 2012, 7:12 pm and is filed under
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Why no apology?

— Spencer Gan

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 05, 2012

JAN 5 — In 1998, then Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamed promised Catholic Church leaders that the church would be consulted when it comes to the appointment of principals and heads of mission schools.

That promise was elastic and was made just before the Sabah election, and at a time when Dr Mahathir was shaky after the sacking of Anwar Ibrahim. This historical fact was made public a few weeks when Archbishop Murphy Pakiam informed Catholics that the government had reneged on its promise to consult the church on the new principal of Convent Bukit Nanas.

Only after threatening noises by the church did the government back down. So please excuse my scepticism about the “assurance” given by Najib Razak at a lunch with Christian leaders that the government would consult in future before any appointments are made. Once again, this promise is being before an election.

Given this administration’s big propensity for flip-flopping, it would not surprise me if in the new future the Catholic Church may once again have to highlight another episode of the government going back on its word.

So unless there is some written agreement between church and government, this assurance by Najib will count for not much.

I thank Anglican Bishop Ng Moon Hing and the Christian Federation of Malaysia for not being swayed or impressed by a luncheon meeting with the Cabinet. After all, there is no reason for people of God to be impressed by people who tolerate and accept religious intolerance and corruption.

In a statement, he said that Christians nationwide had been victimised enough by groups with a selective reading of the Federal Constitution. I don’t propose to read Ng’s mind but I would think he was referring to Perkasa and also Umno.

He noted that there was an alarming disconnect between what Najib says and what actually happens on the ground. In short, Christians or for that matter other non-Muslims have had enough of promises and grand gestures.

We have watched with alarm the unabated demonisation of Christians and the disinclination of the Najib government to put a stop to these attacks or even apologise for the insults thrown by Umno, its newspapers and Perkasa.

One swallow does not make a summer and one or two lunches packed with promises do not mean the end of a period of persecution.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 5 January 2012, 8:58 pm and is filed under
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Kalau dunia nak kiamat pun, janganlah kita jadi pembawa dalilnya

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 06, 2012

6 JAN — Dalam kegawatan politik yang sedang dihadapi rakyat kini, banyak perkara yang dapat kita pelajari dan ianya melambangkan sikap dan nilai pemikiran masing-masing yang bermain dalam politik ini. Berbahas dalam politik tidak ada etikanya di sini. Kalau di negara maju mereka berbincang dan berbahas menggunakan isu yang sedang hangat diperkatakan ramai.

Tetapi di sini mereka berbincang tentang budi dan membalas budi walaupun yang berbudi itu sekarang sedang melencong jauh dari apa yang sepatutnya mereka lakukan dan perjuangkan. Kalau telah mendapat subsidi gigi palsu dari jabatan kesihatan mereka tidak boleh lagi menegur kerajaan yang korap itu dan wajib menyokong pimpinan yang melakukan korapsi itu.

Jika kita telah mendapat pinjaman untuk anak kita belajar ke luar negara, kita di minta jangan mempersoalkan apa-apa yang tidak baik yang dilakukan oleh kerajaan dan pimpinan. Rakyat di kurung pemikiran mereka semata-mata telah mendapat gigi palsu percuma dan pinjaman dan pembiayaan pelajaran anak-anak kita. Apabila termakan sedikit wang rakyat yang bukan pun wang BN atau pun Umno, rakyat mesti duduk diam dan memerhatikan sahaja segala kerja rasuah dan salahguna kuasa oleh pihak yang memimpin.

Budaya ini telah dibentuk oleh Umno sejak bertahun-tahun dahulu dan ini membuatkan orang Melayu tidak boleh berfikir jauh sedikit dari pemikiran mereka yang melakukan tekanan ini.

Telah banyak kali diperkatakan yang wang diberikan kepada rakyat itu adalah wang mereka sendiri. Kos gigi palsu itu dibiayai oleh pembayar cukai yang terdiri dari rakyat berbilang kaum dan agama serta rakyat yang menjadi ahli kepada parti kerajaan dan parti-parti pembangkang. Kos membiayai gigi palsu itu bukannya wang Umno, malahan pemimpin-pemimpin Umno yang mengeluarkan bantuan itu pun dibiayai oleh rakyat termasuk ahli PAS, DAP dan PKR.

Saya menulis ini kerana ramai yang menyuruh saya menulisnya kerana Umno sedang berkempen yang segala bantuan itu adalah keperihatinan pemimpin kerajaan yang ada sekarang. Justru rakyat mesti mengundi parti kerajaan. Jika ini dilakukan terus-terusan maka elok cari formula supaya ahli-ahli kepada parti pembangkang itu tidak payah membayar cukai pendapatan kepada kerajaan dan membayar cukai jualan ke atas rokok yang di hisap oleh mereka yang telah menjadi ahli parti pembangkang.

Kalau ini dapat dilakukan maka barulah Umno dan BN boleh mengaku yang wang pemberian untuk membiayai gigi palsu atau pinjaman pelajaran itu adalah hak Umno untuk menagih sokongan melalui pemberian itu.

Oleh yang demikian maka kita tidak akan dapat melakukan perubahan walaupun wang negara kita telah di bawa keluar sebanyak RM1 trillion sejak sepuluh tahun dahulu. Jika kita tidak melawan, segala kemungkaran ekonomi dan politik yang dilakukan oleh pimpinan kita, maka sampai bila-bila pun negara kita akan diperlakukan sekehendak hati pimpinan yang tidak jujur dan kita akan hanya menunggu kehancuran yang mungkin datang tidak berapa ketika sahaja lagi. Kemungkinan negara akan menghadapi pengalaman negara-negara kaya yang akhirnya tersungkur di hadapan mata masyarakat antarabangsa akan berlaku kepada negara kita.

Kalau kita tidak lakukan sesuatu maka cerita pemimpin menggunakan hampir RM2 billion untuk menyelesaikan perniagaan anaknya yang gagal, akan berlaku lagi. Negara perlu membeli kelengkapan senjata terus menerus untuk keselamatan negara. Jika tidak ada perubahan maka kita akan menanggung pembiayaan pembelian peralatan yang telah dinaikkan harga berlipat kali ganda untuk membayar “kickback” kepada pihak yang bertanggungjawab dalam jumlah yang berbillion. Semuanya ini ditanggung oleh kita rakyat negara ini.

Itulah persepsi rakyat terhadap pemimpin-pemimpin parti yang memerintah kita. Baru-baru ini terbongkar isu NFC yang melibatkan Shahrizat dan keluarganya. Shahrizat telah diminta berhenti oleh banyak pihak kerana permasalahan yang beliau sedang hadapi. Shahrizat membuat kenyataan, “siapa dalam Umno yang tidak bermasalah?” Kata-kata Shahrizat itu selari dengan persepsi rakyat terhadap barisan kepimpinan hari ini.

Saya menyertai orang ramai yang telah merasakan keletihan mengikut perangai dan budaya Umno ini. Kita disuruh menjadi rakyat yang setia tetapi mereka (pemimpin-pemimpin) tidak pernah menunjukkan sikap dan perasaan kesetiaan kepada negara tercinta ini.

Merekalah (pemimpin) yang telah menjadikan Umno dan ahli-ahlinya serta rakyat yang telah di kelirukan itu untuk menjadi modal perniagaan peribadi mereka. Apabila ada rakyat yang berdegil tidak mahu menjadi modal kepada perniagaan peribadi mereka, rakyat gulungan ini dianggap sebagai pengkhianat pula sedangkan pengkhianat sebenar adalah di kalangan pimpinan yang mencuri wang rakyat dalam jumlah yang beratus billion ringgit nilainya.

Budaya dan pemikiran mereka (pemimpin-pemimpin) sudah terbalik. Yang benar dikatakan salah dan yang salah mereka katakan betul. Saya dan mereka yang sama pemikiran, tidak mahu menjadi gulungan yang menjadi pembawa dalil kedatangan kiamat.

Pembawa dalil kiamat selalunya bertindak dan mempunyai budaya serta pemikiran yang terbalik….yang baik nampak jahat dan yang jahat nampak baik. Yang hak terhimpit dan yang bathil bermaharajalela. Menuju ke jalan yang lurus tidak di gemari oleh mereka yang sedang berkuasa secara rakus.

Lagi pun Tuhan memberikan kita ingatan, “selagi masih ada umat ku yang masih berzikir kepada ku, walaupun seorang, dunia belum lagi akan kiamat” —aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 January 2012, 11:58 am and is filed under
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Southeast Asia: What to Expect in 2012

by Joshua Kurlantzick

Council on Foreign Relations, US

January 3, 2012

The year 2011 saw some of the biggest political developments in Southeast Asia in decades. Burma finally seemed poised for real change, while Thailand continued to move closer to the brink of self-immolation, as political in-fighting worsened. The United States, China, and ASEAN nations continued to raise the stakes in the South China Sea, to a point where, now, it seems unlikely anyone can back off their claims and truly sit down at the table to negotiate some kind of agreement. Singapore had its most competitive election in generations, while in Malaysia massive street protests clearly have rattled the government. Even smaller states faced political turmoil: Papua New Guinea went for weeks with two prime ministers and the potential for civil strife, before the situation was resolved.

What, then, should we expect for an encore? Here are several trends to watch:

 1.
China will bring back the charm.
 Over the past two years, Beijing has cost itself much of the gains it made in Southeast Asia in the late 1990s and early 2000s, when it appeared to be a good neighbor, trading partner, and investor. Through its belligerent approach to the South China Sea and, to some extent, the Mekong River, Beijing has scared many Southeast Asian nations enough that they have welcomed back a greater role for the United States in the region, even though their populations have not exactly become pro-American. The reasons for China’s shift are numerous and sometimes opaque (I explored them in a January The New Republic article). But China has already begun to back away from its belligerent approach: After the Burmese government halted the construction of the Myitsone Dam, Beijing bluntly criticized Naypyidaw, and warned of repercussions, but then, according to both Burmese and Chinese sources, took pains to make sure that the relationship with Myanmar was back on track, and solid once again. Similarly, despite tensions over the South China Sea, China has aggressively wooed the administration of Philippine President Aquino, and has worked hard to soothe Thai, Lao, Burmese, and Cambodian concerns about new Chinese patrols on the Mekong River. And after all, Beijing knows that, in the long run, all of Southeast Asia will become increasingly economically linked to China – China has a good, strong hand to play over time.

 2.
Indonesia will regress.
 The most impressive democratic success story in Southeast Asia over the past decade (and one of the most impressive in the world), Indonesia is already beginning to backslide — one reason why polls earlier this year showed a high degree of nostalgia for Suharto’s time. In the run-up to the next presidential election, horse-trading will continue, while allegations of graft seeping out of the Nazaruddin trial have and will continue to poison public opinion of the government and politics in general. Worse, none of the potential candidates for the presidential election look likely to keep the country on a path of real reform.

 3.
Myanmar will progress.
 With one surprise piled on top of the next, the administration of Thein Sein now faces a crucial year in 2012. If Aung San Suu Kyi truly does compete in and win a by-election, there will be a real, vocal opposition in parliament for the first time, scrutinizing the government in a way that does not happen right now.  Is Thein Sein’s administration ready for this? I think so.

 4.
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will not go to jail for an extended period.
 Although the corruption charges against her continue to pile up, and she has none of the reservoir of support among the poor that former President Joseph Estrada enjoyed, former President Macapagal-Arroyo likely will not go to jail – or, at least not for a significant period of time. Aquino’s campaign against Arroyo and the Supreme Court packed with her allies, has much substance, but he is increasingly risking looking like a man obsessed, and potentially on a vendetta. And while the former president may not be as unwell as she claims, the longer the campaign against her goes on, the more sympathy she may arouse.

 5.
Anwar Ibrahim will go to jail.
  Bet on it.

 6.
The United Sates will make little headway on trade leadership in the region.
 Despite the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has value, all Asian leaders know that Washington isn’t going to pass more trade legislation in 2012, or probably not again in my lifetime.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 6 January 2012, 8:48 pm and is filed under
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Umno: Pelindung atau pemusnah?

— Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 06, 2012

6 JAN — Berita mengenai kami berdua masuk DAP mencetuskan reaksi yang di duga dari penentang kami dalam dunia blog. Yang boleh di duga ialah isi serangan. Serangan peribadi dan personal. Memperlekehkan perwatakan. Orang2 kecewa. Di bayar oleh DAP. Agaknya, ini cara Umno menggalakkan orang lompat? Bayar sana sini. Yang saya tahu itu dia cara Najib Razak operates — pays his way through.

Dan seumpamanya. Jika benar, maka tidak perlu Umno dan penyokong rasa cemas dan gusar. Mudahlah mengalahkan mereka berdua.

Kalau Aspan bertanding di Seremban, semua menteri berasal dari Nogori Sembilan akan hentam dia. Teruklah dia kena belasah. Saya pula, mana lah terdaya menentang Ng Yen Yen di Raub — dia ada billboard yang berharga RM1.9 juta, ada website yang bernilai jutaan ringgit juga. Dia menteri. Dia boleh buat hebohan yang rapi lagi mantap. Lainlah kalau saya bertanding di Triang. Tapi Leong Ngah Ngah has done a sterling job. Biar dia disana.

Dua orang tua (Muhyiddin, Najib Razak dan ramai lagi pimpinan Umno lebih tua dan ganyut) tidak menjadikan kudis pada Umno. Aspan pula tidak hensem walaupun ada menteri Umno kita pandang macam-macam. Umno gagah dan perkasa walaupun pemimpinnya dari yang tertinggi ke yang tidak tinggi semua korap dan rasuah. Bukan saya yang kata, Dr Mahathir yang kata. Bukan saya kata, tapi Shahrizat yang kata. If I go down, the other clowns go down with me. Mana pemimpin Umno yang tidak ada masaalah tanya Shahrizat?

Tidak ada orang misalnya membahaskan apa yang mungkin tidak kena dengan Umno. Umno maksum. Berjuanglah dari dalam. Yang bertanya ini ahli Umno ke? Tahukah system dalam Umno has been designed to self perpetuate bukan self renew. Jangan percaya cakap pimpinan Umno. Najib boleh bercakap mengenai demokrasi penuh, orang lain boleh bergolak dan bertombak berlembing asal kedudukan nya jangan di kacau!. Dan saya bercakap dari pengalaman saya sendiri. Goga dan gegak gempita macam mana nun di bawah, asal kedudukan nya tidak terancam, biar lah.

Ceritalah misalnya, kenapa agenda Melayu yang di canangkan Umno masih di takuk lama dan tidak bergerak? Umno suruh orang Melayu kaku dan jangan berubah sedangkan berubah itulah punca kemajuan. Umno tak ajar orang Melayu jadi fit supaya mereka boleh survive. Malah yang di tanam dalam benak orang Melayu ialah orang Melayu bergantung dan dependent pada Umno. No need to change. Just depend on Umno.

This is a stupid way to promote growth. Tapi cara demikianlah yang Umno suka, lagi di sembah lagi suka. Najib sendiri pun gayanya aristokratik. Dia suka kalau orang berduyun-duyun menyambutnya di lapangan terbang, berduyun-duyun pula mengiringi kunjungannya ke Pekan. Maklum sahajalah, setelah puluhan tahun balik ke Pekan, dia masih tidak tahu jalannya. Terpaksalah segala soldadu yang bersetia dan gegak gempita mengiringi sebutir bintang dan intan payung singgah ke Pekan. Mudah mudahan dengan sentuhan majlisnya, orang Melayu Pekan akan bertukar menjadi Melayu yang terbaik di Malaysia. Saya dengki ke dia di perlakukan demikian? Who cares?

Agenda yang serupa takkanlah lama sangat Umno hendak mencapainya? Mustahil Umno di pimpin oleh si bahlul dan tongong. Bahasa Melayu, agama Islam, kedudukan orang Melayu, institusi Raja Melayu. Semua ini di lindungi oleh undang-undang dan perlembagaan Malaysia. Siapa yang mengancamnya semua? Umno kelentong orang Melayu mengapa? Kebenarannya ialah, semua perkara ini sudah di terima. Umno sahaja yang mempermainkan isiu2 ini demi menutup kebobrokan dan pembohongan keatas orang Melayu. Perkara perkara ini tidak di ancam oleh PAS, PKR atau DAP.

Oh, DAP. Itu parti Cina chauvinis. Anti Melayu. Anti Islam. Anti Raja Melayu. Ini gelaran Datuk pada lahabau Ariff Sabri — tarik balik. DAP pun rakyat DYMM Raja Melayu. Ariff Sabri pun rakyat setia pada DYMM Raja Melayu. Jangan lah respond macam budak-budak. Tak setuju, gesa tarik balik gelaran. Ambiga derhaka! Tarik balik gelaran. Panggil datuk atau tak panggil, doesn’t make any difference to me. Esok saya jaga dari tidor, saya tahu ramai yang ada gelaran Datuk tetap juga bodoh macam dulu. Pendidikan yang saya ada, pengalaman saya, tetap berada dalam diri saya, Datuk atau tidak Datuk.

Apa agenda orang Melayu yang patut? Agenda orang Melayu: (1) pemimpin yang memimpin kerajaan terdiri dari yang terbaik. (2) Urustadbir yang baik. (3) Menentang rasuah. (4)Memajukan ekonomi orang Melayu dengan model ekonomi yang tulin. (5) kedaulatan undang2 atau rule of law.

Ini dia agenda Melayu dalam era baru. Bukan yang lapuk yang di mainkan sampai jemu kita mendengar nya.

Di mana silap Umno? Ekonomi orang Melayu? Modelnya — selagi menyokong Umno, kedudukan ekonomi akan di perjuangkan. Masa depan politik Melayu? —bergantung kepada Umno. Bahasa Melayu dan Islam? — bergantung kepada Umno. Jelas disini, orang Melayu tidak dapat maju kehadapan kerana kesemuanya bergantung kepada Umno. Umno simply doesn’t have a model for the advancement of orang Melayu. It has only one answer — just depend on Umno.

Hasilnya? Orang Melayu yang lemah mental tidak menyedari bahawa majority penyelesaian dalam hidup ini bergantung kepada kesedaran diri sendiri. Sebab itu, saya katakan sikap yang memusnahkan orang Melayu ialah usah di tanya apa Umno boleh lakukan kepada kamu, tanya apa kamu boleh lakukan kepada Umno. Umno pelindung orang Melayu di lindungi; Umno adalah wadah yang mesti di puja dan di taati. Nak senang, sokong Umno. Nak selamat? Sokong Umno.

Kita ada jawapan lain.

* 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 Friday, 6 January 2012, 11:42 am and is filed under
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