Kalau tidak berbohong, bukan Umno namanya

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

May 24, 2012

24 MEI — Kenyataan Rais Yatim yang jumlah kehadiran dalam perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 baru-baru ini hanyalah lebih sedikit dari 22,000 sahaja dan perkiraan beliau itu disanggah oleh penulis-penulis dan individu pro Umno dan BN. Sesungguhnya 22,000 itu hanyalah jumlah peserta yang duduk dari persimpangan Jalan Tun Razak dengan Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman sahaja.

Tetapi saya menyeru kepada sesiapa yang tahu jumlah sebenarnya (lebih dari 300,000 orang), supaya tidak melayan kata-kata Rais itu kerana beliau adalah hulubalang kepada Umno dan apabila bersama Umno itu banyak perkiraan sudah semestinya salah dan terlalu jauh dari kebenaran. Jika Rais mengakui jumlah peserta itu pada hakikatnya lebih dari 300,000 orang, maka beliau tidak akan dianggap sebagai ahli-ahli Umno. Umno memang begitu sikapnya… berbohong dan berbohong terus-terusan. Kalau tidak berbohong mereka tidak selari dengan “attribute” asas Umno itu.

Umno memang tidak merasa apa-apa jika berbohong. Berbohong itu ada satu kewajipan bagi Umno. Jika kita hendak menunjukkan bagaimana Umno nya kita itu, kita mesti berbohong kerana itulah Umno.

Yang penting bagi sesiapa yang menyertai perhimpunan itu, mereka tahu yang jumlah kehadiran melebihi 300.000 orang. Yang kita tahu perhimpunan raksaksa itu dihadiri oleh setiap bangsa dan agama, yang tua dan yang muda serta para professional yang buat pertama kalinya bersama Bersih untuk merakamkan manifestasi dan keluhan rakyat tentang kekurangan dan kelemahan ketara yang menyelubungi SPRM.

Kita jangan respon kepada kenyataan-kenyataan pemimpin-pemimpin Umno kerana mereka adalah dari kumpulan yang tidak boleh diyakini rakyat lagi. Jika angka kedatangan peserta yang melebihi 300,000 itu dikatakan hanya 22,000 orang maka tidak syak lagi Umno sudah begitu panik dan terpaksa berbohong dan menyorok ditempat yang terang.

Kita mesti memahami kenapa pemimpin Umno berbohong tentang isu kehadiran peserta perhimpunan itu. Umno tidak boleh hidup jika tidak semua pemimpin-pemimpinnya berbohong. Kalau tidak berbohong pemimpin-pemimpin Umno tidak akan lena tidur. Mereka akan berasa segar kembali apabila berbohong. Berbohong itu adalah ibarat julap dan sarapan bagi Umno dan pemimpinnya.

Masalahnya saya sudah lama betul tidak bertemu dengan Rais ini. Oleh kerana begitu lama tidak bertemu dengan beliau, rupa-rupanya beliau belum lagi berubah. Baru sekarang saya sedar dan mengakui yang Rais sudah terlalu sebati dengan pembohongannya. Mulut manis Rais itu lah yang membolehkan beliau kekal dalam kabinet Najib. Jangan kita ambil peduli dengan angka-angka yang beliau sebut itu.

Tetapi sebaliknya perhimpunan ulang tahun Umno ke66 baru-baru ini dikatakan oleh media arus perdana yang kehadiran perhimpunan  itu berjumlah 120,000 orang sedangkan jumlah sebenar kehadirannya hanyalah 65,000 orang sahaja. Jangan lawan mereka itu. Umno sebenarnya ibarat orang tua yang sakit. Semua orang mesti percaya dan menuruti kehendaknya. Kita jangan respon dan biarkan pemimpin mereka bercakap untuk membohongi diri sendiri. Apabila rakyat tidak mempercayai pembohongan mereka Umno bertindak pula untuk membohongi diri mereka sendiri… Mereka akan terus berbohong dan berbohong.

Tetapi pembohongan ini rasanya akan berakhir kerana selepas pilihanraya ini beliau tidak ada “premis” untuk berbohong lagi. Semasa itu nanti ramai orang Umno akan bertambah kurus bukan kerana hilang kuasa tetapi kerana semasa itu Umno akan menghadapi kesusahan kerana mereka sudah susah untuk berbohong lagi.

Sementara masih ada kuasa sikit-sikit ini teruskanlah berbohong itu dengan sepuas-puasnya. Selepas pilihanraya nanti mungkin tidak dapat lagi berbohong dengan sewenang-wenangnya. Berbohonglah banyak-banyak. Lagi pun kalau mereka cakap benar pun orang ramai akan menganggap mereka berbohong juga… sebab berbohong itu sudah sinonim dengan Umno. Umno itu bohong, bohong itu adalah Umno. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 8:36 am and is filed under
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Legal action against Bersih sparks renewed scrutiny of new assembly law

By Shannon Teoh

The Malaysian Insider

May 24, 2012

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 — The use of the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) to claim damages from organisers of the April 28 Bersih rally has sparked condemnation from opposition politicians who are now claiming that the new law restricts the right to gather even more than previous legislation.

Yesterday, 10 Bersih leaders, including Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan, became the first persons to be sued in a civil action under the PAA, introduced just days before the April 28 demonstration for free and fair elections.

The government is claiming RM122,000 for alleged damage to 15 government-owned vehicles.

This followed Tuesday’s charges levelled against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Azmin Ali of participating in an unlawful assembly, the first criminal charges under the same law which Datuk Seri Najib Razak had said would allow freedom of assembly “in accordance with international norms.”

Lawmakers from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) told The Malaysian Insider today the law is being used “in a demonisation campaign and shows the prime minister is no reformist but reactionary.”

“The move (to sue) is headed in the wrong direction from the reforms Najib promised,” DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang said.

“What about all those who were assaulted far away from Dataran Merdeka? Should they be queuing up to sue the government?” he asked, referring to dozens of protestors claiming they were attacked by groups of policemen after violence erupted at the rally.

PAS vice-president Salahuddin Ayub also said this was what “we anticipated when the Bill was tabled in Parliament last year, that it would be more draconian and repressive.”

“The spirit of section 27 of the Police Act lives on,” the Kubang Kerian MP said, referring to the provision that required police permits for public gatherings that was repealed when the PAA came into force.

The federal opposition had staged a walkout last November when the Bill was debated in Parliament after criticising the law, which bars street protests, as being more repressive than those in countries like Myanmar, which has one of the world’s poorest human rights records.

PKR de facto leader Anwar, deputy president Azmin and Rembau chief Badrul Hisham Shaharin were charged on Tuesday with taking part in the April 28 Bersih 3.0 rally under section 4(2)(c) of the PAA.

Yesterday, the government sued Bersih under section 6(2)(g) of the law which states that organisers must “ensure that the assembly will not endanger health or cause damage to property or the environment.”

Putrajaya is asking for compensation for 15 vehicles, mostly belonging to the police, that had to be repaired at a cost of RM122,000 and a declaration that Bersih breached section 6(2)(g).

PKR vice-president Chua Tian Chang said the suit “flew in the face of the justice and legal system” as the 10 Bersih leaders were being blamed for acts by other individuals which had nothing to do with them.

“So what the government is saying, if you organise an event, it has to be limited to your own club members. If anyone joins and damages property, you are at fault even if there is no line of responsibility.

“This basically means no public protests. Only private ones where you must register first,” the Batu MP said.

The April 28 rally that saw tens of thousands gather at six different locations before heading to Dataran Merdeka was peaceful until about 2.30pm when Ambiga asked the crowd to disperse.

But her announcement was not heard by most of the crowd who persisted to linger around the historic square which the court had already barred to the public over the weekend.

Just before 3pm, some protestors breached the barricade surrounding the landmark, leading police to disperse the crowd with tear gas and water cannons.

Police then continued to pursue rally-goers down several streets amid chaotic scenes which saw violence from both sides over the next four hours.

Several dozen demonstrators have claimed that they were assaulted by groups of over 10 policemen at a time and visual evidence appears to back their claim but police also point to violence from rally-goers who also attacked a police car.

The police car then crashed into a building before some protestors flipped it on its side

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 3:01 pm and is filed under
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Najib has discarded the robes of “the Great Transformer” for those of “the Great Reactionary” signaling he is no more prepared to listen to the real voices of the people for change

The Najib government’s   gross  mishandling of Bersih 3.0 of April 28 is proving to be even more disastrous than its initial mishandling of Bersih 2.0 of July 9, 2011.

At least, the Najib administration realized in the nick of time and reined in its excessive over-reactions to the Bersih 2.0, performing a volte face two months later by  announcing on  Malaysia Day on Sept. 16 a slew of repeal or reform of draconian laws like the abolition of  Internal Security Act to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”.

Ever since, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has taken pains to emphasise that  no one else but the Barisan Nasional should take credit for the slew of reform  of draconian laws, like the revocation of the four Emergency Proclamations, the repeal of the Internal Security Act, amendments to the Printing Presses and Publications Act and enactment of the Peaceful Assembly Act because the Barisan Nasional government is prepared to  “listen to Malaysians who want change”.

I concede that Najib and the Barisan Nasional Government had attempted to listen to Malaysians who wanted change as represented by the Bersih 2.0 rally which saw 50,000 Malaysians peacefully gathering in Kuala Lumpur for free, fair and clean elections.

But the government had not listened fully or attentively, which is why  four or even five times the number of people who turned out on Bersih 2.0 – some 250,000 Malaysians – gathered peacefully in Kuala Lumpur on April 28 in response to Bersih 3.0 call for free, fair and clean elections.

The Najib government at least made an effort to the listen to the people’s demands in Bersih 2.0 although the efforts at reform proved to be half-hearted, half-baked and generally unsatisfactory like the recommendations of the Parliamentary Select Committee on electoral reforms.

But what has distinguished the Najib administration’s reaction to Bersih 3.0 as compared to Bersih 2.0 is its complete inability and refusal to “listen to the people’s demands for change”.

Instead, the Najib administration launched a concerted and systematic campaign of vilification and demonization against Bersih 3.0 illustrated by:

(i)	the wild and irresponsible allegation by the Prime Minister that Bersih 3.0 was an anti-national conspiracy to topple the government;

(ii)	the instant, blind and unthinking support given to this conspiracy theory by the former Inspector-General of Police Tun Hanif Omar;

(iii)	establishment of an “independent advisory panel” headed by Tun Hanif to conduct an inquiry into the Bersih 3.0 violence although it does not enjoy support, trust and  confidence of the Malaysian public, totally lacking in  credibility and legitimacy; and

(iv)	a most biased, one-sided and tendentious 30-minute documentary entitled “Bersih 3.0 itu Kotor” broadcast on TV1 to poison the minds of viewers on Bersih 3.0 and proof that the government is not prepared to keep an open mind to allow for an objective and impartial inquiry into the Bersih 3.0 violence and brutality.

Four recent  events have banished beyond a shadow of doubt hopes that the Najib administration would be prepared to be open-minded and listen to Malaysians in Bersih 3.0  as had happened after Bersih 2.0, namely:

(i)	The ridiculous claim by the Minister for Information, Communications and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim that there were only 22,270 people who joined the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28, and not hundreds of thousands of people;

(ii)	The incessant harassment of Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasan, violating her privacy, human and citizenship rights;

(iii)	The prosecution of Parliamentary Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR leaders Azmin Ali and Badrul Hashim for offences under the Peaceful Assembly Act in connection with Bersih 3.0; and

(iv)	The “last straw” – the government suing Ambiga and the Bersih 2.0 steering committee for alleged damages  amounting to RM122,000 on Bersih 3.0.

The message that Najib is sending loud and clear is that he has exchanged the robes of “the Great Transformer” for those of  “the Great Reactionary” as he is no more prepared to listen to the real voices and legitimate aspirations of Malaysians for change!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 5:24 pm and is filed under
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Stop personal attacks on Ambiga, invasion of her privacy and  show decency and mutual  respect

Joint Press Statement by Bersih 3.0 Perak and Coalition of 51 NGOs

24.05.2012

Stop personal attacks on Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan. Stop Invasion of Privacy. Show Decency and Mutual  Respect

Malaysians and in particular Perakians have followed with increasing disgust the persistent attacks on Bersih 3.0 Steering Committee Co-Chairperson Dato’ Ambiga Sreenevasan  to intimidate and “break” her resolve.

The perpetrators have stooped so low as to have absolutely no qualms in belittling her religious sensitivities and have further undertaken acts of vulgarity and indecency unheard of in our society! And there seems to be no stopping them, not even by the powers that be. More such dirty, disgraceful and simply unacceptable activities by any standards of a civil society  are being planned  outside Ambiga’s home.

It is time we made our STAND known in no uncertain terms!

That is  why Bersih 3.0 Perak and the coalition of more than 51 NGOs, after receiving so many calls from the public, including from people who are usually placid but now find that their patience is running out, have decided that we, the people,  need to take a STAND on this matter and send a clear message to the perpetrators that this is not the Malaysia we want and hope for,   for our children and future generations.

Firstly, we want justice for Ambiga. No citizen of our country should be subjected to such incessant tormenting just for speaking up for the rights of the people.

Secondly, these are not just attacks on Ambiga. These are attacks which threaten all our fundamental rights and liberties that are enshrined in our Federal Constitution.

Article 5 of the Federal Constitution states that “No person shall be deprived of his/her life or personal  liberties save in accordance with the law.” The Federal Court in the case of Sivarasa Rasiah vs Badan Peguam Malaysia & Anor (2010) 3 CLJ 507 had the occasion to state that right to personal liberty includes the right to privacy.

The perpetrators are bent on using dirty intimidating tactics which are alien to our Malaysian culture for the sole purpose of silencing the majority and imposing their unsolicited will on us.

Malaysia is a beautiful country and it is so not by chance. This nation is built not only on the back of its sheer hardworking people but also by the faith and belief system brought by our fore fathers from around the world.

We are a multiethnic and multi religious society proud of our rich and diverse culture. We have lived together with mutual respect, understanding and tolerance by adhering to the moral and spiritual values in all our religions, which values underpin the very  harmonious society that we enjoy till today..

So, Bersih 3.0 Perak, in collaboration with all its supporting NGOs denounce the shameful attacks on Ambiga and also  denounce the dirty, intimidating and bullying  culture we Malaysians have jointly fought against for so long   that is now  rapidly rearing  its ugly head in  our society again.

We, the coalition of NGOs in denouncing these dirty, intimidating and bullying  tactics  will adopt a moral and spiritual approach that we value and  hold dear and as such we call upon all Malaysians to congregate, conduct and offer prayers in their respective religious homes and sanctuaries  for Decency, Mutual Respect and Protection of Fundamental Rights of Human Beings.

Now is the right time for all Malaysians and in particular Perakians, to stand up , stand together and be counted in bringing back all these moral and spiritual values  we hold dear  in our society. As long as we are guided by such values, we will be a harmonious and progressive society.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 2:43 pm and is filed under
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Utusan Malaysia just produced latest proof that UMNO/BN  totally against clean, free and fair elections, especially Bersih 2.0’s Demand to “Stop Dirty Politics”

The UMNO daily, Utusan Malaysia, has just produced the  latest proof that UMNO/BN is totally against clean, free and fair elections, especially Bersih 2.0’s Demand to “Stop Dirty Politics”.

As I tweeted earlier this morning:  “When DAP appears on Utusan Malaysia front-page, it is bad news/political trouble because distortion n unethical/dishonest journalism at play”.

DAP appeared on the Utusan Malaysia front-page today, with the headline “Karpal perjuangkan PM bukan Melayu”, quoting DAP National Chairman Karpal Singh as saying:

“Selagi saya hidup, saya akan berjuang untuk melihat seorang bukan Melayu menjadi Perdana Menteri”.

This “life-time” quote  was a total distortion of what Karpal told the Utusan Malaysia reporter as he had only referred to the Malaysian Constitution which provides that the office of Prime Minister is open to all Malaysian citizens.

It is most irresponsible and unethical for Utusan Malaysia to try to concoct a non-existing issue and extract political mileage by falsely claiming that the agenda of Karpal and DAP is to appoint a non-Malay Prime Minister, which will fit into the scare-mongering campaigning conducted by irresponsible and unprincipled leaders – like the canard by  former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir last week that if UMNO is defeated in the next general elections, the Malays will lose political power in Malaysia.

The Constitution is very clear that the office of Prime Minister is open to any Malaysian citizen, regardless of race, religion or region, but we accept the political realities that during Karpal and my lifetime, it will be a Malay and not a non-Malay who will be the country’s Prime Minister.

Is the Prime Minister and UMNO President, Datuk Seri Najib Razak prepared to co-operate with Pakatan Rakyat to ensure that Malaysians will not see the dirtiest campaign in the nation’s history – both in the run-up as well as during the campaign proper for the 13th general elections?

Is he prepared to call off the “dirtiest” campaign of lies and falsehoods  against Pakatan Rakyat leaders to restore a minimum of decency and civility in Malaysian politics and public life?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 1:28 pm and is filed under
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Verify, verify, verify

— Ong Kian Ming

The Malaysian Insider

May 24, 2012

MAY 24 — I love this quote from one of the basic rules of journalism — “If your mother says she loves you, check it out”. It’s a warning to journalists to develop a healthy dose of scepticism and to always verify facts even though it’s from a supposedly trustworthy source. I’m not a journalist but I’ve developed my own sense of scepticism after being exposed to academics in the United States, most of whom will jump at every opportunity to dismantle the supposed “proof” or “evidence” behind any new theory. It is perhaps not surprising that we in Malaysia have not developed the same healthy dose of scepticism when presented with a piece of information since we are taught from very young not to question authority figures. But when we are bothered enough to be healthily sceptical and make the extra effort to verify certain facts and figures, the results can be quite enlightening.

Take, for example, the Economic Transformation Programme’s (ETP) Annual Report, which was released in April 2012. According to Exhibit C of this report (pg.8), the nominal Gross National Income in 2011 of RM830 billion surpassed its target of RM797 billion by RM33 billion or 4.1 per cent. In the same exhibit, nominal private investment in 2011 of RM94 billion was shown to have surpassed its target of RM83 billion by RM11 billion or 13.3 per cent. These figures together with other impressive results from the 12 NKEAs led many analysts to praise the ability of the ETP to over-deliver on its targets.

But surprisingly, no one bothered to find out how the GNI and private investment targets were calculated in the first place, especially since the methodology of calculating these projected targets were not revealed in the ETP Annual Report (nor were they revealed in the ETP Roadmap Report which was released in October 2010). If one had bothered to do a bit of research, one would have realised that the RM797 billion nominal GNI target for 2011 seemed a bit low. After all, according to the Ministry of Finance’s Economic Report 2010/2011, which was published together with the 2011 Budget, the projected GNI in 2011 was RM811 billion. This was updated to RM820 billion in the Economic Report 2011/2012, published together with the 2012 Budget.

Some simple maths would have shown that the RM797 billion is even lower than what the target would be using PEMANDU’s target of a 6 per cent real growth rate and a 2.8 per cent inflation rate. Since nominal GNI was RM739 billion in 2010, a nominal growth rate of 8.8 per cent would give us a target of RM804 billion, not RM797 billion (try it out for yourself, if you don’t believe me). Only with a nominal growth rate of 7.8 per cent, which is far lower than what the Ministry of Finance was projecting in 2010 as well as in 2011, would one arrive at the RM797 billion.

In addition, a little bit of triangulation would have allowed us to see that the “achievement” of surpassing the nominal GNI target by 4 per cent is not a great accomplishment given that the real GDP growth rate of 5.1 per cent was at the bottom end of 5 per cent to 6 per cent real GDP growth rate projected by MoF in the Economic Report 2010/2011 and the 5 per cent to 5.5 per cent real GDP growth rate projection in the Economic Report 2010/2011. In fact, real GNI of RM540.9 billion was actually lower than the RM546 billion projected in the Economic Report 2010/2011 and the RM545.5 billion projected in the Economic Report 2011/2012. One’s suspicion would also have been raised by the fact that the real GDP growth rate of 5.1 per cent was shown in Exhibit 3 even though the economic output targets are expressed in GNI terms. Might it have something to do with the fact that real GNI growth was just 4.7 per cent in 2011, far below the 6 per cent real growth target set by the ETP?

What about the RM83 billion private investment target? I found problems with this figure too. In the MoF’s Economic Report 2010/2011, private investment was projected to be RM86 billion in 2011. This was raised to RM94 billion in the Economic Report 2011/2012. A private investment target of RM83 billion assumes an increase in private investment of a mere RM4.3 billion or a 5.5 per cent increase from RM78.7 billion in 2010, lower than the projected nominal GNI growth rate. It seems quite unrealistic to assume that private investment would grow at less than the overall growth rate given that most companies would want to investment in new equipment and infrastructure when the economic is growing. (Note that private investment here refers to gross fixed capital formation such as buying new plant equipment and transportation vehicles.) Furthermore, under the 10th Malaysia Plan, nominal private investment was projected to grow at 16.2 per cent (Appendix, Table 4, pg362) which would give a target of RM91.4 billion in 2011 rather than the RM83 billion shown in the ETP Annual Report. The private investment figures for 2011 were indeed impressive. It grew by 19.4 per cent in nominal terms and 14.4 per cent in real terms surpassing the 10th MP targets of 16.2 per cent and 12.8 per cent respectively. But it grew by only 3.2 per cent above the 10th MP nominal growth target and not by 13.3 per cent, using the RM83 billion target indicated in the ETP Annual Report.

I must admit that I had help in making these calculations and clarifying some concepts. I emailed a few friends who were economists. I also emailed a Bank Negara representative when I spotted an error in their private investment figure for 2011 which was published in their Monthly Statistical Bulletin (they corrected it almost immediately). I emailed a director in the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) to ask about the private investment figures and targets in the 10th MP (he also responded almost immediately). Finally, I emailed two directors at PEMANDU to ask how they calculated their GNI and private investment targets. Sadly, almost two weeks later, I have yet to hear from them.

Perhaps what surprised me most is that all of the analyst reports I read did not even question the GNI and private investment targets as reported by the ETP. All of them praised the ETP for overachieving their targets including the GNI and private investment targets. I expected more from experienced economists whom I assumed would be very familiar with economic data and forecasting. Perhaps they should also take heed of the same basic rule outlined at the start of this article and develop a healthy scepticism towards information that is presented to them?

* This article first appeared The Edge Financial Daily on May 24, 2012.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 11:56 am and is filed under
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World Bank warns there will be no high income economy for Malaysia without implementing structural reforms

By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor

The World Bank in its bi-annual report on East Asia and the the Pacific said that in view of the slow down in the economy in the years ahead, due to a massive world debit problem, the GDP of Malaysia would slow down to 4.6% this year and 5.1% in 2013.

He advised that Najib should stop fiddling with the economy with his multiple reforms which have not brought encouraging progress. He advised Najib strongly to implement structural reforms to bring about a strong recovery in the economy.

Structural reforms means that the New Economic Policy must be stopped and in its place, implement free market policies like those in Singapore, Hong Kong, S. Korea and Taiwan. A free market policy propelled the growth of the economies of these four ASIAN TIGERS, each of which have a per capita income of over US $20,000.

For Malaysia to have a high economy, the GDP must grow by at least 6% a year, which would make Malaysia a high economy nation by 2020.

Two months ago, Najib gave a glowing report and boasted that Malaysia had a per capita income of US$9,500, and would attain high economy status by year 2020. These predictions of Najib have been brushed aside by the World Bank.

Many a time before, the World Bank had repeatedly warned Najib to change and scrap the NEP in order to quicken and strengthen the Malaysian economy.

If Najib wants to improve the livelihood of the people, he should tarry no longer, but should immediately accept the advice of the World Bank.

For the sake of Malaysia and for the poor households living in towns and kampongs, Najib must listen this time.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 May 2012, 3:52 pm and is filed under
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Ambiga a victim of race and religion, says Pak Samad

By
Nigel Aw
 | 4:00PM May 24, 2012

Malaysiakini

Today, as Bersih co-chairperson Ambiga Sreenevasan’s Bukit Damansara residence is turned into a bizarre combination of a mini market, crime scene and conflict zone with pro- and anti-Ambiga groups taking their positions under the watchful eyes of the authorities outside her house, it is business as usual at the Bangsar Utama flat of her fellow co-chairperson A Samad Said.

Since the Bersih 3.0 protest on April 28 which organisers claimed saw some 250,000 participants taking to the streets of Kuala Lumpur, anti-Bersih groups have taken their counter-protest to the doorstep of Ambiga’s residence with burger stalls, butt exercises and now, a mini-market.

But for the 77-year-old A Samad, or more fondly known as Pak Samad, the situation at his residence has been anything but unusual, despite his cheeky baiting of the protesters at Ambiga’s residence.

This tale of two Bersih chiefs, Pak Samad said, is likely because Ambiga is being targeted for her race, religion and to some extent, gender; issues that are often played up by the powers-that-be.

“Ambiga should rightfully lead, she is a lawyer with vast experience, she has received various awards but unfortunately, she is an Indian, a non-Muslim, that is unfortunate.

“If Ambiga was me, these threats targeting her would not have happened,” he said in an interview with Malaysiakini on Tuesday.

Adding that race was inherently a contentious issue, he said this is being manipulated and perpetrated by the powers-that-be with claims such as the position of Malays are being threatened.

The national laureate added that he, too, has faced accusations of a similar nature, though not as severe as the harassment faced by Ambiga.

‘I’m already Malay, I want to be Malaysian’

Among the accusations, he said, was that he has betrayed his own race by participating in the Bersih movement.

“To say that I am not championing my race… There is no need to ask me to be Malay, I am already Malay, I want to be Malaysian,” he said in his usual poetic tone.

The septuagenarian added that he has also been labelled as senile, to which he said: “Then those who have invited me to speak, must be really foolish to invite a senile old man to talk.”

“I grow old not to become stupid, I grow old to become wiser,” he added.

His age, added Pak Samad, has allowed him to break free of being the “slave of power”, which he described as the mainstream media when he was a journalist and editor.

“At that time, I worked in the newspapers, a servant of the powers-that-be. That time, I thought, I had children to care for, a family to care for.

“Because of that, I swallowed whatever bitterness there was for the sake of my family… But now, I am prepared to be langgar (hit),” he said.

NONEPak Samad is perhaps the most prominent literati in the electoral reform movement, but not all his literary colleagues share his activism, with some frowning on his action.

“The literary community is quite divided… it is not about the label of literati, but for individuals to decide whether we want to improve our democracy,” he said.

Pak Samad added that it was not his duty to convince fellow literati to the cause, instead, it was up to them to ask their heart if they should join the movement.

“My duty is merely to explain the state of our country, whether we want this to continue or we want a change,” he said.

By opting for a ‘road not taken’ by many others of his stature, the spotlight has fallen on Pak Samad, who has since been offered bodyguard protection.

“But I rejected (the bodyguards), at my age and this point of my life, even with tens of bodyguards, if my time has come, I will still die… I do not want to be accompanied by bodyguards aside from my wife, that is fate, if it’s time for death then it is death,” he said.

Part I:
‘Then there was Hang Tuah, now Hang Samseng’

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 May 2012, 11:55 am and is filed under
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Bersih supporter hit by tear gas may lose sight in one eye

By
Susan Loone
 | 1:02PM May 24, 2012

Malaysiakini

One the most serious victims of tear gas during the chaos of Bersih 3.0 rally has come forward today to tell his tale of woe.

Asrul Wadi Ahmad, 26, from Kepala Batas, has been reviewed by four doctors and may be diagnosed as blind in the right eye if his condition does not improve in six months.

Asrul (second from right) said he was hit by a tear gas canister directly on his face at about 3.15pm around Masjid Jamek, when he was participating in the Bersih protest on April 28.

A member of the public has uploaded a
video
 of the incident on Youtube.

“I lost vision in my right eye, and whenever I look, there is a black spot in my vision. The doctors I consulted told me that the impact on my eye had been due to an object which hit it at high speed,” Asrul told a press conference in Penang.

Asrul said the situation was calm when he was around Masjid Jamek, but suddenly turned chaotic when the tear gas was fired into the crowd.

When the canister hit him, Asrul fell to the ground and was assisted by members of the public who took him to a nearby hospital, where he was given nine stitches below his eyes.

When asked if he regretted his decision to participate in the rally, Asrul said, “No, this is the people’s struggle.”

He added that he would join another rally if a Bersih 4.0 was organised.

“As youths of the nation, we have a responsibility to ensure that our country remains democratic,” he stressed.

Asrul is in the process of initiating legal action against the police for his condition. He has also lost his job as a mechanical engineer in a manufacturing company in Penang, where he had been offered the job before the Bersih event.

“They told me the job needs someone with good eyesight, and with my condition, I can no longer be a suitable employee,” he lamented.

The Bersih event, following the firing of tear gas, had resulted in scores injured, including journalists covering the event, who claimed they were beaten by the police while on duty.

Doc: Asrul can only see hand movements

Meanwhile, a medical doctor Dr Khim Pa, who accompanied Asrul during the press conference, said the impact of the tear gas canister on the victim’s eye was “very serious”.

“There was damage to the interior chamber of his eyes, his iris was damaged, and there is a blood clot behind his retina,” said the doctor.

“According to the eye specialist, his eyes could not be operated on as there is already scarring on his retina and his nerves there are damaged,” he added.

“If he looks at you, Asrul can only see hand movements and not fingers, he can only see a bit around the edges,” he stressed.

Dr Pa said that Asrul’s blindness may be permanent and in six months if his condition does not improve, he will be certified as “legally blind”.

Meanwhile, Suaram secretariat member Ong Jing Cheng condemned the police for their violence and the attorney-general for persecuting Bersih participants.

Ong said the police and the AG’s office have become “instruments” of the government to bully the people.

“Both these institutions have been used to instill fear in the people who participate in peaceful gatherings,” said Ong at the same press event.

Ong said after two major rallies by Bersih – on July 9 last year, and April 28 – the government and Election Commission have yet to view seriously the demands of Bersih for clean and fair elections.

Victims urged to lodge police reports

He urged victims of police abuse during the last Bersih rally who live in the northern region to come foward and lodge police reports, if they have not done so.

“It is best that we from Suaram try to accompany the victims to lodge police reports because we have received complaints that some who go by themselves are instead abused by the police,” said Ong.

The victims are also urged to lodge reports with the National Human Rights Commission (Suhakam), which has pledged to conduct a public enquiry on the police violence.

Video | 2.08 mins

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 May 2012, 11:25 am and is filed under
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Best democracy in the world – mobocracy

By
Mariam Mokhtar
 | May 25, 2012

Free Malaysia Today

The Malaysians who oppose clean, free and fair elections, otherwise known as Umno and their cronies, have claimed two casualties; democracy and the rule of law.

In place of democracy, we now have mobocracy. S Ambiga and her neighbours have been targeted. Now anything to do with Bersih and the opposition are subject to mob attacks. How soon before the same happens to ordinary citizens like you, should you disagree with Umno policy?

The harassment of Ambiga is a calculated distraction. For the past 54 years, Umno has broken every rule in the book to continue its stranglehold on the country.

Then, along comes Ambiga and Bersih to reproach the government for its shoddy election practices. Bersih stands in the way of the continued Umno domination of Malaysia and the face which one normally associates with Bersih, is Ambiga’s.

Umno wants us to focus on protecting Ambiga, so that we will forget about Umno and the Election Commission’s (EC) electoral fraud.

It has been suggested that race, religion and her gender were in some way connected with Ambiga’s harassment.

To make these links is to overlook decades of known atrocities committed by Umno to control the rakyat. We cannot ignore the wider picture in an effort to seek easy answers and scapegoats to explain these abhorrent actions.

The tragedy of May 13 was blamed on worsening Malay-Chinese relations, the Memali incident on a banned Islamic sect and the murder of Altantuya on a greedy vindictive woman. Scratch beneath the surface and a different picture emerges.

The men who are intimidating Ambiga do so under strict orders from the top. These men include the “butt regiment”, a group claiming to be army veterans and the elite “petty traders” whose chief leads the life of a Bollywood film star. Both are aided by their mercenaries, the Mat Rempits.

Umno and their cronies have been spoilt by their continual abuse of the constitution and other initiatives which were meant to help all sections of the rakyat, not just a select few.

Tough future

With a stronger opposition party, and with Bersih demanding free and fair elections, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak is backed into a corner. It is no surprise that Bersih received a violent reception.

Malaysians face a tough future because extremist elements within the government do not wish to relinquish power. The extremists have a strong sense of entitlement because of their wrong and unshaken belief that they deserve it; but why should one’s race and religious inclination be the determining factors in education, financial aid and welfare programmes? Why should others be held hostage by the extremists? Why exclude legitimate Malaysians from sharing Malaysia’s wealth?

What did the police do to stop the petty stall holders who distributed free burgers outside Ambiga’ house?

The deputy chief of police, Khalid Abu Bakar, seems incapable of distinguishing between right and wrong, and condoned the actions of the petty trader’s group. He made a mockery of the rule of law. He does not deserve his badge of office.

If he was more responsible, he could have stopped the thugs from perpetrating their act of civil disobedience and there would have been none of the farcical selling of lots outside Ambiga’s residence and none of the “butt” displays from so-called veteran soldiers.

No servicemen would dishonour his old unit. The butt-exhibitionists brought the Yang di-Pertuan Agong’s name into disrepute, because all soldiers swear allegiance to King and country. They also brought shame to the Malay community.

Khalid’s stupidity was nothing compared to the silence of the Malaysian leaders who were mute when it came to these personal attacks on individuals. Did we hear our PM condemn the harassment? Did the Home Minister, under whose purview the police come, rebuke the mob-rule? Their silence gave tacit support to anarchy.

These mobs want to hold all of Malaysia to ransom. They are now attacking any Bersih talk, and have targeted ceramahs by the opposition. Last night, a senior citizen suffered head injuries when a talk by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, was pelted with stones and eggs.

So who will accept responsibility should a death occur in these attacks? One man risks losing the sight in one eye because the police fired tear-gas canisters directly at the crowd during the Bersih 3.0 rally of April 28.

Umno lackeys

These Umno lackeys have defied the rule of law. They invade residential areas, invite Mat Rempits to intimidate the public by revving their engines and racing around dangerously; they deface public property just so Umno can continue to govern. Reasoning with them is like reasoning with a toddler in a temper tantrum.

The IGP has no grip on policing just as Najib has no clue on how to govern his “best democracy in the world”. Mat Rempits are encouraged to harass and intimidate the rakyat through their acts of civil disobedience.

Najib tells the whole world he practises moderation but he is a leader who is frustrated by the power-struggles within his party. His government is weak and inefficient. Voting them in at the 13th general election will be like voting for the lunatics to run the asylum.

Now, Malaysia is ruled by mobocracy or mob-rule. Najib has said that he will “defend Putrajaya at all costs, and with blood, sweat and tears”; perhaps the mob-rule will be used to fulfil this promise. If mob-rule dominates, emergency powers will be swept in and Umno can continue to govern. There would be no need for GE13.

The divisive tactics used against Ambiga are not new. They were used in Memali and the May 13, 1969 incident. The reason has always been the same: to divide and rule.

It is time Malaysians snapped out of their delusions and make a stand.

Mariam Mokhtar is a FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 May 2012, 12:07 pm and is filed under
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Najib and Hishammuddin must condemn and dissociate themselves if they do not want to be regarded  as encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their prolonged silence on  recent series of disruptions and attacks on PR functions

The question Malaysians are asking is whether the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussin are encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their failure to condemn the recent series of disruptions and attacks on Pakatan Rakyat functions!

Is this the  route for Malaysia to take to become the world’s best democracy as Najib had boasted after Bersih 2.0 on July 9 last year?

Is this the example Najib  is setting for the world on  what he meant when he called for a Global Movement of Moderates to isolate and marginalize the extremists?

Yesterday, a Pakatan Rakyat ceramah in Lembah Pantai was pelted with eggs and stones, leaving several injured and bloodied.

Earlier this week, another PR ceramah in Pekan Bangi, Selangor was disrupted by a group who threw stones at the crowd.

Last Saturday, a high-tea event in Merlimau that was scheduled to feature Bersih 2.0 co-chairperson Datuk Ambiga Sreenivasan was blocked by protestors and two DAP Malacca State Assemblymen, Khoo Poay Tiong (Ayer Keroh ) and Tey Kok Kiew (Bandar Hilir) were pelted with eggs and stones, while several vehicles were damaged.

This morning, the office of PKR MP for Lembah Pantai Nurul Izzah in Pantai Dalam was pelted with more eggs while PAS Bukit Gantang MP and former Pakatan Rakyat Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Nizar Jamaluddin complained that eleven cars were splashed with blue paint at his ceramah in Kampung Sayong Lembah, Kuala Kangsar yesterday.

For more than a week, my call for the restoration of decency and civility to politics and public life in Malaysia had fallen completely on deaf ears as far as the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Home Minister and UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers and political leaders are concerned – although one “uncivilized” act  after another had marred Malaysian politics and public life  like the Perkasa “funeral rite” in front of Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng’s house in Penang,  the setting up of a burger stall and the “butt dance” by a group of armed forces veteran in front of Ambiga’s house at Bukit Damansara, Kuala Lumpur and the demonstrations by anti-Bersih groups outside Ambiga’s house yesterday.

The Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister, the Home Minister, UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders are continuing to comment on all sorts of things under the sun but they are signally silent on the increase and  escalation of incidents of aggression, thuggery and violence particularly at Pakatan Rakyat events and functions.

What message is Najib and Hishammuddin seeking to convey with their silence, which could only be construed as “silent blessing” for the spate of aggression, thuggery and violence at Pakatan Rakyat functions?

Najib and Hishammuddin must condemn and dissociate themselves from the increase and escalation of deplorable  incidents at PR events if they do not want to be regarded  as encouraging a political culture of aggression, thuggery and violence by their prolonged silence on the  recent series of disruptions and attacks on PR functions!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 May 2012, 3:25 pm and is filed under
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‘Then there was Hang Tuah, now Hang Samseng’

By
Nigel Aw
 | 3:19PM May 23, 2012

Malaysiakini

During the glorious days of the Malacca sultanate, the legendary warrior Hang Tuah, leading his four other ‘Hang’ companions, stood out as a symbol of pride for the Malay kingdom.

But in modern Malacca,  ‘Hang Samseng’ (gangster) have emerged, lamented Bersih co-chairperson A Samad Said, in reference to the violence targeting his colleague Ambiga Sreenevasan in Merlimau, Malacca, last Saturday.

“When Ambiga was going to Merlimau… There were around 200 gangsters waiting there. Ambiga was invited by PAS to explain Bersih’s struggle. This is democracy.

“But before she could arrive, our friends there called and asked her not to come because there already were gangsters in the land of Hang Tuah.

“Think about it, in the land of Hang Tuah, there is ‘Hang Samseng’,” added the national laureate, fondly known as Pak Samad.

While Hang Tuah is highly regarded in Malay culture, Pak Samad, 77, described the ‘Hang Samseng’ as an “embarrassment”.

“I feel ashamed. This is not the way we strengthen our democracy, more than 50 years after we achieved independence… (they should) choose a better way” he said in an interview yesterday.

Last Saturday, a hi-tea event which was supposed to feature Ambiga was blocked by protesters and two DAP state assemblypersons, Khoo Poay Tiong and Tey Kok Kiew, were pelted with eggs and stones as they were leaving.

The incident damaged several vehicles, including Tey’s, which was left with severe denting, a punctured tyre and a broken side mirror.

Perkasa and Umno have admitted to being part of the protest but have both denied that they were responsible for the subsequent violence.

‘Is shaking butts our culture?’

The Merlimau violence was preceded by a series of bizarre protests outside Ambiga’s house in Kuala Lumpur, including a ‘butt exercise’ which made the international news headlines.

This, Pak Samad sarcastically suggested, appears to have become a new culture.

“We have achieved independence for more than 50 years, and our culture and manners appear to be butts. And then they hired gangsters to paint outside people’s house. Is this our culture?” he asked.

Last Tuesday, a group of army veterans shook their posterior in front of Ambiga’s house in protest against what they said was the smearing of the country’s name by Ambiga, who they described as an “enemy of the nation”.

Five days before that, a group of traders set up stalls and served free burgers, including beef burgers, outside the house of Ambiga, who is a Hindu and vegetarian.

On Monday, a group of traders painted yellow lots for trading along the road outside Ambiga’s house in preparation of a ‘mini market’ they plan to set up tomorrow and Friday.

The bustle outside her house comes as a series of counter-protests by traders claiming they had suffered losses during the Bersih 3.0 protest in Kuala Lumpur last month.

VIDEO | 1.50 mins

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 May 2012, 11:45 am and is filed under
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A reply to Umno Youth’s challenge to debate

Hiu Woong-Sin

Malaysiakini

May 25, 2012

An open reply to Umno Youth’s challenge to a debate published in The Star over my ‘heckling’ of PM Najib Razak in London:

Dear Khairun Aseh,

There is enough evidence on YouTube to substantiate my act of chanting “Bersih” (during Najib’s event in London). I do not know what other evidence you require from me to substantiate what I did.

If you wish to understand what Bersih is all about, there’s plenty of information and evidence provided by the organisation’s steering committee online.

Rather than debate with me about Bersih wouldn’t it make more sense for you to publicly engage with its steering committee? A principled government will engage with civil society groups like Bersih instead of using the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012 to suppress civil dissent.

I am aware that my actions have attracted numerous responses through media and social network.

Your challenge to me is but an act of redemption for your president and an act that avoids a loss of face for Umno.

In other words, your challenge is just another public relation stunt for that party and it will not benefit the Malaysian taxpayers who had already paid for the PM’s promotional stunt in London.

My actions were grounded on the moral conviction that, in a democracy I am entitled to freedom of expression. I acted upon my obligation as a Malaysian citizen to make reasonable demands for a free and fair electoral system.

The Rakyat are well aware that all legitimate channels for demanding Free and Fair Elections have been exhausted.

Yet the government continues to use the mainstream media to manipulate the Rakyat in claiming that it has addressed Bersih’s demands.

If the government has shown any sincerity in addressing its demands, the political blunder on the amendment to the Election Offences Act would not have happened in the first place.

Needless to say, the government under Najib’s watch has again failed to protect the welfare of Malaysian citizens when our heartfelt request for ‘duduk bantah’ at Dataran Merdeka was met with extreme police brutality.

The London 02 protest was a legitimate act of citizenship because chanting Bersih was the only way left to get the message across to a prime minister who shies away from dialogue, yet continues to intimidate dissenting voices.

 Civil disobedience is a non-violent act of protest and was not intended to insult or humiliate the PM. On the question of what is Malaysian and un-Malaysian, Umno cannot claim it is on a moral high ground on the subject of ethical conduct.

Ethical conduct involves a fundamental respect for the law, and our conduct at the London O2 did not contravene the legal codes in the UK or even in Malaysia.

We voiced our discontent and it stopped there. Whereas the acts of public humiliation that Umno and Perkasa undertook in mounting personal attacks against other public figures of the opposition, undermines fundamental ethics of political conduct, going as far as invading an individual’s right to privacy.

If such public intimidation can be engineered against public figures, what’s going to stop Umno from bullying an ordinary fellow like me?

Democracy allows dissenting voices to be heard and when we express our discontent within the remit of the law, it becomes very undemocratic of Umno to use the machinery of the government to bully individual citizens.

This clearly contradicts Najib’s slogan of ‘Rakyat Didahulukan’. Umno no longer has the moral credentials to have any say about ‘mannerisms’.

After more than five decades in power, the ruling party has choked freedom with the politics of fear. On a final note, Najib offered to speak to me after the event. Hence I do not want to waste my time debating with Umno Youth.

Najib can hide behind Umno Youth; unleash his institutional prowess through the might of youthful minions. But how long is Najib going to hide? The prime minister needs to answer the call of Bersih and to be sincere about this subject.

I am prepared to face the court of public opinion for my conduct, and I leave it to the public to reflect upon the political conduct and aims of Umno Youth for instigating an unwarranted challenge. Thank you for listening to me.

“You can chain me, you can torture me, you can even destroy this body, but you will never imprison my mind” – M. Gandhi

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 May 2012, 4:13 pm and is filed under
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Instead of raging over Mahathir’s outrageous and preposterous blog, Malaysians should commiserate with him

Yesterday, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir blogged that the Bersih 3.0 rally was a “preparation” and “warm-up” by Pakatan Rakyat for violent demonstrations to reject the results of the 13th general election should the opposition fail to win it.

He said:  “Their defeat will be followed by violent demonstrations that will go on and on so that the election results are rejected and a new government is put in place, that is approved by the opposition.

“After that, they will attempt to hold an election again that they can manipulate.”

Mahathir must hold the Malaysian record of having made the most number of outrageous and preposterous statements in his political life, before, during and after his 22-year premiership (1981-2003) but what he blogged yesterday must rank as among his most outrageous and preposterous statements.

It was a complete figment of his imagination as there is no truth or basis whatsoever – like Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s ludicrous  allegation that Bersih 3.0 was an Opposition coup d’etat attempt to topple the government (an idea probably inspired by the discredited Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Rahim Noor) when all that the peaceful protestors were armed with, if at all, were salt and water bottles to protect themselves against any indiscriminate police teargas and chemically-lacked water cannon.

Apart from Mahathir diehards who will accept and support whatever outrageous and preposterous statements made by the former premier, two immediate and foremost reactions among thinking and rational Malaysians to Mahathir’s blog yesterday must be either to fume and rage at his vile statement or to dismiss it as a sign of senility.

Mahathir is not senile as there is a dangerous pattern and design behind his blog yesterday, which is undoubtedly his most irresponsible and reckless statement since stepping down as Prime Minister nine years ago.

Instead of raging and fuming over Mahathir’s blog, may be Malaysians should commiserate with him.

Unlike Najib and the other UMNO leaders, Mahathir seems to have realized the full import and implications of the Bersih 3.0 rally with some 200,000 to 300,000 Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, class, region, gender or age, coming out peacefully for a common national cause for a clean election and a clean Malaysia despite all the high-powered and futile campaign in the past month to vilify and demonise Bersih 3.0 and Pakatan Rakyat.

After Bersih 3.0, the writing on the wall has become clearer  – that UMNO and Barisan Nasional can be voted out of power in Putrajaya by the Malaysian electorate in the 13th general election!

This realization has created in  Mahathir a new sense of  desperation reflected not only by his blog yesterday but also his scare-mongering in Kedah last week that the defeat of UMNO in the next general election would be akin to Malays losing political power in their own country.

Mahathir should know that it is not true that the Malays will lose political power with the defeat of UMNO, as replacing UMNO and Barisan Nasional in Putrajaya will be the Pakatan Rakyat comprising PKR, PAS and DAP; and the new Prime Minister will be Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim instead of Najib.

What is evident is that Mahathir has a personal stake in the outcome in the next general elections as to cause him to do his utmost, including concocting lies and falsehoods that Bersih 3.0 was a “warm-up” by Pakatan Rakyat for violent demonstrations to reject the results of the next elections if the Opposition should fail it or that the Malays will lose political power in their own country if UMNO is defeated.

What is Mahathir’s personal stake in the next general election?

Could it be that it has sunk in on him after the Bersih 3.0 rally that UMNO and Barisan Nasional can be voted out of power in Putrajaya in the next general election, and this meant that the long list of financial scandals and abuses of power in his 22 years as Prime Minister could finally be the subject of a full inquiry and he is doing his utmost to prevent the full story of his 22-year premiership from being told?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 May 2012, 3:38 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia after regime change

 – Greg Felker

New Mandala

May 26th, 2012

Credibility and the search for a new developmental model

In comparative politics the word “regime” refers to the formal and informal institutions by which political power is acquired and exercised. In political economy, a regime refers to an enduring combination of “socio-economic alliances, political-economic institutions, and a public-policy profile” (Pempel 1998: 20). In the case of Malaysia, the Barisan Nasional (BN) regime’s durability in the former, political sense has been closely associated with a particular sort political economy, or regime in the second sense. Despite significant changes over the years, Malaysia’s hegemonic-party political system, centered on United Malays National Organisaion’s (UMNO) dominance, has since the early 1970s practiced a form of developmentalism that has shaped Malaysian society in profound ways. As the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) understands, its challenge to the BN’s national political monopoly is inescapably a contest about Malaysia’s economic development model, as well. To what extent, and in what ways, does the prospect of change in Malaysia’s political regime imply a change in the country’s pattern of development?

Contemporary debates make clear the close connection between political contestation and economic policy choices. Indeed, one of the UMNO-led government’s vulnerabilities is a sense, growing in recent years, that the Malaysian development miracle has wavered and, for large segments of the population, inadequately fulfilled its promise of a steadily improving quality of life. The notion of the “middle-income trap”, first popularised in a global context by Geoffrey Garret in 2004, quickly became a frame for discussions of possible policy reform within Malaysia and among foreign observers. Two themes have been prominent in these discussions. One is the issue of the quality of governance as this affects broader economic efficiency and productivity. Second is the mooted necessity of a broad liberalisation of restrictions and regulations to enable greater flexibility and entrepreneurial dynamism. In both areas, the opposition and pro-reform civil society organisations have made telling critiques of the incumbent leadership. For its part, Najib Razak’s administration has launched a series of reform initiatives under the New Economic Model (NEM) that speak to the same concerns about governance and the structural challenges to Malaysia’s continued economic development. This dimension of the new competitiveness in Malaysia’s politics adds programmatic substance to a political tableau in which mass protest, scandal, and cultural controversies have comprised much of the drama.

PR has sought to highlight evidence of deterioration in the quality of Malaysian governance. Within that broad rubric, PR officials have pointed to figures on budgetary ‘leakage’, capital outflows, and investor perception surveys as evidence of substantial corruption. For its part, the Najib administration has pledged to implement a Government Transformation Program (GTP) to foster a more responsive, decentralised, and efficient system. A major focus of the liberalisation debate concerns the impact of preferential policies (still widely referred to as the New Economic Policy/NEP) for Malaysia’s Bumiputera majority. A range of academic and policy studies have argued that the NEP has hindered a shift towards knowledge- or innovation-based development by restricting the development and availability of relevant, highly-skilled workforce talent (Henderson & Philips 1997; Woo 2009; World Bank 2011). The PR’s agenda, as laid out in its 2010 Buku Jingga (Orange Book), pledges to replace NEP-style preferences with a set of income-focused welfare policies, noting that their disproportionate representation among the poor means that Malays would be the primary beneficiaries. The government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) makes more qualified pledges to reform the administration of preferential policies, including a parallel emphasis on assisting lower-income Malaysians through a revamped safety net.

Given that both the opposition and government have recognised these issues and advanced proposals for change, the credibility of reformist pledges becomes politically important. The government’s influence over the mainstream media enables it to tout its progress, as when it has highlighted declines in certain crime statistics, or as when the World Bank’s 2012 Ease of Doing Business Report ranked Malaysia’s regulatory environment as significantly improved. The degree to which these claims of change are felt at the grass roots level, or credited by key segments of the electorate, is another matter. Such assurances have been a recurrent theme at the advent of each new UMNO administration (think of Mahathir Mohamed’s pledge upon assuming the Premiership to make government bersih/clean, cekap/efficient, amanah/trustworthy). The PR’s record of economic management in the states that it governs is a potentially significant source of credibility, though state governments’ control over key factors in the cost of living is limited (the Buku Jingga pledges that a PR Federal government would renationalise or heavily regulate privatised utilities.)

One arena in which credibility plays a particularly crucial role concerns Malaysia’s large diaspora, which consists of anywhere from half a million to a million persons, many of whom are educated or highly-skilled. According to the World Bank (2011), the stream of Malaysians going abroad quasi-permanently constitutes a serious “brain drain” for an economy whose chief constraint is the supply of skilled human capital. At the same time, the diaspora is a potential resource for development if it could be tapped by inducing Malaysians to return from abroad, or simply to invest some of their accumulated capital, knowledge, or business connections in their homeland. The ETP acknowledged the problem’s seriousness, and the government established a TalentCorps to cultivate interest among the diaspora in contributing to Malaysia’s development. Senior government ministers have been highly visible in this thrust, making frank comments and pledging basic change. As for the opposition, during a recent visit to Australia, DAP chief Lim Guan Eng argued that the PR government he leads in Penang represents the prospect of a genuine shift in terms of the freedom for upward mobility that reverse migrants might enjoy in within Malaysia. These efforts’ high public profile underscores the political premium that attaches to the credibility of vows to make a break with the established pattern of extensive government influence over professional opportunities in Malaysia’s state-led development model.

If credible claims to liberalise government influence in business and professional life were the sole point of contention, the opposition would seem to have a natural advantage. However, other important concerns shadow public discussion about the reforms needed to escape the middle-income trap and attain developed-economy status. The prospect of growing inequality is one such concern, and a crucial one. Indeed, much evidence from around the world suggests that the shift to a knowledge-based economy tends to exacerbate economic, social, and regional inequalities quite significantly. This reality creates tensions between distributional and growth goals in any growth-oriented economic reform agenda. Thus, the opposition’s focus on corruption and mal-governance as a source of Malaysia’s economic weakness, however much traction it might or might not gain in the face of the government’s own bid to claim reformist credit, can only be a part of a viable platform. Cleaner and more responsive government, and more competitive conditions for big business, especially in infrastructure and public services, are important focal points of debate, and are generally unifying themes for a diverse opposition. Yet, alone they are unlikely to prove sufficient to persuade key elements of the electorate that the opposition has a compelling alternative growth model. Likewise with proposals to revamp the safety net in order to better protect the vulnerable segments of society. As the welfare components of both the government and opposition platforms testify, such promises are important to reassure key potential swing constituencies, those who are more rural and/or economically downscale, that reform will not come at their expense. Even many middle class Malaysians, however, evince mixed sentiments about the prospect of far-reaching liberalisation of the system of subsidies and preferential policies that have girded the Malaysian political economy under BN rule. It is notable that the PR government in Kedah, led by PAS, has stated that its agenda will not be bound by the Buku Jingga, presumably because its perceived liberalism might make it controversial amongst that government’s supporters.

Themes of improved governance and liberalisation of heavy-handed regulation must ultimately be woven into a broader vision of an alternative development regime, one in which initiatives to regain the economy’s upward growth momentum simultaneously generate widely distributed opportunity. Human capital, and the education and training system, are obviously central to such a program (Ritchie 2010). The Buku Jingga proposes liberalising and depoliticising higher education, and pledges to expand access with lower cost. Even more important is the harder, more complex task of reforming primary and secondary education system. Here the Buku Jingga offers aspirational goals related to teacher pay and assessment, yet the complexities and costs of raising the quality of instruction will inevitably be high. In particular, such changes must be carefully related to curriculum reform, to shift from rote learning to encourage creative and independent thinking skills. Making deep reforms quickly will be difficult in a context where primary education has been integral to the socio-cultural identity and dignity of Malaysia’s various communities. In this area, too, the government has also bid to claim a reformist mantle.

In the shorter term, fostering return-migration has been identified, by the government, opposition, and many academic observers, as a key means of addressing the human capital needs of a reinvigorated development push. This also will require careful management in both policy and political terms. At present, the focus is on the challenge of inducing the Malaysian diaspora to return or otherwise contribute to the nation’s economic advance. Should such efforts succeed, however, new questions of fairness and equity among professional ranks are likely to emerge, as Singapore’s experience with popular criticism of its program to recruit “global talent” illustrates. This potential was evident in the opposition’s response to the government’s offer to the skilled Malaysian diaspora of a reduced income tax rate as an incentive for repatriation; DAP chief Lim called for the lower rate to apply to all experts in relevant high-technology fields, including those who have pursued careers at home.

Finally, other types of policy intervention will continue to be important to a politically compelling development agenda. Prominent among these are programs to build workforce skills, enhance investment in pre-commercial but economically relevant research and development, diffuse information technology through infrastructure upgrading, training, and small and medium scale enterprises (SME) extension services, and the fostering of local entrepreneurship in high growth sectors. The government’s efforts in these areas have often been criticised as bureaucratic and disconnected from private business priorities. Yet, rapid regulatory liberalisation, and a much-reduced government role, alone are unlikely to result in an accelerated transition to a knowledge-based economy. South Korea’s rise as a leader in broadband infrastructure and IT-enabled business is a case in point. Notwithstanding the 1990s reforms that sought to limit collusion between government and the big-business chaebol, the new phase of IT-based development involved strong state policy leadership in building infrastructure, investing in human capital, and subsidising technology development and adoption (Lee 2007). In general, then, the rubric for reform in Malaysia will be as much about how to utilise the government’s economic and technology agencies more effectively, and in ways seen as accessible and relevant to the public, as about how to lighten the heavy hand of state intervention.

The challenges facing Malaysia, and any parties seeking to govern it, thus go beyond needs for liberalisation and greater government transparency and efficiency, as crucial as those reform goals might be. Rather, they involve articulating an alternative form of a developmental agenda, one that integrates distributional concerns with the sort of productivity-enhancing measures advocated by those focused on the putative middle-income trap. The challenges involved in formulating and communicating this sort of agenda are not small. Without such a vision and credible claims to be able to implement it, though, laudable reform goals related to transparency and accountability may not be enough to mobilise and retain the support of important segments of the Malaysian electorate. Malaysia’s modern history includes a powerful, ongoing legacy of developmentalism. For all the critiques of the pathologies of excessive government meddling, it’s a mode of politics whose relevance is reinforced by contemporary exigencies of globalisation and technological change, and their impacts on key social constituencies. If the new space for political contestation is to yield regime transition of one kind or another, a key element will be the competition to “do development” better.

Greg Felker is Associate Professor of Politics at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, USA. He previously served on the faculty of the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology, and has been a visitor at the University of Maryland and Chulalongkorn University. He received his M.P.A. and Ph.D from Princeton University.

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Perubahan tetap akan berlaku, yang penting bersabar

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

May 25, 2012

25 MEI — Bergiat dalam politik hari ini merupakan satu aktiviti yang bukan sedikit seriknya. Politik tanahair hari ini merupakan politik yang paling getir sekali yang belum pernah kita alami selama ini. Bahangnya panas terik dan ianya hanya boleh digiatkan oleh mereka yang benar-benar yakin dan menjadikan keyakinan mereka itu sebagai penambahan kepada tenaga yang dikeluarkan oleh penggiat politik.

Saya sendiri telah berehat daripada bergiat selama lebih dari satu dekad dengan menghabiskan masa di rumah dan kadang-kadang pergi melihat di tempat-tempat yang belum saya lawati. Selama saya berehat itu saya tidak dihubungi oleh mana-mana pemimpin Umno walaupun saya pernah bersahabat dengan mereka.

Tetapi saya tidak pernah putus hubungan dengan kawan-kawan yang berada di strata bawah parti Umno dan jumlah kenalan saya yang saya kenali dengan rapat adalah ribuan jumlahnya di seluruh negara. Setelah saya mengambil keputusan untuk memutuskan hubungan saya dengan Umno, saya telah mengambil keputusan untuk berfikir di luar kotak dan menyertai DAP pada 8hb Januari yang lalu.

Saya menyertai DAP setelah berfikir dan melakukan introspeksi yang mendalam selama bertahun lamanya. Saya berfikir kerana jika saya menyertai parti itu tentulah kerana saya bersetuju dengan perjuangannya dan akan bersamanya buat selama-lamanya. Saya katakan kepada ahli keluarga saya serta sahabat-sahabat akrab saya, ‘that I am going to grow old together with DAP’. Saya impikan untuk bersama sebuah parti politik yang mempunyai intergriti yang tinggi dan mengutamakan ‘rule of law’ serta memperjuangkan sebuah kerajaan yang mempunyai ‘governance’ yang tinggi.

Saya telah nampak dengan jelas bahawa DAP adalah parti yang penuh dengan disiplin, berintergriti, menghormati undang-undang dan mendukung semua yang tertulis di dalam perlembagaan persekutuan kita. Saya tidak boleh dipengaruhi oleh momokan Umno dan media arus perdana kerana saya menumpukan kepada mengasah pemikiran yang tidak boleh dipengaruhi oleh unsur-unsur jahat dan negatif apatah lagi jika momokan itu datangnya dari Umno sendiri.

Saya memahami keadaan dalam Umno itu kerana saya telah menghabiskan dua pertiga daripada umur saya di dalam parti itu. Dari awal penubuhan DAP, parti itu telah cuba digambarkan sebagai parti chauvinis, komunis, anti Melayu dan Islam dan anti kepada segala-gala yang baik. Dari awal lagi saya telah mengetahui bahawa Umno mahukan DAP ini dikuburkan kerana Umno tahu yang DAP itu merupakan parti pembangkang yang baik dan tinggi etika kepimpinan mereka. Umno tahu jika DAP mendapat sokongan orang Melayu maka parti itu secara mudah dapat mengambilalih MCA dan Gerakan dan sekarang terus sahaja bersama PAS dan PKR bagi menjadi alternatif yang ‘effective’.

Jika benarlah DAP itu tidak baik dan tidak mendapat sokongan, kenapa pemimpin-pemimpin Umno tidak boleh tidur nyenyak? Dalam waktu Umno mulai hilang identitinya sebagai parti kebangsaan dan parti yang sudah begitu sebati dengan kerja-kerja kotor seperti rasuah dan salahguna kuasa, DAP pula bersama PAS sudah dilihat oleh rakyat sebagai parti-parti yang tinggi disiplinnya dan selayaknya menjadi parti sokongan ramai.

Dalam krisis Mahathir-Anwar, ia telah membawa ‘consequence’ yang begitu besar maka tertubuh pula parti yang dinamakan PKR, pimpinan Anwar Ibrahim, orang yang membuatkan Dr Mahathir dan ramai pemimpin Umno kurang tidur, tetapi banyak makan sampai ke saat ini.

Apabila wujud kumpulan dan pihak alternatif yang kuat, maka secara beransur-ansur menyedari yang Umno selama ini merupakan satu parti yang berkepimpinan yang mula dianggap sebagai ‘faked leadership’ dan dari hari ke hari Umno telah menampakkan kelemahan-kelemahan yang menonjol.  Rakyat telah mula menyedari bahawa Umno sebenarnya sudah mula menjadi parti yang sudah hilang perjuangannya sejak kepimpinan Dr Mahathir lagi. Najib pula telah hilang segala punca bagaimana untuk menjadi pemimpin yang diyakini dan dihormati rakyat, dan kenyataan ini menambahkan lagi keterampilan parti-parti dalam Pakatan Rakyat.

Elok tidak kita sebut lagi isu Dr Mahathir ini kerana dari masa ke semasa rakyat telah bertambah ramai yang menulis sejarah yang tepat dan salah satu yang disedari oleh mereka ialah Dr Mahathir merupakan pemimpin yang mula mencetuskan kerosakan kepada orang Melayu untuk membangun dalam semua bidang, baik dari bidang pemikiran, agama, sosial, politik dan semua bidang kehidupan manusia.

Roh perjuangan Umno sudah lama hilang… yang tinggal hanyalah tubuh yang lesu yang berpaut kepada mesin-mesin tali hayatnya iaitu wang sogokan, ugut mengugut, gangster-gangster dan tekan menekan sahaja. Satu lagi talian hayat yang ada ialah media massa yang berat sebelah dan pengamal fitnah dan taktik kotor seperti yang lazim mereka lakukan.

Kalau kita masih ingat, segala celaan kepada parti-parti pembangkang seperti PAS dan DAP sudah mula luput dari ingatan rakyat. Dulu BN sentiasa mengejek parti PAS sebagai parti yang kegiatannya hanya kegiatan berkala, iaitu dilihat hanya semasa pilihanraya hampir tiba. Tetapi sejak 15 tahun dahulu PAS telah berada di sisi rakyat sentiasa dan mengadakan program-program bersama orang ramai dengan tidak putus-putus. Sebaliknya cawangan-cawangan Umno pula tidak lagi aktif dan hanya kelihatan semasa mesyuarat agong tahunan cawangan-cawangan sahaja.

Umno sudah tidak lagi berani menuduh PAS sebagai parti ala Taliban yang pernah menjadi bahan tuduhan Umno terhadapnya. Sekarang PAS telah menjadi kerajaan di dua buah negeri dan telah membuktikan tuduhan liar dan tidak adil Umno itu meleset. Kalau dahulu DAP dianggap sebagai parti chauvinis, anti Melayu, anti Islam dan berbagai-bagai tuduhan lagi kini terbukti bahawa DAP telah menjadi sebuah kerajaan dan mengetuai kerajaan PR di Pulau Pinang dan jelas sekali lagi DAP itu bukanlah seperti yang dituduh oleh Umno dan BN selama ini.

Pulau Pinang sekarang telah ditadbir dengan baik dan telah berjaya membuktikan bahawa kerajaan PR Pulau Pinang itu merupakan sebuah negeri yang paling maju dan ketirisan yang hampir sifar. Tuduhan Umno yang DAP itu anti Melayu dan Islam meleset sama sekali apabila peruntukan untuk hal ehwal Islam sekarang telah meningkat kepada RM63 juta tahun ini berbanding dengan jumlah RM12 juta semasa BN mentadbir negeri itu.

Begitu juga kerajaan Selangor yang telah menjadi negeri yang bertambah maju dan mengurangkan ketirisan juga hampir ke paras sifar. Negeri tadbiran TS Khalid Ibrahim ini telah menunjukkan prestasi yang begitu jauh baiknya jika dibandingkan dengan pentadbiran di bawah kerajaan BN dahulu.

Itu hanya cebisan daripada kebaikan yang bertambah yang berlaku dalam pentadbiran PR yang baru 4 tahun memerintah negeri-negeri itu berbanding dengan lima dekad tadbiran kerajaan BN selama ini.

Secara peribadi saya memang tertarik dengan perubahan jelas yang mampu dicetuskan oleh parti-parti dalam PR sejak dua tahun yang lepas. Justru itu saya yang sudah beberapa ketika berbincang dan berhubung dengan DAP mengambil keputusan untuk menyertainya sejak tahun lepas lagi. Pada 8hb Januari 2012, maka secara rasminya saya bersama Datuk Ariff Sabri yang saya bawa bersama berbincang selama ini, menyertai DAP.

Sejak dari itu maka saya kembali bergiat setelah lebih dari satu dekad berehat dan setakat ini telah melakukan penjelajahan ke seluruh negara. Saya terangkan kenapa dan sebab saya menyertai DAP ini kepada sahabat-sahabat rapat saya dahulu yang jumlahnya beribu orang sejak dari itu.

Alhamdulillah hampir semua daripada mereka memahami matlamat saya dan memberikan galakan kepada saya. Hanya beberapa yang tegar dengan Umno itu sahaja yang menentang penyertaan saya dalam DAP ini. Melalui ratusan e-mail yang saya terima dari rakan-rakan seluruh negara setiap minggu saya tahu dan yakin masa untuk kita jauhi daripada memainkan isu perkauman itu sudah tiba.

Hidup saling menghormati di antara kaum dan agama serta perbezaan-perbezaan yang lain itu adalah tuntutan agama suci kita juga. Lagi pun bagi diri saya sendiri saya telah berjaya mengasingkan diri daripada kumpulan yang sombong dan angkuh di dalam Umno itu.

Kepada rakan-rakan di dalam UMNO termasuk dari negeri saya, NS, yang sentiasa menghubungi saya yang memberikan saya semangat dan menyokong tindakan saya menyertai DAP ini, saya ucapkan berbanyak-banyak terima kasih. Saya faham saudara mempunyai banyak masalah di dalam Umno, tetapi masih ada masa untuk meleraikan masalah-masalah yang saudara hadapi itu. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 May 2012, 1:35 pm and is filed under
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Police appeared to have bad faith, says Pak Samad

By
Nigel Aw
 | 1:48PM May 25, 2012

Malaysiakini

INTERVIEW Observations made by a number of Bersih 3.0 participants during the April 28 rally are that many of the policemen on duty that day were somehow different from the usual courteous officers and men patrolling neighbourhoods.

Their uniforms did not have the shinny numbers and name tags, which spruce up the men in blue. And it was many of these officers, the protesters said, who had beaten them up.

The widespread occurrence of this, Bersih co-chairperson A Samad Said said, seemed to concur with the belief that the actions were endorsed by higher powers.

“They had no name tags, they wore no identification serial numbers… many were like that. My interpretation is that if the police did not want to show their names and ID numbers, then it meant that they already had ill intentions.

“Since so many were like that, certainly their move must have been endorsed by a higher power, possibly the inspector-general of police (IGP). And if the IGP knows, then the home minister should should know too,” Samad said in an interview with Malaysiakini earlier this week.

The police, he said, had a right to arrest protesters who refused to go home after the 4pm deadline but when 10 or so policemen beat up one person, it could be so severe that “even a buffalo will die”.

Despite widespread allegations of brutality on the part of the police, fortunately there was no death during the protest.

Pak Samad’s solo ‘duduk bantah’

Samad, who is fondly referred to as Pak Samad, too had his brush with police on his way from his Bangsar Utama home to Masjid Negara.

“When I got down from the LRT at Pasar Seni, I wanted to cross the bridge that I have always used to get to Masjid Negara. However, there were dozens policemen blocking the route on that day.

“I explained to them that I’ve used this path for years to go to Masjid Negara for prayers and as Muslims, they should not prevent another Muslim from praying… but they refused to let me pass,” he said.

This, he said, led to his one-man ‘duduk bantah’ on the bridge near Pasar Seni to protest the police action.

Police later left the scene, without reason, and Samad was then accompanied by other members of the public who sat alongside him.

“We chatted and I also recited some poems. Later, I advised them to head for Dataran Merdeka,” said Samad, who proceeded to Masjid Negara and remained there to do his prayers and keep and eye on the situation.

Asked to respond to claims by former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad and several former inspector-generals of police that the Bersih 3.0 protest was intended to topple the government, he laughed and described these individuals as “remnants of power”.

‘All we had were water bottles’

“To overthrow power, there must be weapons… we only had water bottles,” he said, laughing.

While he admitted that it “may be right” not to allow politicians to speak in a future Bersih rally, Pak Samad denied allegations that the movement had been hijacked by Pakatan Rakyat politicians.

“We invited Pakatan and BN but they (BN) chose to distance themselves. Perhaps they felt that since they are in power, this movement would bite them,” he said.

Contrary to the allegations of hijack, he said support from political parties would strengthen any people’s movement.

“In any movement, be it in Myanmar, in Russia, in India, in Eastern Europe or anywhere, there will always be leaders with a political background,” he said.

The authorities in Malaysia could have felt that their power was being threatened and therefore embarked on a campaign to smear Bersih as a violent movement.

“May be the attention will be on those being charged (with taking part in Bersih 3.0), but do not forget, every time you talk about them, it will be linked back to Bersih and to our eight demands (for electoral reform),” he said.

Despite the controversy, Samad said, he was heartened by the turnout for Bersih 3.0 as it was also more racially balanced, unlike previous Bersih rallies that were dominated by the Malay community.

“If there is a Bersih 4.0 – and I am not saying there will be one – I think even more non-Malays will turn up because the system is in such a bad shape now, with the use of gangsters by a power that is coming to its tail end,” he said.

Part 1:
‘Then there was Hang Tuah, now Hang Samseng’

Part 2:
Ambiga a victim of race and religion, says Pak Samad

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 May 2012, 10:09 am and is filed under
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We shall overcome

— Jacob Sinnathamby

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2012

MAY 26 — Can you hear it? Listen closely. Now can you hear it?

I am talking about the deafening silence from the prime minister downwards on the burgeoning violence and thuggish behaviour by Umno and its subsidiaries.

What happened at the PKR ceramah in Lembah Pantai, where blood was drawn after rocks, eggs and bottles were rained on PKR leaders by Umno Youth affiliates, was not the first show of state-encouraged violence.

It is not even the second or third time, but the umpteenth time in recent months that groups affiliated to the ruling party have shown disdain for the rule of law.

Nurul Izzah Anwar and Mat Sabu have faced stones and thugs before while speaking at Felda events, Lim Guan Eng faced thugs during the anti-Lynas demo in Penang recently, and Bersih organisers in Merlimau had their vehicles damaged. And the list goes on.

Never before have Malaysians witnessed state-sanctioned violence on this scale against Malaysians. At Lembah Pantai the other night, the police stood by and did not lift a finger when the Umno affiliates pelted PKR leaders. The same thing happened in Penang.

When the police send a “message” to thugs, political parties and silat groups that no action will be taken against violence, it is only natural that these elements will be emboldened further.

When the national leaders “encourage” the violence through their silence, is it any wonder that the establishment forces are using violence?

Khairy Jamaluddin told Malaysiakini that the party leadership did not send out a memo asking that opposition rallies be disrupted. They don’t have to; their silence and quiet enjoyment is evidence of their complicity, desperation by politicians who have forgotten that they serve at the rakyat’s pleasure.

It is clear that the violence will escalate. Umno wants Malaysians to be cowed, to believe that there will be trouble if they are kicked out of power, that our personal safety will be compromised if we support the Opposition. They want us to go back into our shells, quivering in fear.

But why should we? No one ever said that change would be easy or painless. There are many Malaysians today who are willing to stand up and fight. Let us honour them by standing side by side with them. And to hell with those cops; they are as useful and competent as the security guards in your neighbourhood.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 26 May 2012, 10:24 pm and is filed under
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Berjuang untuk perubahan memang susah

— Aspan Alias

The Malaysian Insider

May 26, 2012

26 MEI — Memperjuangkan yang benar itu amat susah dan tidak ada jalan yang senang dan mudah. Sebaik sahaja manusia itu ingin perubahan untuk kebaikan ia akan tetap mendapat reaksi serta merta.

Bak kata seorang ulamak yang muktabar, “jalan ke syurga itu berduri-duri dan beronak, jalan ke neraka itu penuh dengan roti dan keju”. Pejuang yang berniat untuk kebaikan itu selalunya akan merasakan kepedihan.

Itulah sebabnya setengah orang merasa hairan kenapa seseorang itu terus menerus berjuang sehinggakan menghadapi kepayahan dalam kehidupan mereka. Sesungguhnya yang paling penting ialah kepuasan dalaman dan jika kita pautkan usaha kita itu dengan beriktikad untuk ke addin dan agama itu ia amat menyejukkan jiwa seseorang itu.

Nabi Noh Alaihissalam dicerca dan dihina oleh masyarakat sekelilingnya. Dalam menegakkan kebenaran apa sahaja yang dilakukan oleh Noh dipersendakan dan dikasari oleh masyarakat dan kaumnya sendiri. Apabila Noh membina bahtera yang besar ditengah-tengah padang pasir dan berbukit itu masyarakat sekeliling Noh telah mengatakan yang Noh itu gila dan berbagai-kata nesta. Anak dan isterinya sendiri tidak mahu mengikut jejak langkah nya.

Noh tetap cekal dan akhirnya semua rakyat sekelilingnya telah mendapat bala yang besar dan hanya sebilangan kecil yang disebut oleh setengah ulamak hanya berjumlah 81 orang sahaja. Setengah ulamak berpendapat jumlah pengikutnya hanyalah 83 orang. Akhirnya seluruh masyarakat zaman itu telah dilemaskan oleh bah besar yang diturunkan Allah dan mereka yang selamat hanyalah mereka yang mengikuti seruan Noh untuk taat kepada Allah swt.

Di negara kita pun berlaku perkara yang sama. Kita selalu membaca semangat berkobar-kobar Melayu untuk mencapai kemerdekaan dari British dan itulah isu yang terbesar untuk menyatukan rakyat Malaya semasa itu untuk bersatu menuju kepada kemerdekaan itu. Tetapi kepada yang tua-tua usia mereka masih teringat yang tentangan untuk mencapai kemerdekaan itu ada dan jelas.

Tentangan itu datangnya dari Melayu yang telah selesa hidupnya dan kebanyakkannya adalah dari kumpulan yang bekerja dengan kerajaan penjajahan kerana mereka takut untuk berubah. Saya masih ingat lagi setelah kita mencapai kemerdekaan itu masih ramai orang Melayu yang tidak berkeyakinan dengan kemerdekaan yang kita capai.

Ramai yang bercakap yang kita tidak akan pergi kemana-mana sebabnya orang Melayu nak buat jarum pun tak pandai macam mana hendak menjaga negara apabila mendapat kemerdekaan itu. Kita dengar dimerata tempat kata-kata itu.

Namun apabila telah terbukti yang orang Melayu dan rakyat mampu untuk melakukan perubahan itu, orang-orang yang mengkritik dan menentang kemerdekaan ini jugalah yang mendapat laba dan nikmat dari penat lelah dan jerih pejuang-pejuang kemerdekaan itu.

Kumpulan yang tidak senang dengan pencapaian kemerdekaan ini jugalah yang menjadi pembesar-pembesar negara seperi menjadi Datuk Bandar dan pegawai-pegawai tinggi kerajaan selepas negara mencapai kemerdekaan. Tetapi itu tidak mengapa kerana itulah namanya demokrasi. Pimpinanan yang demokratik mesti mempunyai sifat “magnanimous” dan tidak mempunyai sifat dendam mendendam.

Dalam politik tanahair kini, keadaan yang sama sedang berlaku. Setiap usaha yang dilakukan oleh pihak alternatif itu sedang mendapat tentangan yang hebat juga. Usaha ini mendapat reaksi yang amat kotor dengan wujudnya kumpulan-kumpulan gangster dan penyangak upahan untuk mengganggu program serta kegiatan pihak alternatif setiap masa dan waktu.

Usaha rakyat untuk bersatu diluar Barisan Nasional menjadi isu yang besar dan pihak yang berkuasa menggunakan isu perkauman yang menebal untuk menyatukan orang-orang Melayu dibawah kuasa mereka. Apa yang mereka lupa ialah mereka hendak meninggalkan kebathilan yang dilakukan oleh pemerintah yang telah mengambil kelembutan rakyat terutamanya orang Melayu sebagai kelemahan dan mahu mengelirukan mereka sepanjang masa untuk mengekalkan kuasa.

Tetapi kepada sesiapa yang memahami keadaan tidak akan gentar menghadapi situasi kotor ini. Mereka yang sedar ini tahu yang kerajaan yang merelakan kerja kotor ini berlaku itu merupakan tanda yang amat jelas yang usia kuasa yang ada kepada mereka pasti akan tamat. Tidak ada dalam sejarah dunia ini yang membuktikan yang zalim itu akan berjaya terus menerus. Yang tertekan akan akhirnya berjaya asalkan isu berdasarkan kepada niat dan motif yang baik.

Itulah sebabnya saya tidak putus-putus dihubungi oleh mereka dalam parti pemerintah dan duduk berbincang dan bertukar-tukar pandangan dalam isu yang baru kita sebut ini. Saya menjangkakan mereka dari Umno yang selalu bersama saya ini akan mengubah haluan dan kecenderungan mereka untuk berubah ini semakin hari semakin jelas dan tidak memeranjatkan yang mereka akan bersama-sama untuk membuat perhitungan dalam peti undi semasa pilihanraya nanti.

Beberapa ketua-ketua cawangan yang mengenali saya melalui blog ini pun datang ke Kuala Lumpur untuk membuat perbincangan dengan saya dan yang terakhir ialah kumpulan dari beberapa bahagian di Selangor. Saya menerima tawaran mereka untuk berjumpa, tetapi jika berjumpa saya tempatnya hanyalah dikedai-kedai minuman mamak sahaja.

Saya tidak mampu untuk berbincang di restoren-restoren besar kerana saya tidak biasa ditempat-tempat hebat itu. Saya bukan dari gulungan yang berada seperti rakan-rakan saya di dalam Umno itu. Sesiapa yang hendak berjumpa saya  terpaksa bersabar dengan satu dua mug teh tarik dan diselangi dengan air suam sahaja. Kalau nasib baik bolehlah makan roti canai sekali.

Saya menyebut perkara ini kerana didalam sesuatu perjuangan, yang paling susah ialah untuk memecahkan ruyungnya. Nah, sekarang ruyungnya sudah pun pecah, hanya menunggu masa dan waktu untuk menikmati kejayaan itu.

Sebelum mencapai kejayaan semua pihak yang inginkan perubahan itu akan melalui waktu dan masa yang amat gelap. Tetapi apabila kita melalui kegelapan yang amat sangat itu, ia menunjukkan yang kejayaan sudah hampir sampai.

Ada perbilangan berkata, “The darkest part of the night is just before dawn”. Maksudnya bahagian malam yang paling gelap ialah semasa betul-betul sebelum siang, iaitu sebelum subuh. Tidak beberapa ketika selepas itu kita akan menikmati terang dan siang yang terang benderang.

Buat sementara ini kita mesti bersabar dan berdoa terus menerus. Walaupun kita sedang melalui kegelapan yang seketika ini, insyaallah kita akan melihat jelmaan siang yang terang benderang. Kita jangan memberikan reaksi kasar terhadap gangster Umno itu kerana kita tidak mesti jauhi diri kita dari bersikap seperti mereka. Kita mesti menunjukkan berbezaan diantara kita dengan mereka.

Apabila siang nanti kita akan akhirnya tahu dan nampak siapa yang melakukan kejahatan semasa dalam keadaan gelap tadi. Mereka tidak akan dapat menyorok lagi. — aspanaliasnet.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 27 May 2012, 1:07 am and is filed under
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Increasing campaign violence

– The Malaysian Insider

May 27, 2012

MAY 27 — Here’s the dichotomy. Umno president Datuk Seri Najib Razak is working hard to get the people’s support. From anywhere in Malaysia to the O2 arena in London. But some of his followers are pelting their political foes with eggs and stones.

The case in point is Lembah Pantai where Umno leaders have accused Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim of provoking Thursday night’s violence during a PKR rally in Lembah Pantai, and said it should not be held responsible for the incident.

They have denied starting the ruckus. But Anwar only criticised them after the PKR ceramah was pelted with stones, eggs and water bottles, resulting in a “night of bloodshed” that saw at least two seriously injured.

“On that night, some of our own (Umno members) were also hurt. The provocation was started by Anwar, who called (Lembah Pantai) Umno Youth ‘sial, celaka’.

“You have to understand, when provoked… anything can happen,” Lembah Pantai Umno Youth chief Datuk Mohamad Sazali Kamilan told reporters.

But residents there say Sazali has failed to mention that Umno had hurriedly brought forward their “ceramah” by a day when they knew that PKR was having a major ceramah with Anwar and his daughter, party vice-president and Lembah Pantai MP Nurul Izzah.

What are we to make of this? The Lembah Pantai violence is just the latest thuggish behaviour growing in the country that some say is due to Umno and the Barisan Nasional (BN) government encouraging these groups to be aggressive.

The cops? They cops are just standing by rather than enforcing the peace, say witnesses. Nurul Izzah herself says there is a mounting pile of police reports that have not been acted upon.

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has condemned the violence and denied that any instruction was given to Umno Youth members to disrupt the ceramah. But anecdotal evidence show that despite a lack of instruction, there have been disruptions in ceramahs conducted by their political opponents.

All the good work done by Najib, who intends to seek his personal mandate as prime minister, is being undermined by these groups who disrupt Pakatan Rakyat (PR) events. All the news and hype of his “1 Malaysia. People First. Performance Now.” in the mainstream media is being drowned by the reality that there are those who wreak havoc against PR.

So what good is campaign violence for those who favour Umno? How will that help the party shore up support and get Najib his two-thirds parliamentary majority? If anything, the rising violence shows desperateness among the lower ranks of Umno who have not worked as hard as Najib to get back the support of the people.

If Umno members and supporters wants to win the next general elections, it best follow Najib’s footsteps and reach out to people, not throw stones, eggs and water bottles or intimidate people.

You want to sell something, not force it down people’s throats. You want to win elections, not get it by nefarious means. Malaysians are all grown up and don’t fear such tactics. At this rate, those who use violence are doing Najib and Umno a huge disfavour. And those who condone such tactics are condemning the party to lose in the polls.

It’s your call. Be stupid and lose it all by going postal. Or be smart and charm the voters.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 27 May 2012, 12:00 pm and is filed under
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