Why are we here today?

 ― Ambiga Sreenevasan

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 12, 2013

JAN 12 ― My friends, why are we here today?

Why have we chosen to give up our Saturday to gather here? Together. Again.

The answer is, we love our country. We care about Malaysia. We care about Malaysians. Our children, our parents, their future, our future.

And more importantly we are here because we have hope. We think that a better Malaysia is within our grasp. We know it is. I know it is. And it is all because of you ― a rakyat that cares enough to do something about achieving a bright future for our country.

As far as Bersih 2.0 is concerned, we just want clean and fair elections. If there is to be change in the leadership, we want to do it through the ballot box. Our objectives are clear and clean and fair. Our message to all the political parties is: Respect our rights as citizens, honour our vote, and, give us clean and fair elections!

Yet I have unhappy news ― by all accounts, GE 13 will be far from clean and fair. I will not go into the details, many of you know them. The recent fiasco with the overseas voters is yet another example. The suggested process is not clean, not transparent and the conditions that have been imposed on overseas voters are not, in my view, constitutional.

So why am I so sure the election will not be clean and fair? Well, one of the easiest demands to fulfil is to give free and fair access to the media to all parties. It takes just a phone call. Yet we see no move towards that and the mainstream media continues with its skewed and often dishonest reports. It shows a complete lack of political will to even the playing field between the parties.

Does that mean, however, that we throw in the towel? That we walk away in despair? On the contrary, Bersih has two important projects that we have launched which we believe will make a difference in the next elections.

The first is our project called PEMANTAU, a citizens’ observer mission. This is not a new concept as it has been carried out in numerous countries. Studies have found that citizen observer missions can reduce political violence and fraud.

We are excited about this project and we are looking out for approximately 10,000 volunteers to help us cover 30-40 per cent of the total number of constituencies.

The second project is to bring out the vote. (Keluar mengundi, lawan penipuan). Although our voter turnout is high, a higher turnout will help to mitigate fraud to some extent. Both these projects need your help and your input. Both are projects of the people, for the people and by the people.

So there is much work to be done. And we can all be involved to ensure as far as possible, that fraud and discrepancies can be minimised in the 13th GE. Knowing the rakyat I know you will rise to the occasion as the nation calls to you to take part in its future.

As that famous song goes, my fellow Malaysians, “This is it”!!

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2013, 9:52 am and is filed under
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Winning by popularity: Can Umno rely on the prime minister’s personal standing?

— Clive Kessler

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 13, 2013

JAN 13 — “BN needs to milk Najib’s popularity harder, say analysts” reads a recent headline (The Malaysian Insider, 12 January 2013).

Sorry, but this is just delusional.

A strategy that seeks to use Najib’s supposed popularity to save Umno/BN, to pull its chestnuts from the fire at the last moment, will fail miserably.

Umno has been around, and in charge (though in recent times unconvincingly), for over half a century.

Najib has been PM for less than five years.

So, with reason, he is less unpopular than his now increasingly unpopular party.

He has not had a sufficient chance yet to make himself as unpopular as Umno itself, by its own doing over recent years, has become.

And because he is widely seen as weak and vacillating, many people tend to be indifferent to him, unmoved by him, rather than to hate him.

They just don’t feel strongly about him in any way: love, admire, sympathise or hate.

He does not inspire political passions of any kind.

Rather, he comes across politically as simply a “cold fish.”

Nothing blood-stirring there about him.

And when he tries, such as at the conclusion of Umno General Assemblies, to display political passion, it tends to fall flat, embarrassingly.

That lack of powerful personal feeling or emotional “valence”, positive or negative, towards the prime minister shows up in the polls as “popularity.”

Where what you are being measured against — here a suddenly and surprisingly quite unpopular party — is a negative, mere indifference comes over as a plus, a positive.

Or that is how some people see things, how many people feel about what the government is now offering.

But any notion that PM Najib’s supposed personal popularity can possibly rescue Umno/BN is just fantasy.

How might Umno/BN win the election?

It’s pretty late in the day now to try to work out a compelling strategy.

But it would have to go beyond personalities, including Najib’s.

All else aside, that is the only way to neutralize the “negative” side of popular feelings about Najib.

It would require Umno/BN to devise and promote a positive, coherent and principled agenda.

Principled?

Principled in the sense that it was unifying, that it united people and massed popular support from all directions.

By practising the politics of convergence, and seeking to draw in its supporters and allies on all sides, from all quarters.

Not a strategy, in other words, that divided, that sought to prevail at the polls by building up a numerical majority amassed from one side of the field only.

Not a strategy that seeks “traction” by appealing to, by driving and even frightening together in an anxious and fearful huddle, the majority — or as many of them as can possibly be made to feel beleaguered — against all the various minorities.

Can Umno/BN do that?

Can it rise above the politics — well-known for its tactical popularity among the cattle rustlers in old cowboy Western movies — of the stampede, the politics of unleashing and seeking to control panic?

The politics of seeking to control by means of managed panic?

What panic?

A dual panic.

The panic that Islam is in danger, and that only Malays acting together as Malays can save it.

The panic that Malays and their place in the country are imperilled, and that only by coming and acting together in the name and on the basis of Islam can their stake in the nation be safeguarded.

Can Umno now turn around, change its recent direction, and do that?

I doubt it.

I doubt that Umno any longer has the ability, with all its internal conflicts and the insatiable interests that drive them, to imagine, produce and articulate such a unifying agenda.

And do Umno people any more have the good sense and ability to be able to commit themselves to such an agenda?

And then to promote it, even in the face of internal resistance from the exclusivist “us against them all” voices in the “grand old Malay party”.

That seems unlikely.

But that still seems the only “way forward”.

Otherwise, there are tough times ahead in this land for “the old ruling firm” and its management team.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2013, 10:02 am and is filed under
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87-Day Countdown to 13GE – Persistently dishonest, unprofessional and lying BN mainstream media may prove to be the final undoing of Najib as Prime Minister and ousting of UMNO/BN from Putrajaya in 13GE

It is not only ironic but simply unbelievable that on the night of KL112, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak could host the Umno general assembly 2012 Media Appreciation Night  and speak about the importance of the media to UMNO.

Rational and independent-minded Malaysians, including the four million middle-ground voters who will decide whether it is Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat which will form the federal government in Putrajaya in the 13th general elections, must be asking whether Najib is rooted firmly to the ground in reality or is living in a make-believe world of his own.

What Najib said about the media  a few hours after the KL112, which marked an important turning point in a maturing democracy, is simply surreal.

How could Najib with a straight face urge the media to play the role of an intermediary that delivers the feelings and aspirations of the people to the government and which report the grievances and criticisms leveled at the government to enable improvements to be carried out when the Barisan Nasional mainstream media, whether print, radio, television or online, have been most guilty of the very opposite, completely unrepentant in fabricating and purveying lies after lies about the Pakatan Rakyat?

For weeks, the Barisan Nasional mainstream media had told a “Big Lie” about KL112 and they are still purveying the “Big Lie” after KL112, although the “Big Lie” had been completely pulverized and demolished as baseless and untrue!

There can be no doubt that one of the greatest losers of the successful and peaceful holding of KL112 is the Barisan Nasional mainstream media (MSM), which is why Malaysiakini in its roundup
“KL112: Winners and losers”
 listed the mainstream media as one of the three “losers” after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and UMNO/Barisan Nasional while The Malaysian Insider carried an editorial entitled:
“Mainstream media’s epic fail”
.

Although Najib deserves plaudit for not allowing the UMNO/BN and police hardliners to sabotage the KL112 and suffer public odium as happened in Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 rallies, he has not been able to project an image of a strong, serious  and effective Prime Minister committed to the various transformation programmes announced in his name – many thanks to  a persistently dishonest, unprofessional and lying BN mainstream media!

It is also thanks to a persistently dishonest, unprofessional and lying BN mainstream media that a recent Merdeka Centre opinion poll in the last fortnight of December found that Najib’s popularity rating has dropped to the lowest level for the whole year – 63% in December 2012 as compared to 69% in February 2012 – while only  52 per cent of voters say that the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest since May 2010.

The former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, had better poll ratings before the March 2008 general elections than Najib on the eve of the 13th general elections but that did not save the Abdullah premiership.

Abdullah’s popularity rating plunged from a high of 91% after the 2004 general election to 61% in December 2007 (which is still higher than Najib’s popularity rating of 52% in December 2012) while 63% of the voters  felt that the country was heading in the right direction in December 2007 ( as compared to 52% under Najib in December 2012).

Although Najib’s approval rating has plunged to the lowest for the whole of last year, Merdeka Centre also  reported that the level of dissatisfaction has reached the highest level in Najib’s four-year premiership, at 30% as compared to 28% in October 2012 and 16% in May 2009.

Also noteworthy is Merdeka Centre’s finding that while Najib’s approval rating has slid to 63 percent, his administration and Barisan Nasional has trailed further behind at 47 per cent and 45 per cent respectively.

With Najib securing lower ratings on both scores than Abdullah just before the 2008 general elections, whether popularity rating as Prime Minister or voters’ perception whether the country is heading in the right direction, it is no surprise that there are UMNO leaders who are very pessimistic about UMNO/BN prospects in  the 13GE , with even the Johore Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ghani Othman publicly predicting that Pakatan Rakyat could win the 13GE with a slim majority of 5% to 10% of the parliamentary seats – i.e. a Pakatan Rakyat majority from 12-22 seats!

If this Ghani scenario comes about, one cause could be the total lack of public trust and credibility of the Barisan Nasional mainstream media, which is a standing proof to all Malaysians, and in particular the four million middle-ground voters, of the irredeemable character of UMNO/BN as  totally incapable of reform unless it is despatched to the Opposition benches in Parliament.

The persistently dishonest, unprofessional and lying Barisan Nasional mainstream media may prove to be the final undoing of Najib as Prime Minister and the ousting of UMNO/BN from Putrajaya in the 13GE.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/14/pengiraan-detik-87-hari-ke-pru13-media-perdana-bn-berterusan-tidak-jujur-tidak-profesional-dan-berbohong-terbukti-merupakan-kemusnahan-terakhir-najib-sebagai-perdana-menteri-dan-penyingkira/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 8:16 am and is filed under
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A brief history of counting

by Goh Keat Peng

January 14, 2013

With so much counting activity going on in Malaysia these days, it sets me thinking of … NUMBERS. Of the first counting most normal human beings began with. We would have started with our fingers, one, two, three, four five, before we realised there were five more fingers on the other hand, making it ten! Then we discovered that our counting can even be extended with our toes, which took us to twenty, doubling our counting capacity! Then came the apparatus of rows of beads mounted on a stand which helped us to count way beyond our initial ten fingers and ten toes. Then much later on came the electronic calculator presenting us with any imaginable total at our finger tips. Only for us to discover when we know better that with the ancient abacus – with neither battery nor electronic circuitry – we could count to almost any number!

These days of course our nation is embroiled in a frenzied  counting exercise.  How many human beings can an old historic sports stadium contain?

The powers that be have their own inimitable way of crunching numbers.  They saw the crowd and thought 80,000 but declared it to the world as 45,000. (Just as it used to be done when a returning citizen’s luggage was actually, physically checked by custom officers: “Berapa harga itu, pak?” And the traveller keeping as straight a face as he (or more likely she) could manage, replied, “Oh itu! Sikit sahaja, tuan. Beli di pasar murah!”)

The authorities do have a certain history about counting things their way. A sleight of hand performed on the calculator or more likely on their own inventive minds. It takes a David Copperfield to fathom what only a David Copperfield can do. Magic which defies the comprehension of ordinary minds.

Welcome to psychological counting! For which the figure could be anywhere up to 500,000 in the mind of the wistful organising committee who dream of future possibilities (in the fashion of Don Quixote) all the way down to 45,000 thousand according to wistful authorities desperate to bring the figures to a manageable, psychological size to facilitate their much-needed sleep and provide relief to their worried minds and hearts.

We ordinary non-David Copperfield, non Don Quixote-type of Malaysians, however,  are very much less sophisticated calculators of numbers.  Our starting point is with given realities. In the stands, it is generally accepted that 40,000 can be seated, given the series of extensive refurbishments done to the original artifice over many years (where this writer, first time in a stadium,  sitting in awe next to his father, saw Malaysia beat the fancied South Koreans to lift the first Asian Youth Football trophy!). Plus the number of human beings (regardless of ethnic origin or religious or political affiliation) who could occupy a seat-less padang (normally occupied by the athletes or footballers). Plus the many more who were in the vicinity surrounding the stadium and in nearby streets because they could not get in.

Se kurang nya, 150,000. Aiyah, between friends, put it down as 120,000. And then again, to better ease the path of the powers that be to slumber-land since this writer believes it is better they be asleep than awake for the sake of the nation, as a friendly gesture, let’s agree on 100,000! (“Tak boleh kurang lagi ka, boss?” “Tidak boleh lah, puan. Ini memang last price. Ada sepuluh orang anak di rumah. Perlu cari makan lah, puan. Tolong lah, kesian kepada keluarga aku.”)

In this exercise, the English saying about counting sheep to court sleep is proven wrong at last! Because the more sheep the powers that be count, the further away sleep seems to be for them. And since they are wide awake in their frenzied counting, they might as well start counting how many goats (or is it cows?) would need to be brought in to report to the polling booth in order to offset the staggering number of votes represented by the 100,000 who turned up at Stadium Merdeka last Saturday. On the basis of the formula that for every one who actually took the trouble to turn up on Saturday, fifty more with the same voter sentiments would have stayed at home! (At the last general elections in 2008, the voter turn-out was 76%, that is, 8,161,039.)

These are numbers that keep both side of the election equation awake. For one side, awake thinking WHAT WILL BE; for the other side, awake thinking WHAT MUST NOT BE!

Yet in all this, our present psychological state of the nation, why don’t we come to an agreement? Let’s stop thinking of NUMBERS. Chuck the numbers.

And for this critical phase of the nation’s history, let us appreciate why human language has so kindly come up with a numberless term: COUNTLESS.

– Think, the COUNTLESS extent of corruption and robbery of the nation’s hard-earned resources for the personal greed and ego of the favoured elite class!

– Think, the COUNTLESS years the nation has endured the whims and fancies of a single ruling class!

– Think, the COUNTLESS cases of those of every ethnic – minority or majority – community within this nation who truly deserved but never got financial aid for study and small businesses!

– Think of the COUNTLESS trees inscrutably cut down for the profit of a favoured  few!

– Think of the COUNTLESS neighbourhoods in the nation who are still without adequate supply of electricity, running water, roadways, medical facilities ….!

– Think of the COUNTLESS problems, after the coming elections,  that will still plaque those who are presently receiving “generous” cash hand-outs from the powers that be for want of serious, properly-planned, sustainable development programmes on the ground to close the gap between the have’s and the have-not’s!

– Think of the COUNTLESS more years that the nation will be subjected to such anomalies and discrepancies if this time round, we still persist with status quo and fail to bring in overdue CHANGE!

My readers can add COUNTLESS other examples of unrestrained violation of good governance.

For the sake of our children’s future, STOP figuring out NUMBERs, START thinking in COUNTLESS terms!

The impact of Saturday 12 January, 2013 in Kuala Lumpur is not how many came to the gathering. What COUNTS will be how many who will come to the polling booth will be voting for CHANGE. Then, we need to put on our counting hats and watch HOW the counting is being conducted. Never mind if they don’t get the numbers at the stadium right. But it MATTERS that we ensure that the COUNTING of the votes are meticulously correct.

(NB. For the readers’ kind information, this writer did not get through his maths paper at the Overseas School Certificate exams in 1963, cakap dengan terang.)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:25 pm and is filed under
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A rally for the mind and soul

by KSD

Malaysiakini

Jan 13, 2013

I want to be completely honest. I did not expect a large crowd at the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (HKR).

I wasn’t pessimistic because I thought that sentiment had changed; my worries stemmed from the fact that the police and the government had surprising agreed to let the rally proceed without obstacles.

It is the nature of people to push back when pushed and I thought that without roadblocks, physical and psychological; without the presence of policemen in riot uniforms and tear gas canisters and without the threats of the goons from Perkasa, the people who want change would stay home.

And so, because I did not want the rally organisers to face the ignominy of an empty stadium, I went to the rally.

Before I tell you about my HKR experience, let me tell you who I am so that you can understand how I felt yesterday.

I am one of those who had finally stood up openly in 1998. Although I have always been against corruption and injustice, the only action I had taken prior to that was on ballot papers. I was and still am not a member of any political party; this had nothing to do with partisan politics.

In 1998, the injustice was just too big to ignore and I decided to come out and be counted.

I have thus lived through this entire movement for change: the large protests when Anwar Ibrahim was sacked; the small protests at Masjid Negara and the Suhakam office.

I attended so many protests, always in the background and for the sole purpose of adding to the numbers. I always felt that numbers were needed.

I was there at the huge gathering on the Kesas highway; at Bersih 1, 2 and 3 rallies. So in some way, I have lived through the entire change of hearts among Malaysians.

In 1998, only a few of my friends felt the way I felt. Today, all the people I know who supported the ruling side have become strident supporters of change.

Against this backdrop, yesterday, on Jan 12, 2013, I was at Stadium Merdeka. How wrong I was to be pessimistic about attendance.

The rakyat had turned up in full colours. It appeared as if every single thinking Malaysian had come.

The numbers delighted me, of course, but I was glad I came for another reason. This turned out to be a rally that fed the mind.

Instead of the usual opposition party flags and banners asking ‘BN to be kuburkan’ and ‘Najib to undur’, I saw placards with real issues. Placards that asked for ‘Violence against women to be stopped’, for ‘Petroleum royalties’ to be paid, demands for ‘Students to be unshackled’ and my favourite banner, seen on an MRT construction site fencing near Pasar Seni, ‘MRT – Mari Rompak Tanah’.

The politicians were naturally eloquent in their speeches but it was the NGOs and the common people that touched my soul.

The voice of Tijah, the Orang Asal representative, so passionate, making the case for the Orang Aslis, betrayed and marginalised in their homelands. Mama Bersih with her clever turn of words expressing the disgust of women whose families were being oppressed by crime and corruption.

Ito, with his inspiring song calling for change. Wong Tack, the Himpunan Hijau man speaking the truest of words when he said, “I don’t see any Chinese here; I don’t see any Indians here; I don’t see any Kadazans here; I also don’t see any Malays here; I only see Malaysians here.”

I am now sure that change will come. The movement for change has become so widespread, so diverse and so strong that nothing will be able to stop it.

It will go on even if I no longer turn up for rallies. What a wonderful feeling to finally be sure that my presence is no longer absolutely necessary.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 7:43 am and is filed under
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End days for the Great Survivor?

Stanley Koh | January 13, 2013

Free Malaysia Today

Dr Chua Soi Lek’s failure to unite his party may prove to be his downfall.

COMMENT

However much you may hate Dr Chua Soi Lek, you have to admire his ability to survive in the harsh and sordid world of Malaysian politics. His victory in the 2010 MCA presidential election will remain as one of the great comeback stories in our political history.

That victory came barely two years after he had confessed to a sexual indiscretion and resigned all party and government posts. It was no mean victory. His rivals were formidable; one was the incumbent president and the other a former president.

However, according to some pundits inside his own party, Chua may have used up all the dirty tricks in his survival kit and is facing his end days in politics.

They say his failure to fulfil a promise to unite the various factions in MCA and to regain voter support for the party will prove to be his final undoing.

The promise to heal rifts in the party was particularly important. If he had worked hard at it and been even half successful, he might not have become the lonely and desperate party chief that his detractors say he is today.

According to insiders, Chua hands are sore from gripping the rein of leadership tightly for fear of losing it to some scheming faction leader who has wised up to his tricks, including those he used as part of the psychological war strategy to clinch the 2010 victory.

They say he can now trust only a small circle of supporters. Ironically, that is what he used to say about his predecessor.

Chua knows well enough that in his campaign for the presidency, he made enough internal enemies to last him a lifetime. And since then he has added to the list through his decisions in party appointments and recommendations for government positions.

Now, with the general election looming, the time bomb of vengeance is ticking away. Many are the disgruntled warlords waiting to settle old scores. Will they sabotage the election just to prove that Chua is an unworthy president?

But then again, they may not have to do anything. Everyone knows that MCA is facing the darkest hour it its history and many think it will be wiped out in the coming election.

The fact is glaringly clear: Chua has failed to win back the Chinese community’s support for MCA and BN in nearly three years of helming the party.

He has made blunder upon blunder in his public statements on issues that the new generation of voters care about, such as human rights and environmental concerns. When not blundering, he would resort to glittering rhetoric about BN’s claimed culture of consensus or, in classic BN style, skim over the issues.

Frogs in a well shaft

In the eyes of the public, MCA leaders are like frogs in a well shaft. They see only the sky above. They are no longer feeling the pulse on the ground, having lost the plot set by the party’s founding fathers in their aspiration for a democratic and united Malaysia.

Critics among party insiders privately acknowledge that today’s MCA has neither a ideology nor any semblance of unity.

“Party unity is, at best, an illusion,” said a veteran who served as a party official during Lee San Choon’s presidency.

One would be naive to think that Chua is unaware of disunity in his party despite the rhetoric he uses to convince his political masters in Umno that the situation is otherwise.

It is out of his awareness of disunity that he has exercised extreme care in selecting candidates for the 13th GE. Foremost in his mind is his own political survival, which depends partly on MCA winning back a decent number of seats.

It is anybody’s guess how many rival factions there are in MCA, but insiders agree that one of the most dangerous to Chua is the faction led by Ong Ka Chuan. He is a brother of Ong Ka Ting, whose presidency was undermined by the Save MCA Campaign launched in 2006 and the Snoop Squad controversy that Chua allegedly had a hand in.

Another faction is linked to the party’s former youth chief in Penang, Eng Boon Hiap. Eng is a staunch supporter of Chua’s predecessor, Ong Tee Keat. In December 2011, he led 400 others in a resignation that shut down two MCA branches.

However, the biggest threat to Chua’s future comes from the fact that the “collective leadership” he put together after winning the presidency was based on a betrayal of trust and selfish interests.

Both Liow Tiong Lai and Wee Ka Siong were staunch supporters of Ong Tee Keat and were, during a factional split under Ling Liong Sik’s tenure, aligned to a faction that was at odds with the faction Chua supported.

MCA leadership is indeed trapped in history with political personalities and characters void of principles and non-ideological.

Whispers in the party

Speaking to FMT, Eng Boon Hiap said Chua’s leadership status could be summed up in the following words: “He has no present because only his past is rushing into the future.”

Recently, Chua accused pro-Umno bloggers of betraying his trust by posting confidential remarks he had made about deputy, Liow Tiong Lai and former president Ong Tee Keat. Insiders say that episode was a good illustration of Chua’s combative character.

Chua had told the bloggers that Ong Tee Keat should resign from the party and made innuendos to the effect that the former president would jump ship if BN loses badly in the coming election.

“When Chua said this, it looks to me like a personal vendetta,” former party vice president Jimmy Chua said. “It is very unusual in MCA history for a sitting president to run down a former president.

To many party members, Chua’s remarks were unnecessary and contradictory to his promises of fostering party unity.

“It is not politically correct for Chua to be making remarks on internal party matters to outsiders,” said a party veteran regarding his comment about Liow’s bleak political future.

Lately, there have been whispers in the party that Chua should resign to allow for the emergence of a truly collective leadership before the party sinks into political oblivion at the next national polls.

It is well known in MCA circles that hordes of members have deserted the party without handing in their resignations.

“The party will be lucky to win three to five parliamentary seats at the next general election,” said a former president.

Stanley Koh is a former head of MCA’s research unit and a FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:39 pm and is filed under
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Mahathir, Muhyiddin and mob-rule

by Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

Jan 14, 2013

Oh, to be a fly-on-the-wall in the home of former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad when he witnessed the outpouring of support for the KL112 rally – dubbed the People’s Uprising Rally, last Saturday.

Did his purse his lips, clench his fists and tighten his resolve to remove the weaklings in Umno? His greatest fear is that the truth will emerge, his legacy is exposed as a sham and his dynasty is castrated.

Last Saturday, about 35km away from the Merdeka Stadium, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak attended a meet-the-people rally organised by the Malaysian Indian Progressive Front (IPF), and Bernama said he was “impressed by the strong support of the IPF”. Around 15,000 people had assembled in the sleepy town of Semenyih to welcome Najib.

The PM should have known that the IPF event would have been overshadowed by KL112 and that no amount of negative spin by the mainstream English and Malay newspapers would detract from the implications of KL112.

Was this a deliberate ploy by people in Najib’s camp to undermine him? Is Najib being prepared for the big push?

The adviser(s) couldn’t have chosen a more apt location. According to Wikipedia, the town’s name is derived from ‘Sembunyi’, a word in the Negri Sembilan dialect which means ‘hide or hidden’.

The irony of Najib hiding in Semenyih couldn’t be more damaging. Malaysians know that in the past, Najib is usually found overseas whenever there is any whiff of trouble or conflict.

Like a long-playing record, Najib again reeled-off the usual promises to the predominantly Indian crowd; that he would improve Tamil schools, resolve citizenship issues, provide loans for Indians to set up businesses, get more Indians in education and the civil service.

He wanted their support in GE13 so that he could double his efforts to help them in his ‘1Malaysia’ vision. Apparently, 55 years is not sufficient to make any headway.

Najib being set up

Najib is being set up and we will probably witness his downfall. More importantly, we are seeing the unravelling of Mahathir’s work and the dismantling of his policies.

Does it matter when some people observed that there was a predominantly Malay crowd in the KL112 rally and wondered where the non-Malays were? Does everything boil down to race? Isn’t it more important that Malaysians walked with one shared purpose? Mahathir tried to divide the races, but last Saturday’s event proved him wrong.

For over 22 years, Mahathir ruled with an iron fist. He still rules the country, by proxy. During his tenure, he raised his profile and declared himself a champion of the Malays. He may have had a war of words with the west and fought economic battles with them, using trade as his weapon.

He brought the non-Malays to their knees and humiliated them with his bumiputera policies. He even forced  the royal households to beg for his mercy, though none of them would like to admit it today.

When Mahathir watched the KL112 scenes unfold, he must have realised that his days are numbered; all because of Najib’s weakness.

Najib thought he could give the rakyat what they wanted, but it was too little, too late. He started off by talking about reform, but by merely paying lip service to reform without any real evidence of real reforms, Najib was the instrument of his own downfall.

He placed emphasis on sloganeering, but members of his own cabinet must have had difficulty remembering the various acronyms which crop up at an alarming rate.

When ‘1Malaysia’ took on a life of its own, it invaded every facet of our life. There was ‘1This’ and ‘1That’ or ‘1Whatever’. It made little impact on the lives of the rakyat, and people started to mock the ‘1Malaysia’ concept. He damaged his reputation further by admitting that when he first started the ‘1Malaysia’ slogan, he did not have a fixed strategy in mind.

Najib tried to be a man of the people with his ‘1Malaysia’ concept, but the response of his deputy, Muhyiddin Yassin, offended many Malaysians. Did others in his cabinet secretly oppose the ‘1Malaysia’ concept, whilst seeming to play along?

He became the darling of the UN by being the “1ModerateMuslim” when he denounced extremism, despite failing to control extremists in Malaysia.

He told us to tighten our belts just before going on a spending spree for the government and his wife (FLOM). His wife talks about giving the people a chance to sample croissants, when they have difficulty putting rice on the table.

Why did Najib return hurriedly from holiday in Europe, after his audience with the Pope? Had he heard rumours that his deputy was conspiring with others in Malaysia? The strain is beginning to show, not just in Najib but in Umno, too.

Wary and weary of turncoats

Umno may have enlisted the help of so-called respected citizens, to denounce the recent KL112 rally; people like Tunku Abdul Aziz Tunku Ibrahim, or Dr Chandra Muzaffar. These men once danced with the opposition but now sing praises for Umno. The rakyat are wary and weary of turncoats. These experts claimed that KL112 is a charade and a mockery of democracy. They are out of touch with the feelings on the ground.

Umno, which stands for United Malay National Organisation, is far from united. The cracks are beginning to show and MPs are becoming afraid, not just for their political futures but also for their freedom. Those who have aligned themselves with Mahathir are rejoicing at the prospect of holding the reins of power after Najib is toppled. That joy will be short-lived.

Najib has one staunch supporter, Rosmah Mansor; her ambition is uncontrolled, she is the stronger partner and is determined to stick with Najib because she has so much to lose. She is the driving force behind him.

Last week, Muhyiddin said that Malaysia does not need change, thus mirroring Mahathir’s sentiments of previous weeks. Muhyiddin said, “We have a good government and a good economy, so why do we need a change?”

Despite the recent exposes of high level corruption, Najib and the various agencies tasked to deal with these issues have done nothing.

So, they should not be shocked by events in Ayer Tawar in Perak, where people whose lives are allegedly blighted by corruption, have started to take the law into their own hands.

The rakyat sees that the government does not enforce the laws, but blatantly breaks them. The government and its agents act like thugs.

Ironically, the resistance to change, of Mahathir and Muhyiddin, is the driving force behind the people’s uprising which demands the fall of the Umno dictatorship at GE13.

MARIAM MOKHTAR is a non-conformist traditionalist from Perak, a bucket chemist and an armchair eco-warrior. In ‘real-speak’, this translates into that she comes from Ipoh, values change but respects culture, is a petroleum chemist and also an environmental pollution-control scientist.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:54 pm and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 87 Hari ke PRU13 – Media perdana BN berterusan tidak jujur, tidak profesional dan berbohong terbukti merupakan kemusnahan terakhir Najib sebagai Perdana Menteri dan penyingkiran UMNO/BN dari Putrajaya dalam PRU13

Bukan sahaja ironi malah sukar dipercayai bahawa pada malam KL112, Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak menjadi tuan rumah Malam Penghargaan Media Perhimpunan Agung Umno 2012 dan bercakap tentang kepentingan media kepada UMNO.

Rakyat Malaysia yang berfikiran rasional dan bebas, termasuklah empat juta pengundi pertengahan yang akan menentukan sama ada Barisan Nasional atau Pakatan Rakyat akan membentuk kerajaan persekutuan di Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya umum 13,  tentu akan tertanya adakah Najib betul-betul berpijak di bumi nyata atau sedang hidup dalam dunianya sendiri.

Apa yang Najib katakan tentang media beberapajam selepas KL112, yang menjadi titik penting demokrasi yang sedang matang, di luar alam nyata.

Bagaimana Najib dengan selamba meminta media memainkan peranan orang tengah yang menyampaikan  kehendak dan perasaan orang ramai kepada kerajaan dan melaporkan rungutan dan kritikan terhadap kerajaan untuk membolehkan penambahbaikan dijalankan sedangkan media perdana Barisan Nasional, sama ada media cetak, radio, televisyen atau atas talian, bersalah melakukan sesuatu yang sebaliknya, benar-benar tanpa sesal mereka-reka pembohongan tentang Pakatan Rakyat?

Selama berminggu-minggu, media perdana Barisan Nasional telah melakukan “Pembohongan Besar” berkenaan KL112 dan mereka masih lagi  menyempurnakan “Pembohongan Besar” selepas KL112, walaupun “Pembohongan Besar” itu telah dihancurkan dengan lumat sebagai tiada asas dan tidak benar!

Tidak diragukan lagi bahawa salah satu pihak yang kalah teruk kerana KL112 dijalankan dengan berjaya dan aman adalah media perdana Barisan Nasional (MSM), sebab itulah Malaysiakini di dalam “KL112: Winners and losers” menyenaraikan media perdana sebagai salah satu daripada tiga yang “tewas” selepas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dan UMNO/Barisan Nasional manakala The Malaysian Insider menerbitkan rencana editorial yang bertajuk:  “Mainstream media’s epic fail”.

Walaupun Najib berhak diberikan tepukan kerana tidak membenarkan penyokong tegar UMNO/BN dan polis menggagalkan KL112 dan berdepan dengan kebencian ramai seperti yang berlaku dalam perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 dan Bersih3.0, beliau masih belum dapat memberikan imej Perdana Menteri yang tegas, serius dan cekap yang komited kepada pelbagai program transformasi yang diumumkan dengan namanya – terima kasih kepada media perdana BN yang berterusan tidak jujur, tidak profesional dan berbohong!

Juga terima kasih kepada media perdana BN yang berterusan tidak jujur, tidak profesional dan berbohong yang menyebabkan tinjuan pandangan Merdeka Centre bulan Disember dua minggu lalu mendapati bahawa kedudukan populariti Najib telah jatuh ke tahap paling rendah untuk seluruh tahun – 63% pada Disember 2012 berbanding 69% pada Februari 2012 – sementara hanya  52 peratus of pengundi mengatakan bahawa negara ini menuju ke arah yang betul, paling rendah sejak bulan Mei 2010.

Perdana Menteri sebelumnya, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, mendapat kedudukan yang lebih baik sebelum pilihan raya umum Mac 2008 berbanding Najib pada saat hampirnya pilihan raya umum namun itu tidak menyelamatkan jawatan Abdullah.

Kedudukan populariti Abdullah menjunam daripada 91% selepas pilihan raya umum 2004 kepada 61% pada Disember 2007 (yang mana masih lagi lebih tinggi daripada populariti Najib pada kedudukan 52% pada Disember 2012) manakala 63% pengundi merasakan negara menuju ke arah yang betul pada Disember 2007 (dibandingkan dengan 52% pada Disember 2012).

Walaupun kedudukan Najib telah menjunam ke tahap paling rendah untuk tahun lalu, Merdeka Centre juga melaporkan bahawa tahap tidak puas hati  telah sampai ke tahap tertinggi di dalam empat tahun pemerintahan Najib, pada 30% berbanding 28% pada bulan Oktober 2012 dan 16% pada bulan Mei 2009.

Patut diberi perhatian juga penemuan Merdeka Centre bahawa dikala kedudukan sokongan terhadap Najib tergelincir 63 peratus, pemerintahannya dan Barisan Nasional telah mengekori jauh di belakang 47 peratus dan 45 peratus.

Dengan Najib mendapat kedudukan rendah dalam kedua-dua mata berbanding Abdullah sebelum pilihan raya umum 2008, sama ada kedudukan populariti Perdana Menteri atau persepsi pengundi sama ada negara ini sedang menuju ke arah yang betul, tidaklah mengejutkan terdapatnya pemimpin UMNO yang begitu pesimis terhadap peluang UMNO/BN di dalam PRU13, malah Menteri Besar Johor  Datuk Seri Ghani Othman secara terbuka meramalkan Pakatan  Rakyat mampu menang PRU13 dengan majoriti tipis 5% hingga 10% kerusi parlimen – iaitu majoriti 12-22 kerusi untuk Pakatan Rakyat!

Sekiranya ini senario yang digambarkan Ghani menjadi kenyataan, salah satu puncanya kerana kurangnya kepercayaan orang ramai dan kewibawaan media perdana Barisan Nasional, yang menjadi bukti jelas kepada semua rakyat Malaysia, dan terutamanya empat juta pengundi golongan pertengahan,  betapa UMNO/BN tidak mungkin insaf memandangkan tidak mampu langsung berubah melainkan dihantar ke bangku Oposisi di Parlimen.

Media perdana BN berterusan tidak jujur, tidak profesional dan berbohong terbukti merupakan kemusnahan terakhir Najib sebagai Perdana Menteri dan penyingkiran UMNO/BN dari Putrajaya dalam PRU13

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/14/87-day-countdown-to-13ge-persistently-dishonest-unprofessional-and-lying-bn-mainstream-media-may-prove-to-be-the-final-undoing-of-najib-as-prime-minister-and-ousting-of-umnobn-from-putrajaya-in-13/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 1:37 pm and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 88 Hari ke PRU13 – KL112 menjadi titik bagi demokrasi yang sedang matang di Malaysia

Keamanan dan kejayaan Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat di Stadium Merdeka (KL112) semalam menjadi titik bagi demokrasi yang sedang matang di Malaysia.

Perhimpunan itu mencipta pelbagai sejarah pertama kali di Malaysia, termasuklah:

Perhimpunan aman 100,000  rakyat Malaysia yang patriotik dan berpandangan jauh daripada pelbagai kaum, agama dan tempat, tidak kira usia atau jantina, hadir bersama dengan harapan, perasaan muhibah dan perpaduan untuk Malaysia yang mana terdapat kebebasan dan keadilan untuk semua rakyat Malaysia dan generasi akan datang;

Tiada langsung di dalam mana-mana ucapan baik daripada pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat atau wakil lembaga swadaya masyarakat yang memainkan isu kaum dan agama, mengapi-apikan hal kaum dan agama untuk memprovokasi kebenci dan konflik.

Politik pembohongan dan penipuan, termasuklah memainkan isu kaum dan agama untuk menakut-nakutkan, menimbulkan konflik serta memecahbelahkan rakyat Malaysia  yang telah mencemar politik Malaysia sepanjang bertahun-tahun lamanya telah gagal menghalang momentum bagi perubahan yang aman dan demokratik seperti yang disimbolkan oleh KL112 yang aman dan berjaya.

Langkah seterusnya bagi mematangkan demokrasi di Malaysia adalah dengan menginstitusikan sistem dua perikatan dengan mewujudkan perubahan kuasa dan kerajaan dengan aman melalui peti undi.

Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 terus menjadi cabaran besar untuk Pakatan Rakyat tetapi KL112 adalah tanda aras bahawa tidak kira betapa payah dan sukar, perubagan kerajaan di Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya akan datang mampu dicapai.

Malah, KL112 sepatutnya menjadi titik peralihan kepada agenda UBAH, dengan menambah seruan kepada rakyat Malaysia bukan sahaja untuk bersatu mengundi perubahan Kerajaan Persekutuan di Putrajaya, tetapi untuk memastikan bahawa Pakatan Rakyat bukan sekadar menang tetapi juga penting untuk Pakatan Rakyat memperoleh majoriti parlimen yang kuat sekurang-kurangnya 28 kerusi, iaitu, dengan memastikan PR menang sekurang-kurangnya 124 kerusi parlimen atau PKR dengan 45 kerusi dan DAP serta PAS masing-masing dengan 40 kerusi parlimen.

Maka dari KL112 menuju ke PRU13!

Tiada penyebaran pembohongan atau penipuan, seperti mana amalan biasa pemimpin Barisan Nasional dan lidah-lidah propaganda mereka dalam serangan mereka ke atas Pakatan Rakyat;

10 perkara yang dituntut Pakatan Rakyat dan lembaga swadaya masyarakat demi kebebasan, keadilan dan pembangunan mapan mewakili semua kaum, agama dan tempat untuk membina Malaysia yang bersatu, harmoni, progresif dan makmur;

Pakatan rakyat berikrar dengan Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim mengetuai 100,000 rakyat Malaysia melaungkan “Merdeka” untuk meneruskan legasi kemerdekaan Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman yang melaungkan “Merdeka” tujuh kali di Stadium Merdeka pada 31 Ogos, 1957 – simbol kepada fasa baru perjuangan kemerdekaan bagi membebaskan negara daripada penindasan pemerintah setempat;

Pada penghujung KL112, tidak pernah di dalam sejarah Malaysia lagu kebangsaan Negaraku dinyanyikan dengan penuh semangat, harapan dan perasaan oleh rakyat Malaysia dari pelbagai kaum, agama dan tempat demi perubahan demokratik untuk Malaysia yang lebih baik.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/13/88-day-countdown-to-13ge-kl112-the-major-turning-point-for-maturing-democracy-in-malaysia/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:44 am and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 89 Hari ke PRU13 – Apakah MB Johor Ghani Othmas akan disuruh menarik balik ramalannya bahawa PR boleh menang PRU13 dengan majoriti 5% atau 10% ataupun majoriti 12-22 kerusi?

Petang semalam, Bank Islam Malaysia menjarakkan diri daripada ramalan ketua penganalisis ekonominya di dalam sebuah forum di Singapura bahawa Pakatan Rakyat (PR) boleh menang dengan majoriti kecil pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13.

Pengarah urusan Bank Islam Datuk Seri Zukri Samat berkata di dalam kenyataannya bahawa Bank Islam bukanlah pihak di dalam Regional Outlook Forum pada hari Khamis, dan “tidak terlibat dan tidak berkaitan dalam forum tersebut,” dan pandangan yang diberikan penganalisis ekonominya Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajudin adalah “pandangan peribadi beliau dan tidak patut dikaitkan dengan Bank Islam,”

Di dalam Singapore Regional Outlook Forum, Azrul telah meramalkan bahawa Barisan Nasional berkemungkinan untuk menang cuma di antara 97 dan 107 kerusi parlimen – membentuk kerajaan persekutuan Pakatan Rakyat dengan majoriti parlimen antara lapan hingga 28 kerusi.

Tidak mengapa sama ada unjuran Azrul adalah anggaran rasmi atau tidak rasmi Bank Islam, hakikatnya pemimpin UMNO/Barisan Nasional juga telah turut sampai kepada keputusan yang sama berdasarkan maklumbalas dan pengiraan – menunjukkan bahawa PRU13 akan menjadi perkara penentu sama ada Pakatan Rakyat atau Barisan Nasioal yang akan memenangi perlumbaan ke Putrajaya.

Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Abdul Ghani Osman memberikan senario hampir sama dengan Azrul ketika bercakap kepada pertubuhan Cina Kulai pada hari Selasa, menyatakan Pakatan Rakyat boleh menawan Putrajaya di dalam PRU13, walaupun beliau memberi amaran bahawa paling banyak Pakatan Rakyat cuma boleh menang dengan majoriti tipis 5% kepada 10% kerusi parlimen.

Pakatan Rakyat memenangi 5% hingga 10% majoriti parlimen bermakna antara 117 kerusi dimenangi PR dan 105 kerusi dimenangi BN dengan majoriti 12 kerusi (majoriti 5.5%) hingga 122 kerusi dimenangi PR dan 100 kerusi dimenangi BN dengan majoriti 22 kerusi (majoriti 10%).

Ghani menganggarkan PR boleh menang dalam PRU13 dengan majoriti antara 12 – 22 kerusi parlimen amat hampir dengan anggaran Azrul bahawa PR boleh menang dengan majoriti 8 hingga 28 kerusi.

Apakah MB Johor Ghani Othman akan disuruh menarik balik ramalannya bahawa PR boleh menang PRU13 dengan majoriti 5% atau 10% ataupun majoriti 12-22 kerusi?

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/12/89-day-countdown-to-13ge-will-johore-mb-ghani-othman-be-asked-to-retract-his-prediction-that-pr-can-win-the-13ge-with-5-to-10-majority-or-majority-of-12-22-seats/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:41 am and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 90 Hari PRU13 – Biar Najib buktikan keikhlasannya mahukan Malaysia memulakan langkah menjadi “demokrasi terbaik negara” dengan memastikan pengurusan yang aman dan bersejarah  Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat at Stadium Merdeka 112 esok.

Petang semalam, sewaktu dalam perjalanan ke Pontian untuk melancarkan pusat operasi PRU12 DAP Tanjong Piai, saya twit perkara berikut:

“PR  to give full co-operation. Call on all Malaysians to make 112 historic day http://m.malaysiakini.com/news/218605  Police aim for ‘zero casualties’ at weekend rally Mkini”

Saya menyatakannya selepas saya membaca laporan bahawa Ketua Komunikasi Korporat PDRM, ACP Ramli Mohamed Yoosuf telah mengisytiharkan pada taklimat media di Bukit Aman bahawa meskipun terdapat kecelakaan yang berlaku di dalam perhimpunan dan protes sebelumnya, pihak polis mensasarkan “kecelakaan sifar” pada perhimpunan esok.

Ramli menekankan bahawa keselamatan adalah keutamaan polis, polis memandang serius berkenaan keselamatan semua orang dan perkara ini turut telah dibincangkan semasa mesyuarat di antara ketua polis negara dan pihak penganjur beberapa hari lalu.

Ketika mesyuarat Selasa lepas, Ketua Polis Negara, Tan Sri Ismail Omar memberitahu pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat bahawa beliau mahu perhimpunan 12 Januari menjadi “peristiwa bersejarah di mana mereka belajar dari peristiwa lepas” dan memberikan jaminan bahawa pihak polis akan hanya memainkan peranan menguruskan ketika perhimpunan yang dijangka berlangsung di Stadium Merdeka.

Maka amat mengejutkan apabila kemudiannya pada sebelah petang, terdapatnya laporan bahawa polis melakukan “pusingan” apabila Ketua Polis Kuala Lumpur Datuk Mohamed Salleh mengeluarkan kenyataan akhbar, menginginkan Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat diadakan di Stadium National Bukit Jalil bukannya Stadium Merdeka.

Ini jelas sekali kesan daripada campurtangan politik ke atas urusan polis oleh pemimpin politik dan ini  tidak boleh diterima, melihatkan permintaan daripada Menteri Dalam Negeri, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein dan Timbalan Menteri di Jabatan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Ahmad Maslan, yang juga Ketua Penerangan UMNO bahawa Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat sepatutnya diadakan di National Bukit Jalil dan bukannya Stadium Merdeka.

Saya gembira yang kebaikan akhirnya berjaya dan perhimpunan esok akan diadakan di Stadium Merdeka seperti mana  yang telah dipersetujui dengan pihak polis.

Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sepatutnya memastikan bahawa tiada campurtangan  politik sama ada oleh Menteri Dalam Negeri, Ketua Penerangan UMNO atau lain-lain penggerak politik daripada mengekang Ketua Polis Negara untuk memastikan perhimpunan Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat esok aman dan berjaya dari sudut hak asasi manusia dan demokrasi serta “detik bersejarah” yang mana polis kembali memperoleh keyakinan awam dan kecekapan, kebebasan dan profesionalisme dalam menegakkan undang-undang dan demokrasi, bukan menjadi agen ahli politik pemerintah bagi mempertahankan rejim sekarang.

Tinjauan pandangan awam terhadap populariti Perdana Menteri  yang dijalankan Merdeka Center sepanjang dua minggu terakhir tahun lepas dan didedahkan kepada umum semalam menunjukkan bahawa populariti Najib jatuh dua mata kepada 63 peratus berbanding tahun lepas.

Ini merupakan populariti Najib terendah untuk sepanjang tahun lepas berubah-ubah dari 69% pada bulan Februari dan April kepada 65% pada bulan Mei, 64% pada bulan Jun dan 65% pada bulan Oktober.

Kedudukan populariti Najib tahun lepas jatuh ke tahap paling rendah 65% pada bulan Mei dan 64% pada bulan Jun selepas bencana dalam perhubungan awam melibatkan keganasan polis dan kerajaan dalam menguruskan perhimpunan Bersih 3.0 di Dataran Merdeka pada 28 April, ketika garam, botol air malahan telefon bimbit dianggap sebagai “senjata pemusnah” untuk menjatuhkan kerajaan Barisan Nasional.

Begitu juga, pada tahun 2011, kedudukan populariti Najib menjunam kepada paras terendah bagi tahun itu, iaitu 59%, selepas polis menggunakan kekerasan, keganasan dan kezaliman berlebihan semasa perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 pada 9 Julai 2011.

Sekiranya perhimpunan aman dan demokratik “Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat” di Stadium Merdeka esok menyertai perhimpunan Bersih 2.0 dan Bersih 3.0 sebagao “titik hitam” ketiga pemerintahan Najib, Najib sepatutnya menjangkakan popularitinya menjunam ke dasar paling bawah dalam tempoh empat tahun menjadi Perdana Menteri – lebih rendah daripada populariti corot 45% ketika beliau mula menyandang jawatan Perdana Menteri pada April 2009.

Dalam situasi sebegitu, tiada siapa percaya bahawa Najib dapat pulih daripada hentaman politik sedemikian bagi menyelamatkannya dan Barisan Nasional di dalam pilihan raya umum yang bakal menjelang dan perlu diadakan pada bulan Mac.

Biar Najib buktikan keikhlasannya mahukan Malaysia memulakan langkah menjadi “demokrasi terbaik dunia” dengan memastikan pengurusan yang aman dan bersejarah Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat di Stadium Merdeka esok.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/11/90-day-countdown-to-13ge-let-najib-prove-sincerity-in-wanting-malaysia-to-begin-journey-to-be-worlds-best-democracy-by-ensuring-peaceful-and-historic-holding-of-1/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:13 am and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 91 Hari ke PRU13 – Pemimpin BN tiba-tiba menggambarkan Malaysia sebagai “syurga dunia” kerana pemimpin UMNO/BN sedar mereka boleh kehilangan Putrahaya dalam PRU13, yang kemungkinan diadakan pada penghujung Mac

Tiba-tiba, pemimpin UMNO/Barisan Nasional menggambarkan Malaysia sebagai “syurga dunia” meskipun kegagalan terang-terang Dasar 1Malaysia dan pelbagai Program Transformasi, kerana pemimpin UMNO/BN sedar bahawa mereka boleh kehilangan Putrajaya dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 yang berkemungkinan diadakah penghujung Mac.

Dengan sengaja perkara yang diabaikan adalah:

Polarisasi kaum dan agama paling teruk di dalam sejarah negara;

Politik kebencian, konflik, penipuan dan pembohongan paling tidak bertanggungjawab dilakukan oleh perikatan pemerintah dan media perdana (MSM) mereka sejak Merdeka pada 1957;

Indeks-Indeks Persepsi Rasuah Transparency International  yang menunjukkan rasuah di bawah empat tahun pemerintahan Najib lebih teruk berbanding semua mantan-mantan Perdana Menteri;

Laporan Global Finance Integrity terkini yang menunjukkan Malaysia berasaskan per kapita adalah No.1 di dunia dalam pengaliran keluar wang haram dan rasuah (sama ada duit gelap yang dibawa keluar dari negara untuk 2010 sebanyak RM196.8 bilion atau RM871 bilion untuk 2000-2010); atau

TIMSS (Kajian Aliran Dalam Sains dan Matematik Antarabangsa) 2011 terhadap dua subjek kritikal matematik dan sains yang menunjukkan bahawa Malaysia memberikan sistem pendidikan yang lemah sama ada dibandingkan dengan negara lain atau hasil kajian masa lalu negara ini.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, yang menjauhi dasar 1Malaysia Perdana Menteri Datuk Seri Najib Razak dengan mengisytiharkan dirinya “Melayu dahulu, Malaysia kemudian”, berada di barisan hadapan memuji-muji Malaysia – mendakwa Malaysia kini menjadi negara “kegemaran pelabur” kerana pelbagai Program Transformasi.

Semua puji-pujian yang melambung-lambung oleh pemimpin UMNO/BN tentang kejayaan pelbagai program transformasi Najib, dakwaan yang Najib telah berjaya menghentikan “tsunami politik” 2008 dan UMNO/BN bersedia untuk merampas kembali 20 kerusi parlimen daripada Pakatan Rakyat dan mendapatkan kembali majoriti dua pertiga di dalam PRU13, semua tidak dapat menyembunyikan hakikat bahawa pemimpin UMNO/BN sedang bimbang mereka terpaksa keluar dari Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang.

Menteri Besar Johor, Datuk Abdul Ghani Osman ketika bercakap dengan pertubuhan Cina Kulai pada hari Selasa memberikan kenyataan terbaik bahawa Pakatan Rakyat boleh memenangi Putrajaya dalam PRU13, walaupun beliau memberikan peringatan Pakatan Rakyat Cuma boleh menang tipis sebanyak 5% hingga 10% kerusi parlimen, yang katanya akan membawa kepada kestabilan ekonomi.

Pakatan Rakyat memenangi 5% hingga 10% majoriti parlimen bermakna antara 117 kerusi dimenangi PR dan 105 kerusi dimenangi BN dengan majoriti 12 kerusi (majoriti 5.5%) hingga 122 kerusi dimenangi PR dan 100 kerusi dimenangi BN dengan majoriti 22 kerusi (majoriti 10%).

Rakyat Malaysia yang mahu melihat perubahan mendasar daripada PRU13 perlulah berkerja keras memastikan Pakatan Rakyat boleh memenangi lebih daripada 5% hingga 10% majoriti parlimen, iaitu memenangi lebih daripada 122 kerusi parlimen.

Inilah sebabnya mengapa bulan lepas, saya telah menyeru semua rakyat Malaysia menyokong sepenuhnya kempen “Seratus Hari ke Putrajaya” untuk kerajaan Pakatan Rakyat di Putrajaya dengan 125 kerusi di Parlimen, mengikut pembahagian 45:40:40 kerusi untuk PKR, PAS dan DAP.

Saya juga telah katakan rahsia untuk kejayaan PR dalam PRU13 akan menentukan kemampuan kita untuk memenangi empat juta undi golongan pertengahan dengan menfokuskan kepada isu nasional yang utama dan penting, termasuklah kemampuan PR

mengurus dan mengurangkan kadar rasuah di dalam negara;

menunjukkan jalan baru menuju perpaduan nasional dan keharmonian berbilang kaum yang tulen;

mentadbir lebih saksama dengan keadilan sosial dan kecekapan ekonomi;

untuk mengurangkan kemiskinan dikalangan masyarakat pribumi Sabah dan Sarawak serta membawa pembangunan yang lebih mapan kepada kedua-dua negeri; dan

membawa era baru pentadbiran yang mana demokrasi dibangun dan diperdalamkan.

Hari ini, pada Pengiraan Detik 91 Hari ke PRU13, biar saya katakan bahawa saya menjangkakan Parlimen dibubarkan pada bulan Febuari dan PRU13 akan diadakan pada penghujung Mac – memandangkan yang Dewan Undangan Negeri Negeri Sembilan akan dibubarkan dengan sendirinya pada 26 Mac 2013 kerana ia merupakan dewan undangan negeri pertama bersidang selepas pilihan raya umum 308 pada 2008, iaitu pada 27 Mac 2008.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/10/91-day-countdown-to-13ge-bn-leaders-are-suddenly-describing-malaysia-virtually-as-heaven-on-earth-because-umnobn-leaders-conscious-they-can-lose-putrajaya-in-13ge-likely/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:10 am and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 92 Hari ke PRU13 – Tiada maknanya Malaysia sebagai “negara paling selamat di Asia Tenggara” apabila rakyat Malaysia hidup dalam kebimbangan dengan jenayah yang semakin menjadi-jadi

Berikut  adalah apa yang ditulis di blog oleh seorang pegawai editorial media perdana (BN MSM) terpenting Barisan Nasional semalam:

“Mengapa semua penjenayah ini masih merompak dan mencederakan orang ramai di lampu isyarat, di rumah mereka dan di mana-mana pun?

“Mengapa mereka begitu berani?

“Biar saya beritahu mengapa – kerana MEREKA DAPAT MELEPASKAN DIRI dan TIADA SIAPA MENGHENTIKAN ATAU MAMPU MENGHENTIKAN MEREKA…atau MAHU MENGHENTIKAN MEREKA.

“Sejujurnya – saya hidup di dalam ketakutan. Keluar saya hidup dalam ketakutan dan bukan kami sahaja merasakan begitu.

“Bukan hanya penduduk kawasan perumahan takut diserang pada bila-bila masa.

“Orang…orang yang memandu di dalam kereta mereka…orang yang berjalan kaki…

 “Anda takut apabila tiba di depan pintu rumah anda – kalau-kalau ada yang mengekori anda atau menunggu untuk bertindak.

“Anda penuh dengan ketakutan.

“Di Seksyen 16 PJ di mana adik perempuan saya dan keluarganya tinggal, penduduk hampir semua rumah sepanjang jalan sekelilingnya, pernah diserang dengan pelbagai keadaan.

“Laporan polis telah dibuat…akan tetapi…serangan itu tidak berkurangan.

“Saya mahu bertanya polis – apakah yang dilakukan oleh pegawai polis untuk mencegah/menghalang penjenayah-penjenayah ini daripada kejahatan-kejahatan mereka?

“Maksud saya, benar-benar serius menghalang mereka…

“Ya ya ya…mereka telah membeli lebih banyak motosikal untuk anggota polis meronda di atas jalan…keterlihatan tidak membantu mengurangkan jenayah.

“Tetapi, serangan jahat ini berterusan dan ia terjadi ketika anggota polis tiada di sekitar.

“Biar saya tanya – berapa ramai penjenaya-penjenayah ini pernah dicekup?

“Anda rasakan ancaman serangan berhampiran atau di rumah anda, anda rasa tidak selamat di luar rumah anda. Anda rasa tidak selamat di mana-mana jua. Tiada tempat yang selamat…

“Keluar cuma dengan kereta tidak lagi selamat. Anda bimbang ketika anda sampai ke lampu isyarat. Anda bimbang ketika anda menyeberang jalan.”

Pegawai editorial BN MSM menulis di dalam blog sebagai respon kepada jenayah kejam yang dilaporkan New Straits Times (ms 13) semalam “Attacked and robbed on busy street – Traumatic: Woman in car punched and left unconscious but no one came to couple’s aid” berkenaan bekas juruterbang Air Asia, Kapten Gurcharan Singh Sidhu dan isteri beliau Datin Arunee Dee yang diserang di dalam kereta mereka di sebuah lampi isyarat di jalan P. Ramlee di Kuala Lumpur pada petang Ahad dan dirompak oleh dia orang lelaki menaiki motosikal.

Akan  tetapi tidak ada pengakhiran atau terhentinya jenayah kejam ini kerana hari ini New Straits Times membawa satu lagi laporan “Foreigner loses RM35,000 to snatch thieves – IN SHOCK: Mother of two was at a traffic light junction when 6 men on motorcycles attacked” (ms. 27), tentang seorang warga Australia yang mengandung terkejut apabila tingkap keretanya dipecah dan beg tangannya diragut ketika beliau sedang berhenti di lampu isyarat berhampiran Bandar Utama di Petaling Jaya pada pagi Selasa.

Seperti yang pegawai editorial BN MSM menulis di dalam blog semalam:

“Ini semua amat menyedihkan kerana kisah lama yang sama diulang dan diulang…dan jenayah seperti ini berlaku di banyak lokasi sekitar Lembah Klang, terutamanya berhampiran simpang dengan lampu isyarat…

“Putus harapan melihat kawasan kejiranan semua ada penjaga

“Ini tidak normal langsung.

“Ketakutan sebegini tidak normal langsung.

“Ini merupakan masa yang kritikal. Masa yang berbahaya.”

Tiada maknanya pemimpin Barisan Nasional, sama ada Perdana Menteri, Timbalan Perdana Menteri atau Menteri Dalam Negeri untuk bercakap besar tentang pencapaian pelbagai program transformasi dan Malaysia menjadi “kesayangan para pelabur” kerana Malaysia dikenali sebagai negara paling selamat di dalam Southeast Asia under the Global Peace Index (GPI) 2011 dan 2012 apabila rakyat Malaysia biasa hidup dalam ketakutan.

Keadaan yang menyedihkan di mana rakyat Malaysia hidup dalam ketakutan berpunca daripada jenayah yang semakin menjadi-jadi tidak boleh diteruskan lagi – satu lagi sebab kukuh mengapa perlunya pertukaran kerajaan persekutuan di Putrajaya dalam PRU13.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/09/92-day-countdown-to-13ge-malaysia-as-safest-country-in-southeast-asia-meaningless-when-malaysians-live-in-fear-everyday-of-worsening-crime/

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 10:41 am and is filed under
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This is it

— Christine SK Lai

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 13, 2013

JAN 13 — How do you describe the feeling of being part of a historic moment in time? You can’t, you just have to be there. You can ooh and ahh over all the Instantgram and Utube downloads, but nothing absolutely nothing beats being there in person, to be counted as one of the thousands upon thousands who turned up for KL 112 Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat rally.

By the time my gang of 3 not-so-young aunties alighted from the LRT station at Pasar  Seni at about 11 plus, the streets were already packed with people of all races and ages clad mostly in yellow and green, with bright splashes of some in orange and red. To their credit, police personnel stood around unobstrusively though watchfully. Kudos also to the Unit Amal folks who managed crowd control as best they could. As we finished lunch, the crowd had swelled noticeably, all moving steadily towards Stadium Merdeka. Mercifully the sky was overcast with clouds, offering some welcome shade from the heat of the afternoon sun. It even drizzled a little but the heavens held up as people streamed into the open-air stadium.

I thought we were early but by the time we got in, the stands were already 3/4 full with a huge crowd gathered on the centre field itself. The whole thing was like some mammoth family carnival, with colourful teams waving flags, banners and placards; the atmosphere noisy with the loud intermittent blaring of vuvuzelas ….And the crowd simply grew and grew and grew. It was an amazing sight from where we were seated on the stands — a vast colourful ocean of people as far and beyond what the eye could see. Apparently there was another sea of people milling about outside the stadium grounds. Doesn’t matter what’s the final count — even that one picture on a main-line newspaper’s front-page said it all…

When the MC called for us to stand, my heart swelled with pride as I joined in with thousands of voices to sing Negara-Ku. This was different from all the previous Bersih rallies I had attended. Then it was about 1 issue. Now I was part of something so much bigger….truly a people’s movement, gathered as we were by choice, pulled by the same desire to see a better Malaysia. Not only were the numbers unprecedented; I think this must go down as a first in Malaysian history that the people themselves willingly ‘paid’ to participate in a rally! Just 1 appeal through the loud-speakers was enough to have ordinary folks digging into pockets and wallets to contribute their hard-earned cash for the rally expenses. Talk about generosity of spirit…as I hear it, in some quarters, it’s the other way round – people have to be ‘paid’ to make up the crowd!

Even as each representative took the mike to pitch about their particular cause, what struck me weren’t the polemics or politics, but the shared sentiment that there are many who care enough to make and take a stand as concerned citizens of this land. The grievances may differ but the message was clear — after more than half a century, ordinary people are no longer willing to take things lying down but are risen to take back the power to determine the destiny of our future. I liked what 1 speaker said- that today is the day we no longer see the person in front, beside or behind us as Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or any particular race, today we see each other as Malaysian.

But the speeches weren’t the things that touched me. After all, everyone and anyone can mouth nice platitudes about unity and 1Malaysia (that goes for both government and opposition politicians). What affected me most was the totally unexpected, unrehearsed gesture of the entire crowd playing the ‘wave’ when a local celebrity rapped out a song as an entertainment break. It started with 1 section of the crowd standing up and waving their hands, then as they sat back down, the section next to them stood up, waved and sat down, and it continued all the way round the whole stadium. Section by section, people stood up automatically by turn, as one huge continuous moving ‘wave’ — it was an awesome sight to behold. And it didn’t matter that even when this old, rather easily tired aunty could no longer keep up after a few rounds of sitting, standing and waving, there were others still game enough to ‘carry the wave’ — this was totally spontaneous, straight from the heart. To me, just this simple ‘game’ spoke volumes about the spirit of unity behind this rally; and all it took was a song to start it going. Watching the ‘waves’ cascade across the stadium, my heart was filled with hope, that this be the beginning move of healing, restoration and blessing upon this beloved land of my birth, where justice, righteousness and good governance will not just be touted as political slogans but be applied to each and every Malaysian.

Was all that 5 hours sweating in the heat, sitting on hard stone, listening to (same old same old) political speeches worth it? As one on-line commentator asked, “What’s the point of all these noisy disruptive gatherings? Isn’t it enough that we just do our duty and vote when the time comes?” Well, it may be enough for some people, I guess, and indeed coming out to vote is mandatory.  But for me personally, it’s not about the noise or the disruption of 1 day out of 365 days in a year. It’s simply demonstrating collectively that enough really is enough, that this is the ‘IT moment — a time to create and be part of Malaysia’s history. There may not have been 1 million people out there on the streets of KL on 12th January 2013, but all it takes is 1 stone to cause a ripple in the ocean. So yes, it was worth it, for now I can look back to this date in history and say with great satisfaction “I was there, and I was (am) so proud to be a Malaysian!” That’s what Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat KL 112 was about — 1 ‘rainbow’ people taking the first step, arising in peace to build our nation together towards a better tomorrow for all.

God bless Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 7:50 am and is filed under
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Why do we participate in rallies?

— Alfian Zohri

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 14, 2013

JAN 14 — I was too young to remember the 1998 reformasi demonstration in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. There was no Facebook or Twitter or any social media tools for live updates and the only mobile phones available were those huge solid ones, resembling a piece of brick! However, I do remember reading about the event on Utusan Malaysia. Yes, I used to read Utusan Malaysia. Anyhow, I was too callow to understand the politics and reasons behind those events.

As time has progressed, everything has changed. From September 11, 2001 to the recent Arab Spring (Arab Awakening as put by Robert Fisk) a new chapter of human struggle has been created. If in the 60s, Americans were protesting against the Vietnam War, today not just the Americans but the whole world is protesting against war, any war. We have anti ‘gitmo’ demonstration in New York or London; and we also have anti Internal Security Act (ISA) demonstrations in Kuala Lumpur. Anti nuclear power in Japan for instance, also happened in Australia, France, Germany and elsewhere in Europe. Public rallies or street protests, civil disobedience or whatever you want to call it, are a manifestation of the rejection of an unpopular regime in a particular country. It can be a single-man protest, a hundred, one thousand or a million it doesn’t matter. When you are oppressed, you stand up and fight for your rights. As simple as that.

Not too long ago, we witnessed a classic of domino effect in the Arab world. From one country to another, each one of those ruthless regimes responsible for numerous atrocities and human rights abuses collapsed due to the people’s uprising. But does it solve the problem? No! Does it create more problems? Yes! The problem is yet to be solved and as a matter of fact the problems only get worsen. Arbitrary killings, executions, violence against women, minorities and children and in fact a humanitarian crisis ensued at a rather alarming rate. Civil conflicts become our daily feed. Still the question remains: why is discontent met with further violence?

It is very important for us to be fair and to assess this matter wisely. If we were those young Egyptians, are we going to march on the street screaming “Enough is enough” or we rather watch it live on TV? Mubarak’s oppressive regime is no secret to the world. Political opponents and progressive thinkers were often sentenced to jail and subjected to torture, while minority groups, such as women’s groups and students’ movements, were not allowed to voice their concerns. The most important issue that triggered the Uprising in Egypt is that only the rich became richer and the poor became poorer. By knowing all of these injustices happening for the last 30 years, as a young liberal-minded Egyptian, what would you choose next? Demanding an uncompromising and democratic change in the governing system or sit back, spend fat cheques, raise a family, occasionally change hobbies, get sick and watch your government continue to oppress people even if they are your own family?

It is the same saga in Syria, Tunisia and Libya. Corrupt governments, fat wealthy leaders with expensive champagnes puffing Havana-branded cigars while the people had to fight for a loaf of bread and steal just to buy a bottle of water. Yet, all we do is, condemn those people who took to the streets. We portrayed them as thugs, branding them as uncivilised or ungrateful. If we were those people in Libya or Syria, what do we have as an option? Do we send letters to Gaddafi saying, “Dear Honourable Colonel Gaddafi, me and my kids have not eaten for three days. Would you mind sending us a bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken?” in the hope that Gaddafi will say this in return: “To my loyal citizen, I will not send you one bucket but instead I will send you five buckets of KFC so you and your kids can eat for a week. But remember do not join any street rallies!” Do we really believe that this is the option that we have? And do we really believe that Gaddafi will eventually read those letters?

We argue, “In Malaysia, we are much better than those Arab or African countries”; “the word ‘democracy’ is always muttered by our leaders”; “we managed to have elections without missing a single ballot paper”; “we have lived peacefully for more than 50 years, why do we need to change? Why can’t we just live normally”?

Yes, we are living in a logical sense of harmony. No doubt about that. But does that mean our ruling system is corruption-free? And puts humanity and the rule of law into practice? I believe no. Let’s all be honest with ourselves. We are living in a corrupt system, from the judicial institution to the election commission and most governments departments. Corruption is endemic but it’s almost tolerable! Will this corrupt system disappear when Pakatan Rakyat takes over Putrajaya? NO! Will Pakatan Rakyat be able to remove and replace it with a more transparent system within 100 days after they have ‘seized’ Putrajaya? The answer is again NO! It would take them years and years and years to repair the whole system. This is the PROCESS that we, Malaysians, are about to go through right now. This is the ‘moment of transition’ that we are trying to walk through and this period will not be easy. In fact, this is the hardest part for us Malaysians and we need to realise that we are making a huge change in our life. A change that is irreversible.

It is also important for all Malaysians to realise another matter. We are calling for a better system. A system that can guarantee our rights and a system that is based on the rule of law and people-oriented. We are not calling for Pakatan Rakyat to replace Barisan Nasional just because we hate BN. Pakatan Rakyat can be as corrupt as Barisan Nasional as soon as they take over Putrajaya. This is not an impossibility. All we want is Pakatan Rakyat to guarantee the people’s rights, improve the judicial system, promote transparency and accountability within the governing bodies, shut ISA Detention Centres completely, try those who committed human rights violation in a fair people’s court, demand openness and accuracy on information related to government spending i.e. military budget, overseas trips and individual assets, improve the education system for all Malaysians and the list goes on.

January 12, 2013 was a crucial date for both Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat. There is no turning back. The people are moving forward. You can put barricades up, but those barricades will surely be toppled by the people. The bigger they are, the harder they fall.

And for those of you who are against public rallies in Malaysia, I have a question for you: are you against public rallies because you believe there is another solution to the problem i.e. (writing letters and hoping your leaders will read them) or because you prefer to pass on your “talk to the hand” mantra to your offspring so that they too can suffer like you? Oh wait; will you go onto the streets now that PR is bullish?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2013, 11:05 pm and is filed under
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86-Day Countdown to 13GE: PR does not have to play the game of one-up-manship with BN as KL112 is undeniably a major morale booster for UBAH in 13GE which is around the corner and PR should just move on

After being dumbstruck and eerily silent on Saturday after the historic KL112 rally of over a hundred thousand Malaysians of all races, religions and regions at Merdeka Stadium and the whole of Sunday, UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders have suddenly found their voices and are stumbling over themselves to minimise and play down the political tidal waves released by KL112.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak  was clearly too distraught by the success of the peaceful holding of KL112 to claim credit for the Pakatan Rakyat mega-rally when hosting the UMNO general assembly 2012 Media Appreciation Night on Saturday night itself.

After closeting  with his strategists the whole of Sunday to calculate the political costs to UMNO/BN particularly in the forthcoming 13GE, Najib has sufficiently recovered from the political setbacks to publicly declare yesterday that the KL112 exemplifies the success of the political and government reforms he had initiated since becoming Prime Minister some four years ago.

Najib conspicuously omitted to explain why the Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 rallies held also during his premiership were such police and BN government disasters, as KL112 has proved beyond a shadow of doubt that Malaysians are peace-loving people who only want to peacefully exercise their right to free assembly and expression and both Bersih 2.0 and Bersih 3.0 rallies would have been international models of peaceful assemblies if not because of high-handed and repressive police and government actions.

But Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, in anticipation of query on such omissions, gave a partial response when he blamed the Bersih 3.0 chaos on the organisers’ rejection of the government’s offer to hold it in a stadium instead, as if police rampage, abuses of power and excessive use of force such as indiscriminate firing of tear gas and chemically-laced water cannon could be justified under any circumstances!

Even the eminence grise of the Najib premiership, former Prime Minister Tun Mahathir broke his silence on KL112, describing it as a “mimicry” of what happened in several Arab countries with the intention of toppling the present government as the organisers cannot win through the general election.

Mahathir said the same thing about the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28, 2012, alleging that it was intended as “an uprising” to overthrow the government as the Opposition knew that through the election process, people will not give them the power to form the government.

At the time, Mahathir was not the  only one to rant about the Bersih 3.0 rally and made wild and silly allegations –  with Najib alleging  that the Bersih 3.0 “sit-in” at Dataran Merdeka was a coup d’etat attempt by the opposition to topple the government, Hishammuddin alleging that “some parties wanted serious injuries and deaths”, the blind support by three former Inspector-Generals of Police to Najib’s “coup d’etat” allegation and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz informing Parliament that salt and mineral water bottles could be weapons of mass destruction to topple the Najib government.

At least,  Najib has been sufficiently “transformed” enough not to make wild and baseless allegations about KL112 – though his  thanking of Pakatan Rakyat for ensuring that KL112 was peaceful has yet to be reciprocated by the rest of his UMNO/BN entourage.

Mahathir however remains an exception, as the former Prime Minister  is still hewing to his wild allegation that KL112 was meant to be a replica of the Arab Spring to topple the elected UMNO/BN.

DAP and Pakatan Rakyat are not aiming to duplicate an Arab Spring but want a Malaysian Spring through peaceful and democratic means through the ballot box in the 13GE.

Najib said yesterday that the peaceful transition of power as the result of popular democratic elections is “our tradition”, claiming that this is borne out by the  results of the 12 general elections since independence.

Having repeatedly challenged Najib in the past four years to declare publicly that he, UMNO and Barisan Nasional would ensure a peaceful transition of power in Putrajaya to Pakatan Rakyat if this is the verdict of the voters in the 13GE, I find Najib’s response unsatisfactory as it is most  evasive.

Najib’s reference to the “peaceful transition of power” in the past 12 general elections in the country is quite irrelevant, because there had not been a single one of the 12 general election in the nation’s 55 year history which had effected a “peaceful transition of power” at the federal level to another party or coalition, resulting in a change of Prime Minister from an Opposition party or coalition  immediately after the general elections.

What will happen in the 13GE is a completely different scenario altogether from all the past 12 general elections – as it will decide whether the incumbent BN or opposition Pakatan Rakyat will be the Federal Government and whether the incumbent Najib or opposition Datuk Seri Anwar will be the new Prime Minister after the 13GE.

In the circumstances, Najib cannot continue to evade the question whether he, UMNO and Barisan Nasional would accept the voters’ verdict in the 13GE for Pakatan Rakyat to replace Barisan Nasional in Putrajaya and ensure a peaceful transition for Anwar to replace him  as Prime Minister.

UMNO/BN leaders and the utterly discredited mainstream mass media (MSM), whether print, broadcast or online, are spending a lot of time, energy and money claiming that KL112 was a failure, whether in terms of crowd attendance or impact.

Najib and his UMNO/BN lieutenants have to spend millions of ringgit of public funds to pay for attendance and attract crowds to their functions, but in the case of KL112, over 100,000 Malaysians of all races and religions came of their free will and expenses from all over the country to make a success of the historic Merdeka stadium rally and even contributed some RM262,000 to defray the expenses of KL112 and advance the UBAH agenda for the 13GE.

PR does not have to play the game of one-up-manship with BN as KL112 is undeniably a major morale booster for UBAH in the 13GE which is around the corner and PR should just move on.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/17/pengiraan-detik-86-hari-ke-pru13-pr-tidak-perlu-bermain-permainan-menaikkan-nama-sendiri-dengan-menjatuhkan-orang-lain-bersama-bn-kerana-kl112-tanpa-ragu-lagi-adalah-peransang-semangat-untuk-ubah-dal/

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 2:18 pm and is filed under
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As video goes viral, should education policy be scrutinised?

— M. Lee

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 15, 2013

JAN 15 — I was extremely disappointed with the conduct of Sharifah Zohra Jabeen as seen in the
video at the UUM forum
that has gone viral.

As a labour market and development economist, I agreed with Bawani’s statement implying that the economic impacts of educational funding have to be properly analysed to make the right policy directions.

Many countries around the world such as Australia and United States have constantly studied the best educational strategies that will develop and educate the nation. Albeit they are already developed nations.

It is not to my intent to say that the Malaysian government is not trying to adjust and design optimal education policies. However, Sharifah Zohra Jabeen has seemingly assumed the role of a government representative by replying “if you equate Malaysia to other countries, what are you doing in Malaysia? Go to Cuba, go to Argentina, go to Libra, go everywhere.”

My question is: has she been elected as a representative of the government? Is this the stand and belief of the government and the university?

What is more appalling is for an academically trained person to provide such a statement in an academic institution.
 Academics provide scholastic argument by providing rigorous empirical studies and findings before deriving a conclusion. In the instance of this video, I applaud Bawani for providing relevant statistics and policy questions that should be assessed by the government. Although she is only an undergraduate student, she has demonstrated a scholarly attitude in approaching real issues.

Not only was the reply by Sharifah Zohra Jabeen condescending, it was not an intelligent answer. It is akin to sweeping problems under the carpet — presenting an attitude of superiority towards a student by claiming she has a degree and implying that government policies are perfectly fine.

I believe that education policies in Malaysia should be debated further. So many statistics have shown high unemployment among local undergraduates, students are subjected to large fees and there is an absence of effective universal student study loan and repayment schemes to ensure access to higher education by all eligible students.

It is not an issue to be shunned nor should the current education policy be treated as the “best policy”. There are issues to be debated in this arena and again I applaud Bawani for raising them.

* M. Lee is an economist in Australia. He reads The Malaysian Insider.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 4:19 pm and is filed under
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KL112 rally: We gave each other courage

By
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz
 | January 15, 2013

FMT

Last Friday night as I came back from a ceramah in Sabak Bernam, I stopped over at the Sungai Buluh Restoren Jejantas. There was an unusually large number of vehicles in the parking bays.

In the surau, there were many people sleeping and resting. How come there were so many people, I asked at this late hour (it was 2am).

When a friend asked a passerby where are these people from, he said they were from Perak and some from Penang. They have come to participate in the Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat (KL112) rally at Stadium Merdeka on Saturday (Jan 12).

The whole country, it seemed, was galvanised and geared to participate in the KL112 assembly.

Now, that’s all that matters as we inch closer to the 13th general election.

Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak’s time is running out.

The tens of thousands who rallied at KL112 on Saturday was proof of Umno’s end. What we achieved and celebrated at KL112 was the coming together of the various races in Malaysia, something which Umno and Barisan Nasional did not want us to achieve.

What the astute observer would have also noticed was that majority of the marchers were young people. So we know whom the young people will vote.

This gathering as with the previous assemblies regarding Bersih, brought the various communities together.

This is a portent combination that is not going to be liked by Umno and BN.

Suddenly Malays realised they can bond together with Chinese and Indians and discover they are after all normal people.

Non-Malays get to fraternise with Malays and discover too, the Malays are normal people – sharing the same aspirations and are fired by the same motivations, to see this country elect a good government.

What we achieved was to give courage to one another that we can change the current regime. By coming together we gave courage to each other knowing we can overcome this corrupt government.

We have shown we can assemble peacefully and that trouble begins only when Umno thugs are around.

The police stayed away wisely as the majority in the force have no stomach serving as symbols of repression and legalised violence.

They stayed away because the waves of consciousness and civility are overwhelming on the side of the majority.

Najib’s popularity a hype

We can now dismiss the views of Dr Mahathir Mohamad who ruled this country for 22 out of the 55 years. Mahathir forgets that it is Umno, Perikatan and BN that have ruled the country since independence.

Umno has been responsible for making 8.7 million Malays live with an income of RM1,500 per month.

Umno has been responsible for making Malays be beggars in their own country.

Umno rule is about to end. All the hype about the Najib’s popularity being the saving grace is just that – all hype.

It’s an image crafted deviously by practitioners of the black art of propaganda.

Popularity does not solve the fact that the economy is going bad.

Popularity does not solve the fact that this country is brought nearer to bankruptcy because of profligate spending, because of corruption and because of outright incompetence.

Najib has been part of the same government since 1976. Now, pray tell everyone, what else can Umno and Najib do that has not been done?

If we keep invertebrate Najib around, everything will be sold off to Syed Mokkhtar Al-Bukhari.

We will have another 50 deals involving the purchase of rapid intervention vehicles at RM500,000 above market price each. Then we will have the feigned ignorance of the defence minister as the standard Umno leader’s response.

We will have new versions of Scorpene deals, and new versions over the purchase of RM7 billion worth of armoured personnel carriers (APCs).

Another five years of wanton pillage and rape of this country.

Do we really want this?

The writer is a former Umno state assemblyman but has now joined DAP. He is a FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 15 January 2013, 10:50 am and is filed under
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