37-Day Countdown to 13GE – For second consecutive year, not a single Malaysian university ranked in top 400  of Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013

This is another body-blow for the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak just before the long-awaited 13th  General Elections as it highlights the failure of Najib’s national transformation agenda to restore national unity, achieve excellence and regain international competitiveness from its slew of initiatives like the “1Malaysia, People First, Performance Now” programme, the Government Transformation Programme (GTP) with seven National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) and a host of impossible-to-remember  acronyms  from the  alphabet-soup reform measures .

In Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-2013, for the second consecutive year, not a single Malaysian university is included in its 400 Top World University rankings.

The THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 is a sad but salutary warning to Malaysians about the four-year failure of Najib’s transformation programmes, with Malaysia completely excluded from the Asia-Pacific phenomenon highlighted by the THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 on the  “the rise of Asia-Pacific Universities”.

As Phil Baty,  editor of THE World University Rankings commented:

“The balance of power is shifting. Leading universities from across the Asia-Pacific region have seen significant improvements in their positions in the 2012-2013 Times Higher Education World University Rankings, gaining ground on the traditional powerhouses of the US and the UK.

“In the 2012-2013 table, top institutions in China, Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan have risen up the rankings. Asia’s Pacific neighbour, Australia, has also had a strong year, in contrast to the US and the UK: a majority of the Anglo-American representatives in the top 200, while still dominant in term of numbers, have lost ground.”

The “rise of Asia-Pacific Universities” in world higher education is highlighted by the following:

•	Significant improvements for Australia and New Zealand. Australia’s number one institution, the University of Melbourne, has shot up from 37th in the rankings last year to inside the top 30, at 28th. Australia gained an additional top 200 university, with the University of Adelaide entering the top 200 at 176th. Of Australia’s seven top 200 representatives, six improved their positions. Eighteen Australian universities are listed in the top 400 Universities.

•	China’s two top 200 institutions both rose, with Peking University moving from 49th to 46th and Tsinghua jumping 19 places from 71stto 52nd. Universities earmarked by the Chinese authorities for great things are improving: Fudan University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University have both moved closer to the top 200 while Nanjing has maintained its position in the 250-257 bracket.

•	Singapore’s two top 200 institutions saw spectacular success. The National University of Singapore moved from 40th to 29th and Nanyang Technological University rocketed up the table from 169th to 86th.

•	Every one of South Korea’s institutions rose up the tables, with the most spectacular improvement by Seoul National University, which rose from 124 to 59th. The country also gained a new representative in the top 200 – Yonsei University, entering at 183rd.

•	Taiwan’s flagship institution and sole representative in the top 200, the National Taiwan University, moves from 154th to joint 134th, while Hong Kong’s institutions have held steady or risen.

•	Thailand is represented in the top 400 universities with King Monghut’s University of Technology in the 351-400 bracket.

A total of 81 Asian-Pacific Universities made it into the THE 400 Top World University Ranking, but not a single one from Malaysia, and yet we have a Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who recently claimed that Malaysia has one of the best education systems in the world – better than United States, Britain and Germany.

If Malaysia is to have a chance to partake in the “Rise of Asia-Pacific Universities and to be recognised internationally not only as having universities in the top 400 but even in the top 100, then there must be an overhaul of the entire education system in the country, right from primary, secondary to university level.

This is only possible if there is a new beginning for national renewal and regeneration in a change of Federal government in Malaysia – first time in the nation’s 56-year history in the 13GE.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/03/06/pengiraan-detik-37-hari-ke-pru13-untuk-dua-tahun-berturut-turut-tiada-satu-pun-universiti-malaysia-yang-berada-di-kedudukan-400-teratas-dalam-times-higher-education-world-university-ranking/

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 1:50 pm and is filed under
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Cabinet tomorrow should give mandate to Najib to summon emergency Parliament to defend national sovereignty and protect security of Sabahans and security forces personnel

DAP and Pakatan Rakyat fully support all necessary measures in the Sabah Sulu crisis to defend the honour and sovereignty of  the nation and to protect the security and safety of the people of Sabah and the security forces personnel.

The Sabah Sulu crisis is no partisan issue but affects the national sovereignty and security of the people of Sabah and the security forces personnel stationed in the state, and for this reason, all Malaysians, political parties and coalitions must rise above their differences to take a common position to advance the national cause and the people’s fundamental rights to peace, safety and livelihood.

It is for this reason that immediately after the Lahad Datu shootout last Friday,   where two police commandoes were killed, the DAP leadership called on  all Malaysians to rally as one people to face the Sabah Sulu crisis.

This is why I had said in a public statement after the Lahad Datu and Semporna shoot-outs:

“Patriotic Malaysians have many questions about the handling of three-week stand-off with the Sulu armed intruders in Lahad Datu and whether the casualties of the security forces could have been avoided if the whole situation had been properly handled right from the beginning.

“These doubts and queries, however legitimate, must now take second place, as there is no doubt that the country is faced with a crisis involving national sovereignty and the people’s security which must take topmost priority.”

DAP proposed an all-party council be formed, with representatives from both the ruling and opposition coalitions, to help deal with the Sulu Sabah crisis to show the world that Malaysians, regardless of political affiliation, race, religion or region, are united as one in protecting the sovereignty of the nation and the security of the people and the security forces.

Additionally, DAP also called for an emergency meeting of Parliament within the week to address the Sabah Sulu crisis.

The Pakatan Rakyat leadership has yesterday endorsed the call for an emergency meeting Parliament as well as proposing an all-party roundtable conference to unite  all political forces in the face of the Sabah Sulu crisis.

So far there has been no response from Najib to the proposal for an emergency meeting of Parliament as well as an all-party roundtable conference on the Sabah Sulu crisis.

At the first session of the  International Conference on Malaysia 13th General Elections at Lake Club in Kuala Lumpur yesterday on “An appraisal of the electoral democracy in Malaysia”, I had asked the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, who is the Minister in charge of parliamentary affairs, to use his good office to convey to the Prime Minister the call for an emergency Parliament to deal with the Sabah Sulu crisis.

I understand that Nazri, who was on the same panel as myself, had told the press later that this was an issue which had to be decided by the Prime Minister.

Nazri is right –  only the Prime Minister can decide whether an emergency meeting of Parliament is to be convened, as even the Speaker has no power on the issue.

However, as the principle of collective responsibility applies to all Ministers, the Cabinet tomorrow should give the mandate to Najib, if the Prime Minister is still hesitant, to summon an emergency Parliament to defend national sovereignty and protect the security and safety  of Sabahans and security forces personnel stationed in the state.

In view of the urgency of the issue, DAP and PR Members of Parliament are prepared to attend such an emergency meeting of Parliament even on Friday, which will be 8th March 2013 – fifth anniversary of the 12th General Elections electing the present 12th Parliament – should Najib give the nod for the proposal.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 3:58 pm and is filed under
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Fighter jets bomb Kg Tanduo, villagers flee area

Live Reports

Malaysiakini

8:22AM Mar 5, 2013

 The operation to remove the foreign intruders from Kg Tanduo, where more than 100 gunmen have holed up for three weeks began at 7am today.

——————————————————————————–

LIVE REPORTS

10.17am:
Quoting a report from ANC News Channel, InterAksyon.com reports that bombs were being dropped about a kilometer away from where Azzimudie Kiram and his men were located.

Leader Azzimudie says his group could not yet determine if the bombs were meant to target them or their followers, but they remained safe and secure and were ready to fight back.

Meanwhile in Manila, a group of protesters have arrived at the Malaysia embassy to condemn the attack.

10.15am:
 Azzimudie Kiram, leader of the intruders, vents his anger at the Philippine government in a radio interview with InterAksyon.com, the online news portal of Philippine TV channel TV5.

“The government is ordering the arrest of our companions even if we haven’t done anything bad,” he said. “It’s like we aren’t Filipinos.”

Meanwhile, Abraham Idjarani, spokesperson of the sultanate, tells radio station dzBB that Azzimudie had phoned to inform them of the start of the assault.

“There is nothing to be done about that now,” Idjirani said in a separate interview with AFP.

He stressed that Azzimudie’s earlier announcement that they will fight to the end remains.

“We are not intruders. They (Malaysians) are the ones occupying our ancestral land,” he says.

10.09am:
 Police have set up a checkpoint on the main road in Tanjung Labian, which is about 5km from the site of hostilities. No one are allowed into the area.

The sounds of bombings have stopped in the last one hour. It is unclear whether ground troops have moved in as Kampung Tanduo has been off-limit to journalists since the stand-off began.

10.05am:
 In Manila, a team of police and journalists are gathering outside the Malaysian embassy. They are expecting a group of protesters to arrive there.

9.55am:
 Azzimudie Kiram confirmed during an interview with ABS-CBN’s dzMM radio that Malaysian forces are using fighter jets in the latest attack on their position in Lahad Datu.

The royal army’s leader also expressed his disappointment over Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s position on the crisis.

He said that the governments of Malaysia and the Philippines has obviously stopped listening to their calls for a peaceful resolution of the standoff.

9.45am
: According to ABS-CBNnews, prior to this morning’s attack, Azzimudie Kiram, who is leading the armed group at Kampung Tanduo, told radio dzMM that he is unfazed by the plans of the Malaysian government to deploy more troops to Sabah to neutralise them.

Azzimudie said he and his troops will stay put despite repeated calls from both the Philippine and Malaysian governments for them to end the stand-off.

“This is now the time. We will have to be committed to fight for our rights. I’m asking them (Filipinos) to do something to support us.

“They cannot frighten us because we are fighting for our rights – the rights of the Bangsa Sulu and in general, the Filipinos. That is, if the Philippine government still consider us Filipinos,” he added.

9.41am:
 Philippine radio station dzBB reports that Abraham Idjarani, spokesman of the Sulu sultanate, that Azzimudie Kiram, the younger brother of self proclaimed sultan who is leading the intruders, confirmed the launching of the assault and that a jet fighter had allegedly dropped at least two bombs.

However, Idjirani claims the bombs had hit Malaysian positions and not that of Azzimudie’s group.

The radio station also says the battle came 107 years to the day when the 1906 Battle of Bud Dajo in Sulu began.

The battle, in which some 1,000 Tausug, including women and children, were killed by American soldiers is also called the Massacre of Bud Dajo.

9.37am:
 According to a military source, the operation involved fighter jets, artillery as well as foot soldiers moving in for the mop-up.

9.15am:
In Lahad Datu town, about 120km from the battleground, preparations are being made at the main hospital to receive casualties.

9.11am:
 It is learnt that seven army battalions are deployed the area to reinforce police force.

8.54am:
 A Felda official arrived and told Kampung Sungai Merah village chief Rauf Bani to make a head count of his villagers and register them.

The entire group, numbering at around 300 then made their way into an oil palm road away from the conflict site.

8.45am:
 Fleeing villagers from Kampung Sungai Merah, about 2km from the gun battle, are seen squeezed onto lorries, with close to 50 of them on each vehicle leaving the area.

Village chief Rauf Bani says they attempted to flee to nearby Kampung Embara Budi but they were turned away.

“The guards say they wouldn’t let us in so we came here,” he says.

They are parked on the main road leading away from Kampung Tanduo where the battle is taking place.

8.34am:
 Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein posts a photo of him briefing Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak on the ground situation in his Twitter account.

8.28am:
 Prime Minister Najib Razak announces that the security forces have launched an operation to apprehend the armed

intruders at Kg Tanduo at 7am today.

“As a peace-loving Muslim country that upholds the resolution of conflicts through negotiation, our efforts to avoid bloodshed were unsuccessful. Instead, our security forces were attacked and slain, while Malaysians especially those in Sabah fear for their safety.

“The government must take appropriate action to safeguard the dignity and sovereignty of the nation as demanded by the rakyat,” he says.

Philippine President Benigno Aquino is reported to have warned the intruders, who are followers of the Sulu sultan: “You will not succeed.”

A total of 26 people, including eight Malaysian police officers, have been killed in clashes with the intruders over the past week.

8.24am:
 Explosions were heard near Kampung Tanduo which is occupied by a group of foreign intruders, at around 7.30am this morning, prompting hundred villagers to flee.

“They’ve starting bombing the area. We saw jet fighters in the sky, they bombed the place four times,” says villager Nasir Asrama, 38.

The villagers are from Kampung Sungai Merah, a neighbouring coastal village of Kampung Tanduo where some 100 heavily armed intruders from the Philippines have holed up.

Kampung Tanduo sits in between Tanjung Labian and Kampung Sungai Merah which are 5km and 2km apart respectively.

[More to follow]

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 10:16 am and is filed under
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Of instant websites, anonymous emails and political mudslinging

The Malaysian Insider

Mar 04, 2013

MARCH 4 — As the country enters the home stretch before Election 2013, many Malaysians have been receiving emails from people with strange sounding names like Abrihim Malawaki.

Using anonymous names much like those in the infamous letters from so-called former Nigerian military generals imploring us to help them unlock millions of dollars, these letters provide links instead to equally anonymous websites set up overnight to attack Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

While there is nothing wrong with criticising Anwar and the opposition parties, the anonymous nature of these emails and the websites being promoted raises serious questions about their credibility and who is behind the attacks.

This strategy of demonisng Anwar bears striking resemblance to the one employed against him in the international media in a campaign that was apparently funded by the Malaysian government.

Last week, it was revealed that Putrajaya’s media strategist APCO Worldwide covertly financed international media reports in a campaign against Anwar after Election 2008, filings to the United States Department of Justice had revealed.

Widely-read New York-based news portal Buzzfeed Politics reported last week that media outlets from Huffington Post and Washington Times to San Francisco Examiner and National Review carried several articles by right-wing American writers, most notably Joshua Trevino, who had been engaged by global publicity firm APCO Worldwide.

The emails from Malawaki, or whatever his name is, range from standard links to articles critical of Anwar — a few of which are actually fair comment — to attacks and insinuations which can only be described as vile and unsubstantiated.

In one email spam, Malawaki suggested that Bersih leader Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan and Anwar had more than a platonic relationship.

In another, Malawaki provided a link to a website that carried an article alleging Pope Benedict’s recent resignation was because he had also engaged in sexual abuse.

Here’s the thing. Do such tactics work?

The campaign in the US, organised by APCO, has had little impact in how international news organisations cover Malaysia.

It can be argued that the Malaysian government has lost some credibility as a result of the exposure that it has engaged in paying for positive news coverage.

Will setting up instant websites and anonymous emails weeks before an election work to drive voters from the opposition, if indeed that is the aim?

Or will it actually strengthen the resolve of many Malaysians against the Barisan Nasional (BN) that they will stop listening even if the ruling coalition puts forward a credible and good plan to move the country forward?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 8:22 am and is filed under
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The real fuss is the Sabah crisis

― Abdul Samad Sulaiman

The Malaysian Insider

March 04, 2013

MARCH 4 ― What a show we had today at the National Monument. Bet it was the first time the likes of Rahim Noor, Samsuri Arshad and other former IGPs have even graced the place of fallen heroes in recent years!

The jokers have no standing to comment on Sabah or, for that matter, anywhere in Malaysia. While they were enjoying the “perks” of the top job, Sabah was being flooded by illegals and recipients of Project IC.

Did Rahim and his so-called patriots kick up a fuss about the acts of high treason in giving away Malaysian citizenships to people who did not qualify ― people who today hold Sabahans at ransom in their own state?

Did any of them resign in protest when the Mahathir administration opened our borders wantonly?

No, they didn’t. And now they shed crocodile tears for the loss of real heroes, and they are falling over themselves to score some points with the government by feigning indignation at that lightweight, Tian Chua.

Tian Chua may be stupid and callous, but he did not kill Malaysian policemen.

You know why the cops could not hit the militants hard, because they were worried that there could be an uprising among the Filipino population in Sabah, some whom are armed.

And how did this situation happen? Because the cops and other security agencies turned the other way when Sabah was being flooded by foreigners to help a particular party win an election.

So save your tears. You should have cried when Malaysian citizenships were being hawked to unsavoury characters for political expediency.

And here is some advice for the military top brass: Before you go to the National Monument for some protest, can you explain why our troops were lifted to Sabah in an AirAsia plane?

What happened to our transport planes? Rosak? Hilang enjin?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 7:54 am and is filed under
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Why are our troops still on the defensive?

― Hussaini Abdul Karim

The Malaysian Insider

Mar 04, 2013

MARCH 4 ― Based on the reports and images as shown in our mainstream newspapers on the standoff between our troops and the armed Sulu group at Kampong Tanduo, many things seem to be wrong.

Firstly, while there are some members of the troops who were seen to be donning bullet-proof vests, none were wearing helmets. Some were seen wearing long-sleeved tee-shirts and standard ‘soft’ headgear, bandanas and some were not even wearing any headgear at all, especially the members of the VAT 69. Many were also seen not wearing bullet-proof vests.  This is most surprising and wrong.

We are not cowboys on horses fighting against Red Indians armed with arrows, spears and axes!

Malaysian soldiers guarding the area were, however, seen wearing helmets and bullet-proof vests.

Mind you, unprotected bodies and unprotected heads aren’t bullet proof!

Secondly, there doesn’t seem to be any trenches and bunkers with sandbags to protect troops who are keeping watch and who came into contact with the enemy, resulting in eight already dead. Soldiers taking defensive positions must be dug in, whether in bunkers or trenches. They should not be taking up positions where they can be seen and shot at.

What I wrote above is basic modern warfare tactics, and in the standoff at Semporna, even these basics are not followed.

I was a soldier before and I do know something about basic modern warfare tactics.

After 20 days, our troops, based on land and air reconnaissance, would have known every inch of the ground where the militants are stationed. They would know every detail including the number and the various types of weapons the enemy carry and how they are positioned. This would allow our troops to prepare for a proper defence or even an attack.

Knowing that some members of the militant group (the enemy) are armed with SLRs using 7.62mm bullets and 81mm mortars, these can be deadly. Even a hit on the arm from as far as 600m, because of its sheer power, can kill. This is very much unlike the bullets used by our troops, which are the 5.56mm type where sometimes even a direct hit to the body may only injure and are not strong enough to kill. If I were the commander on the ground, I wouldn’t want to position my troops to be anywhere nearer than 200m of the enemy.

The Malaysian troops, police and the army, with our strength and superiority in the number of men, equipment and logistics support, would probably have soldiers from the infantry, mechanised infantry, paratroopers, commandos regiment, artillery regiment, armoured corp, engineers corp, etc.  plus the Royal Malaysian Air Force (RMAF) and the Royal Malaysian Navy (RMN), all by now should be fully ready.

Strafing from the air, harassing fire using high explosive (HE) ammunition from mortars, the light and even the medium guns of the artillery regiment should have been carried out already.

The tanks, mortar and the Royal Malaysian Artillery Regiment gun positions, tanks from the Royal Malaysian Armoured Corp and the APCs would already have been deployed and be in place by now, all ready to launch and support an offensive.

At this stage of the operations, our leaders should not start pointing fingers at anyone, they must look for the right, proper and most effective and quickest solution to end the Semporna standoff and also, to minimise lives lost on either side.

Another thing that surprises me is the report on the latest landings of about 10 men in military gear sighted in Kunak, following the killing of six policemen and six intruders in a gun battle at the Simunul water village in Semporna on Saturday night.  Why is this happening, aren’t our Intelligence Unit doing their job and don’t they by now already have a full and accurate assessment of the threat?

I thought with the ground, air and sea surveillance, by now, a cordon, maybe up to three layers,  would have been organised by both the police and the military and all the confirmed and possible entrance and exit points would have already been blocked and guarded leaving no chance for the enemy to escape at all.

We have lost eight men, how many more lives must be lost before our troops would launch an attack?

For a battle of such a size, which is not a very big battle, losing eight men is already considered a huge loss!

I am surprised that even after 20 days, our troops are still on the defensive. When are they going to launch an attack which by right should have taken place a long time ago already?

* Captain Hussaini Abdul Karim (Rtd) reads The Malaysian Insider

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 8:29 am and is filed under
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Worried over security crisis, but Sabahans warn against stereotyping Filipinos

By Ida Lim

The Malaysian Insider

Mar 05, 2013

File photo of police commandos on alert where the armed Filipino militants are holding up in a plantation outside Lahad Datu. — Reuters picKUALA LUMPUR, March 5 — While worried about their safety as armed foreigners roam the Sabah east coast, Sabahans have warned against stereotyping the thousands of Filipinos living in the Borneo state.

Followers of a claimant to the Sulu sultanate’s throne landed in Lahad Datu on February 9 to revive their claim to Sabah but clashes with police have left eight Malaysian policemen and 20 militants dead over the weekend.

“Yes. Too much chaos. I can’t take it. I just want Sabah to be peaceful again. No more bloodshed. But at the same time, I don’t want our leaders to make decisions without thinking,” 26-year-old Sabahan Audrey W. told The Malaysian Insider.

She had a lot of unanswered questions over the armed rebels who had set foot three-weeks ago in Kampung Tanduo, a village about 130km from Lahad Datu, asking: “How did they land in Sabah? Who allowed them?”

But she also pointed out that a number of Filipinos in the Borneo state have lived happily and were friendly with the locals for decades without problems.

“My parents are serving in a church where there are a lot of Filipinos and Indonesians members, church goers. My parents have been working so closely with them. They are very friendly and helpful and generous, giving people,” said Audrey, who works in a law firm in the state capital Kota Kinabalu.

“However there are a lot of Filipinos in Sabah. If they really want to retaliate or rise up, it’s actually quite scary. Most Sabahans are fearful for their safety,” she said.

Esther Chin, 23, also from Kota Kinabalu, appeared puzzled when commenting on the self-proclaimed followers of the Sultanate of Sulu who are now claiming that Sabah belongs to them, saying she did not understand why they suddenly wanted to “rise up”.

“I feel they are a bit uncivilised because I don’t know are they brainwashed by the sultan or they really can’t let go of Sabah after so long,” she said.

“I wasn’t prepared for this. It has been settled long time ago. Why bring this up?” she asked, saying that there was previously a “fake sultan” who she and her friends had laughed off as a joke.

Chin’s remarks reflect the sentiments of Sabahans who have known the land to be part of Malaysia for decades and regard any claims on Sabah as a threat to Malaysian sovereignty.

But Chin cautioned against stereotyping the Filipinos or Indonesians who live in Sabah, saying there were “non-aggressive” ones who just want to make a living and “aggressive” people who want to “make war”.

“They’re OK. They’re nice people,” she said, referring to those who live here peacefully and have valid working permits.

But the Sultanate of Sulu and its followers insist and believe that they remain the owner of the land, pointing to an annual token payment from Malaysia that they contend amounts to rental, while Malaysia argues that it is payment for the sultanate to cede its rights.

A Lahad Datu-born lecturer expressed worry about the safety of his family and declined to be named, saying the situation in Sabah was “emotionally disturbing”.

He said some residents in Lahad Datu had run off to Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan and Tawau, adding some neighbours were hiding in the plantations.

He also said that Sabahans were fearful for their safety, pointing out the towns of Tawau, Kunak and Semporna are “too close” to the islands in Philippines.

“Even my friends who are Bajau/Suluk have close families here from the opposite islands,” he said.

The lecturer said “Project IC” — where citizenship was allegedly granted to illegal immigrants in Sabah through irregular means — was “definitely related” to the situation now, adding it was “the root” of the problem.

He said Sabahans are used to the existence of foreigners in the state, but said that “with such a standoff… the fire has started.”

“I am afraid with the numbers because they might attack us anytime. We are surrounded by them, those with identity cards plus (the) standoff group,” he said, referring to the estimated 200-odd Filipino militants facing local security forces.

A common theme that cropped up was the lack of reliable and trustworthy information on the events unfolding in Sabah.

Audrey said there was “no transparency”, adding that “the locals, they don’t know who to believe, whether the foreign news or local news”, later adding “I don’t know who to believe”.

The lecturer who declined to be named said there were “too many rumours” and there were conflicting reports from different media.

“We live without peace. Every second we have to update through Facebook. For older generation, (they) totally rely on radio and TV,” he said,

Sabahans have been relying on social media such as Facebook and Twitter apart from news portals as their primary sources of information, with many posting news reports and talk on the ground on Facebook regularly.

Information has also been circulated through text messages and phone calls from friends and family members concerned about the threat by the Filipino militants.

Last Saturday, six policemen were killed in an ambush during a raid in coastal town Semporna, while an armed man of Sulu descent was reportedly beaten to death by local villagers there. The Sulu rebels have claimed that they have captured several Malaysians and are holding them hostage.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 5 March 2013, 8:00 am and is filed under
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36-Day Countdown to 13GE – As Najib is morally a caretaker Prime Minister after March 8, he should brief and consult with Pakatan Rakyat leaders on the Sabah Sulu crisis

As the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has signed the Transparency International-Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge on Feb. 20 to observe the principles of integrity, ethical conduct, accountability, transparency and good governance in the 13th General Elections, he must uphold and recognise the concept and conventions of caretaker government when Parliament is dissolved or  at the end of the five-year term of Parliament.

Najib has delared that he wants to make Malaysia “the best democracy in the world”. If he is serious, it is beholden upon him to observe the best practices of mature and better-functioning democracies in other parts of the world, one of which is the concept and conventions on caretaker governments.

A caretaker government provision recognises that on the dissolution of Parliament, the day-to-day business of government must continue on ordinary matters of administration to allow for the normal operations of all government departments, but a Caretaker Government is limited and precluded from making major policy decisions or appointments.

In Australia, for instance, five broad principles have been spelt out in its Caretaker Government Conventions, viz:

*Major policy decisions. The Government will cease taking major policy decisions except on urgent matters and then only after formal consultation with the Opposition.

    *Significant appointments. The Government will cease making major appointments of public officials, but may make acting or short-term appointments.

    *Major contracts or undertakings. The Government will avoid entering major contracts or undertakings during the caretaker period. If it is not possible to defer the commitment until after the caretaker period, for legal, commercial or other reasons, a minister could consult the Opposition, or agencies could deal with the contractor and ensure that contracts include clauses providing for termination in the event of an incoming government not wishing to proceed. Similar provisions cover tendering.

    *International negotiations and visits. The Government ordinarily seeks to defer such major international negotiations, or adopts observer status, until the end of the caretaker period.

    *Avoiding public service involvement in election activities. The public service  adopts a neutral stance while continuing to advise the Government.

In another two days is the fifth anniversary of the historic “308 political tsunami” of the 12th General Elections, a watershed in Malaysian electoral history which saw Pakatan Rakyat victory in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor and Kelantan.

The five-year term of Parliament, however, is not calculatede from the previous general elections on March 8, 2008 but from the first meeting of the 12th Parliament on 28th April 2008.

This means that Najib can drag out dissoution of Parliament for another 50 days, but by midnight of 27th April 2008, the 12th Parliament stands automatically dissolved without the necessity for any formal dissolution by the Prime Minister, even without any need to seek an audience with the Yang di Pertuan Agong.

However, as the Negri Sembilan State Assembly will be automatically dissolved on March 26 (as its first meeting was on March 27, 2008), it would be most odd and a most adverse reflection on Najib’s leadership if Parliament continues to be in existence but a Barisan Nasional-controlled State Assembly has already been dissolved.

For this reason, I expect the 12th Parliament to be dissolved by March 26 with general elections held within 60 days to elect the 13th Parliament as well as for the various State Assemblies.

Is Najib prepared to accept the concept and conventions of a caretaker government when Parliament is dissolved, as for the firs time in the 56-year of the nation, there is a possibility that there could be an alternation of federal power, with Pakatan Rakyat replacing Barisan Nasional in Putrajaya, and the appointment of a  new Prime Minister who is not from UMNO/Barisan Nasional?

I would even go one step further and argue that from Friday, March 8, 2013 which marks the fifth anniversary of the last general elections, public and political morality demands that Najib should regard himself as a caretaker Prime Minister and his Cabinet a Caretaker Cabinet, and that they should not make any major  or substantive decisions whether concerning policy, appointments, contractual obligations or abuse and misuse of the public service, whether personnel, resources and public funds without consultation with the Opposition.

In this period of caretaker government, the caretaker Prime Minister and the caretaker Cabinet should consult with Pakatan Rakyat leaders on issues of major national import – for instance, the handling of the Sabah Sulu crisis which affect the national sovereignty and the security, safety and welfare of thje people of Sabah and security forces personnel.

As Najib is morally a caretaker Prime Minister after March 8, I urge him to  brief and consult with Pakatan Rakyat leaders on the Sabah Sulu crisis.

(Media Conference Statement in Plentong, Johore Baru on Wednesday, March 6, 2013 at 10 am)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 5:15 pm and is filed under
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Doubts emerge over assault on invaders

M Jegathesan, AFP/Malaysiakini

Mar 5, 2013

The military today launched a fierce assault including jet fighters on up to 300 Filipino intruders after a deadly three-week standoff, but the militants’ supporters said they had escaped and were alive and well.

Earlier federal police chief had also raised doubts about the success of the air and ground attack, saying “mopping up” operations had yet to find any bodies and suggesting at least some of the militants might have slipped away.

Premier Najib Abdul Razak said as the raid was under way that he had no choice but to unleash the military to end Malaysia’s biggest security crisis in years after the interlopers refused to surrender and 27 people were killed.

A day after the Philippines called for restraint, Malaysia launched a dawn assault on the estimated 100-300 gunmen on Borneo island, who invaded to claim Malaysian territory on behalf of a former Philippine sultanate.

Fighter jets bombed the standoff village of Tanduo in Sabah state on the northern tip of Borneo island, followed by a ground assault by troops. The area is set amid vast oil-palm plantations.

“The longer this invasion lasts, it is clear to the authorities that the invaders do not intend to leave Sabah,” Najib said in a statement.

But Abraham Idjirani, spokesman for the sultan Jamalul Kiram III, told AFP the attack had occurred “away from where” their men were, saying he spoke with the leader of the armed group about eight hours after the assault was launched.

IGP: Enemies are still out there

Malaysian federal police chief Ismail Omar told reporters in a press conference hours after the initial attack that soldiers combing across a wide area of hilly plantation country were yet to find any dead militants.

“I have instructed my commanders to be on alert because we believe the enemies are still out there,” Ismail said.

He added Malaysian forces had suffered no casualties.

But if even some of the invaders had escaped a tight police and military cordon, it would likely fuel perceptions of incompetence by security forces in the affair, and sow fears that armed and dangerous gunmen were loose.

The crisis comes just as Malaysia’s 56-year-old ruling coalition is bracing for what are widely expected to be the country’s closest-ever election against a formidable opposition, which has harshly criticised handling of the incursion.

Jamalul Kiram III, 74, a self-proclaimed sultan and leader of the insurgents said earlier Tuesday in Manila that the invaders, which had included his younger brother “will fight to the last man”.

Muslim-majority Malaysia has been shocked by the spectacularly bold stunt by the Islamists, who claim to be asserting Jamalul’s ancestral control of Sabah as heir to the now defunct Sulu sultanate.

The invaders had been holed up in Tanduo village since landing by boat last month, highlighting lax Malaysian security in the region and the continuing threat from southern Philippine Islamists.

Manila blamed intruders

After the assault began, Philippine President Benigno Aquino’s spokesman blamed the intruders for the assault.

“We’ve done everything we could to prevent this, but in the end, Kiram’s people chose this path,” said the spokesman, Ricky Carandang.

After a lengthy standoff, violence first erupted in Tanduo on Friday with a shootout that left 12 of the gunmen and two police officers dead.

Another gunbattle Saturday in the town of Semporna, hours away by road, killed six police and six gunmen, raising fears of a wider guerrilla infiltration and leading to Tuesday’s military operation.

Police had already said at the weekend they were hunting for a group of “foreign” gunmen in yet another town, but have provided no further updates.

Meanwhile, followers of Kiram, have repeatedly warned that yet more militants were poised to land in Sabah.

The mayhem has triggered panic in Semporna, where many residents were witnessed by an AFP reporter fleeing the town on Monday, fearing more violence.

The Sulu sultanate, based in the southern Philippines’ Sulu islands, once controlled parts of Borneo including Sabah.

Its power faded about a century ago but its heirs continue to insist on ownership of resource-rich Sabah and still receive nominal Malaysian payments under a lease deal originally struck by Western colonial powers.

Sabah has seen small raids by Islamic militants and criminals coming by boat from the Philippines before, but nothing on the current scale.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 7:44 am and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 37 Hari ke PRU13 – Untuk dua tahun berturut-turut, tiada satu pun universiti Malaysia yang berada di kedudukan 400 teratas dalam Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013

Ini merupakan satu lagi tamparan hebat buat Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sebelum Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 yang ditunggu sekian lama kerana ia menonjolkan kegagalan agenda transformasi negara Najib untuk memulihkan perpaduan negara, mencapai kecemerlangan dan mendapatkan semula daya saing antarabangsa melalui pelbagai usaha seperti program  “1Malaysia, Rakyat Didahulukan, Pencapaian Diutamakan”, Program Transformasi Kerajaan (GTP) berserta Bidang Keberhasilan Utama Negara (NKRA) dan mewujudkan banyak akronim yang tidak mungkin dapat diingat melalui pendekatan pembaharuan dengan aksara mengelirukan.

Di dalam keluaran terbaru Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2012-2013 semalam, untuk dua tahun berturut-turut, tiada satu pun universiti Malaysia termasuk di dalam kedudukan 400 Universiti Teratas Dunia.

THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 amat menyedihkan tetapi amaran yang baik kepada rakyat Malaysia berkenaan kegagalan empat tahun program transformasi Najib, dengan Malaysia dikecualikan terus daripada fenomena Asia-Pasifik yang ditunjukkan THE World University Rankings 2012-2013 berkenaan “kebangkitan Universiti Asia-Pasifik”.

Seperti yang Phil Baty, editor THE World University Ranking komen:

“Keseimbangan kuasa sedang berganjak. Universiti ternama dari seluruh rantau Asia-Pasifik telah menampakkan kemajuan ketara dalam kedudukan mereka di dalam Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2012-2013, mendapat tempat di antara kuasa tradusional US dan UK.

 “Pada jadual 2012-2013, institusi teratas di China, Singapura, Republik Korea dan Taiwan telah meningkat kedudukan mereka. Jiran Asia Pasifik, Australia, juga melalui tahun yang hebat, berbeza dengan US dan UK: majoriti wakil Anglo-Amerika di dalam 200 teratas, sekalipun masih dominan dari segi bilangan, telah semakin hilang tempat.”

 “Kebangkitan Universiti Asia-Pasifik” di dalam pendidikan tinggi dijelaskan seperti berikut:

Kemajuan ketara bagi Australia dan New Zealand. Institusi nombor satu Australia, University of Melbourne, telah melompat daripada kedudukan ke-37 tahun lepas kepada 30 teratas, di tempat ke-28. Australia mendapat tambahan dalam 200 universiti teratas, dengan University of Adelaide memasuki senarai 200 teratas pada tempat ke-176. Berkenaan tujuh wakil 200 teratas Australia, enam memperbaiki kedudukan mereka. Lapan belas universiti Australia tersenarai di dalam 400 Universiti teratas.

200 institusi teratas China kedua-duanya bangkit, dengan  Universiti Peking meningkat dari tempat ke-49 hingga ke-46 dan Tsinghua melompat 19 tempat dari tempat ke-71 hingga ke-52. Universiti yang diperuntukan oleh pihak berkuasa China untuk perkara hebat semakin maju: Universiti Fudan dan Universiti Shanghai Jiao Tong kedua-duanya semakin hampir ke tempat 200 teratas sementara Nanjing kekal pada kedudukan 250-257.

Dua institusi 200 teratas Singapura memperlihatkan kejayaan mengkagumkan. National University of Singapore naik dari tempat ke-40 hingga ke-29 dan Nanyang Technological University meningkat naik dari tempat ke-169 hingga ke-86.

Setiap institusi Korea Selatan meningkat, dengan peningkatan paling mengkagumkan oleh Seoul National University, yang meningkat dari tempat ke-124 hingga ke-59. Negara itu juga mendapat wakil baru di dalam kedudukan 200 teratas – Universiti Yonsei, di kedudukan 183.

Institusi perdana Taiwan dan satu-satunya wakil di dalam kedudukan 200 teratas, National Taiwan University, naik daripada tempat ke-154 kepada 134, sementara institusi Hong Kong kekal akan meningkat.

Thailand diwakili oleh Universiti King Monghut di dalam 400 universiti teratas di dalam lingkungan 351-400.

Sejumlah 81 Universiti Asia Pasifik berjaya masuk di dalam THE 400 Top World University Ranking, tetapi tiada satu pun dari Malaysia, dan kita masih mempunyai Timbalan Perdana Menteri dan Menteri Pelajaran, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yang baru-baru ini mendakwa Malaysia mempunyai sistem pendidikan antara yang terbaik di dunia – lebih baik daripada Amerika Syarikat, Britain dan Jerman.

Sekiranya Malaysia mahu berpeluang untuk menjadi sebahagian Kebangkitan Universiti Asia-Pasifik dan dikenali di peringkat antarabangsa bukan saja mempunyai universiti di dalam kedudukan 400 teratas malah di dalam 100 teratas, keseluruhan sistem perlu dibaikpulih, bermula dari sekolah rendah, menengah sehingga tahap universiti.

Ini hanya dapat tercapai sekiranya ada permulaan baru memperbaharui negara dengan mengubah Kerajaan Persekutuan di Malaysia – dalam PRU13 yang julung kali sepanjang tempoh 56 tahun.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/03/05/37-day-countdown-to-13ge-for-second-consecutive-year-not-a-single-malaysian-university-ranked-in-top-400-of-times-higher-education-world-university-rankings-2012-2013/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 11:21 am and is filed under
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Pengiraan Detik 38 Hari ke PRU13 – Gangguan bersifat samseng terhadap ceramah UBAH Dream Truck  yang dihadiri 4,000 orang di Teluk Intan bukti terbaru Najib tiada niat untuk menjunjung Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M berkenaan pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang bersih, bebas dan adil

Perangai dan gangguan bersifat samseng terhadap ceramah UBAH Dream Truck  yang dihadiri 4,000 orang di Teluk Intan dengan 20 orang aktivis UMNO/BN mengibar bendera malam semalam merupakan bukti terbaru Najib tiada niat untuk menjunjung Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M berkenaan pilihan raya umum ke-13 yang bersih, bebas dan adil yang telah beliau tandatangani dengan penuh riuh pada 20 Febuari.

Kesemua empat prinsip yang Najib bersumpah untuk dukung di dalam Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya TI-M semuanya dilanggar dengan gangguan bersifat samseng oleh aktivis UMNO/BN di ceramah DAP UBAH, menyebabkan setengah jam duduk bantah oleh penduduk Teluk Intan terhadap kegagalan pihak polis mendukung undang-undang dan ketenteraman apabila berdepan dengan 20 pengacau yang menikmati dukungan orang berkuasa, prinsipnya adalah:

Kebenaran, integriti, tatalaku beretika dan akauntabiliti, termasuk tidak menerima atau memberi rasuah atau terlibat dengan amalan rasuah dalam apa jua cara;

Mendukung dan memberi keutamaan kepada kepentingan rakyat secara keseluruhan;

Tadbir urus yang baik serta ketelusan; dan

Mematuhi semua undang-undang dan peraturan yang berkaitan Malaysia.

Sekiranya Perdana Menteri boleh terang-terangan melanggar etika, moral dan undang-undang selepas menandatangani sokongan terhadap Ikrar Integriti Pilihan Raya, lebih ramai rakyat Malaysia akan dapati Najib dan pemimpin UMNO/BN tidak boleh dipercayai langsung – bukan saja apa yang mereka katakan, tetapi apa yang mereka turunkan tandatangan juga!

Ganguan gbersifat samseng UMNO/BN di ceramah DAP UBAH Dream Truck Teluk Intan juga merupakan petunjuk keterdesakan yang meningkat dirasakan oleh pemimpin UMNO/BN berkenaan peluang mereka di dalam PRU13 – meskipun ramalan terbaru oleh Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute (ASLI) meramalkan kejayaan BN dalam PRU13 dengan 123 – 135 kerusi atau majoriti parlimen daripada 24 hingga 48 kerusi parlimen.

Mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Dr Mahathir berkata semalam bahawa Najib akan membawa negara ke puncak sekiranya BN kembali berkuasa di dalam pilihan raya umum akan datang. Amat sedikit rakyat Malaysia, sama ada di dalam atau di luar UMNO/BN yang percaya kepada Mahathir, memandang mantan Perdana Menteri itu telah berkali-kali secara terbuka mengutuk Najib sebagai pemimpin “lemah” malah pada 31 Januari lalu menuntut Najib memberi laluan kepada Timbalan Presiden UMNO Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin menjadi Perdana Menteri sekiranya Najib gagal mendapatkan mandat lebih kuat dalam PRU13 berbanding Perdana Menteri sebelumnya Tun Abdullah pada pilihan raya umum 2008 serta mendapatkan semula majoriti dua pertiga parlimen untuk UMNO/BN.

Tiada siapa, sekurang-kurangnya Mahathir, menjangkakan Najib akan memenangi PRU13 dengan majoriti dua pertiga parlimen, yang mana veteren UMNO Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah merasakan sesuatu yang “mustahil” selepas beberapa siri “isu kontroversi” melibatkan UMNO/BN.

Razaleigh memberitahu Oriental Daily News  hari ini bahawa ramalan ASLI untuk PRU13 adalah tidak boleh dipercayai kerana kumpulan pemikir itu pro-kerajaan dan analisisnya berat sebelah. Ramalan Razaleigh adalah BN boleh hilang 10-15 kerusi parlimen di Sabah sesudah kegagalan yang mana selepas tiga minggu stand-off dengan sekumpulan 200 orang militan bersenjata Sulu di Lahad Datu, tujuh orang pegawai polis menemui ajal sementara Sabah menjadi begitu tegang dengan kedaulatan negara dan keselamatan rakyat Sabah terancam.

Jika UMNO/BN tewas 10-15 kerusi kepada Pakatan Rakyat di Sabah dalam PRU13, yang lebih daripada satu pertiga keseluruhan kerusi parlimen di Sabah, maka PR dalam perjalanan menuju ke Putrajaya bagi membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan – dan  itu menandakan berakhirnya negeri “deposit tetap” BN di Sabah.

Sekiranya Sarawak dan Johor, dua lagi “negeri deposit tetap” BN, mengikut contoh Sabah, maka akhirnya nasib Najib telah termeterai dan beliau akan memenuhi ramalan RAHMAN serta menjadi Perdana Menteri UMNO/BN terakhir di negara ini.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/03/04/38-day-countdown-to-13ge-thuggish-disruption-of-4000-people-dap-ubah-dream-truck-ceramah-in-teluk-intan-latest-proof-that-najib-has-no-intention-to-honour-ti-ms-election-integrity-pact-on/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 11:18 am and is filed under
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Questions about Lahad Datu Crisis

By Kee Thuan Chye

Malaysian Digest

6.3.2013

Malaysians cannot but be shocked by what is happening in Sabah. And although our security forces are now hunting the remaining Sulu Sultanate intruders after having bombarded them in Kampung Tanduo in Lahad Datu, the crisis is far from over.

Meanwhile, questions abound in the minds of the lay public.

How did the intruders sneak into Lahad Datu from Feb 9 onwards, more than three weeks ago? There were reportedly as many as 300 of them, some heavily armed. How did that escape detection? Our Special Branch is highly regarded as being among the best intelligence units in the world. Did it not get wind of this incursion early enough?

Once the intruders had entered Lahad Datu, and after they had openly declared their intentions for intruding – which was to reclaim the area as their ancestral homeland – why did the Malaysian Government not react quickly enough to get them out?

A claim like that is a serious one and if it was not immediately nipped in the bud could lead to bigger implications. As it has turned out, these implications are beginning to emerge.

And yet, for two weeks, the Government humoured the intruders by engaging in, so the public was told by Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, diplomatic negotiations. Political commentators called it giving them kid gloves’ treatment.

Was it because the Government feared taking stronger action against these intruders who are Tausugs and closely related to the Suluks, who came from the Philippines and are now settled in Sabah by the thousands as Malaysian citizens, might cause the latter to vote against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) at the upcoming general election? And perhaps not only the Suluks but also other Filipinos of other descent who have also become citizens?

For the Government’s hesitancy in dealing forcefully with the intruders, the situation eventually escalated into skirmishes between them and our police that led to the loss of eight Malaysian lives. Why did the Government allow this to come to pass? Surely, it must have been savvy enough to realise from the start that the situation could turn nasty if nothing was done fast?

Malaysians also wondered why the Home Ministry, hence the police instead of the army, was charged with handling the crisis – even when bullets started to fly and our people were killed. If the army had been called sooner, might the intruders not have been ejected expeditiously – and less messily? The intruders were hopelessly outnumbered and our army has superior firepower. Threatening to decimate them might have been enough to make them surrender, might it not?

As it is now, after the bombing at Kampung Tanduo, there are still intruders at large and our security forces have to go after them. Who knows what nastiness might still transpire as the hunt goes on?

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Nazri Aziz has come out to explain that the police were the better option to handle the situation because it was an intrusion, not a war, but when it comes to the safety of the residents of Lahad Datu and the surrounding areas, is there cause for such technicalities?

What will the genuine Sabahans now make of all this mess? Would it matter to them if it was an intrusion or a war? Those who have had to flee their villages out of fear would only know that their safety and security was not protected by the Government. Would they still support the ruling coalition that has failed them in this regard? What about genuine Sabahans living in other parts of the state? Would they still have faith in the ruling coalition?

And what about Malaysians in general?

For the first two weeks of the crisis, they were mystified as to why there was so much secrecy surrounding the so-called negotiations between the Government and the intruders. Despite the fear that had gripped the villagers in the affected area and the anxiety of Malaysians at large wondering if something dire was emerging from the situation, the Home Ministry gave out little information.

Three Al Jazeera journalists covering the developing story were detained near Kampung Tanduo on Feb 20 and held for police questioning for six hours. They managed to report that about 100 villagers had been made homeless from fleeing for their safety.

Meanwhile, with hardly any reliable reports coming out because of the Government blackout, all sorts of rumours and theories emerged.

Even BN and the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat took advantage of the confusion by politicising the issue. They accused each other of aiding and abetting the intruders to stage the crisis in order to help their cause for the upcoming general election. This was the most sickening development for the Malaysian electorate that has already become weary of the heavy politicking in the last two years, and it became even more sickening when the guns started blazing and Malaysians died.

PKR Vice-President Tian Chua came off badly for his ill-timed allegation that Umno conspired in staging a “sandiwara” in order to divert attention from the issue of the Government’s granting of identity cards to illegal immigrants, and also to frighten the people.

From the other side came reports linking the intruders to the Opposition. Umno-owned newspaper Utusan Malaysia quoted a report from a Philippine news portal that said a top Opposition leader in Sabah close to Pakatan chief Anwar Ibrahim had met with the intruders last November and offered them support.

Utusan Malaysia also cited a purported claim by The Manila Times that the intrusion had to do with a promise made by the Opposition to grant Sabah autonomy if it came to power. However, how such autonomy would be of value to the Sulu Sultanate in order to prompt the latter to take the current intrusion course demands some logical explanation.

Prime Minister Najib Razak has since seized on these allegations to make political capital out of them. Even as the sovereignty of Sabah is being threatened and the safety of Sabahans is being compromised, he is proving to be a political opportunist. He has lambasted Tian Chua for the latter’s remark and ordered an investigation into the reports about the Pakatan-intruders link so as to make the Opposition look bad and divert attention from his own government’s handling of the crisis.

Well might he do this, and if evidence is found which unequivocally establishes that Pakatan was indeed involved in the plot, the Opposition coalition would be guilty of treason. There’s no doubt about that.

But, on the other hand, Najib should also acknowledge that in the handling of the crisis, the Government has to accept full responsibility. It is responsible for the deaths of the eight policemen. It is responsible for the breach in security and resulting threat to the safety of Sabahans. For these, it cannot blame anyone else.

Furthermore, the ultimate questions still have to be answered: How did the intruders get into Sabah undetected? Why did the Government take so long to resolve the issue? Why did it put the lives of the security forces at risk? More importantly, why did it put the safety and security of Sabahans at risk?

These are questions the Government has to answer. If it doesn’t do so convincingly, it may be seen to have failed the people. And that could be bad for its election prospects.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, and the latest volume, Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More!

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 3:49 pm and is filed under
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Sabah Incursion: Just my thoughts

― Art Harun

The Malaysian Insider

Mar 06, 2013

MARCH 6 ― The incursion by the Sulu terrorists into Sabah is a culmination of socio-political complexities that were ignored due to post-World War II socio-political order and convenience.

Firstly, we have an ancient Sultanate living in the 18th century, forgetting the fact that their forefathers have sold their sovereignty for self interest, without nary a thought for the people whom they claim to rule, in exchange for what appeared to be big money then, but reduced to pittance in the 21st century.

We have a so-called Sultan who apparently rules his subjects from Manila, who speaks as if he’s the most benevolent of rulers and who sent his subjects to a hopeless war from within the comfort of Metro Manila.

Secondly, we have a government of a state ― which is not really a state ― that fails to control and impose law and order on wide areas of the so-called state, giving rise to vast areas where people do not really recognise the state and her government.

Thirdly, we have this same state, which is facing an election, and the same Sultan running in the election in an opposition pact after having lost the last election with 800 votes.

The leader of the opposition pact is now under house arrest after being convicted for electoral fraud. The state’s ancient and baseless claim for Sabah is an election issue which that opposition pact wishes to pursue and doubtlessly exploited in the name of nationalism and patriotism, however misguided and misplaced they may be.

Fourthly, on the home front, we have had leaders from both sides of the fence who had courted this so-called Sultan and claimant to the Sultanate (at least there are five of them) before, all in the name of Malay-ness and Islam.

Some of our citizens are even conferred Datukships by these feudal Sultan without a kingdom. This lends a semblance of recognition by our very own leaders of the Sultan and the Sultanate.

Fifthly, Malaysia cannot deny, no matter how loud Dr Mahathir shouts, that she has been a sympathiser of the Bangsa Moro’s so-called fight for liberation. Now that very Bangsa Moro is coming back to haunt Malaysia for all her generosity in the past.

In fact, we were so pally-pally with the Moros that, in the 80s (or was it early 90s?), when Nur Misuari’s rebellion was crushed in the Philippines, our friend casually and nonchalantly landed in Sabah airport thinking we would welcome him as a guest. We, however, handcuffed him and sent him back to the Philippines to face his prosecutors.

Number six: Malaysia has always allowed the porous borders of the Sulu, Tawi-tawi and the surrounding islands with Sabah to be breached without a semblance of enforcement of our immigration laws. People go in and out of that area with absolute impunity from immigration laws on, not a daily basis, but hourly basis.

That area is like a free trade zone where people would conduct their daily business even in rupiah and pesos. This episode shows that maintenance of law and order is absolutely critical for internal security, no matter how difficult or petty it is.

Seventh: Project IC during Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s time. Do I need to say more about this?

Perhaps it is time for all of us ― the people of Malaysia, the government and the opposition alike ― to take law and order seriously. Be like Singapore when it comes to enforcement of the laws. They even enforce the chewing gum law with the passion of an Israeli soldier in Gaza.

It is also time that our intelligence unit to be beefed up and to be aware of any strife or crisis in and surrounding us, no matter how minute it may be. The next time-bomb that we have to monitor is the Pattani issue, and the Spratly islands that are being claimed by Malaysia, Vietnam, Brunei, the Philippines and China.

International relationship, internal security and matters pertaining to the nation’s security is like the stock market. A bomb explodes in Timbuktu and Apple’s shares might come tumbling down.

It is the same with our security. The Philippines are having an election and Sabah is invaded by armed terrorists. We just have to be aware of things, analyse each and every situation and events and see how they could affect us.

People who do not analyse events often lose out in the stock market. We have to engage in battles on our own land because we were not sensitive enough to events surrounding us.

It is not too late for us to improve. A nation’s achievement is not only measured from her success but also from how she rises from a set-back and learns from it to take her to greater height.

My thoughts and prayers are with all our brave men and women on the battle front. May God bless them, protect them and grant them strength and determination. Victory is always with the righteous.

Malaysia berjaya! ― art-harun.blogspot.com

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 5:42 pm and is filed under
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Sabah: Mahathir’s failed attempt at social engineering

By Erna Mahyuni |
The Malaysian Insider

MARCH 6 — To paint the Sabah situation as “virtuous Sabah natives” against “invading foreign terrorists” is far too simplistic.

The reality is as complex as Sabah’s political landscape, enmeshed in history and complicated by the notion of statehood.

Farish Noor explains the complicated history of the various people of North Borneo and the Philippines in his column where he says:

“In the midst of the chest-thumping, saber-rattling jingoism and hyper-nationalism we see rising in both Philippines and Malaysia today, we ought to take a step back and look at ourselves honestly in the face.”

Historically the people of Sabah are a complex mix. With the formation of countries and borders, people who are connected by history and blood are now separated by that thing we call “citizenship.”

Sabah artist Yee I-Lan sums up that divide in one of the pictures from her “Sulu stories” series.

Of the subjects in the photo, Yee says: “One carries Malaysian identity, the other Filipino. They come from the same sea and place and knowledge.”

But while we must acknowledge history, we have to address present realities.

Whatever the Sulu descendants claim, their kingdom is long gone. Their attempt to supposedly reclaim their birthright is now seen as an act of violence.

You cannot resurrect ghosts with blood and threats.

But to people like Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Malaysia is first and foremost the land of the Malays. Sabah and Sarawak do not fit in with his tidy narrative of the country being led by Malay Muslims.

Dr Mahathir for all his statesmanship could never wrap his head around the fact that in Sabah, Muslims were not always Malay. Nor that the Malay narrative could include non-Muslims.

All you need to do is look over at Bali in Indonesia with its predominantly Hindu and unmistakeably “Malay” population. But then, this is a country where many Malays live in ignorance of, or patently deny that, their ancestors ever being Hindu.

PBS’s defiance of the federal government disturbed the status quo for Dr Mahathir. For him it was unacceptable that Sabah could be led by a Christian indigenous leader instead of a more “acceptable” Malay-Muslim.

His reasoning was to address the “problem” of a non-Muslim native majority by parachuting in more Muslims.

But the problem, Dr Mahathir, is that while the Suluks from the south of Philippines identify themselves as Muslims, they do not call themselves Malay.

Nor are the Bajau “Malay”. Neither are the Muslim indigenous peoples “Malay.”

Dr Mahathir’s poor attempt at social engineering has instead created a dangerous imbalance. The fact is that the Malaysian Sabah state cannot sustain the huge numbers of immigrants from across the border.

There are hardly any jobs for locals. Imagine how slim the pickings are for the many “visitors.”

Once, commerce was fluid and people from the Philippines would come, trade and most importantly, leave. It is when they refuse to leave that we have a problem.

The Philippines are also at fault here for long neglecting its citizens in the south. It is laughable that only now it is “showing concern” for its citizens in the state. If the southern regions of the Philippines were not so economically barren, their citizens would have no need to make livings in Sabah.

How do we go forward from this? For starters, the BN government has to stop the practice of handing out ICs like candy when elections are around the corner.

Both the Malaysian and Philippine governments have to start thinking of the welfare of their citizens, regardless of race or religion. No more meddling in the name of protecting the interests of any race or religion.

Put to rest the ghosts of the Jabidah Massacre and the Sulu kingdom.

History matters. But we can no longer let it dictate our futures.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 6 March 2013, 9:41 am and is filed under
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35-Day Countdown to 13GE – Three top questions for Najib in “Conversation with the PM”: caretaker PM, National Integrity Pledge and failures of Transformation policies.

There is a whole-page advert in the New Straits Times today on “
Conversation with the PM
” with the invitation: “
Do you have any questions on current issues for the Prime Minister
” and the announcement:

“Please email your questions to q&
[email protected]
 by March 8, 2013. Dato’ Sri Najib Razak will appear ‘live’ on a special TV programme to be broadcast soon, where he will answer some of your questions ahead of the 13th General Election”.

I have three top questions for Najib on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the 12th Parliament on March 8, 2013, which witnessed the “308 political tsunami” of the 12th General Elections, viz:

Question 1: Caretaker government
. Does Najib accept the concept and the conventions of a caretaker government limited to day-to-day administration of government  on expiry of Parliament’s tenure, most notably between the dissolution of Parliament and the formation of a new government after a general elections?

This question is particularly pertinent in the case of Najib,  who is going down in Malaysian history as the longest unelected Prime Minister on probation without a mandate of his own from the electorate – for nearly four full  years!

Is Najib prepared to respect and abide by the Caretaker Government Conventions and best practices in other functioning parliamentary democracies, including:

No major policy decisions
 by the Caretaker  Government except on urgent matters and then only after formal consultation with the Opposition.

No Significant appointments
 of major public officials, except in an  acting or for short-term durations.

No major contracts
 or undertakings during the caretaker period. If it is not possible to defer the commitment until after the caretaker period, for legal, commercial or other reasons, there would be consultation with the Opposition to ensure that contracts include clauses providing for termination in the event of an incoming government not wishing to proceed. Similar provisions cover tendering.

No international negotiations and visits.

No public service involvement in election activities
 with the public service adopting  a neutral stance while continuing to advise the Government.

In view of the double facts that Najib is the longest unelected Prime Minister on probation who had not dared to seek a mandate of his own from the electorate and the fifth anniversary of the 12th General Election on March 8, 2008, public and political morality demand that Najib should regard himself as a Caretaker Prime Minister and his Cabinet as Caretaker Cabinet from tomorrow on March 8, and they  should not make any major or substantive decisions whether concerning policy, appointments, contractual obligations or abuse and misuse of the public service, whether personnel, resources and public funds without consultation with the Opposition.

Let Najib state publicly – whether he is prepared to accept the concept and conventions of a Caretaker Government when the 12th Parliament is officially dissolved; and additionally, whether he is also prepared to accept the dictates of political morality that morally, he is a mere Caretaker Prime Minister with effect from March 8, 2013 – fifth anniversary of the 308 “political tsunami”?

Question No. 2 – Election Integrity Pact
. Does Najib accept that the Transparency International-Malaysia’s Election Integrity Pledge which he signed on February 20 had not advanced the cause and principles of integrity, ethical conduct, accountability, transparency and good governance with regard to the 13th General Elections but achieved the very opposite?

Wherever I went in talks and ceramahs, when I asked whether I should sign the TI-M Election Integrity Pledge after the Prime Minister had signed it, the answer is a  thunderous “No! No! No!”.

When I asked for a show of hands whether they want me to sign the TI-M Election Integrity Pledge as had been signed by the Prime Minister, there was an unanimous show of hands against signing as demonstrated by the thousand-strong crowds whether  at the DAP UBAH Dream Truck ceramah in Petaling Jaya on Monday or  at Taman Sentosa in Johore Baru on Tuesday night.

On the opinion poll on my facebook whether I should sign the National Integrity Pledge, only four percent or five out of 116 respondents are in favour of my signing, while 96% are against my signing the pledge or at least want the Election Integrity Pledge to contain five conditions, viz:

Public declaration of assets by all elected Ministers;

No money politics;

No “May 13” threats or politics of fear or hatred to intimidate voters;

Free, fair and clean elections; and

Pledge to accept the verdict of the voters of the 13th GE and to facilitate a peaceful transition of power in Putrajaya.

Question No. 3 – Failures of Transformation policies
. Will Najib concede that all his major “transformation” policy initiatives and policies in the past four years have been dismal failures, whether:

1Malaysia policy where he could not even get endorsement by his Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, or by  the Cabinet, the UMNO Supreme Council or the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council;

“People First, Performance Now” slogan, highlighted  by the 26-day intrusion of a rag-tag group of armed Sulu militants, causing the lives of eight police commandos which should not have happened if those in charge of protecting the national sovereignty and the security of the people of Sabah and security forces personnel had been given a free hand to professionally and competently perform their duties; and

NKRA programmes particularly  to combat corruption, reduce crime and  raise quality of education.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 March 2013, 3:43 pm and is filed under
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Can Malaysia defend itself?

P Gunasegaram

Malaysiakini

4:25PM Mar 6, 2013

QUESTION TIME
 The way the entire Lahad Datu intrusion/ insurgency/invasion – or whatever else one may want to call it – has been handled raises grave doubts over Malaysia’s ability to defend itself without fear or favour against anyone who infringes upon its territorial integrity and sovereignty.

That it has allowed itself to be lulled into such a state of complacency and lack of urgency, and seems to have totally underestimated the enemy is quite astonishing. And when it moved in after much foot-dragging it had nothing but embarrassment to show for it.

How could the authorities responsible for security have allowed the situation to balloon into such a serious violation of Malaysia?

And how could Malaysia have continued to allow a claim on part of its territory to go on for such a long time, even appearing to cuddle up to those making those claims?

Remember, this is the country, perhaps the first in the world, to have successfully contained and eventually beaten back the sustained armed communist insurrection and then faced down a confrontation from its big-brother neighbour Indonesia in 1965.

Have we gone slack in the intervening years and have we begun to severely underestimate the many threats of terrorist groups in this region? Are we fully capable of dealing with a sudden armed incursion into our country?

Armed intruders

Just over three weeks ago a group of heavily armed intruders, variously estimated at between 100 and 400 arrived in boats from the Philippines and took over a village near Lahad Datu, causing alarm and fear among residents there.

That so many people were able to do this without being detected by the security forces not only indicates a severe lapse in intelligence but plain, old simple vigilance.

In an area which has had numerous incursions from terrorist and criminal elements in the past, the police and army should have been much more on their toes.

The intruders, who turned out to be supporters of the so-called Sulu sultanate which lays claims to parts of Sabah, had no trouble establishing themselves in the neighbourhood and settled in.

They claimed they were coming back to live in their homeland.

Our police and our politicians engaged in negotiations with them and wanted them merely to leave peacefully and everything would be over.

That was absolutely the wrong thing to do – our laws prescribe death for those in possession of arms, even if is just one single bullet, what more rifles and grenade launchers.

We not only used kid gloves, we send them food and water while we negotiated with them.

What kind of a way is that to deal with armed intruders? Should their religion be even an issue here? Is it not the duty of those in power to restore our sovereignty as soon as possible?

As an aside, Malaysia was formed in 1963 when Sabah, Sarawak and Singapore and the then Malaya amalgamated. If I remember my history right, a referendum in Sabah and Sarawak was held before that.

If that referendum was held, what right does any sultanate have to claim Sabah? Why did Malaysia even continue to pay royalties to the so-called sultan?

And why did these descendants of the Sulu sultanate decide now, a half century after Malaysia’s formation, to come and claim their homeland?

After the first breach – the landing of the intruders without detection – the next best thing for security forces to do would be to surround them and issue a warning for surrender.

If that was not forthcoming, then move in with air and other support to crush them once and for all. It should have been over within hours,

But the negotiations went on, and on and on. It took the brutal killing of two policemen before our forces attacked. Meantime, problems were escalating in Semporna with gunmen attacking police there.

We attacked the area the intruders were holed up in with fighter bombers, bombing and strafing enemy positions. But when the ground operations to sweep up the intruders began, there was nothing – no dead bodies, no injured, no subdued terrorists.

How could these terrorists, numbering as much as four hundred according to estimates but probably comprising some 200 or so, have completely vapourised into thin air without a trace?

They were supposed to have been encamped in an area of 4 sq km which was surrounded by the security forces. How could they have broken through the barricades?

Was the bombing so inaccurate that it had not even killed one intruder?

Even if it had been that inaccurate how did the terrorists get past the tight cordon thrown around them by elite forces?

Lax intelligence, surveillance

A number of things are very clear from this train of events. First our intelligence and surveillance of terrorists in southern Philippines is rather lax, laid back and dangerously complacent.

Terrorists are terrorists no matter their race, creed or religion and have to be treated as the deadly menace they are.

There is no excuse for the complacency given the many acts of violence that have been committed on Sabah by criminals and terrorists from the Philippines.

patrol vessel boat 110907We need to be real serious about intelligence and surveillance. We must patrol our seas and shoreline much more than what we are doing now.

Second, we must make clear our policy of not negotiating with terrorists, with the only possible exclusion being when we need to do that to preserve the life of hostages. That will discourage terrorists from trying this again.

Third we need to know whether the bombs landed in the right places and if they did not why not. It was a rather small area whose coordinates are known with pinpoint accuracy.

And we need to know how the terrorists could evade a tight security cordon thrown around them and escape.

What are the implications for security if they are not found?

If this is the way we have handed a small band of armed intruders, is there confidence that our armed forces will be able to do better in all-out war? The answer is obvious.

Lahad Datu shows there is a lot we need to fix right now in terms of our defence capabilities – and that’s an understatement.

P GUNASEGARAM is publisher and founding editor of KiniBiz, a business news portal formed in joint venture with Malaysiakini. Although he was never a scout, he likes their motto: Be Prepared.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 March 2013, 7:29 am and is filed under
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Najib owes the rakyat answers

Jeswan Kaur | March 7, 2013

Free Malaysia Today

March 7, 2013

Lives have been lost in Lahad Datu all because the prime minister failed to uphold his responsibility of keeping the country and its people safe and secure.

COMMENT

After eight policemen died at the hands of intruders in Lahad Datu, the prime minister has come to his senses and declared that he has to defend Malaysia’s dignity and sovereignty.

This knee-jerk reaction from Najib Tun Razak in an attempt to do some damage-control has not appeased the rakyat; it has instead raised their hackles.

The Lahad Datu drama has raised a host of questions, all of which point to the federal government’s failure in averting bloodshed.

More precisely, the Lahad Datu debacle has revealed that Najib lacks perspicacity in preventing a crisis and this is a major cause for concern for the country and her people.

On March 1, armed intruders from the so-called Sulu army fired at policemen on duty in Lahad Datu, killing two of them and another six officers in Semporna the following day.

Najib was reported to have said that following the armed intrusion in Lahad Datu on Feb 12, the government adopted the approach of resolving the issue without bloodshed.

The unwise call by Najib today holds him accountable for the deaths of the eight policemen.

Had Barisan Nasional leaders been “on their toes” instead of prancing about for public sympathy and votes to secure a win in the general election, the Lahad Datu tragedy could have been avoided.

It is baffling that Najib decided to take a soft approach to the intrusion when the intruders themselves came armed to kill.

BN lacked guts

As usual, when things go wrong in this country and they so often do because of the inept and ineffectual ruling government, all blame is conveniently dumped on the opposition front.

The Lahad Datu intrusion-turned-murder too is no different with BN’s nemesis Pakatan Rakyat being blamed for politicising the issue.

But in hindsight it is the BN government that has always lacked the guts to face the music for its notoriety.

Instead of continuing to spin a yarn, can Najib or Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein enlighten the rakyat as to how the intruders so easily crept onto the shores of Sabah?

Has safety not been a priority in Sabah or for that matter can outsiders easily trespass and gun down whoever they want?

What happened to the marine authorities? How is it that the nation’s safety can wantonly be breached?

Najib has missed the point that each time a country’s security is hacked, its dignity and sovereign is at stake.

Why does the government continue to act like the proverbial “katak bawah tempurung”, crying foul only when lives are lost?

What were the country’s leader and sovereign rulers doing when the intruders made it clear they had no intention of saying “goodbye” to Sabah?

Najib’s biggest mistake

With eight lives lost, it is imperative for the rakyat to demand the truth post-the Lahad Datu massacre.

This is not the time for people to empathise or praise the BN government over the Lahad Datu episode for to do so would only strengthen its determination to hide the truth.

As with the people of Sabah, the rakyat of this country should also take cognisance of the ill-fated episode and worry for their safety, especially when Najib is calling the shots.

It was he who compromised the safety of Malaysians by not acting swiftly against the unwelcome visitors because he wanted to portray Malaysia as a peace-loving Islamic nation.

So strange that the premier could not apply the simplest logic that negotiations with the intruders was a dead-end approach; the country’s intelligence failed to detect or slipped in its assessment of these killers who had no problem spilling blood to achieve their means.

Lives have been lost all because Najib failed to uphold his responsibility of keeping the country and its people safe and secure.

Relying on the police and not the military was Najib’s biggest mistake in tackling the issue. Not giving the intrusion priority and treating it as an internal affair was his next mistake.

Ironically, for a premier who made “People First, Performance Now” as his mantra, Najib’s incapable salvoes fired bear proof he is the real culprit behind the Lahad Datu tragedy.

Najib made the mistake no leader can afford to make – he compromised the nation’s safety, taking it for granted, leading to the Lahad Datu bloodshed.

Jeswan Kaur is a freelance writer and a FMT columnist.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 March 2013, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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Najib’s stand of  unconditional surrender for the Sulu militants deserves the support of all Malaysians

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s stand of  unconditional surrender for the Sulu militants deserves the support of all Malaysians.

There is neither basis nor merit in the call for  ceasefire or  the unilateral ceasefire by the Sultan Jamalul Kiram III, after eight police commandoes had been slain and some of their corpses  treated in the most harrowing and bestial manner after they had fallen as national heroes in the cause of national duty to protect national sovereignty and the security of the state and people.

All Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or political affiliation, are united as one in giving full endorsement to all necessary measures by the government and the security forces to end the month-long battle against Sulu militants.

All Malaysians support the online petition by the group identified as “Concerned Citizens of Sabah” that Sabahans want to “remain Malaysians”.

DAP fully endorses the sentiments in the online petition that while Sabah has a “shared history” with its neighbours, “the people of Sabah are not politically beholden to these historical ties”.

The petition appealed to the international community “to acknowledge the people of Sabah’s right to self-determination; to endorse the state’s constitutional sovereignty of the Malaysian government as valid and the desire of Sabahans to permanently reject the Sultanate of Sulu’s claim on our home”.

The present situation, reality and sentiments in Sabah were correctly captured in the sentence:  “The Sulu sultanate is obsolete; Sabah is a living and breathing land with its own history and people (who) deserve the right to choose who governs them.”

There are legitimate dissent and numerous  criticisms on many issues involving the handling of the month-long invasion by Sulu armed militants resulting in the loss of lives of eight police commandos, which should not have happened at all,  but this is not the time to ventilate them as they are all secondary to the primary issue of re-asserting our national sovereignty and ending all threats to the security and safety of the people of Sabah and the security forces personnel.

This is why I have not only temporarily put aside my criticisms about the manner in which the month-long battle with the Sulu militants was handled, I have also decided to defer my intention to institute legal proceedings against those who had defamed me on the Internet over the incursions by the Sulu militants, one of whom is Ishammuddin Razaman @ Ishammuddin,  special officer to the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

Irresponsible and baseless allegations have also  been made against Pakatan Rakyat leaders, in particular Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim over the incursions by the Sulu militants.

I call on all political leaders, both from the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat, to end all baseless allegations and to put national interests above everything else so that the  Sabah Sulu crisis could be ended in the shortest possible time, without the loss of another single life whether from security forces or the Malaysian public.

I reiterate the Pakatan Rakyat’s call for an emergency meeting of Parliament so that all MPs, regardless of political party or coalition, can stand as one to support all necessary measures taken by the government and the security forces to protect national sovereignty and security of the people of Sabah and security forces personnel.

The Cabinet at its meeting yesterday did not address the call by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership for a special meeting of Parliament.

The Prime Minister should not tarry any further on this issue and should take the initiative to convene a special meeting of Parliament on the Sabah Sulu crisis.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 March 2013, 8:35 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan Rakyat to focus on 15 Parliamentary seats in Johore in 13GE to end Johor’s “fixed deposit state” status for UMNO/Barisan Nasional and to pave the way for PR to Putrajaya

In the last two days, I visited three parliamentary constituencies in south Johore, Johore Baru, Kulai and Gelang Patah,  attending seven functions and they all gave me confidence that the wind of change is blowing strong and hard from Johore in the run-up to the 13th General Elections.

In the 2008 general elections, the 308 “political tsunami” came down from the north in Malaysia, winning for Pakatan Rakyat the states of Penang, Kedah, Perak (which was subsequently “stolen” back by UMNO/Barisan Nasional through undemocratic and unconstitutional means) Selangor and Kelantan.

The political tsunami in 2008 faltered in Negri Sembilan or Pakatan Rakyat would have won another state government that year.

After my two-day visit to south Johore visiting Taman Pelangi, Taman Sentosa, Plentong, Gelang Patah, Senai, Bandar Seri Alam and Johor Jaya, and attending two major DAP UBAH Dream Truck ceramahs drawing unprecedented crowds, I feel hopeful that in the 13th General Elections, a bigger “political tsunami” is in store and will emanate from the south in Johore Baru and Johore to radiate to all parts of  Malaysia and  take the political change started in 2008 to even greater heights.

After his political disaster of the  RM3.5 million invitation to the South Korean K-Pop superstar Psy to Penang on the second day of the Chinese New Year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak flew next day to south Johore  to seek political solace and consolation.

Najib emerged from  a closed-door meeting with Johor Umno and BN on Feb. 12 declaring confidence in Johor remaining a BN bastion in the next general elections.

Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman said after the meeting that  Najib was confident that BN would wrest seats it had lost in the last general elections from the Opposition. In the 2008 general elections, BN won 25 out of the 26 parliamentary seats and 50 out of the 56 state assembly seats contested.

This optimism that BN would do well in Johor in the 13GE has now been echoed by the MCA President, Datuk Seri Dr. Chua Soi Lek who maintained that Chinese voters in Johor are still solidly behind the BN despite the opposition’s attempts to make inroads in the BN’s strongholds in the state.

I will be surprised if PR cannot make greater headway in Johor in the 13GE.

Pakatan Rakyat takes up the challenge to  let the 13GE prove whether there is a significant swing of support not only among the Chinese, but also Malays and Indians from the BN to PR.

For this reason, Pakatan Rakyat will focus on 15 Parliamentary seats in Johor in the run-up to  13GE to end Johor’s  “fixed deposit state” status for UMNO/BN  and to pave the way for PR to Putrajaya.

These 15 parliamentary seats which will become the “focus” constituencies where the battle for the hearts and minds of Johor voters would be fought are:

Gelang Patah

Kulai

Bakri

Kluang

Segamat

Johor Bahru

Tanjong Piai

Labis

Batu Pahat

Ledang

Muar

Pulai

Pasir Gudang

Tebrau

Sembrong

By focussing on 15 parliamentary seats in Johor, I am not saying that PR is sure to win everyone of them.

If PR can win over one-third of the parliamentary seats, i.e. at least 10 out of the 26 parliamentary seats in the state, together with at least one-third of the parliamentary seats in Sabah and Sarawak, then PR is well on the way to Putrajaya to form the next Federal Government of Malaysia.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 March 2013, 5:56 pm and is filed under
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