Is MIC going to concede Cameron Highland seat  to UMNO because of Hadi’s warning of  “hell” and PAS’ 3578 votes?

PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang has finally showed his true colours that he is not qualified to be a Malaysian political leader representing all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region when he came out with his antediluvian warning to Muslims to place their trust in Muslim leaders regardless of their wickedness, claiming that believers will end up in hell if led by non-Muslims.

Now Malaysians can understand why PAS under his leadership was prepared to give full support to former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak who has brought infamy and ignominy to Malaysia by transforming it into a global kleptocracy!

No wonder that under Hadi’s leadership, PAS is becoming quite a practitioner of the toxic and vicious politics of lies, hate, fear, race and religion which is  the single greatest threat to the survival of a tolerant, harmonious and successful plural nation of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures.

No wonder Hadi can strike the posture that 99 per cent of the 1.3 billion Muslims in the world  living in 179 countries which have ratified the International Convention for the Elimination of all forms of Racial Discrimination (ICERD), including 55 of the 57 member nations of Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC), such as Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Turkey, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Palestine, Algeria, Morocco, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan are very  wrong and misguided as ICERD is a “Freemason Agenda” to destroy Islam.

No wonder the PAS Youth Leader and the son of the PAS President, Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, could warn Muslims not to post Christmas greetings on Facebook because the Christian celebration is against the teachings of Islam and that there should not be any acknowledgement of the Christian religion.

No wonder that PAS under Hadi’s leadership is now laying claim to be the only party to fight for the Malay-Muslim agenda, claiming that “Last time, it was Umno which fought for the Malay-Muslim agenda, as it was the government, and it also had the strength (in terms of resources and numbers). Now, it is no longer the government, and it is bleeding MPs and lawmakers, causing the party’s very structure to collapse.”

No wonder that PAS under Hadi’s leadership has no strong objections to the 1MDB scandal and the other 1MDB-like scandals in Felda, Felcra, MARA and Tabung Haji, as Hadi is not fully committed to fight corruption, regarding  a corrupt Muslim is anytime better than a non-corrupt non-Muslim, and accepts with equanimity  the fact that seven of the ten most corrupted nations of the world according to Transparency International Corruption Perception Index 2017 are Muslim nations and member of the Organisation of Islamic Conference (OIC).

But the PAS leaders cannot be more wrong as PAS cannot have the monopoly to champion the Malay-Muslim agenda in Malaysia.

This is because in a New Malaysia, it is the responsibility of all Malaysian political parties in the Pakatan Harapan coalition, whether PKR, Bersatu, Amanah or DAP, to champion the Muslim/Malay and non-Muslim/non-Malay agendas to demonstrate that any viable and successful nation-building in a plural society is not a zero-sum game but a win-win formula for all Malaysians.

The monstrous 1MDB scandal, which cast Malaysia to perdition by being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy, must be a terrible lesson for all Malaysians, that we must never again allow the nation to be pawned to anyone’s greed for power or wealth and that the interests of all Malaysians of diverse races and religions and future generations must always take higher priority than the interest of one man or group of persons, however exalted their position or power.

This should be what the Cameron Highlands by-election by all about – good governance versus kleptocracy.

What is of more immediate interest, however, is whether MIC is going to concede Cameron Highland seat  to UMNO because of Hadi’s warning of  “hell” and PAS’ 3578 votes?

In actual fact, I have great doubts that Hadi will be able  to deliver the 3,578 votes in the Cameron Highlands by-election on January 26, as I do not believe that the general PAS membership are “all fours” with Hadi in rejecting Malaysia as a plural society and his antediluvian view that a corrupt Muslim is always better than a clean and honest non-Muslims, which is also  not the teaching of Islam or the great religions of the world.

Furthermore, whether  the MCA leadership  is also  so unprincipled and opportunistic as to gang up with Hadi’s PAS for electoral arrangements, as happened in the three Selangor State Assembly by-elections after the 14th General Election, despite Hadi’s antediluvian concept of “hell” and “good governance”.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 9th January 2019)

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Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Rabu, 9 Januari 2019:

Adakah MIC akan memberi laluan kepada UMNO untuk bertanding pada PRK Cameron Highlands susulan amaran ‘neraka’ Hadi Awang dan 3,587 undi PAS?

Presiden PAS, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang akhirnya menunjukkan belang sebenar seorang pemimpin politik yang tidak layak mewakili rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum, agama atau kawasan apabila memberi amaran kepada orang Islam supaya memilih pemimpin di kalangan orang Islam, tanpa mengambil peduli kezaliman yang dilakukan mereka, sambil mendakwa kepimpinan yang bukan-Islam ‘akan berakhir dengan neraka’.

Kini, rakyat Malaysia memahami mengapa PAS di bawah kepimpinan Hadi menyokong bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak yang menyebabkan Malaysia mendapat nama buruk dengan gelaran kleptokrasi global!

Tidak hairanlah, PAS di bawah kepimpinan Hadi, mengamalkan politik toksik dan jahat serta berbaur pembohongan, kebencian, ketakutan, perkauman dan keagamaan.

Tidak hairanlah, Hadi menolak ICERD dengan memberi alasan ia merupakan “Agenda Freemason” untuk memusnahkan Islam, sedangkan 99 peratus daripada 1.3 bilion penganut agama Islam di dunia tinggal di 179 yang telah meratifikasi ICERD, termasuk 55 daripada 57 negara ahli Pertubuhan Persidangan Islam (OIC).

Tidak hairanlah, Pemimpin Pemuda PAS yang juga anak kepada Presiden PAS, Muhammad Khalil Abdul Hadi, memberi amaran kepada orang Islam supaya tidak membuat ucapan Krismas di Facebook.

Tidak hairanlah, PAS di bawah kepimpinan Hadi kini mendakwa partinya adalah satu-satunya wadah perjuangan agenda Melayu-Islam apabila mengeluarkan kenyataan: “Kalau dulu kita lihat dari segi kekuatannya dan jumlah ahli, memang Umno yang menjuarai perjuangan agenda untuk Melayu Islam, apatah lagi mereka dahulu berada dalam kerajaan. Sekarang ini mereka bukan lagi kerajaan dan ketika ini ramai pemimpin dan wakil rakyat mereka meninggalkan parti menyebabkan struktur Umno di beberapa peringkat sudah runtuh.”

Tidak menghairankan juga, PAS di bawah kepimpinan Hadi tidak menunjukkan kelantangan dalam isu seperti skandal 1MDB dan skandal lain melibatkan Felda, Felcra, MARA, dan Tabung Hadi kerana Hadi sendiri tidak bersungguh-sungguh menentang amalan rasuah.

Namun, pemimpin PAS salah besar kerana parti mereka tidak akan boleh memonopoli usaha memperjuangkan agenda Melayu-Islam di Malaysia.

Ini kerana, dalam sebuah Malaysia Baharu, adalah menjadi tanggungjawab semua parti politik dalam gabungan Pakatan Harapan, tidak kira PKR, Bersatu, Amanah atau DAP, untuk memperjuangkan agenda Melayu-Islam dan bukan Melayu-Islam bagi menunjukkan bahawa kejayaan pembinaan negara yang bercirikan masyarakat majmuk bukanlah zero-sum game, sebaliknya formula menang-menang untuk semua rakyat Malaysia.

Skandal 1MDB harus menjadi pengajaran kepada rakyat Malaysia agar tidak lagi membiarkan negara tergadai ke tangan mereka yang rakus terhadap kuasa atau kekayaan dan kepentingan rakyat Malaysia berbilang kaum dan agama serta generasi akan datang harus diberikan keutamaan berbanding kepentingan seorang individu atau kumpulan individu, tidak kira betapa tinggi kedudukan dan kuasa mereka.

Ini yang harus mendasari Pilihan Raya Kecil Cameron Highlands – tadbir urus baik melawan kleptokrasi.

Pun begitu, apa yang lebih menarik perhatian adalah sama ada MIC akan memberi laluan kepada UMNO untuk bertanding di Cameron Highlands susulan amaran Hadi supaya memilih pemimpin dalam kalangan orang Islam?

Sebenarnya, saya meragui yang Hadi mampu menarik 3,587 undi (Jumlah undi yang diperoleh PAS di Cameron Highlands pada PRU14) dalam PRK Cameron Highlands yang akan diadakan pada 26 Januari, kerana tidak mungkin ahli PAS bersetuju dengan Hadi yang menolak masyarakat majmuk Malaysia dan pandangannya bahawa lebih baik memilih orang Islam yang rasuah daripada orang bukan Islam yang jujur, yang mana saya percaya bukan ajaran mana-mana agama di dunia termasuk Islam.

Malah, adakah kepemimpinan MCA tidak mempunyai prinsip dan bersikap oportunis dan akan bekerjasama dengan PAS, seperti yang berlaku dalam tiga PKR DUN Selangor selepas PRU14, meskipun Hadi masih berpegang kepada fahaman lama tentang “neraka” dan “urus tadbir baik”.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 9 January 2019, 11:43 am and is filed under
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Kini tiba masanya peneroka Felda bangkit semula dalam PRK Cameron Highlands bagi memulakan era Malaysia Baru yang adil, makmur dan sejahtera untuk semua rakyat Malaysia

Kini tiba masanya peneroka Felda bangkit semula dalam PRK Cameron Highlands bagi memulakan era Malaysia Baru yang adil, makmur dan sejahtera untuk semua rakyat Malaysia.

Sebelum ini, penyelewengan, penyalahgunaan kuasa dan perbuatan pemimpin mencuri wang rakyat, iaitu kleptokrasi, pada era Datuk Seri Najib Razak telah menyebabkan rakyat sengsara di bawah tekanan ekonomi.

Seperti yang dinyatakan dalam Manifesto Pakatan Harapan untuk pilihanraya umum ke-14 pada 2018 yang lalu:

“FELDA telah dirompak oleh pemimpin UMNO dan Barisan Nasional yang tamak haloba. Harta milik FELDA ditukar milik dengan sewenang-wenangnya. Tadbir urus FELDA sebagai sebuah syarikat milik kerajaan adalah amat memalukan, sehingga Ahli Lembaga Pengarah berlepas diri dengan mengatakan mereka tidak tahu apa yang berlaku.

“Tatkala berbilion-bilion ringgit harta milik FELDA hilang ke tangan orang lain dan kroni-kroni hidup kaya raya, nasib peneroka FELDA dan ahli keluarga mereka semakin tidak terbela. Jumlah hutang mereka meningkat hingga beratus-ratus ribu ringgit akibat kegagalan pengurusan FELDA itu sendiri.

“Generasi kedua dan ketiga FELDA kini merasakan sukar untuk hidup di kawasan FELDA kerana peluang pekerjaan yang tidak menentu dan prasarana yang tidak mencukupi. Cabaran gejala sosial pula semakin berleluasa di kalangan anak-anak muda.”

Apabila pengundi termasuk peneroka Felda dan anak-anak serta cucu mereka memilih Pakatan Harapan sebagai kerajaan yang baru dalam PRU14, sudah sampai masanya kita tunaikan semua janji pilihanraya.

Namun, berlaku kejutan kerana kerajaan PH sendiri tidak sangka beban hutang dan masalah kewangan yang ditinggalkan oleh bekas kerajaan UMNO-BN amat besar. Hutang pentadbiran Najib mencecah RM1 trilion! Keadaan itu menyebabkan segala usaha PH untuk menunaikan janji terpaksa diperlahankan bagi memulihkan keadaan ekonomi negara.

Dalam pada itu, keutamaan tetap diberikan kepada peneroka Felda serta keluarga mereka. Seawal Hari Raya Puasa pada Jun 2018, kerajaan PH telah memperuntukkan sumbangan Aidilfitri bernilai RM50.68 juta untuk lebih 112,000 peneroka di seluruh negara.

Jika kerajaan lama memperuntukkan RM160 juta sahaja untuk projek pembangunan dalam kawasan Felda pada 2018, kerajaan PH telah meningkatkan jumlahnya – RM100 juta untuk menaiktaraf jalan, RM160 juta menyediakan bekalan air, RM35 juta membina dan menaiktaraf bangunan serta pemasangan lampu jalan.

Terbaru, kerajaan PH seperti mana yang diumumkan oleh Menteri Kewangan pada Disember lalu, telah memperuntukkan RM77 juta sebagai sumbangan khas bagi membantu peneroka Felda menyelesaikan bayaran dan hutang tertunggak mereka, khususnya 38,000 peneroka, untuk tahun lalu.

Bantuan itu disediakan dalam tiga bentuk pembayaran, iaitu:

– Bayaran tunggakan RM43 juta kepada Felda Technoplant Sdn Bhd untuk kerja-kerja pembangunan ladang peneroka.

– Bayaran sara hidup dan wang pendahuluan RM32.8 juta untuk tanaman semula.

– Bayaran khairat kematian RM1.2 juta melibatkan waris 120 peneroka yang telah meninggal dunia.

Memang bantuan ini tidak dapat menyelesaikan segala masalah kewangan peneroka tetapi ramai yang bersyukur kerana selama ini tekanan yang mereka hadapi tidak dipedulikan oleh bekas kerajaan BN.

Kini saya yakin kerajaan PH akan meneruskan usaha untuk memenuhi janji-janji Menifesto walau pun perlu ada sedikit-sebanyak perubahan dan penyusunan semula. Namun semuanya itu untuk kebaikan peneroka.

Setelah berjaya membela nasib peneroka Felda dengan mengurangkan bebanan hutang mereka, saya yakin kerajaan PH akan terus memastikan:

– Penyelewengan dalam Felda di semua peringkat dihentikan.

– Penyusunan semula tadbir urus Felda.

Pemodenan dan usaha menaiktaraf kawasan-kawasan Felda.

– Peluang pendidikan terbaik untuk anak-anak peneroka Felda.

Tindakan undang-undang juga telah dan sedang dilaksanakan. Ini termasuk kes bekas Pengerusi Felda Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad yang telah dihadapkan ke mahkamah pada 14 Disember lalu atas tuduhan pecah amanah dan menerima rasuah.

Jadi, apa beza dengan janji PH sebelum dan selepas PRU14? Jawapannya mudah sahaja. Kini PH memegang teraju kerajaan. Dan ia merupakan kerajaan rakyat untuk rakyat demi rakyat. Ia tidak akan melakukan penyelewengan, salah guna kuasa dan salah urus seperti dahulu. Tidak sampai 9 bulan menjadi kerajaan, janji-janji awal kepada peneroka Felda sudah pun ditunaikan.

Ini adalah jaminan kerajaan PH untuk peneroka Felda. Semoga warga Felda termasuk generasi ketiganya tidak mudah terpengaruh dengan dakyah perkauman daripada bekas-bekas pemimpin kerajaan BN yang telah melakukan pelbagai penyelewengan yang menyebabkan warga Felda hidup tersiksa selama ini.

Jika sebelum PRU14, masyarakat Malaysia mudah diancam oleh politik perkauman, kini telah terbukti isunya adalah masalah ekonomi dan kos sara hidup rakyat. Kerajaan PH telah membuktikan ia mampu menyelesaikan masalah kewangan dan beban hutang peneroka Felda. Ini bererti era politik perkauman untuk menutup kejahatan dan penyelewengan pemimpin sudah berakhir.

Mari kita sama-sama mulakan hidup baru dalam era baru bersama PH yang dipimpin oleh Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad yang disokong penuh oleh PPBM, PKR, Amanah dan DAP serta jutaan rakyat Malaysia pelbagai kaum yang mahukan kehidupan yang lebih adil, sejahtera dan makmur.

(Kenyataan Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri, Lim Kit Siang, di Sesi Dialog bersama warga Felda Koyan 3, Jelai pada hari Rabu, 9 Januari 2019, jam 6 petanh)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 9 January 2019, 6:25 pm and is filed under
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Congrats to Ramli on being a BN candidate for Cameron Highlands by-election, but is it worthwhile associated with a “sinking ship”?

On the way to Kampong Pantos in Jelai, I received news that former top police officer Ramli Mohd Noor has been announced as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Cameron Highlands by-election on January 26.

I want to congratulate Ramli for making history as the first Orang Asli parliamentary candidate for UMNO/Barisan Nasional in the nation’s history, for the ruling coalition had never fielded an Orang Asli whether for Parliamentary or State Assembly elections in the past six decades.

In the 14th General Election, DAP fielded an Orang Asli, Nasir Dollah, for the Kelantan State Assembly seat of Galas, although he failed to be elected.

In fact, DAP fielded three Orang Asal candidates in Sabah and four in Sarawak, and we have now an Orang Asal MP from Sarawak, an Orang Asal MP from Sabah, an Orang Asal Senator from Sabah and an Orang Asal Deputy Minister in Sabah.

UMNO and Barisan Nasional are now learning from DAP to select Orang Asli to be in the forefront of political leadership, but it is open to question whether this is from conviction or from sheer political opportunism.

As the UMNO Acting President, Mohamad Hassan said at the press conference this morning:

“Last time, our usual practice is that the party will carry the candidate. Last time, anyone under the BN coalition will win.

“But in the current political situation and amid all the accusations being thrown against BN, our approach now is that the candidate can carry the party and the candidate is actually the most important factor, not the party anymore.”

But UMNO is now a sinking ship.  Although I congratulate Ramli on his selection as parliamentary candidate for Cameron Highlands, the question arises as to whether it is worthwhile to be  associated with a “sinking ship”?

In fact, UMNO with the kleptocratic past,has even now to depend on  its erstwhile foremost adversary, PAS, for lifeline support.

Under these circumstances, should Ramli be associated with a political Party whose President believed that a corrupt Muslim is anytime better than a clean and honest non-Muslim?

It is indeed sad and unfortunate that an Orang Ali of Ramli’s calibre and stature  had not been fielded by UMNO at the height of UMNO’s power, when he could go on to become Deputy Minister or even full Minister to end the poverty, backwardness, neglect and marginalisation of the Orang Asli community and bring them into the national mainstream of national development.

The Cameron Highlands by-election has given me an opportunity to better understand the depressing plight of the Orang Asli community in the country, as I have been able to visit eight of the Orang Asli posts so far.

JAKOA was formed sixty years ago to ensure that the Orang Asli community could progress as other communities in all fields of human endeavour, whether in education, economic advancement, housing and most important of all, land development.

I asked Orang Asli representatives whether JAKOA has achieved its objectives, but the answer is that “NO” and in their view, JAKOA has not accomplished even half of its goal after six decades.

Do we want to continue to have a JAKOA for next 100 to 200 years?

After 60 years, an  Orang Asli has only become the Director-General of JAKOA for the past eight months, while less than 22 per cent of the JAKOA staff are Orang Aslis.

Orang Aslis should have become elected MPs and State Assembly representatives in the past few decades, instead of becoming a current “glass ceiling” waiting to be broken.

The problem of the Orang Asli must be resolved at two levels, the Federal and the state government.

Pakatan Harapan is now the Federal Government in Putrajaya but it can do nothing about the land problems of the Orang Aslis as this is a state government matter. This is why the Cameron Highlands by-election is also an open salvo for the winning of Pahang state government by Pakatan Harapan in the 15th general election in four years’ time.

While I congratulate Ramli for being chosen as the BN candidate for Cameron Highlands, how can Ramli help the Orang Asli community if UMNO and Barisan Nasional are sinking ships, steeped in the culture of abuses of power and kleptocracy.

It is no exaggeration to say that Pakatan Harapan represents the future while Umno/BN represents the past, corrupted by greed,abuses of power and kleptocracy. Even with the prop from PAS, Malaysia cannot return to a kleptocratic past with UMNO, as the future belongs to democracy, good governance, rule of law and justice for all communities in Malaysia.

The Cameron Highlands by-election is therefore not just a battle of individuals or political coalitions, but  even more important, a battle between the future and the past of Malaysia, between a New Malaysia with democracy, good governance, rule of law and justice for all communities in Malaysia and the Old Malaysia of sham democracy, kakistocracy, a failed state and global kleptocracy.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the People’s Dialogue at Kampong Orang Asli Pantos, Jelai, Cameron Highlands on Thursday, 10th January 2019 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 January 2019, 6:26 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan Harapan by-election workers in Cameron Highlands will have to be “miracle workers” to clinch a victory for Manogaran in Cameron Highlands, which we also lost during the miracle of  the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018

Pakatan Harapan by-election workers in Cameron Highlands will have to be “miracle workers” in the next two weeks to clinch a victory for M.Manogaran in Cameron Highlands.

This was because  Pakatan Harapan also lost in the Cameron Highlands constituency during the  miracle of  the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 which effected a peaceful and democratic transition of power first time in six decades of the nation’ history, which merited Malaysia being described as a “bright spot” in Southeast Asian democracy in the recently-released  Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2018.

In the Democracy Index 2018, Malaysia has been ranked higher than its Southeast Asian neighbours as a model of an increasingly democratic country, with an overall improved score and the historic results of the 14th general election have seen Malaysia climb to 52nd spot out of 165 independent states and two territories, putting it 14 spots ahead of Singapore (66th) and one spot ahead of the Philippines (53rd).

In the latest EIU report, Malaysia was marked as a “bright spot” in the region following the May 9 general election last year, when Pakatan Harapan broke Barisan Nasional’s 61-year grip on power.

“The victory of opposition candidates in key elections in Asia in 2018 served to bolster the region’s scores for the electoral process and pluralism,”
 said the report.

It said Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s victory was “remarkable” despite the gerrymandering of the general elections.

Despite Malaysia’s glowing improvements, the country was still ranked a “flawed democracy” with an overall score of 6.88.

Malaysia’s ranking in the Democracy Index 2018 would have been even higher had Pakatan Harapan been able to win Cameron Highlands on May 9, 2018 – which is a measure of the great odds Pakatan Harapan must overcome  to win in the Cameron Highlands by-election on June 26.

The odds against Pakatan Harapan winning are even greater  if the Barisan Nasional fields ex-Orang Asli top cop, Ramli Mohd Noor, who is the highest ranking Orang Asli police officer in the nation’s history.

Ramli is also a  local from the Semai tribe, which forms the bulk of the 22 percent of Orang Asli voters in the Cameron Highlands  parliamentary seat.

It is sad and most unfortunate that an Orang Ali of Ramli’s stature and background had not been fielded by UMNO at the height of UMNO’s power, so that he could go on to become Deputy Minister or even full Minister to end the neglect and marginalisation of the  Orang Asli community and bring them to the national mainstream of national development.

An indication of the continued poverty, backwardness,  neglect and marginalisation of the Orang Asli community is that despite six decades, JAKOA had not been able to break the back of the problem of poverty, backwardness, neglect and marginalisation of the Orang Asli community in Malaysia – and even in JAKOA, an Orang Asli has only become JAKOA Director-General for the past eight months while less than 22% of the JAKAO staff are from Orang Asli community.

Today’s UMNO, with the kleptocratic past, is at its last gasps, as it has even now to depend on  its erstwhile foremost adversary, PAS, for lifeline support.

Pakatan Harapan represents the future – and the Cameron Highlands by-election is in fact an opening salvo for the 15th General Election battle  for Pakatan Harapan in four year’s time to win the Pahang State Government, which will enable the long-standing land problems of Orang Asli to be resolved.

UMNO now represents the past, which had been corrupted by greed, abuses of power and kleptocracy. Even with the prop from PAS, Malaysia cannot return to a kleptocratic past with UMNO, as the future belongs to democracy, good governance, rule of law and justice for all communities in Malaysia.

The Cameron Highlands by-election is therefore not just a battle of individuals or political coalitions, but  even more important, a battle between the future and the past of Malaysia, between a New Malaysia with democracy, good governance, rule of law and justice for all communities in Malaysia and the Old Malaysia of sham democracy, kakistocracy, a failed state and global kleptocracy.

That is why Pakatan Harapan by-election workers in Cameron Highlands will have to be miracle workers – as they have to accomplish a greater miracle than the miracle of May 9, 2018!

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Brinchang on Thursday, 10th January 2019)

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Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Brinchang pada Khamis 10 Januari 2019:

Jentera Pakatan Harapan bagi Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Cameron Highlands perlu melakukan keajaiban untuk memenangkan Manogaran di Cameron Highlands, yang tewas pada PRU14.

Jentera Pakatan Harapan bagi Pilihan Raya Kecil Cameron Highlands perlu melakukan keajaiban sepanjang dua minggu akan datang untuk memenangkan M. Manogaran di Cameron Highlands.

Ini kerana Pakatan Harapan tewas di Cameron Highlands dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 (PRU14) pada 9 Mei 2018 yang mana memberi kesan terhadap peralihan kuasa secara aman dan demokratik yang berlaku pertama kali dalam sejarah negara selama enam dekad, yang mana Malaysia diberikan penghargaan dan dianggap sebagai “bright spot” dalam demokrasi Asia Tenggara menerusi Indeks Demokrasi Unit Risikan Ekonomi (EIU) 2018 yang dikeluarkan baru-baru ini.

Dalam Indeks Demokrasi 2018, Malaysia berada di kedudukan lebih tinggi berbanding negara jiran Asia Tenggara yang lain sebagai model negara demokrasi, dengan skor keseluruhan bertambah baik dan keputusan bersejarah PRU14 yang menyaksikan Malaysia meniti tangga ke 52 daripada 165 negara bebas dan dua kawasan, berada 14 tangga di atas Singapura (66) dan satu tangga meninggalkan Filipina (53).

Dalam laporan terbaru EIU, Malaysia disifatkan sebagai “bright spot” dalam rantau tersebut susulan Pilihan Raya 9 Mei tahun lalu, yang menyaksikan Pakatan Harapan menewaskan Barisan Nasional yang memerintah selama 61 tahun.

“Kemenangan calon pembangkang dalam pilihan raya penting di Asia pada 2018 memperkuatkan skor kawasan berkenaan bagi aspek proses pilihan raya dan pluralisme,” kata laporan itu.

Laporan itu menyifatkan kemenangan Perdana Menteri, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad sebagai “luar biasa” walaupun berlaku amalan gerrymandering.

Walaupun Malaysia mencatatkan peningkatan, negara masih berada di kedudukan “flawed democracy” dengan skor keseluruhan 6.88.

Kedudukan Malaysia dalam Indeks Demokrasi 2018 akan lebih tinggi jika Pakatan Harapan menang di Cameron Highlands pada 9 Mei 2018.

Kemenangan akan lebih sukar dicapai oleh Pakatan Harapan jika Barisan Nasional mempertaruhkan bekas pegawai polis, Ramli Mohd Noor, yang merupakan pegawai polis dari kalangan Orang Asli yang memegang jawatan tertinggi pasukan polis dalam sejarah negara.

Ramli juga adalah orang tempatan dari suku Semai, yang merupakan 22 peratus pengundi Orang Asli di kerusi Parlimen Cameron Highlands.

Adalah menyedihkan dan malang apabila Ramli tidak dicalonkan oleh UMNO semasa UMNO masih berpengaruh, dan seterusnya dilantik menjadi Menteri atau Timbalan Menteri, sekali gus mengakhiri peminggiran masyarakat Orang Asli dan membawa mereka masuk ke dalam arus perdana pembangunan negara.

Sejak enam dekad, JAKOA gagal membebaskan masyarakat Orang Asli daripada kepompong kemiskinan, kemunduran dan peminggiran. Hanya seorang Orang Asli yang dilantik sebagai Ketua Pengarah JAKOA sejak lapan tahun lalu sementara kurang 22% kakitangan JAKAO adalah Orang Asli.

Hari ini, UMNO, dengan sejarah kleptokratik, kini terkapai-kapai, memerlukan sokongan PAS untuk kekal relevan.

Pakatan Harapan adalah masa hadapan dan PRK Cameron Highlands adalah pembukaan kepada pertempuran PRU15 untuk Pakatan Harapan menawan Kerajaan Negeri Pahang, yang mana akan membolehkan masalah tanah adat Orang Asli diselesaikan.

UMNO kini adalah masa lalu, yang rosak akibat ketamakan, penyalahgunaan kuasa dan kleptokrasi, meskipun dengan sokongan PAS, Malaysia tidak boleh kembali ke masa lalu kleptokratik UMNO, kerana masa depan adalah demokrasi, tadbir urus baik, kedaulatan undang-undang dan keadilan untuk semua masyarakat di Malaysia.

Justeru itu, PRK Cameron Highlands bukan hanya pertempuran individu atau gabungan politik, tapi lebih penting lagi, pertempuran antara masa depan dan masa lalu Malaysia, antara sebuah Malaysia Baharu berteraskan demokrasi, urus tadbir baik, kedaulatan undang-undang dan keadilan untuk semua masyarakat di Malaysia dan Malaysia Lama dengan demokrasi yang tempang, kakistrokrasi, negara gagal dan kleptokrasi global.

Inilah sebabnya mengapa jentera Pakatan Harapan di Cameron Highlands perlu melakukan keajaiban – melakukan sesuatu yang lebih ajaib daripada keputusan pada 9 Mei 2018.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 10 January 2019, 8:53 am and is filed under
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The Cameron Highlands by-election is the curtain-raiser for the great battle for Pahang state power in the next general election in four years’ time

The people of Malaysia created two historic events last year.

First, the historic decision of the fourteen general election of May 9, 2018 when they voted out Datuk Sri Najib Razak as the Prime Minister of Malaysia and ejected UMNO/Barisan Nasional as the Federal Government of Malaysia, replacing it with Pakatan Harapan comprising DAP, PKR, Amanah and Bersatu and making Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the Prime Minister for the second time, at the age of 93.

Second, history was also made on 30th November 2018 following the heroic testimony of Orang Asli witnesses when the Election Court in Kuala Lumpur declared the Cameron Highlands election of MIC Vice President C.Sivarraajh as MP null and void because of corrupt election practices and money politics.

Let us make a third history on January 26 by electing a Pakatan Harapan MP for the first time in the nation’s history – signifying that the next general elections in four years’ time

will be a contest for Pakatan Harapan to capture the Pahang State government and appoint a new Mentri Besar for the State.

If M. Manogaran can be elected MP for Cameron Highlands in the by-election, then the chance of Pakatan Harapan capturing and forming the Pahang State Government in the next general election in four years’ time, with a Pakatan Harapan Mentri Besar, is very high.

To many, it is unthinkable that UMNO can lose the Pahang State Government and the post of Pahang Mentri Besar.

But only eight months ago, it was unthinkable that UMNO could lose the Federal Government in Malaysia and the post of Prime Minister –  but  both events occurred.

It is not going to be easy to capture the Pahang State Government, but it is do-able just as it is not easy to capture the Federal Government in Putrajaya but Pakatan

Harapan succeeded in doing so.

The Cameron Highlands by-election is therefore the curtain-raiser for the great battle for Pahang state power in the next general election in four years’ time.

(Speech by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang at the launching of the Pakatan Harapan Cameron Highlands by-election operations centre In Brinchang Square, Brinchang on Thursday, 10th January 2019 at 9pm)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 January 2019, 6:23 pm and is filed under
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Will Ramli condemn the 1MDB corruption and money-laundering  scandal and denounce the Najib premiership for the national infamy, ignominy and betrayal of being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy

I spent the whole morning today visiting the ninth Orang Asli Post in Cameron Highlands (Pos Terisu) and the four Orang Asli kampongs in the area.

This marks the end of my pre-by-election visit to all the nine Orang Asli Posts in Cameron Highlands in my three visits to the constituency from December 30, which included being trapped at Kampong Orang Asli Semoi Lama on New Year’s Eve together with MP for Bentong Wong Tack, State Assemblyman for Tanah Rata Chiong Yoke Kong, DAP/Pakatan Harapan Candidate for Cameron Highlands M. Manogaram, cutting from all access to the outside world;  crossing the river at Kampong Semoi Lama by driving through it despite its strong currents to reach Orang Asli kampongs in Pos Lenyang and Pos Titom, and I would have ended up in Lipis if my vehicle was swept away by the strong current; as well as my visits to Felda Sungai Koyan and the townships at Bertam Valley, Ringlet, Tanah Rata, Brinchang, Tringkap and Kampong Raja.

It had been quite a hectic but a  most informative and educational visits.

The  road into the four Orang Asli kampongs in Pos Terisu was most atrocious and demonstrates that sixty years after Merdeka, despite the formation of the Department of Orang Asli Development (JAKOA) six decades ago, the Orang Asli are still denied the most basic infrastructure facilities, as many are still deprived of proper roads, electricity,  clean water and the most elementary educational, health, medical and economic needs.

I believe that if  there is a referendum among the 200,000 Orang Asli in Peninsula Malaysia whether after six decades, JAKOA had achieved its objectives to ensure that the Orang Asli community had  progressed as other communities in all fields of human endeavour, whether in education, economic advancement, housing and most important of all, land development, and whether the time has come for JAKOA to be abolished as it had achieved the objectives for which it was formed, the answer among the overwhelming majority of the Orang Asli would be a categorical “No” in both instances.

Why is this case?

The atrocious condition of the road into the four Orang Asli kampongs in Pos Terisu reminds me other “roti canai” roads into Pos Lemoi, Pos Sinderut, Pos Lenjang and Pos Mensun –which could be made  in 15 minutes of ordinary travel require an agonising journey on  four-wheel drives of  up to  90 minutes!

Other proofs of the continued neglect and backwardness of the Orang Asli community could be illustrated by the following:

(i) After 60 years, an  Orang Asli has only become the Director-General of JAKOA for the past eight months;l

(ii) Inability to appoint  all State JAKOA Directors from the Orang Asli community;

(iii) Less than 22 per cent of the JAKOA staff are from the Orang Asli community.

(iv) Selection of an Orang Asli to be a parliamentary candidate by the UMNO/BN coalition in the nation’s history – and only after UMNP/BN had suffered arout and  voted out of Federal Power in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018.

There are three aspects of the media conference announcement yesterday by the Acting UMNO President, Datuk Mohamad Hasan of former top police officer Ramli Mohd Nor as  first UMNO/BN parliamentary candidate for the Cameron Highlands by-election on January 26, viz:

(i) MCA and MIC consent to the dropping of any MIC candidature  in favour of UMNO’s choice of Ramli;

(ii) Prominent role of PAS national leaders, despite the declaration by the PAS President, Datuk Seri Hadi Awang that a corrupt Muslim is better than a clean and honest non-Muslim; and

(iii) Most important of all, UMNO’s reliance on an Orang Ali to save UMNO from becoming a  “sinking ship”.

I reiterate my congratulation to Ramli, but the questions uppermost  among Malaysians is whether it is worthwhile for Ramli to be  associated with a “sinking ship” and whether an Orang Asli could save UMNO?

Will Ramli condemn the monstrous 1MBD corruption and money-laundering scandal and will he denounce the Najib premiership for the national infamy, ignominy and betrayal of being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy?

Or to put it directly, is the present UMNO leadership using Ramli to get Orang Asli endorsement for the Najib kleptocracy, in particular the 1MDB scandal and the many 1MDB-like scandals in Felda, Felcra, MARA and Tabung Haji?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kampong Raja, Cameron Highlands  on Friday, January 11, 2019)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 11 January 2019, 7:25 pm and is filed under
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Manolan wrong and committed an election offence if he had threatened Tok Batins but otherwise  if he merely wanted to point out that it was unacceptable for Tok Batins to receive  their salaries from Federal Government and yet continue to be local UMNO heads

PKR Senator Bob Monolan Mohd has kicked up a controversy with his statement in Pos Betau, Jelai yesterday which had been interpreted as a warning to  Orang Asli village chiefs (Tok Batin) that their salaries and posts are at stake if they do not support Pakatan Harapan in the Cameron Highlands by-election.

If Monolan had threatened Tok Batins, then he would have committed an election offence which is  actionable under  the law, but otherwise, if he had merely wanted to point out that that it was unacceptable for  Tok Batins to receive their  salaries from the Federal Government and continue to be local UMNO heads.

The “uproar” is understandable for as Bersatu strategist Dr Rais Hussin wrote, Monalan’s statement “reeks of the politics of old … give me what I want and I will give you what you want” which the New Malaysia of Pakatan Harapan had  sworn to uproot and eradicate.

If so, as Rais said, Manolan has “crossed the line” and must be reprimanded and repudiated.

PKR President Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, though in India, had immediately demanded clarification from Manolan, stressing that there is no coercion in a democracy, while Manolan had swiftly denied that he had threatened the Tok

Batins.

Finance Minister, Lim Guan Eng, also gave the assurance in Brinchang this morning that the Orang Asli tok batin (village chiefs) will continue receiving their salaries, stressing that there will be no intimidation against them, and  that there should be no threat, no coercion and no intimidation in the Cameron Highlands by-election.

What struck me when I heard the audio recording that Malaysiakini had provided was the rounds of  applause from the floor (six or seven rounds)  when Manolan stressed that the Tok Batins who were  local UMNO heads should choose whether they wanted to continue as Tok Batins and receive  salaries from Putrajaya or local UMNO heads.

I checked with DAP leaders, namely the MP for Raub and Deputy Water, Land and Natural Resources Minister Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji,  the MP for Bentong, Wong Tak, Sabah Senator Adrian Lasimbang and Pahang State Assembly woman Young Syefura who were at the session on what actually happened, and they confirmed that there was no threats to the Tok Batins for not voting for Pakatan Harapan.

Pakatan Harapan will not copy the UMNO/Barisan Nasional old politics of threats and corruption, and we will not hesitate to repudiate and condemn any politics of threats or corruption occurring under the roof of Pakatan Harapan.

This should be a given as far as the Cameron Highlands by-election is concerned, which is being held as the  election of MIC Vice President C. Sivarraajh as MP for Cameron Highlands last May was declared null and void by the election court because of money politics and corrupt election practices.

During the 14th General Election last May, Tok Batins were required to deliver Orang Asli votes for Barisan Nasional from their respective kampongs,  which was a clear violation and abuse of the democratic process.

This is clearly spelt out in the judgment of the election court judge, Justice Azizah binti Haji Nawawi who named the Pahang Mentri Besar, Dato’ Wan Rosdy who is State Assemblyman for Jelai, and Sivarraajh as being involved in corrupt electoral practices involving Tok Batins.

For instance, on 6th May 2018, Wan Rosdy and Sivarraajh visited Pos Lenjang using a helicopter and gave to the Batins approximately RM25,000 to be distributed to all voters in the respective villages, apart from the payment of  RM200 to each Batin.

The Cameron Highlands election petition was adjourned three times for Wan Rosdy to testify and  deny these allegations, but he never turned up. Can Wan Rosdy explain why?

Isn’t it true that UMNO did not allow MIC to appeal against the election court judgment so that  all the corrupt electoral practices of Wan Rosdy would not attract greater publicity?

In the circumstances, is the BN candidate, Ramli Mohd Nor prepared to make the battle against corruption – whether during  the electoral process like vote-buying or governance of the country like the 1MDB scandal – one of the foremost issues of the  Cameron Highlands by-election?

May be  Ramli can start the process by  condemning the monstrous 1MBD corruption and money-laundering scandal and denouncing  the Najib premiership for the national infamy, ignominy and betrayal for Malaysia  being condemned by the world as a global kleptocracy!

Is Ramli aware of a conspiracy by the  present UMNO leadership to use his candidature  to get Orang Asli endorsement for the Najib kleptocracy, in particular the 1MDB scandal and the many 1MDB-like scandals in Felda, Felcra, MARA and Tabung Haji?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Ringlet, Cameron Highlands on Saturday, 12th January 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 January 2019, 6:10 pm and is filed under
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Pakatan Harapan will fulfil its promise to fully develop human capital among FELDA settlers, both for the current and the future generation

FELDA was created as a government program intended to give the rural poor a fresh start in their life. The program worked really well in its early years, providing settlers land to farm and live on while creating communities in new frontiers.

Mismanagement and lack of forward-looking planning lead to the decline of FELDA settlements, previous Barisan government failures in ensuring FELDA settlements are equipped with proper infrastructure has resulted in broken communities within the settlements. Without decent infrastructure such as paved roads, well-equipped schools, and commercial centres, it has proven hard for the settlers to diversify their communities beyond agriculture. This situation has restricted career opportunities for the second generation of FELDA settlers, causing a majority of them to move out of their communities into bigger cities in search of better employment.

Pakatan Harapan promised to fix this in our general election manifesto and just nine months in, we have started work on this with additional allocations to bring FELDA’s infrastructure on par with other towns and cities. FELDA settlers can rest assured that we will continue to do so, as long as we are in power as the Pakatan Harapan government is committed to good governance for the people.

Neglect in providing quality education to the children of the settlers’ has led some of them into a problematic adulthood, with social problems plaguing the communities. Emigration into bigger cities by the younger generation further drains FELDA’s settlement of talent pool, leaving the less fortunate behind together with the elderly to fend for themselves. Some succumb to drugs addiction and all sorts of social ills, causing issues within the communities that must be fixed immediately.

Years of neglect must be corrected, MARA and the Ministry of Education should provide some special quotas in our MRSMs, boarding schools, and public universities for the neglected settlers’ children, who are part of our important future generation, to rectify this neglect. This is our fifth special commitment to FELDA in the last general election and we intend to keep to it.

Recognising the diversity of human potential, vocational and technical training should also be provided for current and future generation of FELDA settlers to diversify the talent pool of FELDA settlements. Going forward, more TVET institution should be located within FELDA communities to provide a supply of skilled labour which then would attract industrial diversification for the community.

Technical and vocational training will also be available for the young adults within the community who would like to specialise in a new field. Potentially supplementing the agricultural activities with maintenance and maybe even production of farming tools and machineries.

The potential for growth is limitless when proper support and infrastructure is in place. The previous Barisan government clearly has neglected these aspect of human capital development and perhaps done it on purpose, to keep the FELDA settlers forever dependent on them in order to retain their votes indefinitely. The Pakatan Harapan government will ensure that such neglect would never happen again.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Brinchang, Cameron Highlands on Saturday, 12th January 2019)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 12 January 2019, 2:28 pm and is filed under
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Call on voters of Cameron Highlands to be the eyes and ears of the law to report on any vote-buying and corrupt electoral practices to make the by-election the cleanest election in Malaysian history

I call on the voters of Cameron Highlands to be the  eyes and ears of the law to report on any vote-buying and corrupt electoral practices to make the by-election the cleanest election in Malaysian history.

I also call on all competing political parties and candidates to co-operate to make the Cameron Highlands by-election the cleanest election in Malaysian history by making  an instant full disclosure of the electoral expenditures when questioned.

Then the voters of Cameron Highlands would have made great history in Malaysia.

This is the principle that the Pakatan Harapan by-election  campaign in Cameron Highlands is adhering to and I hope that the Barisan Nasional by-election  campaign will also adhere to.

Today, Barisan Nasional leaders took to the social media to post comments on a batch of images showing money being allegedly handed out to people in Pakatan Harapan Cameron Highlands T-shirts and police reports had been lodged  alleging that vote-buying was involved.

We are not afraid of the truth as  no vote-buying was involved.

Arvind Bharet, the assistant to the Jelai Harapan operations chief, had explained that the images that surfaced on the social media depicted the party volunteers in Cameron Highlands being reimbursed for their expenses for attending the Nomination yesterday, which would be declared as part of the campaign spending.

The woman in red t-shirt is known as Vanessa, a Dusun-Punjabi from Kota Kinabalu who had been an Impian Malaysia volunteer since 2014. She is a Mass Communications graduate doing voluntary social work via Impian Malaysia all over the country.

She was placed in charge of the Orang Asli motor-cyclists who came out from their various Orang Asli kampongs for the Nomination in Tanah Rata yesterday.

There were 60 motor-cyclists and she reimbursed them RM20 each per motor-cyclist.

There were five cars and  four buses of Orang Aslis but they were not Vanz’s responsibility

Is  Barisan Nasional prepared to give a full public accounting of how many people it mobilized for the Nomination yesterday, and the total expenditure involved as well as to answer all queries on financial expenditures during the by-election?

(Media Statement (3) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 13th January 2019)

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Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Ahad, 13 Januari 2019:

Menyeru semua pengundi Cameron Highlands agar menjadi mata dan telinga pihak berkuasa dan melaporkan sebarang aktiviti mencurigakan seperti amalan membeli undi dan kegiatan rasuah bagi menjadikan pilihan raya kecil (PRK) kali ini sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara

Saya menyeru  semua pengundi Cameron Highlands agar menjadi mata dan telinga pihak berkuasa dan melaporkan sebarang aktiviti mencurigakan seperti amalan membeli undi dan kegiatan rasuah bagi menjadikan pilihan raya kecil (PRK) kali ini sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara.

Saya juga menyeru  semua parti politik dan calon yang bertanding untuk bersama-sama turut serta menjadikan PRK Cameron Highlands sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara dengan mengemukakan penyata perbelanjaan pilihan raya apabila diminta kelak.

Ini adalah prinsip yang dipegang oleh jentera kempen Pakatan Harapan dalam pilihan raya kecil Cameron Highlands dan saya harap Barisan Nasional akan berpegang pada pendirian yang sama.

Hari ini, pemimpin Barisan Nasional membangkitkan mengenai beberapa keping gambar yang tular di media sosial yang memaparkan beberapa orang berpakaian baju-T dengan logo Pakatan Harapan dikatakan memberikan wang kepada pengundi. Susulan itu, beberapa laporan polis telah dibuat atas dakwaan berlaku pembelian undi.

Kami tidak gentar dengan tuduhan itu kerana tidak ada sebarang pembelian undi berlaku dalam kejadian itu.

Penolong kepada ketua operasi Jelai Pakatan Harapan, Arvind Bharet, menjelaskan mengenai imej yang tular di media yang mengambarkan beberapa sukarelawan parti di Cameron Highlands sedang mengagihkan pembayaran balik perbelanjaan kepada pihak yang terlibat pada hari pencalonan semalam, yang mana akan diisytiharkan sebagai sebahagian daripada perbelanjaan kempen.

Wanita memakai baju berwarna merah itu dikenali sebagai Vanessa, berketurunan Dusun-Punjabi dari Kota Kinabalu. Beliau menjadi sukarelawan Impian Malaysia sejak 2014. Beliau adalah graduan dalam bidang komunikasi yang melakukan kerja-kerja sukarelawan menerusi Impian Malaysia di seluruh negara.

Beliau ditugaskan untuk menguruskan Orang Asli dari pelbagai kampung Orang Asli yang hadir menaiki motosikal pada hari penamaan calon di Tanah Rata, semalam.

Terdapat 60 penunggang motosikal dan beliau membuat pembayaran balik sebanyak RM20 setiap seorang.

Terdapat lima buah kereta dan empat bas yang membawa Orang Asli tetapi ia tidak diletakkan di bawah tanggungjawab Vanz.

Adakah Barisan Nasional bersedia untuk mendedahkan perbelanjaan yang dikeluarkan bagi membawa orang ramai ke hari pencalonan semalam, dan jumlah keseluruhan perbelanjaan yang terlibat serta menjawab semua pertanyaan mengenai perbelanjaan sepanjang tempoh pilihan raya kecil ini?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2019, 6:25 pm and is filed under
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Cronyism has stunted FELDA’s growth potential

FELDA settlers has been neglected for decades under the previous Barisan government who exploited them as a mere vote bank.

First generation FELDA settlers, who are mainly rural poor, sent to develop land around the countryside into cash crop plantation were never given any other training besides from being a farmer.

This is reminiscent of the British Colonial Administration policy of keeping the Malay farmers as farmers and only giving their children education to become a better farmers instead of diversifying their talent pool.

Because of this, it is rarely unheard of FELDA settlers having poor financial literacy skills, wasting away any bonuses that they received and continuing to depend on government allowance for a living.

Education neglect and cronyism has also stunted FELDA settlements’ potential of economic growth. Hence why we are seeing FELDA settlements nowadays being a plantation village with no other industrial activity at all.

I have also been informed by a son of a FELDA settler that any plans for settlers to expand beyond cash crop agricultures are practically barred by FELDA.

The settlers are not allowed to plant anything else or do other economic activities on the allocated land without permission, reducing their ability to diversify. Settlers have been asking FELDA for permissions to be allowed to farm other produce on part of their land as diversification plan to no avail.

As the land within the settlements are all owned by FELDA, industrial activities are also practically barred. Investors cannot go into the settlement areas to tap into the human capital due to the land monopoly. This has created a situation where the second generation of settlers having to either move out of FELDA in poverty or continue to be farmers if they receive the ownership of the plantation from their father.

Naturally one would think that government expenditure on helping the farmers in setting up their plantation would generate some secondary economic activities such as shops, farming machineries, workshops, and small enterprise supporting the local economic ecosystem.

But all of these failed to materialise due to FELDA’s management practice of subcontracting these services to Barisan’s cronies – limiting first and second generation settlers’ ability to partake in these economic endeavour.

Farming machinery maintenance services are monopolised by UMNO  crony companies, which are brought from outside of the system with no intention or initiative of integrating with the local community. Competition is stifled as it would jeopardise the said crony’s monopoly.

The Barisan Nasional government did try to rectify this lack of talent diversity by giving some second-generation FELDA settlers scholarship to further their studies in multiple fields. But most of the scholarship failed to translate into jobs and secondary economic activities creation as they are tangentially related, compounded with the limitation above.

As  part of its management reform for FELDA, the Pakatan Harapan government will liberalise the secondary economic market for FELDA settlers, in order to allow them to better participate and develop their communities, diversifying and creating a sustainable communities for everyone involved.

By removing cronyism and corruption within FELDA, we can finally realise the true potential of FELDA as a social program, intended to lift the rural poor out of the poverty cycle while at the same time creating a vibrant community.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday, 13th January 2019)

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 Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Ahad, 13 Januari 2019:

Kronisme telah membantutkan potensi pertumbuhan FELDA

Peneroka FELDA telah diabaikan sejak berdekad lamanya di bawah pentadbiran kerajaan Barisan Nasional yang sebelum ini mempergunakan mereka semata-mata untuk meraih undi.

Generasi pertama peneroka FELDA, yang kebanyakannya terdiri daripada golongan miskin luar bandar, dihantar untuk membangunkan tanah di sekitar kawasan desa untuk diusahakan menjadi ladang tanaman komoditi tanpa diberikan sebarang latihan, selain untuk menjadi seorang petani.

Ini mengingatkan kita kepada dasar Pentadbiran Penjajah British yang mahu mengekalkan orang Melayu sebagai petani dengan memberikan anak-anak mereka pendidikan yang hanya memadai untuk menjadi seorang petani dan tidak lebih daripada itu.

Oleh yang demikian, kita kerap mendengar peneroka FELDA mempunyai masalah dalam pengurusan kewangan, tidak menyimpan bonus yang diterima untuk masa hadapan dan terus-menerus bergantung kepada bantuan daripada kerajaan untuk kelangsungan kehidupan.

Pengabaian pendidikan dan kronisme telah membantutkan potensi pertumbuhan ekonomi peneroka FELDA. Itulah sebabnya mengapa penempatan FELDA kini hanya menjadi kawasan ladang tanaman komoditi tanpa mempunyai aktiviti industri yang lain.

Saya diberitahu oleh seorang anak peneroka FELDA bahawa agensi itu jarang meluluskan sebarang rancangan peneroka untuk membangunkan perusahan selain daripada pertanian tanaman komoditi.

Peneroka tidak dibenarkan menanam tanaman atau melakukan aktiviti ekonomi lain di atas tanah yang diberikan tanpa kebenaran FELDA, sekali gus mengurangkan peluang mereka untuk mengembangkan aktiviti ekonomi mereka. Sejak sekian lama, peneroka meminta kebenaran FELDA untuk membenarkan mereka menanam tanaman lain di atas tanah yang diberikan kepada mereka, namun permohonan ini tidak dilayan agensi tersebut.

Oleh kerana semua tanah dalam lingkungan penempatan dimiliki oleh FELDA, tiada aktiviti perindustrian boleh bertapak di kawasan penempatan FELDA. Pelabur tidak boleh memasuki kawasan penempatan untuk mengakses sumber manusia yang tersedia ekoran monopoli tanah. Ini menghasilkan situasi di mana generasi kedua peneroka terpaksa memilih sama ada keluar sehelai sepinggang dari FELDA atau terus menjadi petani, jika mereka mewarisi ladang daripada bapa mereka.

Sepatutnya, peruntukan yang dikeluarkan oleh kerajaan dalam membantu peneroka untuk membangunkan ladang mereka menghasilkan aktiviti ekonomi sekunder seperti kedai runcit, bengkel jentera pertanian, dan perusahaan kecil bagi menjana ekosistem ekonomi tempatan.

Namun, semua itu gagal untuk menjadi kenyataan berikutan amalan pengurusan FELDA yang memberikan kontrak perkhidmatan tersebut kepada kroni Barisan Nasional – menghalang generasi pertama dan kedua peneroka untuk terlibat sama dalam sistem ekonomi setempat.

Perkhidmatan penyelenggaraan jentera pertanian dimonopoli oleh syarikat kroni UMNO, yang dibawa dari luar sistem berkenaan tanpa niat atau inisiatif langsung untuk melibatkan masyarakat setempat. Sebarang bentuk persaingan disekat demi menjaga kepentingan kroni.

Rejim Barisan Nasional pernah cuba untuk membaiki kekurangan kemahiran di kalangan generasi peneroka kedua FELDA dengan memberikan mereka biasiswa untuk melanjutkan pelajaran dalam pelbagai bidang. Bagaimanapun, kebanyakan biasiswa itu gagal menghasilkan pekerjaan atau mewujudkan aktiviti ekonomi sekunder ekoran kekangan yang dinyatakan di atas.

Sebagai sebahagian daripada agenda reformasi pengurusan FELDA, kerajaan Pakatan Harapan akan membuka pasaran ekonomi sekunder kepada peneroka FELDA, bagi membolehkan mereka untuk turut serta dan membangunkan komuniti mereka, mempelbagaikan dan mewujudkan komuniti mapan yang melibatkan semua peneroka.

Dengan menyingkirkan kronisme dan rasuah dalam FELDA, dapatlah kita merealisasi potensi sebenar FELDA sebagai sebuah program sosial yang bertujuan untuk mengeluarkan penduduk miskin luar bandar daripada kepompong kemiskinan dan pada masa yang sama mewujudkan komuniti peneroka yang berdaya saing dan mampan.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2019, 12:40 pm and is filed under
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Najib is trying to legitimise “global kleptocracy” and 1MDB scandal with  a political come-back through a Barisan Nasional victory in the Cameron Highlands by-election

Former Prime Minister, Datuki Seri Najib Razak is trying to legitimise his “global kleptocracy” and the 1MDB  scandal with a political comeback through a Barisan Nasional victory in the Cameron Highlands by-election.

This is obvious by two events.

Firstly, his “meet-the-supporters” session in Lembah Pantai, Kuala Lumpur yesterday  where he was introduced as “a Prime Minister on vacation”; and secondly, the appearance of his eldest son,  Nizar Najib, on the Barisan Nasional campaign trail of in the Cameron Highlands by-election. Although Nizar did not speak, he was introduced as one of the VIPs at an event at Pos Mensun, the hometown of the BN’s Cameron Highlands candidate Ramli Mohd Nor.

Najib was asked during his Kampung Kerinchi visit yesterday whether he would campaign for Barisan Nasional in the Cameron Highlands by-election, Najib played coy saying he was still considering whether to accept requests for him to do so from the Pahang Mentri Besar, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail.

Najib should not be playing coy, for I have information that Najib’s campaigning for BN in the Cameron Highlands together with the Pahang Mentri Besar had  already been fixed for January 18 and 19.

The first thing that Najib should do when he campaigns for BN in the Cameron Highlands by-election on Friday and Saturday is to apologise to the voters of Cameron Highlands for the BN  money-politics and the corrupt election practices in the last General Election which resulted in the election result of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 to be declared null and void by the election court, causing the present by-election.

Najib’s appearance at the BN by-election campaign is the proper occasion for the Pahang Mentri Bersar who is also the Assemblyman for Jelai, Wan Rosdy to explain why he failed to appear before the election court to testify and rebut earlier testimony of BN money politics and corrupt election practices by Orang Asli witnesses although the election court hearing was postponed three times for Wan Rosdy to do so.

In the election appeal resulting in the Cameron Highlands result in the 14th Genefral Election being declared null and void, testimonies  were adduced to prove that Tok Batins were required to deliver Orang Asli votes for Barisan Nasional from their respective kampongs –  a clear violation and abuse of the democratic process.

The judgment of the election court judge, Justice Azizah binti Haji Nawawi named the Pahang Mentri Besar, Dato’ Wan Rosdy who is State Assemblyman for Jelai, and MP Sivarraajh as being involved in corrupt electoral practices in Orang Asli Posts and kampongs.

For instance, on 6th May 2018, Wan Rosdy and Sivarraajh visited Pos Lenjang using a helicopter and gave to theTok  Batins approximately RM25,000 to be distributed to Orang Asli voters in their respective villages, apart from the payment of  RM200 to each Batin.

Would Wan Rosli give an undertaking that such money-politics and corrupt election practices would not be repeated in the by-election, and no BN leader, including Najib, would be using a helicopter to campaign?

Isn’t it true that UMNO did not allow MIC to appeal against the election court judgment so that  the corrupt electoral practices of Wan Rosdy would not attract greater publicity?

As Prime Minister and Chairman of Barisan Nasional during the 14th General Election, is Najib prepared to demonstrate “leadership by example” and apologise for the money politics and corrupt electoral practices in Jelai and Cameron Highlands during the 14th General Election?

It would appear that Najib had played a central role in the selection of Ramli Mohd Nor as the BN candidate in the Cameron Highlands by-election, which explains many hitherto  vexed and perplexing  questions about the by-election – why the MIC President, Senate President Tan Sri SA Vigneswaran acquiesced so easily to relinquish MIC candidature in Camerons Highlands and why the MCA President Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong ordered  a strong MCA  show-of force to support Ramli during Nomination yesterday which was led by the MCA Deputy President, two MCA  Vice Presidents, the MCA Secretary-General and the respective MCA Youth and Wanita chiefs despite all the earlier  meaningless  publicity of the MCA General Assembly calling for the dissolution of Barisan Nasional!

Whether Najib finally campaigns for the BN in the Cameron Highlands by-election, Najib’s kleptocratic premiership and the monstrous 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal must be the key issues of the by-election.

This is why I am asking for the third time whether the BN candidate, Ramli Mohd Nor is prepared to make the battle against corruption one of the foremost issues of the  Cameron Highlands by-election, starting with his double condemnation of the 1MDB scandal and the Najib premiership for the infamy and ignominy which  Malaysia suffered for several years for  being condemned by whole world as a global kleptocracy.

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Sunday 13th January 2019)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 13 January 2019, 8:42 am and is filed under
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A culture of dependency has been entrenched among the FELDA settlers and it is stunting development within the community

FELDA settlers were never given any training on financial literacy but yet they are expected to be able to understand the seriousness of undertaking huge loans and large irregular sum of payment and that they are obligated to repay the same with interest.

This policy of easy loan giving by the previous Barisan Nasional regime was intentional and had brought the settlers a lifetime of crushing debt that will get passed upon their next generation, thus creating dependency on the government indefinitely.

This is one of the main reason why it was so hard for the Pakatan Harapan campaigners to enter FELDA settlements during previous elections the last time, to campaign for their candidates. The settlers were in fear of their livelihood, that their living allowance might be jeopardised and revoked for allowing Pakatan campaigners to come into their villages.

Granted, there are a few instances where FELDA settlers are blessed with huge sums of money either from the listing of FELDA Global Venture Berhad (FGV) or the occasional high rally in commodity prices. But with low financial literacy, a significant number FELDA settlers end up not managing their finances properly, spending most of the windfall earned with no awareness for rainy days.”

Hence, the Pakatan Harapan government, as part of its FELDA reform will include more educational and training element, especially on financial literacy, training the current and future generation with a more holistic education, slowly removing the entrenched dependency culture.

(Media Statement (2) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, January 14, 201)

==============================

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Isnin, 14 Januari 2019:

Budaya kebergantungan telah menular di kalangan peneroka FELDA sehingga membantutkan pertumbuhan komuniti mereka

Peneroka FELDA tidak diberikan sebarang latihan dalam bidang pengurusan kewangan. Namun begitu, mereka perlu menanggung beban pinjaman yang besar dengan jadual pembayaran yang tidak sekata, bersama dengan kadar faedah yang ditetapkan.

Dasar pemberian pinjaman mudah oleh regim Barisan Nasional terdahulu adalah perkara yang disengajakan bagi mengikat peneroka FELDA kepada kehidupan berhutang, yang mana akan juga diwarisi oleh generasi peneroka yang akan datang, sekali gus mewujudkan kebergantungan terhadap bantuan kerajaan.

Ini adalah salah satu sebab utama jentera kempen pilihanraya Pakatan Harapan menghadapi kesukaran untuk memasuki penempatan FELDA sepanjang kempen pilihan raya umum yang lalu. Para peneroka berasa risau mengenai keberlangsungan elaun sara hidup mereka jika mereka membenarkan jentera kempen Pakatan Harapan memasuki kampung mereka.

Ada ketikanya, peneroka FELDA dianugerahkan wang dengan jumlah yang besar, misalnya ketika hasil penyenaraian FELDA Global Venture Berhad (FGV) di Bursa Saham Kuala Lumpur dan semasa harga komoditi memuncak. Namun, disebabkan tahap celik pengurusan kewangan yang rendah di kalangan para peneroka, sukar untuk mereka menguruskan wang yang diperoleh dengan bijak untuk simpanan masa hadapan.

Justeru itu, kerajaan Pakatan Harapan, sebagai sebahagian daripada agenda reformasi FELDA akan memasukkan elemen latihan dan pendidikan, khususnya yang melibatkan pengurusan kewangan, bagi melatih generasi akan datang dengan pendidikan yang lebih holistik, sekali gus membawa mereka keluar daripada kepompong budaya kebergantungan.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2019, 12:06 pm and is filed under
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Why such thunderous silence from  Ramli and BN to the challenge to make Cameron Highlands by-election the  cleanest in nation’s history?

Before the advent of Internet, electronic  and social media, the normal reaction time to political challenges worldwide  is one day as  24 hours is given to allow the original challenge  to appear on the  printed media the next day.

Electronic and social media has destroyed the 24-hour rule, as in the age of modern communication,  information travels at the speed of light, making it possible to know what is happening almost instantaneously all over the world.

I believe  my statement challenging the Barisan Nasional candidate for Cameron Highlands by-election, Ramli Mohd Nor to make the  Cameron Highlands by-election the  cleanest in nation’s history with the Barisan Nasional  and Pakantan  Harapan  candidates making daily declarations of their by-election expenditures and invitation to Election Commission and NGOs to monitor their daily campaigns would have been  known to Ramli  six hours ago.

My statement was issued at 9.57 a.m, and although it was reported by Malay Mail Online shortly after 11 am and fully reproduced by Malaysiakini at 12.13 pm, Barisan Nasional mass media communications network would have informed  Ramli of my statement shortly after 10 am.

Why then the thunderous silence from Ramli, who wants to give the impression that “integrity” is one the priority goals of his Cameron Highlands campaign when he said that if he wins the by-election, it will not be based on bribery.

Does Ramli mean that he would not be involved in bribery, but that this pledge does  not bind the Barisan Nasional  – the reason why there is no response from him to my challenge to make the  Cameron Highlands by-election the  cleanest in nation’s history with the Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Harapan candidates making daily declarations of their by-election expenditures and invitation to Election Commission and NGOs to monitor their daily campaigns?

Malaysiakini  reported today that while the other three candidates for the  Cameron Highlands by-election have a full day ahead of them, with the Pakatan Harapan candidate M . Manogaran splitting his time between the Tanah Rata and Jelai areas,
 “BN has announced a grand total of zero events to the media”.

Why is this so. What is the reason for the “black hole” in the by-election itinerary of the Barisan Nasional candidate? Are they planning activities which they do not want the public, including the Election Commission and NGOs monitoring elections, to know?

What is the Barisan Nasional machinery hiding from the Malaysian public?

Is this the reason why it is impossible and unthinkable that there could be any positive response from Ramli to my challenge to co-operate with the Pakatan Harapan candidate  to make the  by-election the  cleanest in nation’s history with the BN and PH candidates making daily declarations of their by-election expenditures and invitation to Election Commission and NGOs to monitor their daily campaigns?

The last three days were quite hilarious – with the tongue-in-cheek speech by UMNO leaders like UMNO Supreme Council member, Tan Sri Noh Omar, calling on the voters not to sell their votes, but to “
take whatever they give you
” whether rice, money or sugar.

This is a speech for Pakatan Harapan leaders and not Barisan Nasional leaders – as Pakatan Harapan does not buy votes, whether Malays, Chinese, Indian or Orang Asli voters.

There was also  the  hilarious  press conference in Kampong Raja by the MCA President, Datuk Seri Wee Ka, who worked himself up into a hysteria  over the reimbursement of RM20 each  to some 60 Orang Asli motorcylists while remaining blind and unconcerned to  the monstrous RM50 billion 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal of Datuk Seri Najib Razak!

Can I remind Wee that RM20 each is legitimate reimbursement for some 60 Orang Asli motor-cyclists who came out from remote Orang Asli kampongs especially from the Jelai area to Tanah Rata on Saturday for Nomination, while the RM50 billion 1MDB scandal is not legitimate at all, as it is theft and daylight robbery of the people’s money.

Is Wee aware that RM50 billion is 2.5 billion times bigger than RM20 – a classic case of MCA blindness to kleptocracy, immorality and wrongdoing in Malaysia, the real reason why MCA was completely rejected in the 14th General Election and reduced from a 7/11 political party in the 13th General Election to a mosquito party with only one MP?

Does  Ramli stand for honesty and integrity, as he had not answered although I had asked three times whether he would condemn the 1MDB scandal and the Najib kleptocracy which had brought shame and infamy to Malaysia as a global kleptocracy?

This is the fourth time I am asking Ramli  to take as principled stand – or can the voters of Cameron Highlands assume that he would not condemn the 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal but would instead embrace Datuk Seri Najib   Razak as a model leader when Najib campaigns in Cameron Highlands from Friday to Sunday?

(Media Statement (3) by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, January 14, 2019)

====================================

Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Isnin, 14 Januari 2019:

Kenapa Ramli dan Barisan Nasional (BN) mendiamkan diri terhadap cabaran untuk menjadikan Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Cameron Highlands sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara?

Sebelum kewujudan Internet, media sosial dan elektronik, masa yang diberikan untuk membalas cabaran politik di seluruh dunia adalah satu hari kerana tempoh masa 24 jam diperlukan untuk media cetak menyiarkan cabaran tersebut pada hari berikutnya.

Media sosial dan elektronik telah memusnahkan peraturan 24 jam tersebut, kerana kita kini berada di era komunikasi moden, di mana maklumat bergerak pada kelajuan cahaya.

Saya yakin calon BN bagi PRK Cameron Highlands, Ramli Mohd Nor sedar akan kenyataan saya yang mencabar beliau untuk turut sama menjadikan PRK tersebut sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara dengan setiap calon yang bertanding mendedahkan setiap hari perbelanjaan pilihan raya dan menjemput Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya (SPR) dan NGO untuk memantau kempen mereka setiap hari.

Kenyataan saya dikeluarkan pada jam 9.57 pagi, dan ia dilaporkan oleh Malay Mail Online selepas 11 pagi dan kenyataan penuh disiarkan oleh Malaysiakini di laman webnya pada 12.13 tengah hari, rangkaian komunikasi media BN sudah tentu memaklumkan Ramli mengenai kenyataan saya.

Mengapa Ramli – yang dilihat mahu menitik beratkan integriti dalam kempen di Cameron Highlands apabila berkata yang jika beliau menang PRK tersebut, ia bukanlah disebabkan oleh amalan rasuah – masih berdiam diri terhadap cabaran berkenaan?

Adakah kenyataan Ramli bahawa beliau tidak akan terlibat dengan rasuah tidak selari dengan pendirian BN? – menjadi sebab mengapa tidak ada sebarang respons daripada beliau terhadap cabaran untuk menjadikan PRK Cameron Highlands sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara?

Malaysiakini melaporkan hari ini BN tidak menjemput media ke sebarang acarannya, sedangkan calon Pakatan Harapan, M Manogaran terpaksa membahagikan masa untuk berkempen di kawasan Tanah Rata dan Jelai.

Mengapa jadi begini. Mengapa wujud kelompongan dalam jadual kempen calon BN? Adakah mereka merancang aktiviti tanpa mahu diketahui oleh orang awam, termasuk Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya dan NGO yang memantau pilihan raya?

Apa yang cuba disorokkan oleh jentera pilihan raya BN daripada pengetahuan umum?

Adakah ini antara sebab mengapa Ramli tidak memberikan sebarang respons terhadap cabaran saya untuk bekerjasama menjadikan PRK Cameron Highlands sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara?

Perjalanan kempen sepanjang tiga hari lalu dipenuhi dengan lawak jenaka – dimulai dengan ucapan ahli jawatankuasa tertinggi UMNO, Tan Sri Noh Omar, yang menyeru pengundi tidak menjual undi mereka, tetapi menasihati mereka agar jangan menolak sebarang pemberian termasuk beras, duit atau gula.

Ini adalah ucapan pemimpin BN dan bukan PH – kerana PH tidak akan membeli undi, sama ada daripada pengundi Melayu, Cina, India atau Orang Asli.

Malah, Presiden MCA, Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong, mengadakan sidang media yang mengundang tawa, apabila mendedahkan mengenai apa yang didakwa mereka sebagai kegiatan membeli undi, sedangkan ia hanya bayaran balik wang sebanyak RM20 kepada kira-kira 60 Orang Asli yang menunggang motosikal ke hari penamaan calon, tetapi beliau menutup sebelah mata terhadap amalan rasuah 1MDB dan skandal pengubahan wang haram melibatkan Datuk Seri Najib Razak!

Ingin saya ingatkan Wee bahawa bayaran balik sebanyak RM20 itu tidak menyalahi akta pilihan raya, sebaliknya skandal RM50 bilion 1MDB terang-terangan salah dan merupakan rompakan di siang hari.

Adakah Wee sedar yang RM50 bilion adalah 2.5 bilion ganda lebih besar daripada nilai sekeping not RM20? Ekoran sikap berdiam diri MCA terhadap skandal 1MDB, parti itu kini menjadi parti nyamuk yang mempunyai hanya seorang wakil rakyat.

Adakah Ramli berpegang kepada integriti dan kejujuran, kerana sehingga kini, setelah tiga kali saya bertanya, beliau masih tidak menjawab sama ada beliau akan mengutuk skandal 1MDB dan kleptokrasi Najib yang memalukan negara di mata dunia?

Ini kali keempat saya meminta Ramli untuk menyatakan pendiriannya – atau pengundi Cameron Highlands terpaksa menganggap beliau tidak akan mengutuk skandal 1MDB dan skandal pengubahan wang haram melibatkan Najib, sebaliknya menerima Najib sebagai model pemimpin yang turun padang berkempen di Cameron Highlands pada Jumaat hingga Ahad lalu.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2019, 5:11 pm and is filed under
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Will Ramli co-operate to make Cameron Highlands by-election the  cleanest in nation’s history with the BN and PH candidates making daily declarations of their by-election expenditures and invitation to Election Commission and NGOs to monitor their daily campaigns?

Barisan Nasional candidate for Cameron Highlands by-election, Ramli Mohd Nor said yesterday that if he wins the by-election, it will not be based on bribery.

This is a most welcome statement by the Barisan Nasional candidate and I applaud him for it, for there is a very deliberate and systematic  attempt to divert attention as to why the election of MIC Vice President, C. Sivaraajh as MP for Cameron Highlands in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 was declared null and void, resulting in the holding a by-election; and in particular the significant  role of the Pahang Mentri Besar and State Assemblyman for Jelai, Wan Rosdy  Wan Ismail in the money-politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices during the last general election, which were highlighted in the election court appeal and which Wan Rosdy dared not become a witness to rebut although the election court proceedings were adjourned three times for Wan Rosdy to testify.

Actually the money politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices in the 14th General Election were not confined to Cameron Highlands, but was fairly routine for  most Barisan Nasional campaigns.

The difference was that Cameron Highlands produced 12 “integrity heroes” – eleven of them Orang Asli – who were prepared to testify in open court about the Barisan Nasional’s money politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices in Cameron Highlands during the last general election!

It is indeed a marvel that Pakatan Harapan and Warisan could win the 14th General Election and form the Federal Government led by Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad despite the money-politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices of  Barisan Nasiona.

In actual fact, if there had been clean and fair election in every constituency in the last general election, Barisan Nasional would not have even  won the  79 Parliamentary seats with 54 parliamentary seats  secured  by UMNO  (now reduced to a paltry 37).

The attempt to divert attention as to why the Cameron Highlands by-election was held has led to the  attempt to accuse the DAP and Pakatan Harapan of being involved in vote-buying in the by-election, with Barisan Nasional leaders trying to take the high moral ground and spreading on the social media a batch of images showing money being  handed out to people in Pakatan Harapan Cameron Highlands T-shirts. Police reports were even lodged by the Barisan Nasional alleging vote-buying.

In actual fact, these were honest and legitimate election expenditures, as they were reimbursement for some 60 Orang Asli volunteer motor-cyclists at RM20 each who came out from remote Orang Asli kampongs especially from the Jelai area to Tanah Rata on Saturday for  Nomination.

Is Ramli prepared to reveal publicly how much money the Barisan Nasional spent on Nomination Day?

I have no doubt that what DAP and  Pakatan Harapan spent on Nomination Day was only a pittance compared to what Barisan Nasional spent on Nomination Day last Saturday.

This takes us to the second prong of the Barisan Nasional campaign to divert attention from the significant role of Wan Rosdy  in the money-politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices in Cameron Highlands during the last general election, resulting in its being declared null and void.

All those who are interested on this issue should read the judgment of the Election Court Judge, Justice Azizah Nawai in the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Nov. 30, 2018.

If Ramli has difficulty in getting a copy of the judgment, I can quickly furnish him a copy.

In Paragraphs 26 to 33 of the judgement on Sivaraajh and Wan Rosdy arriving  at Sekolah SK Sinderut at Pos Sinderut in a helicopter on 30.4.2018  at about 2 pm,  the  Batins were told  to the effect that “Batins must remember who were the leaders… and they must therefore vote for BN” and the Batins present were given RM200 each as “”money for cigarettes”, the election judge said the fact that RM200 was given to the Batins present had been proven.

From Paragraphs 34 to 41, on Sivarrajh and Wan Rosdy’s using a helicopter to visit Pos Lenjang on 6.5.2018, the election judged found that “on the factual matrix” of the case that the Batins were given RM25,000 to be distributed to all voters in their respective villages, and each Batin received RM200.

From Paragraphs 45 to 48, the election judge was satisfied that Sivarrajh and Wan Rosdy later on the same day met seven Batins in Kampung Tual, Janggap, Regang, Sinderut, Cempian, Kabang and Belau and the Batins were given RM300 each.

There were other allegations of Batins being paid large sums of money to be distributed to Orang Asli villagers to buy their votes for Barisan Nasional.

Wan Rosdy is very lucky that his election as State Assemblyman for Jelai had not been challenged in the election court, or his election would also be declared null and void, disqualified from contesting in the Jelai by-election, losing  as well the office of Pahang Mentri Besar.

Wan Rosdy is therefore a tainted Pahang Mentri Besar and should not be involved in any manner in the Cameron Highlands by-election because of his violation of the election laws in the 14th General Election.

There should be a special function to honour the Orang Asli witnesses the Cameron Highlands election petition, for they have set a  high standard of integrity and probity not only for   Orang Ali in Cameron Highlands, but for  all Malaysians in the country to be clean, honest and not to succumb to money in  elections in Malaysia.

Will Ramli attend a special function to honour these Orang Asli witnesses in the Cameron Highlands election appeal – who have shown by deed that they are honourable and worthwhile Malaysians who are not just local champions but national heroes?

I dare say that if there is no money politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices, Pakatan Harapan stands a very good chance of winning the Cameron Highlands by-election.

This is why I welcome Ramli’s statement and invite him to make the Cameron Highlands by-election  the model for all general elections and by-elections in future whereby  the candidates subject themselves to daily scrutiny of their election expenditures.

There are about 30 polling districts in Cameron Highlands parliamentary constituency, namely Pos Terisu, Pos Telanuk, Pos Lemoi, Pos Mensun, Lembah Bertam, Bandar Ringlet, Habu, Ladang Boh 1, Ladang Boh 2, Kea Farm, Tanah Rata, Berinchang, Ladang Sungai Palas, Ladang Blue Valley, Kampung Raja, Kuala Terla, Teringkap, Pos Lanai, Kuala Medang, Tanjung Gahai, Bukit Kota, Kampung Keledek, Lubuk Kulit, FELDA Sungai Koyan Satu, FELDA Sungai Koyan Dua & Tiga, Pos Betau, Pos Sinderut, Pos Lenjang, Pos Titum.

Let the BN and PH candidates submit a daily report of the election expenditures for each of these 30 polling districts.

Will Ramli agree?

In fact, I will go further.

Invite the Election Commission and NGO representatives, including Berish and other election-monitoring NGOs, to monitor the daily by-election activities of each candidate, with PH and BN by-election operations centre submitting  a daily itinerary of the by-election activities. The Election Commission and the NGOs should be welcome to send monitors to all by-election activities.

With such arrangement, and the daily report of the election expenditures of the candidates, I have no doubt that we will be introducing an innovation which will ensure free, clean and fair election practices in Malaysia, but the whole world as well!

Will Ramli agree and  answer in the next few hours in this age of instant communications when information travels at the speed of light?

(Media Statement by DAP MP for Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit in Kuala Lumpur on Monday, 14th  January 2019)

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Kenyataan Media oleh Ahli Parlimen DAP Iskandar Puteri Lim Kit Siang di Kuala Lumpur pada Isnin, 14 Januari 2019:

Adakah Ramli bersedia untuk bekerjasama dalam menjayakan usaha menjadikan PRK Cameron Highlands sebagai pilihan raya terbersih dalam sejarah negara dengan mendedahkan setiap hari perbelanjaan pilihan raya dan menjemput SPR dan NGO untuk memantau aktiviti kempen?

Calon Barisan Nasional (BN) bagi Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Cameron Highlands, Ramli Mohd Nor semalam berkata, jika beliau menang PRK ini, ia bukan disebabkan oleh amalan rasuah.

Saya memuji dan menyambut baik kenyataan oleh calon BN berkenaan, kerana terdapat usaha terancang untuk mengalihkan perhatian terhadap punca sebenar mengapa Naib Presiden MIC, C. Sivaraajh diarahkan mengosongkan kerusi Parlimen Cameron Highlands yang dimenanginya pada Pilihan Raya Umum ke-14 (PRU14) pada 9 Mei 2018; sehingga membawa kepada berlakunya PRK di kawasan itu, serta penglibatan Ahli Dewan Undangan Negeri (Adun) Jelai, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail dalam kegiatan politik wang, membeli undi dan amalan rasuah semasa pilihan raya umum lalu, yang mana telah dibangkitkan oleh mahkamah pilihan raya, malah menyaksikan Wan Rodsy tidak berani untuk tampil menjadi saksi bagi menafikan dakwaan itu meskipun prosiding mahkamah pilihan raya ditangguhkan sebanyak tiga kali bagi memberi ruang untuk Wan Rosdy memberi keterangan.

Sebenarnya, kegiatan politik wang, membeli undi dan amalan rasuah pada PRU14 bukan hanya terhad berlaku di Cameron Highlands, sebaliknya berlaku dalam kebanyakan kempen BN.

Bezanya, Cameron Highlands mempunyai 12 “hero integriti” – sebelas orang daripadanya adalah Orang Asli – yang sanggup memberi keterangan di mahkamah mengenai kegiatan politik wang, membeli undi dan amalan rasuah yang dilakukan BN di Cameron Highlands pada PRU lepas!

Amat mengejutkan apabila Pakatan Harapan dan Warisan mampu memenangi PRU14 dan membentuk Kerajaan Persekutuan yang dipimpin oleh Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad walaupun pihak lawan terlibat dalam kegiatan politik wang, membeli undi dan amalan rasuah.

Jika pilihan raya di seluruh kawasan yang dipertandingkan dilaksanakan secara adil dan bersih pada pilihan raya umum lalu, BN tidak mungkin akan menang 79 kerusi Parlimen – 54 Parlimen dimenangi oleh UMNO (kini hanya tinggal 37 kerusi).

Antara cubaan untuk mengalihkan perhatian terhadap sebab mengapa PRK Cameron Highlands diadakan adalah dengan tuduhan terhadap DAP dan Pakatan Harapan kononnya terlibat dalam kegiatan membeli undi dalam PRK kali ini. Pemimpin BN cuba mencalarkan imej Pakatan Harapan dengan menyebarkan beberapa keping gambar di media sosial yang memaparkan beberapa individu yang memakai baju-T Pakatan Harapan Cameron Highlands menerima wang. Laporan polis telah dibuat oleh pihak BN atas dakwaan berlakunya kegiatan membeli undi.

Hakikatnya, ini adalah sebahagian daripada perbelanjaan Pakatan Harapan. Petugas kempen hanya membuat bayaran balik sebanyak RM20 setiap seorang kepada kira-kira 60 sukarelawan Orang Asli yang menaiki motosikal dari kawasan Jelai ke Tanah Rata pada hari penamaan calon, Ahad lalu.

Adakah Ramli bersedia untuk mendedahkan kepada umum jumlah yang telah dibelanjakan BN pada hari penamaan calon tersebut?

Saya yakin, apa yang belanjakan DAP dan Pakatan Harapan pada hari penamaan calon amat sedikit jika dibandingkan dengan BN.

BN turut mencipta helah untuk menutup kaitan peranan Wan Rodsy dalam kegiatan politik wang, membeli undi dan aman rasuah di Cameron Highlands pada PRU lalu.

Semua pihak yang berminat dengan isu ini perlu membaca penghakiman Hakim Mahkamah Pilihan Raya, Hakim Azizah Nawai di Mahkamah Tinggi Kuala Lumpur pada 30 November 2018.

Jika Ramli sukar untuk mendapatkan salinan penghakiman tersebut, saya bersedia untuk memberikan beliau satu salinan.

Dalam Perenggan 26 hingga 33 penghakiman tersebut, Sivaraajh dan Wan Rosdy dikatakan tiba di Sekolah SK Sinderut di Pos Sinderut menaiki helikopter pada 30.4.2018 kira-kira jam 2 petang, Tok Batin diberitahu supaya “Harus ingat siapa pemimpin… dan mereka harus mengundi BN” dan Tok Batin yang hadir diberikan wang sebanyak RM200 setiap seorang sebagai “duit rokok”. Hakim Mahkamah Pilihan Raya mendapati hakikatnya wang sebanyak RM200 telah diberikan kepada Tok Batin telah  bejaya dibuktikan.

Dari perenggan 34 hingga 41, Sivarrajh dan Wan Rosdy dikatakan menaiki helikopter untuk melawat Pos Lenjang pada 6.5.2018. Hakim mendapati Tok Batin telah diberikan wang sebanyak RM25,000 untuk diagihkan kepada semua pengundi di setiap kampung dan setiap Tok Batin telah menerima wang sebanyak RM200.

Dari perenggan 45 hingga 48, Hakim berpuas hati yang Sivarrajh dan Wan Rosdy pada hari yang sama turut bertemu Tok Batin di Kampung Tual, Janggap, Regang, Sinderut, Cempian, Kabang dan Belau. Mereka diberikan wang sebanyak RM300 setiap seorang.

Terdapat juga dakwaan yang Tok Batin diberikan wang dengan jumlah yang besar untuk diagihkan kepada penduduk Orang Asli bagi memujuk mereka mengundi BN.

Wan Rosdy benasib baik kerana tiada petisyen pilihan raya yang dikemukan di DUN Jelai yang dimenanginya, kerana sudah tentu kerusi tersebut akan diisytiharkan kosong dan beliau perlu meletak jawatan sebagai Menteri Besar Pahang.

Wan Rosdy melanggar akta pilihan raya pada PRU14 dan tidak harus terlibat dalam PRK Cameron Highlands.

Satu acara istimewa perlu diadakan bagi meraikan dan memberi penghormatan kepada Orang Asli yang menjadi saksi dalam petisyen pilihan raya Cameron Highlands, kerana mereka telah mecatatkan satu standard integriti dan kejujuran bukan sahaja di kalangan Orang Asli di Cameron Highlands, juga di kalangan rakyat Malaysia.

Adakah Ramli akan hadiri acara istimewa ini?

Saya berani kata, jika tidak berlaku kegiatan politik wang, membeli undi dan amalan rasuah, Pakatan Harapan mempunyai peluang yang cerah untuk menang PRK Cameron Highlands.

Ini sebab mengapa saya menyambut baik kenyataan Ramli dan menyeru beliau untuk sama-sama menjadikan PRK Cameron Highlands sebagai satu contoh untuk semua pilihan raya umum dan pilihan raya kecil akan datang, dengan mendedahkan perbelanjaan pilihan raya setiap hari kepada umum.

Terdapat 30 daerah pengundian di kawasan Parlimen Cameron Highlands, iaitu Pos Terisu, Pos Telanuk, Pos Lemoi, Pos Mensun, Lembah Bertam, Bandar Ringlet, Habu, Ladang Boh 1, Ladang Boh 2, Kea Farm, Tanah Rata, Berinchang, Ladang Sungai Palas, Ladang Blue Valley, Kampung Raja, Kuala Terla, Teringkap, Pos Lanai, Kuala Medang, Tanjung Gahai, Bukit Kota, Kampung Keledek, Lubuk Kulit, FELDA Sungai Koyan Satu, FELDA Sungai Koyan Dua & Tiga, Pos Betau, Pos Sinderut, Pos Lenjang, Pos Titum.

Adakah Ramli bersetuju dengan cadangan untuk calon BN dan PH mengemukakan laporan perbelanjaan pilihan raya bagi setiap daerah pengundian setiap hari?

Saya ingin mencadangkan lebih lagi: Jemput Suruhanjaya Pilihan Raya dan wakil NGO, termasuk Bersih dan NGO pemantau pilihan raya lain, untuk memantau aktiviti kempen setiap calon pada setiap hari, dan wajibkan pusat operasi pilihan raya BN dan PH untuk menghantar jadual harian aktiviti mereka, bagi membolehkan NGO dan SPR membuat pantauan.

Dengan cara itu, termasuk menghantar setiap hari laporan perbelanjaan oleh setiap calon, saya yakin kita akan mencipta satu amalan pilihan raya yang bebas, bersih dan adil bukan sahaja di Malaysia, tetapi di seluruh dunia!

Adakah Ramli bersetuju dan akan memberikan maklum balas dalam beberapa jam akan datang dalam era di mana maklumat bergerak sepantas kelajuan cahaya?

                This entry was posted on Monday, 14 January 2019, 10:13 am and is filed under
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