The bigotry of forbidding the use of an English word in the name of Islam

By
N H Chan

In the Malaysian Insider, Tuesday, 29 March 2011, I find this article;

Mufti says Islamic law bars release of Alkitab

By Syed Mu’raz Syed Putra

…

Selangor Mufti Datuk Tamyes Abd Wahid said the crux of the controversy is over the use of the word “Allah” in the bible, which is forbidden to religions other than Islam, as written in 1988 state enactment on religious propagation.

I am still of the view that they [the distribution of the Bahasa Malaysia Bibles] should be blocked, as this translation that contains the translation of the word “God” to “Allah” is dangerous and confusing, especially to the young,” the senior Islamic cleric told The Malaysian Insider yesterday.

He explained that young Muslims who had shallow knowledge of religion and faith would be confused by the use of the word “Allah” by Christians, which to them meant “Allah has a son … that Allah has a wife … God is a father”.

“Certainly it is not fitting for the government to allow the Alkitab to be released, not because it is in Bahasa Malaysia but because the use of the word [“Allah”] contained inside that could twist the faith of Muslims and we do not want this to happen,” Tamyes said.

Make no bones about it anyone can see through this façade of imagined controversy. All of us know that there is no controversy at all over the use of the word ‘Allah’. What Tamyes meant was ‘Allah’ is a forbidden word to all of us who are not Muslims. Only Muslims can use this word ‘Allah’. Infidels like the rest of us are forbidden to use the word. To these narrow-minded Muslims an ‘infidel’ is a person who has no religion, like me, or whose religion is not Islam. To them even Jews and Christians are infidels.

But the word ‘God’ in the English Bible when translated to Bahasa Malaysia is ‘Allah’ who is God in the biblical sense or meaning. The reason why Christians are adamant and insistent that the word ‘Allah’ should be used in the National Language Bible is because Christians worship the same God that Muslims also worship irrespective of whether they worship in English or in Bahasa Malaysia. So what is wrong with Christians calling their God in English ‘God’ and the same God in Bahasa Malaysia ‘Allah’?

It is not the fault of Christians that the English word ‘Allah’ is spelt in exactly the same way in Bahasa Malaysia. When Bahasa Malaya, later Malaysia, came into existence the powers that be chose to use Roman characters – the alphabet used for writing Latin, English, and most European languages – for writing in the new Bahasa Malaya. Before the creation of this National Language, if I am not mistaken, the Malay language was written in Javanese. However it cannot be denied that the English language had been using the Roman alphabet since time immemorial – ever since the Roman Empire had extended to England up to Hadrian’s Wall. Our National language using the Roman alphabet was only created recently; in mid 1950s. They have also copied a lot of English words into the new language by treating the plagiarized English words as Bahasa Malaysia words. That being the case, they, therefore, have no right whatsoever to say that the English spelling of ‘Allah’ must not be spelt the same way in Bahasa Malaysia. Surely, it cannot be right for copycats to assume proprietorship over an English word which had existed in the English language since the sixteenth century? Shame on them!

If you have read my previous article about the desecration of the Bible especially the one in the Malaysian Insider, you will see this comment:

Amin

Please let me clarify an important point brought up by the writer.  In Arabic, the word Allah is spelled ‘Alif Lam Lam Hah’ and is pronounced as Allah! and not Alilah as mentioned by the writer. I would suggest that the writer clarify this with an Arab speaking academic. Thank you.

So I was wrong. ‘Allah’ was pronounced correctly by the English in the sixteenth century. But thanks to Amin, now we know the word is spelt in Arabic ‘Alif Lam Lam Hah’ and is pronounced ‘Allah’.

If ‘Allah’ is a forbidden word, whose fault is it then? Instead of copying from the English word ‘Allah’ the people who invented words for Bahasa Malaysia should have spelt ‘Allah’ correctly in Arabic. If they have done that, there would be no need to desecrate the Bahasa Malaysia Bible.

In any English dictionary the word ‘God’ with a capital G depicts the Christian God and the word ‘Allah’ in English means ‘a Muslim name for God’. But the God of the Muslims is the same God as the God of the Christians and the Jews whose God was the God of Abraham. In my book How to Judge the Judges, at pages xxx, xxxi, this is what it says:

I have recounted the … story of Abraham and his two sons from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament of the Bible. The story of Isaac and his descendants are told in the Old Testament. But the history of the descendants of Ishmael, the elder brother of Isaac, is not found in the Bible but we know from the Bible that God took care of him as he grew up and he will be made into a great nation. We can safely assume that the God of Abraham who was also the God of Ishmael and Isaac also gave the same commands to them. So that whatever precepts that might apply to the descendants of Isaac will, mutatis mutandis, apply to the descendants of Ishmael. So now we know that the Arabs and the Jews were descended from Ishmael and Isaac whose father was Abraham (Ibrahim); and the God of them is the same God. And God has marked them as His people by circumcision. It is therefore not surprising that the punishment of stoning to death for adultery and apostasy is found in the Bible and not in the Quran.

Before the time of Jesus Christ 2,000 years ago, the God of the Hebrew people, as depicted in the Old Testament, was a God of wrath who would severely punish those who have sinned against Him. But since Jesus Christ and 600 years later, from the Prophet Mohammed, God has been depicted as a God of compassion. But I can perceive a difference between the Old Testament on the one hand and the New Testament and the Quran on the other hand. The God of Abraham and his sons Ishmael and Isaac are confined to their descendants – to the Arabs and the Jews. But, after Jesus Christ, the New Testament and Christianity and after the Prophet Mohammed, the Quran and Islam, God as depicted therein is for the rest of the World.

However, if you are not a Christian, you cannot call your god ‘Allah’ because you do not worship the same God as the Muslims and Christians.

Therefore the only perceived disagreement between the Christians and the Muslims in Malaysia is the misunderstanding on the meaning of the Trinity in Christianity. So it is now necessary for me to explain the Trinity in Christianity to those Muslims who think Christians worship three gods. Like the Muslims, I am not a Christian yet I can understand the faith of the Christians because, unlike the narrow-minded critics of Christianity, I took the trouble to find out about the religion. Actually, the Trinity is explained in the Oxford English Dictionary.

The Trinity or the Holy Trinity

To understand what the Trinity in Christianity means we must go back to the time of Jesus Christ and the early Christians. In Landmarks in the Law, p 314, it says:

The New Testament is not accepted by the Jews. It is rejected by them. It has even greater influence than the Old Testament. It contains the life and teaching of Our Lord Jesus Christ who was a Jew and of all the 12 apostles who were Jews and the letters of Paul who was a Jew.

Jesus Christ, his apostles and the early Christians because they were Jews lived in an era where it was very dangerous for a Jew to be a heretic against Judaism the religion of the Jews which was based on the Old Testament. Jesus Christ was advancing the belief that God is a Deity of love and compassion which is a belief that is contrary to the Jews’ belief in the Old Testament. Heresy at that time was punishable with death. Now you can understand why Jesus Christ, his disciples the 12 Apostles had tended to euphemism in teaching their belief to the multitude.

I have written for Loyarburok this piece called A glossary of the terminology in ‘But Allah is a word in the English Dictionary’. This is what it says:

	The Trinity or the Holy Trinity

[A reader of this article] remarked that Muslims worship only one God and that is Allah. But Christians worship the Trinity – three persons.

If you know the English language well, you should know that the Holy Trinity is a euphemism for God. The Oxford English Dictionary gives the meaning of the Trinity as ‘(in Christian belief) the three persons (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) that make up God’. The phrase ‘the three persons’ is used figuratively as a metaphor for God. God came to be identified euphemistically as the Father. Jesus Christ was identified euphemistically as the Son. And the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is God who came to be identified euphemistically as ‘God as a spirit that is active in the world’: see the Oxford English Dictionary, Holy Spirit (or Holy Ghost).

Why is that so? Is there a reason for referring to the Deity euphemistically? In the book A Dictionary of Euphemisms by Neaman & Silver, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1983, it says in its Introduction, pages 1, 2:

The subject of the earliest euphemism was undoubtedly religious. Gods, whether benign or malevolent, were treated with respect amounting to terror. Since the names of gods were considered identical with them, to speak a name was to evoke the divinity whose power then had to be confronted. Such dangerous practices were reserved for priests … Even they were often forbidden to utter the real names of the powers. Consequently, priests devised indirect forms of reference to calm the spirit or avert the wrath of a deity.

Gods could be referred to by their attributes (the Thunderer), by their symbols or domains (the Rock), by their titles (the Lord) …

In another book, The State of the Language by Philip Howard, Hamish Hamilton, London, 1984, it says this, page 103:

… the Hebrew word for God, YHVH, still never spoken or written by a pious Jew, but vowelled by the rest of us as Jehovah or Yahweh. The English, a notoriously godly, and profane, and God-bothering people, have tended to euphemism in religious matters. The French, who never let their religion affect the rest of their life, have no embarrassment about saying Mon Dieu! Puritanism and euphemism are strong in the English, so we have devised hundreds of ways of mentioning the awful word without saying it.

[The] euphemisms for getting round naming Him Who Shall Be Nameless included such attributive sobriquets as the Almighty, the Creator, the Eternal, or the Deity. Jesus came to be identified euphemistically as the Redeemer, the Saviour, the Anointed, the Paschal Lamb, and so on.

At page 106:

Euphemism about naming names survives from the beginning of speech, when to know something’s name was to have magical power over it. We are still superstitious about naming God and the Devil, the Queen and Madam Chairperson.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 7 April 2011, 3:50 pm and is filed under
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How did the porn video get on YouTube?

By
P Ramakrishnan
 Aliran’s President

Malaysians are seriously asking, “How did the pornographic video clip get uploaded to YouTube? Who was responsible for making this vile tape available?”

It would not be difficult to make a wild guess! We all have an inkling who could have done this and for what purpose.

It was meant to give far wider coverage to the clip – to denigrate and vilify Anwar Ibrahim for political mileage. It is not difficult to conclude who will gain from such political mileage.

It was not only given air time but it was also covered widely by the print media as well with images that purportedly resembled Anwar. They really went to town in their despicable attempt to destroy Anwar so that he will not be their downfall in the next general election.

The infamous Datuk Trio were the ones who were originally in possession of the pornography video clip allegedly implicating Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim. They were the ones who screened this porno video to invited guests on several occasions.

They subsequently claimed they had surrendered the original copy to the police. But they never said that they had not made a copy of the tape or were in possession of one. Nobody bothered to raise this issue. Even if anyone did, nobody reported it.

All they said was that the original copy was given to the police. But it doesn’t mean they could not have made copies for whatever purposes.

No lesser person than the Inspector-General of Police has strongly denied that the  police had leaked the snippets of the pornography video featuring a man somewhat resembling Anwar Ibrahim having a liaison with a Chinese prostitute in a hotel. According to the IGP, “Of course, it did not come from us. How can I allow such a thing.”

The question then arises, “Where did the porn video come from?”

The IGP’s statement was very telling, “It was ‘Datuk T’ who said that there was one copy of the video. But, we do not know if it is the truth. You should ask them.”

Why should the reporters ask ‘Datuk T’? Shouldn’t the police be asking ‘Datuk T’ whether they told the truth when they claimed that they had given the police the original copy?

Isn’t it logical, Mr IGP,  that you should actually ask ‘Datuk T’ whether it was the only copy in their possession that was given to the police, especially when you said, “We do not know if it is the truth”.

Clearly, the screening of this snippet is wrong. So was the screening of the tape to selected invited guests. Would it not be natural to go after the ‘Datuk T’ to grill them for the truth and take the necessary action?

Another obvious question that has been ignored is puzzling. In the snippet, there is a third person. What was his role and why was he there? If anybody wants to have sex with a prostitute, would he bring along someone to be present?

Was the third person directing the entire scene? Did he tell the person with the towel wrapped around him to put his hand under the towel between his legs? Was that the reason the guy with the towel was grinning away? It must have been very amusing to that guy!

Let’s have the truth. Let’s get down to the truth!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 April 2011, 10:40 am and is filed under
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Najib backing MACC in latest tragedy, says Kit Siang

By
Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider

Apr 08, 2011

KUCHING, April 8 — DAP accused Datuk Seri Najib Razak today of siding with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) in the recent death of a Customs officer under its probe, casting doubt on the prime minister’s pledge of a thorough investigation into the incident.

Party advisor Lim Kit Siang said  Najib should have abstained from giving his own evaluation of the circumstances surrounding Selangor Customs assistant director Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed’s death on Wednesday as it gave the impression that he was taking the side of the graftbusting agency.

“Najib claimed Sarbani’s case was different from Teoh Beng Hock’s as he was not being questioned at the time of his death.

“Najib said that Sarbani went to the MACC’s office voluntarily to change his statement and thereon, died in the blink of an eye,” he told a press conference at DAP’s city headquarters here today.

Lim was referring to Najib’s statement to reporters here yesterday, in which the prime minister explained his understanding of the circumstances prior to Sarbani’s death.

Najib had said that while the incident has similarities to Teoh’s death two years ago, the situations were different as Sarbani was not at the time being questioned by the MACC.

“From I have been told, he (Sarbani) had gone to the MACC office voluntarily to change his statement. When the MACC officer left him to get their statement, that’s when it happened.

Najib said the circumstances in Teoh and Sarbani’s deaths had been different.“It happened in the blink of an eye,” Najib told reporters after attending a function at SMK Santubong. “This is different from Teoh Beng Hock as the officer was not being questioned.”

“How can he take the MACC’s explanation as an official version? If he said there will be a full and thorough investigation, he should just leave it be.

“Sarbani’s family and friends said he had been called in. He was playing tennis the day before, too. But MACC said they did not call him.

“So are we now saying that Sarbani went himself to the MACC office, only to jump off the building on his own?” Lim questioned.

Sarbani was found dead on the ground outside the MACC’s office in Jalan Cochrane here at about 10.20am on Wednesday, where he is believed to have fallen out of the building’s third-floor window.

His death comes as a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI) is investigating MACC operational procedures and the death of DAP political aide Teoh on July 16, 2009 after a coroner’s inquest returned an open verdict of neither suicide nor homicide.

Today, Lim said based on Najib’s statement and the experience from Teoh’s case, it was doubtful the authorities would conduct a full and transparent investigation on Sarbani’s death.

“Something is very wrong with our system of governance. Najib’s alphabet soup of policies — his NKRA, NEM, GTP, ETP — do not hide the fact that the system of governance in Malaysia is just getting worse,” he said.

He added that the MACC had been formed following the public’s declining confidence in the former graftbusting agency, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA).

“The MACC was supposed to have more power, funds and personnel to wipe out corruption but in just two years, public confidence in the MACC became even worse than it was when we had the ACA.

“We have Teoh’s case, now Sarbani’s case and the fact that the Teoh RCI revealed that MACC officers watch porn during important interrogations,” he said.

Lim pointed out that the MACC was also clearly biased towards the ruling Barisan Nasional administration as it had failed to open investigations on a series of corruption allegations made against Sarawak Chief Minister Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud.

“If the allegations are made against Pakatan Rakyat politicians, the MACC would have files and cupboards full of reports. But nothing was done on Taib,” he said.

Lim also called for the formation of an RCI to look into claims Taib, through his “corrupt” regime, had plundered the state’s natural resources over the past three decades of his rule.

“Explain why is it that such a rich state is now one of the poorest in the country and yet in the meantime, Taib has become one of the world’s richest men,” he said.

He added that such a probe would be in the interest of not only Malaysians but the world.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 April 2011, 9:07 pm and is filed under
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On Ubah campaign trail (1)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
:

Sabah Minister mustering courage 2hint 2UMNO 2get out of Sabah/stop marginalise Sabahans (Borneo Post)Reject peninsula-based parties- Dompok

Wednesday, April 06, 2011 4:11:43 PM

“According 2info the officer is nice friendly n helpful. His family not rich. Everyone of us don’t believe he was corrupted.”

Wednesday, April 06, 2011 5:54:41 PM

Good kickoff 4all 3 Nomination Night DAP ceramahs in Kuching Sibu Miri – breaking all past records 4first night election ceramahs in Swak.

Wednesday, April 06, 2011 10:59:39 PM

The song “Taib, don’t become Sarawakians’ burden” was instant hit at inaugural Swak election DAP ceramah in Sibu which attracted +2k ppl.

Thursday, April 07, 2011 1:18:59 AM

Anonymous composer uploaded song (violins bass drum) protesting against Taib’s 30yr misrule graft landgrab on YouTube – in Malay n Chinese

Thursday, April 07, 2011 1:32:26 AM

RT @limkitsiang: Song “Taib, don’t become Sarawakians’ burden” – (Malay) http://bit.ly/hxfJUr (Chinese) http://bit.ly/g6bztP

Thursday, April 07, 2011 1:38:41 AM

Shld b Swak g/e song 4all Swakian voters both PR BN – 2send clear unmistakable message 2Taib “Enuf is enuf” n 2immediately step down as CM

Thursday, April 07, 2011 1:44:03 AM

No reason for Sarbani to return to MACC, says union chief (TMI) http://bit.ly/d4tsbb

Thursday, April 07, 2011 10:47:29 AM

Shld b Swak g/e song 4all Swakian voters both PR BN – 2send clear unmistakable message 2Taib “Enuf is enuf” n 2immediately step down as CM

Thursday, April 07, 2011 1:44 AM

Studong-HuiSin-10thMile RT @hobescalvin: @limkitsiang are u going to deliver ceramah at hui sing Kch tonite?

Thursday, April 07, 2011 7:54 PM

Attended PKRBatuLintang ceramah w VoonLeeShan.Urged voters solidly elect SeeCheeHow as PR Assemblyman 2strengthen  political change momentum

Thursday, April 07, 2011 8:59 PM

Sibu 12/4 RT @LordLouisJarau: when r u all coming to Sibu for ceramah? We r waiting!

Thursday, April 07, 2011 10:41 PM

Massive +4k ppl crowd @HuiSin in KotaSentosa. Rubbished Taib’s g/e manifesto 2make Swak “richest” state when he is responsible last 30yrs in reducing Swak from 1of richest 2 1of poorest states

Friday, April 08, 2011 12:03 AM

Ended nite @10th mile (BatuKawah) ceramah. What better way 4Taib 2prove sincerity in BN manifesto by returning b4 polling day 10 out of 20 Spore-sized landgrabs by him/relatives/cronies alleged by 4wak3eport – unless he denies SR expose.

Friday, April 08, 2011 1:29 AM

2nd nite increased crowd supprt than Nomination nite in Kuching Sibu Miri w large crowds Bintulu Sarikei Bintangor. Swak on the move

Friday, April 08, 2011 2:08 AM

Happy Bday YeeHow  RT @FungYeeHow. If u cannot come back 2vote, make sure many votes r cast 4PR 4change on April16 2make up 4yr absence.

Friday, April 08, 2011 6:54 AM

Otw to 10thMile BatuKawah w DAPcandidate ChristinaChiew 4market walkabout. Whether Chiew can be elected is triple test – 4change women youth

Friday, April 08, 2011 7:40 AM

Tell Najib Muhyiddin Taib! “When people start to gather around you, that is a public gathering, and that needs a police permit.”http://bit.ly/eDyeMI

Friday, April 08, 2011 8:00 AM

Good positive response 10thMile BatuKawah in walkabout w youngest DAP candidate chemist ChewWanSee 26. PR win in BK will be sweetest result

Friday, April 08, 2011 9:38 AM

In Sibu one SUPP slogan is “People 1st”. Taking Swkians 4kids! Dare any SUPP Minister/leader tell ‘Pekmo’ in his face abt “People 1st”???

Friday, April 08, 2011 9:55 AM

SUPP recipe refrain in BN for 30yrs  – tell public “People 1st” but tell CM Taib “Pekmo 1st”! That’s Y Swkians must unite 4change on April 16

Friday, April 08, 2011 10:06 AM

                This entry was posted on Friday, 8 April 2011, 1:31 pm and is filed under
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Call for  RCI to re-open riddle of seven-year mysterious death of Sarawak DOE investigating officer Rumie Azzan falling from 9th floor of STA in Kuching in Sept 2004

The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak seems to be amenable to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the Carcosa sex videotape scandal, not into the roles of the Attorney-General and the Police to ascertain why the threesome forming  “Datuk T” had not been arrested and prosecuted for crimes after three long weeks, but to establish the identity of the “key character” in the video.

Would Najib seriously consider the possibility of a RCI if the target of the Carcosa sex video tape screening had been the Prime Minister himself, the Deputy Prime Minister or anyone of the Cabinet Ministers?

The people of Sarawak and Malaysia are entitled to ask why the Prime Minister is not prepared to establish RCI for a whole host of more important and pressing public issues.

For a start, is Najib prepared to establish a RCI to re-open the riddle of the seven-year mysterious death of Sarawak Department of Environment (DOE) investigating officer Rumie Azzan falling from 9th floor of Sarawak Timber Association (STA) in Kuching on 17th September 2004 just before 11 am?

An inquest into Rumie’s mysterious death had returned an Open Verdict as the coroner was unable to  determine whether the death “resulted from or was accelerated by any unlawful act or omission”.

Many Sarawakians were reminded of Rumie’s mysterious death from height when in the course of official duties investigating a major environment case when the tragic case of Teoh Beng Hock falling to his death from the 14th floor of MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16, 2009 shocked the nation.

Is Najib prepared when he comes to Sarawak for the general elections campaign to announce a Royal Commission of Inquiry to re-open the  riddle of the seven-year mysterious death of 31-year-old DOE investigating officer Rumie Azzan falling from 9th floor of STA in Kuching as there are many questions which remain unanswered – in particular whether it is suicide or murder?

There have been too many cases of mysterious deaths whether occurring under official custody or involving government agencies – like the most outrageous recent case of Customs officer, Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed, falling to his death from the third floor of the MACC office in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

Now MACC is to hold interrogation only on the ground floor of any MACC premises – making it one of its kind in the world for anti-corruption agencies and undoubtedly an international laughing-stock.

This is trying to cure the symptom but not the disease – which is the lack of public confidence in the efficiency, independence and professionalism of the MACC.

Is the next measure for the MACC to move out of all multi-storey buildings and to operate only from single-storey buildings?

If the MACC and the government do not know how to secure public confidence in the efficiency, independence and professionalism  of the MACC, this is further testimony that the Barisan Nasional is too decadent, corrupt and totally incapable of redemption and reform and a change of government is the only answer to revamp the whole system of governance in the country.

[Media Conference Statement(2)  in Bintulu on Saturday, 9th April 2011 at 12 noon]

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 April 2011, 4:56 pm and is filed under
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Dominique Ng should take Azizah’s advice and withdraw from April 16 state election so as not to spoil PR and  Wong King Wei’s chances of winning in Padungan constituency

I endorse the advice by the PKR president Datin Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail yesterday that the independent candidate for Padungan, Dominque Ng Kim Ho, should withdraw from contesting in the April 16 state election.

Ng Kim Ho should take Azizah’s advice and withdraw from the Sarawak state general election so as not to spoil Pakatan Rakyat and DAP candidate Wong King Wei’s chances of winning the Padungan constituency next Saturday.

Under the election law, Ng can withdraw as a candidate before midnight.

The battle in Padungan as well as in Sarawak is between Pakatan Rakyat and Barisan Nasional.

With Ng in the three-cornered contest in Padungan, there is a possibility that the SUPP/BN candidate Sim Kiang Chiok may win on split votes.

As the battle in Padungan is between Wong and Sim, and there is no possibility whatsoever of Ng winning, Ng should give top priority to the interests of the people of Sarawak and Malaysia who want to see the institutionalisation of the two-coalition system in the electoral politics of Sarawak and Malaysia instead of creating a situation where SUPP/BN may win Padungan on a minority vote.

The most important single issue in the Sarawak state general election is not on other individuals or personalities but to send a clear, unmistakable and united message that “enough is enough” for 30 years of Taib Mahmud as Sarawak Chief Minister and he must step down as Chief Minister immediately after April 16 and not at an indefinite period of his choice, whether two, three or five years later.

(Media Conference Statement in Bintulu on Saturday, 9th April 2011 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 April 2011, 3:36 pm and is filed under
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Interlok: Your God in capital letter, my god in lower case

By
Iraiputtiran

Open letter to Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin

You, Sir, are becoming a complete embarrassment to this country. If Interlok has given anyone an opportunity to prove anything at all, then probably it has given you the best chance to expose your Umno NEP intellectuality.

From the very beginning, the issue with Interlok has been very clear. It was a case of an unsuitable book and wrongly chosen without a thorough analysis. Or otherwise, it was deliberately chosen with the ill-intention of poisoning innocent young minds in schools with the venomous agenda of Umno racism and Umno supremacy.

The book – which Indians were the first to object to (infuriated as they are by the vilification of their community from the demeaning portrayal of Indian characters throughout the novel) – is also being rejected by non-Indians, who have begun to see the inappropriateness of the book as a major public exam material.

Your excuses for rejecting the amendments suggested as ‘minute’, ‘not pertinent’, not sensitive’, ‘non-important things’ , etc. demonstrates your shallow thinking and dearth of knowledge in the areas concerned – linguistics, literature and academic assessment!

You rubbished the suggestion to correct the misspelt word ‘tuhan’ to ‘Tuhan’ as ‘minute’ ‘not pertinent’ and ‘non-important’! Is this sheer stupidity or ignorance beyond help? It is really hard to figure out in those bred by Umno’s NEP.

Respecting spelling and scholarship

Accuracy in spelling is a basic requirement in language, literature, and all other disciplines for that matter. Simonsen & Gunther (2001, p. 104) in their research paper, Best Practices in Spelling Instruction: A Research Summary concluded that while often neglected, spelling is an important academic skill for students to learn in school. Masterson & Apel (2010, p. 35) in discussing spelling sensitivity explained that spelling is a language skill supported by several linguistic knowledge sources, including phonemic, orthographic, and morphological knowledges.

Even for students with learning disabilities and dyslexia, different teaching and assessment methodologies are being used to develop their spelling skills.

A quick search in the world’s top teaching research journals would reveal hundreds of research work world wide and their findings on developing spelling skills. As Interlok is a compulsory text, it is of utmost importance to ensure that both the examination paper and the reading material are perfect, devoid of any error. Hence the long list of suggestions from the three Indian panel members.

Nevertheless, in an attempt to belittle and vilify the Indians (as Umno stalwarts like you always do), you had actually brushed off those suggestions as ‘minute’ ‘non-important’ and ‘not pertinent’!

In all honesty, this (tuhan) is not merely a misspelt word but rather deliberate and continued act by Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka – DBP (baashai/pustakam from Tamil) to promote Islamic bigotry and religious fanaticism. By spelling the word ‘tuhan’ with a lower case ‘t’ whenever it was Maniam or his family members referring to God, in contrast with Seman or his mother referring to God with an upper case ‘T’ for ‘Tuhan’, you and Umno are also telling the Hindus that the Muslim God is the only God and ours is a lower God, a demigod.

If this is not yet another subtle form of Islamisation of the young innocent minds into accepting Islam as the greatest religion, just as what is being done with the History syllabus, then what is it?

“Sejak bapanya meninggal dunia, Seman cukup rajin beribadat. Cukup banyak dia meminta doa kepada Tuhan supaya …Dia teringat akan Tuhan … Barangkali ibunya sedang meminta doa kepada Tuhan supaya … Siapa tahu kuasa Tuhan? Barangkali itupun kuasa Tuhan. …Barangkali itupun kuasa Tuhan. Baru kali inilah dia berasa dirinya benar-benar dekat dengan Tuhan. Baru kali inilah dia berasa sembahyangnya diterima oleh Tuhan…(pages 293-294)

Compare this to: Maniam tidak ada anak…Dia percaya suatu masa nanti, tuhan akan memberi kepada mereka cahaya mata. (p. 214)

Maniam berasa dia mengenali orang yang bertubuh rendah itu… Ya, tuhanku! Serunya perlahan-lahan. (p. 230)

Maniam terus mencangkul… Ya tuhanku! Mengapa aku jadi begini? (p. 244)

Hold your breath and read on…!

Children of lesser gods

Tuhan I: Allah yang mencipta alam semesta…(Kamus Dewan Edisi Ketiga, m.s. 1478)

tuhan II sesuatu (seperti dewa dsb) yang dipuja oleh golongan manusia yang agama atau kepercayaan mereka tidak berasaskan kepercayaan kepada Tuhan Yg Esa (Kamus Dewan Edisi Ketiga, m.s. 1478)

Yes, the above Malay national dictionary citations are a deliberate propaganda by DBP that is responsible for publishing both Kamus Dewan and Interlok (student edition) to promote Islam as the greatest religion in the world.

Tuhan can only be Allah, and can never be Jesus, Shiva, Shakti, Buddha, Yahweh, Waheguru, or any other God. All other gods are lower beings than the Islamic Tuhan. Look at how DBP reduces the other gods into ‘sesuatu’, ‘dewa’ dan ‘sebagainya’.

In Hinduism, Dewa or Devargal is/are never God(s). What is DBP and Umno trying to indoctrinate in the minds of school children with such an extreme vilification of other religions?

Who gave the right to Umno and DBP to decide whose GOD is higher and whose is not. Such spelling of words has far reaching consequences, which Umno seemed to have capitalized on very well.

A research by H.M. Olk (2002, p. 126) titled Translating culture, a think-aloud protocol study, proves that students perceive capitalized nouns as having a higher status, given that in English, all proper nouns have capital letters and that usually means they are important. Going by the same perception, our students too will eventually be made to believe that Islam is the greatest religion in the world. We know Umno’s shrewd mine just too well.

In translation there is a methodology called ‘back translation’. This technique is used to get accuracy in translation of difficult words, including cultural terms. A back translation of the misspelt word ‘tali’ would give an equivalent ‘kayiru’ (rope/string) whereas the translation of the suggested correction ‘taali’ would produce an equivalent ‘maangalyam/ taali/manggala sutra’ (marriage sacred thread). As such, the marriage sacred thread should be spelt ‘taali’ as rightly suggested by the three Indian panelists reviewing Interlok.

In the English grammar, the rules of using capital letters are clearly explained. Capital letters are among others used for the first word of a sentence or a fragment, names of days in a week, months in a year, etc., names of languages, nationalities, ethnic groups, proper nouns, festivals and holy days, religious terms including names of religions, names or titles of divine beings, titles of certain important figures, names of important events, names of sacred books, name of a book, a play, a poem, a film, a magazine, a newspaper, etc.

Hence it is simple logic that a special reference to god should be capitalized. Nonetheless, in Malay, only Islamic god is ‘Tuhan’ not any other god. We are tempted to ask you then, will you agree to India referring to your Islamic god as ‘allah’ and their god as ‘Shiva’, ‘Krishna, ‘Rama’, ‘Lakshmi’, ‘Parvathi’, etc? Will you agree to England referring to Muslims as ‘muslims’ or ‘Quran’ as ‘quran’?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 April 2011, 1:05 pm and is filed under
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On Ubah campaign trail (2)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
:-

Swak PR leaders launch Swak G/E Manifesto entitled “Ketuanan Rakyat” @PKR Swak hqrs. Present include Azizah Nizar ChongJR VioletYong SeeCH

Friday, April 08, 2011 2:43 PM

@Kuching airport otw 2Bintulu next stop in Ubah trail of Swak g/e 4change in Swak n Msia. Tmr night ceramah in Miri n Sunday nite in Limbang

Friday, April 08, 2011 3:36 PM

Sarawak curtain coming down? Recd sms that social activist Wong Chin Huat just barred from entering Sarawak. Checking

Friday, April 08, 2011 9:24 PM

Another abuse of power!Just spoken 2ChinHuat stranded Kuching airport 45mins as Immigration informed him he is on blacklist n denied entry.

Friday, April 08, 2011 9:37 PM

ChinHuat denial of entry as Bersih2 rep 2monitor Swak g/e illegal unconstitutional violate Immigration Act on legitimate political activity

Friday, April 08, 2011 9:53 PM

Entry denial 4″legitimate political activity” gross abuse of state autonomy power n must be condemned by all RT @ohwiraku

Friday, April 08, 2011 10:01 PM

Swak hurricane gaining force. Biggest Bintulu ceramah crowd in history – 3 times yesterday’s crowd nearly 3 times donations  – RM10,896.70.

Friday, April 08, 2011 11:31 PM

Told some 1.5k ppl in Bintulu ceramah abt WongChinHuat case n called on voters 2condemn latest case of Swak CM abuse of power w their votes

Friday, April 08, 2011 11:38 PM

WongChinHuat arrived LCCTSepang illegally flown back AirAsia from Swak.Najib -what 1Msia when Msians do not have freedom 2visit own country?

Saturday, April 09, 2011 12:00 AM

State immigration autonomy yes but it cannot justify protect or entrench any abuse or corruption of power. Do understand issue RT @tipb3138

Saturday, April 09, 2011 12:44 AM

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 9 April 2011, 12:04 pm and is filed under
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For first time in 48-year history, Miri leads in forefront for political change in Sarawak’s 10th general elections

In the past 48 years, it was either Kuching or Sibu which led the state in political change.

This is now different. For the first time in Sarawak’s 48-year history, Miri is leading in the forefront for political change in Sarawak’s 10th general elections as evident in the DAP ceramahs in the past four nights – with unprecedented increasing crowds, public support as well as public donations every night.

Miri is now the cynosure of Sarawak and Malaysia – in the very  frontline for political change in Sarawak and Malaysia and all eyes are on Miri on polling day on April 16.

Together with DAP Piasau candidate Ling Sie Kiong and Pujut candidate Fong Pau Teck and Miri DAP leaders, I had a walkabout in Miri and it is clear that there is something special in the air in Miri – in fact, even for Sarawak -next Saturday.

If I am asked now, I will not say that we have crossed the line towards victory for the 15 state assembly constituencies DAP is contesting, but there have been daily increases in support increasing the chances of success of winning in these constituencies come polling day.

DAP members and supporters must however not take things for granted for we must wrest every single available vote on polling day, or we may still miss the boat.

The daily improvement in the electoral stakes apply not only to DAP but also for all other Pakatan Rakyat candidates.

Clearly Barisan Nasional leaders are aware that something is stirring among the Sarawakian voters and there can be great surprises on polling day.

This is why Barisan Nasional leaders are exuding the scent that they can suffer electoral losses and they are  beginning to panic.

This is also why  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has done something no other Prime Minister had ever done in the past 48 years – cancelling the Cabinet meeting next week and dragooning all Ministers to campaign in Sarawak as if he is fighting for his own political life.

Najib must have been greatly worried by the awakening of Sarawakians to their rights and power, best illustrated by the awakening of the people of Miri in the past four nights.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 April 2011, 3:05 pm and is filed under
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On Ubah campaign trail (3)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
:

Dominique Ng shld take Azizah’s advice/withdraw from Padungan so as not to spoil PR/Wong King Wei’s chances of winning http://bit.ly/epWSxU

Saturday, April 09, 2011 3:42 PM

Call for RCI to re-open riddle of seven-year mysterious death of Rumie Azzan http://bit.ly/gZca4V

Saturday, April 09, 2011 5:43 PM

DAP dares PM to hold RCI for dead Sarawakian officer (MI) http://bit.ly/gpoZmY

Saturday, April 09, 2011 7:53 PM

Unprecedented 12k crowd Miri setting new record in focal pt in Swk g/e. All await Pisau result-how can PehMoh survive if GeorgeChan perish?

Saturday, April 09, 2011 11:38 PM

Miri writing history. Collection 2nite RM21,470 – more than last nite which netted RM20k. Miri has catapulted as cynosure of Swak g/e 2011

Sunday, April 10, 2011 12:28 AM

Can GeorgeChan survive Swak g/e April16? If GC cannot survive, can PehMoh survive? These r 2 top questions awaiting answer next Saturday.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 2:04 AM

Walkabout w DAP Piasau Pujuk candidates. Special something in air in Miri even Swak. Already BN panicking. BN leaders exude scent of losses.

Sunday, April 10, 2011 10:45 AM

ths is Y Najib has done unheard-of – cancel nxt week Cabinet meeting n dragoon all Ministers 2campaign in Swak as if fighting 4his own pol life

Sunday, April 10, 2011 11:12 AM

@DAP Miri election campaign media conference w AnthonyLoke LingSieKiong (Piasau) FongPauTeck (Pujut) touching on Najib Pehmoh GeorgeChan

Sunday, April 10, 2011 11:49 AM

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 April 2011, 1:37 pm and is filed under
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Warning to Najib not to discredit RCI by setting one to serve dishonourable and selfish political objectives and challenge to set up 5 RCIs on pressing issues of public importance

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must be warned that he should not discredit the concept of a Royal Commission of Inquiry (RCI), which is an important device  to establish government transparency, integrity and good governance, as  by setting one to serve dishonourable and selfish political objectives as into the Carcosa sex video tape scandal.

Under the Barisan Nasional, public confidence in more and more key national institutions and concepts have plunged to unprecedented  lows,  whether it be the judiciary, the elections commission, the police, the anti-corruption agency.

All efforts by Najib under his 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) in the past two years had failed to check the rot as things have got worse instead of better.

For instance, in a matter of two years, the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) has proved to be an even greater failure than its predecessor, the Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) in securing public confidence in its efficiency, independence and professionalism in combating corruption, particular the “grand corruption” of political “sharks” and their cronies despite getting more powers, funds and staffing from Parliament.

Now, Malaysians don’t even trust the MACC with their personal safety after the scandalous tragedies of Teoh Beng Hock who fell to his death from the 14th floor of MACC headquarters in Shah Alam on July 16,2009 and Ahmad Sarbani Mohamad who fell to his death from the third floor of MACC office in Jalan Cochrane, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday.

It will a real national tragedy if the RCI concept is discredited because it is abused to serve dishonourable political objectives to attack opponents in the political arena, as in the Carcosa sex video tape scandal, instead of serving national or public purpose.

The real issue of national public importance in the Carcosa sex video tape scandal is why after three weeks,  the three persons constituting “Datuk T” have not been arrested and charged in court for offences under the Penal Code and Film Censorship Act when they had admitted to the crimes in the cloak-and-dagger illegal screening of offensive videotape in Carcosa on March 21?

If Najib continues to ignore the failure of the Attorney-General and the Police to uphold the law by failing to  arrest and prosecute the three “Datuk Ts”, setting up instead a RCI into the Carcosa sex video tape to pursue a political vendetta against Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, then the biggest casualty will be the entire concept of RCI as an important vehicle to ensure government transparency, integrity and good governance as well as Najib’s 1Malaysia GTP.

Sarawakians and Malaysians are entitled not only to question the motives of Najib, but his fitness to continue as Prime Minister, if he could set up a RCI for the Carcosa sex videotape just for the purpose to persecute and pillory Anwar Ibrahim when there are so many important public issues which deserve RCI treatment.

Since Najib is going to park himself in Sarawak for the state general elections campaign until the very end,  I challenge Najib to set up five RCIs which are of great concern and import to the people of Sarawak, viz:

1.	RCI into the mysterious death of Sarawak Department of Environment investigating officer Rumie Azzan who fell to his death from the 9th floor of Sarawak Timber Association (STA) in Kuching on 17th September 2004 before 11 am, as his family suspected that he was murdered as he was investigating a major environmental case in the state.

2.	RCI  into the mountain of allegations of corruption and abuses of power against the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud

3.	RCI  as to how in 30 years, Sarawak had degenerated into one of the poorest states in Malaysia when it is one of the richest states in terms of natural resources and yet could produce a Chief Minister who is one of the richest men not only in Sarawak and Malaysia, but the world?

4.	RCI into the deteriorating state of religious freedom in Sarawak in the past three decades.

5.	RCI into why the hopes and dreams of Sarawakians in the formation of Malaysia 48 years ago in 1963 – that Sarawak can enjoy the full fruits of development comparable to those enjoyed in Peninsular Malaysia – had failed and even causing a major brain drain of Sarawakians whether to other parts of Malaysia or to other countries.

Let SUPP President Tan Sri Dr. George Chan explain whether he dare to support the call to the Prime Minister to announce the  establishment of these 5 RCIs during the Sarawak general election campaign?

(Media Conference Statement  in Miri on Sunday, 10th April 2011 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 10 April 2011, 7:04 pm and is filed under
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BN troubled as Pakatan rally draws more support

By
Clara Chooi

KUCHING, April 11 — Barisan Nasional (BN) was left red-faced last night when two separate rallies across the city featuring Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his arch-nemesis Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim drew vastly different crowd numbers.

The usually conservative Sarawak folk arrived in droves at Anwar’s rally in the Batu Kawah constituency just 30 minutes outside of the city, all clambering to listen to the opposition leader and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) bigwigs like DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng and PAS spiritual leader Datuk Seri Nik Aziz Nik Mat.

According to observers at least 8,000 were in attendance, causing a major two-hour traffic congestion on the roads leading to the ceramah venue.

Held at the same time in the same city, Najib’s 1 Malaysia meet-the-leaders session paled in comparison.

Even with the bussing of people from various neighbouring constituencies into Kuching South City Hall’s indoor stadium, only a thousand were seen in it.

Each participant were given a 1 Malaysia t-shirt to wear to signal unity and flags to wave at BN government leaders as they made their way into the stadium.

Accompanying the BN chairman were the five Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) candidates, and political bigwigs like Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

After the prime minister followed the red carpet trail leading into the hall to the sounds of hoots and whistles from the white-shirt supporters, hundreds were seen streaming out, choosing to opt out of listening to his speech.

Instead, they were seen loitering around the stadium complex, chatting and feasting on the hamburgers and mineral water that were handed out.

Even as Najib’s function kicked off, large numbers were seen lounging in the buses and vans that had ferried them into the venue.

When the prime minister began his speech, large groups of people, garbed in the 1 Malaysia t-shirts, decided to stream out of the hall.

The packed crowd listening to Anwar last night at the Pakatan Rakyat rally last night.

Others appeared to look bored but clapped dutifully at Najib’s punchlines or when those around them did so. The bleachers steadily emptied out as the night wore on.

While the BN chairman tried to temper the people’s growing anger against Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud by pleading with them to believe the chief minister’s succession promise, the thousands that gathered at Batu Kawah cheered as PR’s leaders told them to believe otherwise.

According to reporters at the venue, Anwar received steady attention from the crowd thoughout his speech.

In his element when addressing such large audiences, the opposition leader told Sarawakians to believe in PR and its leaders, adding that “Pek Moh”, the Hokkien term used to describe Taib, and his men in government, needed to learn from Lim, Nik Aziz and other opposition leaders.

“They have never stolen state land from the people,” he pointed out.

He drew from PR’s experiences in the Selangor and Penang state governments, pointing out that “in Selangor you get free water but in Sarawak only the rainwater is free”.

Sarawak will go to polls this April 16 in an election that is fast becoming BN’s to lose.

While PR’s leaders have long admitted that BN would successfully defend its hold over the hornbill state, many have also expressed confidence that the pact’s numbers win the state assembly would be significantly reduced.

BN presently has 63 seats in the 71-seat assembly while DAP has six and PKR and Parti Cinta Malaysia have one each.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 April 2011, 12:10 pm and is filed under
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Mad scramble for Tupperware mars PM’s do

By
Andrew Ong

Chaos erupted at the MBKS indoor stadium last night immediately after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak left the rally venue as people jostled to get hold of goodie bags containing Tupperware brand containers.

As some 2,000 participants at the rally were streaming out of the stadium, hundreds crowded around part of the entrance, grabbing goodie bags that were being distributed.

The bags contained a poster of Najib and either a water tumbler or a small food container of Tupperware fame.

As the rush for goodies grew out of hand, workers were forced to relocate some of the boxes of goodies away from the entrance.

As soon as the boxes touched the floor, dozens of people, many of them elderly and children, ripped opened the boxes and carried with them whatever they could.

In the mad scramble, many people fell. At least one elderly lady was seen rolling on the floor, hanging on to her goodie bag.

The scene left many journalists and policemen gasping in disbelief.

Some who were more patient were content to wait until after the big scrum was over before collecting their share of the goodie bags or boxes of biscuits.

‘Anyone would come for freebies’

One participant told Malaysiakini that he attended the event because he had read about it in the papers.

“There is free food and gifts. Anyone would come,” said the middle-aged man, who declined to be identified.

Asked if he was here to support the premier and BN, the man said he was here to see the PM in the flesh.

An elderly woman said that she was transported by bus with other flat dwellers from Jalan Ban Hock. She said she was unable to get hold of a goodie bag due to the mad rush.

When queried why she would risk injury to obtain one of the goodie bags, a young girl in her mid-teens merely smiled and walked off.

During the event, all participants wore 1Malaysia T-shirts that were given out at the door. Hamburgers and mineral water were also distributed after the event started.

The only election candidate who spoke was Alfred Yap, the BN candidate for Kota Sentosa. He made the introductory speeches before Najib took over.

The premier also called on Pending voters to support BN candidate Dr Sim Kui Hian, but did not specifically mention the rest.

Najib was also seen listening attentively to Sim who spoke before him. Sim often acts as the spokesperson for all five SUPP candidates contesting in the Kuching area.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 April 2011, 2:10 pm and is filed under
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Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #60

By
M. Bakri Musa

Chapter 7:  Enhancing Human Capital

Sharpening Malaysian Competitiveness

Ensuring that the citizens are healthy and well educated is the first step in turning them into productive and contributing members of society.  The two are enabling conditions or prerequisites, but Malaysia needs to go beyond that to ensure that her citizens, and thus the nation, are competitive. The surest way for Malaysia to thrive with globalization and free trade would be if her citizens could produce goods and provide services at a better price and quality than anyone else.

            There is no way to predict which individuals will be able to do something better (more competitive) than someone else.  In feudal societies birth and social ranking determine one’s place in society and what one does.  Children of nobility and royalty are born to rule others, while those of the warrior class will continue to become warriors, and children of peasants are fated to remain as peasants.  This is not a design of nature, rather shaped by the social norms and culture.  Were human societies like colonies of bees, yes, biology would then rule supreme.  It is biology that determines whether individual bees would become the queen, drone, or worker bee.

            In modern societies, it is the individuals who determine their own fate.
  In America, the son of a farmer could become a president (Jimmy Carter), a high school dropout could go on to win a Nobel price (Albert Einstein), and a college dropout could form a multibillion corporation (Bill Gates).  There is no central authority, power, or social dictate that will determine that someone be this or that.  The fate of individuals lies in their own hands.  The powers that be in America did not have an important meeting and decide that Bill Gates should be chosen to start his software company or that Einstein be funded for his research because of some “national interest.”  There is no central planning committee of wise men or elders charting the course of society.  Rather, individuals were given the freedom to pursue their own interests and imagination (or even to drop out of society completely) and from there, the discoveries and innovations would follow.

            The state’s role is limited to ensuring that these individuals are not hampered or constrained in developing their talent.  Bill Gates’ Microsoft did not become a giant because the government decreed that IT is such an important sector of the economy and thus must be “protected” and “supported” so it could withstand foreign competition.  For many years Microsoft existed beneath the radar screen of the political establishment in Washington, DC.  Now that it is one of the biggest corporations, Microsoft is facing antitrust charges for alleged predatory marketing practices.

            Related to the freedom of individuals to pursue their own interests is the concept of merit.  Merit, broadly defined, is simply the qualities and actions of an individual that is praiseworthy or deserving of reward, honor, or esteem.  It is not, as the current Asian obsession seems to be, based on some tests’ or examination’s scores.  That is only one measure, and a very narrow one at that.  What is considered meritorious depends both on the individual’s abilities and contributions as well as that society’s sets of values.  Thus Pramoedya Ananta Toer’s writing talent is not considered praiseworthy in his native Indonesia because the social milieu there considers sucking up to the authorities as an esteemed attribute.  Indonesia does not value creative literary talent, especially when it is not used in singing high praises of those in power.  In America by contrast, Pramoedya is widely lauded because it values artistic creativity.  Back in Indonesia, they jailed him.

            In modern law-abiding society, corruption and criminal activities are not tolerated.  You go to jail for that.  But in many backward societies, being corrupt is regarded as being smart; and taking care of one’s own family and clan a virtue; hence the blight of corruption and cronyism.  In Mafia-riddled Sicily, being law abiding is risky and can be dangerous to one’s life, but being an outlaw produces tangible bountiful results.

            Thus we can tell a lot about a society by the kind of personalities it values and honors, and who gets to be the elite.  At the same time the types of individuals who flourish in a society reflects the underlying societal and cultural values.  In graft-ridden Nigeria, an honest and law-abiding citizen is not likely to thrive; indeed only the corrupt and the dishonest are nurtured and rewarded.  In Malaysia when one peruses the royal honor lists, it is clear that the producers and creators are not honored, rather the politicians and cheerleaders.

            In the public service, the engineers and scientists are not rewarded, rather the administrators and bean counters.  That is, the country rewards the staff personnel rather than the line people.  In war if you reward those who stay behind at headquarters rather than the brave frontline warriors who risked their lives, you would never win the battle.

            In America everybody knows Bill Gates but nobody recalls the name of the mayor of Seattle or the governor of its state.  Using the yardstick of the American reward system (financial success), producers like Bill Gates are much more amply compensated as compared to civil servants or politicians.

            In Malaysia yet another pernicious element has cropped up.  You are not considered meritorious if you do not support the government or more specifically, the ruling party.  Indeed you could be labeled an ingrate or worse, a traitor.  When the National Literary laureate Shahnon Ahmad published his wildly successful and bitingly satirical political novella Shit, many in the ruling party were calling for his literary award to be rescinded.  Shahnon’s sin was his audacity to criticize Prime Minister Mahathir.

            In Malaysia , as in Indonesia, to be considered “good” or have your deeds deemed meritorious, you have to toady to the powerful.  It reminds me of China during the tumultuous Cultural Revolution when many ambitious party apparatchiks were frenetically outdoing each other brandishing and hyping their little Red Book containing “The Thoughts of Chairman Mao.”  In the process the country went down the tube.  Now China has sober and realistic leaders, and they are rewarding the producers and entrepreneurs, not the political rabble-rousers on the streets.

            To reiterate, the point I made in concluding Chapter 2, the social institutions and culture must nurture the Jeffersonian natural aristocrats – those endowed with virtue and talent – and not the artificial ones based on birth and heritage, without either virtue or talent.  As the economist Lord Bauer once wrote, “Economic achievement depends primarily on people’s abilities and attitudes, and also on their social and political institutions.”

Next:  Trajectory of Progress

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 April 2011, 9:31 am and is filed under
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Najib’s 1Malaysia campaign has been “transformed” into a 1T-Shirt 1-Tupperware Circus in two years

Since last night, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has not only abandoned his duties as Prime Minister of Malaysia for a consecutive period of six days, he has also instructed his whole Cabinet of Ministers to do the same and to camp in Sarawak for the state general elections until polling day on Saturday.

Clearly Najib has lost confidence in the ability of the Sarawak Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud to secure the election results desired by the Prime Minister.

But this has another far-reaching national implication – transforming the Sarawak state general election from a state into a national contest, putting on the line the Barisan Nasional’s national policies and record as well as the Prime Minister’s  programme, personal popularity and political reputation.

The two issues voters of Sarawak are being asked to decide on Saturday are: firstly,  at the Sarawak level whether “Peh Moh” should go, not in two, three or five years’ time but on Saturday, April 16, 2011 itself; and at the national level, whether to end UMNO’s political hegemony in Malaysian politics to give way to the new politics of freedom, justice, accountability, transparency and good governance spearheaded by Pakatan Rakyat.

Najib’s signature policy is the 1Malaysia policy. In a matter of two years, Najib’s 1Malaysia policy and concept suffered two fatal blows.

Firstly, when Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin turned the  1Malaysia policy into a farce by declaring that he is “Malay first, Malaysian second” when I challenged him in Parliament to declare his stand in March last year – totally in contradiction to the 1Malaysia objective to create a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian will regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geographical region or socio-economic status second.

The second fatal blow to Najib’s 1Malaysia policy is its  “transformation” and degradation into a “1T-Shirt 1-Tupperware” circus – as evident by Najib’s start of the six-day campaigning for the Sarawak state general elections in Kuching last night.

This was what happened according to two online reports,
The Malaysian Insider
and
Malaysiakini
:

Even with the bussing of people from various neighbouring constituencies into Kuching South City Hall’s indoor stadium, only a thousand were seen in it.

Each participant were given a 1 Malaysia t-shirt to wear to signal unity and flags to wave at BN government leaders as they made their way into the stadium.

Accompanying the BN chairman were the five Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) candidates, and political bigwigs like Gerakan president Tan Sri Dr Koh Tsu Koon and Umno vice-president Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein.

After the prime minister followed the red carpet trail leading into the hall to the sounds of hoots and whistles from the white-shirt supporters, hundreds were seen streaming out, choosing to opt out of listening to his speech.

Instead, they were seen loitering around the stadium complex, chatting and feasting on the hamburgers and mineral water that were handed out.

Even as Najib’s function kicked off, large numbers were seen lounging in the buses and vans that had ferried them into the venue.

When the prime minister began his speech, large groups of people, garbed in the 1 Malaysia t-shirts, decided to stream out of the hall.

(“
BN troubled as Pakatan rally draws more support”
 – The Malaysian Insider 11.4.11)

Chaos erupted at the MBKS indoor stadium last night immediately after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak left the rally venue as people jostled to get hold of goodie bags containing Tupperware brand containers.

As some 2,000 participants at the rally were streaming out of the stadium, hundreds crowded around part of the entrance, grabbing goodie bags that were being distributed.

The bags contained a poster of Najib and either a water tumbler or a small food container of Tupperware fame.

As the rush for goodies grew out of hand, workers were forced to relocate some of the boxes of goodies away from the entrance.

As soon as the boxes touched the floor, dozens of people, many of them elderly and children, ripped opened the boxes and carried with them whatever they could.

In the mad scramble, many people fell. At least one elderly lady was seen rolling on the floor, hanging on to her goodie bag.

The scene left many journalists and policemen gasping in disbelief.

Some who were more patient were content to wait until after the big scrum was over before collecting their share of the goodie bags or boxes of biscuits.

(“Mad scramble for Tupperware mars PM’s do” –
Malaysiakini 11.4.11
)
It is a most shameful spectacle – the degeneration of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept to unite Malaysians into a 1T-shirt 1-Tupperware circus!

Najib’s suspension of the Federal Cabinet and mobilisation of all the Cabinet Ministers to campaign in the Sarawak state general elections have also presented Sarawakians and Malaysians with a curious political spectacle – SUPP President Tan Sri Dr. George Chan and the SUPP leaders waiting to be saved by MCA’s Dr. Chua Soi Lek and Gerakan’s Dr. Koh Tsu Koon!

(Media Conference Statement in Miri on Monday, 11th April 2011 at 12 noon)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 April 2011, 4:34 pm and is filed under
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On Ubah campaign trail (4)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
 :-

For first time in 48-year history, Miri leads in forefront for political change in Sarawak’s 10th general elections http://bit.ly/gAYbww

Sunday, April 10, 2011 3:31 PM

Challenge 2 Najib – set up 5 RCIs on pressing issues of public importance http://bit.ly/icSvtQ

Sunday, April 10, 2011 7:09 PM

Who expects him 2admit he’s desperate? Or 2Swak loaded w goodies? http://bit.ly/gnpQ55 6 days in Swak not desperate move, Najib says (TMI)

Sunday, April 10, 2011 7:26 PM

Of course. Najib, Taib, BN in great danger! http://bit.ly/i3sEqO PM on 6-day S’wak blitz: BN in danger? (Mkini)

Sunday, April 10, 2011 7:29 PM

Visit Limbang 4first time -where DAP candidate LeongKwangYew 4 BukitiKota contesting assisted by YBs Thomas Jenice LipEng Great public spprt

Sunday, April 10, 2011 9:40 PM

Extraordinary unbelievable Donation Limbang breaks all Swak g/e records – RM26,759! Testimony strength of hurricane in Swak. Najib take noteSunday,

April 10, 2011 10:29 PM

Limbang dinner capacity 50 tables which work out 2average donation of more than RM500 per person for 500 ppl. One lady contributed RM10k

Sunday, April 10, 2011 10:51 PM

RT @jasonbhlee: Correction. Rm50 per person. “@limkitsiang: Limbang dinner capacity 50 tables which work 2average of more than RM500 per …

Sunday, April 10, 2011 11:58 PM

Told Limbang crowd Najib has lost confidence in Taib n virtually taken over Swak BN g/e campaign. Does this presage entry of Umno into Swak?

Monday, April 11, 2011 12:06 AM

                This entry was posted on Monday, 11 April 2011, 11:14 am and is filed under
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A Sarawak Spring?

By
Bridget Welsh

When change rocked the Middle East from Tunisia to Yemen, many were quick to point out that it could not happen in Malaysia. The BN government has a stronger record of governance and, for all of the unevenness of the playing field, holds competitive elections.

Yet, as the Sarawak campaign has unfolded, it is increasingly becoming apparent that change is afoot. The 30-year tenure of Abdul Taib Mahmud – closely paralleling the length of Hosni Mubarak’s own tenure – has inspired an unprecedented response on the ground.

With record attendance at rallies across the state, the floodgates of change have opened, with Prime Minister Najib Razak calling on all of his cabinet to campaign in what has become a defining national litmus test.

The 10th Sarawak election is perhaps the first real test since March 2008 of whether Malaysia will experience a similar spring, or whether it will stave off change.

Growing loss of faith in S’wak leadership

There are important similarities between Sarawak and the Middle East beyond the length of the tenure of the leadership. Foremost is deepening discontent with the state leadership, as more and more Sarawakians are losing faith in it.

With Taib Mahmud’s decision to contest and not clearly offer a succession plan, attention has remained riveted on his personal and family’s wealth. Attempts to block the Sarawak Report are too late.

While many personally remain loyal to Taib, especially among the Malay/Melanau community and to a lesser extent among some of the Iban communities, the issues of corruption and nepotism have become center stage in a manner that makes the 2006 polls pale in comparison.

These issues are being discussed in longhouses and coffee shops in an open manner, with references to concrete examples that has allowed the issue to permeate across communities. Some voters feel betrayed and lied to as there is a loss of credibility for BN state leaders.

What distinguishes this ‘kopitiam’ talk from previous polls is the scope of discussion and a widening belief that the excesses were exactly that, excesses.

Unfavourable economic conditions

The timing of the elections is not working in the BN’s favour, and contributing to the sense of excesses. Inflation remains high in Sarawak (higher than Peninsular Malaysia), and the effects of growth under Najib’s tenure, for example the New Economic Model (NEM) programme, have not been felt to the same degree.

Development in Sarawak has stagnated in the last few years, as growth has slowed and incomes have not risen. The state’s economic benefits have been seen to be concentrated in hands of Taib’s political elite. Sarawak’s economy – with the exception of tourism and port development associated with natural gas – lacks dynamism.

Even the higher commodity prices for items such as palm oil have not trickled down in the same manner as Peninsular Malaysia, as these are dominated by corporations operating plantations (many in the hands of the political elite and Peninsular Malaysians) rather than smaller farmers.

Retail sectors have been pinched by less spending, due to the persistence of low wages, which remain shockingly low in services and agriculture especially, with workers making less than RM500 a month in arguably a consumer market that is at least 30 percent more expensive than Peninsular Malaysia.

Food security has also emerged as an issue, with the change in agricultural production and inflation, reducing the quality of food, especially in the rural areas.

Hardcore poverty levels may have dropped from 1980, but current relative poverty levels remain high, with the state recording second highest in the country. The gap between the rich and poor in Sarawak is increasing and arguably wider – if one believes even just some of the reports on the state’s political elites wealth – than Peninsular Malaysia.

Economic hardship and disparity are much more prominent this election and these too are being openly discussed.

Loss of fear

This open discussion has started to transform another key element that has been an integral part of the fabric of Sarawak politics – fear.

While there is considerable concern that the voting process is not secret (which is understandable in less populated communities), there is also more willingness to come out and gather, and, as it happened on the streets in Cairo, this dynamic is gathering momentum.

Many voters, reticent of showing their loyalties to the opposition, are braving possible repercussions and attending meetings. They are giving financial support in some towns that rivals donations in the 2008 March elections.

While the BN is pointing to instability – reminiscent of the 2001 polls after September 11 – this is not having the same traction, as voters in Sarawak like those in Egypt are openly defiant.

More dynamic Internet campaign

Part of the reason has to do with new sources of information, namely the access to alternative sources of information. Blogs, websites like Malaysiakini, YouTube and more have become an integral part of the campaign. This did not happen before, even in March 2008.

The cyber campaign has been as hot as the rallies, perhaps even hotter. It is important to appreciate that Internet penetration in Sarawak is much more limited than in Peninsular Malaysia, concentrated in the major towns. Information however is filtering to the semi-rural and rural areas, but slowly and without a major impact to date.

Ironically, this was the situation in the Middle East as well, as the information sharing was concentrated in the urban areas. The middle class and professionals were especially important conduits and discussion leaders, and this dynamic seems to be at play in Sarawak as well.

Critical role of diaspora

The final similarity at play involves the important role of the Sarawak disapora. There are an estimated 300,000 Sarawakians outside of the state. Most left due to the lack of opportunities for employment and are concentrated in Singapore and Kuala Lumpur.

They have been following this election from afar, giving support and their return to vote will be a crucial factor in shaping the outcomes in the close contests. How many come home will be decisive in the final outcome.

The same issue will play out within the state, as younger voters in Kuching, Miri and Bintulu will shape campaigns in the rural communities.

Extremely tight contests

While these items point to a turning tide toward change, there are important challenges that make this contest the most competitive contest in Sarawak’s history. The opposition gains in 2006 were won on very, very slim margins, and the overall small numbers of voters in constituencies makes for close races.

None of the opposition seats are “secure”, given the tightness of the contests and now more than ever races are open contests. Almost half of the 71 seats are in play, with the number of undecided voters extremely high, especially in the Iban areas and in semi-rural seats. The results in all of the seats will be down to the wire, including every opposition incumbent.

BN’s money and machinery

The BN will continue to rely of its traditional advantage of resources. The machinery of the BN – including the use of government departments – is well-oiled and the BN has the access to the rural areas, allowing it a secure buffer of “sure” wins.

The money has flowed already, with houses receiving RM1,000, individuals RM200 and influential individuals as much as RM5,000. Gone are the days when all that was paid was RM20. What will be interesting to see is if money continues to rule the day, which has been the case in previous elections, and how much more is on the way.

The early disbursement has made for an expensive election. The increasing use of financial incentives for support highlights a challenge that the BN faces in strengthening and in some cases reestablishing its legitimacy. The development card in Sarawak does not quite have the same impact.

At this rate, it will be hard for the BN to afford a national GE.

Personal ties and party

The continued use of patronage distinguishes Malaysia’s possible “spring” from the change in the Middle East. In Sarawak, with its smaller population, especially in the rural areas, the ties are personal. There are many in the rural communities who feel a strong sense of loyalty to their CM Taib, and see their roads and livelihoods tied to his governance.

Unlike the decay of the grassroots connections of Umno in the rural areas of Peninsular Malaysia, the personal relationships are stronger in Sarawak, and continue to engender loyalty.

Crossing the bridge to the unknown – especially given uncertainties in opposition leadership among some – is not quite the step many are willing to take. This gives the BN its base, even though it has frayed.

One of the reasons the SUPP is facing its challenge for survival is that it lost the personal touch in the urban areas. It is not surprisingly that their campaign logo tries to use this appeal, although with limited impact to date.

Another element of the personal dimension to Sarawak’s campaign is the personal relationships of candidates to communities. Candidates are known, from independents to BN ministers. They rely on extended family support and personal friendships. In small communities, these issues matter.

The more the infighting in a particular contest, with independents having their own bases and gripes for contesting, the more the uncertainty in very tight races. Infighting is particularly affecting PKR, Snap and PBB, with the record number of third-corner fights and independents contesting. Overall, this helps the BN to a greater degree than the opposition.

Nastier ethnic politics

What distinguishes this campaign from earlier ones beyond the greater mobilisation of voters is a harder ethnic edge to the campaign. Traditionally, ethnic dynamics in Sarawak have been played out at the elite level, with leadership infighting rarely extending into society. While Iban nationalism has been important, it has had little impact electorally.

Now the terrain has shifted. First, the race card is being used in the Malay/Melanau areas, arguing that their support is crucial for the position of these communities in Sarawak’s leadership.

With photos of PKR’s Baru Bian circulating and not-so-subtle messages being sent in the campaign, the issue of ‘Ketuanan Melayu’ is having an impact.

The quiet argument touted that the Chinese are disloyal for supporting the opposition is also angering some voters, who see Peninsular Malaysia’s ethnic politics being brought into Sarawak inappropriately. This is happening at the same time as Christians – Iban, Chinese, Dayak and some Melanau – remain deeply angry over the handling of the Bible and ‘Allah’ issues.

Religion has been more intertwined with ethnicity and in this Christian-majority state, the questions of freedom of religion are making political ripples, as they did in March 2008 in Peninsular Malaysia.

Further complicating this ethnic dynamic is the issue of land, which has been tied to the perceived marginalisation of Iban and Dayak communities, at the expense of other communities and outsiders.

The lack of headway over customary land issues is having an impact in specific communities and this issue alone has salience in over 15 seats – from Ba’Kelalan to Belaga.

Keeping the contest as fair as possible

What is interesting to observe in this contest is whether the election continues to be played respectfully and fairly. Sarawakians traditionally avoid confrontation and political polarisation. While money has been accepted as a norm, other concerns with electoral process are emerging.

Voters want, and deserve, a fair contest. They want their votes to count. Unconfirmed reports of movement of voters between constituencies, problems with the electoral rolls, challenges over postal votes, IC cards being allegedly handed over for payment for someone to vote for an individual, cancellation of police permits, pressure on shop owners for allowing political discussion and more are raising concerns about the integrity of the polls.

Whatever happens when the final results come, it is essential that the process be credible. Many Sarawakians hope that the BN’s call for good conduct in the campaign will extend to the voting process as well.

The role of neutrality and professionalism among civil servants in Malaysia in the Sarawak election, is as important as the actions of the governments in the Middle East.

Najib’s leadership test

In these final days of the campaign, PM Najib has made a bold move to vest himself in the outcome of the polls. His presence on the ground is more than any other PM as this will be a do-or-die mandate for him.

Crucial will be whether he deflects the angst toward the state government and channels votes toward the BN.

The pattern historically has been one of Taib buttressing BN leaders. That role is reversed in this contest. A parallel can be made to Tunisia and Egypt when other leaders came in to stave off the opposition directed toward the top.

Targets and possibilities

The challenges on both sides are immense as the contest has taken on even greater importance as the campaign has evolved. For the BN, Taib and the SUPP are facing a defining referendum that will affect their future, and they have to hold onto the two-thirds majority and at least three seats, respectively.

For the opposition, any victory that surpasses the 15 seats of 1987 is a major accomplishment. Breaking the two-thirds is not out of the question for the opposition, although it is an extremely tough fight for all concerned, and the advantage remains squarely in the BN court despite the ceramah crowds.

Every vote will count. A spring has yet to come to Sarawak, but, given the changes on the ground, it remains in the realm of the possible.

——–

DR BRIDGET WELSH is associate professor of political science at Singapore Management University. She is in Sarawak to observe the state election. Welsh can be reached at
[email protected]

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, 1:30 pm and is filed under
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Miri’s tryst with destiny

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, 9:52 am and is filed under
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On Ubah campaign trail (5)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
 :

Miri pc – Najib’s 1Malaysia reduced into farce by Muhyiddin “I am Malay 1st Msian 2nd” stmt. Now transformed in2 1TShirt 1Tupperware circus

Monday, April 11, 2011 2:23 PM

Latest in Swak elections – GeorgeChan n SUPP leaders waiting 2b saved by MCA’s ChuaSoiLek n Gerakan’s KohTsuKoon!

Monday, April 11, 2011 2:43 PM

Sabah Air helicopter pilot “severely injured”. http://bit.ly/fgN8vj Chopper crashes in Sibu after ferrying DPM’s entourage(TMI)

Monday, April 11, 2011 3:30 PM

PM DPM Ministers staff flying around Swak in election campaign grave threat to safety of helicopter pilots n crew. Suspend all such flights

Monday, April 11, 2011 3:33 PM

Najib’s 1Malaysia campaign has been “transformed” into a 1T-Shirt 1-Tupperware Circus in two years http://bit.ly/evS8Zh

Monday, April 11, 2011 5:05 PM

Big UBAH has arrived in Swak! Watch out for it.

Monday, April 11, 2011 5:27 PM

If Taib no liability Y has Najib usurped Taib’s role in Swak g/e?http://bit.ly/fayA0d CM’s exit plan based on understanding says PM (Mkini)

Monday, April 11, 2011 6:27 PM

Christian dilemma not over, clerics tell Putrajaya (TMI) http://bit.ly/gcM4wQ

Monday, April 11, 2011 6:45 PM

GIANT UBAH making debut in Kuching 2nite. Watch out for it.

Monday, April 11, 2011 6:50 PM

@tanjooilong U have 2see GIANT UBAH 2believe it. Not for sale. Making appearance in Swak 1st time 2nite. Venue – Chong Lin Park Kuching.

Monday, April 11, 2011 7:11 PM

Was DPM giving advance notice of Cabinet descending in Swak g/e ? http://bit.ly/gtlxbQ Muhyiddin warned of devils/demons from Peninsula

Monday, April 11, 2011 7:39 PM

Never. @proaskick  hello,just wanna ask you, it is true that you were political secretary of lee kuen yew,

Monday, April 11, 2011 7:59 PM

http://sarawak4change.com/ceramah  @ibnu_akmar anymore roadshow in bintulu for pktn rkyt, sir?

Monday, April 11, 2011 8:00 PM

Huge massive crowd in Miri with new record donation exceeding Limbang’s record last nighty. New total – RM28,58x

Monday, April 11, 2011 11:44 PM

RM28,588. Miri ppl have tryst w destiny 2lead pol change not only in Miri but also Sarawak n Malaysia. 1stone 3birds – George Taib Najib

Monday, April 11, 2011 11:48 PM

Told 10k ppl Miri ceramah 2nite -PehMoh must step down 16/4. Nothing 2negotiate http://bit.ly/dU1GG6 S’wak CM: I’ll step down ‘in few years’

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 2:27 AM

Taibs’ open slap in-the-face for Najib. What a PM!  http://bit.ly/f4DTo7 Taib says to only quit in a few years

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 2:50 AM

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, 9:32 am and is filed under
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Taib says to only quit in a few years

By
Clara Chooi

The Malaysian Insider
Apr 11, 2011

Taib is facing tremendous pressure to resign.KUCHING, April 11 — Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud repeated his intention tonight to step down “in a few years’ time” despite the opposition calling for a quicker end to the Sarawak chief minister’s 30-year-rule.

The embattled leader, who has taken on the task of delivering Sarawak for another term to the Barisan Nasional, made the pledge before Datuk Seri Najib Razak in a short speech at a 1 Malaysia concert held at the Padang Merdeka in the capital city here.

“I would like to urge the youths here — your time will come. When I step down later, in a few years, I want to see your generation support those who will assume my power and build Sarawak so it will become truly developed and truly luxurious in the future,” said the pint-sized leader who in recent months has faced tremendous pressure to resign.

Taib’s words come amid repeated calls from opposition leaders that he step down immediately and reports that even those within his ranks are uncomfortable with his lengthy reign.

The countless allegations of corruption and abuse of power that have been levelled against the powerful leader in recent months have also been said to be hampering BN’s struggle to retain power in Sarawak.

At another 1 Malaysia function near here, Najib promised that the matter had already been discussed with Taib and the latter had agreed to leave and make way for a fresh lineup in the state’s leadership.

But the BN chairman kept mum on the date of Taib’s resignation and his likely successor.

Najib said yesterday that there will be a change but did not give a timeline or the name of Taib’s successor.

“Ladies and gentlemen, do not worry. We have made plans so that a change will happen in the Sarawak top leadership, a planned and organised change.

“If we make a shock change, a state of uncertainty will ensue,” Najib had said.

Taib also pledged tonight to maintain close federal and state relations, saying that this would help the government’s aim towards achieving developed nation status by 2020.

He told the crowd of more than 1,000 youths who gathered for the event that the Sarawak government had carried out many initiatives beneficial to them.

“These initiatives reflect our ability to identify the best ways to bring development to Sarawak; to maximise the state’s potential.

“But we are also aware that in the federation we are in today, the understanding between Sarawak and the peninsula, between Sarawak and Sabah, should be maintained,” he said.

Taib also expressed satisfaction at the crowd turnout and pointed out that the spirit of 1 Malaysia had been long enjoyed by the diverse communities in Sarawak.

“We have been in Malaysia for almost 48 years now so we should have political maturity.

“We have long established this muhibah spirit among us where the Malays, the Ibans, Bidayuhs, Orang Ulus live in harmony and mutual respect.

“Like the prime minister has said before, we have been enjoying the spirit of 1 Malaysia,” he said.

Sarawak goes to the polls on Saturday.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 12 April 2011, 2:46 am and is filed under
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DAP releases postal vote tampering video

By
Sheridan Mahavera

SIBU, April 13 — DAP released a video clip purportedly showing four women handing over their postal votes to a man at Wisma Sanyan here yesterday.

The one minute clip shows a be-spectacled man receiving what looked like postal ballot papers from four women who had just picked them up from the Election Commission.

The video, which was released at the DAP’s daily press conference, here, showed the women handing over the ballots to the man in a stairwell at the iconic building, which is the tallest in Sibu.

Postal voting proper only got underway at 9am today.

The five were caught unawares while they were being filmed by a DAP polling agent. They immediately dispersed when they saw the party worker filming them with his camera phone.

The man attempted to block the DAP agent’s view of the women as they ran out of the stairwell.

Mary Josephine Pritam Singh, a DAP election worker, said the incident occurred between 12.30pm to 1pm.

She and a team of party polling agents had gone to Wisma Sanyan to monitor the distribution of postal votes by the Election Commission. The party worker who filmed the episode was part of her team.

No money was seen exchanging hands during the meeting.

According to EC regulations, postal votes are picked up a centre and the voter may take them home to fill them up. Each postal vote is a package that contains two envelopes, a form and the ballot paper itself.

The voter is supposed to mark the ballot, fill out the form, seal the envelopes and return the package to the EC.

The women in the video were purportedly handing over the orange-coloured ballot papers to the man. It could not be ascertained what the man intended to do with the papers.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 April 2011, 5:48 pm and is filed under
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Malaysiakini down, hit by cyber attacks

via
Malaysiakini Facebook

A cyber attack beginning at 11am today shut down Malaysiakiniservers simultaneously, making the website inaccessible to readers.

The Malaysiakini technical team has determined it to be a denial-of-service attack, where an attacker uses computers in different parts of the world to swarm Malaysiakini servers to the point that they are unable to cope with the massive traffic.

Both our servers, which are hosted at two data centres – TM Brickfields and Jaring – have been affected by the attack.

Malaysiakini has posted all of today’s reports in Facebook. Readers can access Malaysiakini in full via Facebook Notes.

We will soon be making our reports, especially those on the Sarawak election, available on WordPress, Blogspot and other publishing platforms.

Malaysiakini is also working to bring up a new set of servers.

We apologise for the technical problem and we will keep readers informed of developments via Facebook and Twitter.

Malaysiakini alternative sites :

Malaysiakini Facebook Notes

Malaysiakini blogspot

Malaysiakini wordpress

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 April 2011, 8:55 am and is filed under
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On Ubah campaign trail (5)

Tweets
@limkitsiang
:

Deepest condolence 4bereaved family on death of SabahAir Bell206 helicopter pilot Capt Sahimi Razali.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 11:08 AM

What investigations into SabahAir helicopter mishap n death of Capt Sahimi n what other actions being taken by civil aviation authorities?

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 11:27 AM

@bongkersz now in bintangor will be in sarikei/sibu 2nite n sri aman tmr

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 12:54 PM

Meradong ppl ask Y Muhyiddin cannot come from Sibu by car 30mins-ride or heli mishap wld not have occurred n capt sahimi wld still be living

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 1:33 PM

In fact PM DPM shld travel Swak by road instead of flying around by heli  2have 1st hand experience of atrocious road conditions in state

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 1:38 PM

Travelled 2Bintangor by car: road condition so bad as if travel by boat in choppy waters. Disgraceful infrastructure after 48yrs – CHANGE!

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 1:46 PM

In Sarikei DAPSwak founder ChongSiewChiang contested 7times(Par n state) once narrowly missed by 71votes. Good chance DrWongHuaSeh Repok SA

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 6:02 PM

sarikei produced biggest ceramah crowd ever. Sought public donation 4first time f4Repok election battle.Collected RM4,300.Ppl waiting 2help

Tuesday, April 12, 2011 9:52 PM

“Y migrate 2Australia? Migrate 2Penang” – @Sarikei ceramah narrated this talk among young Msian professionals in KL n told 2me few days ago

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 7:13 AM

This is compliment 2LGE/PR Penang state govt as well as contd lack of confidence in Najib’s 1Msia GTP ETP etc policies. Msians now can hope

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 7:16 AM

Y Swakians must vote 4CHANGE – so Swakians can tell each other: “Y migrate? Let’s remain in Swak 4there is justice hope again in the future”

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 7:21 AM

Contd exciting political awakening Miri – @anthonyloke reports 4k crowd RM16,610 public donation last nite. Press on Miri – tryst w destiny

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 7:58 AM

3 Sibu ceramahs last nite continue 2attract massive crowds. Urged Sibu  Swak 2inscribe “416” in golden letters 2enter in2 Swak/Msian history

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:07 AM

Let 416 join other symbols of political awakening change Swak Msia – the rollcall of 520 (Swak g/e 06) 308 (Msian g/e 08) 516 (Sibu by/e).Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:12 AM

Bad weather. Stranded @Sibu airport. Flying 2Kuching. Sri Aman 2nite n Kuching tmr. Even more tiring than national elections. But worth it

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:20 AM

TanSengGiaw campaigned Lundu last nite took early morning flt Kch2Sibu cannot land bcos foggy conditions @ Sibu airport n diverted back Kch

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:31 AM

820am AirAsia Sibu-Kuching flt retimed 2depart 930am. Will fog clear? Larger question – will Swak political fog clear on 416 2usher CHANGE?

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:36 AM

“I have identified my successor” – Taib.  Then name him! Or is Taib too ashamed 2name him despite “grooming” 4 20years? What a successor CM!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:40 AM

1Question 2Swakians – what does it mean no more Peh Moh as CM? For a start, no more CMS!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011 8:44 AM

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 13 April 2011, 9:05 am and is filed under
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