Defiance Is Gaining Momentum

By
Kee Thuan Chye
 | Monday, 21 January 2013 14:29

Malaysian Digest

I love the new spirit of defiance among Malaysians. I think we have come of age in realizing that we must stand up for our rights. And that it’s not wrong to do so.

After all, as the American political activist Howard Zinn puts it, dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

I’m not just talking about the defiance shown by already known people like Ambiga Sreenevasen and A Samad Said, the leaders of Bersih 3.0, when they stood up and spoke up or fought against the authorities to point out that the latter were wrong. I’m also talking about the courageous acts of ordinary people who despite having no organization to back them up did what they felt needed to be done, not just for themselves but for a larger cause.

A video grab of Universiti Utara Malaysia UUM student K S Bawani (L) and Sharifah Zohra Jabeen during the controversial forum held at UUM in Dec 8The recent act of speaking up at a forum of dubious intent held at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) by the university’s student K S Bawani is such a case. Despite the attempt by the forum’s moderator to humiliate her, she stood tall.

She has since taken it further to demand an explanation from her university as to why it allowed a forum that seemed aimed at brainwashing students to be held at its premises. Although the university has claimed that it had nothing to do with the forum and merely provided the hall for it, Bawani claims the university made it compulsory for many students to attend it.

This appears as if Bawani is engaging in lawan taukeh and reactionaries will say she is kurang ajar, but her demand is justifiable and students do have rights, including questioning the university’s administration. UUM is accountable for approving a forum that treated students like lemmings, and featured a moderator named Sharifah Zohra Jabeen who sported a condescending attitude towards Bawani and behaved like a fascist (“This is my forum… When I speak, you listen!”).

Worse, she went on and on haranguing Bawani and blustered about irrelevant things like animals having problems, after she had used a line on the latter echoing the jibe often used by BN politicians – if you don’t like things the way they are, get out of Malaysia.

It was most improper coming from the president of Suara Wanita 1Malaysia, whatever that is. Although Sharifah Zohra looked Indian, her taunt at Bawani came across as racist. And her lowly behavior earned her the ire of thousands of Netizens of all races who promptly crucified her on social media.

Bawani has since shown herself to be the wiser and more enlightened person, saying that an apology from Sharifah Zohra is not important even though Netizens have bayed for Sharifah Zohra’s blood. Bawani is also telling everyone to focus instead on the real issues of free expression for students and free higher education in Malaysia.

The support she is now getting from fellow students and student organizations is a welcome sign that Malaysian youths are becoming a viable force. Unlike those at the UUM forum who applauded like sheep even when Sharifah Zohra waxed about the problems of sheep and sharks, the enlightened ones know what’s right and wrong and want to play a role in the determination of their future. They have regained their voice, suppressed for decades by the Universities and University Colleges Act (UUCA). To them, Sharifah Zohra is a representative of the oppressive Establishment, so they have now challenged her to face Bawani in a debate on free education.

Will Sharifah Zohra take up the challenge? My guess is she won’t, but I hope to be proven wrong. She would surely find it a daunting prospect facing the audience at such a debate. She would be inevitably booed and heckled, probably from the time she stepped onto the stage.

Such is the reality now, given the temper of the times. Malaysians have been bursting out in anger after years of being oppressed, deceived, manipulated by the ruling regime that has also disappointed for failing in many aspects of governance.

The number of street protests in the last few years attest to this. Despite the warnings of the police and the Government to take action against the protestors, the people have not been cowed. The reason is clear: They have no more respect for authority. After all, the holders of authority are rotten and do not deserve respect.

The protests culminated on Jan 12 with Himpunan Kebangkitan Rakyat at which Malaysians disgruntled with the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) turned up to show support for the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat. At least 100,000 people were there.

Some pundits had predicted that there would be fewer participants this time than there were at the Bersih 3.0 rally on April 28 last year, but the fears were unfounded. The event started at 2pm, but by 2:30pm, the stadium was completely packed. People filled the terraces and the whole field. Despite the blazing heat of the afternoon sun.

I sat on the terraces where I could see the entire crowd. I’d say there were at least 50,000 people inside the stadium alone, although my friend Hafidz Baharom thinks there were about 70,000.

Another friend, Azmi Sharom, later told me that when he left the stadium just before 3pm, he saw many, many more people outside. These were people who couldn’t get in. It took him a while to squeeze his way through the crowd. Another friend, S B Toh, confirmed this.

Azmi said that altogether, there were enough people at the rally to fill two stadia.

Sasterawan Negara A Samad Said, who read a poem at the rally, said he had dreamed of one day seeing a sea of people coming together for a common cause; he was happy that this dream had now come true. There was indeed a sea of people before him – in yellow, green, red and other colors.

The crowd was multiracial, with Malays making up the majority. And they came from all over the country. If this doesn’t strike fear in the hearts of BN leaders as they gear up for the 13th general election, which must be held within the next few months, they must be made of sterner stuff.

On the way home in the LRT, I sat next to a young man who had come all the way from Kedah. A college student. In fact, many students attended the rally although their universities banned them from doing so. They didn’t care. The young man from Kedah said change is a must; that’s why he came to support the gathering.

Since then, the university authorities don’t seem to have taken any action against the students. Perhaps they don’t dare.

They, too, must surely realize that defiance is on the rise and change can’t be far away.

As it is, in whatever small way concerned Malaysians can show their defiance or their disagreement with authority, they will do it. Like the group of parents in Seremban who wore yellow Bersih t-shirts when they recently went to collect the RM100 handout for students from the Government.

One of the parents, Wong Chai Soon, said, “I wore the Bersih t-shirt to make a point to the powers-that-be that the gift of money won’t necessarily make us bow down and agree with them.”

The parents wore yellow also to remind the authorities that without a clean and fair general election, Malaysia would not be truly democratic.

Heroes and heroines are emerging like never before. We had Anne Ooi a.k.a. Aunty Bersih in Bersih 2.0; student Adam Adli who refused to apologize to Umno President Najib Razak for lowering the latter’s flag at Umno headquarters; 19-year-old Ong Sing Yee who was handcuffed for stomping on Najib’s picture during the Janji Demokrasi rally; 71-year-old Aunty Mei who demanded an apology from Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob for a callous remark he had made; bank clerk Johar Mohamad, the alleged whistleblower in the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal; the men and women who took part in the anti-Lynas Green March from Kuantan to Kuala Lumpur, led by Wong Tack.

Young and old, of all races, they have stepped up to the plate. For them, and for a lot of other Malaysians, there is no turning back. They want change and reform, and the ruling regime can’t provide it. This could result in its downfall. And that downfall might come quite soon.

*Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, available in bookstores together with its Malay translation, Jangan Kelentong Lagi, Kita Semua Orang Malaysia. The views expressed here are the personal opinion of the writer.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 12:09 pm and is filed under
Kee Thuan Chye
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Mahathir will do a “Brutus” on anyone!

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 12:02 pm and is filed under
Mahathir
,
Martin Jalleh
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pengiraan Detik 79 Hari ke PRU13 – Ke dasar  tanpa etika dan lubang mana lagi yang pemimpin UMNO/BN dan media perdana mereka akan gali sebelum PRU13?

Semalam, saya telah meminta agar diakhiri politik penipuan dan pembohongan menjelang Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13, yang akan diadakan paling lewat sekitar 156 hari lagi pada 27 Jun, akan tetapi dijangkakan akan berlangsung kurang daripada 70 hari.

Saya merujuk kepada kalahnya lidah rasmi UMNO, Utusan Malaysia di dalam saman fitnah, kali ini kepada Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, mendapat teguran daripada Hakim V.T. Singham yang mendapati Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd dan ketua editornya Abdul Aziz Ishak bersalah merosakkan reputasi Anwar dan mendedahkan dirinya kepada cemuhan.

Di dalam penghakimannya, Singham menekankan bahawa wartawan dan editor perlu berhati-hati dengana apa yang mereka tulis supaya tidak memasukkan komen yang mungkin menimbulkan keraguan kepada seseorang.

Hakim berkata: “Akhbar sepatutnya tidak mempunyai kuasa yang lebih besar dalam menarik perhatian atau mengelirukan fikiran rakyat apabila dibandingkan dengan reputasi individu.

“Adalah penting bagi wartawan, editor dan penerbit mengambil langkah berhati-hati sebelum sebarang artikel yang cenderung merosakkan reputasi individu diterbitkan. Rencana sebarangan yang mengandungi sindiran atau tohmahan tanpa pengesahan hendaklah dielakkan.”

Akan tetapi nasihat hakim tidak mempunyai sebarang kesan kepada media perdana UMNO/BN dan begitu juga permintaan saya agar diakhiri segala politik penipuan dan pembohongan , terutamanya media perdana UMNO/Barisan Nasional sepatutnya memelihara peraturan dan etika kewartawanan dan berhenti menjadi “Akhbar Tipu”.

Ini ditunjukkan oleh satu lagi penipuan dan pembohongan melampau media perdana UMNO/BN hari ini – kali ini New Straits Times dan laporan palsunya bertajuk “Wife of ailing MP angry at DAP” (ms. 6) yang tidak lain hanyalah penipuan tanpa secubit pun kebenaran.

Memetik daripada satu lagi portal berita yang jahat, NST mendakwa Irene Chang, isteri kepada Ahli Parlimen DAP Sibu dan Pengerusi DAP Sarawak Wong Ho Leng, “dikatakan mengkritik parti kerana gagal memberikan bantuan kewangan kepada suaminya, yang menghidap tumor otak” malahan memetiknya sebagai berkata “kepimpinan parti tidak berhati perut” dan memarahi Setiausaha Agung DAP, Lim Guan Eng.

Menerbitkan penipuan dan pembohongan telah pun melanggar kebanyakkan etika dan peraturan asas kewartawannan, akan tetapi untuk mereka-reka penipuan dan pembohongan bagi memperoleh keuntungan politik dan tidak mempedulikan kesengsaraan yang mereka wujudkan kepada individu yang telah pun berada dalam keadaan tertekan seperti mana yang dilakukan NST kepada Wong Ho Leng dan Irene Chang  adalah perbuatan yang durjana dan hina, hanya mereka yang tidak berperikemanusiaan atau bukan manusia saja mampu membenarkan tindakan sedemikian.

Apa yang menjadikan tindakan NST tidak dapat dimaafkan adalah Irene Chang telah meletakan penjelasan berikut di Facebooknya semalam:

“Saya telah dimaklumkan mengenai rencana tertentu yang diposkan secara atas talian yang melaporkan saya merungut terhadap kempimpinan parti kami.

 “Saya benar-benar marah. Tiada kebenaran di dalam artikel itu.

 “Saya tidak pernah diwawancara atau merungut terhadap parti kami atau sesiapa pun. Lebih penting lagi, tidak pernah saya rasa, walau sesaat bahawa saya mempunyai sebab untuk merungut berkenaan parti kami atau sesiapa khususnya.

 “Hakikatnya, selepas keadaan kesihatan suami saya didiagnosis, saya begitu risaukan keadaan kesihatannya berbanding merisaukan sama ada parti akan memberikan bantuan kewangan atau tidak.

 “Sungguhpun begitu, saya ingin jelaskan bahawa semenjak pemimpin parti kami dimaklumkan tentang keadaan suami saya, setiap seorang daripada mereka,benar-benar memberikan sokongan dan mengambil berat.

 “Suami saya dan saya, sebenarnya merasakan kami benar-benar bertuah mengenali mereka, yang melangkaui peranan sebagai rakan seperjuangan politik menjadi sahabat yang sangat mengambil berat.

 “Keluarga saya dan saya begitu amat tersentuh dengan seruan mendapat skongan untuk suami saya oleh Setiausaha Agung,  YAB Lim Guan Eng, sebuah penghargaan mengenainya telah diposkan oleh anak sulung kami, Suzanne Gail Wong, di dalam facebooknya pada 14 Januari 2013.

 “Oleh itu, adalah tidak adil untuk membiarkan rencana itu disebarkan supaya orang ramai menghakimi pemimpin parti kami, parti kami dan diri saya, tanpa sebarang asas langsung. Saya dengan itu mengecam sekeras-kerasnya rencana itu kerana setiap ayatnya adalah penipuan.”

Soalan yang saya ingin tujukan kepada pemimpin UMNO/BN hari ini ialah ke dasar  tanpa etika dan lubang mana lagi yang pemimpin UMNO/BN dan media perdana mereka akan gali sebelum PRU13?

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/22/79-day-countdown-to-13ge-what-unethical-depths-and-bottomless-pits-are-going-to-be-plumbed-by-umnobn-leaders-and-their-mainstream-media-msm-before-the-13ge/

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 3:52 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
Media
,
Sarawak
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pengiraan Detik 80 Hari ke PRU13 – Tolak politik penipuan dan pembohongan UMNO/BN

Tahniah kepada Anwar kerana memenangi saman fitnahnya ke atas Utusan Malaysia, surat khabar di Malaysia yang sedang mencipta sejarah dunia sebagai akhbar paling banyak tewas di dalam saman fitnah terhadap personaliti Pakatan Rakyat.

Penipuan dan pembohongan terhadap Pakatan Rakyat telah menjadi makanan harian Utusan Malaysia, sebagai lidah rasmi UMNO, sehingga ke tahap Utusan Malaysia kelihatan lebih sebagai “Surat Tipu” berbanding “Surat Khabar”.

Tetapi Utusan Malaysia bukan satu-satunya “Surat Tipu” di Malaysia walaupun ia adalah contoh terburuk dari kalangan media perdana UMNO/Barisan Nasional.

Dengan pendekatan harian pilihan raya umum ke-13, pemimpin UMNO/Barisan Nasional dan alat propaganda mereka, baik media perdana mahupun penyangak cybertroopers, akan berkerja lebih masa untuk mewujudkan penipuan dan pembohongan.

Seluruh rakyat Malaysia tidak kira kaum, agama, tempat, umur atau jantina, bersatu di dalam PRU13 akan datang menolak politik penipuan, pembohongan dan penyalahgunaan oleh UMNO/BN.

Amat menyedihkan apabila bukan sahaja yang hidup, malah yang telah meninggal dunia juga turut menjadi mangsa politik penipuan dan pembohongan sedemikian.

Salah satu contoh politik penipuan dan pembohongan yang jijik dan memalukan ditunjukkan oleh mantan Perdana Menteri Tun Mahathir minggu lepas, apabila beliau mendakwa apa yang beliau lakukan di dalam Projek IC atau Projek M dalam penipuan “kewarganegaraan-untuk-undi” di Sabah adalah “mengikut undang-undang” dan Bapa Malaysia Tunku Abdul Rahman “telah melakukan lebih teruk dengan memberikan kewarganegaraan kepada satu juta orang yang tidak layak di Semenanjung Malaysia” sebelum Merdeka.

Menambah lagi penghinaan, Mahathir malahan bertanya: “Kenapa apa yang dia buat tak salah dan apa yang saya buat ini salah?”

Saya tumpang sedih bukan sahaja untuk Tunku, tetapi juha semua pemimpin UMNO/Pakatan pada era Merdeka, memandangkan Mahathir bukan sahaja mencemar kenangan dan nama baik Bapa Malaysia tetapi juga semua rakan seperjuangan yang memperjuangkan kemerdekaan termasuklah Tun Razak, Tun Ismail, Tun Tan Cheng Lock dan Tun Sambanthan.

Saya bertambah sedih – bukan sahaja terhadap fitnah ke atas Tunku, Razak, Ismail, Tan Cheng Lock dan Sambanthan oleh Mahathir, akan tetapi selepas empat hari, tiada langsung suara dari kerajaan dan kepimpinan UMNO/Barisan Nasional mempertahankan nama baik mereka.

Mari kita akhiri politik penipuan dan pembohongan dalam PRU 13.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/21/80-day-countdown-to-13ge-reject-politics-of-lies-and-falsehoods-of-umnobn/

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 3:41 pm and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
Mahathir
,
Media
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pride comes before destruction

by Mariam Mokhtar

Malaysiakini

Jan 21, 2013

According to one Sabahan, there is so much crime in Sabah that squatter houses, too, have grilles on the doors and windows, and that these cost more than the houses themselves.

For four decades, ordinary Sahabans have been angered by illegal immigration and the social and economic problems associated with it, such as a shortage of housing, a lack of employment and educational opportunities, high levels of crime and massive overcrowding.

Despite the limited terms of reference of the royal commission of inquiry (RCI) ordered by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak, the RCI has revealed disturbing aspects of former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s bid to remain in power. Soon, the RCI will be overshadowed by the side-show that Mahathir may have helped arrange.

The star-performer is the self-styled motivational guru Sharifah Zohra Jabeen Syed Shah Miskin (right). One wonders if Zohra has replaced the virgin queen, Ummi Hafilda Ali, who used to come to Mahathir’s aid and helped distract the rakyat with golden showers and salacious revelations.

There was once a time when the government would detain reporters and send them to Kamunting, ostensibly for their own safety. Zohra was denied this privilege because Najib has abolished the ISA. Last week, Zohra bowed to overwhelming pressure and heeded police advice to cancel her seminar on ‘How to Make Your First Million’.

I can give you the gist of the RM200 seminar. It is an open secret that the first million is easy to make; join Umno, then claw your way to the top by backstabbing and badmouthing everyone who stands in your way.

There are tell-tale signs that that you have “made it” and joined the Umno elite. In the election canvassing that takes place every five years, Umno delivers bags of rice to the masses, but the Umno elite receive Birkin bags.

Households that qualify are given a one-off payment of RM500 (and possibly another RM500 if the situation demands it) but the elite get several million ringgit in hard cash, stuffed in suitcases.

The poor may get a discount on their smartphones, but the elite are given the contracts to sell the phones.

The rakyat may be given tins of powdered milk as freebies during canvassing, but elite members are given millions of ringgit to buy a few cows and many luxury condominiums.

Zohra has not much in humility

A video of the shameful conduct of Zohra emerged a month after the incident. Despite the public opprobrium which she received, Zohra showed everyone that she is miskin by name and miskin (poor) by nature.

She lacks the intellect to reflect on her poor behaviour. She did not have much in the way of humility. She displayed an inferior understanding of people’s feelings and she was a poor communicator.

Instead of eating the humble pie, she has become more arrogant and haughty. Instead of acknowledging that she was tactless and rude, Zohra issued a statement from her hiding place, in which she declined to apologise but “forgave” KS Bawani, the student who suffered Zohra’s acid tongue.

This incident should have been a temporary frenzy and yes, we are angry because it is obvious that Zohra’s behaviour is unacceptable. Some Umno leaders and members of the BN coalition have distanced themselves from her, but it appears that Zohra is determined to prolong this crisis into a full blown affair.

The reason must be to take our attention away from Mahathir’s alleged crimes in the Sabah votes for citizenship fiasco.

Just a few months ago, Najib outlined the terms of reference for the Sabah RCI. Many have criticised the RCI for its limited scope and because its findings will not be revealed before GE13.

If the RCI proves that Umno won elections by fraud and cheating, it brings into doubt the legitimacy of this and previous Umno/BN governments. By cheating, Umno has disenfranchised the people of Malaysia and forced us to wait until GE13 to gain our choice of ruling party.

Proof of fraud and cheating will confirm that Umno/BN should not be the current government. Will the RCI be another whitewash or will its members seek to save their own skins, by leaving the sinking Umno ship?

As the extent of Mahathir’s Project IC is slowly being revealed, the importance of this RCI is increasing.

Mahathir won’t go without a fight

Just as Mahathir thought he had undermined Najib, his hopes were damned. So he tried to deflect some of the rakyat’s abhorrence of Project IC, by tarnishing the name of Tunku Abdul Rahman, the Father of Independence.

Will the RCI bring about the fall of Mahathir? No. He may have cut a pathetic figure recently but he will not go without a fight. Although the rakyat have a strong case against him, Mahathir has too many people in his pockets. They owe their success to him and he will call in his favours.

The rakyat is leading the opposition fight to topple the Mahathir regime, but their wish will not be fulfilled, just yet.

Both Najib and Mahathir are locked in a deadly battle. Najib cannot bring about Mahathir’s fall, because to do so would bring the fight right to his front door. He, like Mahathir, has a dirty past. The best Najib can do is to hold out for a few more months.

If Najib were to destroy Mahathir now, it would start a media frenzy, which would eclipse the one Zohra is facing today.

Zohra’s gaffe has caused quite a stir. She tried to put on a brave face and refused to apologise, thus avoiding an admission of guilt. Ironically, her intransigence has damaged Umno by rallying the rakyat to vote for the opposition.

——————————————————————————–

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

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 11:00 pm and is filed under
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Mariam Mokhtar
,
Sabah
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Revamp the education system

—
Disappointed Mom
 | January 22, 2013

The Malaysian Insider

JAN 22 — As a new school year is under way, it is not only students but also parents who feel, wary and uncertain of the expected changes in Year 2013.

Now that the excitement of the newly launched education blueprint has settled, what awaits Malaysian students and their parents? As a mother, I had a cursory glance, knowing fully well that the next education minister will freely make more alterations.

Through the years one thing has remained constant: the innumerable changes to the education system — the earnestness of the previous and current education ministers in implementing gross and drastic changes has turned our kids into collateral damage in their frenzy to garner votes.

Perhaps the first to lose trust in our education system are Malaysian ministers and senior government bureaucrats, who in much haste are sending their own children to private English schools or to overseas institutions — a clear indication of the dismal level and standard that our education system has sunk to.

We are all familiar with the issue of PPSMI. Though the deputy prime minister in a statement categorically said that the system with the option of studying maths and science in English would remain until 2016, the ministry, it seems, is not keeping to the word of the minister. In Year 2012 itself, maths and science books were being printed in Malay, and now for 2013, students have been told that they would be taught in BM.

Worse, some UPSR students who were educated in English for science and maths in the past years have already received BM texts! How much concern then does our Ministry of Education have for its students?

What really happened to the best-laid plans of Tun Mahathir? Certainly waylaid and “hijacked”! Not to mention the millions of public funds being spent on materials, resources and seminars to implement the teaching of science and maths in English. Now, once again the ministry will have a chance to spend more millions to revoke the system!

Increasingly, each year parents have to bear the bludgeoning costs of tuition classes, as the standard of teaching in our schools is simply inadequate to prepare our children for exams. This indeed is a huge burden on us. What we are now spending on tuition classes is close to what a private school education would cost.

Puchong parents are also faced with a lack of school buses for many of the schools in Puchong. Is the ministry even aware of this? Parents are forking out sizeable sums to private car owners for their children’s transport.

At the beginning of the year, the number of notebooks that we parents have to buy is almost unjustifiable. If you had checked last year, you would know how many of these books remained virtually unused! Thankfully, the ministry provides students with textbooks; however, the necessity of buying activity books is contributing to a huge strain on parents’ purses. We seem to be in the business of making book publishers rich.

Why does maths need to be studied as multiple choice? Is 2+2= 4? So why should it be 6, 8 or 22? These weak foundations crumble by the time students graduate and are ready for employment. The entire syllabus needs to be revamped to challenge our students and to ensure their future employability and ability to compete in an increasingly global workplace!

There is inequity in the system of streaming, which is biased to students whose mother tongue is BM. A case in point is that most of the subjects are taught and assessed in BM; so students who do not speak the language at home are disadvantaged. The system of streaming students not only erodes the confidence of the students, but gives an unfair advantage to good teachers. A good Ministry of Education would have protected the interests of students from minority groups.

While the standard of BM has risen, the standard of English has dropped drastically. Many whose mother tongue is not BM get pushed into the “last” classes. More would be gained by helping students who are not academically inclined by giving them benchmarks, additional help and good role models — not by eroding their self esteem and dumping them in the last class.

The gross indiscipline in schools is frightening. This is perhaps due to the small numbers of male teachers to counsel, mentor and discipline male students. It is also believed that secret societies and gangsterism have permeated into national schools; what is being done about this?

Our system does not have much to offer for students who are slow learners affected by ADD and ADHD. Statistics show that about 5-6 per cent of American male students seem to have some sort of learning disorder. In Malaysia, this large segment of students with learning disabilities goes undetected and undiagnosed.

The result is that this inaction becomes more visible at the tertiary level, where we see more female students. This would account for the serious dropout levels among male students due to undetected learning disorders and the absence of proper interventions or coping mechanisms for them.

A recommendation to the MoE would be for qualified medical professionals to carry out early assessments of students who are not performing well academically and introduce early intervention to put them into the mainstream. Putting these students in the “last” class with a trainee or temporary teachers is seriously not an option.

Some consideration should be given for students to be admitted into schools in Year 6 with compulsory pre-school education (which is in the blueprint). However, five years of primary schooling should suffice if students have had a pre-school education. With an additional five years at secondary education, students would be able to enter employment a year earlier, without hampering the education process.

What needs immediate consideration:

● Trained graduate teachers recruited on a merit basis from all the races would not only encourage employability of Malaysians of all races but also enhance the standards of teaching. Teachers who are trained and inculcated in good teaching strategy and methodology would achieve good student outcomes. It would also remove the necessity of sending our children to expensive tuition centres that have sprouted everywhere.

● A revamp of the syllabus to encourage and challenge the learning and thinking faculties of our students to be on par with developed countries is needed. Even our neighbour across the border has better standards than us!

● There seems to be a myopic obsession with “inwardness”. Allow the syllabus to provide a broader knowledge of other countries, cultures, ethnicities, religions, science and technology. Provide our students with a well-rounded education to be globally competitive.

● End the systemic streaming of students; it discriminates, it marginalises, for it has produced too few world-class innovators or academia.

● The mission schools were in demand and very well run. English-type national schools and mission schools should be encouraged to cater to the demand for quality education.

● Politicians should keep their hands off education and allow decisions to be made by the academicians, educationists, parents and other relevant stakeholders; most of all, allow the voices of the children to be heard.

With the ballot box awaiting, Malaysians should vote in a government that is willing to engage and implement policies that are truly in the best interest of its citizens. — aliran.com

* Disappointed Mom is the pseudonym of an occasional contributor to Aliran.

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insider.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 12:12 pm and is filed under
Education
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Tommy Thomas The Truth be Told

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 3:32 pm and is filed under
Mahathir
,
Martin Jalleh
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Whither ‘kesopanan dan kesusilaan’ on ‘Allah’ issue?

By
Mohamad Tajuddin Mohamad Rasdi
 | 11:46AM Jan 21, 2013

Malaysiakini

COMMENT I wish to comment on the irresponsible statement of Ibrahim Ali (purposely NOT using any titles) on the burning of Malay language Bibles with the name Allah. I think such statements, if left unchecked by the Malaysian public, elected representatives and especially, the prime minister himself, would create a culture of extreme violence and victimize many innocent Malaysians.

I urge peace loving and sensible Malaysian of all religious faiths to come together and denounce such ‘grandstanding statements’ that clearly violate our ‘sacred’ Rukunegara tenet of ‘Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan’.

Our forefathers have worked hard to build this nation of diverse communities, race and religions and derive the principle of ‘Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan’. I am convinced, as a Malaysian, as an academic and as a Muslim, that the May 13 tragedy that saw many innocent lives lost was not due to the ignorance of ordinary Malaysians but by politicians trying to be popular by using such fiery instructions in order to incite racial hatred.

I have read the book ‘A Singapore Story’ and some other critical writings that indicate that the culprits of our racial mistrusts and clashes were in no small part due to self-serving politicians and a media which has no sense of honour whether in the Islamic spirit or in any religious spirit.

Have we Malaysians, and especially Malays, forgotten our own principle in the Rukunegara, crafted in our own Melayu Language. Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan. As good  am I with English I can’t translate properly the word ‘kesusilaan’. The word, and I am not a scholar in Lingusitics, connotes to me such softness, tact and, politeness, concern and humility. Is there a better word than this to reflect such a great culture of the Malays?

I dare say that the Prophet Muhammad, if Allah had not intended for him to be born in Arabia, would have been a Malay. Why? Because the Prophet was the softest and most humble, polite and considerate of men.

I have read through over 20,000 hadiths from the compilations of Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Daud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Madjah along with the Muwatta and the Sirah Ibn Ishaq to conjure up a man which a hadith says that the Prophet was so ‘shy’ and gentle that even a small slave girl can lead him.

This characteristic of gentleness is totally unheard off in the boisterous, rowdy and all man’s world of the Arabs. When the Prophet Muhammad stood on the fields of Ta’if with a bloodied and scarred body after being stoned by children and adults of the settlement, he still forbade the Angel Jibrail from taking any retribution and destroy the community. Why? For ‘I am sent as a Mercy to mankind’ said the Prophet.

When Aishah asked him ‘What was your greatest fear, O Rasulullah?’ He replied that he feared of giving in to his feeling of vengeance and destroying the community with a single command. The Prophet did not fear death or bodily harm. He feared giving in to his ego and vengeful feeling that all humanity possess.

Who are we Malays then?

I, therefore ask, who are we Malays then? Are we better than the Prophet? Look at our examples. The mufti and other higher authorities have INSTRUCTED, ORDERED and DECREED that non-Muslims MUST NOT use the word Allah. The PAS Syura Council that has all the so-called great Islamic scholars went round and round their wordings until settling on almost the same tone of instruction, order and decree.

Now we have the person of Ibrahim Ali calling on the burning of the Bible or the Injil. Unless I am mistaken, Allah called on all Muslims to honour the Books of Allah in the past and its PEOPLES. Yes… yes…we can argue about what book and which Bible that have been ‘tampered’ with and all that stuff but I have read the Bible in English and I, for one, found many enlightening things that Nabi Isa says that has helped me get closer to Allah The Most High.

I think I am honouring what the Qur’an says in Surah Al-Baqara to believe in the Books. I also read other books of our great religions that have given the first idea of humaneness to human civilisation.

The whole Allah issue to me was handled as badly as it can be handled. Why? It is simply an instrument of political influence. If the so called scholars and politicians of Islam were sincerely concerned about such confusion on the Malay usage of the word Allah, there should have been a courteous call for discussion with our brothers and sisters of the Christian faith. Not instruct, order and decree first… and… then call for discussion.

What discussion? It seems that the decision has already been chiselled into stone. Where in heavens name is the Rukunegara? Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan?

Ibrahim Ali has called for the burning of the Bible. What next? Let us Malays go burn a church at 4 pm next week? Oh… while we’re at it why don’t we burn a few Christians… if we have time!

What talk is this? What country is this? Have we forgotten the decency to discuss cordially. “This is an Islamic Country and I am a Malay and so you better do as I say!” Is that the line we are taking now as Malays? Perhaps that is a Malay cultural trait… I do not know. But I DO KNOW it is NOT what the Prophet would say or do. It is NOT within the Islamic Spirit as shown by the Prophet Muhammad (may peace be upon him).

I can quote pages and pages of hadith showing the generosity and magnanimity of Muhammad Rasulullah. I can’t seem to find any of the same characteristics in Malay politicians in Malaysia.

My wife and I have raised five children and now we have a grandson. I am sure all Christian parents and Muslim parents are concerned about where this country is going and would it be safe to be a place to stay. Just because I am a Malay, with a million-strong mostly Malay civil service, and an equal number of police and military personnel of my race does not give me the right to frighten my brothers and sisters of the Christian faith… or any other faith for that matter.

So, before such volatile statement turn into regrettable actions, I call upon the last strand of decency from the politicians of the ruling party, and especially the prime minister, to denounce Ibrahim Ali and his war-mongering words. Or else, we would have to change our Rukunegara from ‘Kesopanan dan Kesusilaan’ to ‘Kekasaran dan Kegila-gilaan’.

____

MOHAMAD TAJUDDIN MOHAMAD RASDI is professor at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s School of Architecture. An eloquent writer, he has authored over 30 books, including his latest, ‘Why Listen to the Vice-Chancellor?’

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 22 January 2013, 11:55 am and is filed under
Perkasa
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


78-Day Countdown to 13GE – UMNO/BN will dish out “Lies, lies and more lies” with approach of 13GE but Malaysians must not be distracted from the Big Issues of National Reform and Renewal in 13GE

There is no sense of remorse or contrition by UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists  and their mainstream mass media (MSM) at the deluge of lies, falsehoods and invectives directed at Pakatan Rakyat parties and leaders, without regard for the most basic human decencies to respect family sufferings and sorrows because of private pain and hardships as in the case of Sarawak DAP Chairman and MP for Sibu Wong Ho Leng, his wife Irene Chang and their five children.

It is really despicable and contemptible that although Irene never gave any interview or complained against the party or party leader, a totally false and  fictitious account had been published quoting her as castigating the party and party leaders as “heartless” over Ho Leng’s “brain tumour” treatment,  even claiming that Ho Leng collected RM10 million for election expenses but only RM4 million were spent while RM6 million were hijacked by DAP Sarawak and DAP Hq.

As Ho Leng has said about the totally false and fictitious account about Irene complaint,   “there is not even one sentence in there which is true”, the RM10 million allegation like the equally preposterous claim that the DAP spent RM1.3 million to produce the recent Gangnam video, are complete fabrications.

UMNO/BN will dish out “Lies, lies and more lies” with approach of 13GE but Malaysians, including DAP and Pakatan Rakyat leaders, members and supporters,  must not be distracted from the Big Issues of National Reform and Renewal in the 13th general elections, now that the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has come up against the wall against any indefinite postponement of the polls.

The Big Issues of National Reform and Renewal include the agenda to stamp out corruption and end the debilitating illicit outflow of capital; make Malaysia safe from crime and free from the fear of crime  for its citizens, tourists and investors; restore the efficiency, independence and professionalism of key national institutions; revamp the education system to make Malaysia competitive, prosperous and progressive; and foster greater unity among Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region to make Malaysia an international  model of a multi-racial and multi-religious society which is also a successful democracy.

The unscrupulous, dishonest and dastardly resort to “Lies, Lies and More Lies” in the UMNO/BN election campaign strategy is a reflection of the growing desperation felt by UMNO/BN leaders that the 13GE may see them ejected from Federal power in Putrajaya – the first time in 55 years.

This is also why UMNO/BN leaders and propagandists are also escalating the politics of hatred and conflict, inciting racial and religious polarisation although this is the very antithesis to  Najib’s signature 1Malaysia policy for Malaysians to regard themselves as Malaysian first and their race, religion, socio-economic status and region second.

In fact, Malaysians today have never felt less “1Malaysia” in Najib’s four-year premiership since April 2009.

When former Prime Minister, Tun Mahathir, could question the citizenship  qualifications of one million non-Malays who were made citizens by Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman as part of the Merdeka Agreement and “social contract” before Merdeka in 1957, it is no less than a total repudiation of Najib’s 1Malaysia Policy.

UMNO/BN wants Malaysians to quarrel about the past – going back to over half a century.

In contrast, Pakatan Rakyat wants Malaysians to unite to build a united, tolerant, prosperous and progressive future for all our children and children’s children, so that Malaysians can stand tall in the international community of nations.

Malaysians should move forward into the future with new hopes and dreams and not allow themselves to be tied down by the past fetters of the politics of lies and falsehoods as well as the politics of racial distrust and religious animosities.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/25/pengiraan-detik-78-hari-ke-pru13-umnobn-akan-menghidangkan-penipuan-penipuan-dan-banyak-lagi-penipuan-menjelang-pru13-tetapi-rakyat-malaysia-janganlah-dialihkan-perhatian/

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 January 2013, 3:27 pm and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
DAP
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Listen,  Listen,  Listen…..

(A poem)

by Allan CF Goh

When we train an animal,

We want it to just listen,

Not to dare to stop and think,

But to ‘behave’ when chastened.

We want a real, docile being,

To a given task, hasten,

Without any talking back;

Mindless, forever craven.

This is how ‘humans’ behave,

When blinded and conditioned,

To just listen, and listen…..

Without using their notion.

They know not what things are right,

They live only permissions.

If that’s allowed to happen,

We end up an idiot nation.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 January 2013, 12:42 pm and is filed under
Poem
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Nation’s destiny in our hands

KJ John

Malaysiakini

Jan 22, 2013

In an earlier column I had postulated that the nation may be moving in the right direction after the last general election, but I had questioned whether we were moving at the right speed.

I still believe that Najib Abdul Razak has tried his absolute best to move our ‘Titanic’ in the right direction, but unfortunately his own team has been his worst enemy to date.

Even Dr Mahathir Mohamad plays wayang kulit with Najib, although in less public ways than he did with Abdullah Ahmad Badawi.

Actually, the opposition and NGOs have been better friends to him. At least they do not seem to shoot him below the belt, other than to highlight the unfortunate legacies that already surround and continue to haunt him.

Therefore I do think it is time to give the other side a chance regardless of how many uncertainties there in our minds and hearts. Yes, maybe we have to even let things slide a bit more before they can really improve. What other choice do we have as a people who have been told to “listen, listen, listen” for almost 54 years.

Nevertheless, we still cannot let the devil we already know to continue to play politics with this nation any more … his favourite song is ‘I Did It My Way’ and that ‘way’ is now becoming more obvious. It was fulfilled through various forms of bribery and corruption and the back door culture. I know and am aware that there is an alternate way.

Therefore, we must take charge of our nation by ourselves. We can move our nation to become one of the best in the world. That is because we are truly multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious people and that is our greatest asset.

Therefore, if we can master our national language, raise our standard of English and then learn a third language, we can quite easily become masters of any destiny of our personal choice.

Then too, we can also improve the quality of national governance because we will deploy multiple perspectives to appreciate, express or even understand any issue.  Not just, listen, listen, and listen more!

At the 13th GE we, as citizens (excluding illegals) must make that significance and difference. But we can only do so if we remove our greatest enemy to our so-called ambition to become a truly universal and spiritual nation: the divide and rule policy. It is unfortunately a colonial heritage but which we have now mastered and fine-tuned into an art form. Let me explain.

Newer realities

I attended a fund-raising dinner at PJ Hockey Stadium last Saturday. Anwar Ibrahim was one of the speakers. He made one poignant point which I think is worth repeating, if true.

Since he said it, I have had no time to review the validity of his story, but will choose to publish it as I now know that I appear to be taken seriously by the BN-related media people.

As Anwar was watching the closing ceremony of the Umno general assembly on TV, he noticed many people crying and wiping away their tears. Wondering why and who was making such a great speech he began to focus, and noticed that they were merely singing an old kampong-style Malay song which most Malays have learnt from young. It was a very evocative song and therefore the Umno Malays in the room were quite rightly moved to tears.

Then Anwar gave his ‘listen, listen, and listen’ version of the story he told. He said he was totally shocked when he noticed, after the song was sung, that even the MCA representatives in the Umno general assembly were clapping to their hearts’ delight.

His next question – “Did they not know the real meaning and nuance of that song?” – actually opened my eyes to some newer realities in Malaysia.

Anwar then assumed the role of a singer and true educator and informed the audience of almost 5,000 that the last stanza talks about Malays losing their lands and property to foreigners, among whom, it was implied are the Chinese and Indian Malaysians. That is why Umno Malays were crying, because they really believed that they were losing their land to foreign robber barons.

Really, really, really, is that the whole truth? Is that the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, to quote a blog site? Then charismatic Anwar gave his rendition of the song and concluded by singing that it is the Umno cronies who are the real thieves, regardless of whether we call them Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans.

I left educated that night. After all Anwar did also state that education and knowledge is the communication and dissemination of truths. Was that the whole truth?

A story of unity

When we were five young children, our father taught us about always staying united as a family. Once, in my memory, he actually told each of us to bring a stick and he showed us how he could easily break them as single units. Then he had us tie them together and demonstrated effectively that he could not as easily break them.

We as Malaysians, and yes as 1Bangsa Malaysians, must stand united in our commitment to avoid the divide and rule policy and philosophy which empowers and engenders all forms of bribery and corruption. And, I believe that yes, we can!

All we need is for about 5.8 million Malaysians to sign a pledge to say that we will not give one sen to bribery and corruption. We at OHMSI call this the ABC4Malaysians campaign. Please visit our website and make your anti-corruption pledge which we first launched in 2005.

Then the movement will really start. Remember that Gandhi said real change must start with the self.

Bribery and corruption have become endemic to the national culture. I never thought it possible. In fact I remember that in 1973 I wrote my first article on this subject for the Asian Beacon.

Since then I have studied this subject by reviewing the nature of human nature and concluded that it is in the very essence of man’s nature to lie, to cheat and to hide some truths; all in the process of pursuing and securing one’s own welfare.

Of course, all this is often glamorised as the “interests of the community” or “the interests of the nation-state” (especially if one is a politician), but the honest truth is that it is really guided and motivated by much self-interest and self-seeking security.

Therefore, I try not lie. If any reader believes that I have lied, I am sure that truthful individuals who know me will correct me. Others who do not know me can always use logic to correct and admonish me. Failing even that, I am sure that anyone can write to the editor of Malaysiakini asserting that I am lying and I am sure the editor will not ignore that complaint.

Consequently, there is never a need for me to revert to unknown blogs and assert truth seeking while remaining anonymous. When a truth-seeking blog site remains anonymous; the truth has already been established. Professor SH Nasr says, “A veil reveals as much as it hides.”

Freedom of speech remains a fundamental freedom. But let us all also be aware that the Personal Protection Data Act 2010 has taken effect since January 2013.

May God bless Malaysia at the next general election!

——————————————————————————–

KJ JOHN was in public service for 29 years. The views expressed here are his personal views and not those of any institution he is involved with. Write to him at
[email protected]
 with any feedback or views.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 23 January 2013, 7:46 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
Corruption
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


77-Day Countdown to 13GE – The last weapon to save UMNO/BN coalition from being sent to Opposition benches is to force a split in Pakatan Rakyat by driving apart PAS and DAP

The last weapon to save UMNO/Barisan Nasional coalition from being sent to the Opposition benches in Parliament in the 13th general elections is to force a split in Pakatan Rakyat by driving apart PAS and DAP.

It is a reflection of the degree of desperation of UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and spin doctors about their prospects of retaining Putrajaya in the 13GE which is looming ever nearer that they  have  revealed their hand by publicly putting in black-and-white their hope and strategy.

One of the chief UMNO/BN media spin doctors yesterday postulated that  “Pakatan parties may go own way”, on the ground that  “With chances of capturing Putrajaya slim, Pas and DAP may want to just wrest the states they fancy”.

He fancied:

“IS there a case to be made that DAP and Pas may be privately ditching the idea of taking over Putrajaya and are preparing themselves to keep the spoils of March 2008 instead?

“DAP, for instance, may want to be the biggest opposition group in the land, with one or two states in its hands, and Pas with its continued hold on Kelantan.

“This is especially so when the prognosis of Pakatan Rakyat’s performance for the next general election is generally believed to be less sterling than what supporters are made to believe.

“Apart from hardcore and partisan supporters, sober political observers, from all sides of the political divide, share a rather common reading that the chances of Pakatan taking over Putrajaya in the 13th general election are rather slim. It is not impossible, but it is slim.

“Or, to put it another way, there is a strong likelihood that Barisan Nasional will be returned to power at the federal level.”

It is the UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and spin doctors who are victims of their own fantasy for independent and “sober political observers” think that although UMNO/BN at present enjoys an edge, there is a fair chance the table will be turned during the campaign period resulting in  Pakatan Rakyat taking over Putrajaya in the 13th general election.

We don’t have to refer to the “high probability” forecast by the suspended Bank Islam chief economist Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin at the Singapore Regional Outlook Forum early this month that Pakatan Rakyat was likely to form a federal government with a majority from eight to 28 seats – with Barisan Nasional likely to win only between 97 and 107 of the 222 parliamentary seats in 13GE.

This is because the Johore Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Osman gave almost the same scenario as Azrul a few days before the Singapore Regional Outlook Forum, conceding publicly that Pakatan Rakyat could win Putrajaya in the 13GE, although he warned that the most the Pakatan Rakyat could win would be a slim majority of 5% to 10% of the parliamentary seats or a majority from 12 to 22 seats.

The UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and spin doctors cannot be unaware of the results of recent different opinion polls which generally point to Pakatan Rakyat gathering increasing support and strength in the run-up to the 13GE, with the potential and capability to turn the table during the election campaign.

Three days ago, the University of Malaya Centre for Democracy and Elections (Umcedel) director Mohamad Redzuan said that it will be “impossible” for the BN to get a two-thirds parliamentary majority, expecting BN to maintain the status quo in the 13GE.

The results of the latest Umcedel polls conducted between Dec 26 and Jan 11, however, showed much bleaker prospects for BN in the 13GE, with the difference between those who believe BN can beat PR in the 13GE slashed  in 12 – 14 months from 25% in Dec. 2011 to 5% in January 2013.

Firstly, respondents who believe that Pakatan Rakyat can take Putrajaya in the 13GE have steadily climbed from 18% in December 2011 to 21% in April 2012 to 30% in Sept. 2012 and 37% in Jan 2013.

In contrast, respondents who believe that Barisan Nasional can win the 13GE had fluctuated from 43% in  Dec. 2011 to 49% in April 2012 to 44% in Sept. 2012 and 42% in Jan 2013.

Respondents undecided or unsure who could win the 13GE fell from 39% in Dec. 2011 to 30 per cent in April 2012 and 26% in Sept 2012 and 21% in Jan 2013.

All that is needed for PR to beat BN in the race to Putrajaya is to win over more than five per cent of the undecided or unsure respondents, which stands at 21% in January 2013.

Furthermore, the latest Umcedel survey also shows that Najib  and Anwar Ibrahim are running neck-to-neck in popularity, with a  one percent point separating Najib at 43 per cent and  Anwar Ibrahim’s 42 per cent as the “most qualified to be prime minister”.

The Umcedel survey has confirmed the recent Merdeka Centre opinion poll in the last fortnight of December which found that Najib’s popularity rating has dropped to the lowest level for the whole year – 63% in December 2012 as compared to 69% in February 2012 – while only 52 per cent of voters say that the country is heading in the right direction, the lowest since May 2010.

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

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

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

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

Under these circumstances, UMNO/BN leaders, propagandists and spin doctors are just whistling in the dark when they strike the stance and adopt the posture of supreme confidence of not only winning, but winning big, in the 13GE – by conjuring up the fantasy that Pakatan Rakyat will split with the pull-out of DAP and PAS, and thereby awarding UMNO/BN a virtual walk-over in the next polls.

We must expect UMNO/BN to escalate their politics of lies and falsehoods, by intensifying their dastardly campaign on the one hand telling the Malays and Muslims the falsehood that PAS is a puppet of DAP while disseminating  the lies among the Chinese that DAP is only a stooge of PAS – a completely self-contradictory, double-faced and dishonest strategy.

Whatever our differences in Pakatan Rakyat, and DAP, PKR and PAS have differences or there will not be three component parties in Pakatan Rakyat but only one political party merging the three into one, all three of us are committed to the common objectives as laid down in the Pakatan Rakyat Common Policy Framework, Buku Jingga and the various PR Joint Declarations and Policy Statements.

We foreswear the politics of hegemony, racial hatred, religious bigotry, corruption and cronyism.

We are committed to uphold the fundamental features of the Constitution, the principles of justice, freedom, human rights, good governance, an all-out war against corruption, cronyism and abuses of power so as to build a united, harmonious, competitive, prosperous and progressive Malaysia where every Malaysian can hold his or her head high as a Malaysian anywhere in the world.

Malaysians must not therefore allow UMNO/BN to succeed in their Machiavellian politics of lies and falsehoods, irresponsibly playing the race and religious cards, to  wreck the Pakatan Rakyat chance of ushering change in 13GE, where for the first time in  the nation’s 55 years, there will be a Federal Government of the people, by the people and for the people in Putrajaya to open a new page of Malaysian nation-building – the second phase of Merdeka to free Malaysians from our local oppressors.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/25/pengiraan-detik-77-hari-ke-pru13-senjata-terakhir-untuk-menyelamatkan-perikatan-umnobn-daripada-dihantar-ke-bangku-pembangkang-ialah-dengan-mewujudkan-perpecahan-di-dalam-pakatan-rakyat-den/

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 January 2013, 8:21 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
,
DAP
,
Elections
,
Najib Razak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Sabah churches demand action against anti-Christian frenzy

 — Bob Teoh

The Malaysian Insider

Jan 24, 2013

JAN 24 — Sabah churches want the government to act decisively against the latest round of anti-Christian frenzy.

“We see the increasingly provocative attacks against the Malay-language bible — Alkitab — by certain quarters as a direct attack on the rights of Bumiputera Christians in Sabah to religious freedom as enshrined in both the Sabah and the Federal Constitution,” Rev Datuk Jerry Dusing, chairman of the National Evangelical Christian Fellowship Commission of Sabah Affairs (NECF COSA) said.

“We, therefore, urge the authorities to act immediately against such groups and individuals to the full extent of the law before the anti-Christian frenzy gets out of hand,” he said in a statement.

Dusing said it must be remembered that Sabah has always enjoyed complete religious freedom since time immemorial. Sabah was guaranteed certain safeguards known as the 20-points as a condition for the formation of Malaysia. It is no coincidence that the first of these twenty points pertains to religious freedom.

He also said the majority of Christians in Malaysia are Malay speaking Bumiputeras mainly in Sabah and Sarawak whose use the Alkitab as their Bible for their liturgy and devotional reading.

As many East Malaysians are working or studying Peninsular Malaysia, the Alkitab is also extensively used by them over there. Any attack on the Alkitab is an affront to their faith and religious liberty.

“We now see our religious freedom yet again under threat as the anti-Christian frenzy threatens to get out of hand. A right wing Malay group has even called for bibles, including the Alkitab, to be seized and burned. This is irresponsible and incendiary hate speech,” said.

Although he did not name the group, he was referring to Perkasa which made the threat three days ago.

The statement also said another Muslim group (Pembela) has also called for the halt to the printing of the Alkitab. It added that indeed, it was the Cabinet itself that decided in 2011 to allow for the continued printing and distribution of the Alkitab as part of its so-called 10-point solution to the Allah controversy.

“This is another attempt to deprive Bumiputera Christians of their Holy Scriptures,” the statement said.

NECF COSA also highlighted the call for a ban on the distribution of the Alkitab in public universities and said it must be remembered there are many Bumiputera Christians from East Malaysia studying and teaching in such universities.

“They use the Alkitab as their personal Bibles. This Alkitab ban only serves to deprive Bumiputera Christians their right to their Holy Scriptures. This very right is fundamental to religious freedom,” it said.

The statement said if such unwarranted provocation against Bumiputera Christians are left unchecked it militates against the very concept of 1 Malaysia of putting people first.

“It is time for such promises to be fulfilled. Otherwise, we may to turn out to be a nation divided by religious hatred perpetrated by irresponsible elements. There is no place for such extremists in our beloved homeland,” it added. — mysinchew.com

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 24 January 2013, 7:56 am and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
Constitution
,
Religion
,
Sabah
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


76-Day Countdown to 13GE – Support for the clean-up of judicial corruption in the past 25 years, including re-opening of the 33-page allegations in 1996 by Malaysia’s first judicial whistle-blower involving 112 allegations against 12 judges

I fully support the call by three former Court of Appeal judges for the re-opening of old cases of graft allegations against judges, including the 33-page complaint by Malaysia’s first judicial whistleblower in 1996 involving 112 allegations of corruption, abuses of power and misconduct against 12 judges,  because witnesses might be prepared to come forward now.

The trio, Tan Sri V.C. George, Datuk Shaik Daud Ismail and Datuk K.C. Vohrah are right when they said that the public was not satisfied that previous allegations had been properly looked into.

In fact, following the testimonies in the Royal Commission of Inquiry into the V.K.Lingam Video Clip (2007-2008), I had reiterated in Parliament what I had raised in Parliament in 1996, calling for full investigations into the 112 allegations of judicial corruption, abuses of power and misconduct against 12 judges which had been made by a sitting High Court judge at the time, Datuk Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid.

This is because the testimony at the Lingam Video Clip Royal Commission of Inquiry about bribery and corruption of judges, including the then Chief Justice, reminded Malaysians, especially political leaders, MPs, judges and lawyers of the notorious “Ides of March” speech in 1996, when the then Attorney-General Tan Sri Mohtar Abdullah shocked Malaysians with the revelation of a “33-page poison-pen letter” which made 112 allegations of corruption, abuses of power and misconduct against 12 judges at the Conference of Judges in Kuching in March 1996.

Mohtar publicly issued a directive to the police to launch investigations to “ferret out” and “bring to justice” the “conspirators”, “brutish beasts” and “treacherous elements” out to “discredit the judiciary and subvert justice” in the country.

Four months later, Mohtar announced the close of the case when he revealed that a high court judge was the one behind the 33-page poison-pen letter against the judiciary and that the judge concerned had resigned.

The judge was Syed Ahmad Idid Syed Abdullah Idid, who had gone on public record a decade later to declare that his allegations were never really investigated, which had been confirmed by former Attorney-General Tan Sri Abu Talib who lamented that “on the other hand, the poor judge who wrote it was investigated”.

It is time that justice must be done in the case of Syed Ahmad Idid’s allegations in 1996.

But the  re-opening of old cases of graft allegations against judges should not be confined to Syed Ahmad Idid’s allegations, but should include all allegations of judicial graft and misconduct since the sacking of Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah in 1988, including  the corruption cases referred to by the former Chief Justice, Tun Ahmad Fairuz Sheikh Abdul Halim, who said publicly in March 2007 that there were judges who were corrupt but who failed to follow up such public exposes either with police reports or establishment of judicial tribunals against the corrupt judges concerned.

As George rightly pointed out, there is no statute of limitation on prosecuting crime and therefore no reason why old cases could not be re-opened.

The time has come to fully restore public confidence in the just rule of law and a truly independent judiciary in Malaysia by launching a clean-up of judicial graft in the past 25 years, including the re-opening of the 33-page allegations in 1996 by Malaysia’s first judicial whistleblower involving 112 allegations against 12 judges.

If there is no political will under the present administration to do justice to judges, whether currently serving or past judges, this is another reason why the time has come for change in the 13GE.

Artikel ini juga boleh didapati dalam Bahasa Malaysia di:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/29/pengiraan-detik-76-hari-ke-pru13-sokongan-kepada-pembersihan-korupsi-badan-kehakiman-sejak-25-tahun-lalu-termasuklah-membuka-semula-dakwaan-33-mukasurat-pada-1996-oleh-pemberi-maklumat-bada/

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 January 2013, 5:03 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Elections
,
Judiciary
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Academicians who think only of Titles, Trips & Trophies

By Martin Jalleh

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 January 2013, 12:24 pm and is filed under
Education
,
university
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Beng Hock: The dead brought to life in documentary

Steve Oh

CPI

Teoh Beng Hock was the man who died while in the custody of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) headquarters in Shah Alam.

We read about him, we saw his photo in the news, and we remember the emotive images of his sobbing sister.

We knew him as a political worker.

He was law-abiding and trusting of the MACC, a government anti-corruption agency – the good guys who go after the bad guys.

It was Teoh’s fatal mistake in trusting them.

He had gone to their office to help in their investigation over a minor expense, RM 2,400 to be exact, incurred by his boss, a state assemblyman who is a member of the Selangor exco (state executive committee).

We know the rest of the story.

We saw the haunting photo of his body sprawled on the fifth floor of the Plaza Masalam building where the MACC office was located.

We saw the torn pants and I imagined his last thoughts moments before he hit the ground and his young life ended.

A picture paints a thousand words. A sad one draws a thousand tears and makes the widow cry.

Teoh’s loved ones, his parents, his sister and his wife made a widow after a posthumous marriage, still can’t talk about Beng Hock without choking and we sense their grief and despair.

I could feel their pain as Teoh’s widow wiped the tears from her eyes with her gentle finger and could not answer a question. Such sorrow you cannot hide from the camera.

The big cover-up began long before the news of Teoh’s death got out.

To the countless number of Malaysians including I, who still point the finger at the MACC, Teoh was a stranger to the public, another cog in the political machinery where part-players are never in the limelight.

Timely exploration by an insider

Tricia Yeoh in her award-winning documentary on Teoh Beng Hock titled Rights of the Dead,released late last year, has brought him closer to us.

It is a timely work because like so many who died in mysterious circumstances Teoh can easily slip out of the public psyche into history.

 “I really wanted to show how the family suffered through it…” said Yeoh at a Freedom Filmfest gathering.

Her first-hand knowledge as a staffer of the Selangor government had given her an intimate knowledge of the “unresolved case.”

The short film provides a succinct account of events before and after Teoh’s death and leaves the viewer still with the nagging proverbial question – “Who did it?”

After watching Yeoh’s documentary that won the Justin Louis Award FFF2012, I realised that more than feeling chagrin at the government for his death, we owe Teoh Beng Hock the moral obligation to finish what he had set out to do.

He wanted his country to be a better place.

I got to know more about the man who the public still think was murdered despite an official inquest and a royal commission of inquiry into his death that resulted in an open verdict.

Teoh was a true Malaysian, a promising young man who felt that working for a politician was one way he could put conviction to work.

 Unlike those who only complain, he acted and got involved in helping a politician to change the country he loved.

It was a noble desire for which he paid the ultimate price.

Many Malaysians hold the government responsible for the deaths in MACC and police custody, and which have not been justly dealt with.

 The culprits still roam free. The MACC man in charge of Teoh’s case was promoted away from where Teoh had died.

As for the police, they refused to act on the recommendations of a royal commission to enhance police standards and accountability.

This act of omission has signed the death warrants of more who will die in police custody because some think that a police uniform is licence to act above the law.

 But Teoh did not die in police custody because he was a suspected criminal.

He died in the custody of the government’s anti-corruption agents whom he had gone to help.

Teoh’s death sounded the warning bells that something is drastically remiss with the MACC modus operandi.

” It can happen to anyone including me,” said Yeoh in an interview.

The royal commission blamed the MACC officers for their modus operandi that caused Teoh to die short of saying they killed Teoh.

 But we are none the wiser because the royal commission’s final decision was neither homicide nor suicide. An earlier inquest gave a verdict of suicide that was opposed by Teoh’s family and the public.

 It left many unanswered questions but to many in the public, they know why Teoh died but they do not have the smoking gun. And circumstantial evidence while compelling, is not enough to make the government, often seen as partial to the police, to bring about any criminal charges.

Any Joe Public could fall victim

The Unknown Soldier is a legend and remembered every year, but the many ‘unknown’ deaths in government custody are uninvestigated and forgotten because they never caught the public eye.

And now Malaysians are confronted with another death in police custody, that of Cheah Chin Lee, 36, in Penang. And again the death is shrouded in mystery, a man who had no reason to kill himself was found hanged in the police lock-up.

In her short documentary Tricia Yeoh succeeded in drawing the viewer closer to Beng Hock, the man of conviction, not just the victim of murder.

 And viewers are poignantly reminded that they ‘cannot be neutral’ in light of injustice, said Yeoh in an interview.

Maybe I have a soft spot but who could be so heartless as to not be affected when a film allows you to take a closer look at someone’s untimely death. It could have been someone close to us – it could have been you or me, as Yeoh did not forget to remind us.

The video brought the truth closer to my heart and the tears to my eyes. It was such a gratuitous and senseless death and I keep asking myself why over and over again.

 Why do Malaysians die in government custody – in the local police lock-up, in the prisons, in the MACC office?

Why are there so many deaths in custody and still there is no royal commission into those deaths? There is no public outrage, no taking to the streets. No indication it is all going to stop.

If the ‘system sucks’ as they say it is because we allow it and do not protest enough. And Yeoh makes her point in a polite but poignant way.

 I guess we can’t demonstrate over every single act of injustice because many believe a change of government and the purge of corruption may make the radical difference.

 To cure any sickness you have to treat the cause not the symptoms and you can’t be indifferent or neutral. He or she who is not against evil abets it and may be its victim. Yeoh could not remain neutral because the system compels us to take political sides and it is not the political party but what it does that wins our support.

Many holes in MACC story

Teoh Beng Hock did not deserve to die – no Malaysian deserves to die when in the supposedly safe hands of the police or enforcement officers who are trained to uphold the law and protect the public.

No one can convince me that Teoh Beng Hock was not tortured or roughed up as to want to hang around the MACC office when he could have left after the interview, if in fact we accept the MACC explanation.

The official story did not stack up.

The answers to deaths in custody never do. And the victims and their loved ones never get justice in most cases. Those who create fiction to cover up the fact and their culpability will eventually have to own up, hopefully, not always on their death bed.

If indeed it was true Teoh asked to stay back, he must have needed to recover from his ordeal, which might have included physical abuse, it explains why Thai pathologist Dr Pornthip pointed to the unexplained pre-fall injury on Teoh’s neck and her opinion that he was ‘murdered’.

And the anecdotal testimony of someone interviewed in the documentary, who was once roughed up by the MACC, backs the suspicion of Teoh’s own treatment at the hands of his interrogators.

Beng Hock was ‘collateral damage’

Tricia Yeoh (left) a first-time film-maker weaved a simple storyline using news footage and personal interviews and guided us through a labyrinth of witnesses including a former top government crime investigator who spoke of shortcomings in police investigations into Teoh’s death.

The impact on me was not the brilliance of its production, much of it was a simple point and record single camera work, but the authenticity and poignancy of Teoh’s death itself and the little details like his desire to serve his country that filled the pieces in the jigsaw for me.

Yeoh got to the point and there’s only so much you can cover in a short film and she succeeded in her aim.

If there was a crucial missing piece, it is ‘Why?’ the nagging question.

Why take away the life of someone who did not play any pivotal role in politics? Why did Teoh Beng Hock have to die?

Because we know he would not have killed himself when he had so much to live for –an imminent wedding and new role as a husband, and the thought of having a son would be enough reason for any man to want to live.

There are many hypotheses on Teoh’s death but there is one foregone conclusion: Teoh was the collateral damage in what now appears a political witchhunt.

 The truth of how he died may emerge some day as it often does in Malaysia because scandals are often buried in shallow graves and the skeletons will rise to tell the truth.

 Cover-up has always been the way of evading the truth. And it is young people like Tricia Yeoh who will keep the fire for justice burning.

Teoh Beng Hock is a political martyr. Yeoh’s documentary has certainly made it possible and easier to continue to tell Teoh Beng Hock’s story and to seek eventual justice for him, his family and friends.

But there is no video of Teoh’s interview with the MACC officers.

A recording would have saved his life and I trust it is standard procedure now for the MACC and it should also be in places where people are held in custody.

Story told for the sake of the son

A documentary film of this nature was not made with the singular aim to win awards at film festivals. Films of this genre are not made to entertain us and impress us with its artistry in the making.

I may not be presumptuous that Tricia Yeoh, a talented and concerned young Malaysian, a fine woman of conscience had meant that we take the message of the film to heart and act on it.

It was a story that had to be told. It is a film that deserved to win the award and Yeoh succeeded in her goal. Its message to me is that we need to vindicate Beng Hock’s death by bringing his murderers, whether intentional or otherwise, to justice and to ensure that it can never happen again.

Justice is unlikely to be given under the incumbent government and another death did happen again, not long after Teoh’s.

 Ahmad Sarbani Mohammed, a Malay custom officer was the victim this time, and Malaysians must have felt a sense of deja vu, because like Teoh Beng Hock he also fell to his death while in MACC custody.

 We know even less of this man’s death than we do of Beng Hock’s. He too deserves to have his story told.

The least we can do for Beng Hock is to ensure his young son will get a life his father would have given him had he returned from the MACC office that fateful day.

“Your Daddy was a hero, he died serving his country,” we must tell the boy.

Whatever our feelings on politics or our allegiances, justice must be master.

Putting The System under scrutiny

Justice delayed is justice denied, and justice denied is a crime unpunished and a victim doubly victimized while the perpetrator goes scot free.

 And I hope the families of Kugan, the most well known of Indian deaths in police custody and others who also died in custody will get the justice their families and friends demand and deserve, and that the public want to see.

Corruption is the country’s cancer but a government that does nothing about deaths in custody, and in fact promotes those responsible for Beng Hock’s death sends the wrong message.

Teoh Beng Hock, Kugan, Ahmad Sarbani Mohamed – their unjust deaths have come to symbolize the tyranny of evil that must be challenged for under close scrutiny it is the same bloody evil that gave us the murders in the killing fields and that shock us to the core.

Evil rears its ugly head in different ways and different places but the victims always suffer an unjust and untimely death and their loved ones get a life sentence of suffering and sorrow.

Whoever we are, we simply cannot stand by and watch others die at the hands of sanctioned criminals whoever they are who abuse the power we gave them.

 We are our brother’s keeper and we are responsible to prevent the widow’s tears.

The system must change. The corrupt must go.

 We must work for good governance because corruption results in the deaths of innocent Malaysians and any death in the custody of the government is one death too many.

A vote for the change Beng Hock wanted

The Rights of the Dead is a documentary every Malaysian should watch and realise that you can never trust any government agency while you are in their custody because of what happened to Teoh Beng Hock.

It is a warning not to be treated lightly that those who are unfortunate to be placed in the custody of the authorities over the most minor matter may end up dead.

 It is not to cow us but to compel us to bring the culprits to court and to ensure evil never triumphs because the good will do something.

The only safeguard is to ensure only the trustworthy get to hold office and the system makes any lawbreaker accountable and no one is allowed to be above the law.

Responsible leadership and responsible systems are a country’s best safeguards.

I am glad Tricia Yeoh did the film and look forward to more of such films and the Freedom Film Festival people are a real asset to humanity and the film industry and I applaud them.

A vote for Teoh Beng Hock is the least we can do for him and the country he loved. A vote for Teoh is a vote for the change he wanted.

 Change will better safeguard the rights of the living.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 January 2013, 7:15 pm and is filed under
Corruption
,
Teoh Beng Hock
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Meaningful Protest

By Allan CF Goh

Religion In Protest

Religion is there for mankind

To discover his soul and its kind

It’s there for his spiritual need

Be better based on enlightened deed

Religion must preach righteousness

Built up with karma of real kindness

So as to enhance his belief

To bring benign religious relief

Religion clothed in intemperance

Demeans its true holy forbearance

It demands the highest standard

Of behaviour free from the dastard

Any religion worth its fame

Must act rightly to defend its name

Adherents must rightly protest

Foul falsehood that all humans detest

To bring the truth into the light

And to make matters all clear and right

But that does not condone murder

Regardless of the hurt of the slander

The deed of crude protestation

And rude violent intimidation

That threaten death, harm to others

Dump its values down the gutter

So as not to be trivialised

Religionists must act civilised

Not be diverted with trifles

Not with insignificance ruffled

Religion needs its wholesomeness

To safeguard its sacred holiness

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 January 2013, 12:35 pm and is filed under
Religion
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pengiraan Detik 77 Hari ke PRU13 – Senjata terakhir untuk menyelamatkan perikatan UMNO/BN daripada dihantar ke bangku Pembangkang ialah dengan mewujudkan perpecahan di dalam Pakatan Rakyat dengan memisahkan PAS dan DAP

Senjata terakhir untuk menyelamatkan perikatan UMNO/BN daripada dihantar ke bangku Pembangkang ialah dengan mewujudkan perpecahan di dalam Pakatan Rakyat dengan memisahkan PAS dan DAP

Tindakan itu mencerminkan tahap terdesaknya pemimpin, propagandis dan tukang putar UMNO/BN mengenangkan peluang mereka untuk mempertahankan Putrajaya dalam PRU13 yang semakin hampir sehingga keterdesakkan itu terpapar di dalam harapan dan strategi mereka.

Salah seorang tukang putar media UMNO/BN semalam menganjurkan bahawa “Pakatan parties may go own way”, berdasarkan andaian “Dengan peluang menawan Putrajaya semakin tipis, PAS dan DAP mungkin mahu merampas negeri yang mereka suka”.

Beliau menyatakan:

 “IS there a case to be made that DAP and Pas may be privately ditching the idea of taking over Putrajaya and are preparing themselves to keep the spoils of March 2008 instead?

“DAP, for instance, may want to be the biggest opposition group in the land, with one or two states in its hands, and Pas with its continued hold on Kelantan.

“This is especially so when the prognosis of Pakatan Rakyat’s performance for the next general election is generally believed to be less sterling than what supporters are made to believe.

“Apart from hardcore and partisan supporters, sober political observers, from all sides of the political divide, share a rather common reading that the chances of Pakatan taking over Putrajaya in the 13th general election are rather slim. It is not impossible, but it is slim.

“Or, to put it another way, there is a strong likelihood that Barisan Nasional will be returned to power at the federal level.”

Pemimpin, propagandis dan tukang putar UMNO/BN yang merupakan mangsa fantasi mereka sendiri memandangkan “pemerhati politik yang waras” dan bebas memikirkan sungguhpun UMNO/BN ketika ini menikmati kelebihan, terdapat peluang yang keadaan mungkin berubah seaktu tempoh berkempen lalu memberikan Pakatan Rakyat kemenangan mengambil alih Putrajaya dalam pilihan raya ke-13.

Kita tidak perlu merujuk kepada “kemingkinan tinggi” yang diramalkan ketua ekonomi Bank Islam yang telah digantung Azrul Azwar Ahmad Tajuddin di Singapore Regional Outlook Forum awal bulan ini bahawa Pakatan Rakyat berkemungkinan membentuk kerajaan persekutuan dengan majoriti 28 kerusi – Barisan Nasional pula berkemungkinan memenangi hanya 97 dan 107 kerusi daripada 222 kerusi parlimen dalam PRU13.

Ini kerana Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Abdul Ghani Osman memberikan senario yang hampir serupa seperti Azrul beberapa hari sebelum Singapore Regional Outlook Forum, menyatakan secara terbuka Pakatan Rakyat boleh menang dengan majoriti tipis 5% hingga 10% kerusi Parlimen atau majoriti daripada 12 hingga 22 kerusi.

Pemimpin, propagandis dan tukang putar UMNO/BN tidak mungkin tidak sedar akan keputusan tinjuan terbaru yang secara amnya menunjukkan himpunan Pakatan Rakyat meningkatkan sokongan dan kekuatan menjelang PRU13, dengan peluang dan kemampuan untuk mengubah segalanya ketika kempen pilihan raya.

Tiga hari lalu, pengarah Pusat Kajian Demokras dan Plihan Raya (Umcedel) Mohamad Redzuan mengatakan bahawa “mustahil” untuk BN mendapat semula dua pertiga majoriti di parlimen, menjangkakan BN mengekalkan status quo dalam PRU13.

Keputusan undian terbaru yang dijalankan Umcedel antara 26 Disember dan 11 Januari, bagaimana pun, menunjukkan peluang yang lebih gelap buat BN dalam PRU13, dengan perbeazan antara mereka yang percaya BN mampu menewaskan PR dalam PRU13 berkurangan daripada 25% pada Disember 2011 kepada 5% pada Januari 2013.

Pertama sekali, responden yang percaya Pakatan Rakyat akan memperoleh Putrajaya dalam PRU13 meningkat dari 18% pada Disember 2011 kepada 21% pada April 2012 kepada 30% pada September 2012 dan 37% pada Januari 2013.

Sebaliknya, responden yang percaya bahawa Barisan Nasional boleh memenangi PRU13 telah menurun dari 43% pada Disember 2011 kepada 49% pada April 2012 kepada 44% pada September 2012 dan 42% pada Januari 2013.

Responden yang tidak membuat keputusan atau tidak pasti siapa yang boleh memenangi PRU13 jatuh dari 39% pada Disember 2011 kepada 30% pada April 2012 dan 26% pada September 2012 dan 21% pada Januari 2013.

Semua yang diperlukan untuk PR menewaskan BN di dalam perlumbaan ke Putrajaya adalag untuk memenangi lima peratus responden yang tidak membuatr keputusan atau tidak pasti, iaitu sebanyak 21% pada Januari 2013.

Tambahan pula, tinjauan terkini Umcedel juga menunjukkan popularity Najib dan Anwar Ibrahim sangat hamper, dengan hanya satu peratus yang membezakan Najib dengan 43 peratus dan 42 peratus Anwar Ibrahim sebagai “yang paling layak menjadi Perdana Menteri”.

Tinjauan  Umcedel telah mengesahkan bahawa pandangan undian Merdeka Centre terbaru dalam dua minggu terakhir Disember yang mendapatru kedudukan popularity Najib telah jatuh ke tahap paling rendah untuk untuk keseluruhan tahun itu – 63% pada Disember 2012 jika dibandingkan dengan 69% pada Febuari 2012 – sementara hanya 52 perartus pengundi mengatakan negara sedang menuju ke arah yang betul, paling rendah sejak Mei 2010.

Mantan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, mempunyai kedudukan undian  yang lebih baik sebelum pilihan raya umum Mac 2008 berbanding Najib menjelang pilihan raya umum ke-13 akan tetapi itu tidak menyelamatkan jawatan Abdullah.

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

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

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

Di dalam keadaan ini, pemimpin, propagandis dan tukang putar UMNO/BN hanya membuat jangkaan tanpa asas ketika mereka membuat pendirian dan mengambil kedudukan penuh keyakinan bukan sahaja berkenaan kemenangan, tetapi juga menang besar dalam PRU13 – dengan mencipta fantasi bahawa Pakatan Rakyat akan berpecah dengan DAP dan Pas menarik diri, dan terus menghadiahkan UMNO/BN jalan mudah dalam pilihan raya akan datang.

Kita harus menjangkakan UMNO/BN bakal memperbanyakkan politik penipuan dan pembohongan dengan menambah kempen pengecut memberitahu orang Melayu dan umat Islam pembohongan bahawa PAS merupakan boneka DAP pada waktu yang sama menipu orang Cina bahawa DAP hanyalah pelawak buat PAS – strategi bercanggah, dua muka dan tidak jujur.

Apa pun perbezaan kita di dalam Pakatan Rakyat, sama ada DAP, PKR dan PAS mempunyai perbezaan ataupun tiada tiga parti komponen di dalam Pakatan Rakyat kerana semua telah menyatu menjadi satu parti, kami bertiga tetap beriltizam dengan matlamat bersama seperti mana yang termaktub di dalam Kerangka Dasar Bersama Pakatan Rakyat, Buku Jingga dan pelbagai Pengisytiharan dan Kenyataan Dasar Bersama

Kami menolak politik hagemoni, kebencian kaum, pelampau agama, rasuah dan kronisme.

Kami komited untuk menegakkan perkara asas di dalam Perlembagaan, prinsip-prinsip keadilan, kebebasan, hak asasi manusia, tadbir urus yang baik dan memerangi rasuah, kronisme dan penyalahgunaan kuasa bagi membangunkan Malaysia yang harmoni, berdaya saing, makmur dan progresif yang mana setiap rakyat Malaysia boleh berbangga sebagai rakyat Malaysia walau berada di mana-mana pun ceruk dunia.

Rakyat Malaysia dengan itu tidak boleh membiarkan UMNO/BN berjaya dalam politik Machiavellian penipuan dan pembohongan, dengan tidak bertanggungjawab bermain api perkauman dan agama, yang mana untuk pertama kali di dalam 55 tahu sejarah negara, akan wujudnya Kerajaan Persekutuan rakyat, dari rakyat, untuk rakyat dan buat mereka di Putrajaya membuka lembaran baru dalam pembinaan bangsa Malaysia – fasa kedua Merdeka untuk membebaskan rakyat Malaysia daripada penindas dalam negara.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/24/77-day-countdown-to-13ge-the-last-weapon-to-save-umnobn-coalition-from-being-sent-to-opposition-benches-is-to-force-a-split-in-pakatan-rakyat-by-driving-apart-pas-and-dap/

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 January 2013, 10:47 am and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
DAP
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pengiraan Detik 78 Hari ke PRU13 – UMNO/BN akan menghidangkan “Penipuan, penipuan dan banyak lagi penipuan” menjelang PRU13 tetapi rakyat Malaysia janganlah dialihkan perhatian daripada Isu Penting Reformasi dan Pembaharuan Nasional dalam PRU13

Tiada tanda penyesalan atau keinsafan pada pemimpin, propagandis dan media perdana UMNO/BN dalam menghujani parti-parti dan pemimpin Pakatan Rakyat dengan penipuan dan pembohongan, tanpa sedikit pun rasa hormat kepada kesengsaraan dan kesedihan keluarga yang berpunca daripada kesakitan dan kesukaran seperti yang terjadi pada Pengerusi DAP Sarawak dan Ahli Parlimen Sibu Wong Ho Leng, isterinya Irene Change dan lima anak mereka.

Benar-benar keji dan hina apabila walaupun Irene tidak pernah diwawancara atau merungut tentang parti dan pemimpin parti, namun sebuah kenyataan palsu telah diterbitkan kononnya mengatakan beliau bertindak menyelar parti dan pemimpin parti sebagai tidak berhati perut berkenaan rawatan “tumor otak” Ho Leng, malah mendakwa Ho Leng mengumpul RM10 juta belanja pilihan raya tetapi Cuma RM4 juta yang dibelanjakan sementara RM6 juta dirampas oleh DAP Sarawak dan ibupejabat DAP.

Seperti yang telah Ho Leng katakan berkenaan kenyataan yang palsu dan rekaan berkenaan Irene, “tiada satu ayat pun yang benar”, dakwaan RM10 juta itu pula sama seperti dakwaan tidak munasabah bahawa DAP membelanjakan RM1.3 juta untuk menghasilkan video klip Gangnam baru-baru ini, semuanya rekaan semata-mata.

UMNO/BN akan menghidangkan “Penipuan, penipuan dan banyak lagi penipuan” dengan menjelangnya PRU13 tetapi rakyat Malaysia, termasuklah pemimpin, ahli dan penyokong DAP dan Pakatan Rakyat, jangan dialih perhatian daripada Isu Penting Reformasi dan Pembaharuan Nasional dalam pilihan raya umum ke-13, memandangkan kini Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak sukar untuk menangguh lagi pilihan raya ke suatu waktu yang tidak pasti.

Isu Penting Reformasi dan Pembaharuan Nasional termasuklah agenda menghapuskan rasuah dan mengakhiri pengaliran keluar modal haram; menjadikan Malaysia selamat daripada jenayah dan bebas daripada rasa bimbang terhadap jenayah buat rakyat, pelancong dan pelabur; memulihkan kecekapan, kebebasan dan perofesionalisme institusi nasional utama; merombak sistem pendidikan untuk menjadikan Malaysia berdaya saing, makmur dan progresif; serta memupuk perpaduan di kalangan rakyat Malaysia tanpa mengira kaum, agama atau tempat untuk menjadikan Malaysia model antarabangsa masyarakat berbilang kaum dan agama yang juga negara demokrasi berjaya.

Kecenderungan tidak bertanggungjawab, tidak jujur dan pengecut untuk menggunakan “Penipuan, Penipuan dan Banyak Lagi Penipuan” dalam kempen pilihan raya UMNO/BN mencerminkan keterdesakan yang dirasai pemimpin UMNO/BN bahawa PRU13 mungkin melihatkan mereka dikeluarkan dari kuasa Persekutuan di Putrajaya – pertama kali di dalam tempoh 55 tahun.

Inilah sebabnya mengapa pemimpin dan propagandis UMNO/BN semakin galak dengan politik kebencian dan konflik, mengapi-apikan perpecahan kaum dan agama walaupun perbuatan itu bercanggah dengan dasar 1Malaysia Najib yang mahukan rakyat Malaysia menganggap diri mereka sebagai rakyat Malaysia dahulu kemudian barulah kaum, agama, status sosio-ekonomi dan tempat.

Hakikatnya, rakyat Malaysia hari ini tidak pernah berasa kurang “1Malaysia” dalam empat tahun pemerintahan Najib sejak April 2009.

Sewaktu mantan Perdana Menteri, Tun Mahathir, mempersoal kelayakan kewarganegaraan satu juta bukan Melayu yang diberikan kewarganegaraan oleh Bapa Malaysia, Tunku Abdul Rahman sebagai sebahagian daripada Persetujuan Merdeka dan “kontrak sosial” sebelum Merdeka pada tahun 1957, ia adalah tidak lain penolakan terus terhadap Dasar 1Malaysia Najib.

UMNO/BN mahukan rakyat Malaysia terus bertelingkah berkenaan masa lalu – kembali ke separuh abad dulu.

Sebaliknya, Pakatan Rakyat mahu rakyat Malaysia bersatu untuk membina masa depan yang bersatu, toleran, makmur dan progresif untuk semua anak cucu kita, supaya rakyat Malaysia boleh berdiri sama tinggi dalam masyarakat antarabangsa.

Rakyat Malaysia sepatutnya maju ke hadapan dengan impian dan harapan baru dan tidak membiarkan diri kita terikat dengan belenggu politik penipuan dan pembohongan juga politik keraguan antara kaum dan permusuhan agama.

This article is also available in English at:
https://blog.limkitsiang.com/2013/01/23/78-day-countdown-to-13ge-umnobn-will-dish-out-lies-lies-and-more-lies-with-approach-of-13ge-but-malaysians-must-not-be-distracted-from-the-big-issues-of-national-reform-a/

                This entry was posted on Friday, 25 January 2013, 10:43 am and is filed under
1Malaysia
,
DAP
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
Najib Razak
,
Pakatan Rakyat
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.