Dr. Teng, why don’t you stroke your own pen?

By
Chan Lilian

I had wanted to write this but was caught up with house moving so I didn’t manage to hit while the iron is hot.

Few days ago, there is a report in Malaysiakini where Datuk Dr. Teng Hock Nan openly told media that CM Lim Guan Eng could have saved Kampung Buah Pala with a stroke of pen. I was very pissed with that sort of statement, coming from what was supposed to be one of the candidate vying for the Chief Minister position before the last general election.

Of course, it is open knowledge that I am a fan of CM Lim. But that’s not my main discontentment. It is not about Lim Guan Eng. It is about Penang.

The statement from Datuk Dr. Teng is deemed very mischievous and irresponsible. He, being a Penangite and also in Gerakan should have known that the Kampung Buah Pala issue had been turned into a racial issue. Therefore, if he is responsible and love peace and harmony in Penang, he would have kept his mouth shut instead of adding fuel to fire.

Makkal Sakthi, Hindraf and MIC had gone into Kampung Buah Pala to turn the residents against the Chinese. Their members have added salt to the wounds of the affected residents and put the blame on the Chinese Chief Minister and Chinese developer. I had been there and know what kind of racial tauntings the ‘imported’ demonstrators are capable of uttering.

Instead of letting the issue die down quietly, Datuk Dr. Teng had once again attempted to start another round of animosities and hostilities between the Indians and Chinese.

Therefore, Dr. Teng, I am so very thankful that a person like you had failed to be our Chief Minister. Otherwise, I wonder what our Penang state will turn into with a person like you who have only your own interests and not the whole state.

Oh yeah, Dr. Teng, you asked CM Lim to ’stroke of a pen’ to save Kampung Buah Pala without giving second thought to the repercussion. It would have been RM150 million of our Penangites’ money. You are merely blowing hot air, Dr. Teng. I can bet that if it had been you who is the CM, the Kampung Buah Pala folks wouldn’t even have a chance to see you. Probably, they would have taken the RM75K flat and nothing else. Here, CM Lim and his deputies had endured name callings, barging into his office and all sorts of disrespectful manners and they still open their doors to the Kampung Buah Pala folks.

Many years ago, you refused to stroke of a pen to give me a valid medical certificate because you wanted to remain the ‘clean panel of company doctors who don’t issue MCs’. I was really sick and yet, you refused to sign the MC because you want to remain in the good books of my bosses. I had no voice, a bad inflamed tonsils and had fever and yet, you dare not stroke your pen. Now, you want to act hero and talk big. Come on lah, don’t try to fool us. We are not easily fooled. Remember? We Penangites voted all of you out of Penang?

And to those people who are trying to challenge the Chief Minister of Penang to a debate, I think I have something to tell you. This is CM Lim’s favourite blast to people like that. “Ambil cermin, tengok muka sendiri” Who are you people lah? You think our CM has nothing better to do than to argue with a bunch of kiddoes ah? The only reason he challenged ex-CM is because he could mince the ex-CM like a teppanyaki chef. Chop chop chop, mince mince mince, grill grill grill and swallow.

Moral of the story : Hell hath no fury like an ex-executive secretary who was denied MC because a chicken doc dare not stroke his pen.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 27 September 2009, 5:18 pm and is filed under
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5 global fundamentals for a country to become high-income developed nation

by Dr. Chen Man Hin

Prime Minister Najib expressed his intention to make Malaysia a high income country, like the developed countries in Asia. America and Europe.

To reach that status, the per capita income (pci) of a malaysian citizen must be at least US$11,700.  presently per capita income is $7500.

Malaysia pci was  US500 at independence in 1957. It took 52 years to achieve $7500.  can malaysia reach a  pci of US 11700 in the year 2020 and fulfill  the Vision 2020 dream of Tun Mahathir?

There are five fundamental conditions that Malaysia must possess  in order to reach high income status:

1. A united Malaysia where all the races are equal and there is freedom to practise their cultures, religions with equal opportunites in politics, economy and in society.

The whole world is moving towards  multiracial and multicultural ethics in most countries. racial tolerance has replaced  racial bias and discrimination. The election of  Obama  as the first black president of USA signifies that racialism is not a problem with world countries anymore.

Unfortunately, Malaysia does not follow a multiracial philosophy. UMNO the dominant ruling party of Barisan espouses a racial policy, that of KETUANAN MELAYU, where the Malays are considered as the master race.

This racial policy have caused disunity and hampered economic and social progress in Malaysia.

Second, a nation aspiring to be developed must be free from corruption. Transparency International reported that Malaysia was number 47 on the corruption perception ranking, compared with Singapore 4th, Hong Kong 12th, Japan 18.

Transparency International Malaysia reported that 76% of the people believe that the government is ineffective in fighting corruption. It stated that the Malaysian Anti Corruption Commission was not efficient as it is not an independent body unlike the HK  Independent Anti Corruption Commission.

Third.  A sound education system is important TO train students to be knowledgeable, to be multilingual and to be  trained in science and Information Technology and to produce educated technicians and engineers, and managers for business,  commerce,  and industries.

Fourth is to have a culture that  fosters merit and creativity. A developed country puts great emphasis on intelligence and creativity. It will require citizens who are coached and trained to be creative and to innovate. It will require people who can utilise  the country’s resources and turn them into products which are demanded by the markets and world markets.

I would propose that a special ministry of creativity  be set up to analyse and study how to increase the research and creativity of bright intelligent students.

Fifth. to instil a discipline of dedication and hard work. This is vital aspect for a person to develop – the ability to work  long hours in order to achieve an objective. It is not enough having a good idea or a good plan. Many times it requires plain hard work to turn an idea into productive reality.

PM Najib may have good intentions to make Malaysia a high income developed country. However good intentions are not enough in this case.  He must introduce changes in policies and culture to have the five conditions required to change Malaysia into a developed country.

(Speech at the celebration of the 183th  anniversary of the Hakka Association in Seremban on 27th sept 2009)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 28 September 2009, 7:58 am and is filed under
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Mahathir right on Isa but wrong on PR

Umno’s choice for Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election appears quite set – and the latest indication is the “advice” by Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, asking former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad not to “interfere” and “embarrass” the Umno leadership with any more public statements on the question of by-election candidature. (Sin Chew)

Mahathir is right on Isa when he said that the issue is not just Bagan Pinang by-election but the next 13th general elections.

As Mahathir conceded, if Umno fields a candidate who is not clean, it might win in Bagan Pinang but would lose in other constituencies as the people throughout Malaysia want to know whether Umno is serious about eradicating money politics and corruption.

However, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak seems so desperate for a by-election victory in Peninsular Malaysia after seven consecutive by-election defeats after the political tsunami of the March 8 general elections last year that he is prepared to face the hazards warned by Mahathir.

But Mahathir is wrong when he painted a picture of disaster if Pakatan Rakyat wins the next general elections, claiming that it will not be administering the country but that DAP, PAS and Keadilan will be fighting each other.

However, the latest Pakatan Rakyat controversy in Selangor over Selangor PAS Commissioner Datuk Dr. Hasan Mohamed Ali’s public attack on the Select Committee for Competency, Accountability and Transparency (Selcat) and the Speaker Teng  Chang Khim has placed Pakatan Rakyat under a new stress and provided ammunition for Mahathir’s forecast of doom for PR.

The establishment and public hearings of Selcat are major and laudable steps in the campaign for public accountability, transparency and good governance although there is room for improvement in its functioning and operations.

What is unacceptable is that guidelines agreed by the Pakatan Rakyat leadership to deal with internal PR problems are not given serious attention, as this can only result in greater loss in public confidence in PR cohesion, sustainability and viability unless these problems are properly addressed and resolved.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 28 September 2009, 2:32 pm and is filed under
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NSTP withdraws defamation suit

New Straits Press (Malaysia) Bhd today withdraws its 2001 defamation suit against DAP Parliamentary Leader Lim Kit Siang at the Kuala Lumpur High Court this morning with a no costs consent order.  Lim was represented by Karpal Singh  and Sangeet Kaur Deo.

NST filed the defamation suit against Lim for defamatory words in response to a question from a Berita Harian reporter at a press conference in the Parliament lobby on May 17, 2001 on bumiputra quota and the annual controversy over local  university intake.

NST alleged in its defamation suit filed in September 2001 that in their natural and ordinary meaning, or by way of innuendo, the offending words meant that the company was racist, unpatriotic and unfit to be Malaysian.

Background reference:

Media Statements –

18th May 2001

19th May 2001

20th May 2001

(Media Statement by DAP Headquarters 28.9.09)

                This entry was posted on Monday, 28 September 2009, 12:38 pm and is filed under
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Ops Sikap Degenerating Into “Oops! Silap!

by M. Bakri Musa

It is now a practice that with every festive season the authorities would go into high gear aimed at reducing the horrifically high rates of traffic accidents and fatalities.  Judging by the results however, these initiatives are more show than substance.  These “Ops Sikap” (a contraction for Operasi Sikap – Operation Attitude, as in changing the attitude of road users) are now more “Oops! Silap!”  (Oops! I goofed!)

       There has been no change to the dreadful trend since the series was stated over eight years ago.  That should not surprise anyone.  We cannot keep doing the same thing and expect to have different results.  The surprise is that the authorities have not yet figured this out; this latest Ops Sikap essentially replicated what was done during previous twenty operations.  There is minimal effort at learning from earlier experiences; the program lacks innovations.

       This latest edition began on September 13 and just ended two weeks later today.  It registered 238 fatalities.  As with past years, the overwhelming victims were motorcyclists.

       The Ops Sikap I over Christmas Holidays of 2001 saw 223 deaths, averaging about 15 per day.  At the midpoint mark, Ops Sikap X covering the Chinese New Year Holidays of 2006, there were 226 deaths.  Again, the average was about 15 deaths per day.  With this latest Ops Sikap XX over the current Hari Raya season, the average is already 17 per day.  That figure may yet climb as we expect deaths from those currently hospitalized for their injuries.

       There you have it:  three different festivities but same tragic consequences!

       No matter how we look at the figures, there is no denying that they tell a grim story, and with no relief in sight.  Yet that did not stop the Director-General of the Road Transport Department (RTD), Solah Mat Hassan, from reassuring the public that based on per 10,000 vehicles registered, the accident rate has actually declined!

       The Director-General is obviously misreading the statistics.  He is basing his conclusion on the annual and overall number of accidents and fatalities, not on the atrociously high spikes during the holiday seasons.  To get a clearer picture of the impact of the heavy traffic of the holidays, he should be looking at the comparable two-week period immediately preceding and following the Ops Sikap.  Unfortunately neither his department nor the Malaysian Institute of Road Safety (MIROS) collects or publishes such figures.

       In America, heightened traffic surveillance over holiday periods extends only over a three-day period, as Americans do not have the luxury of extended holidays.  Nonetheless the figures are illustrative.  Take the typical three-day American Labor Day weekend.  From 2003 to 2008, the fatalities nationally ranged from 473 to 508, with an average of 490.  The fatalities over that three-day period represent about 13 percent of the month’s total, only slightly over the 10 percent that would be expected based simply on the prorated number of days (3 days out of 30).  That represents a percentage increase of only 30 percent (from 10 to 13 percent).

       The statistics look even more impressive if we look at the number of deaths in the comparable three-day period immediately before and after the holidays:  they average about 423 over the six-year period.  Meaning, the long holiday weekend saw the accident numbers spiked from an average of 423 to 490, an increase of only 15 percent.  That is remarkably low increase considering the visibly much heavier traffic volume during the holidays.

       To me, that is the more meaningful figure on which to gauge the effectiveness of the measures instituted during the festive season.  Although RTD and MIROS do not collect these comparable data, nonetheless we can get a rough estimate from newspaper reports.  My guess is that the figures of the comparable two-week periods before and after the Ops Sikap are considerably lower, more likely in the region of about 50, or about 3 a day.  Thus the increase during the holiday season is a horrific jump from 3 per day to 15, a five-fold (500 percent) increase, in contrast to the 15 percent we see in America.

       That figure that should shock everyone and push us even harder at reducing it.

       There are three variables to traffic safety:  the road users (drivers, pedestrians, and motorcyclists), the road, and the vehicle.  MIROS listed the four E’s to better road safety:  education, engineering, enforcement, and the environment.  Certainly, attention to these factors would enhance overall road safety and reduce accident rates.  These measures have been successfully introduced elsewhere; they are well tested and highly effective.  We need not reinvent the wheel; just follow the best practices set elsewhere and modify them appropriately to suit local conditions and audience.

       Take education for example.  All too often public service announcements and billboards carry and repeat the same annoying message that has the effect of turning people off.  “Be careful!” “Be considerate!” “Be patient!” “Use your seat belt!”  I have yet to see a public service announcement that would educate drivers on what is the safe space to keep between your car and the one immediately ahead of you if you are going at 40 MPH as compared to 60 MPH.  That is one example.  Another would be to educate drivers on entering merging traffic and in avoiding distractions, as in using hand phones.  In California it is illegal to use hand phone while driving.

       Also along the line of education, in view of the disproportionate number of accidents that are alcohol related, in addition to frequent sobriety roadside checks, many judges now sentence drunk drivers to spend time visiting the morgue to see the mangled bodies caused by drunk driving.  Along the same line, a night in jail is now mandatory for drunk drivers.

       We have however, to differentiate between those measures that would reduce the overall accident rates (as with attention to the four E’s) versus those that are specific to days of especially high volume traffic, as during festive seasons.

       Consider enforcement.  On any holiday weekend, an hour’s drive on an American freeway and you are likely to meet at least three police patrol cars.  Such high visibility of law enforcement personnel keeps drivers on their toes.  On one particularly heavy holiday period, the highway patrol resorted literally to having convoys on the freeway, with a police car with all lights flashing leading the way.  That kept everyone in line; nobody dared to speed up or overtake.

       A few years ago the Malaysian police instituted a novel experiment of actually having a policeman (or woman) ride on express buses.  That was highly effective.  Today all lorries and express buses are mandated to have speed monitors, thus obviating the need for an on-board human monitors.

       Roadside sobriety checks are now a common feature on American roads and streets during high traffic days, as with holidays and special events.  It seems that if you have been “stopped checked” or seen someone subjected to it when you are driving, that has a salutary effect that seems to last.  You tend to be more cautious for the rest of the trip, and perhaps beyond.

       I suggest that at the next Ops Sikap, the authorities introduce some innovations.  One would be to have highway convoys and another, random police checks at toll booths.  I would also urge the collection of better statistics so we could draw meaningful conclusions and thus devise better strategies and interventions to ameliorate the situation.  Again we need not reinvent the wheel.  There are already many models in place, the one used by the American National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (www.nhtsa.gov) is one.

       The tragedy to the lives lost and bodies maimed in these accidents is that the victims are almost always previously healthy and productive citizens, often in the prime of their life.  The nation cannot afford such losses.  While to the bureaucrats and statistic keepers Ops Sikap may be Oops! Silap!, to the families of the victims, they are needless tragedies and the beginning of their nightmares.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 28 September 2009, 7:53 am and is filed under
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The cultural logic of Najibo-nomics

By
Azly Rahman

Fashionable it may seem to credit this or that “economic miracle” episode to this or that country to the name of its leader, economist, dictator, emperor, etc. – the larger picture of the historical march of “freakonomics” is neglected.

Freakonomics is what the global society was plagued with beginning with the American sub-prime-inspired crisis; a breakdown of the world’s casino-capitalist system.

Fashionable it may seem to cite this or that case-study to a proposed “Harvard” study, just like calling a university “Harvard of the East” or “Princeton of the Peripheries” or “Oxford of the Outbacks” or even “Cambridge of the Caribbean” – it misses the point of what and how casino capitalism works.

It misses the point that the world is undergoing yet another wave of perpetual revolution in the field of economic thinking.

Malaysians are into this fashionable game of assigning this or that terminology to this or that epoch of “economic cultural depression and how these are cured”.

Like the style of historicising that assigns this or that age to this or that person, resulting in epochs of historical vaingloriousness, Malaysians have seen periodisation of its capitalist march, in names such as “Mahathirism”, “Badawi-ism”, and now “Najibo-nomics”.

Not much was seen in names such as “Tunku-nomics” (after Tunku Abdul Rahman), Razak-ism (after Abdul Razak Hussein), and Hussein-nomics or Hussein-ism (after Hussein Onn).

Perhaps we did not really pay attention to how the pre-Mahathir era leaders address issues. We did not see words such as “Doctrine” attached as affix to these names to read “Tunku Doctrine” or the likes.

The politics of names

History that glorifies individuals is a result of historicising that involves forced authoring of name. Hence, dynasties in China are generally named after individuals and Empires in India, after their first rulers.

In modern times, we saw terms such as “Thatcherism”, “Reaganism” or “Reaganomics” and perhaps “Obama-nomics” after we saw “Obama-mania”.

At the beginning of the century we saw Leninism, Stalinism, Maoism, Castroism, and the “Kennedy Era”. Then there were Hitlerism, Bismarkian era, and Tokugawa Period. The Islamic world saw names such as Wahhabi-ism and Khomeini-ism.

Post-Independence Southeast Asia saw Marcos-era, Sukarnoism with its Marhaenism and Ganyang-Malaysia-ism replaced by Modern Day-Yudistira-ism of Suhartoism. We saw Lee Kuan Yew-styled Asian Despotism and the 22-year rule of Mahathirism.

As if there is not enough of the game of glorifying persons in history, the modern media too is continuing the politics of false-consciousness; masking the larger picture of oppression of those nameless masses in the march towards the perfection of casino capitalism.

Logic of capitalism

Philosophically positioned, capitalism takes Nature, turns it into Technology, and engineers the evolution of culture that structures the divisions of classes of people, through the installation process of the “machine in the garden” and the transforming of human beings into labor and commodities.

Ultimately, Technology subdues Nature and thrusts Humanity into a matrix of complexities that relegates human beings as cogs in the wheels of Capital.

Capitalism is a system of predatory economics, sanctioned by the evolution of power, knowledge, and ideology. It must be looked at not by the “epochs” of rulership of these or that kings, tyrants, or despots, but culturally as a system that has a logic and its own system of periodisation.

It requires the unmasking of the psychology and culture of human control, bondage, and the abuse of control apparatuses, in order to sustain an economic system that will naturally create a complex system of ownership rationalized through yet another system of production of culture as commodity, and production of strategies of mystification that provides false consciousness and happiness to those exploited by those who own the means of economic, cultural, and intellectual production.

The evolution of tribes, nations, and countries need not be seen as linear, following Rostowian idea of developmental economics, framed by Friedmanian doctrine.

The premises underlying these ideas need to be studied, critiqued, and made culturally relevant in all of our institutions of higher learning.

We must also demand our students to master the concepts and applications of radical economic ideas that put back human dignity in the march of meaningful human progress.

In this case, why not challenge them to explore ecological socialism and sustainable developmental paradigm by having them study the economics and social systems of the indigenous peoples of Malaysia, such as the Penans, Ibans, and Kadazan-dusuns?

For too long, we have been so obsessed with creating wealth and destroying Nature rather than spreading wealth and preserving Nature.

The middle name

Back to “Najibo-nomics”.

I do not think it is necessary to give birth to this name. I think there is, in the words of a research or case-study strategy, those who proposed that the name must triangulate the data of Malaysia’s claim to economic invulnerability.

One must not only study numbers crunched officially and bury human beings under those numbers that are then trumpeted across the globe.

One must go back to Malaysia’s timeline of economic history and look at the country from a culturally-kaleidoscopic perspective, from the lens other than what structural functionalists would use.

The world we inhabit in is not merely a celestial body tattooed culturally and stylized by economic numerology; we live in a structurally violent world of the powerful and the powerless, of the haves and the have-nots, and of increasing dehumanization as a consequence of the economic condition we are born into, exacerbated by the rapidisation of technology and the speed of politics.

In Malaysia, fifty years of glorifying this and that epoch and of periods and ruptures must, in any case study of political economy, be triangulated with data on the human and cultural consequences of development — this “developmentalist agenda” must be perceived from a human rights perspective.

How must Malaysians study the decades of racial disintegration, incidences of ethnic violence, nature of authoritarianism, breakdown of virtually all sub-social systems, etched patterns of economic apartheid, schooling and racial discrimination, abuse of the state ideological apparatuses, and finally the steadily rising billion-Ringgit benchmark of corruption this country has gauged in her way to becoming a failed state?

Those above are amongst the variables that need to be taken into consideration when one thinks of a good case study.Let us be more sophisticated when naming names.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 29 September 2009, 10:22 am and is filed under
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What happened to Malaysia Today

By
Malaysia Today’s technical team

With so much confusion and speculation making its rounds about what is happening to Malaysia Today over more than a week, we are compelled to offer our explanation so that the record can be set straight. Only limited technical details will be mentioned to allow you to appreciate the scale of challenge the site is facing.

You may now be aware that the site has been up and down since Friday, 17 September 2009. This was due to malicious activities by those behind the effort to cripple Malaysia Today. This is just one of the many rounds of cyber-attacks that we at Malaysia Today have had to face for more than a year now.

Coincidentally, this latest round of attacks started immediately after RPK’s explosive expose two weeks ago on Tuesday regarding the Malaysian Cabinet’s knowledge and ‘approval’ of the PKFZ scandal long before it became public knowledge. Suspicious activities against the site happened as early as Wednesday, but the first damage was done in the afternoon of Thursday, which brought the site down.

The site was quickly recovered and by 6.00pm we were up and running again although with some loss of data. The attack revolved around the long-time problem faced by the site – a rather old version of Joomla content management system and the use of third-party components.

Lack of resources (financial, manpower, etc.) has always been a challenge faced by Malaysia Today, which affected the maintenance and operations of the site. During the recovery process, we locked down the site to reduce the danger of further compromises.

The next wave of attacks came the following day on Friday. This time it was in a wave of DDoS traffic crippling one of our nodes at Singapore. The Singapore node operates with about 30Mbps of bandwidth, a luxury by Malaysian standards but far short if we need to match any serious DDoS attacks. The node was basically choked with illegitimate traffic. Typical of DDoS network attacks, the origin of the attacks is difficult to pinpoint and sometimes pointless as the attack agents/zombies are likely compromised systems themselves.

We then activated our resources at our US node to recover the site. The process required optimisation of the site to cope with demand. (The demand on the site seemed much higher, possibly due to the interest on the PKFZ expose.) Hence the intermittent site outage, due to either overloading or optimisation process.

Being a service provider of a larger scale and sophistication, the US node has a higher capability of sustaining the attacks. Still, the attacks persisted on a daily basis and we tried deflecting them as far as we could. The DDoS traffic we suffered ranged from 227Mbps to 835Mbps, a mammoth scale for anyone familiar with maintaining Internet sites. The attacker does not appear interested in defacing the website, typical of self-styled college hackers. He/she just deleted articles published on Malaysia Today, literally one by one, with the single-minded aim of erasing all the explosive stuff on the site.

Further complicating the trace of attacks is the use of free proxy servers, on random basis, by the attackers. This is an irony, as we have been advising our users to use such proxy servers to overcome any potential content filtering by the government.

All the malicious activities and behaviours bear the hallmark of professional, for-hire hackers. These are certainly no amateurs, judging from the persistence and frequency of the attacks, with the main objective of making the content of Malaysia Today inaccessible to the public.

We believe that there is NO explicit blocking of the site by the various Malaysian ISPs. The inconsistent and intermittent accessibility of the site in the past many days are the result of the situation described above, although we must caution that it is almost impossible to detect any clandestine censorship.

The MCMC has in the past failed to silence Malaysia Today officially through blocking it in August 2008. Now, with even more revelations of various scandals of the government exposed through this site, we can’t help but suspect that there is a more significant force, a hidden hand at play aimed at bringing down Malaysia Today.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 29 September 2009, 9:55 am and is filed under
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When Najib’s proposal for a “multi-racial hostel” could make front-page headline news in mainstream media

When Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s proposal for a multiracial hostel to foster better national integration among pupils in secondary schools under the 1Malaysia spirit could make front-page headline news in the mainstream media, it is testimony of how far Malaysian multiracial nation-building had deviated and failed in the past five decades.

As Malaysia is internationally publicized as “Malaysia truly Asia” show-casing multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual unity in diversity, multiracial hostels should  have long become an accepted part of national life.

Instead, they seem to have become an increasingly extinct species  after over five decades of nationhood to the extent that Najib’s proposal for a multiracial hostel in Kuala Lumpur appeared to be a great brain-wave of his 1Malaysia slogan.

Malaysia has traversed the road from multiracial hostels in the early decades of nationhood, celebrating Malaysia’s diversity of races, languages, cultures, religions, cuisines to increasingly mono-ethnic hostels where tolerance and acceptance of unity in diversity have assumed decreasing importance.

Is there a political will under Najib’s 1Malaysia to examine why Malaysia’s multi-racial nation-building had gone so wrong in the past five decades in failing to take full advantage of the rich diversity of ethnicity, religions, languages, cultures, cuisines and customs in the country?

Will Najib’s proposed multi-racial hostel be truly multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual  where the new generation of Malaysians can meet, live, learn and play in the hostels to appreciate Malaysia’s multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious and multi-lingual unity in diversity in everyday  life – the greatest and richest assets of the country?

Or will it end up as another manifestation of empty sloganeering without seriously addressing the acute and complex problems of nation-building and national unity in Malaysia?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 29 September 2009, 12:18 pm and is filed under
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Bagan Pinang by-election – a contest between Malaysia’s political past and the future

There was a collective shaking of heads in the country when it was formally announced that Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad is the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election in Negri Sembilan on 11th October 2009.

Both the former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir and another Umno veteran Tengku Razaleigh had spoken out publicly to warn of the adverse implications and larger repercussions of nominating a person who had been found guilty of money politics by his own political party, but these objections and warnings had been disregarded.

Having lost in all the previous seven by-elections in Peninsular Malaysia after the March 8 general elections last year, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the Umno leadership are so desperate for a by-election victory that they are prepared to overlook the larger  and adverse implications of Isa’s candidature so long they can be assured not only of a by-election victory in Bagan Pinang but a convincing one.

Isa’s candidature has put paid to Najib’s claims when he became Prime Minister that he will give top priority to eradicate corruption, citing it as one of the six top subjects for his KPI (key performance indicators) focus.

Najib’s credibility as an anti-corruption reformer had already suffered grievous blows with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Agency (MACC) bogged down in an open war against Pakatan Rakyat as catspaw of Umno/Barisan Nasional to destabilize and topple Pakatan Rakyat state governments when its first and only task is to declare war on corruption.

The mysterious death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock at the MACC Headquarters on July 16 stands as an indictment of MACC’s war against Pakatan Rakyat instead of a war against corruption.

Isa’s nomination as Barisan Nasional candidate in  Bagan Pinang by-election is a clear affirmation that  integrity and good governance do not rate high in the order of priorities of the Najib premiership.

The Bagan Pinang by-election is a contest between the country’s political past and future – between the politics of corruption, injustice and oppression prevalent before March 8, 2008 and the politics of integrity, justice and freedom struggling to be born after the March 8 political tsunami.

Malaysians shook their heads in dismay at Isa’s nomination. Can the voters of Bagan Pinang salvage the situation to make Malaysians nod their heads in relief and appreciation by ensuring the defeat of Isa and the victory of the Pakatan Rakyat candidate, Zulkefy Mohamad Omar in the by-election?

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 30 September 2009, 12:59 pm and is filed under
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Latest Hishammuddin gem – “Good guilt, bad guilt”; Isa is “good guilty”

Isa unlike other guilty leaders, says Hishammuddin

Malaysian Insider

By Asrul Hadi Abdullah Sani

PUTRAJAYA, Sept 30 – There’s good guilt and then there’s bad guilt, going by the argument Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein put forward today in defence of Tan Sri Isa Samad’s selection as Umno candidate in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

In praising the man whom Umno once found guilty of vote buying as “a loyal servant of the party”, Hishammuddin also called Isa the “people’s candidate,” in an acknowledgement to polls which suggest the former Umno vice-president was very popular in Bagan Pinang despite being tainted by his corrupt past.

“He is different from certain individuals who, when found guilty by the party, they are willing to curse the party that has served them. Tan Sri Isa is different. He is patient and strong, and his loyalty to the party is one matter which was considered by the top leadership,” he said.

Umno yesterday picked Isa  as the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election.

The by-election is expected to end Pakatan Rakyat’s (PR) winning streak in all by-elections in the peninsula since the last general election as the constituency is considered an Umno stronghold.

Hishammuddin told reporters today that the party’s top leadership considered the wishes of the people when nominating Isa.

“The consideration the top leadership had in announcing Tan Sri Isa as our candidate is the fact that the people of Bagan Pinang and Teluk Kemang, and not only Umno but people of all races, wanted him,” he said.

Hishammuddin said that the opposition would try to tie Isa to his past but stressed that it was the voters who would decide Isa’s fate.

“At the end of the day, these people trying to tie him to the past are not the ones who are going to vote. The ones that are going to vote are the people there and the people there want him,” he said.

The Bagan Pinang by-election was made necessary following the death of BN’s Azman Mohammad Noor on Sept 4.

It is situated within the Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency represented by PKR’s Datuk Kamarul Baharin Abbas.

Apart from Bagan Pinang, Umno also won the neighbouring Linggi state seat in last year’s election, while PR controls three other state seats in Teluk Kemang — Chuah (PKR), Lukut (DAP) and Port Dickson (PKR).

In March last year, Azman defeated Ramli Ismail of PAS, by some 2,000 votes.

BN is currently ruling the state with a simple majority after winning only 21 out of the 36 state constituencies.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 30 September 2009, 7:41 pm and is filed under
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Same Old UMNO, Same Old Ethics

By M. Bakri Musa

Biar mati anak, jangan mati adat! (Sacrifice your child if need be, but never your tradition!) Growing up in Negri Sembilan, that wisdom of my culture was continually drummed into me. To those outside the clan, that adage may seem extreme, an ugly manifestation of unyielding and irrational conservatism.

            With my children now grown up, I recognize the verity of that village wisdom.  Yes, it was hammered into me on the importance of our cultural tradition of fealty towards elders (our parents in particular), but there was also the equally important reciprocal tradition for the elders (who are presumably wiser) to be more patient and forgiving of their young.

            It is this fidelity to adat that made my parents not put a guilt trip upon me when I chose a path that was not what they had expected.  Cognizant of this adat too is what made me not stand in the way of my children when they too decided to venture on a journey beyond what is familiar to me.

            My old Negri saying could be more accurately re-stated as:  Jaga adat, jaga anak!  (Save our tradition, and save our children!)  Such an intricate system of social norms however, would easily be shattered if any of its component parts were to be compromised or exploited.

            Consider the esteemed cultural trait of respect and loyalty to leaders and kings, and the associated severe penalty for derhaka (treachery).  In tandem with that however, there is the reciprocal tradition encapsulated in the saying:  Raja adil raja di sembah; Raja zalim raja di sanggah (Venerate the just king; defy the tyrant).

            Yes, my culture demands that I revere and be loyal to my leaders and elders, but they must also be fully aware of the traditional countervailing restraints not to abuse that reverence I have of them.

            Consider the nomination of Isa Samad to be UMNO’s standard bearer in the upcoming Bagan Pinang by-election.  He was a Mentri Besar for 22 years and a Federal minister for a few years after that.  He is the typical ‘local boy done good.’  His fellow villagers in Port Dickson have every right to be proud of him.  To them, no honor however exalted would be adequate for him; they would wish upon him even more.

             Thus it should not surprise us or Isa Samad that they would want him, and no one else, to have the singular honor to represent them in the state legislature.  The surprise is that many are surprised by this expected and proper gesture of generosity on the part of Isa’s people towards him.

            As per our adat however, it is not for the people to deny Isa Samad this honor; that would leave a bitter taste in their collective mouth as well as an affront to their cultural sensitivities.  Rather it is for Isa Samad to have the wisdom and magnanimity to decline that honor.  If he were to do that at the first round, again as per custom, they would again beg him to reconsider, and again Isa Samad should decline.

            The social norms demand that these back and forth offers and declines would go on for at least three rounds, all to demonstrate (or at least make a show of) the “genuineness” of the gesture.  Anything less and it would risk being interpreted as perfunctory, and less than genuine.

            It is through such displays of finesse and subtleties that our culture and traditions have stood the test of time and smoothed our social order.  Alas today our traditional values and generosities have been abused not by outsiders but by our own people.  It is our own leaders and kin who betray us and our values, as so crudely and ruthlessly demonstrated by Isa Samad.

            Nonetheless true to our tradition of “Raja zalim raja di sembah; Raja zalim raja di sanggah,” we should not hesitate, and do so in no uncertain terms, to sanggah (defy) these leaders.

UMNO’s Wet-Finger-In-the-Air Leaders

When UMNO chose a disbarred lawyer to contest the recent by-election in Penang, I commented that the next time around expect the party to scrounge even lower in search of even slimier characters to represent the party.  I ventured that it would be difficult to find someone more unworthy than a disbarred lawyer, but trust those UMNO folks, they would find someone.  I did not expect to be proven right, and so soon.

            In Isa Samad UMNO has someone who had been expelled from the party for “money politics,” the euphemism for corruption.  Knowing UMNO’s shady ethics, to be expelled for that must take some doing.

            In justifying his party’s pick, UMNO’s Deputy President Muhyiddin Yassin declared, “We have decided that this is what the people want.”  He was jubilant when making that declaration.  Surrounded as he was by senior leaders of the Barisan and fellow ministers, and judging by their beaming smiles and other body language, they too shared his enthusiasm for the candidate.

            Just in case we might miss the point, Muhyiddin went on to reassure everyone that the choice was made “after much thought and scrutiny.”  Meaning, it was deliberate.

            Even ignoring Isa Samad’s blatant bribing of UMNO delegates and then bragging about it (the reason for his expulsion), the more fundamental issue is this.  The man has nothing more to offer the state after serving as Mentri Besar for over 24 years.  If he had any talent or innovative ideas, that should have been obvious during all those years.

             At this stage of their careers, leaders like Isa Samad should be seeking out and mentoring the next generation of leaders, not desperately hogging the stage, and their followers’ fast dwindling reservoir of respect and gratitude.

             Only last week Muhyiddin was at pains to point out that he was intent on seeking fresh talent, especially after the Bagan Pinang branch folks brazenly declared that Isa was their only choice.  In succumbing to local pressure, Muhyiddin’s leadership is nothing more than wet-finger-in-the-air variety.  That is fine in leading a herd of kerbau (water buffaloes) but not a nation aspiring for Vision 2020.

            There is nothing wrong with a leader sticking his wet finger in the air to check the prevailing wind if that would lead him to trim his sails and steer his ship of state better, while keeping his eye on the compass.  Indeed that is the hallmark of a skilled skipper.  However, if you keep changing course and be oblivious of the compass, you will never reach your destination.

            The earlier rhetoric about UMNO having “to change or be changed” is now proven to be nothing more than just “cock talk,” to put it in the local vernacular.  Muhyiddin is also Deputy Prime Minister, a heart beat away from the nation’s top job.  This preview of his leadership does not reassure me.

            In picking Isa, Muhyiddin obviously had to compromise his principles and abandon his commitment to reforming the party.  He should be reminded of the old Xeno mathematical paradox:  You will never reach your destination if you are satisfied at reaching only the halfway mark at every try.

            Once you start compromising your principle at the first obstacle, then it gets easier the next time.  Soon you would have no scruples compromising all your principles.  By that time you would not only be willing to dispense with your adat but you also would be willing to part with your first-born, just to get your way.

            Your corruption then would have been complete, with nothing worthy left to defend or honor.  Then it would be:  Mati adat dan mati anak (Death to your culture, and death to your children).

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 30 September 2009, 3:29 pm and is filed under
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With no statute of limitation, will the Attorney-General charge Isa in court for the corruption of money politics in Umno?

When he was announced as the Barisan Nasional candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election on Tuesday, Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad declared that he did not “commit a crime, but had violated the party elections’ code of ethics” in addressing the issue of his qualification and credibility as a candidate on account of his money politics in Umno which caused him to be suspended as an Umno for three years.

This is a fallacious argument and it does not speak highly of the commitment of the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister, the Cabinet Ministers and leaders of the Barisan Nasional parties whether Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC or the Sabah and Sarawak parties that no one finds anything wrong with such an argument or prepared to make a stand of principle.

Technically Isa had not committed any crime, as he had not been convicted, in fact, not even charged in court for corruption arising from Umno money politics which led to his three-year party suspension.

But was this because money politics in Umno was a mere party infraction and not a criminal offence of corruption, or was it just another example of the double-standards of the Attorney-General and the anti-corruption agency failing to uphold the law without fear or favour, regardless of status, wealth or position?

As far back as in 2003, the then Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department in charge of the law portfolio, Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim had called on Umno to allow the Anti-Corruption Agency to investigate its leaders alleged to be involved in money politics as it fell within the definition of “corruption” under the Anti-Corruption Act 1997.

Clearly, it was not because the law was inadequate to charge Umno leaders guilty of money politics for corruption, but because neither the Anti-Corruption Agency at the time nor the Attorney-General was free, independent and professional enough to carry out their duties in accordance with the law and the Constitution.

In an interview with the New Sunday Times on January 25, 2009, the Chief Commissioner of Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Datuk Seri Ahmad Said Hamdah declared categorically that money politics is corruption within the purview of the MACC.

This I what he said in a Q and A of his interview:

Q:
 Do you see any difference between money politics and corruption?

A:
 When you pay people to vote for you, that is corruption. People call it money politics but not us. Under the law, anybody who sells or buys votes is guilty of corruption, so we go on that basis.

Q:
 Is the MACC focused on cleaning up Umno?

A:
 Not just Umno, please be clear about that. We will take action against any political party involved in corruption. It seems that way only because it is now Umno season. The party itself asked us for help.

Q:
 Why then are we hearing about corruption only in Umno?

A:
 Others do not report. They get the money and keep their mouths shut. Umno members on the other hand are factional and report against each other.

As there is no statute of limitation for corruption offences, will the Attorney-General charge Isa in court for the corruption of money politics in Umno for which he had been suspended for three years as Umno member?

What is the stand of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhuiddin Yasin, the Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein, as well as the leaders of MCA, MIC, Gerakan and other Barisan Nasional parties on this question?

Malaysians are shocked that the latest Umno Minister who had come to the defence of Isa’s candidature is Hishammuddin, who uses the logic of “good guilt, bad guilt” like “good cops, bad cops” to justify and legitimize the selection of Isa as the Barisan Nasional candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election, ending with the conclusion that Isa is “good guilty” as distinct from “bad guilty”.

Just like his other outrageous statements since becoming Home Minister in the past six months, like his initial defence of the Shah Alam cowhead protest sacrilege or his sadness at the death of terrorist and mass murderer Noordin Md Top at not having the opportunity to “rehabilitate” him, Hishammuddin is continuing to alienate more  public support like his earlier keris-wielding days as Umno Youth leader.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 1 October 2009, 1:18 pm and is filed under
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In the beginning he was DPM!

by
Hussein Hamid

What was Anwar’s biggest contribution to what we are today? I sat and ponder over this question the whole day today. I wanted to write about it and yet I cannot because there were so many thoughts that came and went inside me. All I could do today was about two half page – notes on times go by – Cakap cakap about AP and then I revisited the “Bentong car park” issue because one of our friends sent me something new about that car park. It is now 11.42pm and I have been thinking since 7.15am this morning….fifteen minutes ago it hit me! I believe that what Anwar did to me and to many of us can be conceptualised in two words:

“POLITICAL AWAKENING”

Before Anwar was dismissed by Mahatir I was a Bumiputra intent on pursuing my “rights” as a Bumiputra. The right to have a share in the perceived richness brought into the consciousness of the Malays as a result of the New Economic Policies. All that was in my mind was where the next ringgit was going to be found. Tenders, project proposals, pink slips, AP’s, IPO, licenses, Privatisation opportunities…life was a whirl of meetings and discussions in five star hotels and lunches in restaurants whose name you find hard to pronounce – Troika was one of those that I can still remember – in Jalan Raja Chulan. The evenings were again another whirl of coffee houses and meetings until the early mornings.

Then 2
nd
 September 1998 he was dismissed as DPM. The next day he was expelled from UMNO. September 20
th
 he was arrested and September 29
th
 he was brought to court to be charged. Five cases for sodomy and five for corruption. My first conscious understanding that this was really happening was seeing him with a black eye. Common sense tells me that no policeman would dare lay a hand on someone who was the DPM just a few months ago….surely Anwar must have injured himself….but looking at him I could see that he was accepting of the fact that he was no longer DPM and I felt that he was coming to terms within himself as to where he would have to go from there. There was a grim acceptance in his face that the battle for his life and his future had begun.

As the days unfold and I relive Anwar’s arrest in his house with Balaclava clad personals, his black eye, how he was being treated during the trial and how UMNO and Mahathir was trying to demonised him…my dislike for Mahathir  became a dislike for UMNO. Slowly this crystallized into my questioning what was happening within UMNO. It was not enough that Mahathir have dismissed him as DPM  – that he relentlessly pursued Anwar in such a manner made me, and I am sure most of us, start to question the sanity of that man who was then our Prime Minister.

So my friends if you ask me what was Anwar’s biggest contribution to our consciousness until now – it will be our political awakening of what is right and what is wrong with our government, with our Prime Minister and with UMNO.….and after much thought we know that Mahathir and UMNO is wrong for our nation! So do not question Anwar’s on his commitment to our cause – we are with him in HIS cause to bring decency and dignity back to how things are done in Malaysia. He showed us the way, he stands in front –  but we are together now and we will persevere.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 1 October 2009, 8:57 am and is filed under
Anwar Ibrahim
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Malaysia in unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness as illustrated by another adverse global study – the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score

Thirteen years ago Malaysia proclaimed the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) as “a gift to the world” and the centrepiece of the country’s strategic initiative to leapfrog the nation into the IT era to become one of the world IT powers.

Since then, MSC and Malaysia have faded away from the world radar screen as an international IT hotspot – and Malaysia’s unchecked plunge in IT international competitiveness in the past decade has been confirmed by another adverse global study, the 2009 Oxford/Cisco Global Broadband Quality Score.

This study of the global state of broadband quality put Malaysia 53rd out of 66 countries in terms of the quality and reach of its networks – understandably behind countries like Korea, Japan, Sweden, Denmark, United States but also trailing countries we should be leading like Turkey, Chile, China, Qatar, Brazil, Argentina, Saudi Arabia, Cyprus, Costa Rica, Bahrain, Thailand, Tunisia, Mexico, Philippines and UAE.

Malaysia could not make it into the three top broadband categories of “Ready for tomorrow” (nine countries led by South Korea and Japan), “Comfortably enjoying today’s applications” (16 nations), “Meeting needs of today’s applications” (14 nations), but falls into the last category of “Below today’s applications threshold” (27 nations) and occupying the 17th position.

South Korea and Japan continue to dominate the league table in this second global study, largely due to their commitment to fast networks.

In South Korea, for instance, the government has promised universal speeds of up to 1Gbps by 2012.

Internationally, broadband quality has moved from one of penetration, i.e. who had broadband connection and who did not, to include broadband speed but Malaysia is till bogged down in the initial stage.

Some six months ago, when Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim was also appointed Communications Minister apart from his other portfolios of Information, Culture and Arts, I had called on him to  give top priority to turn Malaysia into a broadband power, both in broadband penetration rate as well as in broadband speed if Malaysia is to enhance its competitiveness to take its rightful place in the global arena.

I had asked what was Malaysia’s national average broadband speed as nobody was talking about 2Mbps – lucky if 512 or 256kbps without disruptions!

At that time, the Australian government had just announced a A$43 billion new national broadband plan to provide broadband speeds of 100 Mbps to about 90 per cent of Australian homes, schools, and businesses by 2018. The other 10 per cent will get broadband access via wireless technology.

In the United States, President Barack Obama had announced a US$7.2 billion “broadband” stimulus and begun the process of developing a holistic plan for improving broadband access nationwide.

In the United Kingdom, the government was  committed to provide broadband to every household with a minimum speed of 2Mbps, although a survey showed that 55% of the population believed 2Mbps would  be too slow for a national minimum broadband speed.

Has Malaysia a National Broadband Quality Policy?

Why has Malaysia trailed so badly behind other countries when we were the first in the IT  start-off with the proclamation of MSC in 1996?

The answer must be found not in IT but in governance and leadership, whether Malaysia has the political will to totally revamp the civil service, education, employment and  ICT policies to attract and retain the best and the brightest, to give real meaning to “meritocracy” while tempered by equity  considerations –  the preconditions for Malaysia to compete with the rest of the world to become an IT power.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 2 October 2009, 1:24 pm and is filed under
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A vote for Pakatan is a vote against corruption

by
Thomas Lee

The Bagan Pinang by-election on Oct 11 is an opportunity for the voters to tell the Braisan Nasional in no uncertain term that the practice of corruption and cronyism must be wiped out in the country. They must go all out to ensure the defeat of the Umno candidate.

By fielding a candidate suspended by his own party for corrupt practice, the Barisan Nasional is obviously snubbing the people, indicating that it couldn’t care less about what they think and feel. It is a de facto endorsement of corrupt practices.

By nominating such a tainted candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election, the purported high moral ground on which the Umno leaders have been self-righteously proclaiming has been exposed as a mere hollow sinking ground.

Umno is arrogantly confident and cocksure that it will win the Bagan Pinang battle even with a corruption-contaminated candidate.

The voters of Bagan Pinang must come out in full force to show Umno through the ballot box that the days of its exaggerated sense of superiority are numbered.

It is time the Barisan Nasional be told that:

— it cannot simply grab power by unethical and illegal means, like what had happened in Perak;

— it cannot simply use oppressive laws like the ISA to silence its critics, opposition leaders and the freedom and human right crusaders;

— it cannot simply use harsh enforcement on peaceful unarmed demonstrators and candlelight protestors;

— it cannot simply change the education system at its whims and fancy every other few years, causing confusion among the teachers, parents and students, and creating chaos in the schooling system;

— it cannot simply continue to control and manipulate the press and mass media to promote its own causes, and to run down the opposition and critics;

— it cannot simply allow the corrupt political leaders to go unpunished, especially those using public funds for private holidays to Disneyland and those living beyond their means in great luxury in multi-million ringgit mansions;

— it cannot simply allow investigation into the mysterious death of political aide Teoh Beng Hock to be frustrated by attempts to prevent relevant persons from testifying;

— it cannot simply cover up scandals involving public projects such the PKFZ issue.

Will the voters of Bagan Pinang take the lead and send the message to Umno and the Barisan Nasional that “Enough is Enough” and it’s “Time for Change”?

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 3 October 2009, 10:30 am and is filed under
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Grassroots –  The other definition, the destructive definition

by
Augustine Anthony

This is awful!

And I mean awful by the decision of UMNO and Barisan Nasional in fielding Isa Samad (Tan Sri) as the candidate for the Bagan Pinang constituency by-election. I will say no more about the Barisan Nasional candidate or the Bagan Pinang by election but let us explore election time in Malaysia in general.

During election time, it is common to see and hear voters being promised with all kinds of frills in the coming days before polling. It will be the same re-run of the past election campaigns with no thrills of a nation building agenda. For too long, too many politicians from the ruling coalition have engaged Malaysians in this primitive barter trade shamelessly. “You give me the votes and I will give you the roads, boats, goats, dough in loads etc. etc. etc.”  This scheming scheme had even turned some opposition politicians into tricky toads.

And the usual ceramahs with a generous dose of hate message. One will be disappointed if the expectation is that the speakers will engage in topics of nation building issues like creating new leaders out of the younger generation, eradication of corruption, improving the system of governance, encouraging better race relations, a promise of better education for our children, assurance of more job opportunity for voters that brings security for families, dedication in fighting escalating crimes, etc.

Election period is all about throwing moldy breads and greasy butter and the expectation that people will always run unabashedly and scramble for it like hungry Tilapias in polluted ponds. The previous by elections are proof that the people are biting less and less of these barter baits.  However for politicians who are bankrupt of nation building ideas, brute strength and primitive patronage lyrics of a bygone feudal system are the only songs left in their iPods.

The usual excuse for fielding these old (but more importantly) political personalities of questionable character as opposed to the more deserving younger candidates is always punctuated with a creepy catchword that the so called candidates with questionable reputation still enjoy grassroots support.

So let us try to understand what grassroots support means in this context.

Let us look at grass, its roots and how to create grassroots.

First one must identify a plot of land. Then remove any shade giving trees by cutting them down. Then plant the grass. And why would someone plant grass in a given area. The answer is simple, for the grass satisfies the needs of the one who plants it and makes him its master. He can trim it the way he likes it (unlike towering shade giving tress), walk on it, step on, roll on it, run on it, play on it, jump on it, stomp on it, use it and even abuse it. The grass will always be there for the master to do whatever the master wants to do to with it. These are the simple reasons as to why he keeps a lawn. It becomes the home turf of the master to do whatever he wants with it.

But there are always conditions for the master to enjoy and even abuse the grass.

The grass is forever dependant on the master’s handy work. The master must cut the grass to keep it neat, water it from time to time and ensure a seasonal fertilization to keep it healthy. But above all, the master must ensure that if there is a single plant in the lawn that is likely to grow up as a tree, that plant must be immediately destroyed otherwise the potential shade giving tree might ‘kill’ all the grass around it.

The grass serves no useful purpose to any others except its master. It is not like a big tree that provides shade and home for nestling birds that are hardworking, fruits for hungry animals which risk searching for it, create a healthy fauna and flora around it and even sometimes acting as protector for weak animals by allowing them to grip its bosom thus protecting them against the advancing stronger animals.

The grass has its constant needs and is ever dependent on its master unlike a towering tree which only needs some care in its early growing stage but after sometime it grows independently without the need for a constant care and the tree eventually goes on to create a healthy ecosystem around it.

 And what if the master fails to trim, water and fertilize the grass?  Rest assured that the lawn and its surroundings can turn wild and dangerous even for its own master.

The lawn full of grassroots that is ‘not cared for’ will see thorns and thistles. If the master walks on it, he may suffer the needles chill. Slowly the lawn that the master had once stepped on with ease will now give way to lalang. And lalang is a very dangerous type of grass variety. The lalang itself is sharp edged and it can literally injure the master in masterful ways. And if it is not injuring the master, it can be dangerous in other ways. It can sway according to the direction of the wind; cause a wild fire that can turn the landscape ugly. You can burn it but it will quickly grow back. A lalang dominated lawn can invite poisonous snakes that are a safety hazard for everyone including the master.

This far, I had metaphorically described the other definition of grassroots and how dangerous it is for this nation and its nation building agenda. It dries up our national coffers. It strips mother earth, bare and bleeding, her tears turn to bloody polluted rivers. And she is raging and all those depending on her will one day run to a standstill if urgent efforts are not taken to arrest this occurrence.

A grassroots concept by this definition is a society that is forever dependent on politicians whose crumbs sprinkling sleight of hand is an old trick that still blinds a sizeable voting population. These politicians behave like feudal lords; they refuse to nurture a younger generation of leaders and cannot be dislodged because of their vast material wealth though suffering from intellectual bankruptcy.

These politicians do not seemed to have it in their apprehension that we are living in critical times in which this country is in a fierce urgency to push for a highly competitive nation to withstand the threats of a global economic onslaught that advances to our shores in waves of different shape, size and strength.

For sure many Malaysians who are now politically astute are no longer doing their experiments in political laboratories to produce the best solution for the current Malaysian malady.  They had made up their minds of whether to be part of a grassroots system that is ever dependent on its masters or to be associated with leaders who bring promises of “tree” planting mission that will certainly create a healthy flora, fauna   and a wonderful ecosystem around it that is long lasting.

Be it democracy tree, democracy under the tree, democracy in tree or tree democracy; let us see more “trees” than grass and grassroots support by the above definition.

(Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia – “A grassroots movement (often referenced in the context of a political movement) is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures. Often, grassroots movements are at the local level, as many volunteers in the community give their time to support the local party, which can lead to helping the national party. For instance, a grassroots movement can lead to significant voter registration for a political party, which in turn helps the state and national parties.”)

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 4 October 2009, 12:06 pm and is filed under
Augustine Anthony
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Najib and Muhyiddin should apologise for Umno’s racist  muck-spreading and mud-slinging tactics which make nonsense of the PM’s 1Malaysia slogan

Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
said yesterday
he was confident that the  1Malaysia vision has spurred the people to a new level of optimism which will translate into a stronger support for Barisan Nasional (BN) in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

However, the muck-spreading and mud-slinging campaign launched by Umno/Barisan Nasional in Bagan Pinang yesterday even before the completion of the nomination process had in one fell swoop exposed the hollowness and  hypocrisy of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan as an overarching unifying national objective.

Two
racist
books were distributed in the Bagan Pinang constituency inciting communal hatred and animosities against Pakatan Rakyat leaders with  scurrilous and baseless allegations about the sidelining and betrayal of the rights and interests of Malays – one entitled “Wajah Sebenar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: Nasib Orang Melayu Selangor” (The Real Face of Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: The Plight of the Selangor Malays) and the other  “50 Kemusykilan Tentang Manusia Bernama Anwar Ibrahim” (50 Questions on The Man Called Anwar Ibrahim)

Such contemptible and despicable tactics in muck-spreading and mud-slinging  make complete nonsense of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan to unite Malaysians regardless of race, religion or territory.

Are Najib and Muhyiddin prepared to denounce and apologise for such racist  muck-spreading and mud-slinging tactics employed by Umno and Barisan Nasional  in the Bagan Pinang by-election?

What is the stand of the leaders from  MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other Barisan Nasional component parties on such racist muck-spreading and mud-slinging and are they prepared to fully  dissociate themselves from such despicable tactics with unqualified condemnation?

Or will their leaders, whether Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat, Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu prefer to keep completely still and silent on such blatant repudiation of Najib’s 1Malaysia slogan?

Or are Umno and Barisan Nasional leaders not really that confident about being able to have an impressive victory in the Bagan Pinang by-election despite fielding Isa Samad as the candidate that they  have to resort to such desperate, despicable and disgusting campaigning tactics?

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 4 October 2009, 3:16 pm and is filed under
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Bagan Pinang…there is no Plan B (part two)

by
Hussein Hamid

UMNO’s championing of Ketuanan Melayu from the time of Mahathir is not the result of its beliefs in the superiority of the Malay race nor was it looking at raising the lot of the Malays to what was promised in the context of the NEP. It was simply a ploy for the rise and rise of UMNO’S to its dominant position in Malaysian Politics so that they could enrich themselves to their hearts content….and their hearts are not content yet! .And so with Mahathir begun the divide and rule of the Malaysian people.

But now the Rakyat has seen that the rot has set in. We can see how precisely this policy was being used. In the enriching of the UMNO elite but not the Malays.

UMNO could not.

In the injustice and sufferings it had caused to the non-Malays by denying them basic rights and decency in a country they call home.

UMNO could not.

In the abuse perpetuated on its own people through PDRM, the Judiciary etc necessary to ensure effective imposition of its divide and rule policies – resulting in the death in custody of many many of it’s citizens, the ISA and the deliberate imposition of an all consuming passion to stifle dissent and opposition to its rule.

UMNO could not.

While we the Rakyat understood the inevitability of change as borne out in the last General Elections. .

UMNO could not!

Despite the last General Election results UMNO was adamant that it faced no immediate danger that would result in its demise. What has ‘helped’ UMNO cope with the crisis of losing 50% of the Rakyat’s votes was it’s inability to look within itself for renewal, for rejuvenation, for change. To UMNO the fault lies without.

This is what UMNO parrots. The Malays were being played out by the rantings of Anwar who will sell religion, race and country for political power. The Indians are not grateful for what President Samy Velu and UMNO has done for MIC. The Chinese are always against the Malays and they are instigating the Malays to go against UMNO so that political power will be in the hands of DAP. UMNO has been misunderstood. It had all the while been fighting to protect the rights of the Malays, the honor of the Malays and the wealth of the Malays….and UMNO tirades against it’s own people goes on and on.

Here comes the irony of UMNO’s calling ‘wolf’ too many times….we the people have become immune to these kind of talk from UMNO.. ….and now the icing on the cake, Bagan Pinang!

All the king’s horses, all the king’s men….all that they have said….. Expediency is still the prime consideration for UMNO. Always the need to make a quick profit from business opportunity overcomes all other consideration. The inability to wait made it all right for Najib to work with one pliant and two corrupt MP in Perak to grab that state from it’s rightful elected government. It also made it all right for Najib to meet and collude with that sorry excuse for a human being to conjure up another sodomy charge against Anwar. Najib with Altantuya? No he denied it in the name of ALLAH! Let me tell him this – an accusation like that made of you and Altantuya – if not answered in court becomes true within days!

And now Isa. When will they ever learn? From the moment they decided on Isa there have already lost the war. What is one battle in a war of attrition that will culminate in the next General Elections not too far away? It might be one battle but we want to win this battle at Bagan Pinang! Not by reducing UMNO’s majority but by ensuring that Pakatan Rakyat will win – even if it is with one solitary vote!

And so that is why you who are close enough to go to Bagan Pinang for Pakatan Rakat   – you must make the time and go. Go and do what you can if it is even to just stand amongst our people and our cause.

A few minutes ago I received this email from a friend:  “ The guy who takes care of my house here, when I am away, tells me that BN will win here for sure. And, he looks depressed. He says that voters each are getting RM100, a huge tin of Milo, and something else that I can’t remember. How lah like this, he asked me! Opposition cannot lawan if like this. The people here are very poor lah!”

Najib this is what your people are doing in Bagan Pinang…as if you do not know!

One thing we know now friend. UMNO focus has now shifted to survival mode. The naming of Isa confirms that. But UMNO is not on life support yet….we have to work harder! Our best defense is offense. And the only offense is relentless!

                This entry was posted on Monday, 5 October 2009, 11:33 am and is filed under
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Najib’s defence of Isa’s corruption offence a mega-tonne explosion demolishing his NKRA to “fight corruption”

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s
defence
 of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Ismail’s corruption offence as only a “technical matter” is a mega-tonne explosion demolishing one of the six National Key Result Areas (NKRAs) he announced on his Hundred Day as Prime Minister – “fighting corruption”.

Responding to the unabated criticisms of the choice of Isa as Umno/Barisan Nasional candidate for Bagan Pinang by-election, Najib told Malaysian students in Paris that Isa was chosen based on his capability and popularity, and that Isa’s offence was only a technical matter within UMNO and did not involve the judiciary of the country.

Najib said the question is whether Isa  deserved a second chance or not, pointing out that in our system, even a criminal gets a second chance and can contest the post after serving his or her punishment.

Najib’s argument and logic are full of holes and do not stand up to scrutiny. They merely expose the hollowness and hypocrisy of the Najib administration in declaring “fighting corruption” as one of the six NKRA priority areas for constant assessment of “key performance indicators”.

Nobody would begrudge Isa being given a second chance if he had been fully punished for his offence of corruption, but this is not the case.

There can be no dispute by anyone that money politics whether in Umno or any other political party  is pure corruption as has been  publicly admitted by the former de facto Minister Datuk Dr. Rais Yatim and the current Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Chief Commissioner, Datuk Seri Ahmad Said  Hamdan.

There are two questions at issue:

•	firstly why Isa had not been charged in court for the corruption offence for which he had been suspended for three years as Umno member;  and

•	secondly, why the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General and the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission continue to close their eyes to the corruption offence committed by Isa as there is no statute of limitation for corruption prosecution and whether a policy decision had been taken to grant immunity to Isa from any corruption prosecution to allow him to contest as a candidate in the Bagan Pinang by-election.

In these circumstances, Najib had been wrongly advised in claiming that Isa had been punished for his offence and had paid for his deeds – when Isa had not even been charged in the court of law for his corruption offence.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 5 October 2009, 2:03 pm and is filed under
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Muhyiddin claim that BN unites various races in Malaysia never  sounded so hollow when Umno most guilty playing racial card to cling to power

In the Bagan Pinang by-election, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin
claims
 that the government would not allow any quarters to disrupt racial unity in the country and would promptly act against those who played up sensitive racial issues.

He said since the Barisan Nasional (BN) governed the country, it had managed to unite the various races which had different cultures, customs and religions.

Muhyddin’s claim that BN unites the various races in Malaysia has never sounded so hollow when Umno is most guilty of playing the racial card to cling to power.

It is now Pakatan Rakyat which has a more legitimate claim to represent the diverse races, cultures and religions in the country than Barisan Nasional as demonstrated by the results of the March 8 general elections last year and subsequent developments.

Even in the Bagan Pinang by-election, it is Umno which had been most irresponsible and divisive in its election tactics, starting from Nomination Day last Saturday with the vicious and racist mudslinging through two anonymous publications to incite communal hatred and animosities –
“Wajah Sebenar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim: Nasib Orang Melayu Selangor”
and
“50 Kemusykilan Tentang Manusia Bernama Anwar Ibrahim”
 – to attack Khalid and Anwar as traitors of the Malay race.

Up to now, no Umno leader had denounced or apologised for these two racist tracts which bear all the marks of Umno sponsorship.

The Umno origin of these two racist tracts  is most obvious as no leader from the other Barisan Nasional component parties, whether MCA, Gerakan or MIC, dare to condemn such racist mud-slinging and incitement for they would be directing their fire at Umno “Big Brother”.

It has been reported that the
“growing irrelevance”
 of MCA, MIC, Gerakan and even PPP was a major theme at the retreat of the Umno divisional leaders last week.

What better example to illustrate the  “growing irrelevance” of MCA, MIC, Gerakan and other BN component parties when their leaders dare not take a stand in the Bagan Pinang by-election on two issues, viz: (i) at the nomination of Tan Sri Mohd Isa Samad as the BN candidate despite his three-year suspension as Umno member for “money politics” but without being charged in court for corruption; and (ii) to denounce the dangerous and vicious race politics by the two Umno-sponsored books attacking Khalid and Anwar.

Will the Umno leaders allow the MCA, Gerakan and MIC leaders to publicly denounce the two Umno-sponsored books purveying race politics at its worst before the end of the Bagan Pinang by-election on Sunday to demonstrate that these BN component parties have not sunk into total irrelevance in Barisan Nasional and Malaysian politics?

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 October 2009, 12:50 pm and is filed under
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Freeze on teacher-intake?

by
TN

Letters

I would like to firstly thank you for your blog posts.

I do not know where to go with this but my sibling who is in a government university (UPSI) told me she will be not be getting any posting for the next 2 years after she graduates.

She said that the reason given by the university is that the economy is doing badly and no new teachers will be taken in.

I hope this issue would be investigated and higlighted to the mass media.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 6 October 2009, 11:30 am and is filed under
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DAP Alternative Budget 2010

The DAP Alternative National Budget 2010 marks the progress the Party has made in the field of economic policy making, and our readiness to assume the role of a governing party in the Federal Government as and when such opportunities arise in the near future.

Our first Alternative National Budget was launch on the 5th September 2007 for the year 2008, before the last historic general elections where Pakatan Rakyat denied the Barisan Nasional two-third majority in the parliament, and winning government in 5 Malaysian states. This new Alternative National Budget 2010 picks up from where we left off in 2007, enhancing our proposed economic policies with stronger strategies and proposals based on further in depth research and analysis.

As Malaysia face one of the most challenging economic period in times of uncertain global demand, it is critical that the Malaysian government takes decisive actions to spur the economy and ensure that we will not only recover from this recession, but also emerge stronger and more competitive than we were before the onset of the recession. However, a review of the Barisan Nasional (BN) government’s actions to date coupled with its track record over the past 12 years paints a less than optimistic picture.

At a time when the economy is faltering globally, is exactly the time for the government to be pump-priming to boost domestic demand and competitiveness. However, despite the urgent need to boost government expenditure, the BN government is now finding out the hard way that they have in essence, run out of money to spend and are struggling to contain and maintain the high and escalating cost of government.

Malaysia had it so good for the 10 years of positive economic growth, was crucially aided in the last 5 years by lucrative windfall returns from the oil and gas sector due to skyrocketing oil prices. Sudden and belatedly the Government has realised that they have not had a single cent of savings all these “good” years. What made matters worse is the fact that oil prices have fallen far below the expected price of US$125 per barrel in 2009, which means there will be no windfall earnings in the coming year to “boost” Government expenditure for 2010.

Oil and gas revenue contributions to the Government had increased from RM19 billion in 2004 to more than RM70 billion in 2009 and despite that, every single cent of our oil and gas windfall earnings has been spent. Not only did we not save a single cent for the rainy day, the Government borrowed extensively on top of these windfall earnings, resulting in 12 consecutive years of budget deficits, and rapidly increasing our national debt regardless of whether the economy is performing or underperforming.

It may have been a different story had these windfall earnings been invested or spent on development projects. However, the overwhelming portion of the record earnings went to the Government’s operational expenditure to further enlarge the civil service, payment of supplies and maintenance services as well as extraordinary items such as compensation to already highly profitable highway toll concessionaires. This does not include of course all the money “burnt” via scandalous investments such as the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone, tens of millions of irrecoverable losses by the Ministry of Tourism subsidiary, Pempena and of course, the high prices the Malaysian government pays for the daily goods and services such as pens, paper, screwdrivers, digital cameras and carjacks.

Between 2003 to 2009, the Government’s operating expenditure has increased by leaps and bounds, from RM53.4 billion in the year 2000, to RM80.5 billion when Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi took over as the Prime Minister in 2004, to RM154.2 billion in 2009. However, development expenditure, which has the highest economic multiplier effects, has only increased disproportionately lower from RM29 billion in 2004 to RM50.5 billion in 2009.

Barisan Nasional’s reckless management of the country’s wealth and windfall blessings have resulted in a structurally weaker Malaysian economy compared to many of our regional peers. This recklessness must be checked immediately to ensure that the mistakes are not repeated. If the Government continues to accumulate debt on a unsustainable basis over the longer term, then it is our children and grandchildren who will be paying for their mismanagement today.

In addition, our experience in state governments over the past 18 months has also provided us with a better understanding of practical issues affecting economic develompent in Malaysia, and which requires major shifts in the way our public policy and economy is managed. Economic planning and management has become increasingly centralised in Malaysia over the past 2 decades to the extent that it has become bureaucratic and inefficient in carrying out economic initiatives.

For example, in Penang and Selangor where DAP plays a major role in the state government, we find our efforts hampered by the total lack of control over funding for projects and development, and are subjected to the whims and fancies of the Federal Government. While Selangor and Penang contribute RM16 billion and RM2.5 billion respectively in income taxes to the Federal Government, in return they receive federal grants amounting to only RM247 million and RM127 million respectively.

Hence contained in this Alternative Budget proposal are policies and programmes which seek to reverse the reckless and gross mismanagement of the rakyat’s money by the BN Government, and at the same time reduce the bureaucracy of central planning and devolve monetary and decision- making to state levels to increase efficiency and effectiveness of Government.

The theme for this year’s Alternative Budget is “Democratising Malaysia’s Economy” for not only is the Malaysian political scene in need of greater democracy, the economy as well is in a serious need for a dose of democratisation to ensure that Government expenditure works in the interest of the people who pay the taxes, that Government policies does not favour the wealthy and politically connected over ordinary citizens and Malaysian states receive their fair share of fiscal freedom proportionate to their economic contributions and financial needs.

We strongly believe that by “Democratising Malaysia’s Economy”, we will be able to not only unleash the next wave of high economic growth for Malaysia, but also put in place a set of economic policies and institutions which will ensure the economic rights of Malaysians are perpetually protected, regardless of the Government which is in power. By “Democratising Malaysia’s Economy”, we will promote our objective of creating a Competent, Accountable and Transparent (CAT) government.

This Alternative Budget 2010 will form DAP’s core economic policy and manifesto in the next few years and we will submit our proposals to the Pakatan Rakyat Leadership Council for consideration, and with further input from our partners in PKR and PAS, its adoption.

Finally, we’d like to thank the immeasurable contributions of the core budget team led by DAP National Publicity Secretary and MP for Petaling Jaya Utara, Tony Pua and my former Economic Advisor, Teh Chi Chang who has since returned to full employment, comprising of Lee Kok Yew, Cheah Yi Peng, Lew Yin How and Sugashini Kandiah. Special mention is also be extended to John Lee Ming Keong and Ho Horng Yih for providing their views and input. And finally, on behalf of the team, we’d like to thank Dr Woo Wing Thye of University of California at Davis, who to took time to review our early drafts of the Alternative Budget and provided us with invaluable insights of “fiscal federalism”.

(
Foreword by DAP Secretary General Lim Guan Eng when announcing the DAP 2010 Alternative Budget on Wednesday 7 October 2009 in Petaling Jaya)

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2009, 9:54 pm and is filed under
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Isa will become “mascot” of Najib’s 1Malaysia with BN victory in Bagan Pinang by-election

Speaking at the 35th Unesco general conference in Paris yesterday, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak said his 1Malaysia philosophy can be extended to the concept of 1Region and ultimately
1World
.

Apart from the 1Malaysia gimmicry which now includes 1Malaysia jokes, what does Najib really mean by 1Malaysia?

Former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has publicly expressed his bewilderment and incomprehension of Najib’s 1Malaysia.

Lesser mortals should be forgiven if they are even more confused as to what Najib really means with this slogan.

It cannot mean one overarching Malaysian objective, when it does not even mean 1Umno – which is why Najib had to succumb to pressures to name Tan Sri Isa Samad as candidate for the Bagan Pinang by-election when  all the Umno/BN leaders could not be unaware that the choice is utterly inappropriate for a Prime Minister who wants to send out the message that he stands for a new tomorrow.

One thing is sure however.  A Barisan Nasional victory in Bagan Pinang by-election on Sunday will stamp Isa Samad as the “mascot” for Najib’s 1Malaysia, further undermining national and international confidence that the Najib premiership has the political will to carry out far-reaching reforms to make Malaysia competitive with the rest of the world.

In fact, the irony is that the  bigger the majority Isa garners in the Bagan by-election on Sunday, the greater will be national and international disillusionment with Najib as it will be proof that he  is incapable of walking the talk of reforms, particularly in the campaign against corruption and gross abuses of power by the key national institutions and players in the country.

As both Mahathir and Tengku Razaleigh had rightly said, Umno and Barisan Nasional can win the battle in the Bagan Pinang by-election on October 11 but they will lose the battle in the next general elections.

This is because  a vote for Isa is a vote to tell Malaysians and the world that Najib and his administration is not capable of the far-reaching political, economic, educational, social and cultural reforms needed in the country to remake Malaysia as an united, democratic, just, competitive and  progressive nation to take our rightful place in the international community.

The only honourable result for the country in the long term is for a miracle to happen – for Pas/Pakatan Rakyat candidate Zulkefly Mohd Omar to score an upset win.

May be, Isa’s victory in Bagan Pinang is necessary to convince Malaysians who still harbor hopes in the Najib premiership as capable to national reform and renewal for Malaysia to start off on a new page  to give up their illusions once and for all.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 7 October 2009, 3:42 pm and is filed under
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