Would Liow and MCA leaders take a stand and list instances of UMNO violation of BN policy and consensus on hudud at the BN Supreme Council meeting tomorrow?

MCA should end its politics of perfidy and hypocrisy sending out different messages on hudud, one in the Chinese media and another for the non-Chinese media, to mislead the Malaysian Chinese and the UMNO leaders.

Today’s media gives two such examples.

First, the big splash in the Chinese media today of the statement by the MCA Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan declaring the MCA’s opposition to the joint technical committee on  hudud comprising the Barisan Nasional Federal Government and the PAS Kelantan State Government which was proposed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on 28th April 2014.

But this news was completely blacked out in the MCA newspaper, the Star and the non-Chinese media.

Second, the news report in the Chinese media quoting the Wanita MCA Chairman, Datuk Heng Seai Kie demanding that the Barisan Nasional Whip Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin  take stern disciplinary action against two UMNO Ministers, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and the Minister for International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohammad for breaching Barisan Nasional policy, consensus and discipline in supporting PAS implementation of hudud.

Again this announcement was given big play in the Chinese media but blacked out in the MCA newspaper, the Star as well as the non-Chinese media.

This is a most irresponsible, unprincipled,  opportunistic and cowardly politicking, saying one thing for the consumption  of the Chinese in Malaysia while giving a totally opposite impression to UMNO leaders and members.

While calling for stern disciplinary action to be taken against the two UMNO Ministers for violating Barisan Nasional policy and consensus in supporting PAS on hudud implementation in Kelantan, why are the MCA leaders from the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai onwards, continuing to keep silent about two other  major violations of Barisan Nasional policies and consensus, viz:

Firstly, Muhyiddin’s unilateral and arbitrary announcement of a hudud joint technical committee comprising the Federal-Kelantan State Governments when this was a clearly violation of Barisan Nasional consensus and policy; and

Secondly, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s announcement on April 24 that the Barisan Nasional Federal Government had never rejected hudud – which not only violated BN policy and consensus but was also contrary to the secular Merdeka Constitution of 1957 and Malaysian Constitution of 1963 and against the nation-building principles laid down by the founding leaders of Alliance/Barisan Nasional, like the first three Prime Ministers Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn as well as Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun V.T. Sambanthan.

Two issues demand action by the MCA leadership:

Firstly, whether MCA could  end its politics of perfidy and hypocrisy sending out different messages on hudud, one in the Chinese media and another for the non-Chinese media, to mislead the Malaysian Chinese and the UMNO leaders.

Secondly, whether Liow and the MCA leaders will  be consistent and raise at the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting tomorrow (as revealed by Ka Chuan) the four instances of violation of Barisan Nasional consensus and policy on hudud – two highlighted by Ong and Heng and two which no MCA leaders have dared to highlight – and make it clear to Najib that the MCA leaders cannot accept the offer of three Ministers and five deputy ministers to return to BN Cabinet and Government unless there is rectification of the four violations of BN policy and consensus, in particular over Najib’s statement and the formation of the BN Federal Government-PAS Kelantan State Government joint committee on hudud.

                This entry was posted on Wednesday, 14 May 2014, 1:30 pm and is filed under
Islam
,
MCA
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Time for A-G to explain his decisions on charges against opposition leaders, say lawyers

BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

The Malaysian Insider

May 15, 2014

Lawyers today demanded Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (pic) come out of his cocoon and explain several questionable decisions made by his office relating to charges against opposition leaders which were later thrown out of court.

They are particularly aghast that Gani had decided to go ahead and re-charge opposition leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad for his failure to give a 10-day notice to the police under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) to organise a rally.

This was despite the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of Nik Nazmi on April 25 after striking down a punishment provided under the PAA as unconstitutional because it breached the basic rights of citizens to assemble peacefully.

Yesterday, activists Mohd Bukhairy Sofian, Edy Noor Ridzuan and Badrul Hisham Shaharin, or better known as Chegubard, were also granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the lower courts as the judges said they were bound by the Court of Appeal ruling.

The lawyers said that Gani must realise that society’s expectations of him have increased, and he now owes them an explanation.

Gani must defend the integrity of the office he had been holding since 2001, they said.

They also took offence at his use of the Sedition Act to clamp down on dissent against Putrajaya, despite Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announcing two years ago that the law would be repealed.

Last week, DAP vice-chairman Teresa Kok was charged with sedition over her satirical “Onederful Malaysia” video that was made in conjunction with the Chinese New Year this year. Earlier, PKR’s Tian Chua, Tamrin Ghafar of PAS and activists Haris Ibrahim, Adam Adli and Safwan Anang were also charged with the draconian law.

The lawyers pointed out that politicians aligned to Umno, like Perkasa chief Datuk Ibrahim Ali and former vice-president Zulkifli Nordin, had escaped prosecution for their inflamatory racial and religious slurs.

The lawyers said Gani should clarify these inconsistencies and failure to do so would only contribute to the negative perception that he and his Chambers were selective in their prosecution against those who were seen as anti-establishment.

Criminal lawyer Datuk Baljit Singh Sidhu said Gani should break his silence as the issues were of public interest.

“He must clarify these issues, only then the public will see him as visible,” said Baljit, who is now an adjunct professor in a local university.

Baljit said the public also expected Gani to come to court and defend his Chamber’s policy and decision.

“Previous A-Gs, like Tan Sri Abu Talib Othman, had regularly featured in the judiciary to take on the members of the Bar. Why is he (Gani) shying away from public-interest cases like those on sedition and the PAA?” he asked.

Civil rights lawyer Syahredzan Johan said he would like to see an action-oriented Gani to prevent the citizens from having a skewered opinion on public issues.

“In the past, Gani and his Chambers have gone public and I would expect the same treatment in reaction to public criticism on current and pertinent issues,” he said.

Syahredzan said Gani had a duty to protect the good name of the public institution he was heading which was always under scrutiny.

“I am not expecting him to respond to all issues but at least he must react to important cases to remove any serious aspersion cast on him and the Chambers,” he added.

Constitutional lawyer Edmund Bon said it was a fair demand on Gani’s conduct when he decided to re-charge Nik Nazmi.

“His deafening silence gave the perception that he has no respect for the courts, especially when the Chambers has filed an appeal to the Federal Court against the Court of Appeal ruling,” Bon added.

He said while Gani had the discretion to charge Kok, the next question posed is why prosecute her when Najib had promised to drop the Sedition Act from the statute book.

“Is he trying to show that his office is independent of the prime minister? Gani’s conduct, especially on the sedition law, sends a contradictory message and an explanation from him is timely,” he said.

Lawyer Abd Shukor Ahmad said Gani’s action in his official capacity was not subject to challenge in court but in this new era of open government, he could no longer be an A-G of yesteryear.

“Two previous A-Gs were MPs and they were accountable to Parliament but the current expectation of society on the role of Gani as chief legal adviser of the government and crown prosecutor has shifted,” he said.

Shukor said unlike in the past, people were craving for information and this expectation must be satisfied although Gani was answerable to the cabinet. – May 15, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 15 May 2014, 11:15 am and is filed under
Constitution
,
Court
,
Judiciary
,
Law & Order
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Don’t bring your religious forums to East Malaysia, Sarawakian Muslim tells UiTM

by Jennifer Gomez

The Malaysian Insider

May 15, 2014

A Melanau Muslim was among several Sarawakians who lodged  police reports against a religiously charged seminar organised by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) last week,  hoping that such events will not be brought to East Malaysia where the citizens have been living in harmony.

Abdul Halim Hamdian, who is self-employed, made the report at the Dalat police station last Friday and complained that the speeches made at the seminar last week had seditious tendencies.

He said that since UiTM had campuses in Sarawak and Sabah, he was  concerned that these issues would spread to East Malaysia, which has historically enjoyed a high level of understanding among its people of different faiths.

“As a Muslim, my understanding is that Islam respects the rights of other faiths, as long as they do not cause provocation towards Islam in any way.

“So I felt the speakers made seditious remarks and misused the good name of Islam to create tension and fear towards other faiths, especially Christianity,” Abdul Halim wrote in his report.

Abdul Halim also said in his report that he wanted the authorities to investigate the speakers at the seminar as it could result in the oppression of other faiths, using the good name of Islam.

A pastor with a Christian non-governmental organisation (NGO), Mathew Igoh, 21, also lodged a police report at the Kuching police headquarters because he was offended by the contents of the seminar which said that Christianity was a threat.

Calling it a baseless allegation, Mathew told The Malaysian Insider that his Christian friends, many of whom were studying at UiTM in Kota Samarahan in Sarawak, were also upset over the Christian-bashing that went on during the seminar.

“Even my Muslim friends told me that they are angry over what happened.

“They said that the seminar could have been used constructively to strengthen the position of Islam, without having to run down Christianity,” Mathew said in a phone interview from Kuching.

Suzie Kulleh, 41, from Kota Samarahan, also lodged a police report at the Simpang Tiga police station last week, and stated in her report that the seminar, which belittled her religion, was attended by 1,000 students including Christians from Sabah and Sarawak.

“Seditious statements were made at the seminar implying that Christianity was a deviant teaching and one of the worst religions in the world while Islam was the one true religion.

“As a Christian, I feel the speakers had degraded my religion,” she said in her report in which she urged the police to investigate the matter.

Ericsen Johnny Pising, a 31-year old technician from Bintulu, also lodged a police report last week and stated that he was personally affected by the contents of the seminar as it had insulted his religion.

At the May 6 seminar, which included speakers from Indonesia but without any authority on Christianity, the audience was told that undercover Christian priests had been sent to Malaysia under different guises, including working with Muslim children as football coaches, to proselytise and convert Muslims.

The seminar on the use of the word “Allah” and Christology also featured a discussion on “10 reasons why Christians should become Muslims” and also belittled the Bible by alleging that it contained “tales”.

Copies of books published by the Selangor Islamic Council (Mais) on the threat of Christianisation and alleged evangelism among Muslims in Malaysia were also distributed to more than 1,000 students present that day.

The book entitled “Pendedahan Agenda Kristian” warned Muslims to watch out for “tricks” by Christians to sway them from their faith.

The book also claimed that the main reason there is apostasy among Muslims is because of Christianisation.

Another book, titled “Obligation to preserve the sanctity of the name Allah”, explained why non-Muslims, in particular Christians, cannot be allowed to use the word Allah.

The seminar was jointly organised by the Academy of Contemporary Islamic Studies, UiTM, Warisan Ibnu Aaby and the Selangor Islamic Religious Council (Mais), and supported by Utusan Malaysia, Kumpulan Karangkraf, TV Al-Hijrah, Zikay Group and Pantai Bharu Group of Companies.

Lawyer Annou Xavier had urged the police not to waste time and to investigate the reports on the seminar under under Section 298 and 298A of the Penal Code, for causing disharmony, disunity, or feelings of enmity, hatred or ill-will on grounds of religion.

In Shah Alam, two police reports were lodged by private college lecturer Perzeus James and author Uthaya Sankar Narayanan who alleged that the seminar had vilified Christianity.

More reports are expected to be lodged in Shah Alam and Sabah over the next few days. – May 15, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 16 May 2014, 4:27 am and is filed under
Islam
,
Religion
,
Sarawak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


You will hear me roar

 — Dyana Sofya

The Malay Mail Online

May 15, 2014

MAY 15 — My mother was active in politics. As her kids, my brothers and I were exposed to politics at a very young age. We would frequently meet our politician uncles and aunts during dinners, teh tarik sessions, Hari Raya open houses and birthday parties. Some of them made it to ministerial posts in later years, while some were not as lucky.

Growing up observing my mother taught me many, many things. With the good came also the bad. I soon learned that politics was a dog eat dog world which required one to have nerves of steel and skin as thick as oak before one could even begin to participate.

My older brothers in particular saw what my mother endured. They read the books she brought home from work. They saw the dirty games and Machiavellian tactics that my mother had to put up with in the name of “perjuangan.” For the party. For the country.

They also saw how she was betrayed by her own comrades and best friends for the sake of position and power. As a result, they have sworn themselves off from the world of politics.

It all began in the late 1980s, when my mother was a UMNO worker. She had loyally served the party for years, but all her sacrifice and hard work counted for nothing when the newly constituted UMNO Baru of Dr Mahathir decided not to rehire staff that had been inclined towards the “Team B” of his opponent, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, during the 1987 UMNO election.

At the time, she was just about to return to work after maternity leave.

She had just given birth to me.

*

Twenty years later in 2007, I began the first year of my Bachelor in Legal Studies at UiTM. Malaysia had moved on from Mahathir by then, the Prime Minister being Pak Lah, a former “Team B” man.

As social movements in Malaysia began to gather pace — such as Hindraf, Bersih and anti-ISA rallies, my friends and I began to get interested in politics. We googled, we read, and we became aware. The next obvious step was to begin attending political ceramahs of various parties and groups. Some were pro-establishment, but mostly were anti-government. When my mother found out, she asked me: “Aren’t you afraid? You might get arrested for being pro-opposition.”

It was the same thing some of my friends said to me. My only reply was to say that some of these “anti-establishment” leaders who fought long and hard for what they believed in despite suffering under detention were now prominent leaders and would be, when history is written fifty years from now, be seen as heroes.

Only cowards fear the judgement of history.

*

In 2011, I made the decision to join the DAP. Once again, my friends thought: “There she goes again, doing something no one would think of.”

The truth is, I didn’t do it just to be different. I did it because I felt Malaysia needed a new kind of politics. I had seen how racial politics was nothing but a scam. My mother is Malay, yet she was shunned by the very party that claims to protect Malays. Hence, the racial model is nothing but a means of power-hungry leaders to stay in power. The only way forward for our country was to break this model of racial politics.

And so I chose DAP. For its principle of multi-culturalism. For its principle of standing up for all Malaysians, regardless of race and religion. For its principle of doing what is right, despite the risks and repercussions. I knew that if I made this choice that I believed was right, I would not have to fear the judgement of history.

Of course, joining DAP came with a price. I was immediately scrutinised and lambasted. False stories were created. My words were twisted. I was labelled a “pengkhianat.” I was also called many other names.

Just a few days ago, rumours began swirling around that I may be a possible candidate for a parliamentary seat. I was of course just as surprised as everyone else. But I was even more surprised by the wave of attacks that ensued.

My personal details were misused. My phone number was distributed and I have since been the target of hundreds of lewd messages. Another thing I have realised — Malaysian society is misogynistic!

And now, to tarnish my image further, there appears to be a photo of me allegedly wearing a bikini. While I think the Pinay actress in question is very attractive, I feel this really displays the level of guttural politics that our opponents would go to, especially against a female. Guys, please grow up.

Try as they may, they will not break me. My mother and my mentors have taught me well. They had warned me that there would be days like these. As much as I have been attacked, I have also received titanic support from my family, friends, comrades, former colleagues and fellow Malaysians across all age groups, races, faiths and parties.

Many have called to encourage me. Some have said they believe in me. But the truth is, it is Malaysians like them who make me believe in what I’m doing. And it is Malaysians like those who have been attacking me that give me even more reason to continue the “perjuangan.”

As I said earlier, I am confident that I will fall on the right side of history.

And so to my detractors, I wish to paraphrase Katy Perry. You will hear me “roar!”

* Dyana Soya is political secretary to Gelang Patah MP Lim Kit Siang.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 16 May 2014, 4:49 am and is filed under
DAP
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Dyana for Teluk Intan ‘to break racial barriers’

Ram Anand

Malaysiakini

May 17, 2014

TELUK INTAN
 Twenty-seven-year-old lawyer and UiTM graduate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was today unveiled as DAP’s candidate for the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announced the decision at the DAP by-election operations centre in Bandar Baru Teluk Intan today, saying the decision was made as proof of DAP’s ethnic diversity as a party.

In her speech, Dyana, who has served as DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s political secretary for the past year, spoke about breaking racial and religious barriers, and finding the perfect formula for a Malaysian “teh tarik, which is loved by all.”

She explained all Malaysians love teh tarik regardless of race or religion and similarly, Malaysians need to find a common identity that would appeal as much across the board as the tea drink does.

At a press conference later, Dyana said she is unfazed by the rounds of attempts to tarnish her reputation that has already begun among some bloggers.

“They thought since I am a woman, I will quit politics (after the attacks).

“But sorry, I am here to stay,” said Dyana, who had fake pictures of her in a bikini published in some blogs even before today’s announcement.

During the press conference, there was a mad scramble by press photographers to take shoots of the spunky contestant.

Dyana joined DAP in mid-2011 and hails from a family of Umno supporters.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua will serve as the DAP’s election director for the by-election.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 17 May 2014, 4:36 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Chinese in Teluk Intan appear unmoved by DAP’s progressive bid with Dyana

by Boo Su-Lyn,

The Malay Mail Online

May 17, 2014

TELUK INTAN, May 17 ― DAP’s choice of a fresh-faced ethnic Malay candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election is leaving some in the predominantly Chinese town unimpressed.

In a move hailed as progressive and aimed at breaking down race-based voting patterns, DAP today named 26-year-old Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as its candidate for the parliamentary seat, snubbing more experienced ethnic Chinese candidates.

Several Chinese voters at the small town told The Malay Mail Online they were not convinced by DAP’s lofty attempt to eradicate race politics.

Businessman Michael Chia, 55, said Teluk Intan has had a Chinese MP for decades.

“You put a Malay candidate, she’s not going to have a chance,” he told The Malay Mail Online.

“The Chinese like to gamble here. You want to win ― put a Chinese or Indian,” he said.

Chia, who runs a construction company, also spoke positively of Hew Kuan Yau, a popular local DAP leader known as “Superman”.

“He’s a good speaker,” said Chia.

Hew had been touted as an early candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election scheduled for May 31 but was sidelined for Dyana, the political secretary to veteran DAP politician Lim Kit Siang.

Ethnic Chinese are the largest group of voters in Teluk Intan, making up 42 per cent of voters. Malays make up 38 per cent and Indians 19 per cent.

In the May 5 general election last year, DAP’s Seah Leong Peng, whose recent death triggered the by election, won the by a majority of over 7,000 votes.

Seah beat out Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong last year but the latter is likely to fight again, taking on Dyana.

A 60-year-old Chinese lorry driver, who wanted to remain anonymous, said he might give Barisan Nasional’s (BN) a chance.

“His work is okay,” he told The Malay Mail Online.

One retiree who would only identify himself as Mr Tan also spoke favourably of Mah.

“His service here is very good. Maybe this time he’ll win,” he said.

The retiree went on to air his complaints about DAP, accusing the predominantly ethnic Chinese party of staying silent during the hudud brouhaha when its Pakatan Rakyat (PR) ally PAS attempted to implement the controversial Islamic penal code in Kelantan.

“Lim Kit Siang was quiet. Lim Guan Eng said nothing,” Tan said, referring to the father-and-son top leaders in the DAP.

“The DAP is with PAS. I don’t like PAS,” added the 70-year-old.

A local Chinese woman, who identified herself only as Madam Tan told The Malay Mail Online that race remained a divisive issue.

“Malays will help the Malays. If we ask for help, we don’t get it.”

The elderly woman said she observed that Chinese traders who sold vegetables without a trading licence in the town here routinely harassed  by the authorities, while the Malay traders remained unmolested.

“I see this happening and I get so angry,” she said.

“It’s not that they’re stealing. They’re just trying to make a living, selling a bunch of vegetables for RM1,” she added.

Madam Tan also related a story where robbers armed with parangs and believed to be Malays had entered an Internet cafe, which allowed online gambling, and robbed Chinese patrons of their jewellery, but left Malays alone.

David Jackson Lo, a Chinese Australian who has been residing here for the past six years, said his Chinese friends here were questioning DAP’s decision to field Dyana Sofya.

“The fact is that the majority of voters in Teluk Intan are Chinese, and the previous candidate was a Chinese,” Lo told The Malay Mail Online.

“The main issue is that Kelantan wanted to implement hudud. And now they put in a Malay. My friends prefer Superman to a sweet Malay lady,” he added.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 May 2014, 8:11 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


I would not be where I am today if I chose your way, Dyana Sofya tells Shahrizat

The Malay Mail Online

May 18, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud said today that she would not have been given the same opportunity had she joined Umno, while claiming that the ruling party’s women’s wing had failed to promote its own members into real positions of influence.

In response to Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s criticism against her candidacy, the DAP’s candidate for Teluk Intan by-election said that her party instead recognises women’s role in politics, unlike Umno.

“I am glad that I chose to join the DAP in 2011. For if I had chosen the way of Shahrizat Jalil and Umno, I would not be where I am today, aiming to enter Parliament as the representative for the people of Teluk Intan and if elected, to be the youngest MP in Parliament,” Dyana said in a statement here.

“The party has nominated me precisely because I strongly believe in the ideals of justice, equal opportunity and good governance.”

According to Dyana, DAP recognises the need for a balance in male-female representation in the government, and subsequently nominates more and more women candidates in every election.

“Women’s role in politics should not be confined to playing the second fiddle, serving food and drinks to party workers and visiting voters in their houses dishing out goodies,” she said, in an apparent dig at Wanita Umno and Puteri Umno’s roles during campaign trails.

Dyana also claimed that her candidacy is a result of DAP promoting young candidates regardless of race, including Kulai MO Teo Nie Ching and Kluang MP Liew Chin Tong in 2008; and Bukit Bendera MP Zairil Khir Johari, Batu Kawan MP Kasthuri Patto, and Lanang MP Alice Lau in 2013.

Dyana’s response comes as Shahrizat claimed yesterday that Dyana is being manipulated by DAP, and that Umno deserves the credit for shaping Dyana’s life.

“This is in complete contradiction to her earlier statement by saying that my candidacy is simply a show,” Dyana added.

“I ask that she learns from my mother who herself is an Umno member but has realised that my candidacy by the DAP heralds a breakthrough for young women in politics, especially for young Malay women, who have long been held back by an inflexible, patriarchal structure in Umno.”

In a bid to shed its image as a predominantly Chinese party, DAP has picked a young Malay woman, Dyana, as its candidate for the by-election in Teluk Intan, a Chinese-majority constituency.

DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announced the candidacy of 26-year-old Dyana, who is also political secretary to party veteran Lim Kit Siang, at the DAP operation centre for the parliamentary by-election here yesterday.

The Teluk Intan by-election, which is scheduled on May 31, was triggered after DAP MP Seah Leong Peng recently died from cancer.

In the May 5 general election last year, Seah defeated BN’s Mah with a 7,313-vote majority.

The voter base in Teluk Intan is 42 per cent Chinese and 38 per cent Malay and 19 per cent Indian.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 May 2014, 3:51 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


In Dyana Sofya, DAP tries to woo Malays to itself, say analysts

by Eileen Ng

The Malaysian Insider

May 18, 2014

Can Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud woo the Malay electorate in the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat? That’s what her party, DAP, is trying to find out when they nominated her as its candidate for the May 31 by-election.

Analysts said the party is trying to shed its Chinese-centric image and make inroads to capture the hearts and minds of the Malays by fielding a young Malay woman.

The DAP, which makes up one-third of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, had been trying hard to prove its detractors wrong by fielding more Malay candidates in the last general election to broaden its appeal among the country’s electoral majority.

To date, it has two Malay MPs – Bukit Bendera’s Zairil Khir Johari and Raub’s Datuk Ariff Sabri – both of whom lead Chinese-majority seats.

Merdeka Center executive director Ibrahim Suffian said despite fielding Dyana, the party will have a challenging task ahead in changing the perception of the electorate.

“This is something that will take time because perception takes a longer time to build up. DAP has a long-term view of this by trying to recast their image from being a communal to a national party,” Ibrahim told The Malaysian Insider.

The respected pollster said that tentative change could be gauged from the upcoming by-election, saying that if DAP managed to poll “a bit more” of support from the Malays, this would be a vindication to the party that it is slowing gaining traction with the community.

In last year’s general election, DAP’s Seah Leong Peng garnered 25% of the 23,000 Malay votes.

The first-term MP died from cancer on May 1, triggering the by-election.

“Teluk Intan is a semi-rural constituency and this will be an interesting development to see how DAP fares by moving away from their comfort zone and putting up a Malay candidate to emphasise its change of image and brand,” said Ibrahim.

Any sign of an increase in Malay votes will be a welcomed break for DAP to prove to its detractors that it can break its Chinese mould.

So the focus in Teluk Intan, according to Universiti Putra Malaysia political analyst Dr Jayum Jawan, is on the young Malay professionals as they are more receptive to change.

“They might not be able to sway the older Malay folk but they can reach out to the younger ones,” he said, adding that it is a good strategy to field Dyana to attract more support.

However, DAP’s attempt to overhaul its image to make it more attractive to the Malay electorate has yet to bear fruit, mainly because its Malay leaders have yet to capture the community’s imagination.

Another problem lies in the seats the party contested, which is mainly in the urban areas, and most of their programmes are urban-centric rather than race-based.

“Malay leaders need to have influence with the community to be successful and the party does not have that,” said political analyst Khoo Kay Peng.

Referring to Zairil and Ariff, Khoo said both had yet to command support from the Malay community and he expected the same with Dyana.

“They have not make any significant impact, be it by consistently having dialogues with the public or  making a strong stand that resonates with the community,” he said.

Due to her inexperience, Khoo warned that the 27-year-old lawyer will face difficult questions thrown at her by her opponent, especially on the hudud debacle.

PAS had wanted to implement hudud in Kelantan, a plan which saw massive objections from its ally DAP, which all along had been adamantly against the implementation of the Islamic penal code in Malaysia.

Although PAS later shelved its move, it has affected relations between both parties.

“It is a very risky decision, the party’s Malay leaders have not made their stand on hudud clear so there is a risk that Dyana’s opponent is going to ask her stand on the matter,” he said.

Dyana, who is the political aide to DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang, is taking on BN’s Datuk Mah Siew Keong, whose candidacy was announced by Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin yesterday.

Mah, who is the Gerakan president, won the seat in the 1999 and 2004 general elections but lost to DAP’s M. Manogaran and Seah in 2008 and 2013 with a 1,470 and 7,313 vote majority respectively.

Teluk Intan has 60,349 voters comprising 59,927 ordinary voters, 410 early voters and 12 absentee voters.

The constituency includes 23,301 Malay voters (38.6%), 25,310 Chinese voters (41.9%) and 11,468 Indian  voters (19%).

Nomination for the by-election would be on May 19 and early voting on May 27.

The DAP first won the seat, then known as Teluk Anson, in the 1969 general election when Chan Fu King defeated then MCA Minister for Health Dr Ng Kam Poh in one of the major upsets.

However, since the redelineation of the parliamentary constituencies in 1974, 1984 and 1993, the constituency of Teluk Anson in 1969 had changed with regard to the composition and character of its voters.

This allowed Gerakan’s candidates to win the seat continuously from 1974 until the 1995 general election when M. Kula Segaran ended the DAP’s losing streak. – May 18, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 May 2014, 8:41 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


In Teluk Intan, DAP’s young Malay candidate hopes to build bridges

BY BOO SU-LYN

The Malay Mail Online

May 18, 2014

TELUK INTAN, May 18 — At Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) where fees for a first degree cost just RM5,000, some Malay students drove luxury cars like Jaguars and Mercedes Benzes, according to Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

That made Dyana angry because non-Malay students from lower income families are kept out of the university simply because of their race.

Dyana is DAP’s choice for the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31, picked over more experienced candidates in a bid to boost the predominantly Chinese party’s multicultural credentials.

It is a role the 26 year old UiTM law graduate appears to have slipped into with ease as she looks to represent a constituency that is mainly Chinese.

“We should move on from race-based policies to needs-based policies, and at the same time, the Malays would still gain because the Malays are the majority who need it anyway,” she said in an interview with The Malay Mail Online.

Eliminating  affirmative action policies favouring Bumiputeras would only be a problem for well-off Malays who unfairly benefit from race-based policies, she added.

Dyana’s entry in the race against Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong, a veteran politician twice her age, comes at a time when the dust has barely settled over the hudud controversy.

She said she believes that the Islamic penal code cannot be implemented in Malaysia as it contradicts the Federal Constitution, the country’s highest law.

“Not supporting the implementation of hudud in Malaysia does not make me less of a Muslim.”

“We live in a secular country with Islam as the official religion. That is what’s stated in the constitution.”

Dyana, also political secretary to DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang, stressed that it was not un-Islamic to fight for secularism.

“I believe that some secular values are also taught in Islam. We fight for justice, we fight for good governance, accountability, speaking the truth, integrity. These are universal values,” she said.

She added that she would reassure Chinese voters, who are wary of her ethnicity, that she stood by the DAP’s stand against hudud, and that PAS has postponed plans to table parliamentary bills in its bid to implement the Islamic criminal justice system in Kelantan.

“It doesn’t matter what my race is; I can still serve the rakyat,” she said.

Dyana said she faces challenges in winning the Malay vote as the candidate from an opposition party that is seen as predominantly Chinese.

“It’s very normal for Malays to join Umno,” she said, pointing out that her mother, some uncles, cousins, and even distant relatives are members of the party that dominates Barisan Nasional.

“Turning my back on Umno doesn’t mean I’m a traitor to the Malays because Malays are not just constrained to Umno. I can still be Malay and not support Umno, because I believe that Malays are larger than Umno itself,” added Dyana who does not wear a headscarf.

She said that her family is supportive of her candidacy and added that she joined DAP in 2011 because she had friends there.

“I was not really comparing DAP, PAS, PKR,” she said.

The Teluk Intan by-election, which is scheduled on May 31, was triggered after DAP MP Seah Leong Peng recently died from cancer.

In the May 5 general election last year, Seah defeated BN’s Mah with a 7,313-vote majority.

The voter base in Teluk Intan is 42 per cent Chinese and 38 per cent Malay and 19 per cent Indian.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 May 2014, 4:18 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Kit Siang mengaku bukan mudah kekalkan kerusi parlimen Teluk Intan

Astro Awani

Bernama | Kemas kini: Mei 18, 2014

TELUK INTAN: Penasihat DAP Lim Kit Siang berkata parti itu berhadapan dengan cabaran besar untuk mempertahankan kerusi Parlimen Teluk Intan pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) kerusi itu hujung bulan ini.

Beliau berkata DAP telah mengambil keputusan berani dengan mencalonkan setiausaha politiknya, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

Pemimpin veteran itu berkata beliau yakin calon wanita muda berusia 27 tahun itu mampu memenangi hati pengundi di kawasan Parlimen itu.

PRK Parlimen Teluk Intan diadakan berikutan kematian penyandangnya Seah Leong Peng, 48, akibat kanser pada 1 Mei lepas.

Penamaan calon ditetapkan Isnin ini dengan disusuli pengundian awal pada 27 Mei serta hari pengundian 31 Mei ini.

Bagaimanapun, DAP telah memulakan kempen pada Sabtu apabila Dyana Sofya turun padang bersama mentornya, Kit Siang, untuk bertemu pengundi di pasar malam di kawasan Dataran Menara Condong di sini.

Bagi Dyana Sofya pula, apabila ditanya mengenai calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Datuk Mah Siew Keong, 53, yang juga Presiden Gerakan, katanya faktor usia dan kaum tidak menjadi masalah besar bagi dirinya.

“Sebelum ini pun ramai pemimpin muda yang menjadi anggota Parlimen…jadi faktor umur tidak jadi masalah. Apa yang penting ialah kematangan politik,” katanya.

                This entry was posted on Sunday, 18 May 2014, 8:30 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


DAP slams Utusan for saying ‘Lims’ masterminded attacks against Dyana Sofya

by Looi Sue-Chern

The Malaysian Insider

May 19, 2014

The DAP has slammed Umno-mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia over an article which said that the recent attacks against the Teluk Intan by-election candidate Intan Dyana Sofya Mohd Duad were planned by the “Lim Dynasty”.

Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the Malay newspaper’s Sunday edition, Mingguan Malaysia, had slandered the party by implying that he and his father, Lim Kit Siang, had planned the attacks against Dyana.

“We strongly condemn this. It is very malicious. You slander us once, fine. But you do it again and again.

“Do not try to demean a woman and her dignity like that… Mingguan Malaysia does not know Dyana yet.

“She will not bow to such attacks and she will continue to fight for justice and democracy,” Lim said in a press conference after the opening of the state legislative assembly today.

The feature article “Dyana Sofya dan Dakyah RBA” by Shen Yee Aun, who is a political analyst and Pertubuhan Hak Belia Malaysia president, was published yesterday in Mingguan Malaysia.

The writer alleged that Perak DAP, dominated by cousins Nga Kor Ming and Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham, is not in good terms with the Lim Dynasty.

Shen wrote that there were several potential candidates for the Teluk Intan by-election who support the cousins including Nga’s political secretary Chong Zhen Min and Dr Hee Kuan Yew, who is also known by the nickname “Superman”.

He alleged that the Lims, with their startegists and the RBA (Red Bean Army), had drawn up a strategy to promote Dyana, the 27-year-old lawyer and political secretary to Kit Siang, to boost her chances as a candidate.

Shen said the Lims found a picture of Filipina actress Pauleen Luna, who looked like Dyana and circulated the photo of the actress in a bikini to Barisan Nasional supporters through the RBA.

The BN supporters who lacked social media strategies then mobilised their people to spread the fake photo to attack Dyana.

“Now all the media, bloggers, the RBA and even The Star newspaper are reporting how bad BN is. This is a two-pronged tactic to destroy BN’s credibility and earn sympathy votes for Dyana,” he said.

Hitting out at Utusan, Lim said it is already hard for women to join politics and stand for elections.

With reports of such nature, he said, Utusan is making it even more difficult for women.

“It is rude and very, very unbecoming. Here we put forward one of our best and youngest stars and they demean her in such fashion,” he said, adding that it was a dirty tactic.

He also said the daily should rename itself “Utusan minta maaf” (Utusan apologises) since it was in habit of publishing slanderous reports and apologises to him and the DAP later after being taken to court.

“There have been occassions when Utusan apologised voluntarily,” he said.

Lim also took a swipe at Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil for attacking Dyana even before the young DAP lawyer was nominated formally this morning as candidate.

“Why is Umno so angry that its Wanita chief used words like ‘cosmetic’ and ‘boneka’ (puppet) against Dyana?” he said, referring to Shahrizat’s remark on Saturday that she pitied Dyana for allegedly being unaware that she was a puppet being used by the DAP to grab power.

Lim also said the party was also not short of credible candidates, as alleged by MCA president Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai in a Bernama report.

Lim said the party chose Dyana because it wanted to give a young woman politician the chance to serve as MP and also to celebrate diversity to break the racial mould in Malaysian politics.

“It is not who you are but what you can do that is important.

“If Liow thinks this is because the DAP has internal political reasons, why doesn’t he come forward and explain why his party declined to contest in the Bukit Gelugor by-election?

“His two predecessors Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek have called him a coward,” Lim said.

Dyana is meeting BN’s Datuk Mah Siew Keong, who is also Gerakan president, in a straight fight for the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat in Perak.

She is a first-time candidate while Mah was MP of the seat for two terms from 1999 to 2008, until he lost it to the DAP.

The seat fell vacant with the death of the incumbent, DAP’s Seah Leong Peng of cancer on May 1. – May 19, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 May 2014, 2:11 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
Media
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


First book on MH370 mystery blames US war games

By
Tim Barla
 | May 18, 2014

The Sydney Morning Herald

EXCLUSIVE

Seventy-one days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared, the first book about the disaster will go on sale on Monday with a theory about what might have happened.

And as the international search continues for the aircraft Irene Burrows, the Queensland mother who lost her son and daughter-in-law on the flight, said it was too soon for a book.

Flight MH370 The Mystery, which is made available by NewSouth Books in Sydney, doesn’t claim to have any answers but to some extent supports the theory that the aircraft may have been accidentally shot down during a joint Thai-US military exercise in the South China Sea. Searchers were then possibly led in the wrong direction to cover up the mistake, it suggests.

”In an age where a stolen smart phone can be pinpointed to any location on earth, the vanishing of this aircraft and 227 passengers is the greatest mystery since the Mary Celeste,” the publicity for the book reads.

The Sun-Herald is the first media outlet in Australia to see the work, written by author and journalist Nigel Cawthorne. It records the events, emotions and theories unfolding on a backdrop of fruitless searches.

Cawthorne says in the introduction that ”almost certainly” relatives will never be sure what happened to their loved ones.

”Did they die painlessly, unaware of their fate? Or did they die in terror in a flaming wreck, crashing from the sky in the hands of a madman?”

He says this raises the significance that around the time the plane’s transponder went off at 01.21, New Zealander Mike McKay, working on an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand, saw a burning plane. He links that to the joint Thai-US military exercise going on in the South China Sea with personnel from China, Japan, Indonesia and other countries.

”The drill was to involve mock warfare on land, in water and in the air, and would include live-fire exercises,” he writes.

”Say a participant accidentally shot down Flight MH370. Such things do happen. No one wants another Lockerbie [Pan Am flight 103 by terrorists in 1988 allegedly in retaliation for a US Navy strike on an Iranian commercial jet six months earlier], so those involved would have every reason to keep quiet about it.”

He suggests through anonymous and contradictory sources, they might release misinformation, leading people to search in the wrong place in an environment so hostile that it would be unlikely anything would ever be found.

”After all, no wreckage has been found in the south Indian Ocean, which in itself is suspicious,” Cawthorne writes.

”Now I’m not saying that’s what happened but if a black box is found, who is to say that it is from Flight MH370? Another black box could have been dropped in the sea 1000 miles from Perth while the search was going on in the South China Sea. In these circumstances, with the amount of disinformation abroad, it is best to be sceptical.”

Ms Burrows, the mother of Brisbane man Rod Burrows who was travelling with his wife, Mary, said on Friday the book was premature.

”Nobody knows what happened so why would anyone want to put out a book at this stage?” she said.

”There’s absolutely no answers. It’s devastating for the families. It’s 10 weeks tomorrow and there’s nothing,” she said.

”There are so many theories that I only want to believe one, that they were all unconscious and didn’t know what was going on.

”That’s my only theory. That keeps me sane. All I want is for somebody to find a bit of plane. My husband wants a black box and I want a bit of plane to let me know just where they are.”

Penguin will soon release a book on the mystery to be written by aviation author Christine Negroni. She wrote Deadly Departure on TWA Flight 800, about a plane that crashed in the Atlantic near New York in 1996, killing 230.

Writing on her blog she says she has discussed the flight with French air accident investigator Olivier Ferrante.

He told her: ”So far it is a crash with no airplane, no bodies, no crash site, no physical evidence. It is a virtual crash until a piece of wreckage is found.”

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 May 2014, 2:19 pm and is filed under
Airline
,
MH 370
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Learn from my Umno mum, Dyana tells Shahrizat

Malaysiakini

May 18, 2014

DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, whose Teluk Intan candidacy has been belittled by Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, has asked the veteran politician to learn from her underling – Dyana’s mother.

“I ask that she learns from my mother who herself is an Umno member but has realised that my candidacy by the DAP heralds a breakthrough for young women in politics, especially for young Malay women, who have long been held back by an inflexible, patriarchal structure in Umno.

“I owe who I am today to my family and to my mother, to hard work and…the personal decisions which I have made along my life,” Dyana said in a statement today.

Standing by her daughter during the candidate announcement yesterday, Dyana’s mother Yammy Samat, an Umno member, said it was time for the younger generation to step up.

Yammy was the country’s first woman Umno division secretary and today remains as an Umno member in Ipoh.

Yesterday, Shahrizat said she “sympathised” with Dyana as she did not realised that she was being used by DAP and described Dyana’s candidacy as a “show”.

The Umno stalwart added that Dyana would not be where she was today if it were not for Umno.

‘Women in politics not to serve food’

In response, Dyana said she would be the youngest MP in Parliament if she wins, an impossible prospect had she joined Umno.

Dyana said the statement by Shahrizat (left)  was indicative of Wanita Umno’s failure to promote women into positions of leadership in the country.

“It is precisely this sort of negative attitude that originates from the crop of BN women leaders that has constantly robbed women of opportunities to lead in this nation,” she said.

In a stinging reference to Umno Wanita’s grassroot operations, Dyana said women’s role in politics should not be confined to serving food and drinks to party workers and visiting voters in their houses with goodies.

“The party (DAP) has nominated me precisely because I strongly believe in the ideals of justice, equal opportunity and good governance.

“Shahrizat and Puteri Umno should not belittle my intelligence and my ability to tell the difference between BN which protects the interest of the rich and powerful, and DAP which protects the rights of ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or creed,” she said.

Courage lauded

Meanwhile, DAP vice president Teresa Kok backed Dyana’s “courage” and belief in the “Malaysian First” concept which does not sit well with Umno as it challenges status quo.

Kok said that last year Dyana spoke out against Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM)’s failure to live up to its purpose of giving opportunities to bumiputera students, who faced greater obstacles than their counterparts.

Recalling the privileged Malay students on campus during her time at UiTM, Kok said, Dyana braved being called a traitor when to urge UiTM open its doors to needy non-Malay citizens.

“Umno has been able to maintain its Malay support by various ways and among them are the existence of unfair constituency delineation and the manipulation of politics of race…

“Dyana’s victory will also be a victory for the Malaysian First concept,” she said in a statement.

Dyana will face off with Gerakan deputy president Mah Siew Keong in the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31. Nomination day is fixed for May 19.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 May 2014, 1:28 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Teluk Intan By Election: voters must vote wisely

Why DAP has chosen Dyana, a Malay candidate?

By Koon Yew Yin

Recently, the internet news portal, Malaysia Chronicle carried an article “FED UP WITH MALAY RACISM & BULLYING, Chinese in Teluk Intan may not accept Dyana despite her DAP credentials”.

According to one critic, many faithful DAP supporters would be disappointed that Hew Kuan Yau, a popular local DAP leader known as “Superman” who had been touted as an early candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election scheduled for May 31 was not chosen.

Chosen instead is a Malay candidate, Dyana, the political secretary to veteran DAP politician Lim Kit Siang.

Some people say that DAP is taking a big risk in view of the fact that in Teluk Intan there are more Chinese than Malay voters. I agree but I think the risk is well worth taking. Let us not forget that DAP is a multi-racial party and if it wants to win power, it must prove its multi-racial and not Chinese credentials to the voters – Chinese and non-Chinese.

Let me also point out that the voter composition in Teluk Intan is 42% ethnic Chinese, 19 % Indians and 38 % Malays – in other words there is in fact a non-Chinese majority.

Chinese Voters are Politically Sophisticated and that is why DAP is taking this big gamble

Finally let me point out that many Chinese voters are politically sophisticated. They will not vote simply on the basis of race. If Chinese voters go by race alone, then MCA and Gerakan will still have many MPs and enjoy the support of the Chinese. The fact that Chinese are politically astute is why the DAP is counting on Dyana to win the seat. This move is a logical as well as wise one.

I support it and I expect that most voters in Teluk Intan will also support this move.

Everyone knows that during the past few elections most Chinese have voted across racial lines for a clean, efficient and genuinely multi-racial government. We know also what Chinese think of the BN government.

Everyone also knows also of the time when the people of Perak had their state election results in which they had chosen the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) coalition to govern the state, overturned by trickery and deceit. At that time in 2009, three state legislators elected on PR tickets defected to the Barisan Nasional (BN) in a move which was masterminded by the Prime Minister, Najib Razak, as head of Perak’s BN.

Subsequently, the Sultan of Perak refused Menteri Besar Nizar’s request to dissolve the state assembly and call for new elections. Instead, Barisan Nasional (BN), with support from the three defecting assemblymen, formed the new – and in my mind – – illegitimate state government. I am sure most Malaysians including even BN supporters will agree that the BN government played dirty and should not have been allowed to rule the state.

Close State Election Results Favoured BN

In the recent 2013 elections, history repeated itself with a different kind of dirty trick.  This time the election was stolen with more conventional methods.  According to the official tally, BN won 31 seats to the PR’s 28 in a closely contested race.  But on close analysis of the results, we find that BN won 8 of the state seats (and 2 parliamentary ones) with wafer thin majorities.  State seats that BN candidates won with very small margins as shown below:

Perak State Seat

Total Votes Cast

Winning Margin of BN Candidate

BN % of Votes

Selama

13,089

619

52.3

Kamunting

22,681

887

51.9

Lubok Merbau

12,469

53

50.2

Manjoi

42,890

132

50.1

Manong

14,579

231

50.8

Pasir Panjang

30,247

304

50.1

Rungkup

12,217

613

52.5

Changkat Jong

23,271

1,118

51.8

Cheating in Elections

Cheating at the electoral booth can influence outcomes in close races.  Such cheating takes many forms. Some of the major ways include:

Tampering of the electoral rolls including registering foreign nationals as registered voters; individuals registered doubly as regular and postal voters; phantom voters;

Biased and unreliable counting and tallying practices

Questionable postal votes

Dirty tactics of election officials aimed at favouring one candidate or party.

It is important to emphasise that there is no level electoral playing field in Malaysia. This is why – in order for the DAP candidate to win – it is necessary that all registered voters turn up to vote. This is the only way to make sure that the election in Teluk Intan is not a close race and is not stolen by the BN.  Everyone in Teluk Intan – Chinese, Malays and Indians – must vote to ensure that we Perakians put a stop to the corrupt and dirty rule of BN.

                This entry was posted on Monday, 19 May 2014, 2:11 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Election
,
Perak
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


29-year-old PKR exco, a UiTM graduate, launches impassioned defence of Dyana

by Himanshu Bhatt

fz.com

May 20, 2014

GEORGE TOWN (May 20): PKR’s Dr Afif Bahardin, who at 29 is the youngest state executive councillor in the country, launched a vigorous defence of aspiring lawmaker Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud today after she had been reportedly attacked by rival politicians from Umno for supposedly betraying Malays by joining DAP.

Speaking at the Penang state assembly, Afif in particular hit out at suggestions that Dyana, 27, had become such a betrayer as she graduated from Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM).

Like Dyana, Afif is also a graduate of UiTM, having obtained his medical degree there in 2009. He also won the Seberang Jaya seat last year when he was about the same age as Dyana is now in contesting the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election.

“I am a product of UiTM… Youths like Dyana and I are from UiTM and we are active the way we are because we are fed up with Umno-Barisan Nasional,” he said.

Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil has been reported to have privately told Dyana  during the by-election nominations two days ago to not be a traitor, reminding her that she is a UiTM graduate.

The incident came about after Shahrizat had earlier criticised DAP for picking Dyana.

Dyana has also been the target of a smear effort in the social media where a photo of a Filipino actress in a bikini was spread around with false labelling as being the young DAP politician.

Afif rose to support Dyana after the BN’s assembly member for Teluk Ayer Tawar, Datuk Jahara Hamid, who is the state opposition head, commented that Dyana was in fact a product of the BN system, referring to UiTM being an institution developed by the BN federal government.

Speaking at a press conference later, Afif said the attacks against Dyana were uncalled for.

“UiTM was formed not for Umno leaders only. It is a higher education institution for all Malaysian bumiputras,” he said.

“I was in UiTM not because I supported Umno but because I got the grades to get there by merit,” he stressed, adding that neither his parents nor grandparents are Umno members.

Objecting to any move to pressure UiTM students to be indebted to Umno, he said: “We have our own strength, our own dignity. We can succeed on our own merits!”

“In UiTM we were taught to be good citizens, to be part of the country’s democracy, to express our views… I joined PKR, she (Dyana) joined DAP.”

Meanwhile, DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng decried the comments that have surfaced on Dyana’s looks and appearance following her selection as the party’s candidate in Teluk Intan.

“The time has come for us not to have this kind of sexist attitude towards female candidates,” he said.

“We chose her because of her brains, brawns and most importantly her idealism.”

He also pointed out that the DAP’s candidate for the Bukit Gelugor by-election, Ramkarpal Singh, has not been cast in the same light as he is a man.

“You have a false picture of Dyana in a bikini coming out. But you don’t find false pictures of Ramkarpal in swimming trunks,” he quipped.

He also praised Dyana for daring to stand up against Shahrizat’s alleged reference to her as a traitor made “on her face.”

Lim also took exception to claims Dyana is too young to run as MP at 27, saying that voters should then not be given the right to vote at 21.

He noted that he also had no experience in running the state when he became Penang chief minister in 2008.

“We don’t have experience in stealing money and being corrupt, and I think that is the most important quality,” he said.

Dyana faces BN’s Datuk Mah Siew Keong, who is Gerakan president, in a straight fight in the Teluk Intan by-election scheduled to take place on May 31, following the passing of its MP, Seah Leong Peng of DAP.

The Bukit Gelugor parliamentary by-election is slated for May 28. It has been called following the death of DAP MP Karpal Singh, who was Ramkarpal’s father.

Ramkarpal faces Parti Cinta Malaysia’s Datuk Huan Cheng Guan and two independent candidates.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 5:59 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Barisan rep calls Dyana Sofya ‘ungrateful’, causes uproar in Penang assembly

by Looi Sue-Chern

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 20, 2014

A Barisan Nasional (BN) MP today caused a stir in the Penang legislative assembly after she hit out at the DAP candidate for the Teluk Intan polls, saying that she was ungrateful to the services of the coalition.

Opposition leader Datuk Jahara Hamid (BN-Teluk Air Tawar), in echoing her Umno colleagues’ views on Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, said she was ungrateful to the Barisan Nasional as she is a product of its education system.

“We don’t have problems with young and beautiful women in politics. It is good as to have more women’s voices in Parliament.”

“The issue is the DAP candidate came from BN’s efforts as well. For example, she was a graduate of UiTM,” she said.

Jahara then described Dyana using the Malay idiom “kacang lupakan kulit” (forgeting where one comes from), while debating Penang governor Tun Dr Abdul Rahman Abbas’s address to the assembly yesterday.

Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, a lawyer and political secretary of DAP veteran leader Lim Kit Siang, is a Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) graduate.

(UiTM is a local university exclusive to the Malays and the Bumiputera.)

RSN Rayer (DAP-Seri Delima) immediately demanded Jahara retract the statement, saying that such a remark was hurtful.

Also voicing discontent over Jahara’s remark was Dr Afif Bahardin (PKR-Seberang Jaya), who said he too was a UiTM graduate, unlike Jahara and Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak who received their higher education in Britain.

“It is not that young people like us from UiTM forget ourselves. We are just fed-up with BN,” he said.

Jahara replied that people should not forget that it is the BN government that provided the infrastructure and environment to allow Malaysians to receive their education.

Datuk Mohd Salleh Man (PAS-Permatang Pasir) then said it is the federal government’s duty to do that, so there is no need for BN to talk about it.

Even before she was the confirmed candidate of the DAP for Teluk Intan, Dyana has been the subject of criticism and a smear campaign.

The 27-year-old will enter a head-to-head battle against  Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong for the Chinese-majority seat which was left vacant after incumbent MP Seah Leong Peng, who was also from DAP, died of cancer on May 1.

Polling day for the Teluk Intan by-election is May 31. – May 20, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 2:19 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Dyana a new political phenomena

 — A Kadir Jasin

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 20, 2014

MAY 20 — Although I am 9989.2 km away from home on my annual extraterritorial grandfather duty and will be missing the Bukit Gelugor and Telok Intan parliamentary by-elections, it is hard for me to escape Dyana Sofya craze.

When I woke up this morning, I saw five messages from a former Umno divisional secretary on my cellular telephone.

One reads: “Dyana is said to be the latest state of the art Samsung 5s (sic) while Mah is Nokia. Sigh!”

My friend, the Nokia bit is an insult. I am a user of the pre-smart phone era Nokia E52. It’s good enough to roam the world and for you to send me SMS.

He was comparing the Barisan Nasional’s canditate for the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election, Mah Siew Keong, and his DAP’s challenger, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

Mah is the Gerakan president and an incumbent BN candidate while Dyana Sofya is Lim Kit Siang’s political secretary.

Bravo Gerakan

After chickening out from a similar poll in Bukit Gelugor, thanks to the koro syndrome of the MCA, the BN is back in the running. For more on koro syndrome, read here.

Bravo Gerakan for not running away from responsibility and for not shaming the grand old coalition (GOC).

Encik Mah, I salute you for having testicular fortitude! Itulah anak jantan. Unlike the sulking MCA, you are not abandoning your supporters.

In the May 5, 2013 General Elections, Mah polled 20,086 votes against 27,399 by the late DAP’s rep, Seah Leong Peng, giving the latter a majority of 7,313.

By not contesting in the on-going Bukit Gelugor by-election, the BN is giving the impression that it is no longer a national coalition and from now on will contest only in places where it stands a fair chance of winning.

Or is the MCA, despite being rejected by the Chinese, is still mightily influential in the BN that its every wish is fulfilled by the leadership of the GOC?

In the Internet age where images can be a powerful tool, Dyana Sofya youthfulness and look, is an advantage. Even an old timer Umno activist like my friend is fascinated by her.

In another SMS, he wrote: “But can we blame the papers & the people for their interest in Dyana? She’s young pretty thing. She’s news.”

More than just look

But it has to be something deeper than her look. The fact that she is a young Malay woman representing a Chinese-dominated opposition party is, to me, the real fascination.

Just days ago, a former female deputy minister from Umno noted with alarm that the DAP’s internship programmes were attracting many young Malay participants, most of whom are well educated.

There be must something particularly strong by way of push and pull factors to encourage a young Malay like Dyana Sofya, who hailed from an Umno family, to join the DAP and be an active member.

While the BN campaigners and their cyber troopers are having a field day maligning her, they should perhaps spare some time to understand why this sort of things are happening. Why young educated Malays are joining the DAP?

Instead of blaming others for their woes, leaders of the GOC parties should look at themselves and not treat the rakyat with disdain.

As for by-elections, they are an early indicator of the things to come four years down the road. Wallahuaklam.

* Datuk A. Kadir Jasin is a former New Straits Times group editor-in-chief.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 1:18 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Pengundi Teluk Intan perlu mengundi sebagai rakyat Malaysia, kata Kit Siang

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 19, 2014

Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang berkata Pilihan Raya Kecil  (PRK) Teluk Intan merupakan masa yang tepat bagi pengundi mula mengundi sebagai rakyat Malaysia dan bukannya berdasarkan kaum semata-mata.

Lim yang juga ahli Parlimen Gelang Patah menggesa pengundi di Teluk Intan menyelamatkan Malaysia dengan melakar sejarah dan mencipta keajaiban daripada cuba menyelamatkan parti komponen Barisan Nasional (BN), Gerakan.

“Saya menggesa pengundi Teluk Intan untuk melakar sejarah dan mencipta keajaiban buat kali kedua dalam dekad ini yang boleh membuka mata rakyat Malaysia untuk menyelamatkan negara ini daripada terus gagal dan berpecah belah.

“Ini merupakan cabaran yang perlu dihadapi Teluk Intan untuk bangkit dalam usaha meningkatkan undi demi masa depan negara,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan media hari ini.

Beliau berkata, berbeza dengan pencalonan PRK Bukit Gelugor minggu lalu apabila semua pemimpin BN cuba menutupi ketakutan berdepan kekalahan dengan tidak bertanding tetapi pada hari penamaan calon PRK Teluk Intan, dapat dilihat Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sendiri yang mengetuai jentera pilihan raya.

Katanya, situasi itu berlaku berdasarkan alasan yang sangat jelas apabila BN yakin DAP melakukan kesalahan besar dengan meletakkan Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud untuk melawan Presiden Gerakan, Datuk Mah Siew Keong.

“Presiden Gerakan dikatakan bersedia untuk memenangi PRK 31 Mei ini merupakan sebab mengapa pemimpin BN berani untuk hadir pada penamaan calon pagi tadi berbanding ketika Bukit Gelugor Isnin lalu.

“Malah pemimpin Umno-BN percaya mereka mampu menjatuhkan Pakatan Rakyat – DAP pada PRK Teluk Intan kali ini termasuk dengan menyerang kelemahan parti ini di kalangan pengundi Melayu, India dan Cina di kawasan itu,” katanya.

Lim berkata, ketika Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 (PRU13) lalu, DAP berjaya mendapatkan sokongan 25% pengundi Melayu daripada jumlah keseluruhan pengundi sebanyak 38%.

“BN percaya serangan sengit dengan penipuan dan kenyataan salah bagi menentang DAP dan calonnya dapat memastikan parti ini tidak akan mampu untuk mempertahankan tahap sokongan daripada pengundi Melayu yang berjaya diperolehi tahun lalu,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, pemimpin DAP juga dilabelkan sebagai anti Melayu dan Islam selain pengikut komunis dan menyerang peribadi Dyana di sosial media sebelum beliau diumumkan secara sah akan menjadi calon DAP dalam PRK Teluk Intan.

“BN turut menyerang pengundi India yang menyumbang sebanyak 19% apabila menggunakan kad menterinya untuk menawarkan wang bagi pembangunan dan memainkan kenyataan Cina mesti mengundi untuk Cina bukan mengundi Melayu seperti Dyana,” katanya.

Lim berkata, situasi ini merupakan politik lama yang berdasarkan kaum di mana rakyat Malaysia perlu melakukan perubahan dengan memperkenalkan politik baru yang berdasarkan identiti rakyat Malaysia.

Katanya, atas alasan itu, PRK Teluk Intan merupakan persaingan sengit buat DAP dan meramalkan peluang kemenangan adalah sebanyak 40% hingga 60%.

“Persaingan di Teluk Intan adalah antara masa lalu dan masa hadapan, baru melawan lama, ahli politik nasional menentang ahli politik perkauman,” katanya.

Beliau berkata, PR mesti berusaha untuk berhubung dengan pengundi sehingga ke akar umbi untuk menjelaskan dalam kempen selama 12 hari ini kepada penduduk untuk membuktikan BN salah. –  19 Mei, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 7:16 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


She’s like Marina, mom turns tables on Dr M

Malaysiakini

May 20, 2014

 Turning the tables on Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud’s mother puts the former premier’s Umno parenting skill under the microscope.

Peppered with liberal doses of sarcasm, Yammy Samat said her daughter turned out more like Mahathir’s daughter Marina, a social activist whose views often contradict that of her father’s.

“I tried teaching her to be like Mukhriz, but when she grew up she became like Marina,” she was quoted as saying by Astro Awani.

Mukriz, who is Mahathir’s son, is currently the Kedah menteri besar and state Umno liaison committee chairperson.

Furthermore, Yammy, a long-term Umno member, said that she has given her daughter the freedom to choose between right and wrong.

“She is a grown up and can think for herself,” she added when met on the campaign trail with Dyana, who is the DAP candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election.

‘She can even choose her husband’

Yesterday, Mahathir expressed disappointment that DAP was fielding someone who hails from an Umno family.

Describing the Chinese-dominated party’s decision to put a Malay candidate as window dressing, the ex-Umno president, however, advised party members on how to prevent their children from turning their backs on Umno.

“As parents, Umno members should tell their children about Umno, it’s history and what it has done (for the country and people).

“Otherwise, when they grow up, they will do as they please,” he had said.

Meanwhile, Yammy also said that she has given Dyana the freedom of choosing her husband, what more the party of her choice.

“If she wants to marry, it is up to her. If she wants to marry a Malay, Chinese or Indian…

“If I force her and if the marriage ends in failure, what then?” she added.

Yammy also said she was not concerned about Dyana joining DAP as the party does not only consist of Chinese and is certain that her daughter’s faith in Islam will not be shaken.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 7:15 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
Mahathir
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


SOS to netizens to help out in the Teluk Intan by-election as DAP candidate Dyana Sofya will win hands down in a social media or Internet poll, may be 85% to 15%, but faces defeat as the by-election will be decided by 60,000 Teluk Intan voters  substantial numbers of whom are not connected to Internet

I have no doubt that if the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31 is decided by Malaysian netizens, the DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud would win hands down in the social media or Internet poll.

I would even put Dyana’s chances of winning in a poll on the social media or Internet as some 85% to 15%.

However, the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31 will not be decided by netizens in Malaysia but by the 60,000 Teluk Intan voters, a substantial percentage of whom are not netizens.

I said yesterday that the DAP is the underdog in the Teluk Intan by-election among all the three different racial groups, and I had rated the DAP’s chances yesterday as 40% to 60%.

What cannot be denied is the excitement and expectation which electrified Malaysians when  news of Dyana’s candidature went out, as  it triggered hope not only for  women and youths, but also to the general Malaysian populace , of the advent of a historic moment in the nation’s history – the smashing of the old mould of the politics of race which had dominated Malaysian politics for close to six decades and its replacement by the politics of Malaysian nationalism with politics based on issues of justice, freedom, the rule of law and good governance.

Political analysts have described the DAP decision to name Dyana as the DAP/PR candidate for Teluk Intan by-election as a “brave” one, implying that  although it is  a commendable decision and good for the nation it is unlikely to succeed as it is still too premature  in the year 2014 for such a “brave decision” to be accepted by the voters as Malaysian politics is still too deeply-rooted in communalism.

DAP does not agree with this old communal school of thought.

We believe that  57 years after Merdeka, the time has come for Malaysians to move beyond communal politics of Chinese support Chinese, Malays support Malays and Indians support Indians, to a higher level where they  support as MPs those who are prepared to take a clear stand on issues of justice, freedom, the rule of law and good governance so that Malaysia can become a united, harmonious, progressive, prosperous,  competitive and successful nation in the world.

In the Teluk Intan by-election, Mah Siew Keong stands for the saving of Gerakan and the opportunity to become a Minister while Dyana stands for saving Malaysia from becoming a disunited and failed state, which will affect the welfare and future of 30 million Malaysians and our children’s children!

The Teluk Intan by-election is a battle between the future and the past; hope versus despair; the new politics of issues concerning Malaysians versus the old politics of race.

This is why I have described the Teluk Intan by-election of May 31, 2014 as a second opportunity for the voters of Teluk Intan to “write history and create miracle”, which they did in the Teluk Intan by-election of My 17, 1997, and to start a Teluk Intan whirlwind nationwide  for political change until there is a change of Federal Government in Putrajaya in the 14GE.

If this battle is fought out in the social media or Internet, Dyana would win hands down.

I am worried however as it is not decided by Malaysian netizens but by the 60,000 voters of Teluk Intan.

For this reason, I want to sent out  SOS to Malaysian netizens to help out in the Teluk Intan by-election in every way they can as DAP candidate Dyana Sofya faces defeat in the by-election although she would have won hands down in a social media or Internet poll.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 4:02 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


The Malay DAP candidate for Teluk Intan is one of us, she’s Malaysian

 – Sakmongkol AK47

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 19, 2014

What else can the mentally-challenged Umno stormtroopers say? Malays who join DAP are DAP’s lapdogs. That kind of statement cannot be answered by a negation such as, no I am not so. It would not be believed anyway. So, we won’t bother to dignify such stupidity.

I am very surprised that Umno and its adherents cannot understand one simple basic fact: people are free to choose political allegiance. Why is it hard and difficult for Umno to accept that some people just don’t want to be with and near Umno? Umno has to learn to accept that not every Malay wants to join Umno and not joining Umno is a perfectly rational choice. Those who don’t want to join Umno are beyond the judgmental standards of Umno. Accept this reality.

Semi-urban and urban Malays are likely not to vote Umno. We expect Umno to come out strong to help its ally Gerakan – its pet poodle. It will spend a lot on money to buy Malay votes to stop the Dap candidate, Dyana Daud. If Dyana Daud wins, she will be an icon among the younger Malay generation to signal that there is a more meaningful life without Umno.

Tomorrow onwards, my friends and I will be in Teluk Intan. We shall be campaigning and doing the ceramah rounds for DAP candidate for Teluk Intan. DAP has chosen a Malaysian Malay, Dyana Mohd Daud as its candidate. She has also been endorsed wholeheartedly by Pakatan Rakyat.

The only party that is utterly shocked is Umno. They could not imagine that DAP- now at its acme of success has chosen a Malay to contest in Teluk Intan. This is thinking outside the box in action. We have simply out boxed the blue- ocean-strategising money-dispensing Umno people.

Umno which is always boxed in is now at sixes and sevens. Many are rolling on the floor and pulling out their hair. Shahrizat’s wanita army must be rolling up their baju kurung sleeves and jeepers creepers –I hope not disrobing their sarungs. Children will get nightmares dear ladies.

As to pulling out their hair, I would advise those with balding head, never to do that in your fit of absent mindedness. Otherwise you will be like my colleagues from Segambut and Serdang. Be calm and vote for the DAP candidate. Have a break, have a Kit Kat.

This is a brilliant move by DAP. What can Umno and BN make out this move as? It proves that DAP is committed to evolving into a truly multiracial party. Why should it want to sacrifice a seat which could easily be won by a Chinese candidate but choose a Malay instead? It must have been a very difficult decision.  The DAP leadership has shown it has the foresight and is looking at the big picture. It is out to prove a point. That it is a multiracial party committed to the pursuit of a common destiny.

The best Shahrizat Jalil can do is to heap pity and scorn on Dyana by pointing her out as an ingrate. She can only say that Dyana is just a puppet for DAP.

Elsewhere the person who used to be a supporter of DAP in Penang, stated that Dyana will have difficulties in getting Malay support. Obviously this guy has never been on the ground. Dyana will get Malay support even from die hard Umno members. I have been told by UMNO friends that they will support Dyana because, however rancid the meat is, it is slowly chewed and eaten in the end.

I say this is the correct attitude. Malays will vote for Dyana because they are Malaysian Malays not Umno Malays. The Umno definition of a Malay is that he/she must be an Umno member. There are 38% Malays in Teluk Intan forming a substantial body of voters. They should go out and support Dyana Yusuf because they must show they are Malaysian Malays. If the Chinese believe in Dyana, then a priori, Malays have no reason to disbelieve her. Don’t trust Umno is the first step towards liberation from the Umno shackles that have bound the Malays for a long time.

We have not seen the full blast of the Umno machinery yet. We know they will come out in full force. Umno’s only main and secret weapon is their financial firepower; it will try to simply bribe voters to vote in their candidate.

If the people accede and succumb to Umno’s bribing ways, they are giving up their dignity by believing that Umno knows what is best for them. Teluk Intan is an opportunity for the people to show once again to Umno who is the boss. The future and destiny of this nation, beginning in Teluk Intan lies in your hands and not in Umno’s.

The question voters must ask themselves, “Would you trust your future in Shahrizat, in Najib, in Hishamudin?”

People trusted in Shahrizat and she did a cow-gate blowing away RM250 million. Umno people are whispering to me, that was only the tip of the iceberg – we have yet to unearth bigger financial abuses and downright thievery. The people trusted Najib and he is now implementing GST to collect more money for the government because he has been depleting our treasury. The people trusted Hishamudin and the security of people in Sabah were compromised. Vote for BN and Umno means we vote for incompetency. Vote for Umno and BN means we are sending foxes to look after our chickens.

The majority of the voters in Teluk Intan formerly known as Teluk Anson, are Chinese. Malays formed 38% of the population and Indians around 17-18%. We hope the Chinese voters will continue to support DAP as it means business in its mission to create a just and fair society.  We hope the Malays will vote the DAP candidate to reject the Umno propaganda that DAP is a Chinese chauvinist party – why would it field a Malay candidate and gamble a possible sure victory? To show that it acknowledges the political reality of this country and to account for the Malay presence. I hope the Malaysian Indians will also support the DAP candidate as they are passionate about fair play and justice.

As the DAP candidate goes campaigning in Malay areas, she should not be worried about the prospects of securing support from them. Socially and politically aware Malays will support Dyana Daud because they will feel it is the right thing to do. How can Umno reconcile the assertion that it stands for Malay everything but when it comes to Teluk INtan, it is asking the Malays to vote for a non-Malay candidate? It is Umno which is on trial for its chauvinistic politics. Let us punish Umno for its duplicity and hypocrisy.

Is getting support from Malays impossible? I can only point out to my own experience. Many journalists have been mistaken in citing Raub as a Chinese majority seat. It is not. Malays constitute 49% of the voters, Chinese 44% and the rest is made up of Indians and Orang Asli. Raub is a Malay majority seat. If the Malays had not come out to support a Malay opposition candidate on 5th May 2013, I would not have obtained a slightly bigger majority than Ng Yen Yen did in 2008. Malay voters came out to vote and support because they have an affinity with a Malaysian Malay rather than an Umno Malay. – sakmongkol.blogspot.com, May 19, 2014.

* Sakmongkol AK47 is the nom de guerre of Raub MP Datuk Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 2:09 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


UMNO/BN leadership supremely confident that DAP made a ‘fatal error’ in fielding Dyana as candidate – call on Teluk Intan voters of all races to prove UMNO/BN wrong

(Media Conference Statement in Teluk Intan on Monday, 19th May 2014)

Unlike the Bukit Gelugor by-election nomination a week ago, when the entire Barisan Nasional leadership and not just the MCA leaders, ran for cover for fear of getting a “drubbing” in the Bukit Gelugor by-election on May 25, there has been a show of force of the UMNO/Barisan Nasional leadership in the Teluk Intan by-election today with the Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin leading the team.

Why the stark difference?

The reason is very obvious. The UMNO/BN leadership is supremely confident that DAP has made a “fatal error” in fielding Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and that the BN candidate, Datuk Mah Siew Keong, Gerakan President, is set to win the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31 – reasons why the Umno/BN leaders dare to show their faces as compared to the Bukit Gelugor by-election nomination last Monday.

In fact, the UMNO/BN leadership believes that they can deliver the DAP/Pakatan Rakyat a major blow in the Teluk Intan by-election, as they will be able to attack what they regard as the DAP’s “Achilles heel” among the Malays, Indian and Chinese voters in Teluk Intan.

In the 13GE last May, DAP secured the support of 25 per cent of the Malay electorate, who comprise 38% of the electorate.

UMNO/BN believes that in an intense attack of lies and falsehoods against both the DAP and Dyana, they will be able to ensure that the DAP will not even be able to maintain the level of Malay votes DAP secured last year.

DAP leaders have been falsely vilified as anti-Malay, anti-Islam and even being communists, and the vicious personal attacks on Dyana, based on lies and falsehoods especially on the social media, have started even before she was officially announced as the candidate for Teluk Intan.

The BN attack on the Indian voters, who comprise 19% of the electorate, will be equally intense, especially with the “Minister’s card” played by Mah, promising a cornucopia of money for development and projects.n Already MIC have declared that it could ensure that support of 75% of the electorate.

The BN attack on the Chinese electorate will be no less intense – with the “Minister’s card” and promise of cornucopia of money for development and projects, as well as the politics of gratitude to Mah for his past services as State Assemblyman and MP for the area.

Furthermore, there will be an extra card, that the Chinese must vote for a Chinese and not for Dyana, a Malay candidate.

This is all politics of the past, the politics of race which Malaysians must break away if we want to introduce the new politics where politics is based on Malaysian identities rather than communal identies.

For these reasons, the DAP has a very uphill battle, and I will rate the DAP’s chances of winning Teluk Intan by-election as 40% to 60%.

Pakatan Rakyat parties must reach out to the Teluk Intan electorate in the next 12 days of the by-election campaign to explain why they should prove the UMNO/BN leaders wrong and that 57 years after Merdeka in1957, it is time for the voters to vote as Malaysians and not as Malays, Chineswe or Indians, and the qualities of an MP is not whether he is a Chinese, Malay or Indian, but whether he is a Malaysian who stands firmly for a just, united, democratic, harmonious, prosperous and competitive Malaysia.

The battle in Teluk Intan is a battle between the future and the past, the new vs the old, the politics of Malaysian nationalism against the politics of race.

Mah hopes that the people of Teluk Intan will help save Gerakan, which has been totally rejected in its founding state in Penang.

I call on the people of Teluk Intan to save Malaysia rather than to save Gerakan, for the people of Teluk Intan must “write history and create miracle” a second time in two decades to show the way for all Malaysians the direction to save Malaysia from becoming a failed and divided state.

Can the people of Teluk Intan raise the stakes of the DAP candidate from the present 40% to over 50% in time for a victory in athe May 31 by-election polling?

This is the challenge for the people of Teluk Intan to rise up to the occasion to vote for the country’s future.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 10:40 am and is filed under
Telok Intan by-e
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Weren’t you a newbie once, Khairy?

 – Teo Nie Ching and R. Rajiv

The Malaysian Insider

May 20, 2014

Umno Youth chief Khairy Jamaluddin has described DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as an inexperienced newbie in politics.

As a matter of fact, all of us are inexperienced newbies until we are given a chance to learn and to perform. Before he took his post as the Minister of Youth and Sports in 2013, Khairy too did not have any experience to serve as a minister. Does that mean our Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had made a wrong decision to make him a cabinet minister?

It has been a year since Khairy assumed office on May 16, 2013. So our question to him is this: how would you rate your performance?

If he thinks he has failed the people, then when is he going to tender his resignation? If however, he thinks he has performed well, what made him think that our Dyana cannot deliver if she is given the mandate to serve?

In any event, Dyana is not completely inexperienced. She has served as the political secretary of Gelang Patah Member of Parliament for a year. Lim Kit Siang is undeniably one of the best role models for parliamentarians.

Khairy has also reminded voters that should Dyana be elected, she would not have access to federal agencies while serving the constituency but the situation would be different with Mah.

Khairy drawing a parallel between access of federal funds and quality of public service while totally precedented, Barisan Nasional needs to be reminded that it is their duty to serve the people and not simply Barisan Nasional voters in Barisan Nasional-governed constituencies.

The attitude of openly threatening voters into choosing BN candidates is uncouth and arrogant. Statements like this do not only seek to intimidate the voters but also shows the true colours of the BN politicians as master manipulators of the Malaysian society.

By falling back to this type of “I help you, you help me” politics, it is evident that Khairy, despite being a rising star in Umno and a popular leader among young Malaysians, has failed to cultivate new politics that emphasises good governance, fairness and equality.

Unlike Khairy, Dyana has vowed to embrace new politics, ie breaking racial and religious barriers, and finding the perfect formula for a Malaysian “teh tarik, which is loved by all”. Despite being a newbie, she definitely deserved to be given a chance. – May 20, 2014.

* This is a joint media statement by DAP assistant national publicity secretary-cum-MP for Kulai, Teo Nie Ching, and Bukit Gasing Selangor state assemblyman, R. Rajiv.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 5:06 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


Why is Dyana Sofya a threat to Umno?

COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

May 20, 2014

It is just supposed to be a parliamentary by-election but the battle for Teluk Intan is now between Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud and Umno, which appears to be rattled by her candidacy on a DAP ticket.

She has apparently struck fear in several Umno leaders, from Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil  – who have all castigated the political novice for not joining Umno.

Even Perkasa president Datuk Ibrahim Ali has thrown his soiled fingers into the fray, urging Gerakan to use a photograph of him together with the 27-year-old DAP candidate as campaign fodder.

But Gerakan has refused to use the photograph as part of the campaign by their president Datuk Mah Siew Keong, the Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate for the May 31 by-election.

So why is Umno so afraid of the young UiTM law graduate, whose mother is an Umno member? Several reasons come to mind.

One. Dyana Sofya’s candidacy on a DAP ticket shows that Umno is not the only party for Malays, apart from PKR or PAS. Particularly when more Malaysians are seeing themselves as Malaysians and not identifying themselves along racial lines.

As more of that happens, Umno and other race-based parties and even groups like Perkasa will have fewer members and cease to exist or even be relevant in Malaysia.

Dr Mahathir, Shahrizat and even Ibrahim can’t allow this to happen because this will be the end of Umno and its dominance in Malaysian politics.

Two. Dr Mahathir is right, the younger generation have forgotten the hard work of the early Umno members and leaders. Perhaps that is because the old Umno was de-registered under his watch.

The Umno today is Umno Baru, a pale shadow of the Umno of Tunku Abdul Rahman and Tun Abdul Razak Hussein that fought for Malaya’s independence in 1957. The Umno today believes in keeping everything for itself, and only sharing the crumbs with others.

And every day, Umno gives Malaysians a reason to detest them. Every day.

Three. Dyana Sofya’s candidacy shows that there are political parties out there willing to gamble on youth and idealism rather than just rely on the tried and tested or the experienced politician.

There isn’t much of a queue in DAP unlike BN parties where party presidents and top officials are favoured as candidates over younger members. Perhaps it is also the fact that young talent have deserted the BN component parties.

Malaysia’s future belongs to Dyana Sofya’s generation, not the ones who have already tasted power and want to keep it for a while more.

Four. Dyana Sofya’s candidacy shows that young graduates, even from local varsities, such as UiTM, have the intelligence, mettle and leadership skills to strike their own path instead of following what their parents want them to do.

These young Malaysians can think and know they can make the difference. They are hungry and they don’t want to bide their time.

If anything, this mindset is the anti-thesis of a typical BN member who does what he or she is told and waits patiently in line for a shot at political office.

Only some, especially those in the inner circle, make it in BN. That might not be the case in DAP or other PR parties which have had to put up young candidates due to the lack of those willing to run for political office.

If more Malaysians, especially Malays, follow Dyana Sofya’s footsteps, then a party like Umno will come to an untimely end.

Umno cannot allow that to happen and it has to demonise, castigate, heckle and humiliate Dyana Sofya so that others will not follow her footsteps and join parties willing to take a chance on them.

Her success and victory in Teluk Intan will be more than just DAP keeping a seat in parliament or another young Malay becoming a DAP MP. It also means that Umno cannot assert itself as the only platform for the Malays to keep power or run Malaysia.

That is the sad state of Umno these days, that it has to fight a young woman just to keep power. – May 20, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 8:00 pm and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
,
UMNO
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.


With race-baiting, DAP’s chances in Teluk Intan just 40pc, Kit Siang says MAY 19, 2014

The Malay Mail Onine

19th May 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — DAP’s chance of retaining Teluk Intan has dwindled to as low as 40 per cent, Lim Kit Siang said today as he blamed race-baiting by Barisan Nasional (BN) for the likely dip in his party’s popularity.

He said BN believes the DAP has committed a “fatal error” by fielding a Malay candidate for the Chinese-majority seat and will use this to wrest the party’s non-Malay support.

“For these reasons, the DAP has a very uphill battle, and I will rate the DAP’s chances of winning Teluk Intan by-election as 40 per cent to 60 per cent,” Lim said in a statement here.

In a bid to boost its multiracial credentials, the DAP picked Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as its candidate for Teluk Intan, a seat last held by the late parliamentarian Seah Leong Peng.

The strategy has not impressed many of Teluk Intan’s Chinese voters, who make up 42 per cent of the electorate. The Malays form 38 per cent, and the Indians 19 per cent of the 60,349-strong electorate.

Last May, Seah defeated BN’s Datuk Mah Siew Keong with a 7,313-vote majority.

BN has again fielded Mah, who is Gerakan president, for the contest.

Lim braced his party for what he described as an “intense attack of lies and falsehoods” against both the DAP and its selected candidate Dyana, and urged Teluk Intan voters to look beyond Dyana’s racial background when casting their votes this May 31.

“The battle in Teluk Intan is a battle between the future and the past, the new versus the old, the politics of Malaysian nationalism against the politics of race.

“This is the challenge for the people of Teluk Intan to rise up to the occasion to vote for the country’s future,” he said.

The DAP veteran said BN’s Mah will likely play his “minister’s card” when canvassing for votes, especially among the Chinese and Indian constituents in Teluk Intan.

The former deputy minister and his BN colleagues will likely dole out expensive promises of money for development and projects, Lim said, in hopes of enticing the electorate to vote against the DAP.

“Furthermore, there will be an extra card, that the Chinese must vote for a Chinese and not for Dyana, a Malay candidate,” Lim predicted.

“This is all politics of the past, the politics of race which Malaysians must break away if we want to introduce the new politics where politics is based on Malaysian identities rather than communal identities,” he said.

                This entry was posted on Tuesday, 20 May 2014, 7:37 am and is filed under
DAP
,
Elections
. You can follow any responses to this entry through
RSS 2.0
.