GE14 lost if Barisan still fails to impress young voters, warns Sabbaruddin Chik

by Md Izwan

The Malaysian Insider

May 29, 2014

Barisan Nasional (BN) will lose Putrajaya in the 14th general election (GE14) if young voters remain unimpressed with the coalition and its handling of issues such as corruption and transparency, warns former Umno secretary-general Tan Sri Sabbaruddin Chik.

He said the younger generation was no longer stupid, and Umno and BN were in for an unprecedented nightmare should Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak and his administration carry on without any meaningful reforms.

“In the next general election, I am worried that if we do nothing, we will face bigger problems… most of the Generation Y are not with us,” Sabbaruddin told The Malaysian Insider.

The Election Commission (EC) said in 2013 that 70% of the estimated 4.2 million unregistered voters were between the ages of 21 and 40. Some 450,000 Malaysians turn 21 each year, the eligible voting age in the country.

Sabbaruddin did not rule out the possibility that BN would lose half the seats it managed to cling to in last year’s general election, which already saw the ruling coalition lose the popular vote in its worst polls showing in history.

“If there are no serious changes, we will lose half. Now, (we have lost the) two-thirds (majority),” said the veteran politician who served as the Umno secretary-general in 1996.

“Corruption, leakages and transparency must be emphasised,” he said, adding that these were the main factors behind the youths’ rejection of BN.

The Auditor-General’s annual report has laid bare the government’s leakages under the Najib administration since he took over from Tun Abdullah Badawi in 2009.

The latest report exposed several ministries’ huge mismanagement of funds in 2013, which ran contrary to Najib’s cry for transformation since he took over the country’s reins.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) was forced to haul up five ministries to clarify the financial discrepencies reported in exhaustive detail in the first edition of the Auditor-General Report 2013.

Anti-graft watchdog Transparency International-Malaysia (TI-M) released a report in 2013 showing Malaysia had improved its ranking by just one notch, up from 54 in 2012 to 53.

Malaysia’s rank has not run tangent with the prime minister’s call for transformation.

As BN’s appeal among the youth continues to slip, the opposition coalition has seized the opportunity to shore up support among the sizeable vote bank.

Young, first-time voters were vital in boosting the loose coalition of DAP, PKR and PAS’s presence in Parliament after the 2008 general election. The EC has registered 2.4 million new voters in 2013 or 30% of the electorate.

In this Saturday’s Teluk Intan by-election, DAP said victory hinged on the young voters, and has launched the “Jom Balik Undi” campaign to encourage them to return to the constituency to cast their votes for their young candidate, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

Should Dyana defeat BN’s older, more experienced candidate, Gerakan president Datuk Mah Siew Keong, it would be the third blow to BN after it lost the Bukit Gelugor and Kajang by-elections this year.

Sabbaruddin said only luck had helped Najib remain in power until now, although his leadership had led BN to its worst showing in the 13th general election last year.

“Najib was lucky because he took over from Pak Lah,” said Sabbarudin, referring to Abdullah by his popular moniker.

“If Najib had taken over from Dr Mahathir (Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad), he would have had to resign as well. Najib may be lucky, but he cannot rely on luck forever,” he added.

Abdullah was forced to step down in 2009 following pressure from the longest-serving prime minister and other Umno leaders, after BN lost its two-thirds majority in the historic 2008 general election.

He was succeeded by Najib, whose populist policies did not translate to a bigger win in the GE13.  But without any calls for him to resign, Malaysia’s sixth prime minister remained in power, although initially rumours had swirled that he might be replaced.

Sabbarudin also said it was not right for BN to have pressured Abdullah to step down.

“Pak Lah was unlucky as he took over from Dr Mahathir, who was still very powerful at that time,” he added.

He also said that the lack of potential successors in Umno was another reason why no one dared to push Najib to resign.

“Najib is lacking, but no one told him to step down. It is not because they are complacent or are not interested in having him replaced.

“Umno members are afraid: if Najib is forced to resign, who can replace him?” said Sabbarudin.

A year after GE13, Najib’s administration appears weak, its operations stymied. Political observers and critics say it is due to the election results.

Najib officially received his mandate after BN won 133 out of the 222 Parliamentary seats in GE 13 – a hollow victory for the ruling coalition as it lost seven more seats than the 2008 polls, as well as the popular support of Malaysians.

The prime minister is now struggling with pressure and the unending racial and religious conflicts plaguing Malaysia, made worse by extremist groups like Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) and Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa (Perkasa).

The groups have made a mockery of Najib’s call for an inclusive Malaysia, and critics say their existence stems from the weakness in Najib’s own administration. – May 29, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 8:58 am and is filed under
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Liar – Gerakan pot calling DAP kettle black

YourSay

Malaysiakini

May 29, 2014

YOURSAY
 ‘Gerakan, don’t push your luck too far. It may backfire on you.’

Gerakan calls Dyana ‘liar’ on Perkasa issu
e

Basically:
 You are running for election, Mah Siew Keong, so whatever BN does in your campaign is your business. Unless you are saying you are not in charge. Which is evident, and we have always known that.

 And that means even if you do get elected and is given a ministership, you will still not be in charge. That would be simply a waste of the Teluk Intan seat.

 As for Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, if she wanted to measure up to Mah’s ‘experience’ and worth, she’ll need to add some ‘longkangs’ and buildings into her manifesto.

 I guess she’s too new and naive to think cost of living and good governance matters to voters.

Negarawan:
 Gerakan is a big hypocrite. Gerakan is part of BN, which makes it automatically an ally to Umno and Perkasa. If Gerakan is condemning anyone for his/her association to Perkasa, then Gerakan should condemn itself first.

Wg321:
 Gerakan, don’t push your luck too far. It may backfire on you. Dyana may attract a lot of sympathy votes from the Malay community if you keep on attacking her on what she said about her mother’s connection with Perkasa.

 It is the same with the hudud laws. Dyana’s stand on hudud is the same as the DAP’s stand. Dyana said that she does not oppose hudud law per se because it is part of Islam.

 However the implementation of hudud laws may not be compatible with the Federal Constitution unless all are prepared to amend the Federal Constitution or changed it altogether.

 If the implementation of hudud laws were to be put to a vote in Parliament, all DAP MPs will vote against it even though they may be overruled by a majority decision. That’s democracy and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition will still remained intact.

 This is not so for BN coalition. The sole Gerakan MP must vote for hudud laws in Kelantan or leave BN. Same with MCA. So don’t talk big outside Parliament that you are against hudud.

Anonymous_ABG:
 Gerakan’s secretary-general Liang Teck Ming should look around and see for himself the the support his candidate is getting from his colleagues in BN.

 It’s a well-known fact the candidate is Umno’s choice and BN had no say.

Gerard Lourdesamy:
 Has Umno listened to MCA, MIC and Gerakan and distanced itself from Perkasa? No. Because Perkasa is Umno’s proxy and the vast majority of its members are from Umno.

 Would Umno have accepted the MCA and Gerakan having ties to the former Communist Party of Malaya or MIC to Hindraf and the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam)? This shows the inequality in BN, which has been dominated by Umno since 1971.

 The BN is not like the former Alliance. In the Alliance, MCA and MIC had a deciding vote. In BN. it is Umno that sets the agenda and the rest have to follow.

 In the process, minority rights and fundamental constitutional freedoms are threatened by a resurgent Malay nationalism and a radicalised form of Islam coming from Umno and other fringe Malay NGOs.

iiiizzzziiii:
 Liang Teck Ming, what are you trying to imply here. Are you making a judgement call here on the DAP candidate for Teluk Intan? Who are you and who give you the right to make that call?

 For every word you utter, you are also talking about yourself and Gerakan. What exactly has Gerakan done over the years for their constituencies they had won?

 Take Penang as an example. If you cannot win back Penang, which is supposed to be your power base, then what good are you now?

Anonymous_1371482984:
 Gerakan has nothing against Dyana except her mother’s membership in Perkasa. Her mother said she will resign.

 Dyana has admitted her mistake, which is something BN leaders will never do. BN leaders have lied on bigger issues and Gerakan leaders just keep quite.

Kingkongkang:
 Liang Teck Ming said “only when BN asks, will there be allocation”. All money from the government is contributed by all Malaysians. It does not belong to Liang, Gerakan or BN. It belongs to every Malaysian.

 The punishment of no allocation for not voting BN is uncivilised and unethical. You are a component party in BN. Whatever a party in it acts, does, practises, every component party is responsible.

 You cannot say you are not responsible or you were not in the function or you go to ask the person concern. It is irresponsible.

 The opposition claimed your component members said you are ‘pendatang’, ‘apa you mau lagi’, and you are intruders, etc. Mah, are you going to say you are not responsible for them?

Multi Racial:
 There is a different between lying and making a mistake. BN leaders have lied so many times and I don’t see these shameless people come out to make an issue of it.

As for Dyana just one mistake, she is attacked as liar. Come on, give this young lady a break.  She is far more innocent than all of you. I believe what she said.

Wira:
 Liang, Dyana’s manifesto is for the country. Mah’s is for the local government. I think he should ask Umno to revive local government elections so that he can stand as a candidate for the Teluk Intan local government. I’m sure many will then support him on the strength of his manifesto.

 I am a card-carrying BN component party member. I also tell people I am a Pakatan member. I don’t really care if my friends think I’m a liar. It’s irrelevant now as Umno and their sidekicks are ruining the country.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 11:03 am and is filed under
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Malaysia is ready for Dyana

Aerie Rahman

The Malay Mail Online

MAY 29, 2014

MAY 29 — It seems that nothing can stop Dyana Sofya’s meteoric rise. The cynic could cast aspersions that she is merely a DAP token. After all, the DAP is a predominantly Chinese party which has been trying to shake off this description.

The DAP needs to widen its support base in order to hold real power and not rely on the atavistic PAS or the fractious PKR. Dyana is Malay, young and from the affirmative action university, UiTM. It all fits the bill for the cosmetic change that DAP appears to desire.

But look deeper and one can see that Dyana’s story is something that most post-NEP Malaysians can relate to and identify with. And that makes her worth more tokens than one can spend at Genting.

A new hope

Being a UiTM graduate is never easy. On one hand, some quarters would judge you (for the rest of your life, mind you) as being incapable of fending for yourself and always requiring crutches.

On the other hand, some sections of society would demand that you be forever grateful to those who established and continue to run UiTM — the self-anointed protector of the Malays, Umno.

Either way, you’re screwed. From the moment you are labelled as a UiTM student, the label sticks and the stereotype ensues. In some cases, job applications are decided on this fact alone – which has nothing to do with one’s merits, by the way – and you are rejected even before you are given a chance.

People do not listen to reason. It’s more convenient to label you as a traitor than go through long-winded arguments that taxpayers’ money belongs to the people instead of Umno. It’s also easier to label you as a UiTM student and assume that your command of English is like any Umno member’s. Well, except for Umno’s de facto spokesman, Khairy Jamaluddin (KJ).

But with Dyana’s ascendancy, these stereotypes are being broken. She has the trust of the likes of the respectable Tony Pua and Lim Kit Siang. Her responses are sharp and sensible, which has bewildered most those who look down upon UiTM graduates.

Umnos blunt arsenal of mudslinging and smear campaigns are not working anymore. Whipping up an emotional frenzy by saying Dyana “bites the hand that fed her” is ineffective when Malaysians are smart enough to deduce that building UiTM does not give the license for one to adopt a permissive attitude to corruption.

A house divided

In most households nowadays, you will find that the parents would unflinchingly support Barisan Nasional while their kids rally under Pakatan Rakyat’s banners. This phenomenon is due to the different social experiences that both generations went through.

The old guard lived during a time when Malaysia was going through some good times. The economy, fuelled by a huge reserves of oil, was booming. Many who studied overseas came back because they believed in the Malaysian project. The people at that time were much more tolerant of differences than they are now. There was hardly talk of hudud.

And the older generation owes it to BN for providing and protecting their interests, and accepted the consequences of this tragic pact. When Salleh Abas was unceremoniously sacked as Lord President, Malaysia was quiescent. You didn’t see large waves of street protests like in Reformasi or the Bersih rallies.

But the younger generation is more critical, more vocal and more demanding of their leaders. The politics of patronage constructed by BN must be relentlessly dismantled and it is not enough to dismantle it form within, as what people like KJ are deluding themselves into believing. And so, we fight and strive for a stronger opposition.

The change that we need

Dyana’s story is like ours. Her mother was a member of Perkasa and still remains in Umno, yet allows her daughter to pursue her own causes, much like Dr Mahathir. And Dyana pursues her causes with vigour, much like most youths who flood the streets of KL and Dataran Merdeka, demanding for changes that our parents’ generation can only dream of.

The irony is not lost when BN, being tied to coalition compromises, is forced to field in the veteran Mah Siew Keong from the increasingly irrelevant Gerakan party. The banal taglines of “experience” and “maturity” are his battlecry.

These are old and unoriginal ideas that BN employ. The most potent would be fear. And this is something that the likes of our Home Minister Zahid Hamidi is fond of doing.

But Mah, like his coalition, is becoming surplus to requirements. The nation is moving forward and is welcoming new leaders whose outlook is more progressive. We don’t fear these new leaders, instead, they are the ones who rightfully fear us, like in any functioning parliamentary democracy.

I may disagree with Dyana’s suggestion of setting up a university for non-Bumiputeras (which is a silly idea, by the way), but I can rest assure that she will not find a way to charge me with sedition for the crime of dissent.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 10:16 am and is filed under
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Protecting your hopes, securing our future

— Lim Guan Eng

The Malay Mail Online

May 28, 2014

MAY 28 — BN and UMNO conducts the Teluk Intan by-election in the same manner they run the country, by appealing to your worst fears and ugliness with lies, curses and hate. By trying to smear the character of our young lady candidate Dyana Syofa and even her mother, BN and UMNO have lost the mandate to rule and right to represent the people of Teluk Intan.

BN knows only how to preach hate because this is the only justification for their corruption and abuse of power. BN knows only how to appeal to your fears to cover up their mismanagement of the economy leading to the Barang Naik problems of price hikes in petrol, sugar, electricity and even motor insurance premiums as well as Goods and Services Tax(GST).

Instead of 1 Malaysia, it is 1 MDB where tens of billions ringgit of our money are put at risk in investments to benefit cronies. Instead of dealing with the sufferings caused by price rises, Malaysians are told to eat kangkong. Instead of incomes not rising, more foreign workers are brought in. Instead of defending Malaysians, Tenaga Nasional Bhd is promoted with tariff hikes to increase their profits and share prices.

We can overcome your problems if we win Putrajaya. We have shown what we can do in Penang and we can do better nationally. Just as we have done in Penang, we can help senior citizens, single mothers, university students, the disabled, non-working mothers, taxi drivers, fishermen, shortage of dialysis treatment and fix our schools to improve their educational standards.

BN and UMNO have run out of excuses why its clever slogan of 1Malaysia has vanished. The reason is simple. It is everything to do with the black hole called 1 MDB where tens of billions of ringgit of our money are put at risk in investments by those with doubtful expertise to benefit cronies.

There is little conviction even when 1Malaysia is shouted, lesser still when its slogans of People First and Performance Now are overtaken by racial bigots and religious extremists who preach the language of hate and violence. The time has come for all Malaysians to come together where a Malay leader can look after non-Malays and a non-Malay leader look after Malays.

Teluk Intan is our first step towards Putrajaya in 2017 to end the national divisiveness and racial politics of BN.

BN have run out of excuses. Under BN there is only hope and a bright future for children of BN leaders and their cronies.

BN does not care about your family’s livelihood affected by price hikes and GST. BN does not share your hopes for justice, prosperity for all and smaller personal debts. BN does not know the future you want for your children filled with equal opportunities in a Malaysia that is clean and safe from crime.

You have neither hope nor future under BN. Vote PR and DAP’s Dyana to protect your hopes and secure our future!

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 12:05 am and is filed under
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Social media driving Teluk Intan polls

 — Bob Teoh

The Malay Mail Online

MAY 29, 2014

MAY 29 — In many ways the Teluk Intan by-election is a dry run for the next general elections due as early as three years from now or even sooner. The tipping point probably depends on how well social media is used to engage the electorate. This will re-define politics where the electoral demographics is shifting to a more youthful and social media savvy profile.

Malcolm Gladwell, author of the non-fiction best seller “Tipping point – How little things can make a big difference (2000),” points out that one dramatic moment when everything can change all at once is called the Tipping Point. His says there are three characteristics for this to happen, one, contagiousness; two, the fact that little causes can have big effects; and three, that change happens not gradually but at one dramatic moment.

Social media featured prominently in the 2008 general elections (GE12). There was no tipping point to bring about a regime change. But the ruling coalition lost its crucial two-third majority in parliament that has allowed it to amend the constitution at will since independence. Barisan Nasional (BN) also lost five states out of 13 -Penang, Selangor, Perak, Kedah and Kelantan. It eventually recovered Perak under questionable circumstances. Nonetheless, BN’s loss was unprecedented and the cutting edge was undoubtedly the social media campaign engaged by both the opposition coalition and civil society groups that were seeking a regime change.

Its popular vote was reduced to such a level that the then incumbent Prime Minister Pak Lah was forced put of office rather ungracefully by factional infighting within Umno, the dominant party in the coalition. In came the new Prime Minister Najib Razak only with a party mandate.

Najib had declared that GE13 would be the country’s first “social media elections.” Barisan Nasional lost the popular vote but managed to win 133 or 60 percent of the parliamentary seats under a highly skewed electoral system.

As pointed out by Bridget Welsh, an associate professor in political science at Singapore Management University, the results, conduct of the polls and aftermath have raised questions about Najib’s maiden mandate as ironically he has emerged weaker out of the contest than before he went into it.

The ruling coalition treats the threat by social media seriously. As Prime Minister Najib Razak has acknowledged, Malaysia, along with Brazil, has the highest Twitter use in the world. Undoubtedly, 140 characters can possibly influence a regime change in Malaysia.

DAP, one of the three major parties that make up Pakatan Rakyat coalition, had even brought social media strategists. Yeo Bee Yin is one of DAP’s such strategists. Her job is to leverage the power of social media to increase exposure for the party, to “compensate for the lack of or biased coverage in the mainstream media.”

The Cambridge-trained chemical engineer was quoted as saying, “Social media is not a one-way communication, it’s where your fans are willing to share your materials (what we call earned media). We have a strong fan base in social media, that’s how our news spread.”

Yeo, who returned from her overseas posting stood and won hands-down as a lawmaker in the Selangor state assembly in the general elections last year.

Umno supreme council member, Saifuddin Abdullah, a former MP and who was previously deputy minister is cited as saying BN had learnt an important lesson from its worst electoral performance in 2008 elections due to its failure to conquer the cyber-world which was then dominated by the opposition coalition.

Saifuddin pointed out, “We were not there (cyber world) in 2008… we handicap. We lost at that time, because of that we lost young voters. But now BN is prepared, we have a team of bloggers and new media known as ‘BN cybertroopers.”

Recognising the importance of engagement with the youth on social media, Barisan Nasional youth chief, Khairy Jamaluddin started the youth’s new media unit in 2009 and has recruited 10,000 “cybertroopers” for GE13. Still the task remains daunting and he acknowledges, “The cyber world is the opposition’s home ground as they have been using this platform for a long time.”

In the end, the results of GE13 show that it was a social media elections after all. According to Norwegian online intelligence solutions provider Meltwater’s monitoring of Twitter during the country’s 13th election (GE13) on May 5, there was an average of 300 tweets per minute using the hashtag #GE13.

About 61 per cent or nearly 18 million of Malaysia’s population of 28 million has access to the Internet, according to 2011 data from the World Bank, and 80 per cent of its Internet population has Facebook accounts.

Meltwater also points out, although Najib’s official Facebook page has 1,720,255 likes, the engagement level was a very low at 12 per cent. Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim’s official Facebook page has nearly half of Najib’s at 826,586 likes, but had an extremely high engagement rate of 75 per cent on May 5 in GE13. Numbers itself can be deceiving in social media.

There are no issues in the Teluk Intan by-election. It boils down to old politics versus new. The new is defined by new media. Whichever party understands social media well has the cutting edge this Sunday.

The Teluk Intan results may well indicate whether we would see the tipping point in GE14, which according to Gladwell, is that one dramatic moment when everything can change all at once.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 10:06 am and is filed under
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Teluk Intan by-election has created many firsts – most sexist attacks, most bloopers, most lies and calumnies and most number of UMNO Ministers and Deputy Ministers to appear for a candidate who is not from UMNO

(Media Statement in Teluk Intan on Thursday, May 29, 2014)

The 10-day Teluk Intan by-election campaign since Nomination Day on May 19 has produced many firsts in the history of by-elections in Malaysia – like the most sexist attacks, most political bloopers including blatant political gangsterism against a woman candidate, most lies and calumnies and the most number of UMNO Ministers and deputy Ministers to appear at a by-election not contested by an UMNO candidate.

The baseless, vicious and slanderous attacks on the DAP/PR candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud were just gross and simply unimaginable, highlighting the total lack of chilvary of male political leaders in UMNO/BN but also the pettiness of women UMNO/BN political leaders who also indulged in such personal attacks on Dyana, and the failure and cowardice of all women UMNO/BN politicians who dare not raise a single protest against such sexist attacks on Dyana.

From the dastardly posting of fake swim-suit photogragh of Dyana (actually of Filipino actress Pauleen Luna) first on social media and then distributed in the Malay kampongs including a mosque in the constituency; the “lip-stick” fantasy of UMNO Housing Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan; the puerile attacks by the Home Minister, Datuk Zahid Hamidi; the boast by the Deputy Finance Minister Datuk Ahmad Maslan that his wife or the wife of Deputy Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman would win in a beauty contest against Dyana; Kedah Mentri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir’s obsession with Dyana’s different clothes; the UMNO/BN leadership have been stripped completely naked as belonging to a shockingly low-class political genre.

Neither the UMNO/BN leadership nor the BN candidate for Teluk Intan, Datuk Mah Siew Keong, wanted to engage Dyana in a debate on the national political issues highlighted in her manifesto, as they only wanted to unleash a systematic and unethical campaign of character assassination and personal attacks to break her political will and fighting spirit, hoping that she will fly the “white flag” of surrender even before polling day of May 31.

The Gerakan and UMNO leaders joined in an unholy axis in a campaign to apply maximum political pressure to cause her mental torment, the latest being the personal attack by the Penang Gerakan State Chairman on Dyana, alleging that instead of having 3Bs (beauty, brains and bravery) that she has 3Ns – “no integrity, no honesty and no sincerity”.

A parliamentary by-election is a contest of the vision for the future not an exchange of epithets, which is why I have not said a single unkind word against Mah.

It is sad that Gerakan, UMNO and BN leaders think that the only way to get votes in Teluk Intan is to run down Dyana and launch personal attacks against her.

I can write a long thesis about how the person who coined the “3Ns” outrage himself best personifies the “3Ns” in the Barisan Nasional political firmament, but I have more important things to do than waste time and energies on such a matter.

But we should not allow these negatives to drown out the positives in the by-election, for we want history to be made in the Teluk Intan by-election and for it to remembered as the occasion when Malaysians dare to dream of a Malaysian tomorrow where Malays, Chinese and Indians regard themselves and vote as Malaysians first and their racial differences second, with women and the youths set to play a major role in deciding the future of the country.

And we want Malaysians to remember that we embark on this historic journey for a Malaysian Dream from Teluk Intan on May 31.

There were many “negative firsts” in the Teluk Intan by-election. But there have also been many “positive firsts” – starting with the candidature of Dyana Sofya as DAP/PR candidate for the by-election.

People have said that the DAP was very “brave” to make such a decision, but the DAP leadership was “brave” to make such a decision because we believe that the people of Teluk Intan will be “brave” to support it and to launch off a Teluk Intan whirlwind of political change throughout Malaysia after May 31.

Gerakan/UMNO/BN leaders have questioned the 3Bs (beauty, brains, bravery) of Dyana. They say that she is only a tool and a puppet of DAP, as she should not be named as the candidate as she had only served as my political secretary for a year.

Do they know that the current DAP MP for Batu Kawan, Kasturi Patto, was my political secretary for less than a year before she was nominated as a parliamentary candidate in the 13th General Elections.

Dyana has 3Bs but we nominated her as a candidate for her 2Bs of brains and bravery.

I have had a long list of my political secretaries who make their political mark in the country, including Chow Kon Yeow, former Tanjong MP and currently Penang senior exco; Teresa Kok, the MP for Seputeh and former Selangor senior exco; Datuk Teng Chang Khim, current senior Selangor exco; Kerk Kim Hock, former DAP secretary-general and Member of Parliament, “Superman” Hew Kuan Yaw – not to omit the late P. Patto, outstanding MP and Perak State Assemblyman.

The Teluk Intan by-election has also created many “negarive firsts” which must be rectified – like the many issues which UMNO/Barisan Nasional Ministers and leaders have avoided explanation or accountability, like the worsening climate of nation-building with racial and religious extremism rearing their ugly heads; unchecked corruption, abuses of power and misgovernance highlighted by the RM32 million Bank Rakyat which erupted during the Teluk Intan by-election campaign, deterioration of educational standards and the growing disparity between the rich and the poor, which would be aggravated by the introduction of GST next May.

What is very conspicuous by its absence in the by-election campaign is Barisan Nasional government explanation of the MH 370 disaster and tragedy, with 239 passengers and crew on board, and the latest reports that despite 82 days of multi-national air, sea and sub-sea search, all search efforts might have been in vain as the search in the south Indian Ocean was the wrong area altogether.

The voters of Teluk Intan have a second rendevous with history on May 31 and I look forward to their “write history, create history” for the second time on Saturday.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 8:31 pm and is filed under
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Teluk Intan is all about character assassination

YourSay

Malaysiakini

May 29, 2014

YOURSAY
 ‘Is there anything wrong with different posters of Dyana?’

Mukhriz puzzled by Dyana’s many looks

Fair Play:
 Truthfully, I didn’t even know how many “faces” DAP candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud has until Kedah Menteri Besar Mukhriz Mahathir pointed it out.

 But then, I am not him and never paid much attention to her ‘looks’ but only see her as a right-thinking Malaysian who could make a difference for our children’s future.

Multi Racial:
 I totally agree with Mukhriz. We have to vote leaders who are consistent and who do not speak different things to different audiences, like many BN leaders, particularly our PM and deputy PM.

 So far I cannot see any inconsistency in Dyana. Her photos with different dressing and different images are fine. Nothing wrong with her to have different posters, some dressed in modern garb and some wearing a headscarf. At least, it represents her real personality.

Negarawan:
 Mukhriz, it looks like you are more confused than your father. The only person in your family who is not confused is your sister, Marina. If you are so confused over such a small thing, then you’re not fit to be MB.

 What have you achieved for Kedah so far, apart from putting up posters with your face everywhere? Kedahans too are confused about your posters, and why you waste so much public funds on them.

Humored:
 Obviously intelligence is not hereditary.

Chitrāngadā:
 Speak for only yourself, Mukhriz. We are not confused at all and we were never confused in the last two weeks.

 I have very strong doubts over your ability to govern a state let alone the country if just mere clothes can confuse and confound you so very much.

 You are in a constant state of flux and utter confusion due to the many ‘apparel changes’ you and your immediate and well-populated extended family have to endure to defend Umno-BN and the rakyat as well.

 And understandably, that does not leave much time for introspection nor reflection to develop intelligent arguments as to why the rakyat should vote for Umno-BN.

Anonymous_1396849985:
 Why must it always be character assassination? Can’t they talk substance?

BumiKita:
 Anything wrong with different posters of Dyana? BN candidate Mah Siew Keong can also have different posters in different outfits if he wants to.

Paul Warren:
 Let us also be honest, Mah is preparing not to be a lawmaker but a service provider. His manifesto and his wishes for the people do not fall within the job scope of someone wanting to be a member of parliament.

 He should join an NGO or better still become a councillor of the Teluk Intan local authority. At best, be an assembly man. Mah does not know the job he is vying for.

Siang Malam:
 Why is Mah promising to bring development if elected? Wasn’t he an MP for two terms and even a deputy minister before? What was he doing back then?

Changeagent:
 Mah is a man beholden to Umno. Look, even his election campaign is run by Umno. His Gerakan machinery is weak. MIC and MCA are not helping much. Umno is controlling Mah.

Hello:
 Mukhriz, if you don’t know Dyana or DAP ideals, then you are not worthy of being an MB of Kedah. It goes to prove that your appointment to the position was due to the influence exerted by your father, directly or indirectly.

 Umno has all the other member parties of BN be “yes-men”. In that sense, you can say that the BN formula is unique, but it is to the detriment of the country.

Vijay47:
 Mukhriz, since you are so confused, perhaps you should seek the help of your father.

 I believe he is a doctor, so curing you of your confusion and related problems should be a cinch. After all, he has already healed all the ailments of the whole world.

Yours And My Malaysia:
 Hello Mukhriz, that is the real beauty. Dyana is multi-faceted and able to speak to and for all, unlike you.

 By the way, I do not believe she is a nobody as BN claims, although all the big shots are coming out to take potshots at her. Now all that’s left to do that is the top BN man.

Otak-Otak:
 You see, these people who are representing the government always see and talk about women, even the former Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) vice-chancellor Dr Ibrahim Abu Shah, an academician, can stoop so low as to reportedly deliver comments about Dyana’s “beauty” instead of being proud that UiTM has produced such an outstanding student as her.

Kubang:
 Mukhriz, no wonder you’re so confused – you’d expected Dyana to think and act like you. Fortunately for Dyana, she’s more like your sister, Marina.

Kathleen Ong:
 Mukhriz, it’s the same for you – when you meet the kampung folks, you wear your baju Melayu and then in your elegant party clothes when you attend your F1 gala dinners. Enough of your “holier than thou” persona.

Coconut Candy:
Menteri besar, why are you so critical as to how she dressed? Of course, the dresses are different all the time unless it’s a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

2 Cents:
 Sometimes I see Dr Mahathir Mohamad in lounge suit, sometimes in Nehru suit. More often in bush jacket, but he is at times spotted in baju Melayu and songkok.

 Which of these is your real father?

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 9:27 am and is filed under
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WSJ: MH370 report lacks details in explaining where plane could have gone down

The Malay Mail Online

MAY 29, 2014

KUALA LUMPUR, May 29 — Raw satellite data and other documents released by Malaysian and Australian authorities failed to explain key assumptions investigators used to establish search zones in the Indian Ocean for missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The report comes as a US Navy official said on CNN that the four acoustic pings at the centre of the search for the missing plane which disappeared on March 8, are no longer believed to be from the aircraft’s black boxes.

“We do not understand the report. We need an expert to explain it to us,” said Sahril Shaari, a cousin of Muhammad Razahan Zamani, who was on the flight, told the Wall Street Journal.

Released earlier this week, the 45 pages of satellite data were provided to the Department of Civil Aviation (DCA) by satellite firm Inmarsat.

The WSJ report pointed out that there were some glaring omissions.

It alleged Australian and Malaysian authorities had failed to disclose important details concerning their assumptions about the speed and altitude of the missing jetliner.

The report also pointed out that Inmarsat left out specifics about its calculations.

Calculations on assumed speeds can dramatically affect where the Boeing 777 may have gone down and WSJ quoted air safety experts as saying that such variables could shift the most likely point of impact by up to hundreds of miles.

Yesterday a US Navy official cast more doubts about the likely location of Flight MH370 when he told CNN the four acoustic pings at the centre of the search were no longer believed to be from the aircraft’s black boxes.

Australian search authorities narrowed the search for the missing jet last month after picking up a series of pings near where analysis of satellite data put the last location of the Boeing 777, some 1,600 km off Australia’s northwest coast.

CNN said authorities now almost universally believe the pings did not come from the onboard data or cockpit voice recorders, but instead came from some other man-made source unrelated to the jetliner that disappeared on March 8, according to Michael Dean, the US Navy’s deputy director of ocean engineering.

“Our best theory at this point is that (the pings were) likely some sound produced by the ship … or within the electronics of the Towed Pinger Locator,” Dean said.

The discovery of the pings on April 5 and 8 was hailed as a significant breakthrough but no further promising signals were heard before the expiry of the batteries on the black boxes’ locator beacons.

A scan of the area around the pings with an unnamed submarine failed to find any sign of wreckage and no debris linked to the plane has ever been picked up despite the most extensive and expensive search effort in aviation history.

                This entry was posted on Thursday, 29 May 2014, 10:25 am and is filed under
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Awful but True: Pings Were Not From Malaysia Airlines Flight 370

Clive Irving

The Daily Beast

05.29.14

Australia called off the search Thursday, implying the stunning news the sounds heard in the Indian Ocean were not from the black boxes.

Expectations that the remains of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 would be found soon have been dashed. The Australian leaders of the operation have announced the end of the search of an area extending over 329 square miles of the Indian Ocean about 1,000 miles northwest of Perth, Australia. “The area can now be discounted as the final resting place of MH370,” the Australian Joint Agency Coordination Centre said Thursday.

Early in April this area was said to be the most-promising target for the search. The Australian vessel Ocean Shield, tracking along a 205-mile arc, reported detecting four separate sets of ping signals believed to be coming from the missing Boeing 777’s flight recorders. Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said “We are confident that we know the position of the black box flight recorder to within some kilometers.”

The Australians did not confirm Thursday, in so many words, what CNN first reported, that a U.S. Navy official has said that the pings were not, in fact, from Flight 370’s recorders—although that is implicit in Australia’s statement announcing the end of the search in that area. CNN quoted Michael Dean, the Navy’s deputy director of ocean engineering, saying of the pings that “our best theory at this point is that they were likely some sound produced by the ship…or within the electronics of the Towed Pinger Locator.”

The area of the Indian Ocean left to be searched for Flight 370 is vast—more than 23,000 square miles. This poses a challenge far beyond what can be achieved with the existing resources: Ocean Shield and the autonomous underwater vehicle, or ping detector, the Bluefin-21. It also raises the question of why more appropriate resources were not sent to the Indian Ocean sooner.

After an initial commitment by a virtual armada of ships, both from navies and merchant fleets of several nations, and an air search directed from Perth looking for floating debris, there was a sudden scaling back. The attrition of these operations, particularly affecting aircraft from the Royal Australian Air Force that were so old that they were nearing the end of their operational lives, was turning out to be extremely costly.

Nobody wanted to admit it, but without any sign of wreckage and with such a huge and remote area to cover, it just was not realistic to deploy so many resources for weeks on end that were not designed in the first place for an effort requiring extremely specialized equipment when the target was probably many small pieces of wreckage lying up to 2.8 miles below the surface in a place where there was no accurate mapping of the ocean floor.

This week the Australians announced that the next phase of the search might resume in two months, and that they will enlist the help of more experienced and specialized private companies—something that was done far more speedily in the search for Air France 447 in the south Atlantic in 2009.

The whole strategy of that search was different. First, unlike the search for Flight MH370, it was never continuous and open-ended. After the initial recovery of wreckage from the Airbus A330 (a boost that the Australian search has lacked) the priority was given to mapping the ocean floor in the area where the airplane was believed to be.

Then, over two years and in several carefully planned operations, sophisticated deep-water equipment was deployed until finally, in 2011, a highly-advanced remote-controlled Remus underwater autonomous vehicle from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts found a debris field at a depth of nearly 13,000 feet. The recovery of debris and bodies was made by a UAV called the Remora III, operated by a company called Phoenix International.

Weeks ago there were reports that another type of UAV, an Orion deep-water scanner (also used in the search for Air France 447) owned by the U.S. Navy but operated by Phoenix International might be sent to the Indian Ocean but nothing came of that. In any event, there are very few UAVs capable of a deep water search like this, and they are based far away, in the U.S. and Europe, and will take weeks to reach the target zone if summoned.

The Australian-directed search has been mapping the ocean floor with the help of a British Royal Navy ship, HMS Echo, but given the scale of the area now to be covered that work will take at least another three months.

The determination that the Boeing 777 had flown into the southern Indian Ocean was made on the basis of one amazingly fortuitous discovery—another set of pings, intercepted by a satellite owned by British company Inmarsat. They remain the only clue to the flight path of the 777 as it began its inexplicable diversion from its original route to Beijing and turned west and south until it ran out of fuel. The signals, transmitted automatically at regular intervals from the 777, were picked up from the satellite by an Inmarsat ground station in Perth.

This week the Malaysian government, responding to complaints about a lack of transparency from relatives of the passengers missing on Flight 370, released the raw data used by Inmarsat to make its calculations. This was a strange gesture, since data in that form presents some of the most impenetrable and arcane material imaginable, capable of being interpreted by only a handful of experts in the world. As one relative said, “What help will publicizing this data provide toward finding the airplane?”

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 May 2014, 6:36 am and is filed under
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DAP dakwa risalah fitnah bertaburan di Teluk Intan

Oleh Hasbullah Awang Chik

The Malaysian Insider

May 30, 2014

Menjelang tempoh berkempen yang akan tamat tepat jam 12 tengah malam ini, pelbagai risalah ditaburkan di sekitar bandar Teluk Intan bagi memburuk-burukkan parti DAP dan calonnya Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.

Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang mengakui apa yang dikatakan calon Barisan Nasional (BN) Datuk Mah Siew Keong mengenai kempen di Teluk Intan paling kotor itu benar tetapi ia bukanlah angkara DAP atau Pakatan Rakyat (PR).

“Kita lihat dalam tempoh 24 jam pelbagai risalah dibanjiri di Teluk Intan dengan pelbagai bahasa, fitnah, dusta dan pembohongan. Antara fitnah yang dilemparkan adalah agenda tersirat DAP jika diberikan kuasa menerusi kemenangan Dyana, mengatur strategi mengusir keluar orang Melayu.

“Siapa yang mahu bertanggungjawab? DAP, Pakatan atau Umno BN? Mah boleh kata dia tak tahu. Semua pun tak tahu. Politik seksis, serangan hamper, politik wang, serangan politik Umno. Semua tak tahu. Ini pun dia tak tahu,” katanya pada sidang media di Pusat Operasi DAP di Teluk Intan, hari ini.

Lim mendakwa, sebuah tabloid berjudul ‘Anson Bay’ diedarkan di Teluk Intan dengan melemparkan segala fitnah kepada DAP dengan mengenengahkan fakta tidak benar. – 30 Mei, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 May 2014, 1:37 pm and is filed under
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LETTER: Smear campaign against Dyana Sofya exposes backward collective mindset

by Joshua Teh Honguan

fz.com

May 29, 2014

THE response to the nomination of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud for the vacant Teluk Intan parliamentary seat has shone an uncomfortable light upon our society and the way in which we view women.

The smear campaign, the cat calls, wolf whistles, labels of ‘pretty face’, ‘cheap candy’, and ‘puppet’ are symptomatic of the deep running sexism prevalent in Malaysian politics and society as a whole.

In objectifying women and refusing to perceive a woman as something more than a pretty face, we disregard her intellectual capability and personal worth. As long as we continue to judge women solely on their looks, we will never be able to embrace their true value.

The uncouth reaction towards Dyana Sofya coupled with an inability or refusal to see beyond her appearance does her a disservice as an individual and as a political candidate. Worse, it exposes a backward collective mindset that we should be ashamed of.

There have been attempts to categorize Dyana Sofya within one of two gender stereotypes: either as attractive and available (i.e. unmarried), or as the damsel in need of protection. This need to place women within neatly pre-determined boxes is both sexist and degrading. It also needs to be questioned why Dyana’s ‘attractiveness’ or ‘being Malay’ have been given so much emphasis when neither of these are qualities essential for a competent political candidate.

Surely a parliamentarian’s competency has little to do with looks and ethnicity. Why then are these attributes highlighted during this political campaign?

The entire treatment and reaction to Dyana Sofya begs the question of where such shocking behavior and attitudes are learnt. We must recognize that our current collective value system, either explicitly or otherwise, treats the subordination of women as the natural order of things.

If our leaders are genuine about promoting gender equality and including women in the political process, it will require more than merely increasing the number of women candidates. Change will not occur through lip service alone. What must happen is a tangible shift in the way women are viewed in this country. We as a nation must grow in our respect for women even as we seek to increase the number of women involved in nation building and policy making at the highest level.

To that end, we must prioritise the eradication of sexism, sexual harassment and misogyny at every level of our society while learning to embrace diversity and equality. It is only when women are afforded parity with men that our nation can begin to practice a legitimate form of democracy, where women representation is deemed vital and women’s voices are given a chance to be properly included and heard.

Let us strive to become a nation where our political candidates are judged upon their merits, track record, and ability to serve the people, not on their appearances, gender, or ethnicity.

Joshua Teh Honguan is the advocacy officer for Women’s Centre for Change, Penang (WCC)

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 May 2014, 7:02 am and is filed under
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Open letter to the people of Teluk Intan

By Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud |
MalayMailOnline

May 29, 2014

To the good people of Teluk Intan,

It has been an exhausting but exhilarating two weeks since I was nominated by my party to be the candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election.  I have experienced more in the last two weeks than any time in my 27 years of age.

Suddenly, I became the centre of attention of UMNO Ministers who could not resist taking digs at my looks.  Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan asked voters not to support me just because I put on “lipstick”.  Datuk Zahid Hamidi remarked that I am “not so pretty in person”. Datuk Ahmad Maslan stressed that even his wife, or Datuk Tajuddin Abdul Rahman’s, would win if it were a beauty contest.

My looks and appearance are not important at all in this very important by-election.  I did not sign up with DAP to take part in beauty pageants.  I call upon the voters of Teluk Intan to judge me for my ideals, my principles and my dreams for a better Malaysia.  I want to win this election not because of my appearance, but because of my ability to make a difference in the Malaysian political landscape in the highest legislative institution of the country.

My opponents have attacked me viciously behind nameless blogs aligned to Barisan Nasional (BN), as well as anonymous leaflets denigrating me with fake pictures and spurious allegations of my moral ethics.  During the visits to some evening markets, there were UMNO bullies who heckled, disrupted and attempted to block the campaign trail.

There were even ministers who insinuated that I did not have a law degree or am not a qualified lawyer.  The fact that I have proven that I’ve been called to the Malaysian Bar in 2011 was clearly irrelevant to BN, which is obviously desperate to win by hook or by crook.

The most vicious of the attacks came from a former Minister who accused me of being a “traitor” to the Malay race.  It clearly does not matter to these people that the real traitors to the race are the BN leaders who abused their powers, enriched their friends and families and indulge in corruption at the expense of ordinary Malays and Malaysians.

These dirty and vicious tactics from our opponents will not waver my will to fight for the rights of all Malaysians, especially for those who are marginalised and discriminated against.  I will not be intimidated and I will not be a traitor to Malaysians.

While UMNO leaders labelled me a “traitor” to Malays, Gerakan leaders attacked me relentlessly of being a closet Malay-extremist for my alleged links to right-wing Perkasa.  The BN is persisting with its tried and tested divide and rule approach where they give different messages to different races.

Let me make myself very clear.  While I was asked by my mother to assist with administrative tasks such as registration of attendees and pinning of corsages on VIPs during the inception of Perkasa when I was still a student more than 5 years ago, I was never involved in Perkasa’s activities and never have I been a member.  Even my mother distanced herself from Perkasa and became inactive once she found herself in disagreement with their activities and principles.

On the contrary, my upbringing in an UMNO family and seeing first-hand how Perkasa functions convinced me that DAP has the best platform and ideals to pursue a more democratic, just and economically prosperous Malaysia.

I am convinced Malaysia is broken after 57 years of racial politics via divide and rule by BN.  I am saddened to see how BN leaders and their proxies like Perkasa incite the various races to fight each other, instead of fighting for each other.

I want to prove to Malaysians that you don’t have to be a Chinese to help a Chinese, a Malay to help a Malay, and an Indian to help and Indian.  I want to lead by example to build a country where a Malay can help a Chinese, a Chinese can assist an Indian and an Indian can support a Malay. Impian saya adalah untuk meMalaysiakan semula Malaysia. (My dream is to Malaysianised Malaysia again)

I wish to express my immense appreciation and gratitude for the love and kindness bestowed upon me by the good people of Teluk Intan.  The warmest welcome and affection from of all races — Malays, Indians, Chinese, have only reaffirmed my belief in this country and to strengthen my resolve to stand up for Malaysia.

With the support of the voters of Teluk Intan, I look forward to fulfilling my promise to move to and live in this beautiful and historic township. I promise to serve the people with commitment and dedication, and to make sure that the Teluk Intan “roar” rocks the Malaysian Parliament.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 May 2014, 4:11 pm and is filed under
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UMNO/BN pulling out all the stops to launch the dirtiest last 24 hours of a by-election campaign in Teluk Intan

(Media Statement in Teluk Intan on Friday, 30th May 2014)

The Gerakan President and Barisan Nasional candidate for Teluk Intan by-election, Datuk Mah Siew Keong, hit the nail on the head yesterday when he described the Teluk Intan by-election as the dirtiest in Teluk Intan.

He is right except that it is UMNO/BN “hired guns” who are responsible for making the Teluk Intan by-election the dirtiest in history.

In fact, Mah must accept responsibility for this deplorable state of affairs as all the dirt of lies, falsehoods, personal attacks and character assassination especially on the DAP/PR candidate Dyana Sofya emanate from the UMNO/BN quarter, and it is just not acceptable for Mak to disclaim responsibility or pretend ignorance about such a major political and electoral scam.

When asked by reporters, Mah has struck a pose of ignorance and innocence, claiming ignorance of the various election promises made by UMNO Ministers and Deputy Ministers (which are violations of the election laws) or the massive vote-buying whether through money or the free distribution of hampers.

But how long can Mah keep this stance of ignorance when he should bear responsibility for the entire UMNO/BN by-election campaign as the candidate, instead of pretending innocence on the ground that he did not hear or was not present when Umno Ministers and Deputy Ministers violate the election laws making promises to induce voters to vote for him tomorrow.

How long is Mah going to play the role of the three traditional monkeys of eyes that see not, ears that hear not and mouths that speak not?

The last 24 hours of the Teluk Intan by-election campaign will see the Umno/BN “hired guns” pulling out all the stops to launch the dirtiest 24 hours of a by-election – a blitzkrieg of lies and falsehoods, personal attacks and character-assassination against Dyana, DAP and PR.

This morning, bundles of anonymous leaflets in different languages to attack Dyana and DAP have been strewn in different areas of the constituency, all without identification of who is the printer or publisher.

One such material, under the name of “Anson Bay” made the wildest and most preposterous of allegations against the DAP, accusing the DAP of having a “secret agenda” if given power which includes the following:

– Mengatur strategi untuk mengusir keluar orang-orang Melayu Pulau Pinang secara berperingkat di bawah Strategi Induk Tony Pua.

– Menjelang 2020 Agama Persekutuan Malaysia adalah Kristian kerana kini 90% kepimpinan DAP adalah beragama Kristian.

– Mengkristiankan orang-orang Melayu Sarawak sekurang-kurangnya 2 orang setiap minggu.

– Matapelajaran Pendidikan Islam di sekolah-sekolah dihapuskan. Hanya boleh diajar di surau dan masjid sahaja.

– Perkahwinan campur antara agama digalakkan dan diberi saguhati sebanyak RM5000.

– Malaysia akan dijadikan sebuah “Negara bergelar REPUBLIC OF MALAYSIA”.

– Bahasa Ingeris adalah bahasa utama negara dan Bahasa Mandarin sebagai bahasa kedua.

– Laungan azan dilarang kerana mengganggu ketenteraman masyarakat yang lain.

– Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) dimansuhkan.

– Sistem Raja berperlembagaan dihapuskan dan digantikan dengan Sistem Presiden.

These are all downright lies which are against public positions which have been taken by the DAP for more than four decdes.

These puveyors of lies and falsehoods have no respect for the truth, but what is the position of Mak on them as he cannot be ignorant about such a campaign of lies and falsehoods against Dyana and DAP in the Teluk Intan by-election?

I have received reports that even greater lies and falsehoods, personal attacks and character-assassination are being concocted against Dyana and the DAP in the next few hours.

False sms and emails are being disseminated to confuse the people of Teluk Intan.

I call on the voters of Teluk Intan not to believe the terrible lies and falsehoods spread in the last 24 hours of the by-election campaign and to act cool, calm and collected to vote to create history not only in Teluk Intan but also in Malaysia to herald the advent of a new political order in Malaysian history.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 May 2014, 3:32 pm and is filed under
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Vote for Mah? Uhmmm no!

By Gayatri Unsworth |
The Malaysian Insider

MAY 30, 2014

Just a little over a year ago, Malaysia stood quivering at the prospects of a new dawn. Millions thronged to the polling booths, to have their fingers stained with special ink that was about as ineffectual as Ridhuan Tee’s sense of logic.

Anyhow, this not-so-indelible ink, which we paid a fortune for by the way, because as a country we are so exceedingly wealthy that we can afford to spend gazillions on things which don’t really work such as non-sinking submarines and 1Malaysia campaigns, was only the first in a very long list of vexations to come out of last year’s general election.

Though a record number of Malaysians turned up to give the Election Commission the finger (I only meant for the applying of the ink of course) and to make our downtrodden voices audible, our collective despondency was no match for a system so skewed, that I’m really beginning to suspect that somewhere along the way, we simply got terribly confused and started mistakenly spelling D-E-M-O-C-R-A-C-Y for D-I-C-T-A-T-O-R-S-H-I-P.

And truth be told, that would be perfectly understandable, considering our stellar record as far as English language education goes.

If you followed the recent MH370 briefings you would know precisely what I mean. With the exception of Hishammuddin Hussein, everyone else spoke a special dialect of English never before heard anywhere else in the world.

And so, here we find ourselves a year on, still being entertained by numerous geniuses in charge, all with their own special brand of conman sense. Still dealing with the very same rot and corrosion so many of us tried extraordinarily hard to make a clean break from.

Racist sentiments are being churned out at twice the speed of public aid, despite both originating from the same sources. How about they keep those lavish 1Malaysia RM250 book vouchers and hand out some real 1Malaysia unity instead?

And when they’re not diligently manufacturing prejudiced propaganda, they stand on the side-lines and benevolently defend the prerogative of others to do so, as long as it’s against those evil “pendatangs” of course. Rightfully elected law-makers from the wrong side of the divide are being charged with a litany of offences whilst bigoted groups spewing vitriolic rubbish are seemingly immune to not only intellect but also persecution.

My grandmother has always said that if it’s not broken don’t fix it. She doesn’t realise that Malaysia IS broken, not completely shattered just yet, but so severely splintered in so many different ways that it’s failing to function the way it was intended to. She’s in her seventies; the only administration she’s ever known, since the birth of an independent Malaysia, is Barisan Nasional.

She is also technologically illiterate, rendering her completely dependent on that gold standard of journalism, which is our mainstream media and so, it’s not hard to comprehend why she goes to bed contentedly at night and wakes up happily in the morning, thinking that all is perfectly fine in this country of hers.

She has electricity (yes, she will soon have to spend all of her life savings to afford the new tariffs, but who cares), she has water (well technically she didn’t for 2 months, but it’s back on now and even better for her as it’s enriched with really nutritious mining pool scum, and she has a roof over her head (which thankfully, isn’t repeatedly collapsing unlike that of the Sungai Buloh hospital, Terengganu stadium and the National Squash Centre – in fact Nicol David is very lucky she is not being blamed for the last one; she is after all a Christian and they are seemingly responsible for all things bad which happen in Malaysia).

So really, my grandmother has all her bases covered. As far as she is concerned, the last 57 years have seen Malaysia go from strength-to-strength. We have economic stability, improved employment opportunities and even developed a world-class education system, if you were to believe our Deputy Prime Minister (I can’t say I do, but then again, I can barely even understand most of what he says, so clearly he is not a product of our amazing education system).

Our crime rate has dropped (apparently we’re really safe now and window smashing is just a new Malaysian way of people saying intimate hellos to each other on the road) and the cost of living is definitely not on the rise. Did you not hear our PM go to great lengths in explaining this via our newest economic quantifying tool – the kangkung benchmark index (KBI).

We have skyscrapers, highways (both the collapsing and non-collapsing variety), shopping malls, satellite TV (filtered no less, thanks to our dedicated censors just so we’re safe from the perils of those distressing piglet faces), state-of-the-art medical facilities and even our very own, highly-esteemed, Malaysian Book of Records, exclusively so we can chronicle all our amazing home-grown achievements. I mean, who wouldn’t want to claim fame for having the world’s tallest pencil? In fact, we could even try and make it a double record by claiming it to be the world’s only pencil which you cannot actually write with.

Occasionally my grandmother’s parade is a little ruined when the likes of Ibrahim Ali, Ridhuan Tee and Abdullah Zaik choose to generously share their charming delusions with the Malaysian public, but she nevertheless tolerates it. In all seriousness, if our Prime Minister has the wisdom and fortitude to remain so silent and calm about such preposterousness, who is she to speak up?

In any case, that amazing English daily (you know, the one which would make even Rupert Murdoch’s jaw drop with its allegiance to its political masters) turns up faithfully on her doorstep like a supportive friend and assures her that all will be fine. The MCA and the MIC will sort it out. Just like the past few decades. They’re reliable like that.

Besides, my grandmother knows how lucky she is, even being allowed to be here to begin with. Just like the indigenous people of Malaysia, she is fortunate that her existence is being tolerated at all. And just in case she forgets, someone with a single digit IQ turns up predictably from time-to-time to remind her that she is but a lowly “pendatang” and that if she doesn’t like it here, she can go back to where she came from. I don’t think these wise guys realise that Taiping is a part of Malaysia. So she puts up with the likes of Perkasa and Isma and all the glowing compliments they so charitably bestow upon non-Malays and non-Muslim Malaysians.

As far as my grandmother is concerned, Malaysia is stable and peaceful. So why on earth would she rock the boat by turfing BN out, even though it is responsible for her being treated like a third-class citizen in her own country.

You can’t really fault my grandmother for thinking the way she does though. Why CHANGE when the going does appear to be relatively good? After all, Malaysia hasn’t really sunk to the depths of Zimbabwe or Syria. We haven’t got citizens running around trying to kill each other over different political ideologies. We just stick to the moral high ground and focus instead on charging senior citizens with scandalous sexual crimes in which they successfully overpower and sodomise able young men.

Yes, we have street demonstrations, but the only ones who seem to go a little loopy and behave in strange ways at those events, are the security forces. In any case, the extensive supply of tear-gas this country seems to be in possession of soon sorts out such inconveniences.

My grandmother’s doubts are further soothed by the impressive glossy letters the Prime Minister mails out to her featuring his perpetually smiling face and containing reconciliatory words written in Tamil. It’s a real shame he doesn’t know that my grandmother can read Bahasa Malaysia fluently but is completely flummoxed when it comes to Tamil characters. He might have saved millions on that little misguided public service venture, but then again, our PM isn’t one to focus on silly little things like austerity measures.

Even after the most recent Auditor-General’s Report was released, he did not think it was the right time (perhaps he wasn’t looking closely enough at those RM3000 wall clocks, blithely purchased on public money) to rein in the kind of mismanagement that goes in Putrajaya.

The scary thing is, my grandmother isn’t alone. There are hundreds of thousands of Malaysians out there who are seemingly reluctant to step forward and hold this government accountable for all the transgressions and wrongdoings it has committed to date. Barisan Nasional continues to behave like the unrepentant school-yard bully, because those like my grandmother not only tolerate it, but faithfully reward it for its behaviour at the ballot box, every time an election comes around.

How do you know that Anwar has all the solutions, my grandmother asks? It’s a fair question really. I don’t know, I tell her truthfully. The man has after all been punched in the head a few times.

I do know however, that although the opposition may well lack the experience needed to govern this country, I’m convinced that if given the choice, Malaysians would rather take tentative steps towards the future, hand-in-hand with a new administration, than be dragged along kicking and screaming, as we have been for a fair while now, by the manipulative reins of an arrogant, narcissistic regime.

Where exactly is this stability and prosperity, which the Prime Minister continues to gloat about, for all I can see, from where I stand, is increased insecurity, distrust and damage that is fast becoming irreparable.

Change is undoubtedly daunting, I don’t deny this. But, I really don’t see that we have any other option left. The majority (which is technically the minority, thanks to the incoherent delineation of electoral constituencies) of Malaysians have given Barisan Nasional the opportunity to govern and lead, no less than thirteen times and what do we have to show for it, but a country overrun with cronyism, corruption and crime.

This nation has been pillaged and plundered to the whims of a select few, who continue to rub their brazen misappropriations in our faces on a daily basis, as they carry-on without the slightest fear of admonition.

The problem with Malaysians is that we are far too tolerant for our own good. Our outrage is temporary, our indignation lasting long enough to flood our Facebook and Twitter with anger and exasperation, but then eventually we sigh and accept that this is our fate, that we will somehow rise despite being pulled under every single day.

We wear the insults and offensives hurled at us, like we do a bad traffic jam. We hate every second of it but we forget as soon as we arrive home, only to suffer through it the next day and the next and the next and the next.

I’m not advocating anarchy. In fact, I am downright denouncing it. I would hate to give the Home Minister and the IGP any more work considering that they’ve already got their hands full writing really hilarious comedy routines for all of their public appearances.

What I am saying is that we can start by winning the little battles such as the upcoming one in Teluk Intan. Forget about the next general election. That’s too far away and there’s probably already a sizeable taskforce somewhere plotting ingenious schemes for when that day arrives. By that point, Anwar may well be serving a life sentence for single-handedly outraging the modesty of a gym full of body-builders.

The Teluk Intan by-election is not about race, nor is it about religion and discord as the coalition would like you to think. It is not, as some would have you believe, about a young lawyer supposedly betraying her ethnic roots and selling out her faith. It is not even about the DAP or Gerakan.

This parliamentary by-election is about a young principled Malaysian who is asking for the opportunity to try and do the right thing for Teluk Intan and its constituents.

Dyana Sofya might not be offering new uniforms and schools, nor is she promising crematoriums and wedding halls, but what she is pledging are things which are far more valuable; transparency and integrity. Thus, perhaps it’s about time voters invest their faith in the opposition’s long term plans rather than get distracted by the coalition’s proclivity for instant gratifications.

It would be naive to think that Dyana Sofya emerging victor in Teluk Intan will solve our woes, for it certainly won’t. Nevertheless, her win will still be a small step forward for the millions of rational, right-thinking Malaysians who are desperate for advances in the correct direction, however small those progressions may be.

So if you are eligible to vote in Teluk Intan, please cast your vote wisely at the ballot box this Sunday. Vote for Dyana Sofea and give real democracy a go for a change.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 30 May 2014, 4:04 pm and is filed under
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13 theories of what happened to Flight MH370

Adam Withnall,The Independent | May 30, 2014

Officials on Thursday confirmed what we have feared for some time — that a relatively tiny search zone in the southern Indian Ocean is not the final resting place of Malaysia Airlines flight MH370.

From an underwater mission covering 850 sq km (320 sq mile) where acoustic “pings” were heard, the area being searched has now been extended to around a 60,000 sq km (23,100 sq mile) zone based on satellite data which remains disputed in some quarters.

The Australia-led search control team estimate it could be August — next year — before this region has been covered, and hopes of finding the Boeing 777’s flight recorders are becoming increasingly dim.

With so much uncertainty surrounding the circumstances of MH370’s bizarre disappearance, it has become rich territory for aviation experts, bloggers and conspiracy theorists alike.

Here we round up 13 of the most prominent theories as to where the plane ended up, and what went wrong in the first place.

1. Shot down in a military training exercise

While the Australian officials leading the search for MH370 say they remain “absolutely convinced” it ended up in the southern Indian Ocean, some passengers’ families — and theorists— distrust the unprecedented satellite data analysis involved.

Among those who support this view are the British journalist and author Nigel Cawthorne, who has controversially already published the first book on the plane’s disappearance.

He supports one theory, based on the eye-witness testimony of New Zealand oil rig worker Mike McKay, that the plane was shot down shortly after it stopped communicating with air traffic controllers.

At the time there was a series of war games taking place in the South China Sea involving Thailand, the US and personnel from China, Japan, Indonesia and others, and Cawthorne has linked this to Mr McKay’s claims to have seen a burning plane going down in the Gulf of Thailand.

2. Flown north and shot down deliberately, prompting cover-up

At a stage in the investigation when it was believed the plane could have flown for some time from where it disappeared along either a northern or southern corridor, many posted on forums suggesting that if it had been the former we would never hear about what happened.

Some still support this view, and former RAF navigator Sean Maffett told the BBC that after 9/11, any unidentified airliner entering the airspace of another country would lead to fighter jets being scrambled.

“If the plane is in the northern arc it could easily have been shot down,” he said. This theory also involves a national – or possibly international – cover-up, based on the premise that no country would want to admit to shooting down an airliner full of passengers from all over the world.

3. Flown north in the ‘shadow’ of another plane

Another theory suggests that instead of flying south, the plane flew north in the “shadow” of another airliner around half an hour to an hour after dropping off civilian radar.

The aviation blogger Keith Ledgerwood argued that MH370 and Singapore Airlines flight 68 were in the same vicinity at the time, and said: “It became apparent as I inspected SIA68’s flight path history that MH370 had manoeuvred itself directly behind SIA68 at approximately 18:00UTC and over the next 15 minutes had been following SIA68.”

By flying a short distance behind and most likely a little above the altitude of SIA68, also a Boeing 777, Ledgerwood said that it would be able to appear as a single blip on radar screens.

SIA68 flew on to Spain – and this theory suggests MH370 could have branched off and landed in one of a number of locations across Xinjiang (north-east China), Kyrgyzstan or Turkmenistan.

Experts have said that the idea sounds “feasible”, and that even if higher-resolution military radar was monitoring SIA68 operators might have dismissed the fact that there were two objects as an technical glitch or echo.

4. Tried to land on a desert island beach

After reports that the plane had turned left shortly following its disappearance from civilian radar screens, speculation grew that it could have landed on a remote beach somewhere like the Andaman Islands, which lie between Indonesia and the coast of Thailand.

Though CNN reported that locals dismissed the idea a Boeing 777 could land on an airstrip there undetected, the archipelago consists of hundreds of remote islands with some long stretches of sand.

Former BA pilot Steve Buzdygan said it would be difficult – but not impossible – to bring a 777 down on a long deserted beach.

5. Landed at a US military base

One of the more outlandish conspiracy theories that has gained some traction online is the idea that MH370 could have been “captured” and flown to a military base on the UK-owned tropical atoll of Diego Garcia, in the middle of the Indian Ocean.

The base is run by the US, and some have reportedly said in forum postings that the Kremlin has put some credence into this possibility.

Such is the strength of belief in this theory that the US government has been forced to issue a denial. A spokesperson for the US embassy in Malaysia told the local Star newspaper that there was “no indication that MH370 flew anywhere near the Maldives or Diego Garcia”. “MH370 did not land in Diego Garcia,” he added.

6. Headed for a remote airport in Langkawi, Malaysia

One theory, put forward by another aviation blogger named Chris Goodfellow, has it that the sudden left turn came after major catastrophe knocked out a range of the plane’s electronics, from transponders to communications equipment.

In this scenario and in the middle of the night, Goodfellow argued, the pilot would redirect towards the nearest safe airport.

“This pilot did all the right things,” he said. “Actually he was taking a direct route to Palau Langkawi, a 13,000ft (4,000m) strip with an approach over water at night with no obstacles. He did not turn back to Kuala Lumpur because he knew he had 8,000ft ridges to cross. He knew the terrain was friendlier towards Langkawi and also a shorter distance.”

This theory assumes that the plane was in fact controlled manually once it disappeared – and that it did not make it to Langkawi.

7. A fire throughout the plane

Many theories accept that the Inmarsat satellite analysis is accurate – that the plane headed south into the Indian Ocean and flew on for hours before a final, partial “handshake” in a remote location thousands of miles off the west coast of Australia.

The issue here becomes explaining what happened in the cabin between the last contact with flight controllers and the plane’s seemingly inevitable crash far out to see.

One suggestion is that a fire broke out, not just in the cockpit but throughout the interior of the plane. The implication is that this resulted in the attempt to turn back, after which the fire killed those on board.

This theory would then have it that the fire went out before damaging the exterior of the plane, which flew on autopilot until its fuel ran out.

Yet such a fire would be expected to spread with at least some warning – and that surely would have given the pilots time to issue a mayday distress signal.

8. An explosion in the cockpit

The theory of a sudden explosion within the cockpit before the turn left could explain why there was no attempt to signal for help.

Since 9/11 cockpits doors have been fortified to become extremely difficult to bypass, and such a sudden incident could perhaps have incapacitated both pilots while keeping out the rest of the crew.

This explanation does not seem to tally with the claims of some Malaysian officials, however, that the change in direction was the result of “seven or eight keystrokes into a computer on a knee-high pedestal between the captain and the first officer”.

9. A struggle at altitude

Though Malaysian officials believe that the plane was deliberately diverted, and that its communications systems were turned off one after the other, a detailed background check into all 227 passengers has cleared all of suspicion.

If, however, we do accept that the plane was the subject of a passenger hijacking, it remains to be explained why the hijackers did not try to do more than fly the plane into the middle of the southern Indian Ocean.

One theory suggests that there was some kind of struggle for control of the plane that ultimately ended with mutual destruction.

Further analysis of data by Malaysian officials suggests that the plane was flown erratically once it left civilian radar, climbing to 45,000ft before dropping very low. Buzdygan told the BBC he would resort to this sort of flying if faced with would-be hijackers. “I’d try to disorientate and confuse the hijackers by throwing them around,” he said.

10. A botched hijack attempt

The climb to 45,000ft could also have been carried out by the hijackers once they had taken control – in a bid to kill the passengers on board.

At such an altitude it could be possible to depressurise the cabin, causing oxygen supplies to be deployed. These run out after 12-15 minutes and, if those flying the plane had access to another oxygen supply, could have been an attempt to prevent anyone intervening.

Under this theory the suggestion is clearly that the attempt failed, killing the hijackers as well.

11. Pilot suicide

As part of the ongoing criminal investigation in Malaysia, police are looking into the state of mind and possible motives of the captain Zaharie Ahmad Shah and co-pilot Fariq Abdul Hamid.

The Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar has said that “all possibilities” will be looked into, and there have been reports that Shah was going through a difficult marriage break-up.

Yet such comments have been rubbished by the man’s relatives, who have described him since as a dedicated family man and model professional.

Hugh Dunleavy, the commercial director of Malaysia Airlines, described Shah as a seasoned pilot with an excellent record.

“There have been absolutely no implications that we are aware of that there was anything untoward in either his behaviour or attitude,” he told Reuters. “We have no reason to believe that there was anything, any actions, internally by the crew that caused the disappearance of this aircraft.”

12. Sabotage – for a life insurance scam or corporate attack

One of the other strands of the criminal investigation regards whether the plane was subject to some form of sabotage – either as part of a life insurance scam or over industrial espionage.

Bakar said that when passengers and crew were being investigated, police were looking for “Maybe somebody on the flight has bought a huge sum of insurance, who wants family to gain from it or somebody who has owed somebody so much money, you know, we are looking at all possibilities.”

There were also 20 employees of the US silicon chip company Freescale Semiconductor on board the plane at the time, and a retired Delta Airlines pilot has suggested the plane’s disappearance was an attempt to steal technology the engineers had applied – but not yet received – a patent for.

13. A CIA cover-up

Finally, the former prime minister of Malaysia Mahathir Mohamad has waded in with his own theory – suggesting that, one way or another, the CIA is definitely hiding something.

In a blog entry posted on 18 May entitled ‘Boeing Technology – What goes up must come down’, Dr Mahathir Mohamad makes ten claims including that the plane was taken over remotely by officials working for Boeing and the CIA.

“The plane is somewhere, maybe without MAS markings,” reads Dr Mohamad’s post on chedet.

“Someone is hiding something. It is not fair that MAS and Malaysia should take the blame,” 88-year-old Dr Mahathir, who was Malaysia’s prime minister between 1981 and 2003, alleges.

“Airplanes don’t just disappear,” he said, concluding: “For some reason the media will not print anything that involves Boeing or the CIA. I hope my readers will read this.”

Boeing have denied Dr Mohamed’s theory.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 May 2014, 7:31 am and is filed under
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Families of MH370 crew rap MAS union for ‘disowning’ them

by Muzliza Mustafa

The Malaysian Insider

May 30, 2014

Family members of crew on board flight MH370 have hit out at the Malaysia Airlines union for calling for another body to deal with efforts and issues regarding the missing jetliner.

Jacquita Gonzales, wife of inflight supervisor Patrick Francis Gomes who was one of the 12 crew on flight MH370, said she was disheartened by the statement made by the Malaysian Airlines System Employees Union (Maseu), a union representing 8,000 of MAS’s 13,500 employees.

“I was upset and I broke down when I read the article. The phrase where he said to put us aside and allow other entity to look after our interest just brought us back to March 8.”

Mohd Jabbarullah Abd Kadir, executive secretary of Maseu, yesterday in a statement said MAS had handled the flight MH370 tragedy in the “best” possible way, adding that the loss-making airlines needs to move forward to ensure it stays afloat.

He also reiterated call for several top management figures in MAS to resign “with dignity”, saying that the union feels that the company has to focus on restoring its image and fortunes.

But, Gonzales said that MAS’s rebuilding should not be at the expense of caring for its employees.

“To build MAS does not mean to put the care and the welfare of its employees aside.

“We are not robots. We used to be top priority, now with this statement, it made us feel that their priority has shifted,” she said.

Jabbarullah also defended Putrajaya’s handling of the crisis, insisting that despite widespread criticism, all necessary steps were taken.

“I think what MAS has done, the government has done, that is the best,” he told reporters at the union’s office.

He added that the airline does not “compromise” on safety, citing as proof the existence of former MAS pilots, engineers and cabin crews in other airlines globally.

Shedding light on Maseu’s role in helping the families of crew aboard MH370, Gonzales said she never received any calls representing the union.

“They claimed they kept in touch with us but I never received any calls or messages from them,” she said.

Another family member also called the union a “bluff” for saying that they kept in touch with the families.

“The National Union of Flight Attendants Malaysia (Nufam) has been there for us. Both Maseu and Nufam are unions. If Nufam can reach out why not Maseu?”

Nufam is a registered union representing all cabin crew.

The anonymous family member also chided Maseu for its contradictory statement on MAS over MH370 and its desire to see a revamp of the airlines’s top brass.

“First they ‘applaud’ the airline for doing their best and now they want for the top management to resign. What is this?”

He said Maseu’s act was only a publicity stunt to get the message across.

“I believe it was just a publicity stunt. I am puzzled and wonder why they said what the said about having other body to handle MH370 matters and families of those on board as well as MAS role in this matter.”

Flight MH370, carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared on March 8 during a scheduled service between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing. It is believed to have ended its flight in the southern Indian Ocean, off western Australia. – May 30, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 May 2014, 6:51 am and is filed under
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If Tunku was still alive, he’d curse everyone for the state of the nation, says Ku Li

by Looi Sue-Chern

The Malaysian Insider

May 30, 2014

If the country’s first prime minister was still alive today, he would curse everybody because of the lack of leadership that has led to the present state of the nation, a former finance minister said today.

Tan Sri Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, also known as Ku Li, said the late Tunku Abdul Rahman would have been very upset with what people are saying and doing as this was counter to everything he believed in.

“He would curse everybody. (What is happening) completely counters what he advocated. He wanted peace.

“He was a man of peace and he nurtured harmony and he liked people to help one another no matter what racial, religious or cultural backgrounds they have. That was Tunku,” Ku Li told reporters in Penang today.

On why the Tunku met with obstacles and challenges from within Umno despite his noble beliefs and struggles for the nation, Ku Li said the founding father and his detractors were from different times.

“Maybe they were from different times and were brought up differently.

“Some people generally have an inferiority complex, and they use all these points to exploit the situation,” said Ku Li.

Popularly referred to as the Father of Independence, Tunku faced criticism from Umno, as well as from successor Tun Abdul Razak, in the years after the nation’s split with Singapore in 1965 and the racial riot on May 13, 1969.

He was forced to step down as prime minister in favour of Razak on September 22, 1970, and as Umno president the following year after being opposed by younger leaders.

One of those younger leaders was Malaysia’s fourth prime minister, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, who was expelled from Umno by the Tunku in 1969 and accepted back into Umno in 1972.

Ku Li attributed the situation in the country today to a lack of leadership because the people in such position are not exercising the leadership role given to them.

“That is what people are telling me… that is why there is a falling apart of respect and regard for authority.

“There are certain times when leaders must be prepared to be unpopular, where they must put their foot down… there are certain things that are beyond the bounds of even expression.

“You may have your freedom of speech but there is a limit to what you can say,” he said calling it a case of applying some common sense.

“If people are allowed to go on a ‘merry-go-round’, free to say and do as they like, all hell will break loose.

“When leaders do not put their foot down and control the situation, that would mean they are not smart enough as they fail to see the dangers faced by society,” he added.

Ku Li said he felt people were raising many questions nowadays because they were not happy or comfortable with the situation of the country.

“I am also responding because I have heard these noises and the remarks which really does not make it comfortable nor good for society,” he said.

Referring to DAP assemblyman R.S.N. Rayer’s “Umno celaka” and the reactions it caused, Ku Li said some groups tend to be extreme in their views and actions.

However, to be fair, he said there are also those who provoke these people, knowing fully well there are extreme elements within any particular grouping.

“Why do you land yourself in such possibilities by making provocative remarks?

“I don’t sympathise with those who take the law into their own hands. This is a society with laws and nobody can do what they feel like doing. We can’t have anarchy,” he said.

A copy of “Enduring Truths from Statements and Words of Al-Marhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj Our Beloved Founder of Our Nation”. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 30, 2014.A copy of “Enduring Truths from Statements and Words of Al-Marhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj Our Beloved Founder of Our Nation”. – The Malaysian Insider pic by Hasnoor Hussain, May 30, 2014.Ku Li dismissed any notion of degradation in the quality of elected members of Parliament and state assemblymen as they were elected by the people.

“Are you saying that the people are stupid?” he said, adding that the leaders of these groups should educate their members.

On whether the country needs to go back to the roots of what Tunku tried to advocate, Ku Li said both yes and no.

Earlier, Ku Li launched a book in honour of the Tunku entitled “Enduring Truths from Statements and Words of Al-Marhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj Our Beloved Founder of Our Nation”.

The book, which is a compilation of Tunku’s words and remarks, was launched to mark the anniversary of his 111th birthday and the 10th anniversary of the Penang Goodwill Council this year.

In his keynote address at the launching ceremony, Ku Li said the book is “without doubt a most useful collectible as our founding father is without peers and has been assured of a place in Malaysian as well as world history.”

He added that it was a good source of information on Tunku for the nation’s youth.

Tunku Abdul Rahman was born on February 8, 1903, and died on December 6, 1990, at the age of 87 in Kuala Lumpur. – May 30, 2014.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 May 2014, 1:22 am and is filed under
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Teluk Intan’s diamond in the rough

 — Fui K. Soong

The Malay Mail Online

May 30, 2014

Driving through the main thoroughfare of Teluk Intan is hardly pleasant as traffic jams are seen as a curse of development in small towns. However, of late, this monotony is interspersed with sultry posters of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, the DAP candidate. And you can’t help but wonder how the Opposition always gets to pick these yummy-looking princes and princesses of politics to parade their diamonds for them.

In contrast with the dreariness of the old establishment posters that almost always feature leaders lined up like pastry layers according to their seniority in the government or party — federal, state, candidate, or, party president, deputy president followed by the candidate. Sometimes, the size of the photo will indicate the said protocol is in accordance. No guesses who always gets the biggest photo on the posters!

While the BN candidate is always the last and smallest, nowhere in Dyana Sofya’s poster screams Lim Kit Siang or Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim or Datuk Nik Aziz. Her posters literally say, I am my own woman. And that message alone is no doubt a real hit with the younger voters.

According to Centre for Strategic Engagement (CENSE) survey, 42.1 per cent of the respondents among Teluk Intan’s registered voters think she has the qualities of being a good MP and that she is politically ambitious. Although, another good 40 per cent don’t really know her but there are no abhorrence or maliciousness towards her either.

At the last general election, Gerakan’s Datuk Mah Siew Keong lost the seat by 7,313 votes with an estimated support from the Malays of about 69.2 per cent, Chinese around 15 to 18 per cent and Indians at about 45 per cent.

Our projections say Barisan Nasional’s (BN) support could drop as much as 60 per cent. We believe most of that will stem from popularity of Dyana Sofya among the young Malay female voters who do see her somewhat of a rough diamond vindicated from her past, unpleasant brush with the “Perkasa” of the world. Thus, more personal attacks against her will only be the DAP’s gain. Chinese voters, including outstation voters that we sampled could give up to 20 to 23 per cent of their support to Mah. However, he is not faring too well among the Indians.

Surprisingly, we have found the Chinese are now much warmer towards BN with the MCA machinery working quite well alongside its nemesis in the fold, Gerakan. Teluk Intan was once an MCA seat having lost it to Gerakan, then in the Opposition, in 1969. Even in the face of death, one still can’t be certain if these two embattled parties will now finally see eye-to-eye to leave sleeping dogs lie and merge.

Gerakan’s strategy of making this by-election a referendum against hudud has minuscule traction. 53.1 per cent of the Chinese say that the community will not abandon DAP because of hudud, with only 18.8 per cent saying yes. Only 20.3 per cent of the Chinese respondents say that DAP should leave the coalition if PAS decides to implement hudud in Kelantan. In contrast, 42.2 per cent of Malays think that PAS should leave the coalition if DAP refuses to accept hudud.

The great thing about by-elections is that they allow us to peek into the evolving political landscape in subtle steps. Post General Election 13, citizens are digging their heels in on issues of religion.

PAS supporters say one must accept hudud as it is part of the party’s struggle. DAP supporters say they agree to disagree.

MCA and Gerakan stress without the mandate they are unable to fight. And Umno will implement hudud if they are pushed to the corner.

Some 60 per cent of the respondents say they want MCA and Gerakan back in Cabinet but barely a quarter of them are willing to vote for them to win in Teluk Intan.

Another evolving issue is the matter of Anwar Ibrahim’s waning influence in the Opposition since 2013. While over 50 per cent of the Chinese and Indian respondents want him to be the prime minister, only 26.3 per cent of the Malays say he has their thumbs up in occupying the top seat.

Of the 49.9 per cent Malays who say they do not want Anwar as the PM, most are between the ages of 21 and 40.

It is unlikely that the death of Perak ruler Sultan Azlan Shah will have an impact on polling day, except that campaigns will not have rousing undertones. Given these figures, Mah might end up where he ended in 2013, which is a loss of about 7,000 to 8,000 votes.

It looks like tired, old faces are no longer appealing in Malaysia anymore.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 31 May 2014, 2:03 am and is filed under
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