Censure motion in Parliament against Zahid for “migrate elsewhere” statement – welcome MPs including those from BN to be joint sponsors of motion

It is just not good enough for the newly-minted Minister for Sports and Youth Minister Khairy Jamaluddin to evade the issue by claiming that the new Home Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi’s call for critics of the 13th general election to leave the country was merely the latter’s “personal opinion”  and does not reflect the government’s position.

How does Khairy know that Zahid’s disgraceful statement does not reflect the Barisan Nasional Goverment’s position?

Has Khairy been assured by the Prime Minister or the Deputy Prime Minister that the new Cabinet would repudiate Zahid’s statement with a formal announcement?

It is sad that in a matter of 24 hours after being sworn in as Cabinet Minister, Khairy has already started to compromise his principles and begun to behave like old-time Ministers who are more interested in protecting their own Ministerial turfs instead of taking principled stand against gross abuses of power and blatant injustices like Zahid’s outburst.

Will Khairy take the initiative at his first Cabinet meeting to propose that the Cabinet should distance itself and repudiate Zahid’s statement?

In my early years in Parliament in the seventies, a very powerful UMNO Minister interjected in one of my speeches and told me that if I did not like the policies of UMNO/Barisan Nasional governments, I could leave the country.

My immediate riposte to him was that I was speaking on behalf of Malaysians in Parliament, and if he did not like what I said, he could leave the country!

Since then, no UMNO MP or Minister had repeated that approach with me in Parliament.

One rejoinder to Zahid’s outburst that Malaysians who do not like the country’s electoral system could leave the country was to give him a similar treatment – to tell Zahid and others like-minded that if they do not like Malaysians demanding for a change to a clean, free and just electoral system, it is they who  could leave Malaysia!

But what should be of concern is the arrogance and contempt for public opionion  of a Minister in a government whose legitimacy is under a cloud for the first time in the nation’s history.

When the legitimacy of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who has only secured 47% of popular votes as compared to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat, who won 51% of the popular vote, is under question, then the legitimacy of his Cabinet sworn in yesterday is also under question.

One would have thought that in such circumstances of swirling clouds about their legitimacy, the Ministers would be humble, approachable and sensitive to the aspirations of Malaysians.

Instead, we see the arrogance and contempt of public opinion displayed by Zahid, one of the senior ministers of Najib’s Cabinet after the 13GE.

Zahid deserves universal  condemnation for his arrogant outburst, which is completely at variance with Najib’s signature policy of 1Malaysia and “People First” (as Zahid’s outburst could only mean “Zahid or UMNO First”) and against the grain of over five decades of nation-building of a plural Malaysia.

I will move a motion when the new Parliament convenes probably in mid-June to censure Zahid for his arrogant and insufferable outburst, telling Malaysians not happy with the 13GE results to leave the country.

In view of the subject-matter which affects all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, I invite MPs who wish to join me in co-sponsoring the censure motion against Zahid to email me their agreement (to
[email protected]
) so that a censure motion carrying the most number of signatures of MPs in Malaysian parliamentary history could be submitted once parliamentary notice for the first meeting of the 13th Parliament is issued.

I also invite them to suggest a draft of the censure motion against Zahid, which I would put in the public domain to invite public views and feeback.

Of course, I welcome MPs from the Barisan Nasional who have the principles and courage of conviction to co-sponsor the censure motion against Zahid, as the deplorable sentiments expressed by the Home Minister must be condemned by all MPs as well as citizens, regardless of party affiliation.

I do not know whether there would be anyone from Barisan Nasional who will be prepared to cross party lines to take a common stand in the interests of the Malaysian people and nation.

I wait their response  at the email above.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 3:42 pm and is filed under
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Dear Interim Prime Minister…

LETTER: From John Ung, via e-mail

Free Malaysia Today

May 15, 2013

I have to address you as the Interim Prime Minister as you are really standing on shaky grounds.  Some say you may not even last till the end of this year.

Why are you the Interim Prime Minister?  Five reasons. Firstly, the majority of Malaysians want you out along with your party and their bag carriers, MCA , Gerakan and MIC.  You have only obtained 45 % of the votes inclusive of some add ons . At least two of your bag carriers will soon be no more.  So you may need some recently ‘ made ‘ citizens to carry your bags.

Secondly, your own party, Umno is crying for your head. You gave so much money to the Malaysian Chinese and got eggs thrown at your face. Your poor reading what makes Malaysians tick has got you into trouble.

Imagine thinking that Psy can get us to ‘gangdum style’ with you. Free food , ang pow and last minute donations to temples and Chinese schools cannot buy the Chinese votes. Time and time again, these have been proven. Who are your strategists by the way? They must have got their degrees from fake universities.  Sacked all of them! I truly cannot believe you are that stupid!

Thirdly, a defection of several BN candidates may swing the Federal government to the Opposition. This is not desirable but will make you at least, the Opposition head, if your party members do not throw you into the ocean by then. If this happens, I hope the Opposition when they form the government, will delineate a fair boundary for all and then call for fresh elections.

Fourth, which is not likely, people’s power will force you out! Remember, more than 55% of the people voted against your party and they want you out.

Lastly, Act of God forces you to resign.

Will I change my mind and vote for you.YES! These are what you need to do first:

1 Disband parties based on racial lines. Do it for Umno first and rest will follow. After all, you have no support in Umno now, so might as well get the MCA, MIC, Gerakan and all the other BN parties to support you. Firstly, whether you can get Umno to change is another matter. Then only will we will have a PM voted by all races.

2 Strongly and seriously curb corruption. MACC must be independent and report to a Royal Commission with full powers to investigate fairly and punish severely.

3 Uplift our education standards with more opportunities for enrolment to public Universities based on merit. More scholarships for the poor to pursue higher studies.

4 Act against all and not just selected opposition members for racist comments.Even the Malays have enough of your Perkasa morons who should be banished into the jungles and let them form their party with monkeys as their members. You can also include the Editors of Utusan. How on Earth did you think that the Cowboy (he hates Indians) Zul can win in Shah Alam is beyond me. Are you from a different planet ?

5 Creating business opportunities is one thing but giving all the chance to gain from them is another. Award tenders fairly and only to those with know how instead of those who knows who.

Mr Interim PM, just do these five things and I am sure you will achieve more than 70% votes. If not, you will soon join Benitez (Interim Chelsea Manager) seeking pasture elsewhere.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 8:01 am and is filed under
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Edge poll on Anwar hijacked

Written by
theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 16 May 2013 21:04

The recent one-week (May 6-13) poll conducted by The Edge’s online business portal (theedgemalaysia.com) on the political future of Opposition leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was hijacked by parties believed to be cyber-troopers.

Before this survey, polls conducted by theedgemalaysia.com would normally attract 2,000 to 4,000 respondents whose responses were largely consistent with The Edge’s independent-minded readers, who form the majority of our readers.

On Tuesday May 14, when The Edge’s online editor Ho Wah Foon saw that the one-week survey had attracted 12,736 responses which were overwhelmingly one-sided, she immediately took down the poll.

Additionally, the poll had also been overtaken by events as Anwar has stated that he would continue to lead the Opposition.

Upon checking, the Edge IT department found that 6,354 of the responses came from one IP address, and about 1,700 came from several IP addresses within the same building. Another 2,000 responses came from seven different IP addresses.

From this, it was obvious that the poll had been compromised and the results could not be treated as reliable or objective.

The poll asked the question: “Should Anwar Ibrahim step down as leader after Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has failed to conquer Putrajaya in GE13?”

The two responses for people to vote on were:

1)  No, he should continue to lead PR to the next GE as PR has won more seats than previous elections.

2)  Yes, he should call it quits as he has made this pledge.

The poll was put up soon after the general election as Anwar’s stepping down was an issue of interest to many.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 11:30 am and is filed under
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Fill Our Motherland with the Colours of Unity

By Kee Thuan Chye

“On this date, we are embarking on a move to recolour the nation’s historical canvas with colours of unity. This is our motherland. From this day on, no one can tell the Chinese to go back to China or the Indians to go back to India.”

This is the best, the most positive, people-unifying statement to come out in decades. And it did not come from a leader of the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN).

It came from 20 civil society groups, led by Solidariti Anak Muda Malaysia (SAMM) headed by Badrul Hisham Shaharin and student group Solidariti Mahasiswa Malaysia (SMM) headed by Safwan Anang, as they marked May 13, the tragic day in 1969 when racial riots broke out and drove the races apart, with a call for an end to racism.

A teacher told me that when she read the statement reported in a newspaper, she burst into tears. It was particularly emotional for her because she had personally experienced being told to go back to China.

This was about 30 years ago when she had newly arrived in Kuala Lumpur from a small town up north, and was riding in a taxi. As she tried to explain to the taxi driver where she wanted to go in halting Malay, the man was repulsed by her lack of fluency in the national language. He bluntly told her to go back to China.

The remark shocked and humiliated her, but she was too afraid to say anything. Since then, she has lived with the wound without hope of healing. The decades that followed made it worse – as politicians of the ruling party played the race card to divide and rule, as the media reported more incidents of Chinese being told to go back to China and Indians to go back to India. As if they were not citizens of the country. As if they were merely tenants in the home they helped to build.

Even today, although the 13th general election is over, the silly season is still going strong as pro-BN figures, including a former judge and the Perak Mufti, make statements that are overtly racist and divisive.

Speaking at a forum last week, former Court of Appeal judge Mohd Noor Abdullah accused the Chinese of betraying the Malays because they largely rejected BN. He said they were plotting to seize political power.

He said, threateningly, “When the Malays are betrayed, there is a backlash and the Chinese must bear the consequences of such a backlash.” He called for the Malays and Bumiputeras to have a two-thirds presence in key sectors like education, the civil service and business. “Arrange it in such a way that from today, every business will have a 67 per cent share ready to be taken up by Malays,” he urged.

He also called for the terms “Chinese” and “Indian” to be abolished and replaced with “non-Malays” and “non-Bumiputeras”. Disdainfully, he regarded the Orang Asli as “our cousins” and the Sabah and Sarawak Bumiputeras as “our relatives” while the others “are just our neighbours because they came to menumpang (squat) here”.

This is divisive and akin to calling the Chinese and Indians pendatang (immigrants), another derogatory reference they have had to suffer. It echoes the insult former Penang Umno leader Ahmad Ismail inflicted on these communities after BN’s electoral debacle in 2008. Now, in the wake of BN’s worse performance this time, Mohd Noor appears to be an Ahmad Ismail clone. The only difference is that he’s not a politician, but it’s still not acceptable.

Politician or no, his vindictive tone contrasts starkly with that of SAMM, SMM and like-minded organisations. But more than that, Mohd Noor is patently wrong in concluding that Chinese rejection of BN amounts to a betrayal of the Malays.

You can only betray a party to whom you owe loyalty. And in a democracy, you don’t owe loyalty to any party unless you are a member of that party. And even then, you are still a citizen in your own right so you can vote against your own party if you think it has not been doing a good job. You are entitled to vote for a rival party that you think can deliver good governance.

More important, BN does not own the country or the government. It is merely the government of the day. You owe your allegiance to your country, not to BN. So all that talk of betrayal is utterly misleading.

It also shows up Mohd Noor’s blindness to the fact that many of the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat’s successful candidates representing PAS and PKR were indeed Malays and the Chinese voted for them in huge numbers. Furthermore, what did he see in the many photographs of Chinese carrying PAS flags during the election campaigning – that they were impostors pretending to be Chinese?

Mohd Noor’s shallow thinking finds an equal in that of Perak Mufti Harussani Zakaria, who accused a certain community (which clearly implied the Chinese) of using Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim to try and “colonise the Malays”. He even alleged that this community wanted to hapuskan (destroy) the Federal Constitution, apparently suggesting that they planned to do away with the special position of the Malays guaranteed in Article 153.

More explicit was Nazri Aziz, who has just been appointed Minister of Tourism and Culture in the newly announced Cabinet. He actually named the Chinese and said they supported Pakatan because they believed that if it won, it would abolish the special privileges enjoyed by the Malays and Bumiputeras.

But it would never have happened, he asserted, regardless of who formed the government, including Pakatan. Therefore, the Chinese had been cheated into thinking that it would.

This of course is nonsensical. No Chinese would dare to tamper with Article 153, and neither would Anwar or Pakatan agree to it. Anwar has said so repeatedly, and the Chinese know that. And certainly the Chinese are not so stupid as to be fooled into thinking that the improbable could happen, Nazri’s insult notwithstanding.

What then do we do with these negative, scare-mongering and hate-sowing statements? We know it is part and parcel of Umno and BN’s modus operandi to dish them out without regard for the consequences, and we also know that Prime Minister Najib Razak will not put a stop to them because it serves his purpose well, but can this kind of race-baiting go on indefinitely?

This is the same thought on the teacher’s mind. “For how many more generations must we face this?” she asks.

“I feel sad that this country does not accept me, but I feel sadder for my children who will still have to face the same. And I have been a teacher who has given my best to all my students, regardless of whoever they were and whatever race they belonged to.

“You won’t understand how I feel if you haven’t been told by someone what that taxi driver told me. I have lived with it for so long. It is so deep in me that when I read that statement, I broke into tears. For once, someone is telling me that I belong here.

“It has taken so many years for someone to be brave to say that. None of our leaders have said it in my entire life. I have had to wait 60 years to hear this. And I don’t know if my children will have to wait another 60 years to be truly accepted.”

Clearly, racism must end. And anyone who agrees with that must surely support the initiative that SAMM, SMM and the other organisations have set in motion.

It is noteworthy that the members of SAMM and SMM are comprised of the young. For in the young lies the hope for the future – and perhaps even the present. We have lately seen their energy and dynamism and, above all, their unity of spirit during the ‘Black 505’ rallies held in Selangor, Penang and other cities to protest against the legitimacy of the new government.

They were of all races, and they came together as Malaysians, confounding the negative drivel of the pro-BN racists. This sense of oneness and common purpose is what needs to be harnessed to bring about a new Malaysia that is colour-blind. And when the time comes, hopefully sooner than later, it should just be let loose. It should just be allowed to fill our motherland with the beautiful colours of unity.

* Kee Thuan Chye is the author of the bestselling book No More Bullshit, Please, We’re All Malaysians, and the latest volume, Ask for No Bullshit, Get Some More!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 8:14 am and is filed under
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If Vernacular School Goes… So Must Religious Schools and UiTM too!

by Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

The pro-chancellor of UiTM has made an overly simplistic argument about the GE13 and racial disunity in this country. He assumes that the Chinese and Indian Vernacular Schools are to be blamed and thus should be terminated. However simplistic his argument is, I, reluctantly, tend to agree with him…that these vernacular schools must go. But….should not the same simplistic argument be made on Islamic Religious schools that puts Malay children in the system for 11 years without knowing any other races? And …for that matter…what about UiTM? Is this not the biggest race based educational institution in…the World? So…if Chinese and Indian Vernacular Schools must go …so must Islamic religious Schools and UiTM should also be closed.

Now if we close all Islamic and Vernacular Schools, we have to prepare a robust National School Curriculum that TRULY takes care of the Cultural and Religious Needs of All Malaysian Societies. Yes, there must even be the teaching of Christianity and Buddhism in the National School! And yes there must be the teachings of Chinese and Indian Cultural anchors in our National Schools. During Merdeka, it was assumed that if we can forget all our cultures and religions, than we will be one big happy family. We would go the Communist Way or the Western Secular Way. But after 50 years of Merdeka our cultures are still held dearly and this is a testament to their importance… not hindrance…to national unity. All we need is simply to understand each other cultures more and stop learning too much science, geography, history and mathematics that is overloaded now anyway.

Now, a different scenario. What if we all want to still keep the Vernacular Schools, the Religious Schools and UiTM? Senang saja. We should have a STRICT policy that any child who goes through a 6 year primary Vernacular or Religious School curriculum MUST spend a YEAR OUT at a National School. This applies also to the Secondary Vernacular and Religious School. The secondary student MUST spend one YEAR OUT at a national secondary school. No two ways about it. Ah…what about UiTM? Same thing. Diploma Students at UiTM MUST spend One SEMESTER OUT at a multi-racial College…Preferably TAR College! All Degree Students MUST spend TWO SEMESTERS OUT, preferably at University Tunku Abdul Rahman. This way, we should ensure some resemblance of racial unity…even if a little.

So…what say you Pro-Chancellor? I ‘support’ your idea tetapi ..kalau boleh…jangan cakap pasal salah orang lain saja…salah kita kena tengok-tengok sama.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 4:36 pm and is filed under
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In defending his seditious speech, Mohd Noor Abdullah has proven he is racist through-and-through and raised question how a closet racist could rise to be Court of Appeal judge

Former Court of Appeal Judge Mohd Noor Abdullah has compounded his crime of sedition when he defended making the most racist and seditious speech  in the country in the past 44 years.

On Sunday, in his speech at the forum titled “GE13 post-mortem Muslim leadership and survival” organised by UiTM Malaysia Alumni Association and Gabungan Pelajar Melayu Semanjung in Kuala Lumpur, Mohd Noor warned that the Chinese Malaysians must be prepared for a backlash from the Malay community for their “betrayal” in the recently concluded 13th general election.

He said: “The Chinese betrayal towards the Malay’s hand of friendship – that is true. Because they plotted to seize political power even though they already have economic power”.

Mohd Noor’s racist and seditious  speech had been defended on the ground that it was “as a whole constructive and within the boundaries of what is in the federal constitution”, and in line with his expertise as a former judge.

Can Mohd Noor quote chapter and verse as to which article or part of the Malaysian Constitution justified his making irresponsible, fictitious, inflammatory, racist and seditious allegations that the Chinese in Malaysia “plotted to seize political power even though they already have economic power” or his criminal and gangsterish threat of a “Malay backlash” to a completely non-existent “Chinese betrayal towards the Malay’s hand of friendship” ?

Mohd Noor is trying to be a latter-day Malay chauvinist and extremist leader, attempting to give substance to the baseless allegation by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that the  13GE results were a  Chinese tsunami when it fact it was a Malaysian and urban tsunami?

Is Mohd Noor, or for that matter, Najib aware that in Peninsular Malaysia, Pakatan Rakyat won more Malay votes compared to Chinese votes in the 13GE, although by a slight margin – i.e. 2.31 million Malay votes compared to 2.29 million Chinese votes?

Chinese support for Pakatan Rakyat is estimated at 80% while Malay support is estimated at 42%, and Indian support at 50%.

Mohd Noor also disgraced the legal and judicial profession when he tried to create fear among the audience with the Singapore bogey, mischievously and  maliciously concocting the lie that just a simple majority in Parliament would be adequate to admit Singapore into the Federation of Malaysia without needing the consent of the Conference of Rulers.

How can a former high judicial be so irresponsible, mischievous and seditious as to suggest that Article 1 of the Federal Constitution on “Name, States and territories of the Federation” could be amended by a simple majority and not two-thirds parliamentary majority?

Surely, one doesn’t  even require to be a law student, let alone a former Court of Appeal judge, to know such a basic constitutional requirement?

What inchoate fears was Mohd Noor trying to arouse or summon from his audience with his provocative, inflammatory, racist and seditious lies and falsehoods passing off as learned constitutional legal knowledge?

In his speech, Mohd Noor sought to arouse and incite racial hatred against the Chinese by the  Malays, even advocating the ban of the terms “Chinese” and “Indian” on the ground that these terms are not mentioned in the Malaysian Constitution.

By Mohd Noor’s perverse logic, is he suggesting that the term “bumiputera” should be banned in Malaysia, in the way  he is suggesting that the terms “Chinese” and “Indian” should be banned in the country as the term “bumiputera” is also never used in the Malaysian Constitution?

Mohd Noor is not only a criminal in commiting sedition utterly reckless of the harm he is doing to Malaysia’s plural society, he is also proven to be a liar.

In view of his defense of his speech, I have revisted the video recording of Mohd Noor’s speech, and my hairs on my hand  literally stand at listening again to his spiel of irresponsible, inflammatory, racist and seditious poison that passed as his speech.

I have a copy of the video recording of Mohd Noor speech but as it is so seditious, offensive and disloyal to the to the concept of plural Malaysian nation-building that I am not uploading it on my blog for general access.

I am prepared to let the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General, the Police and all the newly-sworn Cabinet Ministers a copy of the video recording if they need it.

However, if Mohd Noor insists that his speech is not racist and seditious, then let the Prime Minister, the Attorney-General and all the newly-appointed Cabinet Ministers declare whether they endorse and approve of Mohd Noor’s speech!

In fact, Mohd Noor’s racist and seditious speech will prove to the first test whether the Najib government after the 13GE is capable of any routine governance  let alone “transformation” –  such as to uphold existing laws and regulations, including the arrest, charge and prosecution of Mohd Noor for the offence of sedition.

Najib will have to answer for any failure of his government to uphold the law in Mohd Noor’s case  in the first week of 13th Parliament, expected in the middle of June next month.

I do not think Najib and the new Cabinet should wait for another four weeks to take action on Mohd Noor’s criminal, racist and seditious speech. In the first Cabinet meeting, decision should be taken to remove Mohd Noor as Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission’s (MACC) Complaints Committee as well as all other government appointments.

Furthermore the Cabinet should direct the Chief Secretary to commission a study to be made as to how a closet racist like Mohd Noor could rise up the ranks of the civil and judicial service as to end up as a Court of Appeal judge!

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 1:26 pm and is filed under
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M’sians must reconcile, seek better future for all

by
Johan S Abdullah & SY

Malaysiakini

4:34PM May 16, 2013

I totally agree with the remarks of Lim Kit Siang in Malaysiakini on May 11, 2013. His message clearly propagated unity. Gone are the days of May 13.

Words that are spoken to cause disunity and the fear of that date should be regarded as sedition, as that in itself, is not in line with the Rukunegara or the creed of the nation.

We must from today affix our minds and hearts on the vision of our founding fathers. Malaysia should be for Malaysians and not just any race.

We must be a country which will give and grant justice and fairness to all regardless of skin colour or creed.

We must remember that Malaysia is only 50 years old and its birthday is Sept 16, 1963.

We the people would love to see this nation continue its prosperity for centuries to come, not be broken due to the myopic views of politicians who would do anything to win, regardless of what division that the words that spew from their mouth would cause.

Truly, I must echo the words of the PM, who just said that he wants to be a prime minister for all Malaysians.

If that is true of his aspirations, then Umno should no longer be known as United Malays National Organisation but renamed as United Malaysian National Organisation.

This would definitely picture the really true aspirations of a truly Malaysian prime minister.

Why divide and rule when you can unite and rule. As I can observe from the recently concluded 13th general election, the popular votes were for unity not division.

The younger generation no longer wants to be identified as Chinese or Malay or Indian or Iban or Kadazan, but they want to be known as Malaysians when people ask them a question about race.

Although it is good to know our ethnic backgrounds and cultures to stay in line with our heritage, let that not be the divide that rules us. The spirit of being a Malaysian should always inspire and spur us to greater heights and achievements.

I must also include Mr Mohd Asri’s
remarks
 on May 11, 2013 which basically says it is un-Islamic to be racist.

Islam is taught and practiced in every nation under the sky. If Islam is racist, then we would not be seeing a cacophony of colours during the annual Haj pilgrimage in Makkah every year.

Islam is not only for the Malays but for everyone to understand and nurture. We should by all means respect the religions that are practiced by others as well.

Islam is a religion of peace and should be known as such. We can see that extremes were also rejected by the people.

We can never succeed if we keep our divide. There will remain an eternal unbridgeable boundary which will eventually break the bonds of unity in this beloved country we call home as we will always be enemies of our neighbors and we will have no friends outside of our community that stays within the racial divide.

We cannot unite as one party only during a general election and quickly blame others when the accounting of losses comes.

That does not reflect the Malaysian spirit. We are accountable for what we do.

If I fail, I must never blame my neighbour or friends, for it is my failure.

If I succeed, I must credit others for my success because as we are humans, we can never succeed without others for we are flawed and as such, we need others to complement our flaws and help us attain the success we dream of.

Now comes the time for reconciliation and the mending of injuries caused by unwarranted, unwanted and unwonted remarks which had led to anger and hurt in the society.

Now comes the time for friendship and camaraderie to be upheld. Now that the dust has settled, we are foremost Malaysians and we must stay united for our beloved country and the generations to come.

We cannot overlook the future of our children and our nation.

Our time will pass and we may no longer be there when it happens and I, for one, will never want to see my son or daughter or my grandchildren for that matter, to fight with another person because he or she has a different religion or race or creed.

It is to the future that we must look, not the past.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 4:28 pm and is filed under
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National Reconciliation after GE13

by Anak Malaysia

Immediately after GE13 results were out, PM Najib announces for a national reconciliation effort to place as top priority for the new government to address.

Two days later, we read in Utusan newspaper front page headline –
“Apa lagi Cina mahu?”

This type of reporting must stop immediately!

The only way forward is for PM Najib to put his foot down and tell Utusan newspaper chief to stop such evil reporting.

Enough is enough! We, the rakyat, wanted genuine national reconciliation and not lip service only.

Talk is cheap but the PM must show the rakyat it is time to move forward and heal the land of such racism and racial slurs that will divide the nation further.

When PM Najib took his oath to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia, he mentioned that he will be the Prime Minister for all Malaysians. Now we want to see you walk the talk, please.

1Malaysia is not just an empty slogan. It must translate from slogan to reality. The ball starts with you, PM Najib. Lead the way please and I am sure the rakyat will appreciate your immediate effort for national reconciliation.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 4:50 pm and is filed under
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Of Being Parents, Ministers and ‘Leaving Malaysia’

Mohd Tajuddin Mohd Rasdi

Of late, many so called ‘political leaders’ and individual Malays of questionable repute have been urging not only Chinese, but Malays, Indians, Christians, Muslims, Buddhists and other races to ‘leave Malaysia’ because of the dissatisfaction over the Election Commission failure to be an entity of integrity to be a fair referee in a political competition.

It has taken all my personal strength and professional standing as an academic and as an acting civil servant to restrain my emotion and REALLY tell these people ‘a piece of my mind’. If I were a retiree, I would really lash out at these people in my Penang colloquial style lingo!

But alas, I am a fully active civil servant and an established academic with an honest and reputable name.

I am not the like of Ibrahim Ali who shows himself to be from a poorly developed cultural upbringing that knows nothing but spout venom to achieve his own personal game. He is not interested in the well being of Malays, only himself.

I have also none the luxury of a Zulkifli Nordin who masquerade as an ‘Islamic Warrior’ using the Qur’an not to please Allah the Most Beneficient but to fulfill his own agenda of pleasing others who can give him material honor. He has forgotten or choose to forget what the Qur’an says about selling the religion for a small gain.

If these two utter such words, I would have not paid much attention for they are clearly nobodies and need to constantly shout, rant and spite in order to be noticed. But when national leaders or the equivalent thereof asks Malaysians to leave their homeland, I feel that someone must remind these leaders politely in the old Malay kiasan or sindiran manner. I will tell Malaysian how my father runs his family and how I fared with mine.

	My father was an ordinary police constable serving in the police force for 30 years. His number was Mata Mata 28847. In honor of his memory I have committed this number ever since I could recognize them. My father passed Standard 3 King Edward and speaks fluent English. I never get scolded in Malay but in English.

My father displayed an exemplary style of leadership that would shame our present ministers. On one occasion, my brother was offered a job as a teacher, a dream of any poor Malay parents rearing 6 children on a meager salary. But my brother did not want this job and refused to report for duty.

My father was angry BUT..he NEVER uttered the words of ‘get out of this house’. NEVER. But my brother chose to live in the store house in the police barrack and slept there with my father’s old Vespa. Later in life my brother became a Weather technician which he enjoyed immensely. He helped my father and me financially later on in life.

The next case was my eldest sister. She was pretty and bright but was forced to care for my other invalid brother, a victim of muscular dystrophy. My parents did not have the heart to send him away but because my mother suffered from anxiety disorder, my sister had to bear the brunt. When my sister rebelled and took it out on my mother, again my father said a few choice words but…NEVER…Get Out of this house! Never.

	Fast forward 45 years, I stand arguing with my eldest daughter about some matter. I shouted ‘I do not want to see your face, get out to Nenek’s house’. For clarification, ‘Nenek’s house is also my other house for we own 4 houses within walking distance of the area. So in effect, I was not ‘throwing my daughter out’ but telling her to go to my other house! But she interpreted that I was throwing her out and that nearly cost our family’s unity.

After the storm was settled by my wife, I sat alone and admitted to myself that though hurtful my daughter’s words were she was a child, but what was my excuse? I had almost crossed the line that my father laid. Now my daughter and I are closer than ever. She rewarded me with a beautiful grandson, the apple of my eye. And she became an academic bent on fighting racism and liberalizing the idea of Islam in society. Double rewards! I could not be a happier man.

But I almost lost everything with the utterance of those despicable words..Get out of my house!’ Upon reflection, I wished that my father is still alive. He would have made a better Minister for Malaysia, a primary third grader who speaks Queen’s English, quiet but can put you in stitches with his jokes…and above all gentle with all the womenfolk..and of course very stern with his sons who are tasked to take care of the family. I..,on the other hand..would probably never make a good Minister of Malaysia for I almost failed the test. Perhaps that is why I remain at my best…an academic of many books and writings and a peddler of the quilt to prick the conscience of society.

	 And thus the lesson here is that we are all one family. One Malaysian Family. We Chinese, Indians, Malays, Dayaks, Kadazans. Yes. we Christians, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and others.

We need responsible Ministers as our ‘parents’ to be listening and choosing the wisest words to say…not the first words and thoughts that come to mind in a heat of anger.

The Malay proverb goes terlajak perahu boleh diundur…tetapi terlajak kata….We may lose our family of Malaysia if those elected to the office treat their words callously.

For me, the values of Islam guide me as a Muslim and the Rukunegara of kesopanan dan kesusilaan as my sign post of matured citizenry in Malaysia.  A family is a precious small nation…the first nation. A caring parent is all that it needs. A nation is a BIG family..the real nation. For a big family we must have a Bigger Caring…. Minister.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 8:53 am and is filed under
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Stop the Racist Politics of Suspicion and Hate in the Country

by Koon Yew Yin

Even before the elections took place, various UMNO leaders led by Dr. Mahathir and Utusan Malaysia have led the onslaught against the Chinese in the country.  Now the results are in, they are taking to a new level the politics of suspicion, hatred and revenge in the Malay masses for what they say as a betrayal by the Chinese voters.

There are several undeniable contrary facts to their thinking.  Firstly, as others have pointed out, the so-called Chinese tsunami was actually a Malaysian tsunami which accounted for the largest ever proportion of total votes – in fact the majority – going to the opposition. Simple arithmetic explains why Chinese who comprise less than 30% of the total population can barely account for at most half the total votes cast against the BN even if all Chinese had voted against the BN.

Secondly, the Chinese rejection of BN is in fact a rejection of Chinese racial politics as espoused by MCA and its junior Chinese partners in BN.  If the Chinese had wanted to engage in racial politics as usual surely they would have voted for the towkays and the cronies who have been the leading players in MCA politics during the past fifty years.

Thirdly, the Chinese cannot in any way be described as being anti-Malay. The majority of Chinese are anti-UMNO but this is quite different from being anti-Malay. This can be seen from the Chinese votes which went to Malay candidates from PAS and PKR. The trend of Chinese voting for Malays and other non-Chinese from the opposition even when there is a Chinese BN candidate is a clear signal that they want the changes and reforms proposed by the opposition.

Handouts dished out by BN to Chinese schools and Chinese temples or angpows paid out to Chinese voters may have worked in the past but no longer now. While many Malay voters will feel obligated to vote for BN after being provided with goodies, the Chinese will happily accept them but vote the other way. They see no moral issue at stake in doing so; and from the voting data that is available they are being joined in this rejection of election bribes by young Malays throughout the country.

What do Chinese Want

What are the specific changes that the Chinese want?  In my social work I have found that the most important concern of the Chinese is fairness in the system – especially in education, business and the civil service.

Most Chinese are rational, adaptable and self-reliant which accounts for their ability to survive in even the most challenging of conditions.  Even though they have been against the NEP, they have lived with its discriminatory implementation for the last 40 years in the belief that the system of preference for Malays in economy and education would come to an end once the Malay share of the economic and educational pie has reached a reasonable proportion.

Never mind that the NEP was supposed to end in 1990 as first promised by the BN. The Chinese were willing to live with its extension for another 10 years beyond 1990. Even after 2000, the Chinese were prepared to tolerate yet another 10 year extension of the NEP.

Today, 23 years after the NEP was to have ended, Chinese patience has run out and the sense of betrayal by the MCA and other Chinese parties has reached its peak.  The Chinese young and middle aged constituencies have had enough of what they view as political eunuchs and opportunists leading the MCA and Gerakan.  Moreover, they have no faith or trust in the country’s broken socio-economic system which is dominated by UMNO and which has not only divided Malaysians but also held back our economic advancement.

Fair and open competition with due regard given to need and merit irrespective of race so that their young children can have a real future to look forward to, good governance so that the economy can grow to reach the levels of South Korea, Taiwan and Singapore – this is what the Chinese want.

Can the Leopard Change Its Spots?

Until the BN changes direction on educational scholarships, civil service jobs and promotion, permits and licenses, GLC employment, and the other sectors of Malaysian life in which the NEP has penetrated; until reforms are introduced to fight corruption and ensure a higher standard of life than what is presently the case, I can confidently predict that the Chinese votes will not be returning to the BN.

Can the BN leopard change its spots? There is little evidence that this can or will happen. In fact, some of the newly appointed Ministers in Najib’s new cabinet are continuing to beat the drum on the politics of hatred and revenge.  Newly-appointed Home Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has now said that Malaysians who are unhappy with the country’s political system should leave the country.

Zahid must be made to withdraw these irresponsible and provocative remarks which in the Malay papers and media will be seen as targeted mainly at the Chinese.  Otherwise it will be clear that UMNO and BN have not learned anything at all from the elections – just the need to continue with or condone racist and hate politics.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 1:29 pm and is filed under
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What a constitutional farce – Paul Low and  Abdul Wahid Omar not legally Ministers and Waytha, Loga and Ahmad Bashah not legally Deputy Ministers as they have not been sworn in as Senators

It is neither a good omen nor a good start for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s post-13GE Cabinet.

Already Najib’s new Cabinet labours under a cloud of legitimacy for the simple reason that Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Prime Ministership is under a cloud of legitimacy – not only because Najib and Barisan Nasional got 47% popular vote as compared to Anwar Ibrahim and Pakatan Rakyat’s 51% popular vote, but also because the 13GE was the most unfair and dirtiest general elections in the nation’s history.

If the 13GE had been clean, free and fair, with a level playing field for both coalitions, Anwar and PR would not only have an increased popular vote over 60 per cent or even exceeding 65 per cent, but would also have won a majority of the 222 parliamentary seats in the country.

Now, Najib’s post-13GE Cabinet has also become a farce and even a joke as it has two illegal Ministers and three illegal Deputy Ministers although they have gone through an unlawful oath-taking ceremony before the Yang di Pertuan Agong yesterday.

It is sad and shocking that the Prime Minister’s Department and the various government departments involved have become so careless, negligent and remiss that the  fullest compliance with the proper laws, regulations, proprieties and protocols have been ignored or even violated – which should never have happened in a 56-year-old parliamentary democracy under six Prime Ministers.

Even the Transparency International-Malaysia Election Integrity Pledge signed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak on Feb. 20 to comply and observe four principles of good governance had been disregarded, the four principles being:

Truth, integrity, ethical conduct and accountability, including not accepting or giving bribes or being involved in corrupt practices in any way;

Upholding and giving priority to the interests of the rakyat as a whole;

Good governance and transparency; and

Compliance with all the applicable laws and regulations of Malaysia.

It cannot be more ironical that Paul Low, President of TI-M who witnessed Najib’s signing of the Election Integrity Pledge is himself party to the violation of the Pledge on his appointment as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department.

Yesterday, after the swearing-in ceremony for Ministers and Deputy Ministers before the Yang di Pertuan Agong Tuanku Abdul Halim Mu’adzam Shah at Istana Negara, Najib convened a two-hour Cabinet session at the Cabinet Room in Putrajaya.

However, a dark cloud hanged over both proceedings  – as up to the present moment, Datuk  Paul Low and Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar (both Prime Minister’s Department) are not legally Ministers and Waytha Moorthy (PM’s Office), Dr. J. Loga Bala Mohan (Federal Territories) and Datuk Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah (Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism) are not legally Deputy Ministers as they have not been sworn in as Senators.

Was the two-hour first Cabinet meeting yesterday tainted by illegality because of the attendance of two illegal Ministers, Paul Low and Abdul Wahid.

Today, Paul Low is already giving interviews as Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, which he is not entitled to, as his Ministerial appointment can only take effect when he is sworn in as Senator – which is very clear from Article 43 (1) (b) in the case of Ministers and Article 43A(1) in the case of Deputy Ministers.

I am given to understand that up to now, there has been no swearing in of the five for them to take up the two Ministerial and three Deputy Ministerial appointments.

Is there going to be a “rushed” midnight swearing-in of the five as Senators?

Najib should explain how such a glaring breach of the Constitution and the law as well as causing embarrassment to the Yang di Pertuan Agong in producing such a farce of Cabinet-making could happen.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 6:45 pm and is filed under
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What Happens Now to the Opposition and Change?

by
Kee Thuan Chye

Yahoo! Malaysia

Now that the 13th general election (GE13) is over and Najib Razak has been sworn in as prime minister and his Cabinet has been formed, what happens to the Opposition Pakatan Rakyat and the massive numbers of people who wanted change, as reflected in the popular vote?

Opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has done the right thing in not accepting the result of GE13 on grounds of fraud, and he has been going around rallying support for his cause, but where this will lead is highly uncertain.

Meanwhile, PKR strategist Rafizi Ramli has announced that Pakatan is investigating the results of 27 parliament seats which were won by the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) narrowly. If he and his team are able to prove fraud or wrong tabulation of the votes, there might be a case made for them. But where? In the courts? Would they get the justice they seek?

The harsh reality is, the system we have now and the rules made for it are heavily in favour of BN. Since the time when Mahathir Mohamad was prime minister, many rules were changed to favour the incumbent government – including controlling the judiciary, the Attorney-General’s chambers, the media, the police, the higher echelons of the civil service, Felda, the universities and numerous other institutions – and they cannot be unchanged unless the present government is overthrown.

And to overthrow it is extremely difficult, as we have seen from the GE13 result. The fact that Pakatan garnered three per cent more of the popular vote and still lost the elections, and the fact that it managed to win only 89 seats from this while BN won 133 indicate clearly that gerrymandering has favoured BN beyond decent proportions.

If this continues to GE14, the Opposition may still not win at that one. Besides, in the interim, it may be further disadvantaged by an expected fresh exercise to redelineate the electoral constituencies. We can be sure it will be conducted to further benefit the incumbent. So, realistically speaking, Pakatan cannot possibly beat BN playing by the latter’s rules.

As it looks, nothing short of a revolution can bring BN down. But that would not be the way preferred by most Malaysians, especially the middle-ground ones who want peace and stability. And given that we have not reached our economic limits, there may not be enough impoverished people with little to lose to support such a drastic move.

As such, Pakatan has to keep soldiering on despite the odds. And the most important thing it needs to ensure is that the three main parties within it stay together, even build on their solidarity.

They have to guard against their tendency to quarrel or nitpick among themselves because of their ideological differences. They should resist slinging mud at each other in public over issues like hudud and the Islamic state. They should also put aside the issue of the use of ‘Allah’ by non-Muslims, which in any case will be decided in the Court of Appeal soon. This issue arguably cost Pakatan partner PAS some seats at GE13; it would do the coalition well to learn from that.

Pakatan should also start planning its strategy for GE14 right now. Not only when the next elections draw near. It has to work hard at convincing rural voters and those in the interiors of Sabah and Sarawak of the need for change.

Many young people are now charged up to do something to bring about change. Some of them have even expressed willingness to help in ways like educating others about pressing issues and going into the rural hinterland. Pakatan should harness their energies, their eagerness. It should also form closer pacts with civil society groups that are sympathetic to its cause, including groups helmed by the young. They are the ones who will drive the future.

No doubt BN will be depending on its new Minister of Youth and Sports, Khairy Jamaluddin, to win over the young, but he has a lot of baggage from his days serving his father-in-law, Abdullah Badawi, when the latter was prime minister, and, considering what he has said and done in the last few years, he has much to do to prove his sincerity. In fact, he had publicly declared that he would not contest any seat in GE13, but he did so anyway. And his reward is obviously the ministerial position.

Compared to him, Pakatan’s Rafizi Ramli is a more credible prospect. He has done much to gain public trust, including blowing the whistle on the National Feedlot Centre (NFC) scandal and other BN shenanigans, and proven his sagacity on economic matters. He also talks more sense and substance than Khairy. Together with fellow party leader Nurul Izzah Anwar and the DAP’s Tony Pua and Liew Chin Tong, Rafizi is a formidable draw for youths who want a clean and accountable government.

Meanwhile, to make the playing field more amenable to a fairer game, Pakatan could co-opt the help of like-minded civil society groups and NGOs to push for real electoral reform. What came out of the parliamentary select committee that was formed in the aftermath of the Bersih 2.0 rally in 2011 is only a small fraction of what can be done. And even then, many of its recommendations were not adopted by the Election Commission (EC), which is supposed to be neutral and independent but in reality is not.

What is clearly needed, therefore, is a concerted campaign to make the EC truly independent and answerable not to the Executive but to Parliament. If that is not achieved, GE14 will be another one-sided battle. The other requirement would be to purge its leadership of retired civil servants and to replace it with non-partisan professionals.

The next step would be to campaign for a redelineation of electoral constituencies to provide for a fair fight. As it is, constituencies that favour the Opposition tend to encompass huge numbers of voters whereas those that are BN-friendly tend to be smaller. The parliament seat of Putrajaya, for example, has only a little over 15,000 voters. This explains why BN needed only 47.38 per cent of the popular vote to obtain 133 parliament seats. One way to surmount this problem is to ask for constituencies to be made proportionate to population size.

Concomitant with electoral reform is reform of the media, and that’s the third initiative Pakatan must strongly pursue.

The first target is the Printing Presses and Publications Act (PPPA), which gives the Home Minister the power to deny any applicant a permit to start a newspaper and also to suspend or revoke the licence of an existing publication. If it were to be repealed, the industry would be open for Pakatan to set up its own mass information providers.

This would greatly help it to enlighten the public on the good things it does and answer accusations hurled at it by BN. More important, it would provide a counter-balance to BN’s side of the story, thus allowing readers to draw their own conclusions from reading both sides. Come election time, it would be able to publicise more efficiently its manifesto and aspirations for the people. During GE13, it could hardly do this through the mainstream media, which also refused to run Pakatan advertisements countering those put up by BN.

These are just measures Pakatan can take to keep up the fight to overthrow BN. But what about the people who have been supporting it before, during and even now after GE13? The people who called for ubah (change) and are still calling for it?

They have to keep the faith, and avoid being intimidated by BN or be lured back by it. Five years is a long time to GE14, and things may be done, for example, to the Chinese to make them feel they should support BN the next time or suffer, like assailing them with threats to scuttle Chinese education, but they have to stay united with their Malay and Indian brethren who also want change.

To keep to their course, the Chinese could take heart in what PAS’ Hatta Ramli said at the ‘Black 505’ rally in Kuantan a few days ago: “Let me warn Umno, if you want to disturb our Chinese friends, then you will have to do it over my dead body! … They are our friends, they were born here, they contributed to the nation’s development, why are they being discriminated against in this way?”

He assured the Chinese, “Don’t worry, we are very much with you. We will defend you to the last.” This is something they are unlikely to hear from any Umno leader.

Even though BN has been declared the winner of GE13, ubah seekers can still take heart that a new spirit has arisen in Malaysia. And that they themselves are the generators and embodiment of that spirit. The unity of purpose and commitment that they displayed during the run-up to the elections is the best thing that has happened to the country in a long time.

There should be no turning back now – because to turn back would be to regress. The clamour for change should instead continue to grow – because the force of change is bigger than any political coalition. And the comrades for change should continue to fight for what is right, for what is needed. For if and when they succeed, we might be able to get a better Malaysia.

Or, as I like to think, the real Merdeka.

                This entry was posted on Friday, 17 May 2013, 10:29 pm and is filed under
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Malaysian ministers – 52 % to migrate?

by Lee Kok Hwee

Letters

I read with great disappointment and utter disgust that our government ministers can say such things.

Are they suppose to Malaysian Ministers or just umno ministers?

Just because they are appointed by virtue of our current parliamentary system as Home minister does not give him any right to tell us where we live etc.

Unless he is thinking along the lines of a totalitarian society which incidentally has bitten the dust!

I am totally appalled that he speaks as Home minister and I concur that he cannot express personal opinion as minister, this the responsibility of public office.

We must vehemently require him to redress this.

I suppose he felt that he could do better than his boss by making ill advised statements.

We are lumbered with these group of dinosaurs who are seeing the last legs of their lives.

Dear sir, I trust you and your team will make well considered argument to completely rebut him in parliament (otherwise you will not be reported).

We indeed must change.

I want take this opportunity to thank you for leading the change into Johor.

You have succeeded not only winning more seats at both state and national levels but you have shown the seed of hope for the young in the country; they indeed can make the difference.

They can now dream about their future.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 3:11 pm and is filed under
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Ahmad Zahid’s irresponsible statement helps to distance more Malaysians from Umno-led Barisan Nasional

Malaysia NOWORNEVER

Letters

Ironically, Ahmad Zahid’s irresponsible statement, personal or otherwise, is only helping to distance more Malaysians from Umno-led Barisan Nasional, and enhance support for Pakatan Rakyat.

His statement reminds one of fall-out from the ‘keris’ remark prior to GE08, and the ‘Chinese tsunami’ so-called reason for dwindling support for Umno-led BN in GE13.

Such are the stuff that DAP and PR will do well to document for future use to win support from all true Malaysians regardless of race or religious beliefs.

All non-Umno BN component parties should be asked for their stated and unequivocal views on Ahmad Zahid’s statements.

No sitting on the fence.

No damage control statements.

Plain response from them is required now!

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 3:51 pm and is filed under
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Call on Singapore authorities to give Malaysians who have violated the Singapore laws a second chance like former Johor Mentri Besar Ghani Othman

I call on the Singapore authorities to give Malaysians who have violated the Singapore laws for activities in the island republic in connection with the Malaysian 13GE a second chance like they have given to former Johor Mentri Besar, Datuk Ghani Othman.

It has been reported that the Singapore authorities have initiated the revocation of the work pass of one of the 21 Malaysians involved in the May 8 and 11 illegal gatherings at Merlion Park in Singapore and that the authorities had also cancelle3d the visit passes of another two of them.

As for the remaining 18 persons, a Singapore Police Force (SPF) statement said their work passes would be reviewed upon completion of further investigations.

The Singapore authorities have also said that Datuk Seri Ghani Othman had not campaigned and had therefore committed no offence when visiting Singapore in the final days of the 13GE campaign period.

I commend the Singapore authorities for bending backwards to accommodate Ghani, saying that the former Johor Mentri Besar was not campaigning in Singapore although it was obvious to all that the very objective of Ghani’s visit to Singapore was to canvass for votes from Malaysians either working or staying in Singapore – believed to number some 400,000.

Ghani’s  last-minute expedition to Singapore to canvass for votes of Johor folk residing and working in the island state is one of the scattered-brain ideas thought out by starry-eyed  “war room” strategists of UMNO leaders and which invariably failed disastrously, like inviting the South Korea global K-Pop Star Psy to the Penang Barisan Nasional Chinese New Year Open House or the even more disastrous “Money Money Money” attack on DAP in Penang, plying Penangites with free food, free drinks, free entertainment, free cash as well as expensive lucky draws for a whole week!

I neither begrudge Ghani’s once-in-18-years bus trip to Singapore nor Singapore authorities bending backwards to excuse Ghani from campaigning among Malaysian workers in Singapore.

However, I would appeal to the Singapore authorities to give a second chance to Malaysian workers who have run afoul of Singapore laws as a result of their Malaysian 13GE enthusiasms, not exactly getting  another Ghani Othman treatment but at least in the spirit of maximum forgiveness so that everyone can move on after learning the hard facts of life.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 1:49 pm and is filed under
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DAP will lodge official complaint to MCMC of violation of MSC Guarantee of “No Internet Censorship” since dissolution of last Parliament last month, causing blockade to several DAP sites

DAP will lodge an official complaint to the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) of violation of Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) Guarantee of “No Internet Censorship” since dissolution of the last Parliament last month, causing blockade to several DAP sites.

It is clear that for this period, Malaysian internet users, particularly visitors to Pakatan Rakyat websites and others  deemed unfriendly to Barisan Nasional have been put under surveillance, censorship, filtering and blockade without their knowledge – which is a gross violation of the MSC Guarantee of “No Internet Censorship”.

The recent Internet censorship and filtering on Malaysian Internet users are both unprecedented and sinister, as they are designed to filter specific websites, facebook accounts, youtube videos and live video streaming.

The filtering of the specific content and websites are designed to sabotage and cause annoyances to Malaysian Internet users by preventing the sites from  loading immediately. And more seriously it denies Malaysians a source of information when the censored site/video could not load.

Independent in-depth technical study of the effects of filtering and censorship, such as that posted on a popular Malaysia’s Internet forum by
rizvanrp
 on May 1 (
https://forum.lowyat.net/topic/2794929
) have been verified by separate independent tests carried out by the DAP IT Manager, Goh Kheng Teong, viz: the MSC guarantee of “No Internet Censorship” had been violated since the dissolution of the previous Parliament in early April.

These findings are conclusive proof that  internet censorship through Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) are being used on Malaysians Internet users.

DPI allows blocking of a specific content on the Internet without blocking the entire site.

This can be effectively demonstrated by the blocking of video uploaded by DAP to youtube entitled,
Dalang sebenar Mei 13 dibongkar oleh Dato’ Mohd Tamrin Ghafar
 (
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uI7xB3d2rNA
) but other traffic to and from youtube.com is not restricted.

This is not the only DAP content subject to blocking in Malaysia. A list of DAP and other  sites  that has been a target of blocking since dissolution of 12th Parliament are as follows:-

http://dapmalaysia.org

http://ubah.my

http://ubah.tv

http://facebook.com/DAPMalaysia

http://facebook.com/DAPMalaysia.zh

http://blog.limkitsiang.com

Ubah.TV Livestream account:- http://new.livestream.com/accounts/3410615/events/1978169 (operation ended since May 9)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jQuCRcdbVM

http://sakmongkol.blogspot.com

http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com

Malaysiakini has also lodged official complaints with the MCMC, handing over evidence of such Internet restrictions and censorship compiled from exhaustive investigation by Malaysiakini technology team during the period before polling day.

What is more worrying is that the DPI method may be used at more sinister level than just blocking specific contents. It could also be used to spy on Malaysia’s Internet users by collecting username and passwords, emails, Internet chats and all form of data that pass through the DPI point.

An independent and indepth investigation should be carried out by MCMC to ascertain who and under what authority Deep Packet Inspection had been sanctioned.

Had higher powers been at work to authorise the use of DPI to carry out Internet censorship in violation of the MSC Guarantee even without the knowledge of the MSC?

The violation of the MSC Guarantee of “No Internet Censorship” after the dissolution of the 12th Parliament will be one of the major issues to be debated at the opening of the 13th Parliament expected in the middle of next month.

The official report to MCMC of illegal and unlawful Internet censorship will be lodged by DAP IT Manager, Goh Kheng Teong.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 5:29 pm and is filed under
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Equality & Betrayal

by Allan CF Goh

Are Chinese “entitled to equality”?

Is voting against the ruling party a “betrayal”?

The logic and argument of non-entitlement of equality of non-Malay citizens  are  groundless. As usual, when discussion of this nature begins, the race bogey is raised. May 13 is resurrected. Emotions replace reasons. Everything becomes racist.

An increasing number of educated, thinking Malaysians, cutting across the racial lines, do not accept this tunnel-vision.

The ‘Chinese’ whom some wanted to be deprived of equality are born in Malaysia, raised here, and most likely will die here. This is our country, and our home, too. Let us never doubt that. Most of the Malaysian Chinese families were here long before Malaya’s merdeka. The same applies to Sabah and Sarawak. Many families have history stretching nearly a hundred years. How many instant ‘Malays’ can honestly make that claim?

However, I digress. A Malaysian is a Malaysian.  Period. There can never be a lesser Malaysian in this land, not by law, not by choice. When a person is granted the Malaysian citizenship, either by naturalization or operation of law, he/she is entitled to the full benefits and protection of the country. This is the universally accepted norm for citizenship. Is there any moral justification for a reduced citizenship for any Malaysians?  A three-quarter Malaysian?

Merdeka came to Malaya in 1957. All communities welcomed it with joy amidst constant assurances from the Alliance leadership of UMNO, MCA and MIC that all Malayans would be treated equally under the Malayan sun. However, special rights for the poor Malays were necessary to bridge the social and economic gaps. Most Non-Malays  accepted that, even though there were, and still are, a lot of poor Indians and Chinese around.

After May 13, special rights become Malay rights. It becomes obvious that aid is given to those Malays with the strongest connections, not to the weakest in the community. It does not matter if the person from a rich family is needless of the financial largesse. It is given and accepted all the same because it is his/her right. Hence, much aid-money is diverted from the poor. Rampant cronyism is established as the order of the day. This illogical practice becomes the weapon of deprivation, not only to the Non-Malays, but also to the poor Malays  themselves.

The Chinese Malaysians have always been a self-reliant people with immense pride that precludes them from stretching out their hands to beg. The wealth that is often associated with the Chinese community, (a wrong assumption, really, as most Chinese in Malaysia are not wealthy), is earned through sheer hard work and frugality, with nary a cent of help from the government. That wealth is accumulated through unrelenting, uncomplaining  blood, sweat and toil. It is not a handout from any government. Today, the Chinese Malaysians contribute the largest share of the country’s income tax.

Chinese Malaysians, by and large, do not grudge anybody becoming rich, even those ready-made tycoons who receive massive capital help from the government. It is a matter of public record that much of this money has been foolishly squandered. Successful Chinese Malaysian businessmen are self-made, and are made of sterner stuff. They have always found ways to overcome business challenges, no thanks to the government of the day. Why then are they not happy with the government? Quite a lot of Chinese Malaysians are angry with the government policies of reducing and constricting their economic opportunities, and limiting them to a particular race. Is this a correct way to inculcate a viable competitiveness of a nascent business community among the Malays?

For years and years, Chinese schools receive little dismal help, tokenism if you like, from the elected government. (This is also true for the Indian schools.) Luckily for the schools, they were ardently supported financially by the local towkays. Though disappointed by the government’s uncaring attitude, the Chinese community shrugs off that indifference, and soldiers on. However, things become bad when gifted and intelligent Non-Malay youths are denied opportunities to study at the universities, not because they are not good enough, but because of their race. Education holds a very sacred place in the Chinese community. Chinese Malaysians are not likely to forgive any government that denies their children a place to further their education. The government must understand that most Chinese Malaysian families cannot afford to send their children overseas for further studies. Most cannot even afford the local, private universities and colleges.

The vernacular schools are not a reason or cause for Malaysia’s divisiveness. Unfair policies are! When the young sees blatant discrimination taking place in front of his/her eyes, when his/her place at the university is denied him/her, and given to someone less qualified simply because of colour, deep dissatisfaction and disaffection take hold. When a poor and needy youth’s application for job is rejected, and given to someone else less deserving, he/she cannot love that government’s race policy. When a citizen’s ability is not given proper recognition by a government agency, instead, someone less capable is being promoted because of ‘directives from above’, that citizen is not likely to admire the government. And so on, and so forth……………….

Discrimination as a policy is faulty by any logic. It is ugly, and has no moral imperative. It divides  people into ‘them’ and ‘us’. Affirmative policy should help everyone who needs it, the Malays, Indians, Chinese, Kadazan and Dusun. It is never meant to deny rightful opportunities to other deserving citizens.

Aggrieved citizens have only the General Election to seek redress, fairness and justice. The majority of citizens have obviously made their views clear in the recently concluded election.

When a citizen goes to a polling station, he/she votes according to his/her conscience to choose the best people/party to lead the country. Elections are never meant to perpetuate a divisive, incompetent, corrupt, and inefficient system of governance from whichever political party.

In a democracy, a government is beholden to the people, not the other way round. The government holds the mandate to govern at the pleasure of the people. When that elected government does not perform to the expectation of the majority, the people have the absolute right to vote against that ruling party. This is the beauty and sanctity of democracy. There is nothing racial about the hallow practice. To say or imply that the action is a ‘betrayal’ or an ‘ingratitude’ is the most ignorant and malfeasant  interpretation of election in a democracy.

No country can build a true one-nation out of inequality! No government can instill national unity through discriminations! Malaysia can only achieve its highest destiny when all Malaysians, regardless of racial origins, are pulling and pushing as one towards the same direction to greatness. Nothing else can replace that

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 3:31 pm and is filed under
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GE13: We are already the winners!

By
M.M. Pereira
 | MAY 18, 2013

The Malaysian Insider

MAY 18 — A few days before the historic 505, the then caretaker Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said: “The victor or loser of this 13th general election will not be BN or PR. It will be Malaysia, its people and our children.” Immediately after the official results were announced, he blamed the loss of BN seats on a “Chinese tsunami”.

In my view, these statements not only reflect Najib’s arrogance but also his shallow understanding of the democratic process and how disconnected he is with what is happening at the grassroots. And he continues to insult our intelligence!

Today we see Malaysians from diverse ethnic backgrounds manifesting their unity of purpose with so much pride, confidence and optimism, taking ownership of their country and their destiny. They are ready to take risks to secure the future they desire.

Ordinary Malaysians have equipped themselves with greater knowledge of the laws and electoral system in Malaysia — they can even put many politicians to shame! They no longer fear the wrath of scorned politicians, out for revenge.

They expect their elected representatives and the government to be answerable to them. They refuse to tolerate injustice, racism, incompetence, corruption, discrimination and deceit anymore.

The changes that are so apparent in the Malaysian socio-political milieu today are the result of many forces impinging upon the Malaysian psyche over a span of more than 20 years, gaining greater momentum in the last seven years.

Many ordinary Malaysians have played a significant role in this conscientising and transformation, whether as individuals or as groups, through formal organisations and mass movements; many have also paid a price in the process.

Nothing is going to stop or reverse this dynamic democratic transformation. And we can already see some of the fruits of this transformation:

an electorate that is more concerned about national issues that unite them across racial lines;

a ruling party that is denied a two-thirds majority in Parliament;

a respected and credible opposition in Parliament; more elected representatives who are honest and competent;

fewer racist and bigoted elected representatives;

a civil service that is more aware of their political rights and professional integrity; and,

a government that must now fulfil ALL its election promises (and there are many!).

The Malaysian people are already the winners — even if electoral victory for their preferred political party is usurped through a flawed electoral system or fraud!

But we need to move forward — there is much more to be done. — aliran.com

*
M.M. Pereira is an Aliran member.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 5:40 pm and is filed under
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It’s BN reps who should be ‘grateful’ to voters

K Temoc

Malaysiakini

May 17, 2013

Sometimes I wonder whether democracy is the best political system for Malaysia. Indeed sometimes I wonder whether we Malaysians deserve the privilege to use (or more likely, misuse) the label of democracy to describe our political system.

No doubt democracy has never been perfect where even in its birthplace, the Athenians denied their womenfolk the facilities of democracy and even kept slaves. But notwithstanding its imperfections, modern democracy has provided everyone with a voice in the society he or she lives in. But in Malaysia, seemingly, poor democracy has gotten the raw end of the deal as we Malaysians continue to blaspheme its hallowed premise.

We have our newly-minted home affairs minister telling the federal opposition to migrate elsewhere if they are not happy with the outcome of the 13th general election, forgetting that it is their democratic rights to voice their dissatisfaction. But obviously, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi didn’t think so.

But worse than the minister, we have a former judge, Mohd Noor Abdullah, a so-called learned man of law, hurling very seditious rants at the Chinese, warning them to prepare for a backlash from the Malays for their alleged “betrayal” against the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) in GE13.

It was not so much his racist hate speech against the Chinese that flabbergasted me; it was not so much his seditious threats against the Chinese that filled me with great dismay; it was his use of the term “betrayal against Barisan Nasional (BN)” which he accused the Chinese of, that shocked me.

This person did not and probably still does not understand what is democracy, and that the Malaysian political system is based, or so it claims, on the principles of democracy? And frighteningly, we discovered he was a former judge in the Court of Appeals and now sits on the complaints committee of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

As we are aware, the word ‘betrayal’ means to deliver to an enemy by treachery or disloyalty, or to be unfaithful in guarding, maintaining, or fulfilling.

So we need to ask Mohd Noor Abdullah who was the “enemy”, and what was the allegiance of the Chinese voters to BN, such that by voting Pakatan Rakyat they became “unfaithful” or “disloyal”?

How could Chinese ‘betray’ the BN?

Thus, unless the learned former judge advised us of the inconvenient details, just how in world could he justify the Chinese “betraying” the BN?

There were other words used by Umno people that were akin to the above outlandish accusation, namely, “ungrateful”. None other than our dear Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the so-called Bapa Bangsa Malaysia, blamed the BN’s poor showing in the general elections on the “ungrateful” Chinese, whereas he reserved a special word, “greedy”, for Malays who voted Pakatan Rakyat.

Are there degrees of difference in his two condemnations? Perhaps to Dr Mahathir, “greedy” is involuntary, a state brought about through evil seductions and decadent temptations (presumably by Pakatan), and hopefully of a momentary nature, whereas “ungrateful” implies a knowing treacherous state of mind, one which lends itself to acts of, yes, “betrayal”.

And he made the ridiculous accusation “Most of the Chinese had rejected the Malays’ hands of friendship” which he may have difficulty proving why those “ungrateful” Chinese voted for Mohd Nizar Jamaluddin, Rafizi Ramli, Zairil Khir Johari, Khalid Samad, Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz and more.

Perhaps Mahathir ought to read what Goh Cheng Teik (not sure whether he’s the former MCA Member of Parliament from Nibong Tebal, 1978) wrote in a letter to Malaysiakini, where he stated:

“It is clear that the Chinese voters in GE13 strongly voted on one hand for DAP and to a lesser extent, Keadilan in the urban areas and on the other hand, voted for Umno in the rural areas.

“Negri Sembilan Menteri Besar Mohamad Hassan made a good statement in The Malay Mail on May 15 to assuage the Chinese voters. He disagreed with former Malacca chief minister Mohd Ali Rustam that the Chinese voters were ‘ungrateful’ and ‘racist’.

“He told Ali that he lost Bukit Katil (99,581 voters, Malays: 52.8 percent Chinese: 40.8 percent, Indians: 5.7 percent) but Umno did not lose all its parliamentary seats.

“So, he should not generalise and label the Chinese ungrateful and racist.

“Mohamad further said that the support of Chinese voters had helped him defend his Rantau seat (18,232 voters, Malays: 51.8 percent, Chinese: 20.3 percent, Indians 27.5 percent) and assisted the BN to retain control of the state.”

It appears again to be a case of “ingratitude” which persuaded Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said to allegedly withdraw facilities provided to four parliamentary constituencies which have been won by Pakatan in the recent general elections.

But what is this “gratitude” and its lack of, that the Chinese voters have been accused of?

The word ‘gratitude’ means the quality or feeling of being grateful or thankful, or experiencing appreciation. The adjectival form is ‘grateful’ which the dictionary defines as warmly or deeply appreciative of kindness or benefits received, as in “I am grateful to you for your help.”

But in Malaysia, while the Malay dictionary provides basically the same meaning as for the English word, apparently ‘gratitude’ has a totally different meaning to Umno people like Mahathir, Ali Rustam and those of their ilk.

I mulled over this lexical strangeness for a while before I decided to look up ‘feudalism’, where I obtained:

A system of obligations that bound lords and their subjects in Europe during much of the Middle Ages. In theory, the king owned all or most of the land and gave it to his leading nobles in return for their loyalty and military service. The nobles in turn held land that peasants, including serfs, were allowed to farm in return for the peasants’ labour and a portion of their produce. Under feudalism, people were born with a permanent position in society.

Feudal concept

I believe Umno leaders like Mahathir could have this concept of feudalism in mind when he spoke of the lack of ‘gratitude’ by the Chinese, that is, the Umno PM owns all or most of the land and gives it to his supporters in return for their loyalty, and that under Malaysian feudalism, which he and some Umno people believe we live in, people were born with a permanent position in society, where voters should be “grateful” to the Umno-led government for their very existence.

In fact, on March 31, 2012 while in Kota Kinabalu, then-information minister Rais Yatim instructed taxi and bus drivers to highlight the positives of the PM’s 1Malaysia concept, telling them they should not keep silent when carrying fares but must help explain the concept to passengers who “are critical and accuse the government of all sorts”. He informed that they must act as “government ambassadors” in this respect.

There and then he has the brazen cheek to state “It must be done as a sign of gratitude and thanks for the government’s efforts to continuously safeguard their welfare, like Bantuan Rakyat 1 Malaysia and the specific government aid to taxi drivers.”

Obviously, despite his ministerial portfolio and like the so-called learned former judge, he did not have a clue as to what would be democracy and the concept of people’s representatives in a Westminster parliamentary system and their expected service to the rakyat. He must have somehow convinced himself that he like his cabinet colleagues became ministers by the Mandate of Heaven, and demanded that the public be grateful to the government.

But sadly as we have witnessed, he was not alone in this belief. Many public servants believe they are the PM’s hulubalang (or the civilian version), forgetting the ‘servant’ of the ‘public’ that they in fact are, being employed and paid by taxpayers.

Indeed, there is still a prevalent belief in our political system and public service of the medieval concept, that the Ruler or its modern day equivalent, the PM, owns all or most of the national assets (like the public coffers) and gives from it to his supporters in return for their loyalty.

‘Sehelai kain pelekat dan RM100′

Unscrupulously exploiting the belief of a feudal society where people are either rulers or subjects, the ensuing outcome of such a vertical relationship is sometimes laughingly referred to as ‘sehelai kain pelekat dan RM100’, or its Sinicized version, ‘Gua tolong lu, lu tolong gua’, where the recipients of political campaign pork barrelling should be grateful to their liege lord and expected to vote for him and his party candidates.

There is no doubt that quite a number of Malaysians, especially those of the earlier generations, are not concerned about corruption or corrupt politicians, or such stuff as accountability and transparency so long as they get some benefits, namely the ‘sehelai kain pelekat dan RM100′, allowing of course for inflation.

Can we now see how 600 Janome sewing machines and even the arrogant public boast by a former minister of how he squeezed 10 years of public works into one month won the day for BN in the Ijok by-election in 2007?

The Ijok voters who elected the BN candidate didn’t question the former minister’s boast as admitting he had neglected public works in their district for years until the by-election. Presumably we may conclude they were appropriately ‘grateful’ enough to vote for the BN candidate.

This has been why BN and in particular Umno have been getting away with blatant corrupt practices for the past 50 years or so, and undoubtedly will for more years to come.

It may also explain the total lack of discretion or shameless arrogance in politicians and their family members building for themselves overtly obscene ostentatious Bali-type palatial mansions or driving around in vehicles of values beyond the reach of their ministerial wages.

But eventually it dawned on some of us to punish Jurassic specimens like Ali Rustam in the recent election to let them know we the voters represent the Mandate of Heaven and they, the people’s representatives, have to be our servants, and would be dismissed or voted out if they did not perform to our expectation.

The gratitude should come from them if we voted for them.

Naturally the ‘unbelievable’ act by voters who chose Pakatan and disdainfully rejected the so-called feudal ‘liege lords’ despite unbridled degrees of pork barrelling, has shocked people like Mahathir, Ali Rustam and Ibrahim Ali.

The answer to their angry puzzlement has been out there all along, that those in the urban areas with independent and alternative information to the propaganda peddled by BN’s media mouthpieces, would no longer accept the outdated feudal system, one which demonstrated no respect to the democratic rights of citizens, each of whom has an equal voice to be heard and which must be heard.

By blaming the Chinese, Umno’s favourite punching bag, and emphasising on their so-called ‘ingratitude’, the Umno leaders hope to mask from the voters of their traditional base, the conservative Malay heartland, that urban Malays now possess an independent mindset and understand their democratic rights, and that the BN politicians are no more than mere representatives of the rakyat and who should not only show ‘gratitude’ to the voters but must perform in their political functions to the voters’ satisfaction.

——————————————————————————–

K TEMOC is a Penangite who enjoys being an independent blogger and loves to share his opinion on Malaysian and world affairs without fear or favour, though currently is politically inclined towards DAP, only because the political party has thus far shown faithfulness to its promise of competency, accountability and transparency.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 1:18 am and is filed under
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Let 526 DAP Gelang Patah victory thanksgiving dinner be a historic “first step in thousand-miles journey” to realize Malaysian Dream by creating a Malaysian Dream Movement for all Malaysians

The Battle of Gelang Patah was the opening shot of the Battle of the Malaysian Dream to unite Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region in a common national vision and destiny to build a great, democratic, free, safe, green competitive and prosperous nation for all Malaysian citizens.

In my 47 years in politics, I have always regarded myself as a Malaysian first and last. I have never regarded myself purely as a Chinese, but as a Malaysian of Chinese ethnic descent whose loyalty is unswervingly to the Malaysian nation, having common cause with all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region to build a better Malaysia for all Malaysians.

I am therefore utterly shocked to hear former Court of Appeal judge, Mohd Noor Abdullah, delivering what I have described as the most racist and seditious speech in 44 years at the forum titled “GE13 post-mortem Muslim leadership and survival” on Sunday castigating Chinese for being “Chinese first” and overriding their Malaysian identity.

Mohd Noor cannot be more wrong in taking the cue of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who claimed that the outcome of the 13GE was a “Chinese tsunami” when in fact it was a Malaysian and urban tsunami.

The 2.29 million Chinese voters in Peninsular Malaysia voted for Pakatan Rakyat in the 13GE not as Chinese voters but as Malaysian voters, just as the 2.31 million Malay voters and 400,000 Indian voters in Peninsular Malaysia similarly voted for DAP, PAS and PKR candidates not as Malay or Indian voters but as Malaysian voters!

Mohd Noor flayed Malaysian Chinese for being “Chinese first” but he has no criticism for Malays like Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, who has declared that he is “Malay first, Malaysian second”

In fact, how many of the 30 Ministers and 27 Deputy Ministers announced by Najib just three days ago are prepared publiclyto repudiate Muhyiddin and declare that they are Malaysian first and race, religion, region second as is the official objective of Najib’s 1Malaysia signature policy?

Even Najib until today has not publicly declared full commitment to the 1Malaysia policy and announced that he is “Malaysian first, Malay second” as he would be seen to be openly in conflict with his increasingly powerful Deputy Prime Minister!

For Mohd Noor’s information, I had declared in Parliament in March 2010 that I am Malaysian first, Chinese second. Would Mohd Noor make a similar declaration that he is Malaysian first, Malay second.

If Mohd Noor is not prepared to be a model Malaysian, what right has he got to disgrace the legal and judicial profession and to make the most racist and seditious speech in the Malaysian public domain in the past 44 years?

All UMNO leaders and their out-sourced intellectuals like Mohd Noor must learn that loyalty to Malaysia cannot be equated to loyalty to the government of-the-day, least of all to the racist UMNO political hegemony grounded in corruption, cronyism and gross abuses of power.

Mohd Noor’s most racist and seditious speech in the Malaysian public domain in the past 44 years is a reminder of the long journey ahead if Malaysians are to realise the Malaysian Dream – where all Malaysians owe undivided loyalty the country, share in one motherland and come together as one people to develop the greatness of the nation derived from the best from the diverse races, religions and cultures which have made a home in Malaysia so that Malaysia can become one of the leading nations of the world in all fields of human endeavour.

The Malaysian Dream does not exist only today. It had existed even before the founding of Malaya and Malaysia.

Let the 526 dinner to celebrate the people’s victory in Gelang Patah be a milestone to fulfil the Malaysian Dream of a united multiracial Malaysian people rising above race which was envisioned by the great Johore Malay leader and founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaffar six decades ago

Although Onn was founder President of UMNO, he became increasingly dissatisfied with UMNO’s racist and communalist policies, leading him in 1951 to call on UMNO to open up membership to all Malayans as well as proposing that UMNO should be renamed as the United Malayans National Organisation.

Onn was too ahead of his time. Sixty-two years later, this baton of the Malaysian Dream must now be taken up and pursued by the present generation of Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.

Johor Baru today is in fact much worse off than 62 years ago in 1951 – as Johor Baru is not safe for students, residents, tourists and investors  as it  has become the capital of crime in Malaysia, where there is the highest incidence of crime with the worst case of the fear of crime haunting the people in the country.

The inhuman and criminal attack on retired teacher Goh Kim Hock, 68 near Maybank at Jalan Perwira 17, Taman Ungku Tun Aminah, Skudai, Johor four days ago, with Goh still in a coma, is the latest dastardly crime in JB  – and it is tragic that crimes in JB have become so common that the crime against Goh is not regarded as “newsworthy” to be reported in the national news of the Bahasa Malaysia and English media.

Let us realise the Malaysian Dream, which includes restoring to all Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region, the fundamental right to safety and security whether in the streets and other public places or the privacy of their homes.

Let 526 be another rendezvous with history in the journey of Malaysians to realise the Malaysian Dream.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 11:20 am and is filed under
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Low better up the anti-graft fight

The Malaysian Insider

May 17, 2013

MAY 17 — There is much more that is expected from Transparency International (TI) chief Datuk Paul Low now that he is a minister in the Najib administration.

That Malaysia’s fight to eliminate corruption and be transparent about contracts becomes a reality rather than just a plan or target under its transformation programme.

For too long, there has been criticisms that Putrajaya is not doing enough to fight graft despite setting up corruption courts or beefing up the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).

Their record has been spotty at best, prosecuting the so-called small fries rather than the big fish.

Low put it succinctly when he told The Malaysian Insider today, “It’s very easy to be critical…what is the other alternative? Shout from outside? From TI, be an armchair critic? I cannot do it alone…I’m a minister in the Prime Minister’s Department. That gives me stature.”

But Low better up his game, instead of already repeating the Putrajaya mantra that ministers declaring their assets to the Prime Minister and the MACC is sufficient rather than making a public declaration.

“If you tell the public your kid is worth RM20 million, you put your children at security risk, it’s not fair,” said Low.

That example, however, is wrong. Worrying about the minister’s child’s security is laughable because the minister should explain how his offspring earned the RM20 million.

Fact is, no one forces anyone to run for office and their family must be seen to be cleaner than clean if they do any business.

Until today, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s claims against Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad and his children’s wealth have not been challenged in court or even taken up by the MACC.

That speaks volumes for the inertia to fight allegations of corruption by political leaders and their families.

Low has his work cut out for him, and that is more than just making policy. He should realise that if he is part of the window dressing, then expect to be dismantled by public scrutiny.

The Cabinet must not carry passengers and the public will want to see action, not  hear talk of a better future without ever reaching there.

                This entry was posted on Saturday, 18 May 2013, 12:46 am and is filed under
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