Abdullah found belated political will or just “reform sloganeering” against Mahathir?
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi said in Kota Kinabalu yesterday that the reforms promised by Barisan Nasional in its election manifesto will be aggressively pursued.
He said it should be noted that the reforms in the judiciary and police began when he was appointed prime minister and there had been no let up since.
Abdullah said he would not run away from his responsibility of continuing with the reforms despite BN not securing a two-thirds majority in the recent general election and that the effort to fight corruption would also be continued.
He said: “I have implemented many things since I became prime minister but I recognize that people are still not happy.”
Malaysians react with mixed feelings to Abdullah’s promise that there will be no let-up on reforms.
The question Malaysians are asking is whether the Prime Minister will go full steam in reforms to make up for the lost four years or he is just “reform sloganeering” in his open war with his nemesis, Tun Dr. Mahathir.
From Abdullah’s statement, the Prime Minister has not fully emerged from the cocoon of denial – casting doubts that he has at last found the political will to carry out the promised reforms.
Abdullah’s claim that he had instituted reforms in the judiciary, the police and to fight corruption do not bear scrutiny.
Two days ago, in opening fire on Mahathir, Abdullah blamed his predecessor for “many things that were not right”, citing the 1987 Operasi Lalang crackdown, the erosion of confidence in the judiciary and lack of freedom in the media as examples.
Abdullah is right on all three counts – Operasi Lalang, the judiciary crisis and clampdown on media freedom.
But it is precisely because Abdullah has nothing to show on all these and other fronts as Prime Minister for more than four years that it precipitated the March 8 political tsunami which caused the end of the two-thirds parliamentary majority of the Barisan Nasional and its loss of five state governments.
Abdullah is right that the problems on the judiciary did not start during his era. Abdullah had lamented two days ago:
“Many countries do not have confidence in our judiciary. And when there are differences between our countries, they do not want to refer the matter to a Malaysian court.
“They would rather take it to a court in Singapore, Hong Kong or Australia so I thought I had to do something about it to restore confidence because the people are hoping for reforms in the judiciary.”
But what did Abdullah do in the past four years to initiate judicial reforms to restore national and international confidence in the judiciary? He did nothing. In fact, public confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary suffered new blows during the first term of the Abdullah premiership with judicial scandals like the fast-track appointment of a long-standing Umno activist, Tan Sri Zaki Tun Azmi to the bench - the triple jump to become Federal Court judge in September without ever being High Court or Court of Appeal judge and the quadruple jump three months later up the judicial hierarchy to become the Court of Appeal President. Will Zaki make quintuple jump to be appointed Chief Justice of Malaysia in October when Datuk Abdul Hamid Mohamad steps down from the topmost judicial post?
Seven years ago in January 2001, Tan Sri Mohamed Dzaiddin started his tenure as Chief Justice of Malaysia publicly admitting the “unpalatable fact” that “public confidence in the judiciary has eroded in the last few years” and that this negative perception had held back the country’s development as multinational corporations and foreign investors were reluctant to invest because they perceived there was no level playing field, causing them to prefer arbitration outside Malaysia in the event of dispute.
Seven years later, after being a Prime Minister for more than four years, Abdullah is making exactly the same complaint about the woes of the judiciary as that made by Tun Dzaiddin in 2001! Is Abdullah prepared to accept the responsibility not only for the failure to institute judicial reforms but also for the further slides in public confidence in the independence, integrity and quality of the judiciary in the past four years?
As for police reforms, is Abdullah now prepared to acknowledge the message of the March 8 “political tsunami” that Malaysians want an Independent Police Complaints and Misconduct Commission (IPCMC) to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to reduce crime and restore to Malaysians their fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime?
On the fronts of anti-corruption and media freedom, what reforms could Abdullah boast about in the past four years?
April 8th, 2008 at 17: 37.42
It is obvious rhetoric from PM flip flop with no substance at all, to say that he has initiated actions to address corruption, restore confidence in the judiciary and improve media freedom. It has been the Pakatan Rakyat and the people who have stepped up to expose and push for reforms in these areas. Would there be any review of the judiciary if the Lingam tapes were not released by concerned citizens ? Would there be action on corruption if massive cases of corruption were not exposed ie the Sukhoi jet, submarine commission, PKFZ scandal ? The MSM continues to be the mouth piece of the BN government….no improvement there ?
April 8th, 2008 at 17: 43.31
YB Kit, no point flogging a dead horse. This man is totally inept. You can help a man if he knows what is wrong. You cannot help a man if he does not even know what he does not know.
He is hanging on in there in desperation because he knows if he lets go, he will have to run from pillar to post as there are a bunch of wolves within UMNO itself waiting to devour him and his immediate family. The knives are drawn and is waiting to draw blood. Even his hatchet men are uncharacteristically quiet now and distancing themselves from him as they do not want to be caught in the crossfire when the final execution is carried out.
April 8th, 2008 at 17: 44.08
Average monthly gross household income increased 4.3 per cent BUT average inflation rate was up 30%
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/National/2207382/Article/index_html
April 8th, 2008 at 17: 46.40
Rest assure, after 3 months Mr PM will lose steam and carry on his fortnight overseas getaway. May be more this year to getaway from Malaysia’s sun, too hot for him!
April 8th, 2008 at 18: 05.04
Ahhhhh…….Tidurwi please shut up and get lo$t with your Kurang aJar. Enough of your $hit. Talk and talk and talk…….than zzzzzzzzz. Enough lah. Please go and ZZZzzz. We have heard enough. Why are you still clinging on with your finger nails? Youve four years to prove yourself but ZZzzzzzz…….. . Goodbye to you and your Kurang aJar (whats his name again?).
April 8th, 2008 at 18: 10.42
Bodowi might as well move to Sabah permanently and live in the rain forest with the orang utan where he belongs.
He said: “I have implemented many things since I became prime minister but I recognize that people are still not happy.” Bodowi please be specific beside Islam useless hadhari whatelse? You are darn right we are not happy with you - bodoh
April 8th, 2008 at 18: 13.02
Kit
I think you are still living on the past criticising the BN. Wake up, its time to work, I mean real work than just being passing judgements from the ivory tower and armchair.
Start to focus on how to administer the states under PR’s care rather than looking at BN’s faults. We didnt elect you to tell us how bad BN or AAB is.
Show us how you can do better than BN.
Just a month you guys already started to bitch among yourselves. Today the Kedah MB took a swipe at Karpal. So what’s next ? All out war ?
The days of hiding behind BN and sniping is over, it is time to deliver. While you are questioning AAB if his statements are sincere, I have not seen any concrete and practical polices and strategies from PR govts too. There has been way too much talk and precious little action….
April 8th, 2008 at 18: 15.45
k1980…how did you arrive at average 30% inflation, please enlighten us the Wise One…even with an MBA in econs your logic is far beyond me Oh Wise One…
April 8th, 2008 at 18: 37.06
Badawi fights back:
breaking news: ACA: Mahathir’s case is with police
Apr 8, 08 4:04pm
It says that the probe on the alleged abuse of power involving the then prime minister did not involve the agency but the police.
http://malaysiakini.com/
April 8th, 2008 at 18: 46.04
He said: “I have implemented many things since I became prime minister but I recognize that people are still not happy.”
———————————————-
What have you implemented so far Mr.Sleepy King? You think we are 3-years old kids are? You’re totally useless!! Even a hawker can manage the country better than you! Please continue to sleep and lie to the people, I assure you that BN will be thrown into rubbish bin come GE13!
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 05.20
“I think you are still living on the past criticising the BN. Wake up, its time to work, I mean real work than just being passing judgements from the ivory tower and armchair.” Killer says at today 18:13
I disagreed with Killer. Kit is ‘working’ by pressing BN to put wrong things in the past right. Kit is also ‘monitering’ to ensure Paklah walk his talk; don’t just make everybody shiok only.
PR states have implemented some new measures benefiting the rakyat even at this very early stage of their take over. Wait and see how they would disgraced the BN soon!
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 12.41
It is hoped that Zaki will not be appointed as Chief Justice and charge Tun Eusoff Chin and Lingam after the Commission of Inquiry on the arrangement of judges make its final report to show that AAB is serious in reforming the Judiciary system of Malaysia.
More importantly, set up another Commission of Inquiry on the 1988 judiciary crisis and apologize to the judges sacked by recalcitrant Mahathir.on the abovementioned crisis.
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 14.00
Killer, talking about work, it struck me as a “big joke” when I went to the Kuala Lumpur Court Complex recently. There were 4 big banners hung vertically in front of the Complex with the words “BUAT KERJA”. Does this mean the courts within the Complex have not been working all these while? Only when the 12th election is over are they going to work? This amounts to self-confession of incapability. I think an appraisal should be made on the court staff to see if they really worked previously and if they really mean to “work” from now on!!!!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 23.37
Actions speak louder than words.Let’s wait and see whether Pak Lah is walking his talk or not.I bet his time is ticking by the minutes and hope he does something concrete before his time is up
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 32.32
AAB just created the “perfect condition” to bring down anyone from UMNO that speaks against him by saying that the BN lost the 12th GE due to sabotage …. without naming the saboteurs.
Having put in place his sabotage theory, he could blame anyone as saboteurs at whim (including Mahathir who seems pretty vunerable at this moment) and get them sacked in a move to silence his “internal opposition” which is mounting up his nerves.
AAB is already fed up and starting to put the blame on his own party members…. a “pointing fingers” move that only WEAK and LEMBIK leaders practise…. drawing even more “inner opposition”.
Sadly, this makes UMNO members feel even more vunerable and thats a good reason to vote AAB out in the next internal party elections…. a process which even some of his own party members dont quite trust due to money politics.
Wait till Anwar makes his move … only then the fun starts…. when the desperate BN may resort to playing the racial card. Only then can we say BN “EXPOSED”. Up to now…. its still nothing much coz the BN is not that desperate.
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 39.10
Spare Pak Lah the brickbats for the moment. Give him yet another 100 days.
If this PM is serious and sincere about reform, then Malaysians should expect both action and news within the 100 days time frame from the last GE.
So, let’s wait patiently before ripping Pak LAh for his continued incompetence, wishy-washy promises and sloganeering lies.
Pak LAh should not be cowed by a has-been ex-PM.
April 8th, 2008 at 19: 51.15
On the count of three, we all go join Pakatan Rakyat…. Ready, one, two…
http://sloone.files.wordpress.com/2008/04/kuli_april5-198×300.jpg?w=198&h=300
April 8th, 2008 at 20: 49.03
He said: “I have implemented many things since I became prime minister but I recognize that people are still not happy.”
==============================================
Implement what? I don’t even remember what
good jobs you and your people have done
for rakyat, beside those bad-mouthing
statements made by your people like
“Bocoh”, “Don’t like, go out from this country”,
“Racist”, etc. Did you stop them from saying
that or say anything RIGHT AFTER they said
that?! NO. That is what I always remember!
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 00.40
i got no larat to hear wat this useless pm has to say.i am sure most of the people feel the same way that i do.50 years…yes…enuff of those 50 years.the people has been swindled by the leaders of the government all these years till today.after having losing such defeat in the elections…do u think a leader like abdullah badawi can regain the peoples confidence?i doubt that cos he doesnt hv that intelligence and wisdom to run this country.
wat has he done for the people this term?a lot of talking kok with monkies behind him doing wat they like as if we people owe them.spending millions on useless projects and announcing sweet and empty promises for the people while his cryonies korek like nobody cares.
wat has he done to benefit the people?just ask urself mr pm and look straight in the mirror and ask urself without ever lying to urself while u always project ur imam self thru islam hadhari.its a big sin to lie and cheat the people of the country whom they hv entrusted their faith unto u.and u bet if u ever lie u will definitely go to hell even if u are a muslim.bn failed miserably in this elections not becos of being sabotaged but plainly its becos we people had enuff of this blood sucking government.u people just talk kok and korek korek only.so i dun think mr pm…u hv any capability in handling any issues regarding this country.
u pledged the people not to work for u…but to work with u…just look wat we people get by working with u all these years.we get into deeper shit while u f*#kers get richer by the day.u treated us like idiots and spending peoples money which has benifitted none of the countrymen but only ur cyronies.
u said u are the pm of the people.all i can say is ur honeymoon years are over and its too late for u to do anything.just go back to sleep and make sure u keep ur monkey in the cage.we the people work hard and love this country while u idiots treat us so unfairly.u people are so scared of ur own people standing up to tell the truth while u idiots take advantage of the law into ur own hands and covering up the truth to save ur own sssss.
i am jz a plain normal malaysian who will stand up for this country.and my only wish is that those who hv amassed such wealth by cheating the people and its country and hv done wrong to its own people…just be prepared to die in hell.even allah cant save u.
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 04.33
Is this the guy who tried to implement the IPCMC and failed when the police rebelled ?
Is this the guy who allowed Kerismuddin to wave the keris and for others to ask when Kerismuddin was going to use it ?
Is this the guy who said the Trengganu sultan’s actions were unconstitutional and then reversed his position 3 days later ?
Is this the guy who started reading a 600 page report and never finished ?
Is this the guy who promised the reveal all about the crooked bridge and the AP scandal in the form of booklets for the rakyat, but never got to do it ?
Is this the guy who signed off on the government bailout of the Port Klang Free Trade Zone scandal ?
Is this the guy who said he had big ears ?
Gosh, now all his ministers are following in his footsteps, with Ong Tee Keat promising to reveal all about the PKFTZ scandal.
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 07.40
“The reforms promised by the Barisan Nasional….will be aggressively pursued.” AAB, 2008
Is this the same as “We are not in the business of cheating the people.” AAB, 2005 ?
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 19.47
BN is over. Thats the end of the story. No more death note, it is just L.
L change the world, and who could it be? Who would be our L?
The Bad Kira is dead long ago.
As Raja Petra said, there will only be 2 parties in the future, just like most countries. Right now, it is BN, n PR. but BN is ending.
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 26.18
TDM has been the major culprit as far as dragging Malaysia down the path of degradation is concerned. But Pak Lah didn’t help himself. He wanted to buy time, consolidate power, thinking that freeing up the press a little, doing everything a little, will get him through the first term. As far as I am concerned, they are both damaging Malaysia. Thinking like a non-partisan Malaysian, I must support his removal, PROVIDED that the person who succeeds him will have the actual zeal for reform, and WILL PURSUE REFORM without fear or favour.
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 54.56
AAB made reforms alright. He reformed his family’s fortunes & bank account overseas the past 4 years. Plus a couple of cronies along the way to help hide the bones or clean up the mess. TDM is no saint either. Malaysia would be a far better place without these 2 around. TDM was angry with AAB for cancelling the Argentina route (MAS). TDM can’t play mucho gaucho anymore. Too many connecting flights to get to Argentina, Buenos Aires. Maybe he sold the ranch now.
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 58.55
I personally believe PL is under intense pressure from cronies and relatives to NOT undertake reforms. This is not only my view but also that of some foreign media. Should PL carry out extensive reforms he will invite troubles from cronies and relatives. PL has to tread carefully to not offend them and lose their support.
Either way, whether to reform or not to reform, PL is in hot water - he is just buying time through sloganeering to keep his position!!
April 8th, 2008 at 21: 59.48
Well it goes without saying that most (if not all) of us here voted for PR in the 12GE. As such, dwelling on the past and sniping at AAB is a complete waste of time. What are being said now is nothing that not already been said a million times here…so guys and gals focus on what need to be done.
PR has been promising left right and center before the GE and now we still hear more promises than actions. Unless you are a naive twenty-something, one could not fail to note the omnious parellel between the previous BN govts and the newly formed PR govts in the way the positions have been fought and haggled over.
For all his talk of meritocracy, Ol’ Kit himself had failed to walk the talk and to me he seems to be as powerless as AAB in controlling his pig-wrestling MPs. Just look at the way the politicking in Perak that led by clannish DAP state leaders and how they completely ignored and defied Kit. And look at Selangor too. Only in Penang, the national leadership has some semblance of control but that seems to be slipping away with the emergence of Penang vs Rest of the world sentiment.
There is hardly a need for me to even talk about Kedah as well as how the PAS leadership is asserting itself and thrashing DAP. If you think the statements of PAS leaders are demeaning, then wait till you hear the discussions and the plans being formed within PAS as we speak. Kit might be sleeping but PAS is not and the focus of PAS’ antagonism is not BN but DAP. Just wait and see how PAS is going to wrestle power in Perak and Selangor. Even Penang is not spared, there are efforts underway to wrangle more concessions.
If you think PAS has abandoned the Islamic state, FAT CHANCE ! PAS without Islamic state is like KFC without chicken.
But the worst of all is not these points. Instead of drawing up plans and implementing them for the good of the rakyat, the PR seems to be drunk with power and busy making plans to capture the Federal govt. In fact some idiot (the DCM1 actually) from Penang state even stated that the Federal govt will fall to PR in 6 mths. Well, this is a damning admission that PR is willing to bribe and threatened elected reps from BN to jump ship. That Anwar is busy travelling the nation is a clear indication of this.
Kit, you owe rakyat a big explanation. That failing to deliver your promises is a betrayal of rakyat’s trust !
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 10.09
Come on, Mr Killer, it is only 1 month since 8.3.08, you hv to give PR state govt time! little argument between component parties of PR can be view as “open debate”. U wan PR to act like BN or what one “KING” party say all and dominate all.
If Msian can give BN 50 years, why so impatient with PR? Governing is not like “masak masak” can deliver all goodies in only 1 month??
Nothing wrong with trying to take over Fed govt. Do U know state govt had very very power, in Msia, Only by taking over fed govt then only can PR govern Msia n serve rakyat effectively!
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 12.36
Folks only a complete moron would say AAB did nothing and slept on the job.Though he is not my favourite PM, he definitely contributed to the national building and the democracisation of Malaysia.
One of the reason for this Political Tsunami is AAB himself by freeing the press and allowing dissent. Had TDM stayed there is no way in hell that this situation of PR in power in 5 states would have happened.
Another contribution is the loosing up of the mainstream media. Docile and fettered they might be, but they did contribute to the BN’s defeat by printing negative stories after negative stories.
AAB’s anti-corruption drive (though not aggressive enough) also unearthed and charged many more culprits. But this again backfired by creating an impression that there are more corruption now though in reality it has reduced.
Khairy was a bogeyman successfully exploited by PR and his enemies within BN. But in reality he is not a monster as portrayed by many commentators though he is no angel.
To summarize, we can blast AAB to our hearts’ contend but his positive contribution to greater democratisation of malaysia should be recognised. Most people posting here sound to me like teenagers or twenty-something shooting from hips without rather than writing with thoughts and analysis.
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 22.43
AAB is busy diverting the attention of his failure and instead using the mainstream media to attack Mahathir. Of course Mahathir has its own legacy but his is a past figure.
What is really suprising is there are quite a number of people including bloggers caught in this diversion strategy by AAB.
Even more shocking, Karpal Singh, the DAP veteran also join in to be trapped by this AAB diversion.
It is very strange that Karpal Singh to spent so much attention on Mahathir.
We do we go from here? Aren’t we suppose to deal with the current problem instead of dwelling into history.
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 22.58
Mr Killer, agreed with U on one point AAB, did positively contributed to greater democratisation of Msia. he is a more gentleman than TDM when losing a contest.
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 26.53
Killer, mabe you need to explain about your talk on meritocracy and clannish behaviour of PR’s members, also regarding PAS’s intention towards an Islamic state. Please don’t babble in such manner that readers might think that you are Ka Chuan’s mah chai!
How on earth can PR ‘threatened’ BN MPs to jump ship? Whether Anwar really have the capacity to fulfil his intention is uncertain, more so the means he would use. Don’t try to confuse lesser informed members of the public, the very tactic of BN! Cause confusion and distrust every time they utter.
Let’s see if indeed the Police is reopening the issue about TDM’s act to prevent ACA from investigating his mah chai at EPU.
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 30.57
Well for a change lets take a look at what he has achieved (intentionally or otherwise).
First, unlike his authoritarian predecessor, he has (on comparative basis) opened up the discursive and democratic space in terms of freedom of expression. That’s why people could verbally abuse him as “sleepy head”, “bodowi”, “practise Prime Minister” without getting a midnight knock on their doors by Special Branch.
This “freedom of expression” accorded to bloggers and netizens and online alternative media has exposed a lot of unsavoury aspects of the administration unto the public domain. Although Mainstream media (MSM) being manacled by Printing Press Publication Act is afraid of taking initiative of breaking news of scandals reflecting poorly on the government, as journalistic tradition would otherwise require, they do pick such news up after it has been known and published in the public domain, and by so doing carried such new nationwide even into areas without internet access. This might have contributed to the swing votes on March 8th against the BN.
If one believes in what Tun Dr Mahathir says, that Pak Lah’s leadership or lack thereof is responsible for the Barisan Nasional’ s dismal performance on 8th March that destroyed UMNO, then one would have to thank Pak Lah - for his assistance and contribution towards depriving BN its sacred measurement of two-thirds majority, which the BN and its predecessor, the Alliance, had never lost (except one in 1969) in all these 50 years!
By his” talking” alone (never mind no walking), he has benchmarked the war against corruption within a system thriving for 50 years on the raison de etre of corruption.
Inheriting a legacy and system from TDM and talking against corruption and patronage is itself a dangerous compound - a contradiction – that would cause such a system to self destruct and implode – which I think the system is beginning to!
So what if the Malay phrase ‘Cakap tak serupa bikin’ or the English phrase of “not walking the Talk” is attributed to him? The fact that it has played a significant role on 8th March to bring an almost two party system into this country – neck to neck one checking the other – is a victory for Democracy for all Malaysians, with the assistance of the comparatively easy going Prime Minister. This could never happen during TDM’s time!
Even the most ardent critic of the Prime Minister – Dr Bakri Musa – in his article on “Practise Prime Minister” conceded that “Malaysians are excessively deferential to their leaders, rarely challenging or even criticizing them” and that to have a “:Practise Prime Minister” like AAB “is part of a divine design, of Fate providing Malaysians with a “practise leader” in order to better prepare us for a real leader in our future” – all representing progression to real democracy…..
Never mind whether there is intent or it is all an unintended consequence, but it is the result that matters – and the result is evinced in the election result of March 8th touted as the New Day or New Dawn for Malaysia, of which much of its momentum has been generated by Badawi.
What has he done – what is his greatest reform and achievement since 2004??? He has helped hastened the Political Tsunami – Political Renaissance – and unwittingly contributed to the Cause of Malaysian Democracy more than any of his predecessors in the past 50 years – just like the way Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev contributed to the flowering of Russian Democracy by his talk of “Perestroika” and Glasnost that unleashed a democratic flood unraveling the Soviet Gulag that even American weapons of war could not!
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 31.11
Killer,
I am not a twenty something or teen ager, I am 49 yrs old and supporter of DAP since the 70’s. Although I do admit I met a Chinese patient of mine today who is 26 yrs old who was praised Kit not because he won the Ipoh Timur seat but “because Kit went through ups and downs past 40 years and stuck to his principles”.
You mentioned that he ” loosened up the maistream media .”
ha ! ha ! ha ! ………enuf said…………
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 32.35
The inept PM can say whatever he likes but it is just a matter of a little too late.
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 34.48
Killer,
U think DAP could have won without PAS and Anwar?
If they could, it would have happened 20 years back.
Kit was not losing grip in Selangor n Perak, it is DAP never ever had controlled in the two states cos any idiot would know these are Malay’s states. And now we know ironically even Malays had voted for DAP, n should not we give a chance to Pakatan Rakyat a chance.After all, DAP got nothing to lose.
As for Penang, mostly Chinese, n DAP won a majority, so it should be a total control.
I believe the older generation are scared of PAS. But bear in mind, no risk no gain. In this situation, this is the most appropriate action, be tolerant.
I totally trust LKS and Guan Eng would score.
As for Killer, you r no Kira.
As for Khairy, he is either a devil or an angel, nothing in between.
As for Badawi, either a failure or success, and in this case, he failed.
Cos he spent RM102 million to send a space tourist, n that was on my money too as tax payer, n I never gain anything from that, totally none. Damn !!
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 39.21
i think Killer is BN’s people, it is gonna be very exciting here!!!!
April 8th, 2008 at 22: 49.51
People have to understand this point – that when a political system is enmeshed in patronage and corruption, it cannot be reformed by actions from within even by a powerful prime minister because the opposition against him is just too pervasive strong and ubiquitous.
Such a system can only be reformed and dented from pressure generated from outside – from electorate’s protest votes.
Now when the system is corrupt what better way to pressure it’s dismantling except to talk a lot, generate high expectations amongst electorate that cannot be fulfilled - because there is no walk the talk – and thereby generate sufficient anger, protest and disillusionment amongst the electorate promised until a tsunami wave of protest is generated and translated into protest votes to pressure the system and its custodians to reform???
Short of sacrificing one’s own political survival fighting against all power brokers, there’s simply no other way to generate pressure on the system from without except by disappointing those electorate whose expectations have been lifted unrealistically and not gratified.
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 05.55
Aiyah, this #@*% bodohwi is a pest of a sloganeer!!! That is all that he is good for, nothing else besides sleeping at major functions. His evil antics are designed to lull the rakyat to allow him to embezzle the nation and let his sil rule bolehland on his behalf so that he can continue to sleep. Simple as that………
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 10.32
Why is Killer so quiet? We need someone to point out if we were wrong, who knows if we were, we are so young n naive…..
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 12.13
it’s a rabid hole, just see how deep we plunge further into madness
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 15.49
and madness could means the end of the tunnel, finally there is light after 50 years.
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 19.41
This Killer fella is definitely part of the BN goons. How can someone who is of sound mind tells such blatant lies and expound such twisted truths. Definitely has linkage to the evil sloganeer & his gang. Definitely it mark the start of the demise of a misrule that is most harmful to the land.
If otherwise pls clarify………………..
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 26.02
“Abdullah found belated political will or just “reform sloganeering” against Mahathir?”
It was unthinkable that after its poor showing in the recent general election, UMNO will just reject the revelation cast by the Rakyat at the ballot box; but even in this moment of truth, UMNO is still unable to react sensibly. Logically, there should have been immediate resolution to make the party relevant to the Rakyat again but instead, UMNO leaders indulged in the blame game, all things said and yet there are no plans for a counter-revolution. UMNO is becoming every Malaysians’ enemy number one.
Closed door meetings are favoured over public meeting and one held after another, you’d wish that UMNO members will engage in passionate debates and in the midst of it UMNO finally awaken the giant within and found a new lease of political principals and emerges stronger for the benefit of this country. Genuinely concern UMNO members who aspired for a revival were disappointed to find out there is no room for expostulation. They should have realized by now how it feels to be broken hearted.
This can only mean that the organizer and the majority of UMNO members who attended these closed door meeting were there to sought consolation for their wounded pride, damaged ego and most importantly, the lost of fortune. And united they must be to reclaim what is rightfully theirs whatever the reasons may be.
Meanwhile, UMNO Baru and UMNO Hadhari slug it out, a new breed of UMNO is vegetating, but it will do no good to this country. Insatiable greed, corruption, power hungry, selfishness are the propensities of UMNO members, and all this they do in the name of Malay race and God. You should not ask UMNO to reform and you do not ask UMNO to repent, they can’t because UMNO have not been punish by the punishment it deserves. Come next general election you should know how to vote wisely and put an end to all this farcical nonsense…
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 34.28
“But what did Abdullah do in the past four years to initiate judicial reforms to restore national and international confidence in the judiciary? He did nothing. ” KIT
Very respectfully, I’ll have to disagree with you on this one. He did something. He talked about it.
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 43.49
“Zaki Tun Azmi to the bench - the triple jump to become Federal Court judge in September without ever being High Court or Court of Appeal judge and the quadruple jump three months later up the judicial hierarchy….Will Zaki make the quintuple jump…? “ KIT
Why not?? He has been jumping all his life. The last time he jumped it was to get out of a compromising position. I’m referring of course to the fact that he had to give up his position in the UMNO disciplinary committee and his lucrative position as UMNO lawyer.
April 8th, 2008 at 23: 44.30
kickbutt,
it was funny, i actually laughed off my chair.
but we need Killer to challenge us , other wise there is no check n balance here.
maybe we should invite Badawi’s people to debate here.
April 9th, 2008 at 00: 05.49
*************************************************
Dear All,
> Let us think back to the basic. This is extremely important. All of us know that a vote to BN is 100% equal to the vote for UMNO. Therefore in actual fact there is just notionally a BN, but reality is just UMNO.
> UMNO’s strength & power is source from their propoganda in protecting the rights of the Malay. Ketuanan Melayu. Therefore all their leaders who climb the ladders must feed on this. (How they increase the Malay’s economic pie over the non-malays, or how they use policies or quotas to suppress other races irrespective of brains & results etc. etc.)
> Now, since the Pakatan Rakyat is getting more prominent……..and IF in very very desperate times……and the last resort action….in order for UMNO to still maintain their importance, relevance, power & consolidate unity among the malays again………what would you think would be their last resort action???
> Can anyone help me/ourselves so this message could reach YB Lim Kit Siang & the Pakatan Leaders. So they will seriously consider & READY/PREPARE for this. This is extremely crucial for the Malaysian social & economic order. Especially in the 5 states.
> I personally feel we all must always be mindful to this.
*************************************************
April 9th, 2008 at 00: 08.42
When everything is all said and done, Malaysians should be grateful to him. Abdullah did what no other Prime Minister before him did. He gave up the two-thirds majority control of Parliament his party had. That is his legacy and all Malaysians should celebrate it.
The political opposition should be thankful to him. He managed to do what they failed to do in fifty years. Abdullah Badawi should go down in history as the Savior of Malaysian democracy.
We need him to be around for another term so he could fulfill the prophesy as handed down by word of mouth through the generations i.e. turned over control of Parliament.
He went up the Mountain and seen the light! He is still dazzled by the light from the burning bush. His hair has turned white from it. He has the stone tablet written by the hand of God Himself. We shall wait to see what he does with it.
April 9th, 2008 at 00: 32.50
If the changes we witnessed the past few years are the result of aggressive reformed promised then we cannot expect very much the next few years from the Federal Government because there were hardly any notable reforms these past few years. But wait a minute. I think Badawi is really a genius. He knew that he could not change his rotten UMNO from within, so by engineering a defeat he can facilitate the change from without i.e. by the opposition. What a brilliant and simple way to engineer a defeat…by simply not doing anything and allow things to screw up big time. So when this is over like now the opposition can pick up the pieces and make the necessary changes for the country. Again no effort needed on his part. I think the entire country should thank our PM for his great vision and engineered one of the most important change in the entire history of Malaysia. We have now a two party government with its check and balances firmly in place. I like him and think he is a nice guy. By doing nothing he has benefited the country immensely. I hope histroy will judge him kindly because he really has done a lot for the country by simply doing NOTHING. Long Live Badawi.
April 9th, 2008 at 01: 35.50
Even TDM admitted that he could not change the way the UMNO Malays thought but maybe that was his excuse for not taking the unpopular choice.
Hopefully this elections result will see the emergence of non-racist leaders who can reform the BN party that is acceptable to the general public.
We should not forget that AAB spent many years in the Foreign Ministry and would have many diplomatic skills - maybe that is also the reason he appears to hesitate a lot before taking urgent measures?
http://malaysiawatch3.blogspot.com/2008/01/maybe-badawi-is-smarter-than-most.html
April 9th, 2008 at 02: 03.09
He recalls that the ruins of today have their roots in his government of yesteryear one riddled with the most rotten of policies, practices and public personalities. He said he did alot to the Rakyat a “Goodies nor a Baddies”. A good leader can a withstand a thousand challenge!.
April 9th, 2008 at 07: 03.26
we try our best and wait
April 9th, 2008 at 07: 59.48
Abdullah may be the worst performing leader in the history of the ruling coalition - he failed to fulfill his promise of reining in corruption in the highest of circles (the police, judiciary and other public institutions) – but his empty reform sloganeering combined with easy ‘tidak apa’, ‘live and let live’ and democratic style of not clamping down with an iron fist detractors who criticize and condemn his empty reform sloganeering is precisely the ‘right’ medicine to generate a tsunami storm of protest from without to pressure change and re-invention of UMNO/BN by its custodians from within if they want to stay relevant……and there is no other more effective method – now proven after 8th March - for acceleration of democratic change for this complex society held to hostage by racial cultural and religious divisions than Pak Lah’s unique empty reform sloganeering combined with easy ‘tidak apa’, ‘live and let live’ and democratic and non authoritarian leadership style.
When ever has Alliance/BN lost the sacred two thirds majority in the 50 year continuum of its rule?
Once in time Tunku Abdul Rahman and second time Abdullah Badawi!
What is the similarity between the first and fifth Prime Minister???
Both have liberal and not authoritarian style of leadership.
The country is such that Alliance/BN has tight grip on power when the UMNO leader is “strong” and able to keep a tight rein over the protest votes of marginalized non Malays : when it is loosened, you can see the swing votes against!
Many still believe in action over inaction deeds over empty sloganeering but under an oppressive system doing nothing and empty sloganeering is the most effective “action” – all Pak Lah has to do, is to do “nothing” ie not interfere with judges deliberations, and Anwar was freed by judicial verdict! Although election (2008) was still dirty with judicious use of postal votes for certain critical UMNO stalwarts, all Pak Lah had to do was not to make it dirty enough to thwart the electoral will and one gets the New Day on 8th March. Where is IKT56, he would have something comment about Lao Tzu’s Tao of reform by doing everything by doing nothing!
If Pak Lah were dirty, he would be like Zimbabwe’s Mugabe and won’t release the results and doctor them – or allow disgruntled extremist to try to create May 13 – but instead he admitted “sudah Kalah” as part of democratic will, and ate humble pie by “Point Taken”.
He certainly could not take action against and forcibly dislodge the corrupt within the ruling coalition -they’re everywhere and the “Napoleons in civil service won’t even listen to him - that would have caused them to immediately coalesce to depose him. But he could benchmarked standards and allow the rakyat to measure, criticize and protest against every corrupt Napoleon within that system by these standards and by the Opposition’s action, the ballot box or public and civil society’s opinion to hold them accountable.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 08.23
Talking reform is easier said than done. Having being part of turnarounds of various companies and organization, I will tell you its really hard. The issues are complex and require detailed skills, confidence, commitment. Unless you have been through it, you don’t really understand the complexity of it all.
Sdr. Lim’s son is finding out himself, even with the full power of his office, how hard it is to turn things around. You have layers and layers of issues and problems.
Its why when we takeover companies, the first thing we do is fire people because its the easiest way to clean house, get a clean sheet despite the need for institutional memory. But you go too far and loses too much institutional memory and knowledge, a clean sheet can turn out to be a toilet paper.
This PM have no experience with turning around anything, he has been a survivor - a civil servant really. To expect him to comprehend the depth of it even after 4 years is just unrealistic. This PM is not going to implement reform but he has started it and there is no turning back. The job of real reform falls on someone or some other team shoulder and they may not even be in the horizon. Political parties don’t reform easily and successors generally also fail many times.
Welcome to real change…
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 14.39
And this was what I first said when long time back I joined this blog, and this is why, participants who are long enough in this blog would note, I have always refrained from joining in to make harsh comments regarding our Prime Minister. To be sure I am not taking the position that he is an angel. By no means. He is just like every other human being with foibles and weakness and not above temptations - like many of us here but the redeeming thing is that he is basically decent bloke who does not go all out to outwit everybody like his wily and more capable predecessor, with iron will, did. Pak Lah in fact is so diffident that he left it all to the 4th floor boys and did nothing much about his relatives. That is his greatest weakness.
I’d end here with one more observation. We call him “sleepy”, he literally ’sleeps’ on the job, but before we attribute all this to nonchalance, indifference and lack of interest to responsibilities of high office we have to be sure of one thing - that it is not a medical condition about which he should not be taunted so mercilessly. I believe it is.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 20.57
I really feel like punching Pak Lah head for making a press statement that he did alot of things since he become Prime Minister. If he really did alot, no need to lost 5 states, and detained Hindraf-5. Real sad, why a liar is in power?
I hope Tun Dr. Mahathir or Ku Li or DSAI can grant him a big slap on the face when he step down. I wonder will a liar get the honorary title “Tun” Abdullah Badawi?
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 27.16
“….that it is not a medical condition about which he should be taunted so mercilessly…” sorry.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 28.25
I agree completely with Jeffrey about Abdullah Badawi. Whether premeditated or not his inaction has inadvertently benefited the country immensely as pointed out earlier. I do think because of that we should accord our present Prime Minister some measure of respect for his fair-mindedness, upholding of democratic priniciples, patriotism, and did not abuse his immense power to clamp down on criticism against him and his government. Some of the scalding criticisms that are continuously being thrown at him from within and without his party are sometime very much overboard. But yet with his immense power, he still allows it. Try doing it in Singapore or against our former dictator, Mahathir when he was in power and see what happens. You will either become a bankrupt, eat free curry rice in jail or exiled. In my mind, the one person who had done the greatest harm to our country is no other than Mahathir. Although he should be very near to his grave he still cannot resist getting us into more trouble. I really think the government should get their acts together and bring his dictator to justice. I wish to see him spend his last days rotting in jail.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 31.41
Jeffrey:
So you think the leader of the den of thieves who is also the PM of a sizable country has a medical condition that causes him to sleep on the job and therefore merits more sympathy from us ? Bollocks. If indeed he has a medical condition that causes all these “misunderstandings” from the rakyat, then all the more reason he should resign and let someone without that medical condition take over.
Which country in the world has a leader that sleeps on the job, medical condition or sheer incompetence or whatever reason you care to attribute to this phenomenon ?
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 46.48
Politic aside….anyone taking over after the previous PM will have a hard time running the country.
The PM greatest mistake is trying to kill to birds with one stone….defending decades of bad leadership and governance of the country of the previous administration and their party and at the same time trying to do a good job.
He had made a gamble and lost by using politic to play with the future of the people and country…..this is totally irresponsible of any leader/s and therefore, should resign immediately.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 47.12
In response to Killer (Pak Lah-messenger)
Folks only a complete moron would say AAB did nothing and slept on the job.Though he is not my favourite PM, he definitely contributed to the national building and the democracisation of Malaysia.
Killer, u r as stupid as a moron who support a handicap PM. This PM allowed and encourage manipulation of the press and tv broadcast during the GE12 result announcement is considered democracisation. Detaining the Hindraf-5 is consider democracisation. Avoiding confrontation with other party, in US, political parties are supposed to perform a debate face to face, this PM is a coward and Rafidah is his messenger.
One of the reason for this Political Tsunami is AAB himself by freeing the press and allowing dissent. Had TDM stayed there is no way in hell that this situation of PR in power in 5 states would have happened.
TDM is not god, he will die one day when his time come. You must be joking when “freeing the press and allowing dissent” statement come out of your mind, he don’t even allowed opposition to voice out in the press & media during the campaign. Go to Teresa Kok election zone, during the campaign the BN candidates using cheapskates banners & billboards, BN is promoting & using dissent against opposition. It turns out, the Rakyat has turn against BN, and Teresa won the most votes 33K ppl. Compare to Najib & Pak Lah (shame on them).
Another contribution is the loosing up of the mainstream media. Docile and fettered they might be, but they did contribute to the BN’s defeat by printing negative stories after negative stories.
Pak Lah attempt to sue Youtube, but he can’t close everything, because that’s people power. If you’ve nothing to hide and is clean why not dare to confront the opposition? The Rakyat will judge what is negative stories looking at facts not fairy tale.
AAB’s anti-corruption drive (though not aggressive enough) also unearthed and charged many more culprits. But this again backfired by creating an impression that there are more corruption now though in reality it has reduced.
Kamaludin, Khairy and Patrick product of DEB? We are talking abt. Billionth and billionth of dollar, good contract are put on hold, those contracts which benefit their own kinsmen were awarded. Commission from Shukoi jet & submarines why give to Abdul Razak (Atlantuya case) not to govt. servant? The submarines according to some source is 2nd hand.
Khairy was a bogeyman successfully exploited by PR and his enemies within BN. But in reality he is not a monster as portrayed by many commentators though he is no angel.
Who is Khairy? Yes, he’s from Oxford, but the way he portrayed himself is like a monkey, an uneducated person and doesn’t look like religious man. Judging from his comments & press conference, this guy has no political talent compare to major political leader. He’s a political broken man, he don’t respect others when he started bad mouthing others leader during his campaign in Rembau. He ordered UMNO Scorpion (Mat Rempit promoted wearing black spec.) to destroy opposition banners, flags, and billboards.
To summarize, we can blast AAB to our hearts’ contend but his positive contribution to greater democratisation of malaysia should be recognised. Most people posting here sound to me like teenagers or twenty-something shooting from hips without rather than writing with thoughts and analysis.
There might be teenager, but even baby has a greater brain power than a person blinded by Pak Lah, Khairy, Kamaludin and Patrick Lim dirty salivas.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 51.47
Pak lah however should not from now on however continue “do nothing” in the the face of something obviously unjust and wrong - eg those conversion cases, continuance of detention of Hindarf’s leaders when the threat of street demonstrations after 8th March has subsided. Now that UMNO/BN has learnt the lessons of 8th March, he has to, as leader, do the “right” thing where principle requires rather than taking no position afraid of backlash from reactionaries within party undermining political survival. At least you start doing something from now on and Malaysians will be grateful. If nothing is done, there may not be also any political survival from backlash/blame of TDM inspired detractors within the party for March 8 events, Anwar/PKR’s motion of no confidence backed by cross overs after Anwar has been fully politically rehabilitated or the rakat’s further wrath in the next election, which ever the earlier.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 51.51
Everyone should be given a chance, even if it is a ‘belated political will’. We defended the DAP and PAS when the BN politicians, like Mohd. Khir Toyo and CK Chia, asked to see immediate results from the Penang /Selangor state governments, so we must defend AAB to be given the same opportunity.
From the moment the election results were known AAB has been getting tremendous pressure from all quarters, give him some breathing space.
AAB, too, contributed to the great electoral gift that Malaysians recieved recently. It could his style, or his temperament, or his character or a combination of all these, that presented the country with the condtions and political climate conducive to the birth of this new Malaysia. It might have been his intention or it might not, but what is important is we are now enjoying the fruit.
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 59.17
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has refuted the finance ministry’s denial that Penang state government had received a reduced allocation for 2007. Lim said the state government had records to show that the economic planning unit of the prime minister’s department slashed the allocation by 51.7 per cent.
The original amount that was allocated to Penang was RM128 million but was reduced to just RM61.8 million on Nov 15 last year, he said.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/Frontpage/20080408170702/Article/index_html
April 9th, 2008 at 08: 59.40
To Killer,
Killer plz wake up stop drinking too much Pak Lah, Khairy, Kamaludin and Patrick Lim salivas.
Pak Lah award major project (worth billionth) to his son in law Khairy, relatives Patrick Lim and son Kamaludin. This is not corruptions?
Pak Lah announced he successfully “tutup” press, media, radio except internet during campaign. This is consider democracy?
Pak Lah disagreed by the Rakyat from 5 states and his home states. All the 5 states rakyat is stupid?
Pak Lah disagreed by the Sultan of Perlis & Agong of Terengganu. Is Sultan or Agong stupid as well?
I’ve attended PAS ceramah, from the ceramah i feel that PAS is changing its attitude now. It has acknowledge the past mistakes now willingly to accept other religions rights. As a 30 yrs old chinese, I’m beginning to like PAS. In fact i visited the Harakah website, i think it is pretty good, i like PAS leader because they are very brave to confront and fight Pak Lah and Najib and those federal govt. officer.
April 9th, 2008 at 09: 01.28
Godfather,
I am just saying that “sleepiness” could be attributed to a medical condition. So don’t taunt it.
If you hold the view that a medical condition of such a nature is a disqualifying condition for which a person should resign, then that is your opinion to which you are entitled and of which I express no opinion.
April 9th, 2008 at 09: 07.39
I think the judge dealing with Anwar’s trial need to be investigated. We want to be sure that he was not manipulated by Mahathir and his associates.
April 9th, 2008 at 09: 24.30
You do not give people in the position of power, trust and influence using politics to play with the future of the people and country a second chance!!
Any slighted doubt, in the best interest of the ordinary people and country, get rid of them immediately!
April 9th, 2008 at 09: 30.56
pulau_sibu, that a judge could decide fearlessly according to his judgment without worries of being subsequently investigated or sued is of the utmost importance of justice system to work. That is why for so long as they carry out judicial act (meaning an act “normally performed by a judge”), they enjoy immunity. It is in the constitution. You can’t investigate a judge based on suspicion and appearances alone. There must be concrete and irrefutable evidence to show that he was likely ‘compromised’ before one could initiate investigations.
April 9th, 2008 at 09: 36.04
Honestly, I don’t give a damn to Abdullah’s promises. He seems to be have fulfilled all his promises in his dreams. This is all hot air!
I wish he could explain why he attempted to extend the tenure of the then CJ Fairuz Ahmad who was tainted beyond repair? And why appoint Zaki from a nobody to CJ in waiting?
One of the reasons BN lost in the General Elections was due the abuse of the judicial system by the AG, IGP, and ACA chief. They were there to protect “criminals” from the elite group in the Establishment.
This group enjoyed immunity from prosecution regardless of the seriousness and gravity of their crimes.
The Judiciary cannot be fully reformed by appointing uprighteous judges alone.
How can the criminals be convicted if their cases are not even brought to the courts? How are the judges going to find them guilty?
No AG, IGP or ACA chief, from our feudal minded culture and subservience to the elite, will have the courage, conviction and gall to prosecute the PM or any lowly UMNO minister.
Examples are apleanty - Isa Samad, Zakaria Deros, Rafidah, Mahathir, Eusoff Chin, etc, etc, etc
If Abdullah wants to reform the judiciary he must also replace the AG, IGP and the ACA chief. The AG and ACA chief must be appointed by and answerable to Parliament.
April 9th, 2008 at 10: 37.30
There are people, including religious people, who could ” baca-baca” to get what they want.
April 9th, 2008 at 10: 37.52
Based on the speed of reform if any that had been initiated according to AAB, it will only show result after year 2050. Can Malaysian wait that long? No is the answer and the next political tsunami will be next GE and he will be out by then if not earlier!!!
AAB should sit up and tell all under his charge to standup and carry out their duty immediately!!! those who perform should be rewarded and those who don’t should not be given so many chance (AAB should complain that one of the reasons why things are not moving fast enought is because he inherited all the gov. servants from Dr. M where the policy of isi penuh and recruitment based on skin colour was carried out!!!). These gov. servants will not bring him votes even given high increments and bonuses, they will bring him down when the rakyat want to see results!!!
April 9th, 2008 at 10: 56.14
Any progess with the Lingam tape investigation?
Correct……correct……correct……..
April 9th, 2008 at 10: 58.05
Bottom line is AAB should not blame anyone else other than him self as he is the PM (leader of the land, just under the Agong). He should do what needs to be done and do it fast and full stop. There’s no bad soldier, but only bad General!!! But I want to add that you should select the right guys to be trained to be soldiers and not any one based on their skin colour!!!
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 05.42
Folks
Firstly let me make this clear. If you disagree with me, please debate with me and challenge my arguments instead of getting personal and emotional by using deragotary and demeaning words. Let me reminded that resorting to such means often a sign of intellectual inferiority.
Jeffrey and ablastine, I think we are in alignment in our analysis of Pak Lah’s legacy. But the rest of the crowd seems to be influenced by emotions and handicapped by a lack of political awareness in their views.
Pak Lah’s weaknesses and mistakes make a long list. But let’s look at the big picture first. The enduring contribution that he made to Malaysian was in the greater democratisation of Malaysia in allowing greater freedom of speech, space for dissenting opinions and loosing of the shackles on the main stream media.
This had emboldened the print media to publish stories and news that would never seen the day during TDM’s regime. Body-snatching, corruption and other nasty incidents were happening all the time, it is just that the news media didnt report it. Despite the over-rated impact of internet and blogs, the real damage to BN was due to the print media. Despite what had been said, people still take the print media as authoritative. Blogs might be popular but that fact that Jeff Ooi is an unknown among most Malaysians was made very clear during the 12GE. Even the HINDRAF’s upraising was mostly due to the rabid reporting in some Tamil newspapers for months.
The 2nd major contribution of Pak lah was his economic approach. Many people here are blinded by either political affliction and hate to analyse his policies and fail to see Pak lah’s positive side. What AAB did was to reduce regional imbalance by spreading the development across the nation rather than focusing on the KL and its surroundings as well as moving away from mega-projects. That is why we have all these corridors. Some people sneer at these projects but fail understand the objectives and philosophy behind it. Also if you study the latest Malaysian Plan, the biggest allocation was given to Penang and Sabah and the distribution this time is more equal.
Another point that was used to attack Pak lah was his ability to sleep off. Well, I am not his doctor but I can only speculate the cause. As someone who has to attend meetings after meetings, I always note that some people have a very short attention span and tend to sleep off during long presentations. This even happens to senior management folks.
I will talk about his reform and anti-corruption drive in another post…
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 06.43
novice101,
We already give AAB many chances since he took over from MM, he win the 2004 GE with huge majority is a concrete proof that people give him a bg big chance. But see what he do in the last 4 years? he not only did not care for the citizen, but at the same time rear a bunch of dangerous animal to attack and kill the people who give him chance. Even the “pets” he keep is “fatter” than Malaysians, leave a side those was “killed” by the pets.
Murderer is sentenced to death even he or she just murdered a person. So, is it make sense to give chance to this murderer who killed his own men (Malaysian)?
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 07.13
The next time you hold elections, you must rig it like this, Kibaki-style…
http://img.timeinc.net/time/daily/2008/0804/360_mugabe_a_0407.jpg
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 15.46
After diversion and deflection strategy to Mahathir, now this is the spin that follows:-
http://themalaysianinsider.com/mni/survey-shows-most-malaysians-still-want-pak-lah-as-pm.html
Survey shows most Malaysians still want Pak Lah as PM
But just barely – approval rating: Malays 63%, Chinese 31%, Indians 30%; overall slightly above 50%
KUALA LUMPUR, April 9 — Most Malaysians still want Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to continue as Prime Minister. But the bad news is that it is not an overwhelming “Yes!” and the public has a laundry list of demands including resolving the burden brought about by rising prices and inflation.
The truth of the matter is that he and his administration are on a tight leash as most Malaysians are not happy with the way they have handled certain issues like rising prices, crime and public safety, ethnic inequality and corruption.
These were the findings of a survey done after the 12th General Elections on March 8. More than 1,000 registered voters were polled between March 14 and 21. It is interesting to note that following Barisan Nasional’s dismal outing at the polls, the people still want Pak Lah to lead the country. But just barely.
With just slightly over 50% approval rating, it is not surprising that Pak Lah is getting the highest support from the Malays (63%), followed by the Chinese (31%) and Indians (30%).
This is because he is no longer seen as the Prime Minister of all Malaysians. Most non-Malays felt that he had not taken the necessary steps to deal with issues like ethnic inequality and religious rights going into the elections.
So now it is up to Pak Lah to win back the confidence of all Malaysians.
————————————————————
So are to going to suffer again for the next 4 or 5 years? What other option for the Rakyat after Pakatan Raykat?
What about Pakatan Merdeka (all Independent candidate)?
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 17.11
Guys, please dont forget that AAB had tried to stop all blogs from telling the truth to the rakyat but he failed!!! it had never his intention to let all the blogs to be free in the first place!!! now he is telling the whole world that this proved that he allowed free expression!!!
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 20.50
I wonder who is actually advising the PM?
He should change his strategy and stop trying to fight on so many fronts.
I think the least he should do is:
1.Treat the PR state fairly. (That Tourism Minister’s idea is just cuckoo - just like a bird-brain)
2.Charge the Hindraf 5 in court - or better still release them as insufficient evidence (usual blurb from the AG’s office)
3.Take action against the biggest nemesis that you can find with the strongest evidence in the files.
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 27.50
Let’s talk about AAB’s 3rd contribution.
Some people have a short memory. At the time of TDM stepped down, he was losing a battle against Islamic extremism especially from PAS folks, currently DAP’s live-in partner.
PAS was waging a vicious campaign against TDM and attacking him as an infidel and an Indian / mamak. TDM had no defence against this and that is one of the reason why AAB was selected to be the new PM. AAB’s Islamic credential was seen as key to counter the extremist brand of Islam propagated by PAS.
People had been passing some highly unfair and idotic comments about Islam Hadhari without understanding the strategy and objectives behind it. This is a modern brand of Islam that embraces the 21st century world while retaining core Islamic values. There had been much success due to this policy in keeping of a fundamentalist and destructive brand of Islam. Unfortunately many people tend to associate Islam hadhari (IH) with the episodes of “body snatching” but this is not true as the people behind it were followers of PAS’ brand of Islam rather than IH.
The problem that AAB faced was in clearing the house of these extremist elements that had infiltrated the Islamic departments and who had been opposing the IH principles. But AAB had failed to take a hard line and as such, he was seen as supporting such actions.
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 30.09
Yes, We should give chance to AAB, but who is going to give rakyat a chance when things are not moving, prices are going up, saving (if any) are going down, loans are going up, even we dont want to eat but we still need to buy mild power for our babies!!!
Time to change!!! AAB, Do you dare to set this objectives and to achieve them?
1. No more income tax
2. Every citizen is given RM10,000.00 a year banked into EPF account.
3. RM1.00=US1.00
4. Country reserved = RM1 Trillion.
etc…
April 9th, 2008 at 11: 45.01
THE ANWAR LED REVOLUTION IS ONLY TIP OF ICEBERG !
Let me call this Anwar led revolution, at this point the 3 stage revolution because progress in achieving this admirable mission can be measured and seen in concrete terms in 3 stages. The 1st stage of this revolution is to consolidate PAKATAN RAKYAT’S POWER BASE, that is now centered in Penang & Selangor & kelantan because at this stage only the bare ‘form work” has been put in place; the most important being the PAKATAN RAKYAT coalition capturing the government of the 5 states and to put UMNO into a death spiral attracting the disruptive tsunami of Tun Mahatir intent on bringing about an UMNO that is to his liking and of his image. To say the least these two developments are complimentary one with the other, the capture of the 5 state governments will give the PAKATAN RAKYAT coalition the platform to show case their policy that is merit based and to demonstrate that meritocracy will not necessarily disadvantage the Malays; while the destructive force of the Mahatir tsunami will reduce the defense capability of UMNO to counter the onslaught of the PAKATAN RAKYAT coalition.
In the Malaysian media today, there is debate as to whether it is opportune for Pakatan Rakyat to shoot for forming the national government of that they should wait until they become stronger, and most of the opinion is to wait; but to my way of thinking there is no better time than NOW. There is no wisdom for waiting, because you are in politics to wrest government at the earliest time possible. There is never and I mean never any good sense to wait for a better time. Politics is all about the possible and never about CERTAINTY, there is no certainty in politics, GO FOR THE KILL AND DO WHATEVER WILL GIVE YOU THAT OPPORTUNITY.
There are naïve opinions that Pakatan Rakyat should not receive MP crossing the floor of Parliament as if the end purpose of Pakatan Rakyat is to have a puritanical PAKATAN RAKYAT pure as driven snow, but that will be foolishness because the most important objective for Pakatan is to form government, the rest can take care of itself. There is never advantage in opposition.
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 05.05
The old buzzard still believes that he is God’s gift to the world, preaching the concept of hadmalam to its people like Moses did after receiving the 10 commandments
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 13.10
This is what he has implemented to date:
1) unchecked corruption
2) worsening race relations
3) encouragement of nepotism and cronism
4) non-independent judiciary
5) rising cost of living
6) more criminal activities
7) …more corruption!
etc
Do we want him to implement anything more???
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 31.38
Actually under Pak Lah, one does not really know who is really doing what although ultimately as PM he is responsible for everything including misfeasance and misgovernment.
Take the case of Lingam video clip, when the news first broke, the Haidar panel was hurriedly mooted and formed. Many believe that it was at the No. 2 ‘s initiative (Pak lah was then overseas). And the demand by the cabinet presided by No. 2 (when Pak Lah was in Perth) to ask NST to show cause for publishing Non-Sequitur’ cartoon of Kevin, the street artist/busker who is ‘the most feared man’ by Wiley Miller – this was diffused by Pak Lah when he returned and ask NST to apologise. Even in the case of appointment of Royal commission’s members for Lingam’s video clip, the PM said that nothing ought to be finalised until he came back. On judiciary, his appointment of Zaid Ibrahim was definitely a good move. However his earlier action of at least acquiescing with then CJ Fairuz Ahmad’s intent to carry on for a short while more, and the amending of constitution to extend tenure of Tan Sri Abdul Rashid Abdul Rahman would be acts that Pak Lah could not absolve himself from responsibility. CJ Fairuz Ahmad’s inability to extend– and also Idris Jusoh’s replacment by Ahmad Said as Terengganu’s MB – all due to rulers’ objections are also due to Pak Lah’s style to consult and give way to opposing pressure, sometimes for worser consequences, as the case of the pressure from PAS and three NGOs - PPIM, GPMS and Kimma – caused him to take action against The Sarawak Tribune and Guangming Daily; just like the petition by more than 300 NGOs including coalition of Muslim NGOs and lobby groups persuaded him to incarcerate Hindraf’s 5 leaders. In his first UMNO assembly’s speech as president talking about government was not Santa Claus & removal of clutches, he was contradicted by fiery speech of Datuk Badruddin Amiruldin then MP (BN-Jerai) waving book on May 13 to standing ovation of the delegates. In subsequent asemblies he also could not do anthing about seditious remarks and keris waving. Same case with conversion cases and calls for article 121(1)(A) reforms.
Pak Lah should prioritize doing the right thing over mere political survival pandering to racial and religious jingoism of extremists. Otherwise how to be PM for all Malaysians?
Anyway his medical condition is Polyphasic sleeping.
“Abdullah is also a well known Polyphasic Sleeper, known to follow a rigid schedule of sleeping through Cabinet meetings, important briefings, assemblies and ritually before and after meals. Badawi has honed the art of Polyphasic sleeping, enabling him to extend this state of mind and body for several hours during each session” see this link - http://www.networkmalaysia.com/subtitle/people/Dato‘SeriAbdullahAhmadBadawi.htm
Polyphasic sleep is as a variant of a sleep pattern that is opposite the normal monophasic sleep, ie sleep in a single block Some great men – Alexander the Great & Napoleon Bonaparte – were Polyphasic Sleeper, sleeping less then two or three hours in the night and cat napping throughout the day on their horses!
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 38.28
Rape cases are getting rampant in Malaysia.
Two cops held over rape claim by foreigner
[NATION 2-Apr-2008]
Two policemen have been arrested after a foreigner lodged a report alleging that they had raped her.
[Policemen are suppose to uphold & enforce the law;however, they lied]
Girl gang-raped, incident recorded on handphone
[NATION 5-Apr-2008]
Police are looking for eight men who allegedly gang-raped a Form Four girl and recorded the entire incident on a handphone.
[Is this a proper gang, normal gang has its ruled, but these ppl. betrayed the gang rules, lying again. They are not from organized gang, as organized gang has rules etc.]
Neighbour arrested for raping sisters for six years
[NATION 6-Apr-2008]
Two young sisters had been frequently raped by their neighbour in a remote farming village for the last six years and one of them is now pregnant and has dropped out of school.
[Don’t always listen to your neighbors, your children might get raped as they might be lying.]
Salesgirl: Boyfriend made me have sex with others
[NATION 8-Apr-2008]
A 30-year-old mother of three has lodged a police report that she was blackmailed into having sex with two men after her boyfriend threatened to distribute a video clip of them having oral sex.
[Boyfriend are suppose to protect girlfriend, the time he sent you to other is the time he’s telling lies]
Sister-in-law lured and raped
[NATION 9-Apr-2008]
An odd-job worker lured his sister-in-law with the promise of finding a job for her, but instead raped her when she went to see him.
[Even close relatives can betrayed you, no joke, they can watch you and tell lies]
Our Society has become so sick, after 4 yrs in power, what Islam Hadhari has done to the society?
What causes RAPE, if we have too many liars in Malaysia like Pak Lah (the lying leader), even the police will start to lie and soon it will spread like disease to the people.
Why Datuk Azalina is not wearing tudung? and she’s becoming fatter soon catching up Rafidah Aziz. These female leaders doesn’t seem to have religion background, compare to Wan Azizah, and Nurul Izzat. Are they the product of Islam Hadhari?
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 42.03
I’m no doctor but I think it helps to cut down drastically on carbohydrate intake for a Polyphasic sleeper. The unburnt stored up energy converted to fats at the belly aggravates situation that light golf cannot ameliorate. Don’t get enough oxygen to the brain, then how? Everytime have to take short nap to replenish mental focus & energy. Polyphasic Sleepers can doze off anywhere - even at the corner of a busy thoroughfare for 10 or 15 mins??? They should have a driver. Don’t drive yourself. It is dangerous.
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 42.43
The sins of the FIL catches up with the SIL
http://themalaysianinsider.com/mni/330-pm-latest-is-khairy-jamaludin-on-the-way-out.html
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 49.11
I made a journey to Singapore for a weekend holiday. Caught the musical “We Will Rock You” at the Esplanade, rode on The Singapore Flyer, visited the National Museum (astonishing), dined at Breweks (micro-brewery) at Riverside Quay and at the CHIJMES. Orchard Road was bustling and every where you go you can see development and a brisk pace of economic activity. The 2 IR projects are in progress and new subway stations being built. That Nation is small and resources are slim/scant. There have no room for errors and they have to be on their toes to stay alive. Comparing to them, Malaysia is resource-rich. It does not take much to run this country. But it takes a smart leader (PM) to leverage on our resources. In AAB, we fail on every score. Our Universities are a laughing stalk (ranked at the basement), our Police Summons are just summons, no action. Singaporeans can divvied up summonses on our roads and there is no follow-up action, everyone waiting for amnesty, our cabinet flip-flops in major decisions, our captains and leftenens in the cabinet are often vindictive and small-minded (like Azalina wanting to cancel tourism projects in PR states), No one trusts our court systems (I didn’t say this, AAB did), they’d rather take arbitration to Singapore or HK. Why are we in this pitiable state? Because we are stupidly led at the top by a incompetent leader. Malaysian took pride when we were led by Dr. M (ignoring his excesses) but now where are we? Can’t we vote for our own PM?
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 51.35
Pertaining to my earlier suggestion, punching Pak Lah head, i think, i will resort to using pepper spray to make him realized his lie is intolerable. After Raping the Rakyat he’s putting blames on his boss, his own party members, and the Rakyat (for visiting blog)instead of his own silly mistakes.
It is a mistakes for him to
Approved billions of ringgit for govt. bailout to aid PKFZ
1) Deny opposition the fair use of press, media and radio
2) Award all the multi billion contracts to his relatives
3) Deny Anwar for contesting by having the election earlier
4) Condemn Bersih as Haram, detained the Hindraf 5 under ISA
5) Retract the use of ink for the election
6) Remain arrogant & deaf over call for his resignation
7) Listen to Khairy the 4th floor boy
9) Enable Kerishamudin to play racial card by waving Keris
10) Encourage UMNO members to protest in Komtar (boycott against DEB abolishment), and outside Terengganu palace (MB appointment)
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 52.27
Other well known Polyphasic sleepers who were geniuses of accomplishment were Leonardo Da vinci, Thomas Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin, Winston Churchill and Thomas Edison. Of course I am not saying that ours belongs to this category but that is quite different from saying that by reason only of a sleep order (withoutout other justifications) a person is not fit to lead the country!
April 9th, 2008 at 12: 58.58
The contention that there is a co-relation of more incidences of rape in Malaysia and lying politicians is no more speculative and tenable than the suggestion of co-relation between propensity to rape and a more than moderate diet of coconut milk and santan that turns normal libido to an uncontrollable raging one!
April 9th, 2008 at 13: 12.01
my say.
jeffrey/lakilompat/hj angus/killer are serious about the happenings in this country.
however, it does not mean that by agreeing to “killer “, we are bn supporters, and i believe that neither is YB Lim anti disagreement.
YANG AMAT BAHAGIA TUN DR. MATHATIR MOHAMMAD.
1. Like him or hate him, Tun have done considerable developments to Malaysia. Look East Policy which Tun had envisaged and sets the country to be industrialised , brought much development with companies from Japan and Korea investing in Malaysia in the early years. We were solely depending on tin and rubber once upon a time.
2. Name me a country that is not corrupted, and i can name you many that are run corruptedly. It differs in the magnitude of corruption ONLY. not that i am condoning corruption, but corruption is as old as prostitution. it is whether it is acceptable level or otherwise. Remembered Tun was called Mr.5% those days, and remembered how he made tycoons of his cronies. among whom are some indians, chinese, malays and others. ( i think you know they are.)
3. Saudara Dato Seri Anwar Ibrahim and Yang Amat Berhormat Menteri Besar of Selangor, were products of the NEP. DSAI, was also the deputy premier , cabinet minister , and umno leader. If Tun had made mistakes, among them would have been DSAI, which is the premier in waiting of the Pakatan Raayat, which also happen to be partner of DAP. I still pose an unanswered question????, of how Keadilan would have that amount of monies to contest in this general election sans public appeal for funds, which DAP was desperately asking. THE PUBLIC SUPPORTED DAP WITH FUNDS.
4. Economic crisis of 1997, have shown what it takes of a leader to PEG THE RINGGIT TO THE DOLLAR. DSAI would have done the opposite. when the chips were “UP”, we recovered, credit must be given when credit is due. thats a fair accessment of the calibre of TUN. he gave IMF a fight , and he was right.
5. Singapore Bridge- it is the sovereign right of any country to build on its territory. Those who travels from jb to sq daily using the decade old causeway, would experience the jam, that pales kuala lumpur traffic queues. Crooked or whatever, it have to be stated that Malaysia does not compromise on her SOVEREIGN RIGHTS.
6. Without POLITICAL STABILITY, the social and others will crumble like falling dominoes. THOUGH , I do not agreed with the ISA, but those arrested under ISA in operasi lalang were again a mix of malays, chinese and indians. ( AMONG THEM YB LIM ). NO SPECIFIC RACE WAS TARGETTED for isa used. WHICH in the Hindraf scenerio, the five were Indian leaders. AND MAY I USE THIS BLOG, TO SUGGEST THAT YAB ABDULLAH BADAWI RELEASE THEM. this is one goodwill action, that the premier is so myopic that he is blinded. If the premier had released them before the general elections, the outcome of MARCH 8 WILL certainly be DIFFERENT.
yes, i am not ashamed to express that i Believe that YAB Tun had done great things and also developed Malaysia, in as much as he had done the country WRONG in his certain policies. BUT, abdullah and anwar ibrahim, were once part and parcel of the same block.
AND IF DAP can accept ANWAR being a changed man, WHY CANT DAP accept that TUN in his own way now, is changing what he did wrong once. Like the quota system in umno election and in speaking out for a stronger opposition.
neverheless, DAP too has its inconsitent, and i hope DAP will learn from the deraigned marriage in BA, and even YB LIM and YB KARPAL lost their seats .
i can only hope that the country goes into a TWO PARTY system, representing all Malaysians. and that is the way to go, BUT being fair to DAP, it can never form the government of the day unless it sheds its chinese champion campaign and THINK AND ACT MALAYSIAN.
as for abdullah badawi, i certainly agree with “killer” that he has some credits too. however, his implementation is doubtful. IF ABDULLAH HAS AGGRESSIVELY GOES FULL SWING INTO THE AGRICULTURAL SECTOR, in THE northern states and sarawak, we may not need to import basics like rice and sugar. HE SAW THE need to go for agriculture, but he lacks follow up. That ’s lacking management skill. some are born to be leaders, others to follow the leaders. abdullah badawi would have made a good deputy pm.
April 9th, 2008 at 13: 14.13
I second you Everbrigt. The rakyat should be given the right to choose the PM for Malaysia. Only then we can compete other developing countries . Otherwise its a never ending story. We have the resources and we can be 10times better off then Singapore provided we have the right people on top to manage them.
April 9th, 2008 at 13: 23.24
Latest malaysiakini’s report – “Chief Justice Abdul Hamid Mohamad today welcomed a recent call made by the de facto law minister for the government to apologise to the former Lord President Salleh Abas for his sacking in 1988” though final decision on the matter rest with the government.
Abdul Hamid today agreed to that notion, saying that the negative public perception on the institution was not a result of “what happened a few months ago, but an accumulation from two decades”.
He said this today in his speech at a three-day judges’ conference held in a hotel in Putrajaya. The conference is attended by almost 200 judges from the High Court, Court of Appeal and the Federal Court.
Abdul Hamid also agreed that a commission should be formed to undertake the task of appointing judges to the higher courts. However, again, he stressed that this was a decision for the government to make.
April 9th, 2008 at 14: 17.30
A country rich in natural resources and hard working and enterprising people will do well with leader/s with basic integrity, credibility, responsibility and accoutability.
As there are costs of political instability….there are also costs of political stability.
April 9th, 2008 at 14: 28.06
hehehe, ADAM YONG IBNI ABDULLAH,
i thought u said that u wont be back in this blog until the next g.e; not man enough to hold on to ur words ? and since u have offended me, i will make it a personal vendetta to ridicule all your posting whether they makes sense or not, nah,just playing with u.
however,here’s where u are wrong…in an unbiased arguement:
u said :
“Look East Policy which Tun had envisaged and sets the country to be industrialised , brought much development with companies from Japan and Korea investing in Malaysia…”
—however,it has only benifited a few fianacialy,and in general,failed to improve the living standard of Malaysian as whole. during his time,we have became literally known as “a dollar a day” factory workers. in fact,our mentality we are more advance in the 70′ (relative to other nations) than we are i the 90′. compare the b&w movies that were made in the 70’s and 90’s.
the concept of a national car,the potron, is conceived to provide affordable cars to malaysian due to that fact cars are quite expensive in the 80’s. however,halfway down the road,money became involved,greed kicks in and personal interest were at stake. 20+ years latter,it is due to proton that average malaysian cannot have cheap,and hi-quality cars. instead what we have is crappy affordable cars,or on the other hand,expensive,artificially jack-uped priced imports,with safety feature considered standard to-day in eu countries.
not forgetting oil company,telcos.etc…etc.
=============================
then you said:
“Name me a country that is not corrupted, and i can name you many that are run corruptedly”
—suisse,germany,….errrr…..wait. this question reminds of the conversation i had with my primary school teacher once.
me: why cant i eat in class,r-beng is eating in class,and so is many other kids i class.
teacher: yes, alot of kids are eating in class,but it’s still wrong,and just b’cos thare are lots of bad kids in the class,it still didnt justify ur wrong doings…..
============================
“Economic crisis of 1997, have shown what it takes of a leader to PEG THE RINGGIT TO THE DOLLAR”
—no comment for this one,as i still didnt know that reason why it happened in the 1st place. why are we targetted ? enlight me for those who does…
=============================
u proceed to say :
“Without POLITICAL STABILITY, the social and others will crumble like falling dominoes. THOUGH , I do not agreed with the ISA, but those arrested under ISA in operasi lalang were again a mix of malays, chinese and indians”
—seems like u had just justified the use of i-s-a.
and sounds like since it has been used against all ppl,it is fair then…oh btw,the phrase “political stability”,does it refers to the stability of the ruling coalition or nation as whole ?
=============================
finally:
“BUT being fair to DAP, it can never form the government of the day unless it sheds its chinese champion campaign and THINK AND ACT MALAYSIAN.”
—it seems to me like u are very narrow minded person with a very narrow p.o.v on the word “democracy”…oh,…wait,i forgot your last post…
April 9th, 2008 at 15: 06.47
To ADAM YONG IBNI ABDULLAH
I’ve decided to harp some of your points stated abt an hour ago.
Respond to point 1:-
Samsung has pull out plan to set up plant in Penang due to corruption by the Gerakan state government. I still remember during the millennium celebration at Gurney Drive, the defeated mickey mouse Teng Hock Nam was there to officiate for the Millenium celebration. He proudly said, “Malaysia Boleh, Penang Boleh, Tsu Koon Boleh. Now is a complete shame majority of the Penangites spit & slap Gerakan, it is a complete annilihation for this stupid mouse.
Respond to Point 2:-
Look at Tan Sri Vincent Tan, if you are close to him, you probably get a “Tan Sri” title easily. The Berjaya Group open many business overseas, this include casinos etc. but most of it failed because it uses cheap or low quality materials.
Respond to Point 3:-
Foreigner sponsor perhaps. Do not underestimate the people power. DSAI has many loyal followers when “Keadilan” is formed. Who will not fight for injustice when the location is not been contested by DAP or PAS? Do not underestimate the people power. Don’t forget certain location are not been contested because the budget is tight for these parties.
Respond to point 4:-
If DSAI did so, many ministers & UMNO cronies will have to bow to foreigner firm, the rakyat will benefit but at the expense of the corrupted government officials & cronies.
April 9th, 2008 at 16: 02.05
In response to some of the posts saying AAB lacked the courage to rein in the more extreme elements of UMNO, let me offer my analysis. And before going into details, I would like to state that this is merely my analysis and should be interpreted as an endorsement of AAB’s actions.
Let’s rewind to 2004 when AAB rode on the feel-good factor of his “Reform” manifesto and crushed the PR parties in the 11GE.
A lot of Malaysians are critical of AAB’s failure in fulfilling his election promises and angry that the Reform seems have derailed. I think this is a very valid complaint and that this sentiment was made very clear in the results of 12GE when the electorate voted with their feet.
But let me provide another perspective of this situation. AAB certainly ushered in a new era of openness and democratization for Malaysia but tolerating and allowing dissent and freer (though not free) speech. Of course as we have seen, this opened the Pandora’s Box that eventually led to the loss of 2/3 majority for BN.
When AAB took over, he started with two initiatives. First is anti-corruption drive and the 2nd, canceling of mega projects. But what he failed to anticipate was the strength of the reaction against his initiatives. The problem was that he inherited TDM’s cabinet populated by dinosaurs and warlord politicians with strong grassroots support and long service. His initiatives met resistance even within his cabinet and there was a loud protestation from the warlords-infested UMNO. Taken aback, AAB decided to consolidate his power on UMNO and the govt before embarking on the anti-corruption drive. That is when the whole thing fizzled out.
Then his efforts to cancel or postpone mega projects also came to a grinding stop when the grassroots and business interests protested loudly. The rumblings were so loud that AAB announced a Rm 1 Billion package to cools things down during the UMNO General Assembly.
Knowing that he lacks the power to rein in the rogues, AAB did not crack the whip when people started to utter racially sensitive statements. He was also powerless against powerful warlords such as the Jasin MP and the one from Port Klang the now departed Zakaria.
One can argue that he should have acted firmly. We can also accuse him of putting self-interest first. However, a wise man would bide his time as acting too early would result in political hara-kiri.
When TDM first came to power, he was also on very shaky grounds. Only when he had the complete control of the party, did Mahatir started to make the changes he wanted to. Political strength is vital in making change, especially so in the case of AAB when he wanted to reform and dismantle the old corrupted politico-economic nexus and structures.
So I feel some of the criticisms against AAB to be unjustly harsh given the limitations he faced. This also had to be looked in background of the legacy that TDM left him.
April 9th, 2008 at 16: 04.19
Dear Allasstra.
you have the right to go on personal vendetta. thats your absolute right. i am not stopping you. i am glad you remembered the posting of “reversed spellings and jumbled spellings”. and if that pleases you and the webmaster tolerate such. thats democracy to you.
rest my case.
April 9th, 2008 at 16: 14.11
Talking about lack of follow up of government projects that some of you had brought up, this is my response.
In almost across the board, implementations of government projects have improved by leaps and bounds. There have been a lot of changes in the way the projects are managed and the result is evident if you cared to look. Unfortunately, some of the failures came to surface during AAB’s time are actually from the previous regime and Pak Lah had been wrongly blamed.
People talk about corridors but most have no clue about the details on their objectives and philosophy. That Petronas, Sime, Khazanah and others were assigned as project managers is to overcome the problem of follow up and execution. Those who are familiar would know that these corridors are far better managed and would be delivered as promised as long as politics do not interfere (unfortunately NCER and ECER will be affected due to 12GE results).
Why are we having the cases of sub-standard work and delays in government projects ? One major reason is none other than Anwar Ibrahim. You see government projects are managed PWD but when Anwar was in the government, he completely changed the system to ensure that the ministries themselves award and manage the projects. As such all projects controlled by Education and Finance ministries were taken out of PWD’s hands. That is why we have seen so many failures of these projects. Almost all projects that failed were awarded and managed by these ministries. Why did Anwar change the system ? Well, I am also keen to know the answer and do drop me an email if and when Anwar answers that question.
April 9th, 2008 at 16: 21.15
Killer you are suggesting Pak Lah as the young Wu emperor in “Han Wu Da Di” (a chinese epic). When young Wu become emperor the throne is govern by Empress Dowager (Late emperor mother). The young emperor wanted to change alot such as the constitution set by his late ancestor. But these attempt were stopped by Empress Dowager and she branded the young emperor as young & naive.
This old man Pak Lah is different, the problem is not with Pak Lah it is with Khairy, Kamaludin and Patrick Lim (who are they?). The ppl surround Pak Lah are liars, Khairy married Pak Lah daughter become infamy son in law, Kamaludin awarded billion of dollar project to his company SCOMI without open tender, and Patrick Lim awarded Penang Global Comercial Center project when the state government have not approved the project. Well, Pak Lah is just a poor man surrounded by liars, when time goes on, he already blind and deaf, he must talk what others tell him to.
When this happen to Pak Lah, he is no longer fit to lead the people. A leader must lead himself before he can start leading the nation.
April 9th, 2008 at 16: 26.05
I thought we had done with comparing Singapore vs Malaysia….
Guys, such simplistic comparison neither fair nor a smart thing to do. These two countries though similar culturally, have a very different demographics,economic and ethnic make up.
lakilompat:
I am curious. What is your source of the cancellation of Samsung’s test and assembly plant alleged due to Gerakan’s corruption ? For all I know this is still in discussion stage.
April 9th, 2008 at 16: 40.45
lakilompat.
As i had always stated even in past posting, you are among serious contributors to blog.limkitsiang.
a
And there are two sides to the coin.
in reply to your arguement on point 1.
THE LOOK EAST policy was initiated by Yab Tun, when Malaysia was JUST developing. I was a beneficiary of such policy, and i had the chance to be sent to Japan for training. Besides manufacturing, that provide employment for thousands of Malaysians, it also opens up to the work culture of the Japanese and Koreans. Especially so, the Japanese that could within a short span developed Japan into an industrialised and developed nation after world war II. I was with Kumpulan Fima and we set up the first Japanese Retail Store in Dayabumi , and what you see today is Jusco. Many like yaohan, kimisawa, have introduced new retail concepts to Malaysian, at that time, when emporium was the in th