Archive for April 7th, 2010

APCO row brings House down

Parliament had 2b adjourned abruptly bcos of breakdown of proceedings from BN attempt 2misuse majority 2refer PAS MP 2clmtt of privileges
04/07/2010 05:31 PM

All bcos Mahfuz said UMNO APCO, APCO UMNO I warned that if BN is allwd 2abuse its majority chaos will b order of day in Msian Parl
04/07/2010 05:35 PM

Parliamentary proceedings jammed 4over an hr bcos of unprecedented n improper abuse of BN majority. Standing Orders thrown into garbage bin
04/07/2010 05:46 PM

Unending arguments going on between PR MPs n chair since resumption with deputy speaker wan junaidi losing control of dewan proceedings
04/07/2010 05:53 PM

BN MPs yelling n banging table from their seats I urged Parliament shd drawback from precipice n not 2plunge Parliament into abyss of chaos
04/07/2010 05:59 PM
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Five issues for Najib to prove he is serious about “inclusive growth” to Sabahans

Finally, I want to end with a special reference to Sabah as ordinary Sabahans feel that they had been marginalised and left out of the national development and progress for since the formation of Malaysia some five decades ago.

If the Prime Minister is serious and sincere about inclusive growth, the Federal government should make Sabahans feel a full and equal part of 1Malaysia,and I recommend five priority areas for its immediate attention and action:

  1. Satisfactory resolution to the long-standing problem of illegal immigrants in Sabah, causing the Sabah population to multiply from some 400,000 during the formation of Malaysia in 1963 to over three million today. During his visit to Sabah last September, the Prime Minister had promised resolution of the illegal immigrant problem and this seems to have been completely forgotten.

  2. Eradication of poverty in Sabah. Barisan Nasional had promised to eradicate poverty in 2000 but it is now 2010 and Sabah has the highest poverty rate in the country.

  3. Massive development of basic infrastructure in Sabah to provide roads, piped water, electricity and broadband to Sabahans.

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Lowest Chinese and Indian representation in the civil service in the 53-year history of Malaysia – 5.8% Chinese and 4% Indians as at end of 2009

The other two factors which can cause the failure of NEM as identified by the NEAC are:

  • Reform programmes have often met with strong resistance from powerful and vested interests, which subsequently forced their derailment; (Perkasa the extremist right-wing racist organization is one such “vested interests”) and

  • The implementing authorities failed to stay the course, either due to a lack of political will or inherently administrative weaknesses.

Although NEM proposes a “big push” in policy actions and initiatives to kick-start the transformation process, what ‘big results” have been achieved in the 1Malaysia concept in the past one year?

How can the public have confidence in the Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) when there is no seriousness or commitment by Barisan Nasional leaders in the 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP), as demonstrated by the Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin who had declared himself “Malay first and Malaysian second”?

It is sad and tragic that despite my challenge, not only Umno Ministers ran for cover, Ministers from MCA, Gerakan, MIC and other BN component parties also dare not declare that they are Malaysians first and their race whether Malay, Chinese, Indian, Kadazan or Iban second in keeping with the 1Malaysia concept.
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In sympathy with Matthias Chang

By Martin Jalleh
(Martin Jalleh (MJ) responds to a letter purportedly written by Matthias Chang (MC) before he chose to go to jail after being charged for contempt of court by the Kuala Lumpur High Court.)

MC: Message from Matthias Chang. To My Dearest Friends and Colleagues

MJ: Dear Matthias, I was shocked that you have been charged for contempt of court. You must in synergy with your former boss who was most contemptuous of the courts!

MC: I have fought against injustice throughout my life and as a practising lawyer

MJ: Perhaps it would be more accurate to say throughout your pre-political-secretary life? The rest of your life you have been faithfully fighting for your former Master, Mahathir.

MC: …upholding justice when there are abuses by the judiciary
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Does Najib Really Care for the Country?

by Kee Thuan Chye

Just the other day, I was engaged in a debate with a couple of friends about whether Najib Razak cares for the country.

They were insistent that he doesn’t. They reasoned that he was interested only in preserving his selfish interests. That included making as much as he could from his position as Prime Minister.

I rejoined by saying that surely, no one would want to take on the stresses of being the leader of a country merely for the sake of self-aggrandisement and material gain. He must also want to do something for the country, like taking it to greatness as he perceives it. Even if we don’t agree with his vision, the fact that he has one indicates some kind of caring. I said I found it hard to believe that any leader who had some decency in him would just reap whatever he wanted from the country and be content to let it go to ruin.

In Najib’s case specifically, I said he must have some primordial connection to this land he was born in, some love for tanah tumpah darahnya. He must subscribe to the notion of this being tanah Melayu, the land of his forefathers and his people, the only such land in the world. What’s more, he has pedigree. He is the son of a former prime minister. Would any son of a country’s former leader want to do worse than his father and be compared unfavourably?
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