“Najib: Make voice of moderation louder” – this is yesterday’s front-page headline of UMNO-owned New Straits Times reporting on the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak opening speech of the inaugural International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates on Tuesday.
Najib should heed his own call “to make voice of moderation louder” by declaring the transformation of the UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia into the Voice of Reason and Moderation, ceasing henceforth to be the Voice of Enmity, Malice, Unreason and Extremism which had caused the degeneration of Najib’s 33 months as Prime Minister into the country’s most divisive, divided and polarized times both in racial and religious terms as compared to the first 33 months of the country’s first five Prime Ministers – Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein Onn, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah.
If Najib is not prepared to make his “voice of moderation louder” and make a commitment to transform Utusan Malaysia from being the Voice of Extremism to become the Voice of Moderation, then Malaysians are entitled to ask what is the real purpose of the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates which would have cost the government a fortune to host.
Najib would be guilty of not complying with his own prescription to the International Conference, i.e. that it is time for the masses to stand up and say to the extremists “with a single breath a firm and resounding no” – reducing the whole conference into an international joke and a farce!
There is another pressing test for Najib on whether the Prime Minister can claim the mantle of a “moderate” – whether he is prepared to renounce his past as an extremist and all vestiges of such extremism especially his extremist speech at the 2010 UMNO General Assembly, by retracting his “crushed bodies, lives lost” declaration (“walau berkecai tulang dan juga badan, walau bercerai jasad dari nyawa”) to defend UMNO from losing power in the next general elections.
If he is to qualify as a “Voice of Moderation”, Najib should categorically and unequivocally make an immediate and public commitment that he, UMNO and the Barisan Nasional will peacefully and with open heart accept the verdict of Malaysians in the 13th General Elections, including a change of government in Putrajaya with
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim taking over as the seventh Prime Minister of Malaysia!
If Najib is not prepared to make these two declarations – to transform Utusan Malaysia into the “Voice of Moderation” and to peacefully accept the verdict of the forthcoming general elections including the establishment of a Pakatan Rakyat Federal Government, then his claims of “moderation” are completely suspect.
It is more than just coincidence that the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates took place at the same time as the Suhakam public inquiry into the 709 Bersih 2.0 public gathering last year, with the Bersih 2.0 chair person Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan making the very serious accusation against the Prime Minister of “endorsing” threats and criminal intimidation against her.
She recounted her “horrifying” experiences when her personal safety was “intimidated by state actors and non-state actors alike”, with Najib lending support to a silat group Pertubuhan Seni Silat Lincah Malaysia which had threatened to take on Bersih 2.0 if its rally was not called off.
Najib had labeled Ambiga as a “threat to Islam” and “enemy of the country”, while she was accused of being supportive of apostates, with calls to strip her of her citizenship and a campaign of demonization against Bersih by state-controlled media.
She said: “I believe all this was condoned by the government”.
Malay-rights group Perkasa had burned pictures of her and widely distributed leaflets stating ‘Awas! Ambiga wanita Hindu yang berbahaya’.
Perkasa called her a traitor and made veiled threat when their chief Ibrahim Ali warned the Chinese against joining the rally, asking them to stay home and “stock up on food”, in reference to the curfew declared during the 1969 racial riots.
The mainstream media blatantly accused Bersih 2.0 of being a front for Christian, Jewish and foreign groups.
Up to now, no action had been taken against these criminal intimidation against Ambiga and Bersih 2.0.
Is Najib prepared to publicly apologise to Ambiga and Bersih 2.0 for these extremist actions to demonstate his seriousness in calling for moderates to unite against all forms of extremism whether in Malaysia or outside?
#1 by k1980 on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 6:56 am
Ah Jib Gor, according to Chua Soi Lek, the 1MCA Micro Credit For Youth is offering RM20,000 loans payable within five years at 7% interest.
But Ah Jib Gor, I prefer to apply for your mamak cow loan package, which is much better at RM250,000,000 at 2% interest and not payable as soon as I declare bankruptcy.
So Ah Jib Gor, I look forward to your approval of my RM250,000,000 loan request .
#2 by undertaker888 on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 7:41 am
Who are they trying to fool? Can’t even fool roastmama, he wants to con the world. anyway, it is International CON-ference movement as it says in the title. He is there to do only one thing he does best. CON job.
#3 by k1980 on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 7:50 am
Look at Abdul Gani Patail, why is he smiling so broadly?
Bcos he will be getting RM80,000 a month
http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/malaysia/article/fatter-paycheque-for-top-officials-sparks-anger-in-civil-service/
#4 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 8:54 am
///Malaysians are entitled to ask what is the real purpose of the International Conference on Global Movement of Moderates which would have cost the government a fortune to host/// – YB Kit
The purpose is (besides personal prestige) to court votes from Malaysians generally and UMNO’s traditional Malay/Muslim constituency (more specifically the swing voters for the coming GE). This way to use the international stage to enhance prestige for domestic political agenda has always been expedient and useful to our ruling elites. On question of how & why: Since 911 there is a rise in Islamophobia. Whilst Samuel Huntington explains the growing divide between certain segment of Muslims and Westerners, we have here the PM who identifies the “real” problem of the divide between moderate and extremist worldwide thus carving out a global niche that Malaysia has something to offer by way of solution to the World’s problems- never mind at Malaysia’s own backyard the divide widens by extremist voices that the PM neither contradicted nor slammed, let alone sometimes even lend his own voice in support as Ambiga complained to the Human Rights Commission!
#5 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 9:08 am
The contradiction between what is happening (rise of extremism here) and what the PM claims (“Malaysia had long been synonymous not with extremism but with moderation, inclusivity, tolerance and even acceptance”) is not just pointed out by an opposition leader (LKS) but the apolitical Catholic Bishop Dr Paul Tan Chee Ing who was quoted to have commented, “citizens of goodwill would not hesitate to support Prime Minister Najib Razak’s push for moderation if the latter himself was unequivocal in matching deed to word”. Even a social activist none other than daughter of Perkasa’s patron (Marina Mahathir) Mohamed posed the question asked by many Malaysians, “why did a government which espoused “moderation” allow “racial supremacists” who are willing to not only target “the other” but also people within their own race who did not agree with their views”? Simple answer is preservation of political power.
#6 by dagen on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 9:19 am
We have utusan and the other msm to thank when umno is finally ousted. The people’s disapproval of umno was wickedly turned into a burning feeling of hate and utter disgust by these media. We dislike umno for all that it has done. Now we hate umno and want ABU come about may as a result of the msm’s efforts. Msm is really an enemy of umno and it is operating inside umno’s border.
#7 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 9:19 am
The ‘not so simple’ answer lies in the nature of traditional communal politics of race this country has to bear last 5 decades. One cannot implement moderation and 1 Malaysia’s inclusivity when the main BN’s component parties are race based and their leader UMNO fighting exclusively for Malay/Muslim rights and wooing Malay/Muslim voters, with statements made and policies implemented favouring one race against the rest, contradicting the very notion of inclusivity – synonymous with tolerance and fairness implied within the meaning of the word “moderate”!
#8 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 10:06 am
But never mind. Our PM is progressive as he listens to professional image consultants whose premise is that in today’s politics the game changer is image where perception is more important than reality to win votes and election! If there were contradictions between words and deeds, never mind – the idea is to accentuate the positive & gloss over and down play the negative. Under advice from these spin masters to be “economical with the truth”, UK’s ex premier Tony Blair, distorted to public what the British intelligence services actually said about the threat from Iraq in order to manufacture a case for supporting US/Bush military campaign against Iraq! However the problem with image consultants is this: when image becomes more important than policy and implementation thereof, people who cannot be fooled all the time get even more skeptical and disillusioned with politicians, which is an invitation to a backlash! What Malaysia needs is pragmatic inclusive policies to unite its citizens to confront the economic challenge of the uncertain future not the services of image consultants, appointed at great cost to the country, just to prop up support for the political survival of incumbent party.
#9 by yhsiew on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 10:26 am
How can Najib advocate moderation and at the same condone extremism in the UMNO-owned Utusan Malaysia? That is plain hypocrisy.
#10 by cemerlang on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 10:32 am
Staying with gangsters, loan sharks, senseless people should be a real threat. They stay together side by side with law enforcement officers and law abiding citizens. Threat ? What threat ? Bad people. Good people. Living side by side for 50 over years. No threat. No threat at all.
#11 by yhsiew on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 10:38 am
Oops #9!
“at the same” should be “at the same TIME”.
#12 by jus legitimum on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 12:46 pm
Most people have become disillusioned with BN policies because their leaders are hypocrites.Mereka selalu cakap tidak serupa bikin.
#13 by sotong on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 1:34 pm
Moderation?
As long as their narrow interests are protected…they don’t care!
#14 by Jeffrey on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 2:43 pm
I just wish to add that image consultant’s suggestions are helpful if the gap between the image and reality is not that wide. If it were very wide, then the greater one massages and tries improve positive perception, the greater the collective anger and frustration are rivetted on the negative reality and people become even more aware of the glaring hypocrisy with a net result of a voter backlash instead of favour!
#15 by good coolie on Thursday, 19 January 2012 - 11:41 pm
Jib Anna (equivalent to Ah Jib Gor, I believe), How can you be called moderate when you seize bibles just because they contain certain Arabic words used by Christians and Muslims in common? Muslims cannot freely chose to leave their religion – they would be subject to detention pending re-education. PUNISHING people for certain offences like sodomy, oral sex, soliciting a women to commit adultery are indeed extreme these days. Better to advise and counsel than to punish.
Jib Anna, if we Malaysians are so extreme, “boleh kah ketam suruh anak jalan lurus?”
#16 by Loh on Friday, 20 January 2012 - 12:14 am
///Najib had labeled Ambiga as a “threat to Islam” and “enemy of the country”, while she was accused of being supportive of apostates, with calls to strip her of her citizenship and a campaign of demonization against Bersih by state-controlled media.
She said: “I believe all this was condoned by the government”.
Malay-rights group Perkasa had burned pictures of her and widely distributed leaflets stating ‘Awas! Ambiga wanita Hindu yang berbahaya’.
Perkasa called her a traitor and made veiled threat when their chief Ibrahim Ali warned the Chinese against joining the rally, asking them to stay home and “stock up on food”, in reference to the curfew declared during the 1969 racial riots.///–Kit
How can Ambiga be a threat to the country when she only wanted free and fair election so that Malaysia can live up to the expectation of a democracy? The fact that Najib is against the call of BERSIH and he does not respect what BERSIH stands for shows that Najib does not accept what democracy entails. Thus Najib does not practice true democracy. That was why he would not even confirm that he would accept the results of the next general election if he had to vacate his position as head of government.
Najib labeled Ambiga a ‘threat to Islam’ simply because she defended an accused Muslim in court on religious issue. By his statement Najib displayed his displeasure at a non-Muslim lawyer represented a Muslim on religious matter. Since Najib considers defense lawyer an enemy of the state he cannot be a moderate.
Perkasa shows that it is an extremist organization and yet Najib bows to Its wishes. How can a Prime Minister claim to be a moderate when he bowed to extremists’ demands, even if he had not covertly encouraged them?
#17 by Loh on Friday, 20 January 2012 - 12:23 am
Racism to anybody outside Malaysia is extremism. Najib considers institutionalized racism tempered with moderation is moderate. To him centre left is centre. Yet Najib could not ensure that even racism in the country stays moderate.