Archive for July, 2009
Pas win with bigger majority in Manek Urai by-election will be a clear and unmistakable signal to Najib that his Hundred Day performance and goodies are just not good enough and people expect meaningful reforms in his next 100 Days
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Monday, 13 July 2009
I just returned from Manek Urai in Kelantan where I attended the last Pakatan Rakyat ceramah at Kampong Perial last night, which saw a record ceramah crowd for the by-election campaign.
The prognosis is most favourable and a Pas win with bigger majority in Manek Urai by-election than the general elections last year will be a clear and unmistakable signal to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in two senses:
- That together with the people in the West Coast in Peninsular Malaysia as demonstrated in the three by-elections after Najib became Prime Minister, i.e. Bukit Gantang, Bukit Selambu and Penanti, the people in the East Coast stand as one in their solid support for Pakatan Rakyat in the nation-wide demand for political change; and
- That Najib’s Hundred Day performance and goodies are just not good enough and people expect meaningful reforms in his next 100 Days.
The voters of Manek Urai have a historic mission tomorrow. In the 1978 general elections, when PAS was nearly smashed to smithereens by Umno winning only two State Assembly seats in Kelantan after Pas was thrown out of Barisan Nasional and a period of emergency rule, Manek Urai was one of the two.
In 1978, the voters of Manek Urai were the “saviours” of PAS but tomorrow, the voters of Manek Urai have the mission to be the “saviours” of Malaysia in paving the way for another historic political tsunami in the next general elections for the ending of Umno political hegemony and Barisan Nasional rule at the national level.
Najib should not try to re-invent the wheel on KPIs for the police to reduce crime as all he needs to do is to use the 2005 Police Royal Commission Report to set the KPI benchmarks in the fight against crime
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, should not try to re-invent the wheel on Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the police to reduce crime as all he needs to do is to use the 2005 Police Royal Commission Report to set the KPI benchmarks in the fight against crime.
In his one-hour interview aired live on TV last night, Najib tried but failed to respond to criticism that he is not serious about combating crime, although he had listed it as the first of the six key areas he want his administration to focus on.
Najib claimed that with the six key result areas spelt out, the government would be more focused as the yardsticks had already been identified.
He added:
“For example, in reducing the crime rate, we have to identify exactly which sort of crime, and by how many per cent we want to reduce it.
“We have to set a high target, but not too high that it is unrealistic. If the target is too low, then the people would think the KPIs are meaningless.”
Former Chief Justice, Tun Mohammed Dzaiddin and Tun Hanif Omar (who were Chairman and Deputy Chairman respectively) and the other 15 Commissioners of the Police Royal Commission set up by former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet’s decision on PPSMI last Wednesday is as disastrous as the Cabinet decision in 2002 to rush headlong into implementing PPSMI from Std. One for all national, Chinese and Tamil primary schools without any preparation or research whatsoever
The Cabinet decision last Wednesday on PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik – teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) is as disastrous as the Cabinet decision in 2002 to rush headlong into implementing PPSMI from Std. One for all national, Chinese and Tamil primary schools without any preparation or research whatsoever.
Now, Deputy Prime Minister and Education Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in justifying the Cabinet’s latest decision on PPSMI has made the shocking revelation that before the PPSMI was launched six years ago, there had been neither discussion or approval by the Cabinet nor discussion with the parents.
Several current Ministers were in the 2002 Mahathir Cabinet, including the present Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, DPM Muhyiddin himself, Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein and Information, Communication and Culture Minister, Datuk Seri Rais Yatim, and they as well as the leaderships of Umno, MCA, Gerakan, MIC, SUPP and other Barisan Nasional component parties should all explain how they could permit such a far-reaching decision affecting the future generation of Malaysians to be taken in so haphazard and irresponsible a manner!
I agree that the Cabinet decision on PPSMI last Wednesday came as “a bombshell to many, especially those in the urban areas”.
Hishammuddin should explain why he is supporting the renewal of Musa Hassan as IGP who had led a losing war against crime despite trebling of police allocations to RM8 billion in 9th Malaysia Plan as compared to 8MP
Posted by Kit in Crime, Najib Razak, Police on Monday, 13 July 2009
In his Hundred Day address yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak identified six key areas for his administration to focus on, viz: crime prevention, combating corruption, providing greater access to quality and affordable education, improving the quality of life for the poor, improving rural infrastructure and upgrading public transportation in the medium term.
It is shocking that after 100 days as Prime Minister, Najib as nothing whatsoever to say on two of the six key areas of his premiership, namely crime prevention and combating corruption, sending out the unmistakable message that they rate very low in his order of priorities and debunking the claim that they rank as the top two items of the six key areas for his administration to focus on.
Despite giving a “blank” message of what he intend to do about fighting crime, the Inspector-General of Police Musa Hassan could join in the paeans of praise for the new Prime Minister, as Musa is quoted by New Sunday Times today, saying:
“The police have done their best to tackle crime in the country and we will not let up in our efforts. From January until now, crime has been reduced by four per cent. What’s important is to address street crime such as snatch thefts and wayside robberies.” Read the rest of this entry »
Chaining The Children of the Poor
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Education on Monday, 13 July 2009
by M. Bakri Musa
The ancient Chinese bound the feet of their baby daughters so they would grow up with deformed tiny feet, thus limiting their mobility and participation in life outside the little world of their homes. These women would then be totally dependent on their men.
In rescinding the policy of teaching science and mathematics in English, the government is likewise binding the intellectual development of our children. They and future generations of Malaysians would grow up with warped intellect. They would then be totally dependent on the government, just as ancient Chinese women with tiny feet were on their men.
My friend and fellow commentator Azly Rahman has a more apt and colorful local metaphor; we are condemning future generations to the Pekan Rabu economy, capable only of selling pirated versions of Michael Jackson albums. That would be the extent of their entrepreneurial prowess and creative flair. They are only subsistence entrepreneurs and ‘copy cat’ creators.
Make no mistake about it. The government’s professed concerns for the poor and those from rural areas notwithstanding, reversing the current policy would adversely and disproportionately impact them. The rich and those in the cities have a ready escape; the rich through private English classes, urban children from the already high levels of English in their community. Read the rest of this entry »
Will Najib call for general elections in November this year if he could crank up his popularity rating to 80 to 85%?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak on Monday, 13 July 2009
I am quite intrigued by the following Sunday Star report “11 goodies at 11.11am on July 11” on Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Hundred Day Address as Prime Minister yesterday, viz:
KUALA LUMPUR: It was the Prime Minister’s 100th day in office but it was the number 11 that took prominence.
His first 100 days fell on July 11. He announced 11 people-friendly measures, starting his speech at 11.11am.
Two minutes before that, Najib was already on stage to deliver his speech.
He smiled when the master of ceremony politely called on him to hang on for a while because, said the MC in jest, the speech text had gone missing.
At exactly 11.11am, Najib started delivering his 50-minute speech.
It would appear that “11” is Najib’s favourite or even magic number, just as it is known that “13” is the favourite number of former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi. Read the rest of this entry »
No Malaysian will be convinced that Najib is serious about fighting crime unless he appoints a new Inspector-General of Police with the primary task to roll back the tide of crime in the past five years
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Saturday, 11 July 2009
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, today announced a slew of goodies to mark his 100th day in office, after his image received a tremendous boost with the recent Merdeka Centre opinion poll recording that his popularity rating had rocketted to 65% as compared to 45% a month after he became Prime Minister and 42 per cent just before taking over the premiership from Tun Abdullah on April 3, 2009.
Today’s basket of goodies, with promises of more to come, have not been able however to duplicate the national euphoria and feel good atmosphere which former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had been able to conjure up in his First 100 Days without any Hundred-Day gimmicks and goodies whatsoever.
In the final analysis, the test of Najib’s premiership will not be in the slew of goodies but in his performance and delivery of promises including in the six key areas he cited, namely
- The prevention of crime;
- The fight against corruption;
- Access to quality education;
- The improvement of the living standards for the lower income group;
- Improvement of rural infrastructure;
- Improvement of public transportation.
Conspicuously missing is the centrality of the challenge to make all Malaysians one united people 52 years after Merdeka and 46 years after the formation of Malaysia with Sabah and Sarawak.
Read the rest of this entry »
MCA Senators owe nation and Malaysians fulsome apologies for turning Senate into a rubbish dump for political rejects and has-beens
Posted by Kit in MCA, Parliament on Saturday, 11 July 2009
In the shortened four-day Senate meeting this week, the only mark MCA Senators have made is their protest and demand that I apologise to the Senate for calling the House “a rubbish dump”.
MCA Senators, Datuk Wong Siong Hwee and Datuk Yip Kim Fook, staged a duet in the Senate last Wednesday in their protest at my remarks, with the former declaring in a floursh: “Lim has insulted us and is unfair to all of us. The Senate is not a market place. He is an irresponsible leader.”
Wong and Yip have only confirmed the lowly place the Senate has sunk 52 years after Merdeka as they insulted themselves by proving that the Senate had indeed become a “political rubbish dump”.
They even tried to drag the first DAP Senator, Tunku Abdul Aziz into the picture in their duet with Wong telling Tunku Aziz: “He has not only called us rubbish, but had also called you garbage”.
What a low and cheap shot which could only emanate from the rubbish dump!
Read the rest of this entry »
Razaleigh – NEP has expired. Time for New Deal
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Saturday, 11 July 2009
Speech by Tengku Razaleigh at HELP University College, KL; July 10, 2009
-
Thank you for inviting me to address you. It’s a pleasure to be here, and to learn from you. You have asked me to talk about Najib’s First 100 Days, and this lecture is in a series called Straight Talk. I shall indeed speak plainly and directly.
-
Let me begin by disappointing you. I am not going to talk about Najib’s First 100 Days because it makes little sense to do so.
-
Our governments are brought to power for five year terms through general elections. The present government was constituted after March 8, 2008 and Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak’s tenure as Prime Minister resulted from a so-called “smooth transfer of power” between the previous Prime Minister and himself that took a somewhat unsmooth twelve months to carry out. During those months, Najib took on the de facto leadership role domestically while Abdullah warmed our international ties. The first 100 days of this government went by unremarked sometime in June last year.
Tee Keat and Tsu Koon should publicly tender two apologies respectively for MCA and Gerakan – for support in 2002 for disastrous Cabinet decision to implement PPSMI from Std One and their support last Wednesday for another half-baked decision
MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and Gerakan President Tan Sri Dr. Koh Tsu Koon should publicly tender two apologies respectively for MCA and Gerakan, firstly for their Ministers’ support in 2002 for the disastrous Cabinet decision to implement PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik – teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) for all national, Chinese and Tamil primary schools from Std One and secondly, for their support last Wednesday for another disastrous half-baked Cabinet decision on PPSMI to make millions of students “guinea pigs” twice over.
In response to strong opposition and criticisms for the inflexible and unprofessional Cabinet decision on Wednesday to revert back to Bahasa Malaysia in the teaching of mathematics and science for Forms 1 and 4 from 2012, Ong immediately came out with the clarification that the MCA is for the continued use of English as a medium of instruction for mathematics and science for Forms 4 and 5 from 2012.
But Ong’s statement is only reported in the Chinese media (given front-page headline treatment) and conspicuously missing in the English and Bahasa Malaysia press, including the MCA newspaper The Star!
Read the rest of this entry »
Part 2 – Gobbledegook and regurgitation in the written judgments of the Court of Appeal in Zambry v Nizar: Postscript – Zainun Ali JCA’s judgment
By NH Chan
Postscript
On Tuesday, July 7 2009 I posted an article under the above title on the web with various news portals. At that time I only have the written judgments of two of the judges Raus Sharif and Ahmad Maarop JJCA. I have just received the third judgment that of Zainun Ali JCA from Mr. Edmund Bon of loyarburok.com through Mr. Ngan Siong Hing of Ipoh for which I am most grateful. Below is my critique of the written judgment of Zainun Ali JCA.
The points that really matter
As I have said it before in the first part of this article, there are only two points that really matter in the appeal of the case in question. They involve the reading of two clauses in Article 16 of the Perak Constitution and an understanding of what the clauses mean. A very experienced judge, the late Lord Justice Salmon in a talk which he gave to young members of the English Bar (Some Thoughts on the Traditions of the English Bar) said:
…..remember this, in few cases, however complex, is there usually more than one point that matters. Very seldom are there more than two and never, well hardly ever, more than three. Discover the points that really matter. Stick to them and discard the rest.
Actually, Salmon U was revealing to budding advocates the mind of a judge. The young advocates are informed, before they embark on their career, that a judge makes his decision by discovering the point that really matters or, exceptionally, the points that really matter. This revelation should place aspiring advocates on the right direction to becoming good advocates.
Can Najib’s upsurge in popularity on his 100th Day be sustained with a BN victory in Manek Urai by-election and is he confident enough to seek a motion of confidence when Parliament reconvenes on Oct 19?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Friday, 10 July 2009
Tomorrow is Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 100th Day as Malaysia’s sixth Prime Minister.
Najib’s baggage as Prime Minister is vividly illustrated by the pathetic episode where Najib’s spinmeister could work up a “song and a dance” over the fact that Najib’s popularity rating in a recent poll had spiralled to 65% as compared to 45% a month after he became Prime Minister and 42 per cent just before taking over the premiership from Tun Abdullah on April 3, 2009.
Yes, it was quite a remarkable 44% recovery from 45% popularity rating in six weeks for Najib to claw back 20 percentage points in the latest Merdeka Centre opinion poll, but his spinmeisters feigned ignorance that it was really a very dismal rating when compared to the five previous Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah who would have no difficulty in securing popularity rating of 95% and over for any opinion poll in their “First 100 Days”.
Can Najib’s upsurge in popularity on his 100th day be sustained with a Barisan Nasional victory in Manek Urai by-election in Kelantan next Tuesday and is he confident enough of his national popularity to seek a motion of confidence when Parliament reconvenes on Oct 19, something he had not dared to do in the recent three-week meeting of Parliament?
Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet next week should undo its unprofessional, political and disastrous PPSMI decision with four-point remedy in line with national aspirations to be internationally competitive to become high-income nation
Six years ago, the Cabinet under Tun Mahathir took a hasty and ill-considered decision to rush headlong to implement the PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik – teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) from Std One for all primary schools, totally without proper or adequate preparation making five million Malaysian school children in the primary schools guinea pigs of BN politicians in the past six years.
Today, the Cabinet under Datuk Seri Najib Razak in trying to undo the failures and disasters of the ill-considered Cabinet decision six years ago after wasting RM4 billion of public funds, is again committing the folly of another ill-considered decision that will victimize millions of Malaysian students by making them “guinea pigs” of BN politicians for a second time in their 11-year primary and secondary education.
It is shocking beyond belief that Cabinet Ministers and Education Ministry officials could be so irresponsible and unprofessional as to turn million of students into “guinea pigs” for their half-baked educational experiments twice in a decade.
Students in Form 1 this year will continue to be taught maths and science in English until Form 3 in 2011, having spent the past six years in primary school with English as the medium of instruction for these two subjects under PPSMI.
Read the rest of this entry »
The Talent, the Tragedy & the Triumph
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh on Thursday, 9 July 2009
By Martin Jalleh
You brought back magic into music, leaving an indelible imprint. You gave dance an indescribable grace and showed impeccable mastery of movement.
You merged music and video and brought about a MTV generation. You magnificently and incredibly blended and bridged arena rock, soul and pop.
You moved the world’s conscience with your humanitarian spirit and inspired us with your clarion call to care for the hungry, homeless, HIV/AIDS victims and those without hope.
You mesmerized peoples of all races, languages and cultures, in every country, instilling in them the message that what mattered most was love and mutual respect.
You were matchless – you were an original, creative, unique and magnetizing musician and artist. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian unity, not ketuanan Melayu please
Posted by Kit in Dr. Chen Man Hin, Najib Razak, nation building on Thursday, 9 July 2009
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP Life Advisor
WORLDWIDE SUPPORT BY A BILLION PEOPLE AT MICHAEL JACKSONS’S MEMORIAL SERVICES SHOWS THAT RACIALISM HAS NO PLACE IN THE NEW GLOBAL WORLD.
Michael Jackson was the ‘king of pop’ and his music and artistry won him accolades from the peoples of the world, old and young and of all races. He was a black American but to the people race was never a consideration, because of his creative art. This is a healthy development, and the lesson is that in a modern world there is no room for racialism or racial politics. The world recognises and praise the man because of the achievements and merits of the man, and not by the colour of his skin. This is a world trend.
THE WORLD TREND IS TO RECOGNISE THAT ALL RACES IN THE WORLD ARE EQUAL AND THERE SHOULD BE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION AND ASSEMBLY, RULE OF LAW, SECURITY AND PEACE, FREEDOM OF RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY
The correct way for Malaysia to progress and prosper is for Malaysians to unite and strive to be competitive through merit, transparency and discipline.
Read the rest of this entry »
Unlike BN, PR is not based on “fear of the master” but partnership based on equality, mutual respect and commitment on agreed principles
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 9 July 2009
In recent weeks, Barisan Nasional component parties, particularly Umno, MCA and Gerakan had tried to fan discord and engender distrust among Pakatan Rakyat component parties but so far to no avail.
One favourite gambit of Barisan Nasional component parties is to accuse the Pakatan Rakyat component of being subservient to the other parties – betraying a mindset ingrained for over three decades of the real relationship in the Barisan Nasional between Umno and the rest in BN as well as reflective of a modus operandi in the BN which could not conceive of a coalition of political parties based on equality, mutual respect and commitment on agreed principles.
In recent weeks, different language media will carry statements like Umno accusing PAS of being afraid of PKR or DAP, of DAP being afraid of PAS or PKR, as well as of PKR being afraid of DAP or PAS.
This is course the only relationship the BN component parties could understand in the Barisan Nasional – the political hegemony of Umno over the other BN component parties with Umno undergirded by the factors of “the fear of the master” and greed.
Read the rest of this entry »
Cabinet decision on PPSMI – not a New Deal but a Raw Deal leaving Malaysia stranded in the march towards global educational quality, excellence and competitiveness
The Cabinet decision on the PPSMI (Pengajaran dan Pembelajaran Sains dan Matematik – teaching and learning of Science and Mathematics in English) yesterday was not a New Deal, as proclaimed by some newspaper headlines, but a Raw Deal leaving Malaysia stranded in the march towards global educational quality, excellence and competitiveness and doing a great disservice to millions of students currently in both the primary and secondary schools.
The Raw Deal of the PPSMI decision of the Cabinet is powerfully highlighted by the Sin Chew report of a national secondary school Form One student in Ipoh who burst into tears at the news of the Cabinet decision, feeling totally lost, worried what would be his future when he had to switch to Bahasa Malaysia for mathematics and science when entering Form 4 in 2012, after mastering both subjects being taught in English from Form 1 to 3 from this year to 2011 – and Form 4 and 5 are the most important years in a person’s education in preparing for Form 6, university and the world beyond.
Did the Cabinet Ministers discuss and envision the disastrous effect of their PPSMI decision yesterday on the half a million of students who would have been taught maths and science in the English medium from Form 1 to 3 from this year to 2011 in having suddenly to switch to Bahasa Malaysia as medium of instruction for these two subjects in 2012 in Form 4 – after six years of being guinea pigs of PPSMI in the primary schools?
If the Cabinet had not anticipated the cruelty and the sheer injustice of such a switch for Form 4 students in 2012, clearly the Cabinet Ministers had not thought through the whole issue thoroughly and they have failed the nation, the people and in particular the 5.5 million school-going generation under their charge!
Read the rest of this entry »
Affirmative Action Spurs Asian Debate
By JAMES HOOKWAY | The Wall Street Journal
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia — Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of Malaysia’s upstart AirAsia airline, seldom shies away from a fight.
A former executive at Time Warner Inc.’s music division, Mr. Fernandes bought the debt-laden carrier in 2001 for 27 cents and turned it into Asia’s biggest budget airline with $754 million in annual revenues. It hasn’t been easy. To expand AirAsia Bhd., he’s battled reluctant governments for landing rights and routes and has endured price wars with regional competitors.
Now, as Mr. Fernandes pushes to build a new low-cost global hub and expand into Europe, Australia and the U.S., he is running into a tenet of modern Malaysia: affirmative action. Malaysia’s political leaders prefer to see big business such as airports in the hands of the ethnic-Malay majority, and often that means government control.
“A lot of Malaysians are proud of what AirAsia has achieved,” says Mr. Fernandes, a 45-year-old Malaysian of Indian descent. But successes such as his, he believes, are outnumbered by the economic problems created by the affirmative action system. “It’s a very Jekyll-and-Hyde situation here.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Congrats to Najib for chalking up 65% popularity rating from his first month of 45% as Prime Minister but…
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Wednesday, 8 July 2009
Congrats to Datuk Seri Najib Razak for chalking up 65% popularity rating from his first month of 45% as Prime Minister but he must be fully conscious that he has the lowest popularity rating of all six Malaysian Prime Ministers – including his predecessors Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Mahathir and Tun Abdullah – in the “First 100 Days”.
In the latest poll conducted among 1,060 registered voters by the Merdeka Centre for Opinion Research between June 19 and July 1, his approval rating has risen to 65 per cent as compared to 45 per cent in mid-May (a month after he became Prime Minister) and 42 per cent just before taking over the premiership from Tun Abdullah on April 3, 2009.
In the latest opinion poll, 22 per cent were dissatisfied with his performance while 13 per cent were undecided.
Seventy-four per cent of Malays polled were satisfied with his performance. The level of support among Chinese and Indians was 48 per cent and 74 per cent respectively.
Read the rest of this entry »
Hishamuddin should stop acting as Super-IGP to shield IGP Musa Hassan from public flak for police abuses of power in allowing galloping crime while channelling scarce police resources to side with BN in political cases
The new Home Minister, Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Hussein is lately behaving like a Super-IGP instead of being a responsible Home Minister to create an efficient, incorruptible, professional world-class police service to end the galloping crime in the past five years to restore to Malaysians, visitors and investors their two fundamental rights to be free from crime and the fear of crime.
Yesterday, he warned the PKR Youth “not to create chaos” at the Jalan Duta court complex when Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s second sodomy trial begins while three days ago he warned the Johore State Assembly Opposition Leader, DAP Johore Chairman and State Assemblyman for Skudai, Dr. Boo Cheng Hau that he would be investigated for the offence of “sedition” – just as the police had lodged a report against me during the Penanti by-election for the offence of sedition during the Penanti by-election in May.
In the past several months, the police have been dragooned from its first and primary duties to reduce crime and make the country safe for citizens, visitors and investors to serve the political agenda of the Barisan Nasional government, whether at the federal or state level, and one consequence is the worsening of an already very endemic crime situation in the country.
Read the rest of this entry »
-
You are currently browsing the archives for July, 2009
