Archive for March, 2013
Umno’s culture of “Slander first, Sorry later” continues
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh on Tuesday, 19 March 2013
by Martin Jalleh
Kit Siang: Unleash political storm in the south
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Johore, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 19 March 2013
by Lee Way Loon
Malaysiakini
11:12AM Mar 19, 2013
Some predict a handsome win for Pakatan Rakyat in the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat when the general election is held, but its candidate does not expect the battle to be easy.
Nevertheless, DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang is willing to take the risk, in order to “set off a political storm” in south Malaysia and in Sabah and Sarawak as well.
Lim coined the term “political tsunami” to describe Pakatan’s gains in the last election in March 2008.
“This is a historic chance to decide whether there will be a regime change. We need to set off a political storm in Johor, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan,” he told a press conference in Skudai, Johor, last night after he was named as the Pakatan candidate for Gelang Patah by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim.
“And then the storm must cross the South China Sea and reach Sabah and Sarawak. With this, the people can complete a movement for political awareness and democracy.”
Lim, the Ipoh Timor MP, said this would be his fifth move into a new state to contest the election in his political career spanning 47 years.
“This is not an easy battle… but it is worth (fighting for) as it is for our goal, as well as for the nation and people,” he said.
He reiterated that Pakatan was targeting to win at least 18 parliamentary seats from BN in these three southern states: 15 in Johor, two in Negri Sembilan and one in Malacca.
DAP to contest seven seats Read the rest of this entry »
Najib looks more and more like a Crime Minister than the Prime Minister!
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 19 March 2013
by Martin Jalleh
Confirmed! Kit Siang will do battle in Gelang Patah
by Lee Way Loon
Malaysiakini
9:47PM Mar 18, 2013
After weeks of speculation, Pakatan Rakyat officially announced tonight that DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang will be contesting the Gelang Patah parliamentary seat in Johor.
The announcement was made by Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim at DAP’s 47th anniversary celebration and ceramah in Skudai.
“It’s true that Gelang Patah was a PKR seat. But we can discuss.
“I hold the opinion that it is still a PKR seat. But if Kit Siang comes and assists us, leads us and becomes the Gelang Patah candidate, I give him my full support,” Anwar told a cheering 20,000-strong crowd.
The PKR de facto leader then invited Lim and all the DAP leaders to come on stage to endorse his decision. Read the rest of this entry »
24-Day Countdown to 13GE – Malaysians deserve a Cabinet and a Government which is not a laughing stock of the world because of the frequency of stupid statements and foolish acts by Ministers
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 18 March 2013
I believe we are entering the final week when the 12th Parliament will at last be dissolved to pave the way for the holding of the long-awaited and much-postponed 13th General Elections next month.
This explains why UMNO/Barisan Nasional leaders are getting more and more panicky, with some even making hysterical statements, under the intense pressure of the impending 13GE, which cannot be postponed much further after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had put the country on an election campaign footing for close to four long years and breaching the five-year natural life of Parliament – and now just a week ahead of the automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly on March 26!
Najib has said he wants Malaysia to become the world’s best democracy. Then Najib and Umno/BN leaders must first learn to accept Lesson One of the most basic prerequisites of a functioning normal democracy, i.e. to accept that their power in government is not a divine right but a trust granted by the people once every four or five years to be withdrawn or renewed in every general elections.
Up to now Najib and all the Umno/BN leaders have been conspicuously silent on what would be very routine and matter-of-fact in developed democracies all over the world – that they will submit to the verdict of the electorate in the impending general elections and if they lose the mandate to continue as the Federal government for the first time in 56 years, they would peacefully and democratically ensure a peaceful transition of power from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Rakyat and they would all serve the role of a loyal Opposition in Parliament as the DAP had done in the past 47 years since the formation of DAP in 1966. Read the rest of this entry »
Ex-cop: Lahad Datu cops’ pleas ignored
Anisah Shukry | March 15, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
A former Lahad Datu police chief says that years of government indifference towards the dire state of security forces in the district paved the way for an armed incursion into Sabah.
PETALING JAYA: Insufficient police personnel, lack of equipment, police vehicles in bad shape — those were the security issues plaguing Lahad Datu for years, said a former Lahad Datu police chief.
Yet, the federal government continued to ignore Lahad Datu police’s requests to upgrade security, said Kamis Daming, and this was why the Royal Sulu Army was able to breach Sabah with ease on Feb 9.
“When I was in Lahad Datu five years ago, I often expressed concerns to our superiors about the possibility of intrusion by foreign elements, but our proposals and requests for security beef-up were looked at very lightly,” Kamis was quoted as saying by the Daily Express.
He told reporters in Kota Kinabalu yesterday that the Lahad Datu district police had scarce equipment and police vehicles such as their four-wheel drives and patrol boats were in terrible shape and constantly broke down.
Meanwhile, the force faced fuel shortages because their supplier allegedly refused to supply them fuel due to unsettled debts, he added.
And despite the district being short of police personnel, he said there were not enough living quarters in the police compound for the force to reside in. Read the rest of this entry »
25-Day Countdown to 13GE – Parliamentary Reforms and restoration of the doctrine of Separation of Powers
Posted by Kit in Pakatan Rakyat, Parliament on Sunday, 17 March 2013
Under the Federal Constitution and in keeping with the concept of the Separation of Powers, Parliament consisting of the Dewan Rakyat and the Senate are the supreme law making bodies.
They constitute the Legislative branch of Government, other branches being the Executive and the Judiciary.
The supremacy and independence of Parliament are accepted concepts adopted and practiced by all Parliamentary democracies.
In the Malaysian system of governance, after over five-and-a-half decades of Umno/Barisan Nasional rule, the Executive branch has usurped power and turned Parliament into a subordinate institution thus trampling on the fundamental concept and principle of representative government.
Several aspects of the current scene merit mention. Read the rest of this entry »
Is It Part of Our Culture?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Kee Thuan Chye, Law & Order, Lynas on Sunday, 17 March 2013
By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
14th March 2013
Last week, I was speaking to students of a higher institution of learning about a play of mine that they are studying called We Could **** You, Mr Birch.
When I got to the issue of getting Malaysians to discuss so-called sensitive issues openly, one of the students commented, “It’s not part of our culture.” I asked her if she was being ironic. The bright lass nodded.
She was alluding to the favourite catchphrase of the Government that is invariably invoked when it wants to discourage Malaysians from taking part in certain activities, usually those that are adversarial or threatening to it.
One such activity is taking part in demonstrations and street protests. Many a government official has used “it’s not part of our culture” to denounce especially large gatherings that challenge the Government’s rulings and actions, like the Bersih and anti-Lynas rallies. Read the rest of this entry »
PI Bala’s death is a tragedy
Posted by Kit in Crime, Najib Razak, Police on Sunday, 17 March 2013
Private investigator P Balasubramaniam’s death is a national tragedy for truth and justice.
By his death, truth and justice are left hanging in a limbo – for he possessed explosive information and stunning evidence to establish who were responsible for Altantuya Shaariibuu’s death.
Bravely and valiantly, he had provided a sworn Statutory Declaration dated 1 July 2008 detailing very meticulously in chronological order all that had taken place resulting in the murder of Altantuya.
All those implicated and directly accused of involvement in this foul deed that shattered the Mongolian beauty into smithereens have failed to refute his allegations; they dared not even sue him.
Thinking Malaysians are left wondering if there was no shred of dignity in those implicated to defend themselves in a court of law. They have done nothing to establish their innocence or dispel justified suspicions cast upon their character. Read the rest of this entry »
Who Knows What the Truth is These Days?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Elections, Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak on Sunday, 17 March 2013
By Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo Newsroom
Mon, Mar 11, 2013
How do you decide what is truth and what is falsehood as the build-up to Malaysia’s 13th general election hots up? So many bizarre twists and turns have emerged in recent days that Malaysians must be in a state of shock and awe.
First, businessman Deepak Jaikishan openly alleged that Prime Minister Najib Razak and his wife Rosmah Mansor were involved in forcing private investigator P. Balasubramaniam to make a second statutory declaration to contradict his first, which had implicated Najib in the murder of Mongolian model Altantuya Shaariibuu.
Then Bala returned from exile earlier this year to affirm that he stood by his first statutory declaration, reinforcing the revelations made by Deepak about how the second declaration came about.
The latest twist is Azlan Mohd Lazim’s announcement that Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim is innocent of the charge of having sodomised Azlan’s son, Saiful, and that Anwar is the victim of a political conspiracy. Taking everyone by surprise, including apparently Saiful as well, the father attests that his son was “used by several unscrupulous individuals”, including a special officer of Najib’s, to tarnish Anwar’s image. Read the rest of this entry »
Lahad Datu – a bizarre crisis
Iskandar Dzulkarnain | March 16, 2013
Free Malaysia Today
The sultan should seriously get a life and or get a job. How long can he and his band of merry men last if they continue to go around pretending to be royal consorts of an imaginary kingdom?
COMMENT
Apparently, our billion-ringgit jet fighters missed their targets, as mopped-up operations failed to turn in any bodies, while the chief of the militant group, “Prince” Agbimuddin Kiram, has appeared on Philippine national TV live in a telephone interview.
So, there was no total victory as reported and the siege has not ended. The stand-off is turning more bizarre as the Philippine media reported a conspiracy involving the Philippine opposition under former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
Coincidentally, the Malaysian government is also pointing its fingers at the involvement of the opposition here. Representatives of the self-proclaimed Sultan Jamalul Kiram III were alleged to have attended the Umno annual general assembly last year, while some Sabah Umno representatives are alleged to have close ties with the Sulu Sultanate.
So, it is not merely the case of a simple band of 200 opportunistic marauders landing on Sabah’s shores with the high hopes of staking a claim on Sabah. Apparently, there is more at stake involving the governments or opposition of both countries.
“Princess” Jacel Karim of the Sulu Sultanate has come up with contradicting statements, adamant that the Malaysian government has agreed in principle to pay compensation to the Sulu Sultanate, a few months before the onset of this conflict. She is also reportedly unhappy with the terrorist label and claims that the intruders are armed with the “truth”. Read the rest of this entry »
26-Day Countdown to 13GE – Federal Government Deficits and Debts
Posted by Kit in Economics, Elections, Finance, Najib Razak on Saturday, 16 March 2013
Unlike many developing countries, Malaysia had until the last 15 years, avoided deficit funding and the accumulation of high levels of external and internal debt that culminated in debt crises of the type that afflicted Argentina, Mexico and many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Federal Government followed prudent policies and followed fiscal policies that were viewed favorably. Both Foreign Direct Investment flows and the domestic private sector contributed to growth.
Thus, through the early 1970s and the decade of the 1980s small deficits were recorded, indeed in the early 1990s small surpluses were recorded. The size of the public debt was largely stable and did not exceed RM 100 billion.
However, the 1997 East Asia crisis, triggered by contagion effects of the crisis in Thailand, led to a radical change in fiscal policy. The Federal Government embarked on a pump priming effort to revive the economy.
Many large scale projects were mounted; many heavily indebted crony corporations were bailed out. The public sector surplus of RM 6.6 billion recorded in 1997 evaporated and became a deficit of RM 5 billion in 1998.
Since 1998, despite the recovery, the Barisan Nasional (BN) Government has continued to run deficits ever increasing deficits which peaked under the Prime Ministership of Datuk Seri Najib to RM 47 billion. Read the rest of this entry »
Has Umno helped Malays?
P Gunasegaram
Malaysiakini
Mar 14, 2013
QUESTION TIME When former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad said in typical acerbic but unsubstantiated fashion that Malay rights, privileges and its position would be affected if the opposition were returned in Selangor, it begged two other questions.
What did he do for the ordinary Malay during the long 22 years he was in power from 1981 to 2003, and how much was he responsible for the lack of their progress? And to broaden the question further, how much has Umno done for the Malay on the street and in the kampung?
A good starting point to answer the question is to look back at the New Economic Policy (NEP) of the seventies which provided the framework and target for economic redress between the races. The noble twin aims of the policy which few argued with were the eradication of poverty irrespective of race and the elimination of race identification with economic function.
This restructuring was supposed to have come from an increasing economic cake so that no community would feel deprived from the process which would be made over 20 years.
But the reality was different. While there was much effort in equalisation of opportunities initially through the education of Malays and giving them chances for jobs in the government service and the private sector, the policy morphed into one that focused on the equalisation of outcomes instead.
This resulted in drops in educational standards and minimum qualifications to accommodate weaker students instead of helping weaker students to cross existing bars by increased and better tuition. Read the rest of this entry »
Swift action on Tian Chua, snail’s pace for Ibrahim Ali, Ridhuan Tee
Posted by Kit in Judiciary, Law & Order, Sabah on Saturday, 16 March 2013
― The Malaysian Insider
March 14, 2013
MARCH 14 ― PKR’s Chua Tian Chang was charged with sedition today for allegedly linking Umno to the on-going Sulu intrusion into Sabah.
Two surprises here.
One, that the Sedition Act is being used despite Putrajaya saying that the law will be repealed.
Two, allegedly offensive statements to burn Malay-language bibles by Datuk Ibrahim Ali and that against Hindus by academic Datuk Dr Ridhuan Tee have yet to see the police working as hard as they have with the Batu MP.
What does that say about double standards? Read the rest of this entry »
Selangor skewers Dr M’s record in defending Malay interests
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Pakatan Rakyat, Selangor, UMNO on Saturday, 16 March 2013
By Ida Lim
The Malaysian Insider
March 13, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, March 13 ― Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim’s political secretary today slammed Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s for his inconsistent defence of Malay and Bumiputera interests, following the former prime minister’s plea for the group to back Barisan Nasional in Election 2013.
Faekah Husin also defended the state’s Pakatan Rakyat (PR) administration from Dr Mahathir’s recent remarks that the special rights of Malays and the position of Islam will be threatened if the pact retains its hold on Selangor in Election 2013.
“Dr Mahathir is still singing an old song; song of racism and to frighten Malays and to refresh racial clashes, after he planted seeds of hatred towards other races and adherents of other faiths among the people during his 22 years of rule,” she wrote in an open letter to Dr Mahathir dated today.
Faekah pointed to Umno’s alleged abuses when it had been in power in Selangor, saying that the party once led by Dr Mahathir owns hundreds of acres of land in the state that they allegedly only paid a minimum premium of RM100 per acre.
She said that much of these plots of land were sold for hefty profits to private development firms owned by non-Bumiputeras, adding that this pointed to the hypocrisy of Umno. But she was quick to say she was not questioning the non-Bumiputeras’ ownership of land.
“We also found out that during Umno’s rule in Selangor, thousands of acres of Malay Reserve Land in the city were retracted and converted to freehold status,” she said, claiming that the plots of Malay Reserve Land were shifted to those in the rural areas such as Panchang Bedena, Sabak Bernam and Hulu Selangor. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang set to announce candidature in Johor
By Lee Way Loon | 4:13PM Mar 15, 2013
Malaysiakini
In an attempt to win federal power, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang, who has been visiting Johor frequently of late, is expected to contest a parliamentary seat in the state in the coming general election.
It is learnt that the Ipoh Timor MP will be making an official announcement on his shift to the southern BN stronghold at DAP’s 47th anniversary celebration and ceramah in Skudai, near Johor Bharu, on Monday.
Several party insiders told Malaysiakini that the possibility of Lim contesting a Johor parliamentary seat in GE13 was “very real”.
However, it could not be confirmed that whether Lim would also name the seat he intended to contest, tough speculation has been that it could be Gelang Patah.
Lim,when contacted on this matter, refused to comment.
On Tuesday, DAP national organising secretary Anthony Loke (left) said a “major announcement” would be made at the party’s anniversary celebration in Skudai.
Read the rest of this entry »
The most probable date for long-awaited Parliament dissolution is Monday, March 25 although it could be later or even earlier
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Media, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building, Parliament, UMNO on Friday, 15 March 2013
The most probable date for the long-awaited dissolution of the 12th Parliament is Monday, March 25 although it could be earlier in the next ten days or even later.
The automatic dissolution of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly on midnight on 26th March 2013 should under ordinary circumstances be the last cut-off date for the dissolution of Parliament, but these are not ordinary times, and Parliament can be dissolved earlier in the next 10 days or even later, exhausting another 32 days to lead up to the unprecedented automatic dissolution of Parliament on midnight April 27, 2013.
It is precisely because these are not ordinary times that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has put the country for nearly four long years on an election mode ever since he became the sixth Prime Minister on April 3, 2009, spending more time campaigning to get an elected mandate of his own instead of uniting and inspiring Malaysians with an overarching vision and governing the country efficiently and professionally, with integrity and full commitment to democracy, human rights and the environment.
If we are in ordinary times, the 13th general elections would have been held already and Malaysians would have known whether Najib has finally his own mandate to be the Prime Minister of Malaysia or whether Malaysia has got a new Pakatan Rakyat federal government in Putrajaya with a new Prime Minister in the person of Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim.
Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian government using spyware against citizens? No, not really.
By Keith Rozario | march 15, 2013
keithrozario.com
I’ve been pretty busy the past few months, and my post count has been pretty low, and although I just returned from a 2 week trip abroad and am now flushed full of work, I decided to burn a bit of the midnight oil today because the Malaysian Insider completely pissed me off.
It all started with an article from Lim Kit Siangs blog, which read “Malaysia uses spyware against citizens, NYT reports“. The post was merely a cut-and-copy reproduction of a Malaysian Insider article that had the same headline. The headline really got my blood churning and it was followed up with an even more mouth watering opening paragraph:
Read the rest of this entry »
‘Najib’s economic figures are fictional’
Posted by Kit in Economics, Elections, Najib Razak on Friday, 15 March 2013
By Ong Kian Ming | 4:56PM Mar 14, 2013
Malaysiakini
COMMENT Yesterday, March 13, 2013, national news agency Bernama quoted Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak as saying:
“We have been able to buck the external global economic trend. In the last quarter, we achieved 6.4 percent growth, which indicates the resilience of the national economy.
“When we talk about benefits to the people from 2009 to 2011, our gross national income (GNI) per capita has grown from US$6,670 to US$9,970, roughly about 49 percent. There is no country in the world that has achieved this kind of result.”
Najib said this in the ‘Conversation with the PM’ programme aired by Media Prima group’s TV3 on Tuesday night (March 12).
Where did our prime minister-cum-finance minister get these figures from? I suspect that it’s from none other than Idris Jala (left), the chief executive officer of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), which comes under the PM’s Department.
Read the rest of this entry »
Lahad Datu intrusion – sovereignty compromised
Through my aging eyes
By Dr Edwin Bosi
Borneo Post
3rd March 2013
I received a surprise call from DAP National Advisor Sdr Lim Kit Siang on the evening of 18th February 2013, first asking me about the “armed intrusion” in Lahad Datu and then telling me that he is flying into Tawau tomorrow and to proceed to the flash point in Kg Tanduo. I have booked my flight earlier to Tawau for the 20th to attend the Tawau DAP Chinese New Year gathering and later the next day to see some cattle in Kabalakan. Kit Siang’s plan caused me to re-schedule my flight.
Deputy DAP Chairman Fred Fung and I managed to get a flight to Tawau on 19th evening, arriving Tawau just 20 minutes earlier than Kit Siang. At the airport, DAP Chairman Jimmy Wong, Chan Foong Hin and few others were waiting for him. We went to one of Tawau best seafood restaurants where he was briefed on the plan to Lahad Datu. All along we were in the dark about the incident and could only refer to the articles in the main stream and alternative media.
We left for Lahad Datu at 6am the next day in three vehicles. We had a quick breakfast at Lahad Datu town together with DAP leaders from Sandakan Stephen Wong and George Hiew. We made contact with the District Police to make a courtesy call on the OCPD but unfortunately he was not free to meet up with Kit Siang.
There was nothing amiss in Lahad Datu town. Everything seemed to be normal as far as I can observe. I spent a lot of time in Lahad Datu when I was with the Wildlife Department and SOS Rhino (USA) and it reminded me of my lucky star when a group of armed men attacked and robbed the bank in town. That was in 1985. We had left Lahad Datu town in search for rhinos at Danum Valley and was shocked upon returning to Lahad Datu a week later to learn of the gun battle.
Seeing Kit Siang so cool and composed made me worried. My mind was at times confused. Without any arms and no Police escorts, I was practically praying that nothing bad would happen. We heard a group of journalists were inside the “battle zone” and were unable to get out. They were not allowed to leave. We did ponder what happen if Kit Siang and the group cannot leave after visiting the site? We even made some jokes of Kit Siang been kidnapped and what would happen. We refused to think of been caught in a running gun battle. Read the rest of this entry »
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