Archive for April 8th, 2013
27 Years Later…Electoral Reforms Still Remain But An Illusion For The MCA?
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, MCA on Monday, 8 April 2013
by Martin Jalleh
Utter Defeat May Be Just What MCA Needs To Reform Itself!
Posted by Kit in Martin Jalleh, MCA on Monday, 8 April 2013
by Martin Jalleh
Penang dances to opposition’s tune in poll battle
Posted by Kit in Penang, Penang Government on Monday, 8 April 2013
By Jeremy Grant in Penang
Financial Times
When Korean rapper Psy performed at a Chinese New Year concert in Penang recently, it was not only a sign of the singer’s crowd-pulling power in Malaysia.
The gig was hosted by the Penang branch of Barisan Nasional, the country’s governing coalition. Barisan clearly hoped to inject some “gangnam style” into its campaigning as the political temperature heats up ahead of a general election in this multi-ethnic nation of 28m, expected within weeks.
The poll will be the closest fought since Malaysian independence from Britain in 1957. Psy’s appearance has helped thrust Penang, on Malaysia’s western coast, into the limelight as Barisan faces an intense, and many believe unwinnable, battle to take it back.
For Barisan’s dominant member, the United National Malays Organisation (Umno) of prime minister Najib Razak, Penang was a painful loss at the last election in 2008, when it was snatched by the Democratic Action Party, the opposition’s ethnic Chinese party. Read the rest of this entry »
Battle of Gelang Patah to fulfil the Malaysian Dream of an united multiracial Malaysian people rising above race which was envisioned by the great Johore Malay leader and founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaffar six decades ago
The battle of Gelang Patah is not just a battle for Lim Kit Siang, DAP or Pakatan Rakyat.
It is a battle for all Malaysians, the nation as well as future generations, with two portentous, unprecedented and far-reaching meaning and significance.
Firstly, the battle of Gelang Patah is to launch off a political tsunami in the 13th general elections from the south spreading all over the country, crossing the South China Sea to Sabah and Sarawak, to complete the unfinished business of the “political tsunami” of the 2008 general elections which saw the fall of Umno/Barisan Nasional in five states and the deprivation of the UMNO/BN two-thirds parliamentary majority for the first time in Malaysian history.
The 2008 “political tsunami” emanated from the north in Penang, Kedah and Kelantan coming down south to Perak (although in less than a year there was an undemocratic, illegal and unconstitutional “power grab” orchestrated by Datuk Seri Najib Razak and which await a restoration of Pakatan Rakyat Perak State government in the 13GE) and Selangor, fizzling out in Negri Sembilan and leaving the three fixed deposit states of Johore, Sabah and Sarawak virtually untouched.
However, the 2008 “political tsunami” has brought about a tectonic shift in the political landscape, as only five years ago it was completely unthinkable and impossible for anyone to hope or dream that there could be a change of federal government through the ballot box.
Read the rest of this entry »
3-Day Countdown to 13GE: BN’s Manifesto shows that it is fundamentally incapable of transforming, much less reforming, Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Economics, Elections, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Monday, 8 April 2013
Despite having more than a month to thoroughly scrutinize the Pakatan Rakyat Manifesto – Pakatan Harap Rakyat – the Barisan Nasional (BN)’s Manifesto, which was launched to great fanfare on the 6th of April, shows that it is a coalition that is fundamentally opposed to and incapable of introducing significant and much needed reforms in the country.
They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.
While we have no problems with the BN trying to incorporate our ideas into their own manifesto, it is laughable to see that even this copying is half-hearted, like many of the so-called transformation initiatives of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak.
The BN promises to reduce car prices by 20%-30% but stays absolutely silent on the unfair and opaque system of Approved Permits (AP) allocations that have been given to many BN cronies.
The BN promises to expand the Rapid Bus System to every state but does not allow the state governments or the local authorities to provide their own bus services.
Read the rest of this entry »
Should we pity MCA?
by Stanley Koh
Free Malaysia Today
April 8, 2013
A party strongman pleads for voters’ mercy, but some people believe that hypocrisy, fraud and tyranny are unpardonable.
COMMENT
Not for the first time in its recent history, MCA is now reduced to begging for votes.
“I hope the people will give us some votes. Don’t make us eat egg,” party vice-president Donald Lim said in a recent interview with Oriental News Daily, a Chinese language online newspaper.
He claimed that MCA, despite its disastrous showing in the 2008 election, had spent the last five years working hard to regain voter support, implying that it deserved pity, if not appreciation. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Multi-Ethnic Coalition Near Collapse
by John Berthelsen
Asia Sentinel
05 April 2013
UMNO may have to go it alone as Chinese, Indian parties crumble
Regardless of who wins Malaysia’s 13th* general election, expected to be held on April 27, the historic multi-ethnic coalition that has ruled the country since independence will have likely collapsed.
“Whatever the results, the Barisan coalition will cease to exist as we know it because the Malaysian Chinese Association, Gerakan and the Malaysian Indian Congress will be wiped out,” a Kuala Lumpur-based businessman told Asia Sentinel. “Assuming UMNO forms the government with Sabah and Sarawak parties, there will be no Chinese and Indian representatives in the government. And that is not a good scenario to have.”
The Barisan and the opposition, made up of the Parti Keadilan Rakyat headed by Anwar Ibrahim, the ethnic Chinese Democratic Action Party and the fundamentalist Parti Islam se-Malaysia are embroiled in what is being called the closest election in the country’s history, with both sides predicting victory. One opposition strategist said the race would probably come down to a margin of 10 seats either way in the 222-seat Dewan Rakyat, or parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
Academics call upon Barisan and Pakatan to declare policy positions on national finance and debt
Recent financial crises have visited economic calamity upon ordinary citizens in the countries of the East and West alike. Experience tells us that there can be no complacency about a nation’s financial state.
Concerns voiced in various reports and the media call for special attention to Malaysia’s finances and their management. These concerns are:
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A record-breaking capital flight out of Malaysia. Financial watchdog Global Financial Integrity (GFI) reported that a total of RM880 billion of funds were illegally transferred out of the country between 2001 and 2010.
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A sharply rising trend in government debt. This debt almost doubled from RM274 billion at the beginning of 2008 to RM502 billion at the end of 2012. International Monetary Fund (IMF) statistics expect it to grow by RM277 billion to RM779 billion in 2017.
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Incomplete information about the Malaysian government’s full exposure to debt. The official figures for government debt exclude debts that are called contingent liabilities. These include off-balance-sheet borrowings and the debts of banks, government-linked companies and other private-sector enterprises that the government has guaranteed to pay off in the event that these entities default. One estimate of these hidden debts in 2011 placed it at RM117 billion.
Malaysia’s independent radios jammed, sites hit by cyberattacks
The Malaysian Insider | APRIL 07, 2013
KUALA LUMPUR, April 7 – Two independent radios, Radio Free Sarawak and Radio Free Malaysia, have been jammed in Malaysia and their web sites inaccessible due to cyberattacks, says its founder.
The two stations broadcast from London on short-wave frequencies and are available online through their websites and online database Soundcloud.
“There have been attempts at broadcast interference on both radio stations by jamming from different parts of the world over the past few days. These have had limited success so far and we have been working on tracing the perpetrators,” founder Clare Rewcastle-Brown was quoted as saying by Malaysiakini.
Coordinated cyberattacks on their respective web sites were recorded all yesterday; they “came from all over, it appears, but mainly from the US and Malaysia, and our servers had to close down”, she added.
The Sarawak Report web site, the first launched by Rewcastle-Brown, similarly came under attack but was holding out.
Read the rest of this entry »
Soi Lek declined facing Kit Siang, Ghani a possibility, say BN sources
BY JAHABAR SADIQ
EDITOR
APRIL 08, 2013
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, April 8 — Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek was asked to face Lim Kit Siang in Gelang Patah but the MCA president declined the offer, leaving Barisan Nasional (BN) to consider its choices for the hottest battle in Umno’s home state, say ruling coalition sources.
The Malaysian Insider understands the MCA is pushing for caretaker Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman to fight the DAP adviser but an unsettled Malay ground and pro-opposition Chinese voters could scuttle those plans.
“Some in the BN war room thought it would be a titanic fight and that Dr Chua is strong enough to face Kit but the MCA president said no,” a BN source told The Malaysian Insider, referring to the veteran opposition leader by his moniker Kit.
“Now other choices are being considered as the final list must be ready by Tuesday,” the source added.
Read the rest of this entry »
Courage Rises Up Again and Again
Posted by Kit in nation building on Monday, 8 April 2013
By Thomas Fann
www.newmalaysia.org
Have you ever been confronted by a menacing snarling dog who is ready to pounce on you? And for the briefest of moment, both of you glared into each other’s eyes. In your heart you felt sure the dog will sink his teeth into you and you would be his lunch.
But then something arises in you, a courage you never knew you had, and with your eyes fixed unflinchingly on his eyes, you lunge forward towards the dog and… lo and behold, he turned around and ran off with his tail tucked between his legs. Seizing the moment for complete victory, you gave chase, shouting after the terrified beast. Hurray, you have become top dog in your neighbourhood.
Nice thought but I doubt if many of us have had such stories to tell because most of the time we just make sure we don’t ever have to come face to face with such a snarling dog. We would “elak” or avoid such a confrontation by making a detour if we know that the neighbourhood bully dog is lying there.
This article is not about dogs but about fear and courage. Fear is a very human emotion and a necessary one to keep us safe and alive. But when fear becomes the dominant emotion in our life, it paralyses us from doing what is right.
Read the rest of this entry »
Who To Vote For In the Next Election
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, Elections on Monday, 8 April 2013
By M. Bakri Musa
www.bakrimusa.com
Elections A System for Checks and Balances
[First of Four Parts]
When he dissolved Parliament on April 3, 2013, to make way for a general election, Prime Minister Najib advised us to “think and ponder appropriately” before casting our votes.
We can practice two mental exercises to help us “think and ponder appropriately.” One, imagine the best and worse possible consequences of our vote, that is, perform a “downstream analysis” of our decision. Two, reflect on the greater role of election as an effective bulwark against abuse of power by those in authority.
I will discuss the broader role of elections first. Subsequent essays will be a downstream analysis of the only three possible outcomes to this election: Barisan Nasional returning to power; Pakatan Rakyat to prevail; and a “hung” parliament.
Read the rest of this entry »
Defeating the people’s will
by Aliran on 7 April 2013
Tota urges the people of Perak to teach the BN a lesson at the polls for subverting the will of the people expressed in the last general election.
In the GE12 held in 2008, the people of Perak voted for a Pakatan Rakyat state government. The Umno-dominated BN decided to use dirty politics to subvert the people’s choice.
Many evil forces – BN, led by Najib, the state secretary, the police, parasites with power, and immoral and unscrupulous political frogs – conspired, connived and colluded to steal the rightfully elected government allegedly through bribery and corruption.
GE13 will be held soon. As a patriotic Malaysian, I see the people of Perak placed in a unique position to ensure once and for all no politician or party would again dare to defeat the people’s will through crooked means. Such an opportunity does not come often to a state to make history. Vote every BN candidate out. Better still ensure everyone of them loses his/her deposit!
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