― Ong Hean Teik
The Malaysian Insider
May 08, 2013

MAY 8 ― The Utusan Malaysia headline of May 7 posed an interesting and pertinent question of what more do the Chinese in Malaysia want. It is a pity that Utusan is unable to see that what the Chinese want is, in fact, what the educated urban Malaysian voter wants, regardless of race or religion. There are three important characteristics lacking in the Barisan of today.

Intelligent, courageous leadership

The Chinese comprise only 30 per cent of Malaysian voters, yet Pakatan Rakyat won 51 per cent of the total votes cast. By saying that the election result was because of the Chinese voters, the Barisan Nasional leadership demonstrates an inability to objectively face reality.

Barisan’s acceptance of Zulkifli Nordin as its direct Shah Alam candidate similarly shows a lack of intelligence and courage. Here is a lawyer who does not feel that dialogue and discussion can resolve matters, having forcefully disrupted a Law Society seminar. He has vowed loyalty to, and then turned on his previous political parties. He has publicly belittled an ancient religion with a million Malaysian followers.

Umno making way for Ibrahim Ali to contest the Pasir Mas constituency is similarly bad judgement, showing its acceptance and approval of a crude man who prides himself with using vulgar words in public interviews.

To give them such special honour and credit shows a lack of intelligent reasoning and an inability to stand up against the loud extremist faction of the party.

Attributing the election outcome to a “Chinese tsunami” is illogical in the face of concrete facts and data. PAS won an additional seven state seats in Selangor, all in Malay majority areas.

Lim Kit Siang could not have achieved a majority of over 14,000 votes in Gelang Patah without good support from Malays who form 35 per cent of the electorate there. Read the rest of this entry »

— Khoo Ying Hooi
The Malaysian Insider
May 14, 2013

MAY 14 — In the immediate aftermath of Malaysia’s closely contested polls on 5 May, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim called on Malaysians to protest the results in what he said as the worst electoral fraud in Malaysian’s history. In the 13th General Election, the ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional won 133 of 222 parliamentary seats, its worst showing wins since Malaysia gained independence from Britain in 1957. It won 46.8% of all votes for parliamentary seats in an election with a record turnout of almost 85%, compared with 50.3% for Pakatan Rakyat.

Anwar Ibrahim vowed to lead a “fierce movement” to press on electoral reform and challenge the results of the election. He also urged Malaysians to show their resentment over the state of democracy in the country by wearing black every Saturday, in which some term as “democracy blackout”. Since then, several 505 post-election rallies, “Suara Rakyat, Suara Keramat” have been held in different part of Malaysia and it is still ongoing.

Electoral protests are not unusual

In Venezuela for example, the supporters of Venezuela opposition leader Henrique Capriles demanded a recount after a slim electoral defeat to Nicolas Maduro, the late Hugo Chavez’s handpicked successor. Similarly in Malaysia, that was the closest the opposition has come to power in Venezuela since Chavez won his first presidential election in 1998. Read the rest of this entry »

— Juju Johari
The Malaysian Insider
May 14, 2013

MAY 14 — After having my heart broken the night the election results were announced, I jumped at the opportunity to express my deepest condemnation of the results, arriving at the Kelana Jaya stadium grounds at about 6.30pm. My friend had picked me up, and being very traffic-savvy, he got us there expediently, which is much to be thankful for considering many others were not so fortunate.

I was immediately taken in by the wondrous sights that greeted me, as people poured into the stadium grounds all wearing black, with people greeting each other as if they were old friends, whilst strangers took pictures of interesting sights, outfits, placards and characters that pointedly broke down racial barriers. That night, in and around the stadium, Malays, Chinese and Indians celebrated their diversity and their love for the country and Malaysianness by not only showing up but also expressing, as clearly as day, their desire for a JUST new world.

This was a gathering that will long stay in memory as those who turned up shared a common pain, and to wash away the deep sorrow we felt, and the no longer suspended disbelief that things have gotten so bad in this country we call home. We wanted to continue believing that good will triumph over evil. We wanted justice, but I think mostly what we found that evening was a mirror in each other, a reflection of the goodness of what we strived for, affirmation, a sense of belonging to the true Malaysian identity. In short, we found hope. Read the rest of this entry »

— Chris Tay
The Malaysian Insider
May 14, 2013

MAY 14 — When I reached home in Bandar Sunway after work on May 8, my housemates were already in black and pumped up to go to the Kelana Jaya rally. As tired as I was, I decided to go and show support in the fight against electoral fraud.

We left around 6.30pm from Bandar Sunway and took the Ara Damansara way to try to avoid going through the LDP. Incredibly enough, the jam was as bad as it was raining as well. All cars seemed to be heading to the very place we wanted to go. Finally we manage to park (somewhat illegally) on the highway about 3km from the stadium and started walking.

As we got nearer to the stadium, we were joined by many others who were wearing black. With our umbrellas (it was still raining), we inched closer to the stadium and what I saw were cars everywhere, all parked in the most imaginative way possible. People of all races were all walking side by side to the stadium and some even stopped to buy merchandise like shirts, scarves and the annoying little horns. Read the rest of this entry »