Archive for June 17th, 2013

A matter of choice

— Clive Kessler
The Malaysian Insider
Jun 17, 2013

Late last week, an interesting rejoinder was offered to my two-part retrospective account of GE13, Malaysia’s recent national elections “GE13: What happened? And what now?” (The Malaysian Insider, June 12 and 13).

A news and political commentary site that goes by the name “The Choice” published a critique of my analysis, and of my attitude and approach, entitled “An Artful Exercise in Pseudo-Intellectual Spin”).

It can be read at: http://www.thechoice.my/top-stories/64889-an-artful-exercise-in-pseudo-intellectual-spin#sthash.du76qoeY.uxfs and reading it is without doubt a worthwhile use of time and mind.

It is no “cheap shot”.

In its own way, it takes what I had to say very seriously. Somebody clearly thought my GE13 review worth the effort of a serious response.

And it is quite exquisitely written. By someone who evidently enjoys a wonderful “native-speaker” command of the English language — and the benefits of a far better education and apprenticeship in this kind of writing than I myself ever had.

It does not come from the pen of any amateur. Read the rest of this entry »

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Najib’s denial syndrome claiming that he only lost in the “war of perception” in 13GE will condemn his “national reconciliation” plan to failure and a recipe for the resounding defeat of UMNO/BN in the 14GE

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s denial syndrome in his luncheon talk to Malaysian students in Indonesia at the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta yesterday that the Barisan Nasional had won the GE13 but it lost in the “war of perception” will condemn his “national reconciliation” plan to failure and a recipe for the resounding defeat of UMNO/BN in the 14GE.

Najib said Barisan had carried out many transformations in terms of delivery over the last four years and had validly won the GE 13, but it lost in the war of perception because of the slander and lies churned out by the Opposition through the alternative media, which many people believed in more than the truth provided by the mainstream media.

Najib said: “For the next general election, Barisan must equip itself well to fight the war of perception”.

Is Najib promising more Umno/BN lies and falsehoods on the cyberspace in the next five years, despite the abject failure of the 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers trained in a series of nation-wide 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions involving hundreds of millions of ringgit of public funds in the run up to the 13GE?

I am no apologist for the alternative media, but is Najib prepared to establish an independent commission of inquiry to ascertain why the mainstream media have lost all credibility and authority ceding the ground to the alternative media?
Read the rest of this entry »

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What’s wrong for a Malay to join DAP?

Malaysiakini | 9:58AM Jun 16, 2013

YOURSAY ‘Why is Umno afraid of Malays holding important posts in DAP? Or is it that only Umno can speak on behalf of the Malays?’

UiTM VC denies calling Lim’s aide ‘pengkhianat’

Ynwa: Only indolent people cannot accept the rise of Pakatan Rakyat and DAP. Without the opposition, we would all be paying more taxes as there would have been even more corruption and mismanagement.

We need to compete with the rest of the world and not among the various races in Malaysia, and this is what DAP and Lim Kit Siang’s new political secretary Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud are propagating. Keep it up Dyana, you are my heroine.

Jaguh: People like Dyana are those who have a brain, compared to those who condemn her. She has seen the ‘light’ and without coaxing/hesitation, has joined the fight for justice, equality and meritocracy. And by the way, she is not alone.

Anonymous_5fb: What’s wrong for a Malay to join DAP? Is there a law that forbids a Malay from joining DAP?
Read the rest of this entry »

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