Archive for September 2nd, 2015
The irony of Najib’s ‘1Malaysia’
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 2 September 2015
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Aug 31st, 2015
Sweet irony. In the end it was Najib Abdul Razak’s ‘1Malaysia’ which united Malaysians from all over the globe to stand in solidarity with fellow Malaysians back home, and demand his resignation.
From the most unlikely places like Guernsey, to South America, a diver sporting a Bersih poster whilst scuba diving in Indonesia, a skydiver with his yellow paraphernalia and small towns which are traditional strongholds of Umno Baru, like Kuala Lipis.
The Malaysians, young and old, rich and poor, answered the appeal made by Maria Chin Abdullah of Bersih 2.0, to show their support for their demand for good governance and clean elections.
The worldwide movement of dissenting Malaysians proved four things:- Read the rest of this entry »
Boikot Bersih 4: PAS untung atau rugi?
Mohsin Abdullah
The Malaysian Insider
2 September 2015
Akar umbi Umno pun tidak marah Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad hadir pada perhimpunan Bersih 4. Itu menurut berita yang disiarkan The Malaysian Insider.
Sebabnya – mereka terima “penjelasan “ Dr Mahathir yang bekas presiden mereka bukan sokong gerakan Bersih secara khusus tetapi kerana beliau menyokong rakyat.
Maknanya Dr Mahathir melihat rakyat menyebelahi atau bersama gerakan Bersih. Sekali gus tuntutan Bersih adalah tuntutan rakyat. Boleh disimpulkan begitu?
Jika boleh, persamaannya (berdasarkan hujah Dr Mahathir) ialah Bersih = rakyat. Satu “equation” yang boleh membimbangkan pucuk pimpinan Umno
kerana “akar umbi setuju with such an equation”.
Dan dalam konteks PAS pula – adakah ketidakhadiran parti itu pada perhimpunan Bersih kali ini membawa erti parti itu “tidak bersama rakyat”? Read the rest of this entry »
16th IACC – the climax that became the nadir of Najib’s six-year anti-corruption campaign with “two elephants not one in the room”
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 2 September 2015
The 16th International Anti-Corruption Conference (IACC) was meant to the high-water mark of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s six-year anti-corruption campaign and show-case Najib as one of the exemplary global leaders spearheading a transformation programme with anti-corruption as one of its core objectives.
It has however turned out to be the nadir of Najib’s premiership in transparency, good governance and anti-corruption with “two elephants not one in the room”, resulting in the embarrassing and disgraceful last-minute decision by Najib to pull out from officiating at the IACC opening, for fear of “hostile” reception from the 1,000 delegates from 130 countries attending the conference.
Imagine some 1,000 delegates from 130 countries attending an international conference turning “hostile” against the head of government of the host country!
Unthinkable! Unimaginable! Read the rest of this entry »
Call on all political leaders to set an example as leaders for all Malaysians to deplore all actions which could provoke inter-racial and inter-religious discord and disharmony and to end all politics of race-baiting in country
he time has come for all political leaders to set an example as leaders for all Malaysians to deplore all actions which could provoke inter-racial and inter-religious discord and disharmony and end all politics of race-baiting in the country.
DAP leaders and I have no hesitation in deploring the incident where two Bersih 4 rally participants stomped on the picture of the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the PAS President Datuk Seri Abdul Hadi Awang, for this is not the political or civic culture we want to see in Malaysia.
This is not a stand which I had only taken now, but which has always been my guiding principle in Malaysian politics which in three months’ time on Dec. 1 will mark my full 50 years of political involvement.
This is also not the first time where the DAP had been blamed for something which had nothing to do with the party.
For instance, in January 2014, Penang UMNO staged a gangsterish and most racist demonstration against the DAP in response to a kangkung-theme flash mob event against the Prime Minister, stuffing kangkung into the mouth of Najib’s effigy.
The Penang UMNO demonstration was a most irresponsible, incendiary and seditious incitement of racial and religious hatred, tensions and conflict, threatening with the rhetorical question: “Does DAP want another May 13” and carried the most blood-curdling racist and religious slogans and banners, even with one banner in blood red with the screaming words:“Because of DAPs leaders mouth, May 13, 1969 happened…Want some more?” and other inflammatory banners like “ABCD – Asal Bukan Cina DAP” and “DAP is the enemy of Islam”.
The problem was that the DAP had nothing to do with the kangkung flash-mob event, and I myself was shocked at the stuffing of kangkung into the mouth of Najib’s effigy, as I regarded it as offensive and knew that it would be distorted and manipulated by irresponsible elements to further incite and inflame emotions, even trying to racialise it as an attack by the Chinese against a Malay Prime Minister.
This is of course a great fallacy because Najib is not a Malay Prime Minister but Prime Minister for all Malaysians, but such distinctions would not stop racists and extremists from fomenting racist responses – as is even happening now over the Bersih 4 rally.
At the time, I did not keep my views private but went on public record that I disapproved and deplored such an action.
The worst example of such irresponsible race-baiting are the lies – which are still being spread on social media – accusing me of being the cause of the May 13 , 1969 riots in Kuala Lumpur, that I had led anti-Malay processions through the streets of Kuala Lumpur shouting anti-Malay slogans and hurling anti-Malay insults resulting in the May 13 riots when I was not even in Kuala Lumpur at the time. I was in Kota Kinabalu to campaign for independent candidates as polling day in Sabah was scheduled to be held after the voting in Peninsular Malaysia.
In my nearly 50 years in politics, I have never stepped on the photograph of any political leader. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s next after Bersih 4?
― Dan Lee
Malay Mail Online
September 1, 2015
SEPTEMBER 1 ― We have just had our biggest street party to usher in Merdeka Day and a 34-hours-long carnival to celebrate democracy in Malaysia. The excitement of those who pulled on their yellow t-shirts and accessories is still visible as many have written to talk about the whole adventure they had and the sense of unity they experienced with the crowd. My question is ― What’s next?
Bersih 4 was meant to unite Malaysians who are like-minded and passionate to ensure our beloved nation is free from corruption and injustice, as well as to demand for a clean government who will put the interest of the Rakyat first. Let us build on this unity of love and passion for this nation and her people, and not divide the nation by skin colour or political affiliation, or worse still, by t-shirt colours. We, who have been to Bersih 4 should never think of ourselves more highly or more patriotic than those who didn’t, for we do not know their reasons. Let us not divide our nation between us and them, who have been to Bersih 4 and not, who wore yellow or not, or who supports Bersih 4 or not. Read the rest of this entry »
Parti baharu dalam arus perdana
Posted by Kit in Political Islam on Wednesday, 2 September 2015
A Shukur Harun
The Malaysian Insider
1 September 2015
Penubuhan parti baharu di mana namanya akan diumumkan tidak lama lagi, iaitu anak kandung NGO Gerakan Harapan Baru (GHB) secara rasmi diumumkan semalam, bertepatan pada Hari Kemerdekaan 31 Ogos, tentunya mempunyai makna yang penting.
Pertamanya kerana ia didahului perhimpunan Bersih 4 yang mendapat sambutan luar biasa rakyat pelbagai kaum dan agama. Walaupun semuanya ini secara kebetulan, tetapi parti baharu ini memang mendukung cita-cita Bersih yang mahukan pilihan raya bersih, memperjuangkan demokrasi dan kebebasan serta keadilan.
Kedua, kelahirannya pada Hari Kemerdekaan, seperti suatu isyarat parti baharu ini sewajarnya mendukung sepenuhnya aspirasi kemerdekaan tanah air dengan segala maknanya. Read the rest of this entry »
Why so few Malays in Bersih 4?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 2 September 2015
Wong Chin Huat
Malaysiakini
Aug 30th, 2015
COMMENT The question most frequently asked on Bersih 4 is, why are they so few Malays?
I don’t buy the two most common answers: first, PAS does not participate and Harapan Baru does not have the clout; second, Malays are worried of violence and chaos.
For me, the answer is straightforward: the Malays feel politically vulnerable because three main Malay-based parties – first PKR, then PAS, now Umno – are split while the Chinese are seemingly so united behind the opposition especially DAP.
To discourage the Malays to join Bersih 4, one may just need to warn them, if Malays join in enthusiastically, then not only Najib Abdul Razak will go, Umno will lose power, too, and the now politically assertive Chinese will dismantle the New Economic Policy (NEP) and weaken Islam.
Against this backdrop, even if PAS has mobilised, Malay turnout will still be weak because of this anxiety. And ‘violence and chaos’ cited in the Merdeka Center survey is but the code word for the collapse of Umno’s one-party state.
Will I blame our Malay friends who don’t join us? Of course no. Everyone has every right to want the country to be cleaner, freer and more democratic. That needs not have anything to do with ethnicity or religion.
I will not even blame them on their anxiety. Can people force themselves to not be anxious?
Simply because the dismantling of Umno’s one-party state is a colossal change, all of us need a soft landing, not only the Malays who have been told that they will be ‘bangsat’ without Umno. Read the rest of this entry »
Can we move forward with Bersih 4?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 2 September 2015
P Ramasamy
Malaysiakini
Sep 1st, 2015
COMMENT The massive Bersih 4 rally that took place in the heart of Kuala Lumpur on on Aug 29 and 30 can be described as tremendous success considering the number of people who took part in it.
It is estimated about 500,000 people were involved and many spent the night sleeping on sidewalks and pavements. Bersih also took an international profile, with similar rallies held in some of the cities worldwide.
Yes, Bersih succeeded in highlighting its objectives of: reforming the corrupt and decadent electoral system, reviving institutions that have become defunct and most importantly, the removal of Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak for his involvement in massive corruption related to the disbursement of 1MDB funds.
Unlike earlier Bersih movements, this time there were no untoward incidents involving the police or other law enforcement agencies. The police were surprisingly well-behaved and disciplined.
The actual Bersih rally is over, at least for the time being. Whether Bersih 5 will take place or not will depend on the whether the government takes initiatives to speed up reforms in the country.
Of course, the hardest thing will be to expect Najib to resign from his post. There are no indications that Najib will resign from the pressure exerted by Bersih. Read the rest of this entry »
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