Archive for October 2nd, 2018

After May 9, Malaysian diaspora hoists Kit Siang onto cloud nine

by K.C. Boey | TMI

“LET them in, let them in,” Lim Kit Siang said of those in the overflow rooms in the Melbourne Multicultural Hub, midway through his 12-day tour in the Antipodes last month.

“We are all Malaysians, right?” the veteran politician swept his arms across the Orange Room, suggesting there was enough room to fit all of what a voice count would tally to 350 people, but relented when organisers invoked local council “rule of law” limiting numbers in each room, in mock reminder of one tenet of New Malaysia.

Scene like this were replicated elsewhere during the tour of Australia and New Zealand where a large proportion of the Malaysian diaspora live.

And the DAP supremo can be forgiven should he still be on cloud nine, days after his return from the tour.

“My 12-day visit… has been most successful in promoting the cause and role of the Malaysian diaspora in contributing to and participating in the building of a New Malaysia,” Lim said upon his return on Sunday.

“Never before in the development of the Malaysian diaspora… have Malaysians outside the country felt so proud as their countrymen and women in Malaysia (on May 9) at the peaceful and democratic transition of power (caring) as much as Malaysians at home whether people’s power will finally prevail to bring about a better Malaysia.” Read the rest of this entry »

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Not quite Malaysia Baru, but never again Malaysia Lama

By Julia Yeow | TMI

WITH the exception of several die-hard Pakatan Harapan loyalists, the general euphoria of the May 9 general election appears to have finally died down.

In the place of adulation for the men and women who successfully convinced the majority of Malaysians that they would make better, wiser and more responsible leaders comes the disappointment of broken promises.

The new PH government has asked for patience to put in place the reforms and improvements it had championed and promised, and in view of the fact that our nation has never had a change in government, much less from one that was practically at the peak of unbridled corruption, I think it’s indeed a fair request.

But broken promises, and a rather lacklustre performance by almost all of the new cabinet members, cannot be excused by inexperience forever.

Our new government leaders must now work harder to convince an understandably impatient electorate that the future promises they make will be better thought through. Read the rest of this entry »

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New Malaysia is not what Mahathir, Anwar, Guan Eng, Sabu or myself individually want, but what Malaysians inside the country and worldwide Malaysian Diaspora want

Julia Yeow of The Malaysian Insight has described it well: “Not quite Malaysia Baru, but never again Malaysia Lama”!

Either in my introductory talk or during the Q & A session during my recent eight-city tour of the Malaysian Diaspora in Australia and New Zealand, I would stress three points:

Firstly, the New Malaysia which the historic 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 made possible has not fully taken shape, but struggling to be born;

Secondly, it is not possible to establish New Malaysia and undo the wrongs and injustices of the past six decades in 100 hundred days or even six months, as it is a task and mission that will take a decade or two; and

Thirdly, the New Malaysia is not what Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, Lim Guan Eng, Mohamad Sabu on myself individually want, but what Malaysians, both inside the country and the worldwide Malaysian Diaspora worldwide, want. Read the rest of this entry »

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All political parties, individuals and organisations complicit in the 1MDB scandal, like all the BN parties, PAS, Parliament Speaker and media, must repent and redeem themselves for, directly or indirectly, aided and abetted Najib Razak in the monstrous 1MDB scandal

The failure of the UMNO General Assembly on Sunday to adopt a resolution to condemn and sack Datuk Seri Najib Razak from UMNO for the international 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal is proof that UMNO and UMNO leaders continue to be complicit in the monstrous 1MDB scandal.

The 1MDB scandal will continue to be an albatross round the neck of UMNO and UMNO leaders.

Malaysians must thank Wanita Umno delegate from Batu Pahat, Masurana Samian, who wore a “MACC lock-up” orange-coloured T-shirt to the UMNO General Assembly on Sunday, as henceforth, UMNO and UMNO leaders are literally garbed in the orange-coloured MACC uniform!

But it is not only UMNO and UMNO leaders who must repent and make amends, all political parties, individuals and organisations complicit in the 1MDB scandal, like all the Barisan Nasional parties including MCA, Gerakan, MIC, the Sabah and Sarawak BN parties, as well as PAS, the Parliament Speaker and the printed and electronic media, who had been complicit in the 1MDB scandal, must repent and redeem themselves for directly or indirectly aiding and abetting Najib Razak in the monstrous 1MDB scandal. Read the rest of this entry »

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Looking for reformasi on the road to oz

By Kean Wong | Medium

After two decades of reformasi, two generations of resistance to ‘Malaysia lama’ spent September addressing capacity crowds of Malaysians abroad about ‘Malaysia baharu’ and the horizon ahead.

As the two veteran campaigners for Malaysia’s democracy traversed the Australian continent across September, another leader Anwar Ibrahim formally started his campaign to reclaim parliamentary leadership, nominating for the Port Dickson by-election almost 20 years to the day his jailing sparked off reformasi, the democratic reform movement that led to Malaysia’s regime change on May 9th this year.

Amid this frenetic activity was the background rattle of ruling party PKR’s own tightly contested polls this month, threatening to split it apart in bitter recriminations as two proteges contest to become Anwar’s party deputy. All at a time when this year’s historic victory under the PKR flag has become a drama of a fragile coalition, rather than about how the biggest ruling party enables reformasi coming to pass.

As veteran reformasi activist and PKR vice-president Tian Chua blitzed three Australian cities in four days over the Hari Merdeka (independence day) weekend, he provoked a raft of thorny questions about a new Malaysia that were sometimes left unanswered. Read the rest of this entry »

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The political circus has come to town!

For eight months from August to March next year, the famed Moscow Circus is performing in ten cities in Malaysia, thrilling Malaysians with “dazzling and raw-dropping performances packed full of artistry, hilarity and world-class athletic skills”.

However UMNO and Barisan Nasional might have upstaged the Moscow Circus in the past few days with many “dazzling and raw-dropping performances” in their political circus!

Just to cite a few such super-circus performances:

1. UMNO President Datuk Seri Zahid Hamidi in his inaugural UMNO Presidential speech called on members to remain patient and not to defect as they will soon be a hot commodity with the Pakatan Harapan which is expected to implode due to infighting. As a result, the Pakatan Harapan government can be dissolved at any time.
Read the rest of this entry »

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