Archive for September, 2019

Malaysians should dedicate the 15 days between Hari Merdeka on August 31st and Malaysia Day on September 16 every year as Malaysian Unity Season to emphasise and promote unity of diverse races, languages, regions, cultures and civilizations in Malaysia and avoid division and disunity

Malaysians of diverse races, religions and cultures are here tonight to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival.

This year’s Mid-Autumn or Mooncake Festival is special, as for the first time, the Yang di Pertuan Agong, Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah and Raja Permaisuri Agong, Tunku Hajah Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah have conveyed Mid-Autumn Festival greetings to the Chinese community in the country.

This year’s Mid-Autumn Festival fell on last Friday on Sept. 13, and I was at Wisma Sambanthan in Kuala Lumpur to launch a Tamil book of short stories by my old friend and comrade, K. Siladass.

I do not understand Tamil, but before the function, I was privileged to be given a copy of Thirukkural with translation in Malay and English by Dr. Singaravelu Sachithananthan, former head and professor of Indian Studies, University of Malaya – which must the first book of its kind in the world.

The very fact that on the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I was launching a Tamil book was highly symbolic that Malaysia is a confluence of four great civilisations in the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – and Malaysia must strive to become an example to the world of the success of the Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure because of the Clash of Civilisations. Read the rest of this entry »

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Najib would have fully approved of the PAS-UMNO alliance of klepto-theocracy as his global kleptocracy has continued to make waves – paving the way to make PAS and UMNO “one family”

Barisan Nasional Adviser, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have fully approved of the PAS-UMNO Alliance as his global kleptocracy is continuing to make waves – paving the way to make PAS and UMNO “one family”.

Imagine getting an Islamist party to virtually accept kleptocracy as a major plank of the alliance, which must be a “first” in the world – a founder of the Global Movement of Moderates moving on to be a founder of the Global Movement of Kleptocrats!

And even more “satisfying”, MCA and MIC are again playing ball and giving their blessing for the PAS-UMNO alliance of klepto-theocracy, despite the earlier MCA threat to “kick” UMNO out of Barisan Nasional if it “coddles up with PAS” to form an unholy pact with PAS.

A wag would have said that in celebrating the PAS-UMNO alliance of klepto-theocracy, PAS has become “kafir” which UMNO had accused it of, and UMNO become “deviant” as it had been denounced by PAS, with both endorsing the global kleptocrat as their leader, open or covert. Read the rest of this entry »

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Let the best in Thirukkural and Confucianism on how to be a good human being be part of the Malaysian heritage for Malaysia to be example to the world of the success of Alliance of Civilisations

I am like a fish out of water, launching this new book in Tamil by my friend and comrade of over fifty years, K. Siladass, which is a collection of his short stories in Tamil.

I do not understand Tamil, but before the function, I was privileged to be given a copy of Thirukkural with translation in Malay and English by Dr. Singaravelu Sachithananthan, former head and professor of Indian Studies, University of Malaya – which must the first book of its kind in the world.

This highlights the powerful symbolism of this occasion, that Malaysia is a confluence of four great civilisations in the world – Malay/Islamic, Chinese, Indian and Western – and Malaysia must strive to become an example to the world of the success of the Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure because of the Clash of Civilisations.

I browsed through the Thirukkural couplets, which is some 2,300 years old, dealing with everyday virtues, ethics and morality, which had influenced scholars across the ethical, social, political, economic, religious, philosophical and spiritual spheres like Tolstoy, Gandhi and Albert Schweitzer. Read the rest of this entry »

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Free all arrested under Sedition Act as Pakatan Harapan government has promised to revoke it under Promise 27 of the 14th General Election Manifesto

Bebaskan semua tahanan di bawah Akta Hasutan kerana kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sememangnya telah berjanji untuk menghapuskan Akta tersebut menerusi Janji 27 dalam Manifesto Pilihanraya Umum ke-14

Pihak polis harus membebaskan semua tahanan di bawah Akta Hasutan kerana kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sememangnya telah berjanji untuk menghapuskan Akta tersebut menerusi Janji 27 dalam Manifesto Pilihanraya Umum ke-14.

Penahanan bekas ketua pemuda PSM Khalid Ismath dan individu-individu lain di bawah Akta Hasutan 1948 adalah satu perbuatan yang tidak boleh dipertahankan memandangkan ianya bertentangan dengan apa yang telah dijanjikan oleh Pakatan Harapan.

Tindakan Raja Permaisuri Agong Tunku Azizah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah yang menyatakan rasa kedukacitaan baginda terhadap tindakan penahanan oleh pihak polis ini adalah satu tindakan yang amat terpuji.

Semua penjawat awam dan pihak polis seharusnya membiasakan diri mereka dengan manifesto PRU ke-14 Pakatan Harapan untuk memahami semangat, falsafah serta hala tuju kerajaan Pakatan Harapan sungguhpun undang-undang dan dasar-dasar negara masih belum lagi diubah supaya mereka mengambil tindakan yang bertentangan dengan manifesto kerajaan semasa dalam usaha membina sebuah Malaysia baru.
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Who will be the Prime Minister if PAS-UMNO alliance of klepto-theocracy wins the 15th General Election – Najib again or Hadi or Zahid Hamidi?

Siapa yang akan jadi Perdana Menteri jika gabungan klepto-teokrasi PAS-UMNO menang Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 – Najib lagi? Atau Hadi? Atau Zahid Hamidi?

Siapa yang akan jadi Perdana Menteri jika gabungan klepto-teokrasi PAS-UMNO, yang akan diputuskan esok, menang Pilihan Raya Umum ke-15 pada 2023?

Adakah Datuk Seri Najib Razak? Yang kini berdepan 43 tuduhan rasuah dan digelar sebagai kleptokrat global — sekaligus menyelematkan dirinya daripada dipenjara seumur hidup di penjara Sungai Buloh?

Adakah rakyat Malaysia akan terpaksa sekali lagi menerima “Malu Apa Bossku” sebagai PM?

Adakah PRU15 akan menyelamatkan Najib daripada skandal 1MDB, membuka jalan untuk Tan Sri Mohamad Apandi Ali kembali sebagai Peguam Negara untuk mempertahankan skandal 2MDB, 3MDB dan skandal-skandal seterusnya?

Yang lebih “menarik”, adakah negara ini akan kembali dikawal oleh penjenayah dalam buruan yang kini cuba mengelak perbicaraan; Jho Low yang “pro-Melayu, pro-Islam”, yang mana akan membawa Malaysia ke arah kegemilangan – seorang Cina yang akan mengawal Malaysia menerusi proksinya “Malu Apa Bossku”! Read the rest of this entry »

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Great urgency to address the issue of poverty with formulation of 12th Malaysia Five Year Plan

Tindakan segera diperlukan untuk menangani isu kemiskinan dalam merangka Rancangan Malaysia ke-12

Banyak kenyataan yang dikeluarkan kebelakangan ini telah mempersoalkan kadar 0.4% isi rumah yang hidup di bawah garis pendapatan kemiskinan (GPK) yang diterjemahkan kepada 27,000 daripada sejumlah 6.7 juta isi rumah dalam negara.

Anggaran ini telah dipersoalkan oleh ramai pihak yang memerhatikan realiti di kehidupan yang sangat berbeza; sama ada di kelompok kemiskinan bandar, komuniti luar bandar, ataupun di dalam kumpulan sosial di Sabah dan Sarawak.

Dalam kenyataan saya yang dikeluarkan pada 4 September yang lepas, saya telah mencadangkan supaya satu Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja (RCI) ditubuhkan untuk menyiasat isu kemiskinan di dalam negara. Saya juga telah cadangkan nama beberapa individu yang terkenal dalam bidang ini sebagai ahli Suruhanjaya ini dan supaya Suruhanjaya ini diberikan terma rujukan yang luas.

Saya telah menerima beberapa maklumbalas mengenai cadangan saya. Walaupun terdapat pelbagai pandangan mengenai kesesuaian penubuhan RCI untuk menyelesaikan masalah ini, hampir semua maklumbalas bersetuju yang garis pendapatan kemiskinan memerlukan semakan semula sebelum Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 dirangka dan dibentangkan.

Semakan ini perlulah mengambil kira semua pandangan dan komen yang telah diberikan, yang pada masa yang sama menjadi peringatan kepada semua terhadap komitmen yang telah dibuat oleh Pakatan Harapan mengenai isu ketelusan dan akauntabiliti. Read the rest of this entry »

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Another reason “M for Malaysia” a must-see film for every Malaysian – to reaffirm that the historic decision of 9.5.2018 must succeed although it would take a longer time-span to accomplish instead of being an ignominious failure

There is another reason why the film “M for Malaysia” should be a must-see film for every Malaysian – an occasion for Malaysians to reaffirm that the historic decision of 9.5.2018 must succeed although it would take a longer time-span to accomplish instead of being an ignominious failure.

The film “M for Malaysia” documents the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018, when Malaysians shocked the world and themselves with a miraculous transition of power, peaceful and democratic, overthrowing one of the longest ruling governments in the world to reset nation-building policies to build a New Malaysia to become a country which is a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity.

Malaysians were so focussed on accomplishing the seemingly impossible job of overcoming insuperable odds to change the government through the ballot box that they overlooked the fact that May 9, 2018 was not a bloody revolution where the heads of those who dissented can be chopped but a peaceful democratic transition where we must win over those who had earlier disagreed with a change of government – while restoring the fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression which were quelled by repression by the previous government.

While the film celebrates the miraculous victory of Malaysians on May 9, 2018 , it is a salutary reminder that only a battle had been won but not a war.

Just as the May 9, 2018 victory was the result of decades of “blood, sweat and tears” of courageous, passionate and patriotic Malaysians, the mission to build a New Malaysia to reset nation-building policies to undo the injustices, abuses of power and corruption of the past six decades cannot be undone in one or two years, but will take more than one general election cycle to accomplish. Read the rest of this entry »

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“M for Malaysia” a must-see film for every Malaysian as it’s a powerful antidote to the recent barrage of fake news and hate speech to create racial and religious conflagration on the baseless premise that the Malays have lost political power as the May 9, 2018 historic change was a Chinese conspiracy to grab power from the Malays

“M for Malaysia” is a must-see film for every Malaysian as it’s a powerful antidote to the recent barrage of fake news and hate speech to create racial and religious conflagration on the baseless premise that the Malays have lost political power as the May 9, 2018 historic change was a Chinese conspiracy to grab power from the Malays.

Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was the pedlar-in-chief of fake news and hate speech during the 14th General Election, utterly reckless of their divisive, provocative and polarizing character to tear asunder a fragile plural society comprising of diverse races, religions, languages and cultures!

Who will forget what Najib said on the eve of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 when he said that there were no Malays at Pakatan Harapan ceramahs and that the tens of thousands who gathered to hear Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad in the various parts in the country were DAP supporters “bussed in” by DAP, when the Special Branch and the various intelligence agencies of the government should know that in its 52-year history, DAP had never bused anyone to any DAP or Pakatan Harapan function!

Malaysians would be reminded from the film “M for Malaysia” that the crowds at the ceramahs for Mahathir and Pakatan Harapan in the 14th General Election campaign were very spontaneous and representative of the Malays, Chinese and Indians in Peninsular Malaysia, exposing the lies and falsehoods – escalated in the recent barrage of fake news and hate speech in the last few months – that the change of government on May 9, 2018 was Chinese grabbing Malay political power. Read the rest of this entry »

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Fourth Challenge to Malaysian Youths – Be in the frontline to fight corruption and to achieve the objective for Malaysia to be among world’s top 30 countries in integrity by year 2030

For the third time in ten days, the Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Abdullah Sultan Ahmad Shah reminded all Malaysians about the fundamentals of nation-building in a plural Malaysia as spelt out by the Malaysian Constitution and the Rukunegara.

Speaking at the investiture ceremony of federal awards and honours at Istana Negara yesterday held in conjunction with his official birthday celebration, he reminded all Malaysians not to play up sensitive issues in the interests of any party.

He said that every citizen has been promised rights and freedoms in accordance with the Federal Constitution, but that freedom must not go beyond the values that are fundamental to national unity.

He said: “So as in politics. There must be a line and limit that should not be crossed. If political polemics were left prolonged, sooner or later it will start taking its toll on the people.

“Believe me, the unity, peace and harmony that have been built over these 62 years, if we ever lose them, will be very difficult to get back.

“My advice is, let bygones be bygones, forgive and forget past disputes so that the broken relationship can be fixed and restored.”

In the past ten days, the Sultans of Perak and Selangor have also expressed similar concerns when they spoke on the importance of national unity and the dangers of uncontrolled spread of fake news and hate speech to destroy inter-racial and inter-religious understanding, tolerance and harmony in Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »

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Third challenge to youths in Malaysia – to promote social media literacy among youths so that they could be informed citizens and critical thinkers to detect lies, half-truths and falsehoods

The Yang di Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah’s message on his official birthday celebration today has reinforced my challenge yesterday to Malaysian youths to prove to the world that Malaysia is a successful example of Alliance of Civilisations and not an example of failure from Clash of Civilisations.

In his message, the King has called on Malaysians to stand tall as a nation that transcends all differences to create lasting unity and togetherness.

His Majesty said to create such an atmosphere, the people and leaders at all levels should not just do nothing and yet dream of achieving success.

On the contrary concerted efforts should be taken to break down elements that would hinder the unity.

The King said: “The fact is that it is not an easy task to manage the divisions and differences that exist in a country. This is due to the fact that every single thing will tend to be viewed and interpreted from different angles.”

As such, ever since taking his oath as the 16th Yang di-Pertuan Agong on Jan 31, the Yang di Pertuan Agong has travelled to every corner of the country to stay close to all Malaysians regardless of differences. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two Challenges to Youths in Malaysia – spearhead a national campaign to clean up the Malaysia social media by combating fake news and hate speech to incite inter-racial and inter-religious suspicion, fear and hatred and to prove to the world that Malaysia is a successful example of Alliance of Civilisations and not an example of failure from Clash of Civilisations

Two things struck me last night when I attended the first series of the Parliamentary Debaton 2019 Youth in Parliament by 46 youths in the 16 – 25 year-old age group – firstly, empowering Malaysians youths and inspiring them to transform Malaysia into a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity; and secondly, harnessing the energies of youth for the country’s reform and the reset of nation building policies to build a New Malaysia.

I was impressed with the seriousness, intensity and passion of the young debators last night on a subject, ‘Precariat Workers in the Gig Economy’, which few Malaysians are familiar with – reinforcing the hope and belief that Malaysians must depend on the youths of today to take the country to greater national heights in the coming years and decades.

Young Malaysians must dare to dream big and have great vision for the country. When the DAP MPs were first elected to Parliament in 1969, we had three DAP MPs who were in their twenties – Fan Yew Teng (Kampar), Lim Cho Hock (Batu Gajah) and myself (Bandar Malacca).

The Pakatan Harapan Government has taken the rights steps to re-set nation building efforts, including the Constitutional amendment to lower the voting age from 21 to 18 year-olds; the appointment of the youngest Youth Minister in the history of 18 Youth Ministers in the history of the country, Syed Saddiq bin Syed Abdul Rahman who was 25 when he appointed to the Cabinet (despite his various faux pas); the Parliamentary Debaton 2019 Youth and the historic event last Friday where after more than 40 years, the University of Malaya Students’ Union (UMSU) revived its tradition of holding a convoy during the university’s orientation week.
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Endorse call for Royal Commission of Inquiry on Poverty in Malaysia

Menyokong seruan untuk penubuhan Suruhanjaya Siasatan Diraja untuk isu kemiskinan di Malaysia

Dalam menghampiri ulang tahun ke-56 penubuhan Malaysia pada 16 September 2019 ini, kita boleh renung semula beberapa perkara yang dapat kita syukuri bersama.

Walaupun menghadapi ketidaktentuan global, KDNK untuk suku kedua negara meningkat sebanyak 4.9%, satu-satunya negara di Asia Tenggara yang mana pertumbuhan KDNK suku keduanya lebih tinggi daripada suku pertama.

Dalam separuh pertama tahun 2019, pelaburan asing yang telah diluluskan, dalam sektor pembuatan, perkhidmatan, dan industri utama meningkat sebanyak 97.2% kepada RM49.5bn daripada jumlah RM25.1bn pada separuh tahun pertama 2018. Kadar pengangguran kekal pada kadar yang rendah setakat 3.3% pada Jun 2019.

Namun begitu, dalam kegembiraan kita meraikan pelbagai berita baik ini, marilah kita beringat kepada saudara kita yang kurang bernasib baik. Kemiskinan dan golongan yang kurang bernasib baik ini tidak hilang begitu sahaja selepas kerajaan Pakatan Harapan mengambil alih tampuk pentadbiran negara pada Mei 2018.

Kumpulan ini adalah satu peringatan yang jelas, mengenai tugas yang perlu kita pikul untuk menaikkan taraf hidup mereka dan anak-anak mereka. Read the rest of this entry »

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A lesson on Malaysian national identity

Sebuah pengajaran tentang identiti nasional Malaysia

Kejadian malang dan menyedihkan di Stadium Gelora Bung Karno di Jakarta malam tadi — di mana tiga rakyat Malaysia telah tercedera selepas peminat bola sepak Malaysia dibaling dengan objek logam dan botol air dan gas pemedih mata selepas Harimau Malaya menjaringkan gol kemenangan terhadap Indonesia dalam Perlawanan Kumpulan C Kelayakan Piala Dunia Zon Asia — dapat memberikan kita pengajaran penting tentang identiti nasional Malaysia.

Pengajaran ini amat berguna dan tepat pada masanya kerana sejak dua bulan lalu, media sosial Malaysia dikuasai oleh berita palsu dan ucapan kebencian yang melaga-lagakan kaum dengan kaum dan agama dengan agama, malah membangkitkan prasangka antara kaum dan agama, rasa sangsi, permusuhan, ketakutan dan kebencian bagi mewujudkan fobia bahawa setiap etnik kononnya berdepan krisis eksistensial budaya dan pegangannya.

Ia merupakan suatu peringatan bahawa orang Melayu, Cina dan India di Malaysia, yang merupakan anak watan Malaysia, mempunyai banyak persamaan antara satu sama lain berbanding orang Indonesia di Indonesia, orang Cina di China dan orang India di India.

Adalah suatu tindakan yang tidak bertanggungjawab dan bersifat jahat untuk sesuatu pihak cuba menuduh bahawa kononnya orang India di Malaysia lebih menyokong Perdana Menteri India Narendra Modi daripada Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, begitu juga dengan dakwaan bahawa orang Melayu kononnya menganggap Joko Widodo atau Jokowi sebagai Presiden mereka atau orang Cina di Malaysia menganggap Xi Jinping sebagai Presiden mereka sedangkan semua rakyat Malaysia taat dan setia kepada Yang di-Pertuan Agong, sistem monarki berpelembagaan dan Perlembagaan Persekutuan. Read the rest of this entry »

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Can Malaysia be rid of corruption, religious bigotry and racial extremism which are the prerequisites to become a top world-class nation or condemned to mediocrity and worse, a failed, rogue state and a klepto-theocracy?

We are still in the interregnum between Merdeka Day on August 31 and Malaysia Day on September 16, which should be period when Malaysians should mull the fate and future of the country, whether we can be rid of corruption, religious bigotry and racial extremism as the perquisites to become a top world-class nation of unity, freedom, justice, excellence and integrity or condemned to mediocrity and worse, a failed and rogue state and a klepto-theocracy.

These thoughts came to me when I read the latest poem by the 83-year-old former top civil servant, Tan Sri Alwi Jantan on the 62nd Merdeka Day, viz: Read the rest of this entry »

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All Malaysians must speak up for national unity and condemn fake news and hate speech designed to spark inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, animosity, fear and hate

In the past two months, “social media Malaysia” seems to have a developed a life of its own – giving a false picture that centrifugal forces in Malaysia are having an upper-hand and tearing Malaysia apart as a result of the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history.

But this is a false picture of the real Malaysia.

The 62nd Merdeka Day on August 31 was not only celebrated in the federal capital and the various state capitals by the “big shots”, but for the first time in a very long while in the nation’s history by ordinary Malaysians in small towns and villages all over the country.

In the Iskandar Puteri parliamentary constituency, for instance, I flagged off in the morning the 62nd Merdeka Day Run in Kangkar Pulai which was participated by some 2,000 people, opened a debate tournament, flagged off a 62nd Merdeka Day Convoy of Motor Bikes and officiated a day-long 62nd Merdeka Day Pesta Bola participated by 32 teams from the surrounding Malay kampongs.

Instead of inter-racial and inter-religious doubt, suspicion, distrust, animosity, fear and hatred, as propagated by “social media Malaysia”, I find on the ground only goodwill, understanding, harmony and tolerance among Malaysians, whether Malays, Chinese or Indians.

I call on Malaysians regardless of race and religion to prove “Social media Malaysia” wrong, that it is giving a false picture that centrifugal forces in Malaysia are having an upper-hand and tearing Malaysia apart as a result of worst racial and religious polarisation in nation’s history. Read the rest of this entry »

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Don’t deregister UMNO – let it self-destruct!

Jangan batalkan pendaftaran UMNO — biarlah ia musnah dengan sendiri!

Saya bersetuju dengan Ahli Parlimen DAP Kepong Lim Lip Eng yang mana kerajaan tidak sepatutnya membatalkan pendaftaran UMNO kerana kesalahan para pemimpinnya. Namun begitu, politik kotor parti tersebut haruslah dibendung.

Saya percaya bahawa kerajaan Pakatan Harapan harus mengambil kedudukan yang lebih tinggi dan berikan ruang dan masa untuk UMNO memperbetulkan salahlakunya.

Sepanjang lima tahun di antara 2013 sehingga 2018, DAP pernah menghadapi situasi yang sama di mana Kabinet Najib mempertimbangkan pembubaran secara haram parti ini berdasarkan pelbagai tuduhan yang dibuat-buat.

Dalam Pilihan Raya Umum ke-13 yang berlangsung pada 5 Mei 2013 yang lalu, rejim Najib hanya berubah fikiran pada saat terakhir daripada keputusan untuk mengharamkan penggunaan simbol roket DAP pada PRU tersebut.

Sebelum PRU14, rejim Najib merasakan sangat yakin dengan kebolehan mereka untuk memenangi sehingga ⅔ kerusi Parlimen sehingga mereka memutuskan untuk tidak menggantung pendaftaran DAP — yang berasaskan tuduhan kononnya pilihan raya dalaman parti pada Disember 2012 dilaksanakan dengan cara yang tidak demokratik dan melanggar undang-undang — dan sebaliknya memilih untuk mengharamkan Parti Bersatu yang baru ditubuhkan. Read the rest of this entry »

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Shocking that some Opposition leaders who were formerly in government are defying royal advice about fake news and hate speech and totally reckless about jeoparding national unity in Malaysia

I am shocked and surprised that some Opposition leaders who were formerly in government are defying royal advice about fake news and hate speech and totally reckless about jeopardising national unity in Malaysia.

I would advise these Opposition leaders, who were formerly government leaders, to repent and to heed the advice of the various Rulers and play their part to curb fake news and hate speech dominating the social media.

The Sultan of Perak Sultan Nazrin Shah for instance had said that after 62 years of achieving independence, the act of instilling the feeling of hatred between the races and religions was being committed more often.

He expressed his concern that the political climate in the country after the 14th general election was getting hotter through acts carried out by political leaders.

He said various provocations, which were extreme in nature, were being made, including disseminating slander through social media and insulting Islam and the various religions in the country.

He warned that such acts were like setting up time bombs which were waiting for the right time to explode. Read the rest of this entry »

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Malaysians who want Malaysia to be an example to the world of the success of Alliance of Civilisations instead of being a failure because of Clash of Civilisations should come together to make a success of this objective, regardless of their political antecedents

I was at the Subang International Airport this morning waiting for my flight to be called when a Malaysian joined me at one of the waiting benches, and asked me what I thought would be the future of Malaysia.

I did not know who this person was, but I responded, saying that it reminded me of the opening paragraph of Charles Dickens’s “”A Tale of Two Cities” –

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair”.

I said Malaysia seemed to be caught by this paradox on the occasion of the 62nd Merdeka Day – best of times, worst of times; light and darkness; hope and despair.

But the “social media” Malaysia, dominated by fake news and hate speech particularly in the past two months to incite suspicion, distrust, fear and hatred in each community against other communities, seeking to create the psychosis among the Malays, Chinese and Indians that they are all individually facing an existential threat from other ethnic groups is completely different from real-life Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »

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