Archive for category 1Malaysia
DAP stand that Malaysia is secular state with Islam as official religion is no different from that of first three Prime Ministers — Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak and Tun Hussein
I am really astounded to see the UMNO newspaper, Utusan Malaysia, continuing with its inflammatory, incendiary and seditious front-page headline campaign for the second consecutive day on “Haram Sokong DAP” for it is proof that there are UMNO leaders who have thrown caution and discretion to the winds as they are really desperate about UMNO’s ability to win the next general election by free and fair means.
Although Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak proclaimed 1Malaysia as his signature policy to create a nation where every Malaysian would regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, region and class second, UMNO and Barisan Nasional leaders have tried their worst to divide Malaysians along race and religious lines.
MCA for instance had pulled out all stops to panic Malaysian Chinese to reject the DAP on the ground that the DAP is only a pawn of PAS, while UMNO had gone all out to urge Malay voters to reject PAS and PKR because both are stooges of DAP.
It is clear that these UMNO/BN lies, falsehoods and hypocrisies are not working, and Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region, class, age or gender are rallying to the Pakatan Rakyat call for change to create an united, democratic, just, incorrupt, competitive, prosperous and progressive Malaysia that UMNO leaders have decided to plunge for the most divisive, incendiary and seditious racist and religious card with screaming front-page headlines for the second consecutive day in its “Haram Sokong DAP” campaign.
Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia front-page headline “Haram sokong DAP” torn to smithereens Najib’s 1Malaysia signature policy
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 8 August 2012
With 23 days to go before Malaysia celebrates the 55th Merdeka Day and 39 days the 49th Malaysia Day, patriotic and nationalistic Malaysians find it most sad and heart-rending at the appearance of more and more evidence of powerful and divisive centrifugal forces out to divide instead of uniting Malaysians.
Today the UMNO newspaper Utusan Malaysia’s front-page headline “Haram sokong DAP” provides the latest evidence, tearing into smithereens Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s signature 1Malaysia policy to create a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian would regard himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, region or class second.
Utusan Malaysia’s scandalous and outrageous screaming headline “Haram Sokong DAP” is a multiple indictment – of Utusan Malaysia, UMNO and the Najib premiership!
Is Utusan Malaysia trying to foment and incite religious conflicts in Malaysia? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s 1Malaysia policy in past three years has borne bitter and even poisonous fruits worsening racial polarization and producing more heinous lies like the recent May 13 falsehoods to undermine national unity
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, DAP, Najib Razak, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Tuesday, 7 August 2012
It has been said that a tree is known by its fruit and a man by his deeds.
With the approaching 55th National Day/49th Malaysia Day celebrations, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should ponder why his 1Malaysia policy in the past three years, instead of creating a more united Malaysian nation, has borne bitter and even poisonous fruits worsening racial polarization and producing more heinous lies like the many May 13 falsehoods purveyed recently to undermine national unity.
None other than former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad has said only in June that the next general election will centre on race as “Malaysia has become more racial than ever”!
As part of his 1Malaysia programme, Najib has raised an army of some 10,000 Umno/BN cybertroopers through a nation-wide series of 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions, not to spread the 1Malaysia message to be a Malaysian first and race, religion, region and socio-economic grouping second but to put into practice the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) and Utusan Malaysia credo to “spin” lies and even blatant lies as fact and truth.
We are beginning to see the dire results of the raising of Najib’s army of 10,000 Umno/BN cybertroopers – including the bitter and poisonous fruits inciting racial distrust and undermining national unity revolving around the government-funded film “Tanda Putra” on the May 13 riots in 1969, with these cybertroopers disseminating the wildest, baseless, reckless, irresponsible, despicable and defamatory allegations that I had provoked the May 13 riots in 1969 in the street processions, that I had killed Malays and even urinated at the flagpole of the Selangor Mentri Besar’s residence when I was never in Kuala Lumpur on May 11, 12 and 13, 1969. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysians should do a Sherlock Holmes to find out the “who, when and what“ about the origin of the canard of “urination” at the flagpole of the Selangor Mentri Besar’s house provoking May 13 riots in 1969
Yesterday, I categorically denied the preposterous claim which had appeared previously on the official Facebook page of the May 13 movie, Tanda Putra, that I had urinated on the flagpole in front of the then Selangor Mentri Besar’s residence during the May 13 riots in 1969.
The facebook had carried a photo portraying me being manhandled, with the caption:
“Lim Kit Siang telah kencing di bawah tiang bendera Selangor yang terpacak di rumah menteri besar Selangor ketika itu, Harun Idris, (Lim Kit Siang had urinated at the foot of the flagpole bearing the Selangor flag at the then Selangor MB’s Harun Idris’ house)”
The photo was posted in the album in the Facebook titled ‘Peristiwa-peristiwa yang dimuatkan di dalam filem ini’ (Events depicted in this movie).
Although the photo and caption have since been removed from the movie’s official page, Malaysiakini had captured a screenshot of the earlier posting.
I noted two very pertinent postings from the 69 comments since Malaysiakini reported my denial, viz:
RealSoldier witness513 its simply absurd to accuse LKS performing such despicable act because the flagpole is not freely accessable to the public as it is located within the compound of the MB’s house which is fenced and manned by a jaga. BY accident I was at the MB’s on that fateful day from 3.00am to 5.30am on 514 following rescue operations by the security forces.
FREE The picture of LKS being grabbed and manhandled by officers was taken at the Kota Kinabalu old airport terminal. Those officers in white-shirt uniforms were immigration officers when Harris Salleh ordered the deportation of LKS from Sabah. This writer was inside a plane and saw from the window LKS being put put in a wheelchair and wheeled to the plane for deportation back to KL.
Olympics Opening Ceremony: Lessons for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building, Sports on Tuesday, 31 July 2012
blog.nikicheong.com
Posted on Jul 30, 2012
Last night, I watched the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games for the second time, in the solitude of my room. I had a great time watching it with friends at their place for the first time on the actual night, and in general really enjoyed it. That night, I posted this updated on my Facebook account:
I admit that I’m a sucker for all Olympic Opening Ceremonies but today’s was special. It was patchy as a production, didn’t necessarily like the video/live action stuff, but can Danny Boyle tell a story. The underlying narrative was genius and hats off to him for giving so much credit to those who would never usually get attention – from the NHS to the miners, construction workers who built the stadium to the seven young athletes who lit the gorgeous cauldron. Amazing.
I watched it again because I was still reeling from the show the night before. Plus, having spent the better part of the day reading commentaries and reviews about the event, I realised that there were so many little things I missed. Watching it alone again, and being able to listen to all the commentary, it really did feel like I was watching a different show.
And I still loved it. Read the rest of this entry »
Formation of 1 Malaysia national culture in the ‘new regime’
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building on Monday, 30 July 2012
— Norani Abu Bakar
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 30, 2012
JULY 30 — As we conceive of a new regime in Malaysia, there are various ideas for a new political structure which must be articulated further. One of these, that of a two-party political system having great potential for transforming Malaysia’s current democracy into a means to national character and human flourishing.
Malaysians are the nation’s stakeholders, and thus this maturation of this new regime has the potential to define their national culture in terms of holistic values. This national culture is a powerful “soft force” that can form, support and move a nation — building and rebuilding it especially in severe conditions such as war, epidemic, natural disaster, collapse of governance, and regional economic melt-down. Can the two-party regime support their collective aspirations for a holistic, rich and cohesive 1 Malaysia culture or will the regime further fragment this community, leaving any newly developed or reformed policies on paper only?
The post-colonial governance, in all of its strengths and weaknesses since 1957, has persevered to secure the physiological needs of Malaysians. However, as Professor AR Embong wrote in “The Role of Social Sciences in Malaysian National Development,” the implementation of Vision 2020 was, as Joseph Stiglitz called the roaring 1990s, “a decade of clutching over wealth and profit.” There is some truth in this, and so for good reason, some Malaysians doubt the efficacy of this new vision. Hence, progressive efforts to revitalise the nation’s soul and identity through 1 Malaysia, and its reorientation towards the higher levels of Maslow’s hierarchy, are perceived with great suspicion. Read the rest of this entry »
National Day theme “Janji Ditepati” wrong and inappropriate as it is anti-national, divisive rather than unifying the people, presenting Najib as Prime Minister for UMNO/BN only and not all Malaysians!
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Corruption, Crime, Elections, Najib Razak, Sabah on Friday, 27 July 2012
The Information Minister, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim is defending the indefensible when he takes to Twitter to ask why “Janji Ditepati” cannot be used as this year’s National Day/Malaysia Day theme.
Firstly, Rais’ claim that “Malaysia has truly arrived as an achieving nation after 55 years of independence” is highly controversial and debatable, for if this is true, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak would not gain the reputation of being the most indecisive Prime Minister in the nation’s history who keeps postponing his plan to hold the next general election to win a personal mandate for his premiership for fear of ending up in the Opposition benches or toppled within UMNO like his predecessor Tun Abdullah.
In fact, probably more could be written about how the slogan of “Janji Ditepati” had failed rather than succeeded in 55 years after Merdeka and 49 years after Malaysia – whether in building a united, harmonious, democratic, progressive and competitive Malaysia; or in fulfilling Najib’s three-year promises of 1Malaysia Government Transformation Programme (GTP) whether in reducing crime, fighting corruption or carrying out meaningful government, economic and political transformation for Malaysia to take her rightful place in international society and achieve the status of a normal democratic country.
I remember when I visited Sabah in 1978, I had warned that Sabah faced three grave problems – the illegal immigrant problem which I had cited had reached 140,000, the crime situation and grave problem of corruption. Read the rest of this entry »
Online, the 2012 National Day logo gets a drubbing
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Thursday, 26 July 2012
By Irwan Ismail | July 26, 2012
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, July 26 — The 2012 National Day logo has received wide criticism since it was released this week, with cyber citizens and graphic designers saying it is the worst they have seen and not suitable for the celebration that stretches from August 31 to September 16 which is Malaysia Day.
The government eschewed the traditional logo designing competition this year, leaving the Information Department to come out with the logo which comprises words in different fonts, the Jalur Gemilang, the 1 Malaysia logo and theme “Janji Ditepati” (Promises Fulfilled), all using the four colours of the national flag.
“It’s not even a logo from designer’s point of view. Too many things going on in one piece — logo in a logo, so many fonts, no strong visual message, no hierarchy in typography,” said Imran Abdul Jabar, the founder of sifoo.com, a website dedicated to multimedia design.
Read the rest of this entry »
Moving on from May 13
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Muhyiddin Yassin on Tuesday, 24 July 2012
— The Malaysian Insider
Jul 21, 2012
JULY 21 — May 13, now that’s a date that keeps cropping up although the racial clashes on that date happened in 1969, 43 years ago.
Can we ever let it rest? Can we ever move on? Can we ever get politicians to stop saying they don’t want it repeated, yet bring it up every now and then?
May 13 keeps popping up as a scaremongering tactic to keep various demographics united to support political parties facing an election, especially Umno.
There used to be some reverence and remorse for the darkest day in Malaysian history when blood spilled on the ground among us.
Now it is used with utmost disrespect by Umno strategists who believe that fear of trouble will persuade them to support the status quo – keeping Barisan Nasional (BN) in control of Putrajaya. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia The Unready
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Human Rights, Parliament, Perak, university on Thursday, 19 July 2012
— Tota
The Malaysian Insider
Jul 19, 2012
JULY 19 — In English history there is King Æthelred The Unready. He earned this nickname because he was never ready for anything good or wise. Bolehland displays many similar characteristics to qualify to be called “Malaysia The Unready”.
The Umno-dominated BN government has shown a stubborn refusal to make Malaysia a truly democratic state where the rule of law, civil rights and liberties, equality and justice are respected and practised. The Umno-dominated BN government’s mantra is that Malaysia is not ready for so many things that are basic in all truly democratic and progressive countries.
Malaysia The Unready is not ready to:
● make Malaysia a truly democratic, secular state as enshrined in the Constitution.
● make Parliament democratically functional with an elected Speaker.
● have an elected Senate. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP gesa PM kaji semula tema hari merdeka
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Ahmad Fadli KC
Malaysiakini
Jul 18, 2012
Penasihat DAP, Lim Kit Siang menggesa perdana menteri mengkaji semula tema Hari Kemerdekaan 2012 yang didakwa menggunakan slogan politik BN, “Janji Ditepati”.
Menurutnya, Datuk Seri Najib Razak masih mempunyai masa untuk berbuat demikian dan membuktikan yang beliau adalah perdana menteri untuk semua rakyat Malaysia.
“Jadilah perdana menteri untuk semua rakyat Malaysia, baik untuk BN dan juga Pakatan (Rakyat).
“Masih belum terlambat untuk perdana menteri mengarahkan kajian semula terhadap tema sambutan Hari Kemerdekaan dan Hari Malaysia,” kata Lim.
Menurutnya, tema ‘Janji Ditepati’ mula digunakan pemimpin-pemimpin BN sewaktu jelajah jalanan mereka bermula beberapa bulan lalu.
Read the rest of this entry »
Najib has lost best timing for dissolution of Parliament and his window to choose the best time for 13GE has closed
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Corruption, Elections, Najib Razak, nation building, Selangor on Wednesday, 18 July 2012
Firstly, let me pay tribute to Malaysians, particularly in Petaling Jaya and Selangor, for their public-spiritedness, powerful sense of justice and the ability to distinguish between public right and wrong, in their splendid one-week response online and offline in coming to the support of DAP MP for PJ Utara, Tony Pua, among the foremost warriors for the water rights of the people of Selangor, who had lost in the first round of the defamation suit by Selangor state water concessionaire Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor (Syabas) with the Kuala Lumpur High Court awarding RM200,000 damages to Syabas.
Tony is appealing against the KL High Court judgment but Syabas is demanding payment of the RM200,000 damages.
If Tony is finally vindicated and wins the defamation suit against Syabas, the collection will go to the Party’s national funds to be expended for the forthcoming general elections or other public interest litigation cases.
Tony’s defamation suit is one of the many tests and challenges DAP leaders have to face after the 308 political tsunami of the 2008 general elections, which saw an unprecedented change in the national political landscape with the formation of five state governments (Selangor, Penang, Kedah, Kelantan and Perak – although an unconstitutional coup subsequently robbed Pakatan Rakyat of the Perak state government but we are confident winning Perak in the next general election) and the unprecedented denial of BN’s two-thirds parliamentary majority).
The whole country and all Malaysians will be faced with two critical tests when the long-delayed 13th General Election is finally held, whether in another two or three months or next year. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib doing the greatest disservice to national unity and 55-year Malaysian nation building by insisting that the BN 13GE campaign theme of “Janji Ditepati” is adopted as this year’s theme for National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 17 July 2012
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak is doing the greatest disservice to national unity and 55-year Malaysian nation-building by insisting that the Barisan Nasional 13th General Election campaign theme of “Janji Ditepati” (Promises Fulfilled) is adopted as this year’s theme for National Day and Malaysia Day celebrations.
National Day and Malaysia Day should be national occasions where Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region, class, gender, age and most important of all, political beliefs and affiliations, can come together as Malaysians first and last to celebrate the attainment of Merdeka on August 31, 1957 and the formation of Malaysia on Sept. 16, 1963.
However, when the National Day and Malaysia Day theme this year is the blatant and partisan Barisan Nasional 13GE campaign theme of “Janji Ditepati”, whose dissemination had been spearheaded by the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, in a highly politicized tour dubbed “Jelajah Janji Ditepati” all over the country in the past few months, the Barisan Nasional government is deliberately provoking instead of avoiding a national division among Malaysians based on their political beliefs and affiliations on these two national occasions.
The question that must be asked is – Who is being petty-minded and even being anti-national? Read the rest of this entry »
Najib’s 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers most anti-national in their utter disregard of 1Malaysia objective to create an united, harmonious and ethical Malaysian society
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Media, Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak on Monday, 16 July 2012
In November last year, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak launched the 1Malaysia Social Media Convention at the Putra World Trade Centre in Kuala Lumpur, anointing 2,000 social media practitioners who attended it as the new army of UMNO/Barisan Nasional cyber-warriors.
Since then, about 10 social media conventions had been held in different states as part of the programme to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers in advance of the 13th General Election.
As the Minister for Information, Communication and Culture, Datuk Seri Dr. Rais Yatim exhorted at the launch of the Selangor edition last month, the Umno/BN cybertroopers should “counter all the slander that has been happening on line”.
He continued: “If people keep tweeting that ‘Bersih is bersih’, people will believe that the movement is genuine. Tweet back and start saying that Bersih is ‘kotor’ (dirty).”
Najib should explain why public funds should be spent to help raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers in advance of the 13th General Election, whether through the Biro Tatanegara (BTN) or the 1Malaysia Secretariat.
Malaysians taxpayers are also entitled to know how much public money had been spent on each of the 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions since November last year to help raise the army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers, particularly under the guise of the Prime Minister’s Jelajah Janji Di-Tepati programme.
Malaysians are equally concerned that Najib’s 1Malaysia Social Media Conventions to raise an army of over 10,000 UMNO/BN cybertroopers have proven to be most anti-national as they are held in utter disregard of the 1Malaysia objective to create an united, harmonious and ethical Malaysian society. Read the rest of this entry »
Return of Mahathirism triumphant
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 10 July 2012
Last week, Tun Mahathir asked why I hated him so much. Yesterday, he asked why I am so afraid of him.
It is neither. As I had said on Saturday, “like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and Tun Abdullah and the majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in the 13th general election”.
Mahathir is in his cynical best.
Tongue-in-cheek, he made the grandiloquent announcement that “Mahathirism” is dead, that it “died” when Tun Abdullah took over from him as Prime Minister in 2003.
In actual fact, “Mahathirism” is not only alive and thriving, the return of Mahathirism is enjoying its most triumphant phase since the unceremonious exit of Abdullah as Prime Minister and his replacement by Datuk Seri Najib Razak 39 months ago. Read the rest of this entry »
I do not hate Mahathir at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein, Tun Abdullah and majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13GE
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Saturday, 7 July 2012
I have just returned from a four-day visit to Myanmar and I am most intrigued by the statement by former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad saying he did not know why I hated him so much.
Let me assure Mahathir that I do not hate him at all but like three former Prime Ministers, Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Hussein and Tun Abdullah and the majority of Malaysians in 2012, I am opposed to Mahathirism and its return to Malaysian politics in 13th general election.
Mahathir cannot be more wrong when he claimed that Abdullah was rejected by voters for “mistreating” him, asserting:
“Last time when Abdullah wasn’t good to me, the people did not support BN. So some people still have some sympathy for me.”
The reason why Abdullah suffered the worst UMNO/BN electoral defeat in the 2008 general election is because he failed to live up to his promise in the landslide 2004 general election victory to begin the serious task to dismantle the Mahathirish legacy of corruption, cronyism and abuses of power. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M, you are wrong
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Articles, nation building on Thursday, 5 July 2012
Azrul Mohd Khalib
The Malaysian Insider
July , 2012
I was quite disappointed to read of Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s prediction that the upcoming general election would be more focussed on race and ethnic issues than ever before.
I think you are wrong, Dr M. Speaking as a product of your policies and far-sightedness in the creation of a Vision 2020 generation, I am happy to inform you, Dr M, that you have actually wildly succeeded in pushing us towards the formation of a more united, integrated and mature democratic Malaysian society (remember the Vision 2020 concept document?).
Through the programmes put in place under your leadership, the opportunities for education and learning provided by your administration, and through the shared experiences, heartache and pain that we have had over the past three decades, you have much to be responsible for the current state of affairs which resulted in the evolution of our people.
And the evolution is a good one. When you look at the young people today below the age of 35, there is much to be proud of. We used to gripe about how apathetic Malaysians in general were about the state of the country, how they often took for granted that which they are able to benefit from, and did not really want to participate in the political process. Well, things, as you well know, certainly have changed. Read the rest of this entry »
PM’s elegant silence on BN sniping
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Bersih, Najib Razak on Saturday, 30 June 2012
— Jaleel Hameed
The Malaysian Insider
JUNE 30 — Mr Prime Minister, sir, where is your sense of fair play and Malaysian-ness?
Why are you, sir, so limp-wristed in giving a rap on the knuckles of your Barisan Nasional colleagues who think they can say anything and get away with it?
Is this a sense of entitlement, sir? Because your government has been our only government since Merdeka?
Sir, I am referring to your wishy-washy, lukewarm comment asking BN people not to hurt other races. Read the rest of this entry »
Kingmakers in GE13 are not the Chinese voters but all Malaysian voters, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans to unite and bring about peaceful transition of federal power to end corruption, cronyism and abuses of power
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Friday, 29 June 2012
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad is up to his past mischief yesterday when he played the race card to create racial suspicion, mistrust and fear in his effort to save UMNO and Barisan Nasional from being voted out of Federal power in the 13th general election and replaced by Pakatan Rakyat.
Saying that the Chinese voters are the kingmakers for the 13th general election, Mahathir said the Chinese voters will decide who forms the government after the general election as the Malays are divided among three parties.
He claimed that “the Malay majority has split itself into three and become the minority” and the opposition PKR, PAS as well as UMNO have “to cede to Chinese demands”.
As a result, “these three small Malay parties need the support of the Chinese in order to win the elections”.
He said: “Whichever party gets the support of the Chinese will win the elections.
“The fact is today all three Malay parties are trying to butter the Chinese electorate. So they become racial and cater to racial demands.”
What Mahathir said yesterday must rank as among his most irresponsible and mischievous statements, making nonsense of his Vision 2020 and concept of Bangsa Malaysia which envisioned Malaysians “ethnically and territorially integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership” by 2020. Read the rest of this entry »
No more damning admission of double failures – Mahathir’s Bangsa Malaysia in Vision 2020 and Najib’s 1Malaysia policy
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Bersih, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 28 June 2012
Former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad today chalked up a new record of sorts when his speech at a forum on business and politics could not be a more damning admission of double failures – firstly of his concept of Bangsa Malaysia in his Vision 2020 announced 21 years ago in 1991 and the current Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia policy proclaimed just more than three years ago.
In Vision 2020, Mahathir envisioned having only one “Bangsa Malaysia” in 2020 with the people “ethnically and territorially integrated, living in harmony and full and fair partnership” while Najib’s 1Malaysia envisaged a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as Malaysian first and his or her race, religion, region or socio-economic status second.
Both visions and objectives have been smashed into smithereens when Mahathir said that the next general elections, the second last to be held before the expiry of the 30-year Vision 2020, will centre on race as “Malaysia has become more racial than ever”.
Mahathir said:
“In this country, we are very racist, even more than before. The next election is going to be about race. Who gives what, who gets what based on race.”
Ever since the political tsunami of the 2008 general election, UMNO leaders and strategists have increasingly become more and more blatant and unscrupulous in playing the race and religious cards to try to wrest back political power, making a total mockery of the Vision 2020 concept of “Bangsa Malaysia” and Najib’s 1Malaysia objective. Read the rest of this entry »