Former Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, cannot be more wrong when he claimed that the election court had declared that RM20 “petrol money” was bribery but the even more important questions are Najib’s motives for such a bizarre claim.

Is it to ensure a new culture of integrity and zero tolerance for corruption in Malaysia or is it to frustrate such an effort?

One must admire Najib’s impudence and temerity for trying to use RM20 “petrol money” for Orang Asli to whitewash his RM50 billion 1MDB corruption and money-laundering scandal and kleptocratic premiership, but faced with 39 criminal charges (undoubtedly with more criminal charges to come) and accused of siphoning off billions from 1MDB, what has Najib got to lose in adopting the most bizarre diversionary tactics?
Read the rest of this entry »

Barisan Nasional candidate for Cameron Highlands by-election, Ramli Mohd Nor said yesterday that if he wins the by-election, it will not be based on bribery.

This is a most welcome statement by the Barisan Nasional candidate and I applaud him for it, for there is a very deliberate and systematic attempt to divert attention as to why the election of MIC Vice President, C. Sivaraajh as MP for Cameron Highlands in the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 was declared null and void, resulting in the holding a by-election; and in particular the significant role of the Pahang Mentri Besar and State Assemblyman for Jelai, Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail in the money-politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices during the last general election, which were highlighted in the election court appeal and which Wan Rosdy dared not become a witness to rebut although the election court proceedings were adjourned three times for Wan Rosdy to testify.

Actually the money politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices in the 14th General Election were not confined to Cameron Highlands, but was fairly routine for most Barisan Nasional campaigns.

The difference was that Cameron Highlands produced 12 “integrity heroes” – eleven of them Orang Asli – who were prepared to testify in open court about the Barisan Nasional’s money politics, vote-buying and corrupt election practices in Cameron Highlands during the last general election! Read the rest of this entry »

PKR Senator Bob Monolan Mohd has kicked up a controversy with his statement in Pos Betau, Jelai yesterday which had been interpreted as a warning to Orang Asli village chiefs (Tok Batin) that their salaries and posts are at stake if they do not support Pakatan Harapan in the Cameron Highlands by-election.

If Monolan had threatened Tok Batins, then he would have committed an election offence which is actionable under the law, but otherwise, if he had merely wanted to point out that that it was unacceptable for Tok Batins to receive their salaries from the Federal Government and continue to be local UMNO heads.
Read the rest of this entry »

I spent the whole morning today visiting the ninth Orang Asli Post in Cameron Highlands (Pos Terisu) and the four Orang Asli kampongs in the area.

This marks the end of my pre-by-election visit to all the nine Orang Asli Posts in Cameron Highlands in my three visits to the constituency from December 30, which included being trapped at Kampong Orang Asli Semoi Lama on New Year’s Eve together with MP for Bentong Wong Tack, State Assemblyman for Tanah Rata Chiong Yoke Kong, DAP/Pakatan Harapan Candidate for Cameron Highlands M. Manogaram, cutting from all access to the outside world; crossing the river at Kampong Semoi Lama by driving through it despite its strong currents to reach Orang Asli kampongs in Pos Lenyang and Pos Titom, and I would have ended up in Lipis if my vehicle was swept away by the strong current; as well as my visits to Felda Sungai Koyan and the townships at Bertam Valley, Ringlet, Tanah Rata, Brinchang, Tringkap and Kampong Raja.

It had been quite a hectic but a most informative and educational visits. Read the rest of this entry »

On the way to Kampong Pantos in Jelai, I received news that former top police officer Ramli Mohd Noor has been announced as the Barisan Nasional candidate for the Cameron Highlands by-election on January 26.

I want to congratulate Ramli for making history as the first Orang Asli parliamentary candidate for UMNO/Barisan Nasional in the nation’s history, for the ruling coalition had never fielded an Orang Asli whether for Parliamentary or State Assembly elections in the past six decades.

In the 14th General Election, DAP fielded an Orang Asli, Nasir Dollah, for the Kelantan State Assembly seat of Galas, although he failed to be elected. Read the rest of this entry »

Pakatan Harapan by-election workers in Cameron Highlands will have to be “miracle workers” in the next two weeks to clinch a victory for M.Manogaran in Cameron Highlands.

This was because Pakatan Harapan also lost in the Cameron Highlands constituency during the miracle of the 14th General Election on May 9, 2018 which effected a peaceful and democratic transition of power first time in six decades of the nation’ history, which merited Malaysia being described as a “bright spot” in Southeast Asian democracy in the recently-released Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2018.
Read the rest of this entry »

M. Manogaran will be the voice of Orang Asli, not only from Cameron Highlands, but from all over Malaysia, in Parliament if he is elected Member of Parliamnt for Cameron Highands on January 26.

Although MIC Vice President C Sivarraajh was elected Member of Parliament from May 9, 2018 until the end of November when his election was declared null and void because of money politics and electoral corruption, Sivaraajh had not asked a single question on the problems of the Orang Asli in Cameron Highlands in the two parliamentary meetings in the six months he was MP.
Read the rest of this entry »

I am surprised by the outburst by the UMNO Secretary-General Tan Sri Annuar Musa yesterday contesting my claim that DAP and Pakatan Harapan will be the underdogs in the Cameron Highlands by-election on January 26, 2019, and that my being trapped in Kampong Orang Asli Simoi Lama in Ulu Jelai on New Year’s Eve was an indictment of the failures and neglect of the UMNO/Barisan Nasional government over the last few decades to uplift the Orang Asli community into the mainstream of national development, where the Orang Asli community can enjoy access to the most basic necessities which the Orang Asli people are entitled to as citizens of Malaysia, whether in medical aid, educational and economic opportunities, basic infrastructure facilities of clean water and electricity, and most important of all to them, land rights.

Annuar was shedding crocodile’s tears. Read the rest of this entry »