Archive for category Elections
For better or worse, political smear tactics grab attention, say analysts
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Telok Intan by-e on Monday, 26 May 2014
by Joseph Sipalan and Pathma Subramaniam
The Malay Mail Online
May 26, 2014
Running a smear campaign is arguably the best way to gain traction in a political contest, analysts say amid a storm of negative publicity muddying the Teluk Intan by-election campaigning.
Political analyst Prof James Chin said running down an opponent – typically through hired guns such as bloggers and cyber troopers – is an effective strategy to capture the public’s imagination.
“Whether we like it or not, in reality, negative campaigning works because it means we can’t stop thinking about it. It has a residual effect,” he told The Malay Mail Online when contacted.
“For instance, the bikini photo of Dyana. If someone asks you if you have seen it and if you haven’t, it would immediately trigger your attention to look for it and see it for yourself,” he said, referring to DAP’s Teluk Intan candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.
“And it will always stick to your mind, it will affect the way they vote, though many may not admit that it affects them.”
Smear tactics have been a regular feature on the Teluk Intan campaign trail heading towards polling day this May 31, with Dyana Sofya bearing the brunt of it. Read the rest of this entry »
Ramkarpal sweeps Bukit Gelugor with roaring 37,600 majority
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Parliament on Monday, 26 May 2014
by Himanshu Bhatt,Sangeetha Amarthalingam and Tarani Palani
fz.com
May 25, 2014
GEORGE TOWN (May 25): The DAP’s Ramkarpal Singh made his political debut in style by winning the Bukit Gelugor by-election today by a thundering 37,659-vote majority, polling 81.7% more votes than his closest opponent.
Ramkarpal received 37,659 votes, while Parti Cinta Malaysia’s Datuk Huan Cheng Guan obtained 3,583 votes. Independents Mohamed Nabi Bux Mohd Sathar got 799 while Abu Backer Sidek Mohammd Zan obtained 225 votes. There were 542 spoilt votes.
This means all three of Ramkarpal’s opponents lost their deposits. The results were announced at 9.10pm by Returning Officer Capt (R) Anwar Yahaya at the Dewan Sri Pinang. Read the rest of this entry »
Ramkarpal dedicates victory to dad
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Parliament on Monday, 26 May 2014
by Susan Loone
Malaysiakini
May 25, 2014
Newly-minted Bukit Gelugor parliamentarian Ramkarpal Singh has dedicated his victory to his late father Karpal Singh, the much-revered incumbent who died in a road crash last month.
Thanking his mother Gurmit Kaur, who stood by him today, he also paid gratitude to his siblings Jagdeep, Gobind, Mankarpal and Sangeet for supporting him through life.
“This is my maiden election and it was not an easy ride,” he said.
“If we had a higher voter turn out, our majority would be higher. If we look at the majority despite voter turn out, then it is a huge victory.”
Ramkarpal won with a whopping majority of 37,659 votes – or 89 percent of votes cast – about 4000 votes shy of Karpal’s mammoth majority in 2013. Read the rest of this entry »
Dyana not the only victim of sexism in politics, say women leaders
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Parliament, women on Sunday, 25 May 2014
BY ANISAH SHUKRY
The Malaysian Insider
MAY 25, 2014
The smear campaign against DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud highlights the sexism endemic in Malaysian politics.
In Parliament, men outnumber women by almost 10 to one. A female representative, whether in Parliament or a state assembly, has to fight sexist perceptions of her marital status, looks and dress.
DAP vice-chairperson Teresa Kok said she once argued in Parliament for the rights of single mothers, only to be interrupted by an MP who reminded the Dewan Rakyat that she was unmarried.
“They said I was single, not qualified to make comments on the issue of single mothers. And being a single woman in the eyes of some Umno MPs is akin to being a second-class citizen. They run me down, treat my status as a joke,” the Seputeh MP told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »
Will Teluk Intan vote for the way forward?
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Telok Intan by-e on Sunday, 25 May 2014
Kee Thuan Chye
news.malaysia.msn.
22nd May 2014
Without considering the ethnicity of the candidate, whom would you rather have represent you in Parliament – an intelligent, energetic, winsome 27-year-old woman with a pristine political record and a dream of bringing about racial unity in Malaysia, or a politically experienced 53-year-old man who has won twice and lost twice over four general elections in the same constituency he is now contesting yet again, been a deputy minister for one term, and is president of Gerakan, a Barisan Nasional (BN) party that has fallen by the wayside?
Next question: Of the two candidates, the victory of which would send out a more positive, significant and healing message to the entire nation? Which would bode better for Malaysia’s future?
Next question: If you were voting in the upcoming Teluk Intan by-election, would you vote for change and the potential for politics that transcends race, or would you vote for the same old brand of politics which somehow ends up being race-based?
Would you vote for the DAP’s Dyana Sofea Mohd Daud or BN’s Mah Siew Keong? Read the rest of this entry »
With DAP’s Dyana, Ambiga says happy to see more women in politics (VIDEO)
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Parliament, Telok Intan by-e, women on Sunday, 25 May 2014
BY BOO SU-LYN
The Malay Mail Online
MAY 25, 2014
TELUK INTAN, May 25 — In a country where only one out of 10 MPs is female, activist Datuk Ambiga Sreenevasan lauded Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud’s bold step forward into the murky political world dominated by men.
Ambiga, a former Malaysian Bar president turned activist, also decried the sexist attacks that the 26-year-old DAP aspirant has suffered in the Teluk Intan by-election campaign.
“As a woman, I’m happy to see more and more women coming up to fight the battle in the political arena,” Ambiga said at a DAP fundraising dinner here last night, attended by some 2,000 people.
“We are happy to see more women in Parliament,” added the former chief of election watchdog Bersih 2.0.
The 13th general election last year saw only 23 women being elected into the 222-seat Parliament.
The ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition has 14 female federal lawmakers, while the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) has nine, out of which the DAP has the most at four. Read the rest of this entry »
Dyana Sofya dan keberanian politik DAP
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Telok Intan by-e, UMNO on Sunday, 25 May 2014
Amin Iskandar
The Malaysian Insider
MAY 25, 2014
Sejak Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud dinamakan DAP sebagai calon mereka bagi Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Teluk Intan, nama gadis itu terus melonjak naik dan menjadi “darling” kepada media.
Sebagai pengamal media atas talian, saya sendiri dapat menyaksikan apa sahaja berita yang mempunyai nama Dyana Sofya tidak kira yang menyanjung atau menghinanya, pasti akan “laku terjual”.
Di media sosial seperti Facebook, Twitter dan YouTube, Dyana Sofya begitu laku sekali.
Teluk Intan yang bersedih di atas kematian bekas Ahli Parlimen Seah Leong Peng kerana penyakit barah kini mempunyai fenomena baru dengan kehadiran Dyana Sofya. Read the rest of this entry »
Berjaya tambat hati Melayu, peluang cerah Dyana menang
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Telok Intan by-e on Sunday, 25 May 2014
– Hamri Ibrahim
The Malaysian Insider
MAY 23, 2014
Keputusan DAP mencalonkan setiausaha politik Lim Kit Siang, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud yang juga merupakan graduan undang-undang Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) pada pilihan raya kecil (PRK) Teluk Intan dilihat sebagai langkah strategik bagi meraih undi orang Melayu di Parlimen berkenaan.
Ia sekali gus diharap dapat mengembalikan kepercayaan orang Melayu dan mengubah persepsi negatif mereka terhadap parti berkenaan.
Persoalannya, mampukah strategi ini berjaya pada PRK Teluk Intan nanti? Read the rest of this entry »
No let-up but intensification of UMNO/BN campaign to break Dyana’s political will and fighting spirit with lies, falsehoods and calumnies with surfacing of Filipino actress’ bikini photo claiming to be Dyana
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Telok Intan by-e on Saturday, 24 May 2014
(Media Statement in Teluk Intan on Saturday, May 24, 2014)
On the sixth day of the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election since Nomination Day on May 29, there has been no let-up but intensification of the UMNO/BN campaign to break DAP/Pakatan Rakyat candidate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud’s political will and fighting spirit with lies, falsehoods and calumnies.
BN candidate Datuk Mah Siew Keong talks about wanting to have clean and honest campaign but Dyana is being subject to incessant personal attacks and even character assassination, not only by UMNO Ministers and leaders, but also by Gerakan leaders like Chang Ko Youn and Liang Teck Meng.
These Gerakan leaders want to take the high moral ground of clean elections but they do not hesitate to indulge in gutter politics!
Even before Dyana’s candidature was announced, she was the target of a vicious attack on the social media, with several UMNO cybertroopers posting a photograph allegedly of Dyana in a pink bikini in an attempt to question her character with regard to being a Muslim and wearing such revealing outfits.
In actual fact, it was a photograph of Filipino actress Pauleen Luna. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Bukit Gelugor voters tomorrow and Teluk Intan voters next Saturday to punish the political hooligans and cast every available vote to defend democracy and reject mobocracy advocated by political hooligans in UMNO who stormed the Penang State Assembly, the DAP Hqrs in KL and DAP Kuantan branch yesterday
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Telok Intan by-e on Saturday, 24 May 2014
(Media Statement in Penang on Saturday, May 24, 2014)
The voters of Bukit Gelugor tomorrow and the voters of Teluk Intan next Saturday should cast every available vote to defend democracy and reject in unmistakable and unequivocal terms the mobocracy advocated by political hooligans in UMNO who stormed the Penang State Assembly, the DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur and the DAP Kuantan branch yesterday.
The various incidents of political hooliganism in the past few days, on the back of the rise racial and religious extremism in the past year since the 13GE last May, with unchecked increase in the volume and intensity of hate-speech and growing intolerance of a moderate approach and a plural society must be stopped immediately and powerfully before they destroy the very fabric of Malaysia’s multi-racial, multi-religious, multi-lingual and multi-cultural nation.
What all right-thinking Malaysians, whether in Barisan Nasional or Pakatan Rakyat, whether in government, private sector or civil society, must unite and deplore in the strongest terms is the rise of political hooliganism and breakdown of civility in the political arena.
Clearly, Barisan Nasional leaders have lost the art of the founding generation of of Umno, MCA and MIC leaders like Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Razak, Tun Hussein, Tun Tan Cheng Lock, Tun Tan Siew Sin and Tun V.T. Sambanthan “to agree to disagree agreeably” – practise “gentleman politics” without resort to lies, falsehood and calumny or the most corruptive influence of the politics of money.
What is most deplorable is that there is official encouragement and even patronage of such political hooliganism, and the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassim has emerged as one of the patrons of political hooliganism when he said that it was “natural reaction” by UMNO Youth members to storm the DAP Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur when their party had been challenged. Read the rest of this entry »
Why I support Dyana Sofya
— Ong Kian Ming
The Malay Mail Online
May 24, 2014
MAY 24 — I have the privilege of knowing Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, DAP’s candidate for the parliamentary seat of Teluk Intan, for more than a year. During this time I have found her to be a resourceful, intelligent, diligent and very capable young lady with a bright future ahead of her. I have been inspired by her youthful idealism and energy. I am confident that if elected, she will make the Teluk Intan voters proud to have her as their Member of Parliament. Here are three reasons why I support her candidacy in Teluk Intan.
Firstly, she has shown her ability to think critically and independently on a number of important national issues. And she has demonstrated her ability to defend these her positions despite facing vicious attacks from her detractors. For example, in September 2013, she suggested that poor non-Malays should be given an opportunity to study in a tertiary institution that is similar to UiTM, which was set up with the specific purpose of helping Bumiputeras from disadvantaged backgrounds to pursue higher education opportunities. Even though she did not ask for UiTM to be opened up to non-Malays, she was attacked by many high ranking officials and politicians including an Umno Selangor leader and former Minister, Datuk Noh Omar, and the Vice Chancellor of UiTM, Tan Sri Prof Dr Sahol Hamid Abu Bakar.I doubt that many MPs would have stood their ground the way Dyana did in the face of all these attacks. She remained unfazed and steadfast.
Later on, she was not afraid to point out the ludicrousness of a proposal to make UiTM into a ‘Royal’ university in order to ‘protect’ its Bumiputera status especially since one arm of UiTM – INTEC – is already open to non-Bumiputeras.
She is clearly not afraid of calling out top BN-Umno leaders whether it is asking Home Minister, Zahid Hamidi, not to make Malaysia a laughing stock when accusing Mat Sabu of being involved in the Shia movement with any concrete evidence or reminding the former IGP, Tan Sri Hanif Omar, that Dr Mahathir himself had questioned and criticized the Malays. Read the rest of this entry »
In Teluk Intan, everyone wants a piece of DAP’s Dyana (VIDEO)
by Boo Su-Lyn
The Malay Mail Online
May 24, 2014
TELUK INTAN, May 24 ― While paparazzi had hounded Princess Diana to death, DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud has been tailed by voters in Teluk Intan clamouring to take photographs with her instead.
At walkabouts in night markets at Taman Manik and Taman Desa Bakti in Changkat Jong yesterday, the 26-year-old candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election was stopped almost every few minutes by people of all ages and races wanting to take pictures and selfies with her.
“She’s awesome! She’s beautiful! She’s good!” Syuhada Wandi, a 24-year-old clerk, gushed to The Malay Mail Online at the Taman Desa Bakti night market after posing with Dyana Sofya for a picture.
Dyana Sofya with her rosy apple cheeks and long black hair, was accompanied by DAP members who handed out posters detailing her past experience as a law graduate from Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) and political secretary to DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang, as well as her political philosophy.
DAP campaign workers also gave out round stickers bearing various images of Dyana Sofya, such as one of her in a party uniform, hair uncovered, and another of her donning a purple selendang and baju kurung.
Many people at both night markets, which were patronised mostly by Malays, could be seen wearing the stickers on their shirts.
After taking a photograph with Dyana Sofya, machine operator Gurmit Kaur told The Malay Mail Online that the DAP candidate was a talented young woman.
“We like her,” Gurmit told The Malay Mail Online. Read the rest of this entry »
Fearful of losing Teluk Intan Malays, Umno works to counter Dyana’s charm (VIDEO)
by Boo Su-Lyn
The Malay Mail Online
May 24, 2014
TELUK INTAN, May 24 ― Fear of ceding even a little of its Malay support to DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud has pushed Umno to work feverishly on convincing the community ― often deemed a secure Barisan Nasional (BN) vote bank – that the young Malay woman’s physical appeal is not what Teluk Intan needs.
The Chinese-majority federal seat has just under 22,000 Malay voters, or 38 per cent of the electorate, but losing Malay votes to the Chinese-dominated DAP could prove an embarrassing defeat for the ruling party that has now poured much of its resources into the historic Perak township.
Changkat Jong assemblyman Datuk Mohd Azhar Jamaluddin, who also heads the Teluk Intan Umno division, said the party machinery has been working till 3am for the past few days in the Malay-majority Changkat Jong state seat.
“I don’t deny that the youth or the Malays may be influenced by the DAP candidate,” Azhar told The Malay Mail Online in an interview at his service centre here.
“Young people are inconsistent. Sometimes, they’re interested in attractive candidates, at other times, responsible candidates. So we must tell them that if they choose wrongly, they’ll suffer because it’ll be very difficult to get development and job opportunities,” he added.
At 38 per cent, the Malays of Teluk Intan are considered a sizeable vote bank behind the Chinese, who form 42 per cent of the 60,349-strong electorate. The Indians make up 19 per cent. Read the rest of this entry »
Dyana Sofya, dimensi politik baharu
– Shamiel Fikri Ishak
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2014
Jika cinta digambarkan sebagai buta. Tidak memandang pada nama, warna, dan darjat. Demikian dimensi baru yang digambarkan oleh politik Malaysia.
Sejak nama Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud muncul sebagai salah satu watak dalam parti politik DAP, dan negara Malaysia amnya, politik baru yang tergambar adalah politik yang buta.
Buta pada perbezaan, buta pada darjat, buta pada penilaian bangsa, buta daripada sikap perkauman. Maka buta sebegini lebih mulia daripada celik. Celik yang menilai kemuliaan dengan bangsa, celik menilai parti dengan sikap perkauman, celik yang memandang pada perbezaan dan kelemahan.
Kata seorang penulis dan tokoh pemikir Amerika, Mark Twain:”Kindness is the language which the deaf can hear and the blind can see.”
Ya, kebaikan mampu didengari oleh orang yang pekak, hatta bisa dilihat oleh seorang manusia yang buta.
Watak Dyana Sofya yang muncul dalam parti DAP menggambarkan satu dimensi politik baru. DAP yang terkenal dengan parti rakyat berbangsa Cina rupanya tidak pandang pada bangsa. Manakala calon BN yang bertanding di Teluk Intan bersamanya, Datuk Mah Siew Keong sendiri inginkan politik dan persaingan yang matang. Read the rest of this entry »
Can the Dyana phenomenon last?
Josh Hong
Malaysiakini
May 23, 2014
DAP’s decision to field Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as the candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election is not only bold, but epoch-making. More than merely a window-dressing to showcase the party’s multi-racial credentials, the move has changed the dynamics of the campaign in that the party is now directly competing against Umno, the Barisan Nasional’s lynchpin and a world-renowned racist entity, relegating the (even more) Chinese-based Gerakan to insignificance.
In many ways, DAP remains very much rooted in its Chinese constituency – just look at the rousing public speeches – albeit imbued with populism – by Hew Kuan Yew, popularly known as Superman, and the triumphal reception that greets him in Chinese-majority areas.
But the party has begun to demonstrate more and more resolve to become a broad church (I bet some ill-educated and incurious Umno members would scream at the word ‘church’ and the idiom), and now boasts an army of young blood, of whom many are also female professionals, Dyana being just the latest addition.
Moreover, DAP has always maintained the loyal support of the Indian community to a considerable extent, thanks perhaps to the late P Patto, V David and Karpal Singh who did much to prevent the party from becoming parochial and ethnicised.
Dyana is of course not the first Malay candidate on a DAP ticket, but her being a young woman usually without a tudung and, most shocking to Umno, hailing from a true-blue Umno family background, has been portrayed as an original sin by the Malay press.
All hell broke loose and we have seen a stunned Umno dispatch its ruffians to wreak havoc at DAP. Expect more to come as the by-election campaign is gearing into full force in the coming week. Read the rest of this entry »
Dyana says she’d rather be called a traitor than be involved in dirty politics
by Hasbullah Awang Chik
The Malaysian Insider
May 23, 2014
Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is willing to be declared a traitor for contesting on a DAP ticket rather than get involved with the dirty politics practised by Umno and Barisan Nasional.
The Teluk Intan by-election candidate said she agreed with what former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said about Umno.
Malaysia’s longest serving prime minister said that Umno’s failure to attract professionals to the Malay party had caused many to turn their backs on it.
“Dr Mahathir had said that Malays were smart in joining Pakatan Rakyat. He is correct,” Dyana said.
“After that he calls us traitors. Wow, that’s rich.” Read the rest of this entry »
‘Do it again and DAP HQ will burn’
Lee Long Hui
Malaysiakini
May 22, 2014
Umno Youth members issued a fiery warning to DAP, threatening to torch the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur if its elected representatives hurled insults again.
Angry shouts of “let’s burn it down” and “kill them” rang out at a protest outside the building when Federal Territory Umno Youth chief Mohd Razlan Mohd Rafii asked if submitting a memorandum was sufficient.
He then warned DAP that the next insult would invite a “catastrophic” response. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on the people of Teluk Intan to protect Dyana Sofya from the wiles of UMNO/BN who want to break her political will and fighting spirit with lies and falsehoods in the way they have succeeded in destroying DAP and other Opposition leaders in the past
I fully agree with Sin Chew columnist Ng Miew Luan who in her article today gave three reasons for UMNO’s strong reaction to Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as DAP candidate for Teluk Intan by-election causing the Wanita Umno leader, Datuk Shahrizat Jalil, UMNO Youth leader, Khairy Jamaluddin and even former Prime Minister, Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad to open fire on her.
These three factors are firstly, UMNO stagnates in the struggle of mono-racial politics and paternalistic leadership and has not been able to change with the times; secondly, UMNO equates itself with the government; and thirdly, UMNO equates itself with the nation; and it is this inability to differentiate party from nation in its political operations which have caused negative consequences.
There is today a very perceptive opinion piece “Arise, the Malay that Umno fears” in The Malaysian Insider by Umran Kadir, who wrote:
“The entry of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud onto the political scene has been met by an unprecedented and sustained attack by some of the biggest guns in Umno: an Umno Supreme Council member, the head of Wanita Umno and none other than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself.
“But why is a political novice like her deserving of so much attention by the powers-that-be?
“I would argue that it is because she represents everything that Umno does not want the Malays to be – capable, confident and unshackled. Read the rest of this entry »
Arise, the Malay that Umno fears
– Umran Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
May 21, 2014
Sheriff John Brown always hated me
For what I don’t know
Ev’ry time I plant a seed
He said, “Kill it before it grows.”
He said, “Kill them before they grow.” – Bob Marley, I Shot the Sheriff
The entry of Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud onto the political scene has been met by an unprecedented and sustained attack by some of the biggest guns in Umno: an Umno Supreme Council member, the head of Wanita Umno and none other than Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad himself.
But why is a political novice like her deserving of so much attention by the powers-that-be?
I would argue that it is because she represents everything that Umno does not want the Malays to be – capable, confident and unshackled. Read the rest of this entry »
Five reasons Malaysians should be grateful to Umno
COMMENTARY BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
MAY 21, 2014
It is that silly season again, when Umno gets in a tizzy over more evidence that its grand-sounding statement that Umno is Malay and Malay is Umno is just that, a statement and nothing more.
That umbilical cord between Umno and the Malays was cut a long time ago. And yet they still pretend to be the vanguard of the Malays.
Now, they are feigning indignation that Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud is contesting the Teluk Intan by-election on a DAP ticket. She has been called an ingrate and a traitor. The sheer hypocrisy of the name-callers who tell Malaysians that we should be forever grateful to them.
In keeping with the Umno spirit, the Malaysian Insider offers five reasons we must “tabik” Umno politicians. Read the rest of this entry »
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