Archive for category nation building
Pahang Mufti Abdul Rahman should repent – or let him state specifically whether I am “kafir harbi” who should be killed
Posted by Kit in Islam, Najib Razak, nation building on Monday, 27 June 2016
The Pahang Mufti Datuk Seri Dr. Abdul Rahman Osman should not twist and turn and should repent or let him state specifically whether I am “kafir harbi” who should be killed or slain.
May be Abdul Ramabn should also state when I became “kafir harbi”?
I have taken the oath as a Member of Parliament 10 times to “faithfully discharge my duties…to the best of my ability” and that “I will bear true faith and allegiance to Malaysia and will preserve, protect and defend the Constitution”.
Can a Malaysian who had subscribed 10 times to the oath as an MP to “bear true faith and allegiance to Malaysia” and to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution” become a “kafir habir” to be killed or slain?
Or did I become a “kafir harbi” when I stood up in Parliament in 1978 to defend PAS to oppose the UMNO-controlled Barisan Nasional government’s declaration of state of emergency in Kelantan to topple to PAS state government?
Or did I become a “kafir harbi” when in 1985 I deplored the government handling of the tragic Memali incident which killed 18 people and called for a Royal Commission of Inquiry?
Or did I become a “kafir harbi” in 1998 when my son, Lim Guan Eng went to jail for defending the honour and dignity of an underaged Malay girl, losing his position as MP for Kota Melaka, his parliamentary pension as well disenfranchised and deprived of right to vote or to stand for elective office for five years from release from Kajang Prison in August 1999?
Or did I become a “kafir harbi” in 2000 when I denounced the Federal Government for hijacking the five per cent oil royalty of Terengganu because PAS had won the Terengganu State Government in the 1999 general election and Hadi Awang had become the state’s Mentri Besar? Read the rest of this entry »
UMNO/BN must be voted out of Putrajaya at least once if Malaysia is to become a normal democratic country and break the present national trajectory trending down the slippery slope towards a fractured, failed and rogue state
Posted by Kit in Elections, Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Monday, 27 June 2016
Many are asking about the future of Malaysia after the two big Barisan Nasional wins in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections a week ago, with the backdrop of the BN landslide victory in the Sarawak State General Election and the previous Teluk Intan by-election.
Is it still possible for Malaysians to hope for political change in Putrajaya at the 14th General Election whether in 2018 or a year earlier in July or August next year or in the near future?
Let us have a reality check as we have travelled quite a political distance in Malaysia. Only eight years ago, before the 2008 General Election, if any Malaysian was asked if it was possible foresee a change of Federal Government, the answer would be an unanimous and and unambiguous “No”.
But the “political tsunami” of the 2008 General Election had completely changed the political landscape, and what had been “unthinkable” and “impossible” had been transformed into a “thinkable”, “possible” and “achievable”, and the question of a change of Federal Government has taken the quantum leap from “whether” to “when” and “how”.
The 2013 General Election was fought on the platform of a change of Federal Government, and although 53% of the voters voted for change, victory was denied them because of the undemocratic electoral system which allowed Datuk Najib Razak to become the nation’s first minority Prime Minister by winning 60 per cent of the parliamentary seats though only securing a minority of 47% of the popular vote.
Malaysia is now an extraordinary paradox – on the one hand, Najib Razak an increasingly more powerful and unshakeable Prime Minister of Malaysia inside the country , while internationally he is under increasing siege perceived as corrupt, haunted and hounded by the RM55 billion 1MDB global scandal (which contained within it the RM4.2 billion “donation” scandal) which is being investigated by seven other countries. Read the rest of this entry »
Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting should be convened to declare the BN stand on Pahang state mufti’s incendiary and seditious “kafir harbi” statement
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Parliament on Sunday, 26 June 2016
When I suggested last month that an emergency meeting of the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council should be requisitioned over what happened in Parliament on May 26, where the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said, fast-tracked Hadi’s hudud motion and violated the 43-year Barisan Nasional stand and consensus that PAS’ hudud proposal was not appropriate for Malaysia’s plural society and against the fundamental provisions of the 1957 Merdeka Constitution and 1963 Malaysia Agreement, there was not a single leader from the 14-party Barisan Nasional coalition who dared to take up the suggestion.
Since then, the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar parliamentary by-elections had been held with unexpectedly big victories for the UMNO/Barisan Nasional candidates.
But what do the twin Barisan Nasional by-election victories mean in terms of Hadi’s hudud motion, which will need another Ministerial motion to “fast-track” it in the parliamentary agenda when Parliament reconvenes on Oct. 17, so that it could be given priority over government business to be presented to Parliament for resolution.
Will the twin Barisan Nasional by-election victories mean that there will be another Ministerial motion at the end of the year to fast-track Hadi’s hudud motion, or will it mean that there will no Ministerial motion to fast-track Hadi’s hudud motion and that it will left in limbo as had been the case with Hadi’s hudud motion in the past?
All the leaders of the other 13 parties in the Barisan Nasional coalition are keeping mum on the subject as none of them know what is going to happen in Parliament at the end of the year as it will all depend on what would best serve the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s interests to ensure his own political survival.
This is a sad commentary that the Barisan Nasional has long ceased to be a coalition of equals, where the Prime Minister is ‘primus inter pares’ but a very lop-sided political coalition where the UMNO President and Prime Minister, can singly, unilaterally and arbitrarily disregard 43-year-old Barisan Nasional consensus and decide what should be Barisan Nasional policy as happened in Parliament on May 26. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Najib to convene special Parliament meeting before National Day on August 31 to debate the country’s burning issues, including Najib’s twin global scandals, the NSC Act and worsening racial/religious polarisation highlighted by Pahang mufti’s incendiary “kafir harbi” statement
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Corruption, Financial Scandals, Islam, Najib Razak, nation building, Parliament on Saturday, 25 June 2016
I call on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to convene a special Parliament meeting before National Day on August 31 to debate the burning issues in the country, including Najib’s RM55 billion 1MDB and RM4.2 billion “donation” twin global scandals, the National Security Council (NSC) Act and the worsening racial/religious polarisation in the country highlighted by the Pahang mufti’s incendiary “kafir harbi” statement.
Parliament adjourned on May 26 and is next scheduled to reconvene on Oct. 17 – a recess of some five months.
In an era of fast-changing developments, especially with many burning national issues crying out for answers and solutions, it is the height of irresponsibility for Parliament to adjourn for as long as some five months and this is why Najib should convene a special meeting of Parliament before National Day on August 31, where the two newly-elected MPs from Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar can officially take their oath of office.
There are many national burning issues awaiting answers or resolutions, and I will touch on three of them. Read the rest of this entry »
Three cries for Malaysia – that in run-up to the 53rd Malaysia Day and 59th National Day celebrations, a state mufti could classify non-Muslim Malaysians as “kafir harbi” who could be slain
Posted by Kit in Islam, Malaysian Dream, nation building on Saturday, 25 June 2016
I cry for Malaysia – firstly, that in the run-up to the 53rd Malaysia Day on Sept. 16 and 59th National Day celebrations on August 31, a state mufti could classify non-Muslims Malaysians as “kafir harbi” who could be slain.
I further cry for Malaysia that the state mufti’s statement was made a day after the Islamic State IS) released a new propaganda video where a Malaysian identified as Mohd Rafi Udin from Negri Sembilan warned that there would be “no peace” for police personnel in the Bukit Aman headquarters, and urged IS supporters in Malaysia to employ whatever means necessary to kill non-believers – “Kill them wherever you meet them…if you have a car, hit them…Use your weapon and knives to stab them in the chest”.
The state mufti’s statement has prompted the reaction, “Daesh is already in Malaysia”, among many Malaysians.
My third cry for Malaysia is that the mufti’s statement was made as part of a high-level UMNO/BN political conspiracy after the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections to incite hatred and animosity among the diverse races and religions to accummulate political capital, spearheaded by the UMNO propaganda mouthpiece, Utusan Malaysia, as if there is no rule of law in Malaysia and in utter contempt of six decades of nation-building efforts. Read the rest of this entry »
Five “atomic bomb” issues for the AMANAH candidates to hurl at Najib in Parliament if they are elected as MPs on Saturday
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Elections, Financial Scandals, nation building on Friday, 17 June 2016
PKR Secretary-General and MP for Pandan Rafizi Ramli created quite a stir when at a Kuala Kangsar by-election ceramah, he said that if the AMANAH candidate, Ahmad Termizi Ramli, who is a nuclear physicist, is elected, he would be asked to hurl an “atomic bomb” at the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak in Parliament.
Everybody had a good laugh as they knew that it was a figure of speech, meaning that Ahmad Termizi would be raising in Parliament mega Najib scandals and wrongdoings, as it would be physically impossible for any human being to “hurl” any atomic bomb at anyone in Parliament – as an atomic bomb will be too heavy for any human being to hurl it around as if Termizi is a superhuman weight-lifter. For example, the two atomic bombs, “Little Boy” and “Fat Man” dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki which ended the Second World War in Asia-Pacific in 1945, weighed more than 10,000 pounds each!
But there are cretins who took Rafizi literally as even to lodge police reports as if
Rafizi was issuing a grave threat threatenning the life and limb of the Prime Minister (if so, even DAP leaders will be the first to deplore Rafizi’s speech) and what is even more shocking, the Police took the police reports of the cretins so seriously that Rafizi had been questioned by the police and there is even a possibility that Rafizi may be charged in court for an action which would be the first in the world – for issuing a threat through use of figurative language.
We will wait to see what the Police and the Attorney-General will do in this case, but there is no doubt that if Azhar Shukor and Ahmad Termizi Ramli are elected as MPs in Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar respectively, they will be expected to raise issues and scandals of “atomic-bomb proportions” in Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
High and low points in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 15 June 2016
The Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-elections the last 10 days have seen ups and downs, high and low points, sublime commitment and lowly farce of the Malaysian community.
A high point in Kuala Kangsar – when a young Malay youth approached me during my walkabouts in Kuala Kangsar town, asked for a selfie assured me that I have his support and his friends in my advocacy for national unity, religious tolerance, good governance and healthy democracy in Malaysia. A young Malay who is proud to be a Malaysian!
A high point in Sungai Besar this morning – when a trader in Sekinchan related how she told off MCA telephone propagandists who phoned and warned her not to vote for AMANAH as they are no different from PAS, with her immediate rebuttal why UMNO is cozying up to PAS and why MCA dare not stop or oppose such a new political alliance? An ordinary citizen who is not as dumb as MCA propagandists think!
Both these “high points” in the Sungai Besar and Kuala Kangsar by-election campaign restored my confidence in the future of Malaysia and my faith in ordinary Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region, and their ability to distinguish right form wrong, good and bad, however intense and saturated the propaganda offensives of UMNO/BN machinery.
But there were also low points and even low farce in the two by-election campaigns, like: Read the rest of this entry »
Razaleigh is wrong to say Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration is unconstitutional when it is in fact seeking a return to the fundamental principles of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Constitution 1963 on democracy, rule of law, fundamental liberties and doctrine of separation of powers
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak, nation building, Razaleigh Hamzah on Monday, 4 April 2016
UMNO veteran leader Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah is wrong when he said that the Save Malaysia Citizens’ Declaration first signed by 42 political and civil society leaders in Kuala Lumpur on March 4, 2016, including former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir and former Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, was unconstitutional or contemplated unconstitutional action.
Nothing could be further from the truth as it is in fact seeking a return to the fundamental principles of the Merdeka Constitution 1957 and Malaysia Constitution 1963 on democracy, rule of law, fundamental liberties and doctrine of separation of powers. Read the rest of this entry »
Sasterawan Negara sifatkan BN yang tidak peduli undang-undang sebagai kerajaan “haram”
Posted by Kit in Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 16 March 2016
oleh Fatih Hassan Nordin & Hafiz Zainuddin
Roketkini
16 Mac 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, 16 MAC: Sasterawan Negara, A. Samad Said, menyifatkan usaha gabunganraya Selamatkan Malaysia untuk menumbangkan Datuk Seri Najib Razak daripada tampuk kuasa negara adalah wajar ekoran daripada penglibatan Perdana Menteri dalam pelbagai skandal mega.
Beliau yang mesra dengan panggilan Pak Samad berkata, Najib bukan sahaja menyebabkan dunia mengenali Malaysia melalui imej buruk, malah imej dalam negara juga sudah kotor, termasuk perbuatan melanggar undang-undang dengan berbelanja berbilion ringgit dalam pilihanraya umum yang lalu.
Justeru, beliau menganggap kerajaan yang ditubuhkan oleh Barisan Nasional selepas PRU13 adalah tidak mengikut laras undang-undang, dan menyifatkan kerajaan kini sebagai sebuah “kerajaan haram”. Read the rest of this entry »
Aktivis seni budaya sokong Deklarasi Rakyat
Posted by Kit in Malaysian Dream, nation building on Wednesday, 16 March 2016
oleh Fatih Hassan Nordin & Hafiz Zainuddin
Rocketkini
16 Mac 2016
KUALA LUMPUR, 16 MAC: Usaha menyelamatkan Malaysia daripada menjadi sebuah negara gagal bukan sahaja tugas ahli politik dan aktivis, ia juga melibatkan golongan budayawan dan aktivis seni.
Budayawan, Che Samsudin Othman yang juga lebih mesra dipanggil Dinsman, berkata penglibatan golongan seni dan budaya itu dalam gerakan politik di negara ini semakin mengecil sejak era 1990-an.
Sehubungan itu, beliau menyeru supaya budayawan dan aktivis seni menyatakan sokongan terhadap gerakan rakyat dengan menandatangani Deklarasi Rakyat, yang antaranya menuntut pengunduran Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Razak dari tampuk pemerintahan.
“Saya tidak aktif dalam mana-mana parti politik, tetapi saya aktif dalam seni budaya. Apabila saudara Lim Kit Siang meminta supaya saya ikut serta (tandatangan Deklarasi Rakyat), saya bersetuju,” katanya dalam satu majlis tandatangan Deklarasi Rakyat di Ibu Pejabat DAP di sini, hari ini. Read the rest of this entry »
Beware of the Ides of March – but who should beware?
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Corruption, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 1 March 2016
The past 12 months have been a year never experienced by Malaysians who, with increasing desperation and sense of hopelessness, have never felt so sick and wracked by so many crisis, whether the RM55 billion 1MDB crisis, the RM2.6 billion “donation” crisis – or actually more, as according to the latest revelation by Wall Street Journal today, more than US$1 billion and not just US$681 million had been deposited into Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s personal bank accounts – the 6% GST imposed on April 1; the worst racial and religious polarisation in the nation’s history with the unprecedented rise of extremism, intolerance and bigotry; the devaluation of the Malaysian ringgit hovering at RM4.2 to the US dollar; the plunge in Malaysia’s educational standards and accomplishments; Malaysia’s deterioration in important international indices with the country named No.3 in the world’s “worst corruption scandals in 2015” or falling four places in Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index 2015; the loss of national and international confidence in the Prime Minister who is being investigated by US Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) whether he is a “kleptocrat” with the 1MDB scandal the subject of investigations by seven foreign countries; the threat of a new “dictatorship” with parliamentary passage of the National Security Council Bill (which has as yet to receive the Royal Assent) and above all, the future and survival of the Merdeka Constitution of 1957 and the Malaysian federation formed in 1963!
Everywhere and every day, informed, concerned and patriotic Malaysians are asking: How did Malaysia reached such a sorry pass, when the country once dreamt of international greatness and accomplishments in various fields of human endeavor in our early decades of nationhood, and how Malaysia could get out of the rut or cul de sac we have stuck ourselves in. Read the rest of this entry »
Vision 2020 Failing
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building on Wednesday, 24 February 2016
Tun Musa Hitam
20th February 2016
AT THE START OF THIS DISCOURSE, LET ME FIRST OF ALL CONGRATULATE IDEAS FOR CELEBRATING YOUR 6TH ANNIVERSARY TONIGHT. I NOTICE THAT YOUR LEADERSHIP AND MEMBERSHIP LIST CONSTITUTES THE YOUNG. THIS IS VERY ENCOURAGING AND THE FACT THAT SIMULTANEOUSLY YOU COMMEMORATE THE BIRTHDAY OF OUR FATHER OF INDEPENDENCE TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN IS MOST ENCOURAGING.
IN MY LONG, LONG LIFE, I HAVE BEEN THROUGH MANY PASSAGES, MOSTLY BEAUTIFUL, SOME ROUGH AND ONE OR TWO REALLY ROUGH AND TOUGH. BUT HAVING A VERY POSITIVE MIND WITH FAITH IN ALLAH SUBHANA WA T’ALA, I ACCEPT ALL AS GOD’S GIFT AS CONTAINED IN THE WORD “HIKMAH”.
IN GOING THROUGH MY LIFE, I THINK I HAVE SEEN IT ALL, ESPECIALLY IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS. ALL ALONG I HAVE ALWAYS THOUGHT THAT I WAS TOUGH AND THAT I COULD TAKE IT ALL. I THOUGHT THAT NOTHING COULD SURPRISE ME, NOTHING COULD SHOCK ME AND THAT I HAVE ALWAYS MANAGED TO STAY CALM AND COLLECTED ESPECIALLY IN TIMES OF CRISIS. CALMNESS IN CRISIS, INDEED CALMNESS AS A CHARACTER TRAIT ENABLES ONE TO MAKE THE RIGHT JUDGEMENTS AND DECISIONS.
WITHIN THE LAST FEW YEARS, HOWEVER, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT LIFE IN MALAYSIA IS TURNING UPSIDE DOWN AND INSIDE OUT. THAT MAKES IN DIFFICULT TO KEEP CALM! IN GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS PARTICULARLY, BEHAVIOURS SEEM TO BE BASED ON THE STRUGGLES THAT PRIORITISE PERSONAL INDIVIDUAL SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST. THE END SEEMS TO JUSTIFY THE MEANS AND ANYTHING, ANYTHING GOES. THE DIVIDING LINES BETWEEN GOOD AND BAD, RIGHT AND WRONG SEEM BLURRED.
LET ME EXPLAIN… IN MALAYSIA IT SEEMS TO ME THAT POLITICS AND THE GOVERNMENT ARE, SIMPLY PUT, AWFUL AND A SHAME, ESPECIALLY MEASURED BY STANDARDS ESTABLISHED BY OUR POLITICAL FOREFATHERS. IN 4 YEARS’ TIME, IT WILL BE 2020. DR MAHATHIR TOLD US ALL THAT BY 2020, MALAYSIA WOULD BE A DEVELOPED NATION. BY NOW, ASSUMING ALL TO BE EQUAL, WE SHOULD JUST BE ABOUT READY TO CROSS THE LINE OF DEFINITION FROM “DEVELOPING” TO “DEVELOPED”.
UNFORTUNATELY THOUGH, IT SEEMS TO ME THAT THE 2020 DREAM IS FALLING APART BIT BY BIT BUT WITH ALARMING SPEED. THE WAY IT IS I AM NOW CERTAIN THAT WE WILL NOT REACH OUR GOAL OF VISION 2020! AND IF I MAY SAY AT THIS EARLY STAGE OF MY SPEECH, IT IS IRONICAL THAT DR MAHATHIR’S VISION IS NOW CERTAIN TO FAIL BECAUSE OF DR MAHATHIR HIMSELF. Read the rest of this entry »
Let us rediscover our greatness as Malaysians
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, nation building on Saturday, 6 February 2016
(2016 Chinese New Year Message)
Forty-six years ago, on New Year’s Eve marking the end of 1969 and the decade of the sixties, I wrote to the DAP founding chairman Dr. Chen Man Hin from political detention in Muar about the challenges of the future.
I ended my letter thus:
“It is our duty, the duty of every one of our members, branch, state and national leaders, elected representatives, to march in the frontline of the struggle to spread the word of a multi-racial Malaysia to Malaysians of all races, in both the urban and rural areas.
“Let us not shirk from our responsibility and duty to our nation, ourselves, our children and children’s children.”
This is in fact a challenge for all Malaysians for all times. Read the rest of this entry »
Chinese New Year medley (A Cappella)
Posted by Kit in culture, nation building on Wednesday, 3 February 2016
Pleasantly surprised to receive a video by very passionate Malaysians and musicians who produced a Chinese New Year: A Cappella Medley, by Kong Xian Ming and Colour of Voices (A Malay cappella group).
What a great and creative way to usher in the celebration of Chinese New Year the Malaysian way.
This is what makes Malaysia different.
We are a nation with a confluence of different races, languages, cultures and religions, where Malaysians celebrate the diverse ethnic and religious festivities not in an exclusive but in an inclusive Malaysian manner.
Just as Chinese in Malaysia celebrate the Chinese New Year together with Malays, Indians, Kadazans and Ibans; Muslims celebrate Hari Raya Aidilfitri together with non-Muslims; Hindus celebrate Deepavali and Thaipusam with non-Hindus and Christians celebrate Christmas with non-Christians – without fear of losing our respective ethnic or religious identities.
This make Malaysians unique and distinct from other peoples in the world!
Let us continue to celebrate Malaysia’s diversity, an asset which could lead to Malaysia’s greater achievements as a people and a nation.
Kudos to Xian Ming and Colour of Voices for blazing the way
The Najib government must demonstrate that it is capable of being sensitive about Malaysia as a multi-racial and multi-religious nation before it talks about widening the scope of BTN for youths and citizenry to become the “eyes and ears” of the state on security threats
Posted by Kit in nation building on Monday, 25 January 2016
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman said last night that the National Civics Bureau (BTN) needs to be revamped given the diverse nature of security threats and that the government needs its citizens to be better “eyes and ears” for the state and for young people to be more aware of such threats.
She said that the government wants the rakyat to be more aware of national security threats, especially youths who seem to be less sensitive of this.
The Najib government must demonstrate that it is capable of being sensitive about Malaysia as a multi-racial and multi-religious nation before it talks about widening the scope of BTN for the youths and citizenry to be “eyes and ears” of the state on security threats.
If the Najib government had been sensitive about Malaysia as a multi-racial and multi-religious nation, it would not have abandoned the 1Malaysia Policy to create a Malaysia where every Malaysian regards himself or herself as a Malaysian first and race, religion, region or socio-economic position second.
Nor would have the seven-year tragedy of Indira Gandhi happened, where a mother is forcibly separated from her 11-month old baby daughter for seven long years with no end in sight because the Cabinet has no political will to resolve the controversy over unilateral conversion of minors. Read the rest of this entry »
Abolish the BTN in the 2016 Budget calibration on Thursday, initiating a study whether BTN can be redeemed and totally revamped to promote national unity instead of fostering racism, disunity, intolerance and extremism in Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Budget Debate, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 24 January 2016
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak should abolish the Biro TataNegara (BTN) in the 2016 Budget calibration on Thursday, initiating a study whether BTN can be redeemed and totally revamped to promote national unity instead of fostering racism, disunity, bigotry, intolerance and extremism in the last three decades.
On Thursday, the newly-appointed BTN director-general Ibrahim Saad said that BTN would undergo a rebranding exercise that aims to dispel perceptions it is racist and see its module updated to suit current needs.
The problem with BTN is not about rebranding or that it suffered from “perceptions” that it is racist, but whether the BTN could be redeemed and totally revamped from its ration d’etre for the past few decades – negative, divisive and anti-national role in indoctrinating and inciting racism, disunity, bigotry and intolerance instead of fostering patriotism, unity, inter-racial and inter-religious understanding and goodwill.
Even for former top Malay civil servants in G25 have condemned BTN of being “ultra Malay-racist”.
This was why former diplomat and spokesperson of G25 Datuk Farida Ariffin have joined the growing chorus demanding that the Najib government should dissolve the “anti-national” BTN. Read the rest of this entry »
New Deal for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in DAP, nation building, Politics on Sunday, 24 January 2016
– Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
24 January 2016
With mega crises on all fronts, (Datuk Seri) Najib (Razak) and Umno look doomed. But they might just survive politically by creating a “Low Yat incident” every other week.
The game plan is simple: pit underprivileged kids of one race against another, then they will be so busy fighting each other that they will forget who keeps them poor to begin with. The accusation of “poor Malay cheated by Chinese handphone taukeh” is untrue. Why would a “rich” young Chinese work for a handphone shop for meagre pay?
Can we, DAP, see the shared fate of the bottom 60% of the economy – youngsters who are Malay as well as Chinese and other races? Can we articulate their wishes and aspirations in a single breath?
The even more crucial question is this: do we even actually know them? Do we actually know who the Malays are? What the Malays are? Where the Malays are?
It is sad to note that some of us see the Malays as one single entity with a set of stereotypes. For example, we didn’t even realise that we are being racial when we see most Malays as policemen, enforcement officers, Mat Rempit, etc.
The same is true for others who only see Chinese as rich people and business owners who always cheat Malays. After 50 years, the narrative has stayed the same. This is sad. Read the rest of this entry »
Time for UMNO leadership to consider Onn Jaafar’s proposal 66 years ago for UMNO to open its membership to non-Malays so that UMNO leaders can also be leaders of all Malaysians
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, DAP, nation building, UMNO on Monday, 18 January 2016
The Minister for Communications and Multimedia, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak asked why UMNO must open its membership to non-Malays, describing this as a non-issue because UMNO has never claimed to be a multi-racial party.
It is sad and pathetic that present-day UMNO Ministers and leaders are quite proud about their national blindspot and their inability to see or understand what the founding UMNO President Datuk Onn Jaafar saw very clearly and vividly 66 years ago in 1950, which was why he proposed that UMNO open its doors to non-Malays in order to lead in the building of a united nation.
How can the nation have a Prime Minister from UMNO who could also be Prime Minister for all Malaysians when the very ration d’etre of his political existence is to be the champion of one race against the other races?
This anomalous situation may be understandable and acceptable in the early years of the communal politics of plural Malaysia, but it should become increasingly anachronistic with passing decades of Malaysian nation building, especially based on the Rukunegara principles proclaimed in 1970 – which should see the old mould of the politics of race give way to the new mould of the politics of national issues of justice, freedom, good governance, integrity, progress and prosperity for all.
Onn Jaafar have the foresight and vision that we cannot build a united nation out of our diversity of races, religions, languages and cultures unless we go beyond the colonial tactics of “divide and rule” and create a common national identity where there is an overarching common national identity and consciousness, and where what is close to one ethnic community is not only articulated and championed by that ethnic group only but also by other ethnic groups transcending ethnic barriers. Read the rest of this entry »
Are UMNO Ministers and leaders prepared, 66 years after Datuk Onn suggested it, consider opening UMNO doors to non-Malays to become an inclusive Malaysian political party?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Islam, Islamic state, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 17 January 2016
The pathetic statement by the Communications and Multimedia Minister, Datuk Seri Salleh Said Keruak that fielding more Malay candidates in the next general elections does not make DAP a multiracial party is the latest proof of the narrow-minded and petty mentality of the present UMNO leadership, which is completely bogged down by the politics of race and the failure of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia Policy.
Malaysia is a plural society and the racial, religious, linguistic and cultural diversity of the country is a national asset and not a liability.
Malaysians will continue to be Malays, Chinese, Indians, Dayaks, Kadazan-Dusun-Muruts, Orang Asli or Muslims, Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, Taoists, Sikhs but the success of Malaysian nation-building will be measured by our ability to create an overarching common national identity where we are Malaysians first and race, religion, region and socio-economic status second – in othe words, where despite our racial, religious, linguisticm, cultural and socio-economic differences, we accept each other as Malaysians first above all else.
In this context, UMNO Ministers and leaders like Salleh Said Keruak should welcome DAP reaching out to get more Malay, Dayak, Kadazan-Dusun-Murut and Orang Asli support and emulate the DAP example to graduate from Malay to become Malaysian leaders instead of decrying such a development.
Is UMNO prepared to emulate the DAP’s example and reach out to all non-Malays and non-Muslims by welcoming them into UMNO ranks? Read the rest of this entry »
DAP at 50: Where do we go from here?
Posted by Kit in DAP, nation building on Saturday, 16 January 2016
Where do we go from here? This is one the most intense debates we have had, and it is important because I think the DAP is at the crossroads after 50 years. As Dr Abdul Aziz Bari mentioned, we don’t have to believe everything that we hear about from pollsters but we will take it seriously.
In this case, our coalition Parti Amanah Negara is three months old. We have heard about the polling position of PKR, DAP and Amanah. The position of the poll reminded us the position of the DAP during in our early months (of 1966). What would be the poll of our standing among the Chinese, Malays and Indians in the early months of the DAP?
Amanah is three months old, similar to that three months of the DAP when it was formed, what would be the poll tells us? How many percent among the votes of the Malays, how many percent of the votes among the Indians, how many percent we got among the Chinese, and others? It was very hard.
We must give serious attention to polling results. But we must not be a slave to polling results. And if the polling results are adverse, it should be an encouragement for us to prove the polling results wrong. And I think that is why we must be serious about these results. Read the rest of this entry »
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