Archive for category UMNO

We have to speak up

By P. Ramakrishnan
December 13, 2010

We have every reason to be concerned. We wonder where this nation is heading for and what is in store for us. From the civil servant to the Umno politician, it is the same story: the non-Malays are “pendatang” and don’t have any citizenship rights. The rights conferred by Article 8 of the Federal Constitution are not respected or protected.

When an extreme group like Perkasa questions the citizenship rights of the non-Malays, the national leadership does not take them to task. When extreme elements in Umno berate and denigrate the non-Malays, the top Umno leadership does not chastise them. When one Umno delegate at the recently concluded general assembly had the temerity to suggest that the non-Malays be given the right to do business but should be denied the right to vote, nobody pointed out that it was against the constitution and that he should not be talking through his nose!
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‘Anti-national’: Right word, wrong coalition

By Kee Thuan Chye

What Prime Minister Najib Razak said at the opening of the BN convention last Sunday reflects a mind of the lowest common denominator. It is not the kind of mind one expects of a prime minister.

He stooped really low in taking swipes at the two-family dominance of the DAP (Lim Kit Siang’s and Karpal Singh’s) and “nepotism” in PKR, forgetting that he too is the son of a former prime minister, and that Dr Mahathir Mohamad also has a son who is a deputy minister with ambitions of becoming bigger.

Instead of taking on the opposition on ideological grounds and maintaining prime ministerial decorum and dignity, he resorted to name-calling. He called Pakatan Rakyat “anti-national” and “very dangerous”. He said their activities were “despicable”. Some media organisations reported it as “evil”.
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Najib has degraded political discourse with his vicious attacks on Pakatan Rakyat as “anti-national”, “evil”, “despicable”, “very dangerous”, etc which can only boomerang on him and BN leaders

The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has degraded political discourse with his vicious attacks on Pakatan Rakyat as “anti-national”, “evil”, “despicable”, “very dangerous” etc which can only boomerang on him and Barisan Nasional leaders.

In fact, in his speech to the Barisan Nasional convention yesterday, Najib was guilty of three of the four “political diseases” he had warned would crush the Barisan Nasional, viz delusion, amnesia and arrogance.

Najib was guilty of delusion when he spoke of Barisan Nasional’s “manifest destiny” to “bring this great nation, Malaysia, to its fullest potential” when Malaysia had been losing out to one country after another in economic development and progress in the past five decades, with an unchecked brain drain and domestic capital outflow to the extent that the country was warned recently by a Cabinet Minister that the country was heading towards bankruptcy in 2019.
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Why only very inclusive and 1Malaysia speeches/statements before by-elections but racist slurs and very anti-1Malaysia sentiments especially after Umno/BN by-election victories?

Malaysians are entitled to ask the reason for the recent phenomenon – why only very inclusive and 1Malaysia speeches/statements before by-elections but racist slurs and very anti-1Malaysia sentiments especially after Umno/Barisan Nasional by-election victories?

Two days before the Galas and Batu Sapi by-elections on November 4, 2010, the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s speech to the World Chinese Economic Forum was described as a “reaching out” to the Chinese Malaysian Community conceding that Malaysia’s 2020 goal of a developed nation might fail without its support.

Najib’s speech said:

“Malaysia would not be what it is today without the industry, expertise and dedication of the Malaysian Chinese community.

“Likewise, there will be a bleak future for Malaysia without the Chinese community’s support. We would clearly fall short of reaching the goals to become a developed nation by 2020.”

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Neo-Colonisation or Neo-Liberation?

by Zairil Khir Johari

Did you just say what I thought you did?

It is back to the grind as the Penang State Assembly gets underway, as does the UMNO-BN’s theatrical onslaught on the State Government.

Last week, they managed to round up a motley group of protesters ostensibly comprising angry Malay residents from Balik Pulau and a member or three from the BN-friendly Parti Cinta Malaysia, a party made up of disgruntled former members of the DAP and the once-relevant ‘political NGO’ called Gerakan (I posit that a political party with unelected nominees in government more closely resembles an NGO than a political party proper).

Their grouse this time? Over an area of land in Balik Pulau that has been allocated for the development of an educational hub. Of course, it was invariably portrayed as yet another case of the sacrilegious ‘Chinese government’ cruelly robbing the ‘poor Malay peasant’ of his land and rights.
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Kit Siang sues NSTP over ‘Umno kafir’ report

By Hafiz Yatim
Nov 8, 2010
Malaysiakini

DAP advisor Lim Kit Siang has filed a defamation suit against New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd over a report published by its Malay-language daily Berita Harian on Tuesday.

The suit was filed by senior lawyer Karpal Singh.

The Ipoh Timor MP, in his statement of claim, alleged that the report was malicious and false in claiming that he had branded Umno as kafir (infidels), particularly in light of ongoing campaigning then for the Galas by-election.

Claiming that the respondent had failed to verify the facts, Lim said the report claimed that he had given a speech at Kesedar Sungai Terah, when he had not.
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A momentum yes, monumental shift not yet

by Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
November 07, 2010

We need to distinguish between a crass propagandist and a sober politician. Ahmad Maslan fits into the former category it seems.

Ahmad Maslan, the Umno information chief cited 4 reasons for the victory in Galas. The acceptance by the people, of the national leadership of Najib and Muhyidin. The influence of Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah and Mustapha Mohamad, the acceptance of the people of the various initiatives thought of by our great leader which will be implemented by the ruling government and so on. He was referring to such initiatives like 1 Malaysia, ETP and so forth. Finally, and here is the earth shattering observation- people are fed up of the politics of the opposition to the ruling BN. It’s a triumph of moderation over extremism. One writer puts as the alarm bell for the 13th GE.

For whom does the bells toll?

People in Gua Musang and Galas in particular must be the most intelligent people in Malaysia. There must be something in the pristine air and the physical terrain of the area. Or maybe something in the diet of Gua Musangians. The nasi kerabu and berlauk at Restoren Kak Zah or the stalls near Fully Inn?

They understood the concept of 1 Malaysia when the same concept baffled Tun Mahathir and misunderstood by other Malaysians. The people eating at Restoren Kak Zah in Bandar Lama Gua Musang talking politics and cock understand and embrace the various initiatives by the national government. The people in Sungai Terah and Batu Papan are waiting for their ETP, GTP and whatever P’s we can think of. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the feast of fools

by Hafidz Baharom
The Malaysian Insider
November 07, 2010

So the United Malay Nationalists met up the other day for what seemed to be a dressed-up annual general assembly that brought nothing new since they re-formed in 1988 supposedly as the new Umno.

Yet another rebranding procedure then, no doubt. But then again so is 1 Malaysia, right?

Meanwhile, all of us Malaysian nationalists looked on at hour upon hour of nothing more than a repeat of their best hits and misses. The usual same old, same old was all there; don’t mess with Malay rights, don’t question the Malay privileges in the Constitution and, of course, ban all sanitary pad commercials from television for promoting perverted thoughts.

That was, of course, from the firebrand bimbo wing. Permit me to say this; this was the dumbest strategy to win back the female Malay Muslim votes. Even Muslimah PAS were rolling their eyes under their burqas.

Meanwhile, the Umno chairman decided that it was necessary to tell off the Malaysian Chinese Association leader for questioning Malay rights. Is it just me, or does the term Malay rights mean the Malay race are superhuman, or something, in comparison to us other human beings?

In addition to this, there was even a call from the Perlis Umno delegate to create an ulama wing within Umno. Because there’s nothing really bad about politicising religion, right? What could happen? Read the rest of this entry »

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Ku Li delivers, what has Umno to offer?

Free Malaysia Today
05 Nov 2010

GUA MUSANG: Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah believes that loyalty has no expiry date so long as the candidate does not go back on his promises.

This was reflected in Galas when Barisan Nasional (BN) wrested the state seat from PAS by a bigger majority of 1,190 votes, nearly double the majority PAS won in the 2008 general election.

Leading the charge was Razaleigh, fondly known as Ku Li, who is no alien to the voters in Galas, which comes under his Gua Musang parliamentary seat.

He has proven to the BN, particularly Umno, that the party need not spent money to win votes, need not promise the stars and the moon to convince the people, and need not show its power by implementing projects.

Razaleigh showed that the only way to win over the hearts and minds of the voters is by being loyal and sincere to the people. Read the rest of this entry »

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An unconvinced Kit Siang to sue Berita Harian

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Lim Kit Siang is going ahead to sue Berita Harian for saying he remarked “orang Umno kafir” or infidels, saying he remained unconvinced with the Umno-owned Malay daily’s admission of error.

The DAP adviser claimed that the “correction” by the Umno daily did not amount to any apology but instead added “insult to injury”.

Berita Harian admitted today that it had made an error over remarks which it had attributed to Lim (picture) during a PAS ceramah at Sungai Terah, Gua Musang on Monday.
The daily, under the vast Media Prima Berhad group, had yesterday accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” in today’s Galas by-election. The results of the by-election will be known tonight.

“I cannot figure out how ‘silap tulis’ can be used as a defence, excuse of justification for such a malicious, irresponsible, defamatory and seditious report, seeking to incite racial and religious hatred in a multi-religious and multi-racial country.

“Berita Harian has not made any apology and has added insult to injury by implying without producing any proof that Ali Rustam was right in accusing a DAP national leader of having called Umno Malays as kafirs,” Lim told reporters today. Read the rest of this entry »

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Berita Harian admits error over Lim’s ‘seditious’ remark

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
November 04, 2010

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 4 — Berita Harian admitted today that it had made an error over remarks which it had attributed to DAP’s Lim Kit Siang during a PAS ceramah at Singai Terah, Gua Musang on Monday.

The Umno-owned daily had yesterday accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” during the now ongoing Galas by-election.

The article quoted Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as saying that Lim’s alleged remarks were made in the presence of PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a ceramah in Sungai Terah.

However, in an about-turn today, Berita Harian claimed the Melaka chief minister’s remarks were taken from his speech during a ceramah, and that Ali Rustam’s remarks was not made in reference to the DAP advisor. Read the rest of this entry »

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DAP: To sue Melaka CM, Berita Harian over sedition accusation

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
November 03, 2010
Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3- The DAP said today that it will initiate legal action against Melaka Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as well as Umno-owned daily Berita Harian for making false allegations against DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang.

DAP national chairman Karpal Singh demanded that Ali Rustam as well as Berita Harian “ retract and apologize unconditionally” for claiming that Lim had uttered seditious remarks during a PAS ceramah in Sungai Terah, Gua Musang.

“In lieu of the seriousness of the allegations made against Lim Kit Siang, I’ve been instructed as the party legal advisor to take action against Berita Harian and the CM of Melaka, Ali Rustam. It’s a very serious matter in that it adverts to something is very sensitive and something which can be abused… Berita Harian should be responsible. In fact a police report will be lodged against Berita Harian for publishing false news. This is an offence under the Printing Press and Publications Act (PPPA) 1984,” Karpal told reporters today.
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Kit Siang denies ‘Umno kafir’ remark

By S Pathmawathy | Nov 3, 10 1:45pm
Malaysiakini

DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang has denied a news report that he had dubbed bitter rivals Umno as kafir (infidels) during a ceramah (political talk) in Gua Musang, pointing out that he was not even present at the event.

“It is a slanderous report… I have never been there. This is very irresponsible and they are doing it to propagate hatred,” Lim told a press conference at the Parliament lobby today.

Malay-language daily Berita Harian had claimed that Lim made the remark during a ceramah on Monday in Kampung Baru Hulu, Sungai Terap while campaigning for the Galas by-election in Kelantan.

PAS spiritual leader Nik Abdul Aziz Nik Mat and PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim were said to have been at the event as well.
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Ku Li caught in an Umno trap?

By Philip Bowring
Malaysiakini

The result of the 12th by-election since the tumultuous general elections in 2008 is in practical terms irrelevant. Whether or not PAS retains the state seat of Galas in tomorrow’s by-election will make no difference to the Islamic party’s control of the state legislature. (PAS captured 38 of the 45 state seats in Kelantan, while ally PKR picked up one and Umno, six)

But it will be a test of the influence of Umno’s most distinguished internal dissident, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, and his calls for sweeping reform of Umno. Galas is part of Razaleigh’s federal parliamentary constituency and is centred on his hometown of Gua Musang in the south of Kelantan. And, together with a federal seat by-election on the same day, the election is expected to play a role in whether Prime Minister Najib Razak will go to national polls in early 2011.

But interpreting the Galas result will not be easy. The 73-year-old Razaleigh, usually known as Ku Li, is between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the Kelantan aristocrat knows that his calls for reform of Umno are unlikely to make much progress if the erosion of support for the Umno-led BN ruling coalition that was seen both in the 2008 federal election and in subsequent by-elections is stemmed or reversed.
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Kit Siang rejects Gua Musang ‘sedition’ accusation

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
November 03, 2010
Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 3 — An outraged Lim Kit Siang denied today uttering seditious remarks during a ceramah in Sungai Terah, Gua Musang, saying that he was not even present at the function.

“This is a slanderous accusation…I never said this and I was not even there (at the ceramah). This is a twisted and irresponsible plot to spread racial and religious hatred,” Lim told reporters.

Umno-owned daily Berita Harian, in a news report dated yesterday had accused Lim of saying “orang Umno kafir” (Umno members are infidels) during a PAS ceramah in Sungai Terah, to “influence Malays to vote for PAS” for the Galas by-election.

The article quoted Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Ali Rustam as saying that Lim’s alleged remarks were made in the presence of PAS spiritual advisor Datuk Nik Aziz Nik Mat and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) spiritual advisor Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim during a ceramah in Sungai Terah.
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Why Umno so desperate? Losing Galas?

Tweets:

11/02/2010 07:25 PM
Tindakan Kit Siang tuduh UMNO kafir melampau (BH) http://bit.ly/dAULXk PemudaUMNO buat lprn polis trhdp Kit Siang (BH) http://bit.ly/cCZr6I

11/02/2010 07:35 PM
My attn just drawn 2Berita Harian rprts – Mcca CM AliRustam accused I had “mencampuri urusan agama Islam dng menuduh orang UMNO kafir”. (2)

11/02/2010 07:37 PM
I was accused of saying this at Galas ceramah in presence on TGNA n Anwar at Rancangan Pemulihan Tanah (RPT) KESEDAR Sungai Terah. Big lies.

11/02/2010 07:42 PM
Police rprts 2b made agnst AliRustam BHarian n naibketua PemudaUmno Putrajaya (4lodging false report). Y Umno so desperate? Losing Galas?
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Umno’s fixation on the 30 percent

by Kee Thuan Chye
MalaysiaKini
Oct 27, 10 8:08am

COMMENT Every time an Umno general assembly rolls into town, the mainstream newspapers will be filled to overflowing with coverage of the event. Pages and pages will be devoted to the speeches and debates as well as photographs of the gathering.

But if you were to dig up your old newspapers of at least the past two or three decades to refer to the reports on the Umno general assemblies, you’d find that the basic issues and the exhortations of the party leaders are virtually the same.

At each assembly, the things that are said appear to be variations on the same themes – the Malays need to work harder and improve themselves; they need to be on guard against external threats; their rights will never be taken away from them; Umno will forever protect the Malays; at the same time, the Malays must understand that they live in a multi-racial society so Umno will also see to the interests of the other races… Read the rest of this entry »

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ETP without the NEM cannot achieve a high income economy

by Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life adviser

The ETP (Economic Transformation Programme) without the New Economic Model (NEM) cannot achieve a high income economy for the people of Malaysia

Immediately after the UMNO assembly where the delegates unanimously rejected the NEM proposal to liberalise the economy beginning with the removal of the 30% bumiputra equity. There was alarm that this would mean the end of the NEM which was promoted Najib since he became Prime Minister.

To assuage the fears of investors and the economic and business world, PM Najib quickly assembled a coterie of 10 foreign investors before a gathering of a few thousand people, PM Najib presented them as multi-billion investors who are investing in the country. They were the pioneers of the ETP which is expected to harvest some US$444 billion of projects to propel the economy from a middle income to a high economy status by the year 2020.

This translates to bringing in investments averaging 1,300 billion ringgits a year. The government expects 99% of the money to come from the private sector.
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Umno’s ugly side revealed again

By Jeswan Kaur | Malaysiakini
Oct 27, 10 3:47pm

What has made Umno president Najib Abdul Razak and his band of top officials so insecure as to use the Umno general assembly to harp on Malay rights and privileges?

Last week’s 61st general assembly once again revealed the party’s ugly side as Najib, deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin and vice-presidents Shafie Apdal and Hishammuddin Hussein reminded the ‘other races’ not to question the Malay rights and privileges.

In short, all three told non-Malays to leave the federal constitution alone with regard to Article 153, which assures the special privileges of the Malays and the bumiputera of Sabah and Sarawak.

Why does Najib play with public emotions by raising the issue? How dare he make the irresponsible remark that “the Malays had actually made the biggest sacrifice to achieve independence when they were willing to share the ownership of the Tanah Melayu, … their motherland, with the other races”.
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DAP, PKR dismiss ‘secret’ pact to ensure Chinese rule

By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal | The Malaysian Insider

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 29 — PKR and DAP lawmakers have furiously dismissed the notion of a secret pact between the two allies to ensure Chinese rule should Pakatan Rakyat (PR) capture Putrajaya.

Instead both parties trained their guns on ex-PKR MP Zulkifli Noordin, who made the claim, calling him a liar who was “spinning tall tales” to serve his “political masters” in Barisan Nasional (BN).

The Kulim Bandar-Baharu MP told Parliament yesterday that there was a “secret contract” between PKR and DAP and that even PAS — a PR partner — was unaware of.

“There is no secret pact or deal at all. This is a ridiculous ploy by Zulkifli who only intention is to split up members of Pakatan Rakyat.
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