Malaysians must beware not only of fake news but also of fake elections
I welcome the late-night announcement last night by the Election Commission Chairman, Tan Sri Mohd Hashim Abdullah that the Election Commission will invite international election observers and appoint local NGO representatives as observers for the 14th General Election which will be held in a hundred days.
Several UMNO Cabinet Ministers opposing international observers to the 14 General Election, in the wake of the boast by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak that there would be no “cheating” in the general election, were clearly shooting UMNO/BN in the foot – made worse by their belated discovery that Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad had agreed to Commonwealth observers to the 1990 General Election. Read the rest of this entry »
Another sign of Malaysia becoming a failed state – Razaleigh says “our civil servants can’t even write a simple letter”
Posted by Kit in Education, English, Financial Scandals on Saturday, 3 February 2018, 5:53 pm
Yesterday, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said that a former UMNO leader who claimed Malaysians are embarrassed by their nationality should be cast into the ocean.
Najib cannot be more wrong.
Is Najib saying that Malaysians should preen with pride when they are overseas and berated for being Malaysians as the country has ascended the stratospheric but exclusive club of “global kleptocracy” –castigated by the US Attorney-General Jeff Sessions at a recent international conference as practising “kleptocracy at its worst” in the case of the international multi-billion 1MDB money-laundering scandal? Read the rest of this entry »
Call for establishment of a bipartisan Parliamentary Select Committee on the Election Commission’s 2018 constituency redelineation proposals which should conduct national hearings in the Peninsular states and to submit its report to Parliament within a month
The Najib government, through the Minister for Rural and Regional Development and UMNO Supreme Council member who hopes to rise up to become UMNO National Vice President, has expressed its opposition to any independent international bodies to monitor the 14th general election, claiming that is an attempt at inviting foreign interference in the country’s administration.
Sabri Yaakob is talking rubbish, but what is significant is that this statement was made after the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak had proudly declared that there would be no cheating in the 14th General Election.
If there will be no cheating in the 14GE, then why is the Malaysian government afraid of international scrutiny of the electoral process in the 14GE?
Read the rest of this entry »
Is “MO1” fake news?
Posted by Kit in Fake News, Financial Scandals, Najib Razak on Saturday, 3 February 2018, 12:55 am
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has jumped on US President Donald Trump’s “fake news” bandwagon, with the same objectives – not to uphold the truth and factual reporting, but to use the “fake news” cover and offensive to achieve the twin objective to discredit stories about legitimate and negative media coverage while spreading lies and falsehoods about Opposition leaders.
This is why the establishment of a government committee to tackle fake news, headed by the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department with representatives from the police, the Atttorney-General’s Chambers and the Ministry of Multimedia and Communications is so laughable – as it utterly without credibility just like asking thieves to catch thieves.
It is an incontrovertible fact that in Malaysia today, the biggest manufacturer of fake news and false information is none other than UMNO/Barisan Nasional government, led by none other than the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak, himself. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Harapan Federal Government will introduce a new Federalism to devolve more powers and allocate more funds not only to Sabah and Sarawak but also to the various state governments in Peninsular Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Election, Good Governance, nation building, Penang on Friday, 2 February 2018, 1:15 pm
As Penang DAP State Chairman and Penang Executive Councillor Chow Kon Yeow observed just now, this gathering is quite unique and historic as we have here three persons closely connected with the political development of Tanjong constituency, two former MPs and the current MP for Tanjong Parliamentary constituency, as I had been Tanjong MP for three terms from 1986 – 1999, Chow Kon Yeow MP for Tanjong for three terms from 1999 to 2013 and Ng Wei Aik, Tanjong MP since 2013.
When I moved from Kota Melaka to contest in Tanjong parliamentary constituency in 1986, the objective was to make Penang the front-line state for political change in Malaysia for democracy, human rights, justice, the rule of law and an united, harmonious. Read the rest of this entry »
If there is no cheating in Malaysian elections, why is Malaysia occupying a lowly ranking of No. 142 out of 158 countries in Electoral Integrity Index, lower than Indonesia, Singapore and Philippines?
I fully endorse the challenge by former Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin to the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak to invite independent international observers from the Commonweath, the European Union and the United Nations to monitor the 14th General Election if Najib is sincere and genuine in declaring that there will be no cheating in the 14GE.
There are enough reasons for Malaysians and independent observers to expect the 14th GE to be the dirtiest in Malaysia’s history.
If there is no cheating in Malaysian elections, why is Malaysia occupying a lowly ranking of No. 142 out of 158 countries in Electoral Integrity Index, lower than Indonesia ranked No.68, Singapore ranked 94 and Philippines ranked 101? Read the rest of this entry »
No reason why a competent, efficient and professional police force could not re-unite Indira Gandhi with her nine-year-old daughter Prasana Diksa three days after the Federal Court judgement
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Police on Thursday, 1 February 2018, 6:41 pm
Long-suffering mother Indira Gandhi has made a most heart-rending plea that she only wants to see and hold her daughter, Prasana Diksa, who was taken from her nine years ago when she was only nine months old when her ex-husband Muhammad Riduan Abdullah unilaterally converted Prasana to Islam.
Indira has said that she wants to put aside the issue of religion as her concern as a mother was to ensure her wellbeing.
Read the rest of this entry »
Appointment of retired Brigadier General Mohamad Arshad Raji as honorary MACC advisor?
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals on Thursday, 1 February 2018, 2:52 pm
The President of Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan, retired Brigadier General Mohamad Arshad Raji has rightly questioned why the authorities have yet to take action on reports that Majilis Amanah Rakyat’s (Mara) had purchased a block of apartments in Melbourne, Australia at an inflated price.
Mohamad Arshad said: “Four days have passed (since the news report), and not a squeak is heard from those in authority.
“Why the eerie silence on this alleged scandal? Where is the accountability?” Read the rest of this entry »
DAP calls for a Parliamentary Select Committee on Fake News to decide on fake news laws as well as mechanism to tackle fake news
Posted by Kit in Fake News, Media, Najib Razak on Thursday, 1 February 2018, 9:58 am
The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Azalina Othman Said, has announced a special committee to formulate laws to tackle fake news; that the committee has been endorsed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and will include representatives from the police, the Attorney-General’s Chambers and the Communications and Multimedia Ministry.
This announcement will not inspire any public confidence as the Prime Minister and the UMNO/Barisan Nasional both Government and political coalition are the biggest manufacturers of fake news and false information in the country.
It will be like asking thieves to catch thieves! Read the rest of this entry »
Three tests for the four honorary MACC advisers as to whether they will be allowed to play credible and effective roles to combat corruption or they are only used to camouflage the weaponisation of MACC to harass and persecute Opposition leaders
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Financial Scandals on Wednesday, 31 January 2018, 5:11 pm
The question that must be asked is whether the appointment of four Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) honorary advisers is to allow them to play credible and effective roles to combat corruption or they are only used to camouflage the weaponisation of MACC to harass and persecute Opposition leaders.
There are three tests for the four honorary MACC advisers as to whether they will be allowed to play credible and effective roles to combat corruption or they are only used to camouflage the weaponisation of MACC to harass and persecute Opposition leaders. Read the rest of this entry »
If Mahathir cannot help create a wave of change among the rural Malay voters for the 14GE in the remaining 100 days, then no other political leader could accomplish this “Mission Impossible”
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Harapan, Post-13GE, UMNO on Monday, 29 January 2018, 8:51 am
The UMNO/Barisan Nasional is clearly rattled and panicking from the Pakatan Harapan Presidential Council decision on January 7 to announce Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad as the Pakatan Harapan Prime Minister-designate, Datuk Seri Dr. Wan Azizah Wan Ismail as the Deputy Prime Minister-designate, and Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim as the eighth Prime Minister of Malaysia.
The most important lesson of the 13th General Election of May 5, 2013 is that unless we can ensure a political tsunami in both the urban and rural areas, it will be impossible to bring about political change in Malaysia through the democratic process. Read the rest of this entry »
If Pakatan Harapan can win Ayer Hitam, both the Johore State Government and the Federal Government in Putrajaya would have changed hands from Barisan Nasional to Pakatan Harapan
I have an observation to make about the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat and its Member of Parliament and Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Wee Ka Siong, the Deputy President of MCA which is a race-based political party claiming to represent the Malaysian Chinese.
This is an observation which applies equally to the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai, with regard to his parliamentary seat of Bentong.
When Wee contested in the Ayer Hitam parliamentary seat in the 2004 General Election, it was a Malay-voter majority seat and the racial breakdown of the voters in the constituency were 55.5% Malays, 40% Chinese; 4.3% Indians and 0.3% Others.
In the past 14 years, Ayer Hitam has become an even more Malay-majority constituency, with a decrease in the percentage of Chinese voter and increase in the percentage of Malay voters. Read the rest of this entry »
14GE is the only one opportunity and possibility in 60 years to Save Malaysia from being a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state and to be a great and united plural nation
Posted by Kit in Elections, Malaysian Dream, nation building on Sunday, 28 January 2018, 12:36 pm
The 14th General Election to be held in 100 days is the one opportunity and possibility in 60 years to Save Malaysia from being a failed, rogue and kleptocratic state and for the country to a be a great and united plural nation.
For over half a century and through eleven General Elections, Malaysian electoral politics were cast in stone as to who was the governing coalition of the country, and the question to be decided was how many seats Opposition parties can win in the very undemocratic and one-sided electoral process.
I still remember the very uphill struggle in the early decades when DAP parliamentary representation, often the largest Opposition grouping in Parliament, only managed to secure from a lowly nine to 24 and back to 9, 10 and 11 parliamentary seats from 1969 to 2004 General Elections. Read the rest of this entry »
The battle in the 14GE is not between Najib and Mahathir but between Najib/BN and the people of Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Financial Scandals, Impian Malaysia, Malaysian Dream, nation building, Save Malaysia on Sunday, 28 January 2018, 9:00 am
Firstly, I wish to thank all Malaysians, especially Pakatan Harapan and DAP leaders, members and supporters, as well as those from other political parties and organizations, for their support, concern and good wishes during my cancer operation and month-long break and recuperation.
I found however that I could not escape the demonization campaign against me, even during the five-week break.
I was in fact hospitalized on the day the MCA newspaper launched a major demonization against me, with the screaming headline: “Kit Siang as PM will create racial rift, says Liow” on December 18, 2017, quoting the MCA President and Transport Minister, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai warning that “Racial ties among the people will be damaged if DAP adviser Lim Kit Siang becomes prime minister” and that “Lim’s ambition would steer Malaysia towards the path of ruin”.
This is the stuff of fake news and false information, the staple diet of demonization by UMNO/BN propagandists and cytrops (cybertroopers), adopted wholesale by the MCA President as I had never thought of becoming Prime Minister of Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Powerful rebuttal to Hishammuddin
Posted by Kit in Defence, nation building on Sunday, 21 January 2018, 9:10 am
A powerful rebuttal by the Secretary-General of Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan (National Patriot Association), Mej Hj Mior Rosli TUDM (Bersara) to the Defence Minister’s caution of Patriot’s recent Press Release:
I would like the Defence Minister & his Deputy to listen very carefully to what I have to say in this video clip …
Yesterday, Hishammudin accused Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan of being Racist. I demand you to say sorry to us because it is not us who are racist … it is you. Don’t you remember when you were the UMNO youth chief? You unsheathed the Keris in the air and waved it while demanding for Chinese blood? Isn’t that Racist and dangerous? The police should have charged you with ISA and put you behind bars. We don’t need Racist people like you leading a multiracial country. Now just because the General Election is around the corner you have the cheek to talk about increasing the number of non-malays in the Armed Forces. We have heard of this many many times in the many years that have passed.
Let me tell you and all your bloody UMNO goons … THERE ARE NO RACIAL CONFLICTS AMONG SOLDIERS WITHIN THE MAF. We have gone through tough team training day and night for 6 months for the other ranks, and 12 months training for the officers. We eat, sleep, train, sweat, cry and laugh together. After recruit or cadet training, we were enlisted and commissioned into our various corps and services. Except for the Royal Malay Regiment, in all corps and services we were not concerned if our fellow comrades was a Malay, Chinese, Indian, Punjabi, IBAN or Kadazan. Whatever race and religion, our loyalty only went to our Commander, to our Corps/services, to the MAF, to our King and country. That was how we were taught and trained.
During both emergencies (1948-1960/1960-1989), during the confrontation with Indonesia, and the war in Sarawak, till the early 90s … we fought like brothers, to defend and maintain the independence of this country. We made sure that people like you would be safe, and enjoy your freedom in this country. Read the rest of this entry »
Trump’s ‘war on media’ reverberates in Asia
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Media on Friday, 12 January 2018, 6:03 pm
Keith B. Richburg
Nikkei Asian Review
January 12, 2018
Region’s strongmen endanger prosperity with press crackdowns
Asia witnessed a particularly disturbing rollback in free expression last year amid escalating attacks on the media and harassment of journalists. And 2018 holds little promise for improvement.
One striking shift over the past year has been in the role of the United States under President Donald Trump. Once a staunch defender of media freedom, Washington can no longer be counted on to advocate for the rights of journalists worldwide. Trump, who has labeled U.S. reporters as “the enemy of the American people” and purveyors of “fake news,” has abrogated the president’s traditional role of standing up for the value of an independent press and the free flow of information.
Asia’s authoritarian leaders have begun to echo Trump’s cry of “fake news” to justify their crackdown on the media. From Beijing and Bangkok, to Phnom Penh and Naypyitaw, journalists have been jailed or subjected to violence, media outlets shuttered, and new restrictions imposed on reporters. This has happened without a word of concern, let alone condemnation, from the White House. In many cases, Asian leaders have echoed Trump’s words, with some, such as Cambodia’s Hun Sen, acting as if they had the U.S. president’s tacit support. Read the rest of this entry »
Mahathir, for now, the only choice to lead opposition
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan on Thursday, 11 January 2018, 9:10 pm
Dr. I. Lourdesamy
Malaysiakini
5 Jan 2018
LETTER | The ongoing debate about whether Mahathir should be the opposition candidate for the next PM is politically bankrupt. It reflects poor understanding of political reality and the crisis the country is facing.
Those who oppose Mahathir base their argument on his past record. His 22 years of reign had inflicted much pain on many, including imprisonment for some. Democratic institutions were destroyed or eroded. It was a period of autocratic rule. Mahathir was no angel.
They argue how can we trust Mahathir with power again. Leopards do not change their stripes. He will kill any attempt at democratic reforms. ‘Reformasi’ will be dead. Anwar would have fought in vain.
The argument is not without merit, but it misses the point. The point is, how do you defeat the current government led by Najib who has shown to be a clever political strategist? To defeat the current government is not easy because Najib has built a political fortress that is extremely difficult for the opposition to penetrate. Read the rest of this entry »
GE 14
Allan CF Goh
11th Jan 2018
The coming election 14
Brings the loud howling of the wolves,
And the braying of the asses,
To proclaim the country is well,
That everything with us is swell. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysian premier Mahathir Mohamad returns at 92 to lead the party he once opposed
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan on Thursday, 11 January 2018, 11:06 am
Richard Lloyd Parry, Asia Editor
The Times, London
January 8 2018
He is a figure from another era, a contemporary of Thatcher and Reagan who was supposed to have retired from politics 15 years ago. Yet Mahathir Mohamad, the 92-year-old former prime minister of Malaysia, is once again in the running to lead his country, this time for the opposition he battled against for so many years.
At a convention of its four constituent parties, Dr Mahathir was chosen to lead the opposition into a general election that must be held by August. It will pitch him against the United Malays National Organisation, the party that he led as prime minister for more than two decades.
It puts him in direct competition with the prime minister, Najib Razak, who is embroiled in a multibillion-pound fraud scandal and under investigation by the US Justice Department. Most remarkably of all, it places him in alliance with the family and supporters of Anwar Ibrahim, the man who would almost certainly be leader of the opposition if he were not in prison for sodomy, an accusation first brought against him 20 years ago by his former friend and mentor, Dr Mahathir. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s unlikely alliance
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, Mahathir, Najib Razak, Pakatan Harapan on Thursday, 11 January 2018, 10:55 am
Editorial
The Australian
January 10, 2018
Amid the $US4 billion 1MDB corruption scandal surrounding Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak’s government, the need for a strong opposition to contest the next general election, which could take place as soon as March, is incontrovertible. It remains to be seen, however, whether that can be achieved by the previously inconceivable alliance formed between 92-year-old former prime minister Mahathir Mohamad and his one-time deputy Anwar Ibrahim, who is serving a second prison term on trumped up sodomy charges.
Dr Mahathir stepped down in 2003 after 22 years of authoritarian rule as leader of the United Malays National Organisation, which has ruled Malaysia exclusively since 1957. UMNO is now led by Mr Najib. Mr Anwar was Dr Mahathir’s deputy when they fell out 20 years ago. Mr Anwar was then targeted ruthlessly with the dubious allegations that saw him jailed.
Yet the two men — Dr Mahathir at the same age Robert Mugabe was when he was deposed, and Mr Anwar from his prison cell — have cobbled together an unlikely arrangement aimed at prising UMNO from its 60-year domination of Malaysia. That nation’s stability is of immense importance to our region, which is why Australia has close defence and security ties with it. Dr Mahathir will lead the campaign of the fractious Pakatan Harapan, Malaysia’s main opposition coalition. Should he win, he will seek a royal pardon to allow Mr Anwar to take over as prime minister. Read the rest of this entry »
