With race-baiting, DAP’s chances in Teluk Intan just 40pc, Kit Siang says MAY 19, 2014
The Malay Mail Onine
19th May 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, May 19 — DAP’s chance of retaining Teluk Intan has dwindled to as low as 40 per cent, Lim Kit Siang said today as he blamed race-baiting by Barisan Nasional (BN) for the likely dip in his party’s popularity.
He said BN believes the DAP has committed a “fatal error” by fielding a Malay candidate for the Chinese-majority seat and will use this to wrest the party’s non-Malay support.
“For these reasons, the DAP has a very uphill battle, and I will rate the DAP’s chances of winning Teluk Intan by-election as 40 per cent to 60 per cent,” Lim said in a statement here.
In a bid to boost its multiracial credentials, the DAP picked Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as its candidate for Teluk Intan, a seat last held by the late parliamentarian Seah Leong Peng.
The strategy has not impressed many of Teluk Intan’s Chinese voters, who make up 42 per cent of the electorate. The Malays form 38 per cent, and the Indians 19 per cent of the 60,349-strong electorate. Read the rest of this entry »
Pengundi Teluk Intan perlu mengundi sebagai rakyat Malaysia, kata Kit Siang
The Malaysian Insider
MAY 19, 2014
Ketua Parlimen DAP, Lim Kit Siang berkata Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) Teluk Intan merupakan masa yang tepat bagi pengundi mula mengundi sebagai rakyat Malaysia dan bukannya berdasarkan kaum semata-mata.
Lim yang juga ahli Parlimen Gelang Patah menggesa pengundi di Teluk Intan menyelamatkan Malaysia dengan melakar sejarah dan mencipta keajaiban daripada cuba menyelamatkan parti komponen Barisan Nasional (BN), Gerakan.
“Saya menggesa pengundi Teluk Intan untuk melakar sejarah dan mencipta keajaiban buat kali kedua dalam dekad ini yang boleh membuka mata rakyat Malaysia untuk menyelamatkan negara ini daripada terus gagal dan berpecah belah.
“Ini merupakan cabaran yang perlu dihadapi Teluk Intan untuk bangkit dalam usaha meningkatkan undi demi masa depan negara,” katanya dalam satu kenyataan media hari ini.
Beliau berkata, berbeza dengan pencalonan PRK Bukit Gelugor minggu lalu apabila semua pemimpin BN cuba menutupi ketakutan berdepan kekalahan dengan tidak bertanding tetapi pada hari penamaan calon PRK Teluk Intan, dapat dilihat Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin sendiri yang mengetuai jentera pilihan raya. Read the rest of this entry »
First book on MH370 mystery blames US war games
By Tim Barla | May 18, 2014
The Sydney Morning Herald
EXCLUSIVE
Seventy-one days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 disappeared, the first book about the disaster will go on sale on Monday with a theory about what might have happened.
And as the international search continues for the aircraft Irene Burrows, the Queensland mother who lost her son and daughter-in-law on the flight, said it was too soon for a book.
Flight MH370 The Mystery, which is made available by NewSouth Books in Sydney, doesn’t claim to have any answers but to some extent supports the theory that the aircraft may have been accidentally shot down during a joint Thai-US military exercise in the South China Sea. Searchers were then possibly led in the wrong direction to cover up the mistake, it suggests.
”In an age where a stolen smart phone can be pinpointed to any location on earth, the vanishing of this aircraft and 227 passengers is the greatest mystery since the Mary Celeste,” the publicity for the book reads.
Read the rest of this entry »
DAP slams Utusan for saying ‘Lims’ masterminded attacks against Dyana Sofya
by Looi Sue-Chern
The Malaysian Insider
May 19, 2014
The DAP has slammed Umno-mouthpiece Utusan Malaysia over an article which said that the recent attacks against the Teluk Intan by-election candidate Intan Dyana Sofya Mohd Duad were planned by the “Lim Dynasty”.
Party secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the Malay newspaper’s Sunday edition, Mingguan Malaysia, had slandered the party by implying that he and his father, Lim Kit Siang, had planned the attacks against Dyana.
“We strongly condemn this. It is very malicious. You slander us once, fine. But you do it again and again.
“Do not try to demean a woman and her dignity like that… Mingguan Malaysia does not know Dyana yet.
“She will not bow to such attacks and she will continue to fight for justice and democracy,” Lim said in a press conference after the opening of the state legislative assembly today. Read the rest of this entry »
Teluk Intan By Election: voters must vote wisely
Why DAP has chosen Dyana, a Malay candidate?
By Koon Yew Yin
Recently, the internet news portal, Malaysia Chronicle carried an article “FED UP WITH MALAY RACISM & BULLYING, Chinese in Teluk Intan may not accept Dyana despite her DAP credentials”.
According to one critic, many faithful DAP supporters would be disappointed that Hew Kuan Yau, a popular local DAP leader known as “Superman” who had been touted as an early candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election scheduled for May 31 was not chosen.
Chosen instead is a Malay candidate, Dyana, the political secretary to veteran DAP politician Lim Kit Siang.
Some people say that DAP is taking a big risk in view of the fact that in Teluk Intan there are more Chinese than Malay voters. I agree but I think the risk is well worth taking. Let us not forget that DAP is a multi-racial party and if it wants to win power, it must prove its multi-racial and not Chinese credentials to the voters – Chinese and non-Chinese.
Let me also point out that the voter composition in Teluk Intan is 42% ethnic Chinese, 19 % Indians and 38 % Malays – in other words there is in fact a non-Chinese majority.
Read the rest of this entry »
Learn from my Umno mum, Dyana tells Shahrizat
Malaysiakini
May 18, 2014
DAP’s Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud, whose Teluk Intan candidacy has been belittled by Umno Wanita chief Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, has asked the veteran politician to learn from her underling – Dyana’s mother.
“I ask that she learns from my mother who herself is an Umno member but has realised that my candidacy by the DAP heralds a breakthrough for young women in politics, especially for young Malay women, who have long been held back by an inflexible, patriarchal structure in Umno.
“I owe who I am today to my family and to my mother, to hard work and…the personal decisions which I have made along my life,” Dyana said in a statement today.
Standing by her daughter during the candidate announcement yesterday, Dyana’s mother Yammy Samat, an Umno member, said it was time for the younger generation to step up.
Yammy was the country’s first woman Umno division secretary and today remains as an Umno member in Ipoh. Read the rest of this entry »
In Teluk Intan, DAP’s young Malay candidate hopes to build bridges
BY BOO SU-LYN
The Malay Mail Online
May 18, 2014
TELUK INTAN, May 18 — At Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) where fees for a first degree cost just RM5,000, some Malay students drove luxury cars like Jaguars and Mercedes Benzes, according to Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.
That made Dyana angry because non-Malay students from lower income families are kept out of the university simply because of their race.
Dyana is DAP’s choice for the Teluk Intan by-election on May 31, picked over more experienced candidates in a bid to boost the predominantly Chinese party’s multicultural credentials.
It is a role the 26 year old UiTM law graduate appears to have slipped into with ease as she looks to represent a constituency that is mainly Chinese.
“We should move on from race-based policies to needs-based policies, and at the same time, the Malays would still gain because the Malays are the majority who need it anyway,” she said in an interview with The Malay Mail Online.
Eliminating affirmative action policies favouring Bumiputeras would only be a problem for well-off Malays who unfairly benefit from race-based policies, she added. Read the rest of this entry »
I would not be where I am today if I chose your way, Dyana Sofya tells Shahrizat
The Malay Mail Online
May 18, 2014
KUALA LUMPUR, May 18 — Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud said today that she would not have been given the same opportunity had she joined Umno, while claiming that the ruling party’s women’s wing had failed to promote its own members into real positions of influence.
In response to Wanita Umno chief Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil’s criticism against her candidacy, the DAP’s candidate for Teluk Intan by-election said that her party instead recognises women’s role in politics, unlike Umno.
“I am glad that I chose to join the DAP in 2011. For if I had chosen the way of Shahrizat Jalil and Umno, I would not be where I am today, aiming to enter Parliament as the representative for the people of Teluk Intan and if elected, to be the youngest MP in Parliament,” Dyana said in a statement here.
“The party has nominated me precisely because I strongly believe in the ideals of justice, equal opportunity and good governance.”
According to Dyana, DAP recognises the need for a balance in male-female representation in the government, and subsequently nominates more and more women candidates in every election. Read the rest of this entry »
In Dyana Sofya, DAP tries to woo Malays to itself, say analysts
by Eileen Ng
The Malaysian Insider
May 18, 2014
Can Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud woo the Malay electorate in the Teluk Intan parliamentary seat? That’s what her party, DAP, is trying to find out when they nominated her as its candidate for the May 31 by-election.
Analysts said the party is trying to shed its Chinese-centric image and make inroads to capture the hearts and minds of the Malays by fielding a young Malay woman.
The DAP, which makes up one-third of the opposition Pakatan Rakyat (PR) pact, had been trying hard to prove its detractors wrong by fielding more Malay candidates in the last general election to broaden its appeal among the country’s electoral majority.
To date, it has two Malay MPs – Bukit Bendera’s Zairil Khir Johari and Raub’s Datuk Ariff Sabri – both of whom lead Chinese-majority seats. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang mengaku bukan mudah kekalkan kerusi parlimen Teluk Intan
Astro Awani
Bernama | Kemas kini: Mei 18, 2014
TELUK INTAN: Penasihat DAP Lim Kit Siang berkata parti itu berhadapan dengan cabaran besar untuk mempertahankan kerusi Parlimen Teluk Intan pada Pilihan Raya Kecil (PRK) kerusi itu hujung bulan ini.
Beliau berkata DAP telah mengambil keputusan berani dengan mencalonkan setiausaha politiknya, Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud.
Pemimpin veteran itu berkata beliau yakin calon wanita muda berusia 27 tahun itu mampu memenangi hati pengundi di kawasan Parlimen itu. Read the rest of this entry »
Chinese in Teluk Intan appear unmoved by DAP’s progressive bid with Dyana
by Boo Su-Lyn,
The Malay Mail Online
May 17, 2014
TELUK INTAN, May 17 ― DAP’s choice of a fresh-faced ethnic Malay candidate for the Teluk Intan by-election is leaving some in the predominantly Chinese town unimpressed.
In a move hailed as progressive and aimed at breaking down race-based voting patterns, DAP today named 26-year-old Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud as its candidate for the parliamentary seat, snubbing more experienced ethnic Chinese candidates.
Several Chinese voters at the small town told The Malay Mail Online they were not convinced by DAP’s lofty attempt to eradicate race politics. Read the rest of this entry »
Dyana for Teluk Intan ‘to break racial barriers’
Ram Anand
Malaysiakini
May 17, 2014
TELUK INTAN Twenty-seven-year-old lawyer and UiTM graduate Dyana Sofya Mohd Daud was today unveiled as DAP’s candidate for the Teluk Intan parliamentary by-election.
DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng announced the decision at the DAP by-election operations centre in Bandar Baru Teluk Intan today, saying the decision was made as proof of DAP’s ethnic diversity as a party.
In her speech, Dyana, who has served as DAP supremo Lim Kit Siang’s political secretary for the past year, spoke about breaking racial and religious barriers, and finding the perfect formula for a Malaysian “teh tarik, which is loved by all.”
She explained all Malaysians love teh tarik regardless of race or religion and similarly, Malaysians need to find a common identity that would appeal as much across the board as the tea drink does.
At a press conference later, Dyana said she is unfazed by the rounds of attempts to tarnish her reputation that has already begun among some bloggers.
“They thought since I am a woman, I will quit politics (after the attacks).
“But sorry, I am here to stay,” said Dyana, who had fake pictures of her in a bikini published in some blogs even before today’s announcement. Read the rest of this entry »
You will hear me roar
— Dyana Sofya
The Malay Mail Online
May 15, 2014
MAY 15 — My mother was active in politics. As her kids, my brothers and I were exposed to politics at a very young age. We would frequently meet our politician uncles and aunts during dinners, teh tarik sessions, Hari Raya open houses and birthday parties. Some of them made it to ministerial posts in later years, while some were not as lucky.
Growing up observing my mother taught me many, many things. With the good came also the bad. I soon learned that politics was a dog eat dog world which required one to have nerves of steel and skin as thick as oak before one could even begin to participate.
My older brothers in particular saw what my mother endured. They read the books she brought home from work. They saw the dirty games and Machiavellian tactics that my mother had to put up with in the name of “perjuangan.” For the party. For the country.
They also saw how she was betrayed by her own comrades and best friends for the sake of position and power. As a result, they have sworn themselves off from the world of politics.
It all began in the late 1980s, when my mother was a UMNO worker. She had loyally served the party for years, but all her sacrifice and hard work counted for nothing when the newly constituted UMNO Baru of Dr Mahathir decided not to rehire staff that had been inclined towards the “Team B” of his opponent, Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, during the 1987 UMNO election.
At the time, she was just about to return to work after maternity leave.
She had just given birth to me. Read the rest of this entry »
Don’t bring your religious forums to East Malaysia, Sarawakian Muslim tells UiTM
by Jennifer Gomez
The Malaysian Insider
May 15, 2014
A Melanau Muslim was among several Sarawakians who lodged police reports against a religiously charged seminar organised by Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) last week, hoping that such events will not be brought to East Malaysia where the citizens have been living in harmony.
Abdul Halim Hamdian, who is self-employed, made the report at the Dalat police station last Friday and complained that the speeches made at the seminar last week had seditious tendencies.
He said that since UiTM had campuses in Sarawak and Sabah, he was concerned that these issues would spread to East Malaysia, which has historically enjoyed a high level of understanding among its people of different faiths.
“As a Muslim, my understanding is that Islam respects the rights of other faiths, as long as they do not cause provocation towards Islam in any way.
“So I felt the speakers made seditious remarks and misused the good name of Islam to create tension and fear towards other faiths, especially Christianity,” Abdul Halim wrote in his report.
Abdul Halim also said in his report that he wanted the authorities to investigate the speakers at the seminar as it could result in the oppression of other faiths, using the good name of Islam. Read the rest of this entry »
Time for A-G to explain his decisions on charges against opposition leaders, say lawyers
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Court, Judiciary, Law & Order on Thursday, 15 May 2014, 11:15 am
BY V. ANBALAGAN, ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR
The Malaysian Insider
May 15, 2014
Lawyers today demanded Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Gani Patail (pic) come out of his cocoon and explain several questionable decisions made by his office relating to charges against opposition leaders which were later thrown out of court.
They are particularly aghast that Gani had decided to go ahead and re-charge opposition leader Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad for his failure to give a 10-day notice to the police under the Peaceful Assembly Act (PAA) to organise a rally.
This was despite the Court of Appeal’s acquittal of Nik Nazmi on April 25 after striking down a punishment provided under the PAA as unconstitutional because it breached the basic rights of citizens to assemble peacefully.
Yesterday, activists Mohd Bukhairy Sofian, Edy Noor Ridzuan and Badrul Hisham Shaharin, or better known as Chegubard, were also granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal by the lower courts as the judges said they were bound by the Court of Appeal ruling.
The lawyers said that Gani must realise that society’s expectations of him have increased, and he now owes them an explanation.
Gani must defend the integrity of the office he had been holding since 2001, they said. Read the rest of this entry »
Would Liow and MCA leaders take a stand and list instances of UMNO violation of BN policy and consensus on hudud at the BN Supreme Council meeting tomorrow?
MCA should end its politics of perfidy and hypocrisy sending out different messages on hudud, one in the Chinese media and another for the non-Chinese media, to mislead the Malaysian Chinese and the UMNO leaders.
Today’s media gives two such examples.
First, the big splash in the Chinese media today of the statement by the MCA Secretary-General Datuk Seri Ong Ka Chuan declaring the MCA’s opposition to the joint technical committee on hudud comprising the Barisan Nasional Federal Government and the PAS Kelantan State Government which was proposed by the Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin on 28th April 2014.
But this news was completely blacked out in the MCA newspaper, the Star and the non-Chinese media.
Second, the news report in the Chinese media quoting the Wanita MCA Chairman, Datuk Heng Seai Kie demanding that the Barisan Nasional Whip Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin take stern disciplinary action against two UMNO Ministers, the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Jamil Khir Baharom and the Minister for International Trade and Industry Datuk Seri Mustapha Mohammad for breaching Barisan Nasional policy, consensus and discipline in supporting PAS implementation of hudud. Read the rest of this entry »
Some observations about the Terengganu drama
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 14 May 2014, 9:05 am
The Malaysian Insider
May 14, 2014
What was supposed to be a quick change of leadership in Terengganu has now blown into a full crisis for Barisan Nasional (BN), which could still lose the oil-rich state to their political foes unless all Umno assemblymen pledge loyalty to the state government.
Here are some observations of the last two days when Datuk Seri Ahmad Said’s (pic) resignation letter as menteri besar snowballed into him and two other Umno state lawmakers quitting the party. One is said to have returned to the fold.
1) Najib is weak
Let’s be honest. If Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak was strong and if he was feared in his own party, Ahmad Said and the other state assemblymen would think many times before holding Umno/BN to ransom.
But as it stands today, he is viewed as weak by everyone, from the motormouths at Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia (Isma) to royal households throughout the country.
They know that Najib is indecisive, unable to use the powers of incumbency to exert control and seemingly incapable of sparking a feel-good feeling about his administration across Malaysia.
The end result: even a small-time local politician named Ahmad Said can thumb his nose at Najib. Read the rest of this entry »
Will Liow advise Muhyiddin not to be “held to ransom” by the Terengganu trio who have resigned as UMNO Assemblymen, plunging the state into a constitutional crisis?
I could not have agreed more with the MCA President Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai who had advised UMNO Terengganu Assemblymen that they must “put people first, instead of their personal interests”.
It is very clear what Liow was trying to say when commenting on the former Terengganu Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said and two UMNO Assemblymen quitting the party to become independents after attending a Wesak celebration at Wisma Buddhist in Kuala Lumpur today.
Liow said: “The state government cannot be held at ransom. The purpose of us running for elections is to serve the people and we must ensure that the state government continues to do so.”
He hoped that the Barisan Nasional government would take immediate action to stabilise the situation in Terengganu.
The question is whether Liow would “walk the talk”. Read the rest of this entry »
New state general elections is best way to resolve the constitutional impasse in Terengganu caused by the resignation of three UMNO Assemblymen from UMNO, with no political party with working majority
With the resignation of the former Terengganu Mentri Besar, Ahmad Said and two other UMNO Terengganu State Assemblymen, Ghazali Taib and Roslee Daud, from UMNO, new state general elections is the best way to resolve the constitutional impasse that has arisen in Terengganu as there is no political party with a working majority.
The composition of the Terengganu State Assembly is now BN 14; Pakatan Rakyat 15 and Independents 3.
The various scenarios that could arise from the constitutional crisis in Terengganu are: Read the rest of this entry »
GeoResonance adamant MH370 is in Bay of Bengal
by Eileen Hee
The Rakyat Post
KUALA LUMPUR, May 10:
Geological survey firm GeoResonance Pty Lt, based in Adelaide, said it hadn’t suffered any backlash from issuing its public claim to have found the wreckage of MH370 in the Bay of Bengal.
“We cannot judge about awareness that our business has created. What we know for sure is that our claim has unearthed numerous pseudo scientists in the form of media commentators,” said managing director Pavel Kursa.
He said GeoResonance had consulted its clients before approaching the media with the MH370 wreckage claim and its clients had encouraged the firm to alert the authorities.
GeoResonance’s clients mainly comprise mining companies searching for minerals, oil and gas hidden deep under ocean floors. Read the rest of this entry »
