Malaysia no longer land of peace and tolerance, says Pakistan website
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Thursday, 30 January 2014, 6:52 am
by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
January 28, 2014
Malaysia’s global image as a moderate and progressive Muslim country is being tarnished by increasing racial and religious intolerance, and more recently, the attack on a church in Penang, a Pakistan online news website reported today.
Despite the millions of ringgit spent by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak to promote this moderate image through his anti-extremist Global Movement of Moderates, the Allah row and incidents stemming from it show that this may not be the case anymore, Pakistan Today said.
The writer, Masood Khan, said for the rest of the Muslim world, Malaysia used to be an “island of peace and tolerance”.
“Sadly, it’s no more as an evil eye has cast its bad shadow on a moderate and progressive country,” he wrote. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Chinese Malaysians to work hand-in-hand with Malaysians of other ethnicities to ensure a successful, progressive prosperous competitive nation where there is place for every citizen under the Malaysian sun
Posted by Kit in DAP, nation building on Wednesday, 29 January 2014, 7:14 pm
(2014 Chinese New Year message in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 29th January 2014)
Happy Chinese Year of the Horse to all Chinese Malaysians and increasing number of Malaysians of other races who also celebrate the Chinese New Year.
This is the unique characteristic of the Malaysia Dream, where an increasing number of Malaysians participate in the different ethnic and religious festivities as they are Malaysian events although they belong to other races or religions.
This why during my Chinese New Year visit to Johor, covering all the 5 Parliamentary and 13 DAP State Assembly seats apart from Jementah (which I will make up during the Chinese New Year period), I also wished Malays and Indians “Happy New Year” and distributed oranges to them signifying that regardless of race, religion, region or political beliefs, we all belong to one Big Family – the Malaysian Family!
Malaysians should seek to establish greater Malaysian Oneness from all different ethnic and religious festivities – based on the great values and virtues taught by all the religions and races. Read the rest of this entry »
Kangkung? Watch it fry in cyberspace
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 29 January 2014, 7:03 pm
Carolyn Hong
Jakarta Post
January 27, 4014
First, it was kangkung (Chinese water spinach), then came sotong (squid). And together, these two cheap food items made for an unfortunate two weeks for Malaysia’s Prime Minister Najib Razak.
It began when Najib lashed out at critics two weeks ago for blaming the government when food prices go up but not praising it when prices come down. He made the argument that the government could not control market forces, and used kangkung to illustrate his point.
It was an unfortunate choice that immediately stirred a backlash on social media. Kangkung is seen as a cheap vegetable that grows in unappetising places like drains.
Najib’s message was soon lost as netizens invented a huge range of jokes – from McKangkung burgers to kangkung-fuelled cars – to mock him for apparently asking them to downgrade their lifestyle.
Last week, sotong came into the picture as he sought again to explain market forces. Speaking at his monthly address to the finance ministry, Najib reiterated that the government could not control the price of every food item.
“When it is the monsoon season, prices of fish go up and even vegetables,” he said. “I had used the kangkung as an example of the supply-demand principle. My favourite foods are kangkung and sotong.”
This addition of sotong to the dish proved irresistible to netizens as “sotong” is colloquially used to refer to a person who is confused or weak, triggering a second round of jokes. Read the rest of this entry »
PR’s patriotic olive branch to PM and BN – to love and save Malaysia to preserve and promote unity, harmony and tolerance and ban spectre of May 13 to cobwebs of history
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Wednesday, 29 January 2014, 7:07 am
In my first Open Letter in 2014 to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on 8th January 2014, I urged the first Cabinet meeting to send our a clear and unmistakable message to end the national drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, and competitive and great Malaysian nation.
I zeroed in on the nation’s quintuplet of national crisis which warranted priority and immediate attention by the Cabinet – nation-building, economic, educational, security and anti-corruption.
In my second Open Letter in 2014 to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet on 22nd January, I posed the question whether the Barisan Nasional leadership is prepared to work with Pakatan Rakyat leaders to ensure that there could be no repetition of May 13 riots in Malaysia?
I lamented that the Najib administration had in the past fortnight remained
“leaderless, headless, clueless and rudderless” and the government’s “aimless drift” had worsened with “no resolution in sight for the quintuplet of five crisis”.
I am writing this third Open Letter to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet before the Cabinet meeting today to welcome the Prime Minister’s statement yesterday that he will bring Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s idea of a “national consensus” to the Cabinet. Read the rest of this entry »
Nation on fragile ground, warns Kit Siang
Posted by Kit in nation building on Tuesday, 28 January 2014, 5:38 pm
BY JENNIFER GOMEZ | The Malaysian Insider
January 28, 2014
It only takes a spark to set off another May 13, said a worried Lim Kit Siang (pic) as he called on Malaysians to quell tension plaguing the country now.
The DAP adviser said this was the reason he had asked Penang PKR assemblyman Lee Khai Loon to apologise for stuffing kangkung into an effigy of the prime minister during a flash mob in Penang two weeks ago.
He said it was also why he has been crusading for Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat to form a secretariat to discuss issues plaguing the country.
“The situation has become very unhealthy, with drawn-out stoking of religious and racial tension for the past eight months,” he told The Malaysian Insider today.
Lim, who is Gelang Patah MP, is worried that the currently escalating tension could lead to a scenario similar to the black day in Malaysian history almost 45 years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Call for an emergency Parliament during Chinese New Year period to address the “kangkung” crisis faced by the Prime Minister and the country, including attempts to incite racial and religious hatred to create another May 13
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 27 January 2014, 10:55 pm
I call for an emergency meeting of Parliament during the Chinese New Year period to address the “kangkung” crisis faced by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak and the country, including blatant attempts by irresponsible and reckless elements to escalate the incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create the conditions for another May 13 racial riots in the country.
The throwing of two Molotov cocktails into the compound of the Church of the Assumption in Lebuh Farquhar, Penang, early this morning and the putting up of the provocative banner “Jesus is the son of Allah” without the knowledge of church authorities outside three churches in Penang yesterday by irresponsible and reckless elements out to escalate the incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension are the latest evidence of the existence of a treacherous conspiracy by a small group of traitors out to destabilize the country and cause a racial or religious conflagration.
The Inspector-General of Police, Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar could resort to the fairy tale that there was a conspiracy to topple the elected government on New Year’s Eve at Dataran Merdeka although there was no basis for such a wild allegation as there was only a peaceful gathering to protest price hikes.
Why is the IGP completely silent about the numerous attempts by reckless and irresponsible elements who are acting no different as traitors in the past few months out systematically to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create another May 13 in the country?
Is the IGP sleeping on his job? It is time that the IGP wake up and carry out his duty to the nation and the people to protect them from traitors who are prepared to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create another May 13 in the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Much to do about #kangkung
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Monday, 27 January 2014, 7:38 am
Ong Kian Ming
The Star Online
January 22, 2014
Fluctuations in the prices of goods and services are part and parcel of any economy.
UNDERLYING the furore surrounding kangkung brouhaha lies a much more fundamental political question. Namely, should we blame the Government for increases in the price of goods and not give the Government credit when the price of goods decrease?
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak is at least half right when he questions the fairness of blaming the Government for rises in the price of let’s say, vegetables as a result of uncontrollable factors such as changes in weather conditions.
But if we should not blame the Government for uncontrollable increases in the prices of vegetables, surely we cannot praise the Government when the price of the same vegetables decreases? Gyrations in the prices of goods and services are part and parcel of any economy especially one with a decently functioning market for these goods and services. Read the rest of this entry »
Why the stir over kangkung?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Monday, 27 January 2014, 7:28 am
by Azmi Sharom
Star
January 22, 2014
Brave New World
Things are being blown out of proportion over the issue with some viewing it through race-tinted glasses. Are they blind to the fact that the people who are annoyed at the kangkung remark are from all ethnic groups?
I DON’T like water morning glory a.k.a water spinach a.k.a kangkung. There’s a metallic tang to it that I find displeasing.
I much prefer kailan or bayam – the former fried with salted fish and the latter in a watery soup.
What has my taste in vegetables got to do with anything? Nothing really.
Just as the recent, rather humorous, jabs at the Prime Minister have nothing to do with his ethnicity.
It has plenty to do with his alleged insensitivity to the price hikes in the country (which affect every single Tan, Din and Harvin) and it has plenty to do with the fact that kangkung is funny (even its very name makes me giggle); but I can’t see where the Prime Minister’s ethnicity comes into play.
So, how is it racist? Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia’s Kangkung Meme
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Monday, 27 January 2014, 7:14 am
By Mong Palatino
The Diplomat
January 22, 2014
Najib Razak’s gaffe involving the humble green veggie has become a rallying cry for the opposition.
Kangkung, or water spinach, has been trending in Malaysia since last week after Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak cited it as an example of a commodity that has become less expensive over the course of his administration.
Najib was responding to protests against rising prices caused by the government’s decision to cut subsidies. During the New Year celebration, thousands joined a street parade in Kuala Lumpur to denounce the increase in prices of basic goods and services such as petrol, sugar, and toll fees.
Najib complained that the government is often blamed for rising prices – but ignored when prices go down.
“When the prices come down, why are there no praises for the government? When it goes up, the government gets the blame. This is unfair because [such issues are determined by] the weather condition,” Najib said in Bahasa.
Then, he highlighted kangkung’s cheap price in the market: “I read in the newspaper that some prices have come down. Kangkung prices once went up and now it is down.”
This remark ignited an uproarious public reaction. It unleashed a kangkung meme which quickly went viral on social media. Najib’s enemies used it to criticize the government’s economic policies, in particular the slashing of subsidies for sensitive consumer goods. They painted Najib as a clueless leader and insensitive to the worsening situation of the poor. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should be the first to undergo mandatory media training to prevent gaffes like the “kangkung” hullaballoo which has highlighted the “feet of clay” of the Najib administration
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak, nation building on Sunday, 26 January 2014, 6:32 pm
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is reported to have directed mandatory media training for his ministers to prevent missteps that have made his administration a laughing stock among Malaysians.
Najib’s second term has been marked by “foolish” remarks from several ministers that spawned Internet memes and jokes detrimental to Putrajaya’s image.
The Malaysian Insider’s report today “To avoid more gaffes, ministers to learn to speak sensibly” quoted a source that Najib wants his ministers to undergo media training to avoid repeatedly delivering “foolish remarks”.
Specifically cited as examples of Ministerial bloopers which have spoilt Putrajaya’s image were those by the Minister for Domestic Trade, Co-operatives and Consumerism Datuk Seri Hasan Malek who wanted the people to be thankful for having “sincere” leaders who “prioritise people’s needs above all else” in response to the people’s unhappiness at subsidy cuts and price hikes and the Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor who made insensitive responses to the complaints of property owners in Kuala Lumpur to the hike in assessment rates.
“You want me to revaluate your property at 0.1% for 21 years? It does not matter to me… up to you.” He had admonished the media over the issue, telling them: “I don’t know why people like to spin this issue out of control. You should tell the rakyat that this is good for them,” Adnan had said. Read the rest of this entry »
Johor Pakatan Rakyat should embark on a three-point strategy under its “Johor Leads” motto to fulfil the Johor Dream to make Johor the front-line state in Peninsular Malaysia in the 14GE in the march to Nusajaya and Putrajaya
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim, DAP, Johore, Malaysian Dream, Pakatan Rakyat on Sunday, 26 January 2014, 7:05 am
The Pakatan Rakyat national leadership endorses the “Johor Leads” motto of Johore Pakatan Rakyat announced by the Johor PR leadership on Friday.
In fact, the PR Leadership Council at its meeting at PAS Hqrs in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday 22nd January 2014 decided to give full support to the Johor PR objective to fulfil the Johor Dream to make Johor the front-line state of PR in Peninsular Malaysia in the 14th General Elections in the march of PR towards Nusajaya and Putrajaya.
In line with Johor as one of the key front-line states in the 14GE, national PR leaders from PAS, PKR and DAP will be making frequent visits to Johor after the Chinese New Year.
Parliamentary Opposition Leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, PAS President Datuk Seri Hadi Awang and PAS Deputy President, Mohamad Sabu will in fact be visiting Johor during the Chinese New Year period, culminating in an important joint national-state PR leadership and strategy conference in Johor on Feb. 24. Read the rest of this entry »
All are welcome to the Tuesday dialogue in KL on what is the most rational response to the escalation of racial and religious polarisation in Malaysia in the past eight months after the 13th General Elections so as to create another May 13
Posted by Kit in DAP, Media, nation building on Saturday, 25 January 2014, 4:22 pm
I have initially decided on a dialogue session at DAP Hqrs (4th Floor) at Jalan Yew, off Jalan Pudu Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, 28th January 2014 at 8 pm with netizens and social activists after reading a joint statement by 83 young activists and writers urging me to retract my statement asking the PKR Penang State Assemblyman for Machang Bubok Lee Khai Loon to consider apologizing for the “flash mob” demonstration where kangkung was stuffed into the mouth of a cardboard cutout of the Prime Minister as they alleged that I was bowing down to the intimidation of “racists and political hooligans”.
Clearly, these young activists and writers signatories to the joint statement could not have read my statements in full or in detail, or had thought through the entire problem from all sides as to make such a call, and a dialogue session with them would be useful, as it is will provide an opportunity for an interaction where they could hear my views and I can benefit from hearing their standpoints.
The big issue involved however is not just about the “kangkung phenomena”, the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, Lee Khai Loon or about any one personality, but about the escalation of the racial and religious polarisation in Malaysia in the past eight months after the 13th General Elections, where an irresponsible and reckless group had enjoyed immunity and impunity to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension so as to destabilise the country and create another May 13 racial riots to achieve their petty, selfish and even traitorous political objectives. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang to meet critics over ‘kangkung’ issue
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building on Saturday, 25 January 2014, 8:37 am
Lee Way Loon
Malaysiakini
Jan 24, 2014
Under criticism from netizens and social activists, DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang will be holding a dialogue session with youth in Kuala Lumpur next week to explain his suggestion that PKR’s Machang Bubuk assemblyperson Lee Khai Loon apologise.
Organised by DAP’s party organ The Rocket, the event is scheduled to be held at the party headquarters at 7 or 8pm next Tuesday.
Lim told Malaysiakini this morning that he decided to hold the event after reading a news report, in which a group of youth urged him to retract his statement last Tuesday.
“I think they probably did not look at the problem from all sides, or did not properly read the details of my statement, so I am prepared to exchange my views with them and I am prepared to listen to theirs,” he said. Read the rest of this entry »
Suggest Barisan Nasional and Pakatan Rakyat form a joint Summit secretariat comprising three representatives to decide on date, place and agenda of BN-PR Summit
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 23 January 2014, 7:04 pm
The Barisan Nasional secretary-general Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor told The Malaysian Insider that the proposal by Pakatan Rakyat leaders for a Barisan Nasional-Pakatan Rakyat Leaders’ Summit will be discussed by the Barisan Nasional Supreme Council meeting tomorrow.
I welcome the prompt response of the Barisan Nasional in convening its Supreme Council tomorrow and hope that the BN Supreme Council will give a positive response to the PR proposal for a summit of the leaders of both coalitions to assure Malaysians that there could not be another May 13 riots, although there are irresponsible and reckless elements seeking to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create the conditions for another May 13 in the country.
The proposal by the Pakatan Rakyat leaders from PKR, PAS and DAP stem from their love and patriotism to Malaysia and I hope that the Barisan Nasional leaders could be similarly motivated by their love and patriotism to Malaysia to give a positive response to hold the first BN-PR Leaders’ Summit in the nation’s history. Read the rest of this entry »
Police and authorities must not allow the “spiral of violence” to begin and continue as this is the second stage of those who want to create the conditions for another May 13
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat, Penang, Police, UMNO on Thursday, 23 January 2014, 8:38 am
Despite my Second Open Letter to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet yesterday, the third Cabinet meeting of 2014 was a great cop-out, with the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers failing to fulfill their commitment and responsibility to face the quintuplet of national crisis squarely and courageously to end the government drift and the leadership, clueless and rudderless Najib administration.
Worst of all, there was no word or acknowledgement let alone leadership to end the systematic campaign by a group of irresponsible and reckless elements out to incite racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension to create another May 13 situation to destabilize the country, to achieve their petty, selfish political ends.
All right-thinking Malaysians regardless of race, religion, region or political affiliation must deplore in the strongest terms the gross abdication of responsibility of the Cabinet yesterday to put a stop to the continued incitement of racial and religious hatred, conflict and tension as well as to all the saber-rattling to create another May 13 situation.
I agree with former MCA President Ong Tee Keat who recently warned that Malaysia will be left in tatters if the Prime Minister continues to ignore the raising issues that divide the country. Read the rest of this entry »
March of the Umno Baruputras
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Thursday, 23 January 2014, 7:06 am
Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysiakini
Jan 20, 2014
You may have heard about the “scientific research” trip to Antarctica by Terengganu Menteri Besar Ahmad Said and you’ve probably watched the film, ‘March of the Penguins’ about a trip made by emperor penguins.
One portrays the intelligence, dedication and struggles of a group conditioned by ritualistic behaviour. The other is a gathering of a self-important species, which is expert at claiming to work while they are really on holiday.
Ahmad Said’s Antarctic journey is not just another bird-brained idea of Umno Baru. The Antarctic is one of the last frontiers of travel. It is the ultimate in travel destinations. In the west, anyone who has gone to the Antarctic is well-heeled. It is the present you give to the person who has everything.
The Antarctic is hauntingly beautiful. It is not commonplace like the queues up Mount Everest, the luxury villas on tropical islands or the five-star safari retreats.
The rakyat questioned the wisdom of sending a research team to the Antarctic when more pressing problems could be addressed at home. The rakyat is incensed about sending a politician on an expensive luxury cruise. Read the rest of this entry »
Second Open Letter to Najib and Cabinet – Are BN leaders prepared to work with PR leaders to ensure that there could not be another repetition of May 13 riots in Malaysia?
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Corruption, Najib Razak, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat, Police, Prices on Wednesday, 22 January 2014, 1:59 am
For the second time this year, I am taking full advantage of the Age of Information Technology which enables the instant communication of information with information travelling at the speed of light to pen this Second Open Letter this year to the Prime Minister and all Cabinet Ministers just before their third Cabinet meeting of the New Year of 2014.
Members of the Cabinet who have not read or not informed of this Second Open Letter before the Ministers meet for their third Cabinet meeting later this morning clearly belong to the dinosaur epoch and are not fit to be in the Cabinet – and the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak would have a very strong reason to get rid of these dead-wood and half-past six Ministers in a Cabinet reshuffle.
In my first Open Letter to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet before their first Cabinet meeting on 8th January 2014, I urged the first Cabinet meeting to send our a clear and unmistakable message to end the national drift and loss of leadership and direction to create an united, harmonious, just, and competitive and great Malaysian nation.
I zeroed in on the nation’s quintuplet of crisis which warranted priority and immediate attention by the Cabinet, viz: Read the rest of this entry »
Shut the Mouths that Threaten May 13
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 21 January 2014, 6:20 pm
By Kee Thuan Chye
news.malaysia.msn.com
21 Jan 2014
It’s disturbing, to say the least. Street protests staged by Umno and/or groups affiliated to or inspired by it invariably espouse the threat of violence and express racial venom. The most recent ones, held on January 18 and 19 in Penang, are further indications of this trend.
These were staged to protest against Lee Khai Loon, the PKR state assemblyman of Machang Bubok, for publicly mocking Prime Minister Najib Razak’s statement about the drop in price of kangkung. But the proceedings turned ugly when race was made into an issue when it was never one in the first place.
To begin with, Lee’s satirical flashmob on January 16, which culminated in his stuffing kangkung into the mouth of an effigy of Najib, was not a racial act. It was instead an act that summed up public disgust for the prime minister’s apparent failure to empathise with the rakyat, who are struggling with the problem of rising costs. Many Malaysians indeed blame the Government for contributing to the rise because it cut petrol and sugar subsidies and raised electricity tariffs.
On top of that, Najib made the extra howler of saying that although the price of kangkung has come down, the people do not praise the Government for it, but when prices go up, they are quick to blame the Government. For that, he was widely condemned. And on social media, he was satirised as well. Even the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) picked up the story. Read the rest of this entry »
Can Malaysia step back from the brink?
Posted by Kit in Lim Teck Ghee, Najib Razak, nation building on Tuesday, 21 January 2014, 4:38 pm
– Lim Teck Ghee
CPI/The Malaysian Insider
January 21, 2014
In early 2011, I provided a paper to the United Nations system in Malaysia on various scenarios facing the country, giving special emphasis to the impact of political and economic issues on social development. In it, I explored three scenarios:
• A best case one where the government can achieve its goals and targets as set out in various government documents,
• A midway scenario where targets are partially achieved, and
• A worst case scenario where targets are mostly not achieved and where the economic, political and social situation deteriorates significantly over the medium-term.
Unfortunately, the worst case scenario is becoming a reality. Excerpts from the report below identify the key steps and processes leading to the establishment of an autocratic ethnocracy which would be a huge step backwards for the country.
It is still not too late for the Prime Minister and other leaders, especially from the BN and Umno, to lead the country away from the worst case scenario outlined in the paper.
But time is running out. Read the rest of this entry »
Time for all Malaysians to separate patriots who want an united peaceful, harmonious and prosperous Malaysia from traitors who want to create another May 13 by inciting racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict through lies and falsehoods
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, nation building, Religion on Tuesday, 21 January 2014, 1:35 pm
Yesterday, the extremist group Perkasa claimed the “kangkung furore” can result in a repeat of the May 13 racial riots if it continues to be played up, claiming that the issue has become racial and is against Malaysia’s multi-racial society.
A Perkasa spokesman said many people are seen as disrespecting Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib on this issue.
He said: “The May 13th incident may repeat itself if people want it to happen again. If the kangkung issue goes too far, it is not impossible that it might.”
Can there be a repeat of the May 13, 1969 riots?
Yes, if extremists and intolerant groups and element are allowed to continue and even to escalate their campaign of incitement of racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict using lies and falsehoods without immediate action by the authorities to put an end to such irresponsible, inflammatory, incendiary and seditious spewing and incitement of racial and religious hatred, tension and conflict in our plural society. Read the rest of this entry »
