Najib Wrong to Blame Malaysians
Posted by Kit in English, Kee Thuan Chye, Mahathir, Najib Razak, NEP, UMNO on Tuesday, 21 January 2014, 8:32 am
by Kee Thuan Chye
Yahoo! News
Jan 14, 2014
Prime Minister Najib Razak is wrong to blame Malaysians for the country’s standing in comparison to Japan and South Korea. He says Malaysia is not as developed and economically advanced as those two countries are because Malaysians lack strong will and fighting spirit.
This is bullshit.
He should instead blame his own party, Umno, and its partners in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition. If it were not for the New Economic Policy (NEP) and its continued existence to this day, almost a quarter-century past its original termination date of 1990, we would not be in the state we’re in now.
The NEP made us economically less competitive. Investors were reluctant to put money into ventures for which they had to yield 30 per cent share to partners who brought hardly anything to the table.
The NEP triggered a massive brain drain that is now recognised as one of the factors weakening our hopes of becoming an advanced nation. Read the rest of this entry »
Boos, doubts stalk Najib after kangkung ridicule
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Monday, 20 January 2014, 9:43 pm
BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 20, 2014
It doesn’t seem to be getting any better for Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak after a week of being ridiculed for talking about falling vegetable prices amid rising living costs.
There is talk among the Umno elite of moves to push out the party president, who won more seats for the party but also lost more for Barisan Nasional (BN) in Election 2013. His men also swept the party elections last December but his position now looks shaky as dissent rises inside and outside Umno.
And yesterday, the boos were louder than the cheers when Najib presented the winner’s medal to badminton star Datuk Lee Chong Wei when won his 10th Malaysian Open singles title in Kuala Lumpur.
On the same day, the Umno-owned Berita Minggu carried an interview with Kedah Menteri Besar Datuk Mukhriz Mahathir who expressed concern that the ruling BN might lose in the 14th general election if Putrajaya continued implementing unpopular decisions.
“Defeat is a real possibility if Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak continues with his present policy of correct but unpopular decisions, especially issues concerning the rising cost of living.” Read the rest of this entry »
Liong Sik should identify whether Najib was the “influential person” who put pressure on him to vacate his position as Chairman of UTAR when he was charged with corruption in the PKFZ scandal
Posted by Kit in MCA, Najib Razak on Monday, 20 January 2014, 9:08 pm
China Press today carried an interview with former MCA President and former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik on his accusation that he was slapped with corruption charges in the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal by the Attorney-General when there was insufficient evidence against him, reiterating that the Attorney-General did not respect Chinese leaders in government.
Malaysians are still waiting for responses to this very serious accusation both from the Attorney-General Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Patail and the new MCA leadership.
In his interview with China Press today, Liong Sik alleged that “a very influential person” had put pressure on him to vacate his position as Chairman of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman (UTAR) when he was charged with corruption in the PKFZ scandal.
Liong Sik did not name this “very influential person”. Read the rest of this entry »
Japanese Government should apologise to Anwar and Malaysians for the “national insult” in denying entry to Parliamentary Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim
Posted by Kit in Anwar Ibrahim on Monday, 20 January 2014, 8:29 pm
The Japanese Government should apologise to Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and to Malaysia for the “national insult” in denying entry to Japan and deporting the Parliamentary Opposition Leader yesterday.
The barring of Anwar Ibrahim from entering Japan is not a mere personal matter involving Anwar but a question of national honour as Anwar is the leader the Pakatan Rakyat coalition which secured the majority support of 51% of the voters in the 13th General Elections on May 5 last year.
It tantamounts to disrespect and slap-in-the-face of the majority of voters in Malaysia by the Japanese Government and must therefore be regarded as a most unfriendly and even hostile Japanese act against Malaysia. Read the rest of this entry »
Call on Malaysian patriots and moderates regardless of race, religion or political affiliation to come forward to save Malaysia from extremists
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Sunday, 19 January 2014, 5:41 pm
Yesterday, Penang UMNO staged a demonstration in response to the kangkung-theme flash mob organised by PKR Machang Bubuk assemblyman, Lee Khai Loon.
I have no objection to Penang UMNO staging a peaceful demonstration but all right-thinking Malaysians must be horrified that the Penang UMNO demonstration was a blatant and shameless incitement of racial and religious hatred, tensions and conflict in Malaysia which must be condemned by all patriotic and peace-loving Malaysians, regardless of race, religion, region or political affiliation.
If any of the Pakatan Rakyat parties had been involved in such-like demonstration as the one conducted by Penang Umno, unashamedly and blatantly inciting racial and religious hatred, tensions and conflict, the police would have acted immediately and the Pakatan Rakyat leaders involved would have been behind bars awaiting trial for sedition.
Why is there no action by the Police and the authorities to stop such dangerous, irresponsible, incendiary and seditious incitement of racial and religious hatred, tensions and conflict by Penang UMNO yesterday Umno protesters yesterday indulged in the worst form of political gangsterism and thuggery, threatening with the rhetorical question: “Does DAP want another May 13” and carried the most blood-curdling racist and religious slogans and banners, even with one banner in blood red with the screaming words: “Because of DAPs leaders mouth, May 13, 1969 happened…Want some more?” and other inflammatory banners like “ABCD – Asal Bukan Cina DAP” and “DAP is the enemy of Islam”. Read the rest of this entry »
Najib should not be paranoiac by the “kangkung furore” and completely immobilised when he should swiftly identify the underlying factors and demonstrate that he is not a “PM kangkung” running a “kangkung government” hollow inside apart from glittering external
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Saturday, 18 January 2014, 4:01 pm
The Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should not be paranoiac by the “kangkung furore” and completely immobilised when he should swiftly identify the underlying factors of the “kangkung phenomenon” in Malaysia in the past week and demonstrate that he is not a “PM kangkung” running a “kangkung government” hollow inside apart from a glittering externa
In the past seven days, the “kangkung phenomenon” has taken the country by storm, as kangkung becoming the butt of comedy, satire, video and comic sketch.
What is most regrettable and must be condemned by all right-thinking Malaysians is the dishonest and dangerous game of political opportunists who tried to racialise the “kangkung furore” as the work of Chinese showing disrespect to Malay leaders.
In the past week, Malaysians regardless of race, religion or region have taken part in the “kangkung bashing” of Najib including the latest edition of comedy sketch, That Effing Show, hosted and produced by Ezra Said, entitled “Let Them Eat Kangkung”. Read the rest of this entry »
Kangkung now hot topic in comedy and satirical humour
by Elizabeth Zachariah
The Malaysian Insider
January 18, 2014
When Datuk Seri Najib Razak suggested people should appreciate that kangkung prices had fallen and praise the government for it, the poor man’s greens usually associated with belacan (shrimp paste) became an overnight sensation to deride the prime minister and his subsidy cuts programme.
In the past two weeks, the water spinach has appeared in newspaper headlines, in conversations at dinner tables, in jokes good and bad, and has gone viral in social media.
An example is the latest edition of That Effing Show, hosted and produced by Ezra Zaid. Its latest episode, “That Effing Show #99 – Let Them Eat Kangkung”, was uploaded on Thursday and has since garnered more than 21,000 views.
The six-and-a-half-minute clip took a dig at Najib’s comments as well as Malay rights group Perkasa, the MCA and MIC by featuring “representatives” from fictional organisations Persatuan KangKung Satu Malaysia (Perkasa), Malaysian Choi-sum Association (MCA), Machas Institute of Cucumber (MIC) discussing the “kangkung” remark.
“The prime minister’s sudden and unexpected announcement regarding the value of kangkung has caused all kinds of chaos across the country. Panic selling has resulted in plummeting prices and soaring tempers,” says a brief about the video, alluding to the fiery political climate in the country just eight months after the General Election 2013. Read the rest of this entry »
Life is meant to be fun, says Guan Eng
Malaysiakini | 4:40PM Jan 16, 2014
Despite sitting on the hot seat as Penang’s chief minister since 2008, Lim Guan Eng said, “Life is meant to be fun.”
Lim said the most important thing for an artist is to have its critics and the public to participate in his or her art and “have fun”.
“That is what makes art meaningful,” he said at a press conference to support Lithunian artist Ernest Zachaveric’s solo show ‘Art is Rubbish/Rubbish is Art’ tomorrow.
“Even in serious works, the basic essence is to have fun. So don’t take life so seriously. We can take a different view. Life is meant to be fun,” Lim said, obviously in a good mood.
Read the rest of this entry »
Liong Sik’s allegation reinforces my call for RCI to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion “mother of all scandals”
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Judiciary, PKFZ on Friday, 17 January 2014, 5:11 pm
The allegation by former MCA President and former Transport Minister, Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik that he was “wrongly accused” and charged of corruption in the Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) scandal even before the Attorney-General’s Chambers had obtained sufficient evidence reinforces my call for a Royal Commission of Inquiry to get to the bottom of the RM12.5 billion “mother of all scandals”.
In an interview yesterday, Ling, who was acquitted last October, of all charges of corruption in connection with the PKFZ scandal, revealed that he is writing a book about his PKFZ “trials and tribulations” and had decided on the title of the book: “How Low Can You Go”.
Ling said that due to his bad experience, his confidence in the country’s judicial system was shaken.
Ling sounds very self-serving and even hypocritical as he must bear full responsibility for the state of the system of justice in Malaysia today, as he was part of the Mahathir government which precipitated the judicial crisis in 1988 when the then Lord President Tun Salleh Abas and two Supreme Court judges, Tan Sri Wan Suleiman Pawanteh and Datuk George Seah were arbitrarily and unconstitutionally sacked. Malaysia has never yet recovered from that judicial crisis 26 years ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno’s misplaced anger over kangkung jokes
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Friday, 17 January 2014, 7:51 am
NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 16, 2014
Wow. The Umno members who rallied and tried to ring a fence round Datuk Seri Najib Razak to save him from further public ridicule over his ‘kangkung’ remarks, are incensed.
So incensed that it took a few days for them to feel “offended” enough to vent their anger against Machang Lubuk assemblyman Lee Khai Loon for allegedly making fun of their party president.
Everything about Umno these days is stage-managed and contrived. Even their anger.
On Sunday, Najib said that the government was never praised when the prices of goods went down. As an example, he noted that the price of kangkung had dropped. His speech at an event was uploaded onto YouTube and drew stinging criticism from netizens, with many pointing out the silliness of the PM using the cost of a vegetable which grew wildly by the road side as an example of government intervention.
For more than four days, Najib has been lampooned by a lot of Malaysians. Privately, even his partymen have been speaking about the PM’s growing ability to say the wrong things. To be fair, the kangkung line was a throwaway line that would have been glossed over under normal circumstances. Read the rest of this entry »
Vow to uphold justice and vanquish all forms of injustices
Let me wish all Hindus a happy, joyous and meaningful Thaipusam.
Thaipusam commemorates the occasion when Parvati gave Murugan a Vel “spear” so he could vanquish the evil demon Soorapadman.
It is an occasion for devotees to pray to God to receive his grace so that bad traits are destroyed.
On the occasion of this year’s Thaipusam, let us all vow to uphold justice and vanquish all forms of injustices so as to realise the Malaysian Dream – a united, successful democratic, prosperous and competitive Malaysia where there is justice, rule of law, good governance, religious harmony and zero tolerance for corruption, and where every Malaysian, regardless of race, religion or region has a rightful place under the Malaysian sun. Read the rest of this entry »
Malaysia must stop being an international laughing stock as “land of mega financial scandals without criminals” with all patriotic Malaysians demanding that those responsible for the RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal must be identified and brought to book
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Court, Financial Scandals, PKFZ on Thursday, 16 January 2014, 12:17 pm
I would have won if someone had betted with me whether the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) “mother of all scandals” had ever been raised or discussed at the second 2014 Cabinet meeting yesterday, especially after the shock double acquittal of two former Transport Ministers in their multiple charges in connection with the scandal.
On Monday, former Transport Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy walked free from the High Court from cheating charges in connection with the PKFZ scandal, the second former Transport Minister to be acquitted in less than three months in connection with the PKFZ scandal.
But clearly, none in the Cabinet meeting yesterday wanted to rock the boat and everybody prefered to “Let sleeping dogs lie”!
But this irresponsible, craven and cowardly attitude cannot be acceptable to Malaysians who want to see the fulfillment of the Malaysian Dream – a united, harmonious, just, competitive and great plural Malaysia nation built on the principles of tolerance, justice, freedom, integrity and good governance where there is zero tolerance for corruption.
Read the rest of this entry »
Bagaimana mitos tentang DAP bermula (Bahagian 1)
Oleh Mahdzir Ibrahim | JANUARY 15, 2014
Roketkini | The Malaysian Insider
Saya tidak pasti akan dapat memberi jawapan yang jelas sebagaimana soalan tersebut kerana adakalanya jawapan tu hanya dapat digambarkan saja. Justeru, pembaca berhak menyimpulkan sendiri jawapan yang saya tulis ini, dalam keadaan sedar diri dan waras.
Sedar bahawa siapa saya, budaya saya dan keinginan saya.
Antara penolakan yang paling popular oleh DAP ke atas dasar kerajaan Umno adalah hal yang berkaitan tentang Dasar Ekonomi Baru (DEB). Yang nyata, DAP menolak pada kaedah atau mekanisme pelaksanaannya, bukan menolak tujuan dan matlamat DEB.
Jawapan yang sangat objektif ini rupa-rupanya belum cukup buat orang Melayu faham, bukan kerana orang Melayu bodoh tetapi kerana pendirian DAP ini diputar belit oleh Umno menerusi propaganda perkauman yang sangat licik.
Maka, jawapan tersebut perlu lagi dijelaskan dengan lebih mendalam, moga kepalsuan dapat dijinakkan menerusi kempen-kempen kesedaran atau kempen ‘pembetulan’, dan rencana ini adalah sebahagian daripada kempen tersebut.
Read the rest of this entry »
Putrajaya imposes ‘very high’ restrictions on religion, global study finds
Posted by Kit in Constitution, nation building, Religion on Thursday, 16 January 2014, 9:06 am
by Trinna Leong
The Malaysian Insider
January 15, 2014
Putrajaya’s restrictions on religion are among the worst in the world, revealed a study by American think tank Pew Research Centre.
The report, Restrictions on Religion, which covered 198 countries, found that Malaysia is among the 24 nations with “very high” government restrictions on religion.
It also found that the number of countries with “high or very high level of social hostilities involving religion reached a six-year-peak in 2012”.“A third (33%) of the 198 countries and territories included in the study had high religious hostilities in 2012, up from 29% in 2011 and 20% as of mid-2007,” said the report.
Placing Malaysia on par with countries like Egypt, Syria, Somalia, Russia, Sudan and Iraq, the report measured “government laws, policies and actions that restrict religious beliefs and practices” for its Government Restrictions Index (GRI).
The report, which covered more than 99.5% of the world’s population, had looked at “efforts by governments to ban particular faiths, prohibit conversions, limit preaching or give preferential treatment to one or more religious groups”. Read the rest of this entry »
What’s next with Dr M’s fans baying for Najib’s head to roll
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, 10:57 pm
BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 15, 2014
Nostalgia for better times has dominated this week with one Umno veteran openly calling for Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad to return to helm the country while the prime minister’s brother harked back to the integrity of their own prime minister father.
But the better times was when Umno was dominant and the Internal Security Act (ISA) was used to silence dissent, something which Tan Sri Zainuddin Maidin alluded to when calling for Dr Mahathir’s return to lead the nation.
He is the latest Mahathirist to say the obvious in not so many words that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak must step down.
Several bloggers aligned to Dr Mahathir have called for the same in the weeks after the last Umno elections where Najib’s camp won handsomely.
These were among the same people who also agitated against Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, who resigned as prime minister and Umno president in April 2009, a year after the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) suffered historic losses in the 2008 elections. Read the rest of this entry »
Between God and Allah
Posted by Kit in Constitution, Islam, Najib Razak, Religion on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, 9:54 pm
Wall Street Journal
Jan 14, 2014
Malaysia tries to stop Christians using the Bahasa word for God.
For nearly 200 years non-Muslim residents of present-day Malaysia used the Arabic and Bahasa word “Allah” to refer to God. Seven years ago, the government began an unnecessary and provocative push to ban them from doing so in print. Now Malaysian police are accusing a Catholic priest of sedition after he announced that churches in the state of Selangor would continue using the A word in their local-language services.
At the heart of the dispute is prominent Catholic priest Lawrence Andrew. In 2007, Home Minister Syed Hamid Albar banned Father Lawrence Andrew’s church newspaper from printing “Allah.” Father Andrew fought the ban in the courts and eventually lost in the Court of Appeal last October. In November, the sultan of Selangor took the campaign a step further and extended the ban to Bahasa-language Bibles and churches. Now Father Andrew is being investigated for violating the edict under the draconian Sedition Act. Read the rest of this entry »
In Nazir’s paean to dad, a call to action for all Malaysians
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, Mahathir, Malaysian Dream, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, 7:26 pm
NEWS ANALYSIS BY THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER
January 14, 2014
It happens all the time. Whenever someone writes or talks about the golden generation of Malaysian leaders, it is a bittersweet experience for citizens of this blessed country.
There is pride that individuals such as Tunku Abdul Rahman, Tun Tan Siew Sin, Tun Abdul Razak Hussein, Tun Dr Ismail Abdul Rahman once charted the fortunes of Malaysia.
And there is deep longing for such men of integrity, principle and fairness.
Yet, there is also numbing sadness that such men no longer exists in government, replaced long time ago by inept individuals with a ravenous appetite for self.
Make no mistake, Razak and friends were flawed men, at times drive by political interests of their parties. But they loved this land above everything else. Above enriching their family members. Above nurturing crony capitalism. Read the rest of this entry »
Call for bi-partisan support in March/April Parliament for a RCI into RM12.5 billion PKFZ scandal or Malaysia will be international laughing stock as “land of mega-scandals without criminals”
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Parliament, PKFZ on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, 3:36 pm
Anyone game for a bet – whether the RM12.5 billion Port Klang Free Zone (PKFZ) “mother of all scandals” had ever been raised or discussed at the Cabinet meeting today?
I am not privy to what happened in Cabinet today or any other information covered by the Official Secrets Act (OSA) but I would not hesitate betting that the subject of PKFZ scandal never cropped up in today’s Cabinet meeting – although two days ago, a second former Cabinet Minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy walked free from High Court when the Attorney-General withdrew all charges against him in connection with the PKFZ scandal.
The acquittal of Chan, following the acquittal last October of Chan’s predecessor as former Transport Minister Tun Dr. Ling Liong Sik of three charges of cheating the government in relation to the PKFZ scandal, should be urgent and weighty subjects for today’s Cabinet meeting – that is if the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is serious about the wanting to make corruption part of Malaysia’s past not its future, or the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department on governance and integrity, Datuk Paul Low is making a difference in Cabinet and government not just a cipher and the post-13GE Najib Cabinet is a Transformation Cabinet with anti-corruption as one of its top priority agendas and not the worst “half-past six Cabinet” in history.
I would imagine that the Cabinet Ministers and the top Umno/Barisan Nasional leaders must have sighed with relief at the double acquittal of the two former Transport Ministers marking their success to keep the “mother of all scandals” under wraps and the last thing anyone of them wants to do is to “stir the hornets’ nest” and give the demands for accountability a fresh lease of life. Read the rest of this entry »
Who is the leader?
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak, UMNO on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, 12:05 pm
By Wan Saiful Wan Jan
Free Malaysia Today
January 15, 2014
How is it that Umno, a party that has been in power for so long, has suddenly become subservient to these relatively young entities?
COMMENT
Even if you disagree with groups like Perkasa and Isma, I think they really deserve an applause. These two groups have been very effective in their campaigns, to the extent that they cannot be simply dismissed in today’s public discourse.
Pertubuhan Pribumi Perkasa was set up by Ibrahim Ali soon after the 2008 general election. I don’t think I need to explain who Perkasa is because many readers already know them. Their campaign is centred around defending the rights of the ethnic Malays.
Isma stands for Ikatan Muslimin Malaysia. Those who are familiar with the history of Muslim groups in Malaysia will know that, up to a few yeas ago, the rivalry between the various Malaysian Muslim groups was fierce. And, the contested history is that Isma started off as a splinter from another group, the Jamaah Islah Malaysia (now known as Ikram).
It will take too long to explain the long and convoluted history of Isma properly. But suffice to say that Isma is one of the many Muslim groups that exist in Malaysia today that was inspired by another global movement called the Muslim Brotherhood.
The backgrounds of these two organisations are rather different. But, if we look at their work, they have become potent pressure groups in Malaysia today. Read the rest of this entry »
#BBCtrending: Be careful what you say about spinach
Posted by Kit in Najib Razak on Wednesday, 15 January 2014, 11:43 am
BBC Trending
What’s popular and why
14 January 2014
Hundreds of joke images are being shared on social media in Malaysia
Malaysia’s prime minister is being widely lampooned on social media for a comment he made about the price of kangkung, or water spinach.
Food is a faux pas minefield for politicians, especially when it’s perceived as being used in a get-down-with-the-people kind of way – think of British Prime Minister David Cameron’s pasty moment or Chancellor George Osborne’s “posh burger” tweet. The almost inevitable response seems to be ridicule. That’s where the Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak finds himself right now. With the government under fire because of price hikes in basics like fuel and electricity, he choose to push back by highlighting a reduction in the cost of the leafy green vegetable kangkung. Read the rest of this entry »
