Let’s be adults, YAB
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012
15 APRIL — Merasakan diri sendiri itu sebagai hebat dan “invincible” itu merupakan kesilapan yang susah hendak diperbaiki oleh seseorang yag mempunyai sifat itu. Jika mereka yang jenis ini menjadi pemimpin mereka akan dianggap sebagai pemimpin sombong dan selalunya pemimpin seperti ini akan memandang rendah orang lain dengan begitu mudah. Hasilnya akan timbullah masalah kepimpinan (leadership crisis) yang tidak sepatutnya berlaku.
Krisis ini sememangnya boleh diatasi hanya dengan menjadi pemimpin yang merendah diri. Saya tidak dapat mencari sebab kenapa seseorang itu apabila menjadi pemimpin dia menjadi sombong dan tidak mahu merendahkan diri dihadapan rakyat pimpinannya. Orang lain semuanya bodoh dan dia sahaja yang betul dan benar.
Di negeri saya, Negri Sembilan, ada pemimpin besar yang tidak mahu merendah diri kerana pangkatnya besar dan wang ringgitnya banyak, walhal “it doesn’t cost him even 10 cents to be humble”.
Beliau ini merasakan dirinya itu datang dari syurga (paradise). Jika ada yang tidak bersetuju dengannya dia akan menjawab dengan sombong, “ah, dio tu bukan boleh mendalamkan air pun”. Semua orang lain tidak boleh mendalamkan air. Ramai juga yang datang memberitahu saya yang beliau menganggap saya sebagai pemimpin nyamuk sahaja. Read the rest of this entry »
Dr M: Now a good time for polls
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Mahathir, Najib Razak on Sunday, 15 April 2012, 9:20 pm
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, April 15 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak should call for a general election while he is confident of victory, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said today.
The former prime minister also said that time was running out before Najib would be forced to hold national polls mandatorily.
“If we think we can win, we can call the election. If the people give us a good support, that’s the time to call the election,” Dr Mahathir was quoted as saying in a Bernama Online report.
“Even now, it looks good,” he continued. Read the rest of this entry »
Bersih 3.0 wants to sit down and protest
by Dahlia Martin
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012
APRIL 15 — Malaysian election watchdog Bersih 2.0 (Bersih) announced that 28 April 2012 is the date for a third gathering for clean and fair elections, but already a succession of politicians and officials have criticised the move. So far, though, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has kept mum.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s department (and de facto Law Minister) Nazri Abdul Aziz was the first to attack the sit down protest plans, saying that the proposed venue Merdeka Square had “not been gazetted as an area for peaceful gatherings”.
One politician from the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) labelled it a “ploy” by the Opposition, and Electoral Commission (EC) deputy chairman Wira Wan Ahmad Wan Omar said Bersih’s plans were “rushed, hasty and troublesome to people.”
The Parliamentary Select Committee (PSC) on electoral reforms, formed in response to the second Bersih gathering in July 2011, had only just released a report, Wan Ahmad said, and the EC had yet to study the report’s 22 recommendations. Read the rest of this entry »
Chua Soi Lek keletihan kerana kaum Cina telah muktamad menolak MCA
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 15, 2012
15 APRIL — Chua Soi Lek semasa berada di Johor Bahru semalam telah menzahirkan perasaan kecewa beliau kerana kaum Cina tidak menyokong MCA sedangkan MCA telah begitu banyak berjasa kepada bangsanya selama ini. Orang Cina katanya, memilih untuk memberikan pujian dan sokongan terhadap pembangkang yang kata beliau tidak ada jasa kepada negara selama ini.
Bagi saya, Chua Soi Lek (CSL) begitu naïf pandangannya terhadap politik dan sejarah yang melatar belakangkan keadaan ini. Pada asasnya orang Cina memang sudah lama tidak menyokong PERIKATAN dan seterusnya selepas Perikatan di ambil alih oleh BN pada tahun 1974 dahulu. Orang Cina hanya memberikan sokongan terhadap parti kerajaan semasa pilihanraya 1955 sehingga PRU 1965 sahaja. Read the rest of this entry »
Keep Bersih 3.0, Bersih!
Letters
by Beh Sai Kong
15/04/2012
Dear brave friends,
Malaysians as a whole are fair-minded people. Our penchant for neutrality is admirable. We do whatever we can to preserve and promote the virtue of neutrality and have repeatedly shown that we were prepared to do battle with whomever or whatever to prove our sense of neutrality.
But as with many other virtues, we can be neutral to a fault. There is a time and place for any virtue which ordinarily should be upheld and welcome for the good that it brings to a given situation. But a virtue that is invoked and deployed under certain circumstances may cease to be virtuous and can become a fault instead.
As an ardent supporter of BERSIH 1.0, BERSIH 2.0 and now, BERSIH 3.0, I wish to say that BERSIH as a brand name is presently walking into a trap that is not surpising but nevertheless fatal.
Good people can and sometimes do paint themselves into a corner in much the same way as some participants of BERSIH 2.0 found themselves cornered by the riot squard where to escape the optimum effect of tear gas they had to try to make a dash for open space. Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng holds forth on Economics 101
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Economics, Education, Lim Guan Eng, Penang on Sunday, 15 April 2012, 7:55 am
Terence Netto | Apr 14, 2012
Malaysiakini
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng gave a little homily on institutional economics on the occasion of state government awards to top students and schools in the 2011 STPM examination.
Lim told his audience of proud parents and top-scoring students at the award ceremony in Komtar today that the Pakatan Rakyat government’s clean and effective administration conduced to higher rewards for its citizens.
As example, he cited the RM500 rewards to the 50 top-finishing students in the state in the STMP examination of last year, up from RM400 given to top scorers in 2010.
The monetary awards were inaugurated in 2009, a year after the DAP-led Pakatan government came to power in Penang.
“The reason we can give more this year is simple: we run a government that is not corrupt,” he said.
“Because our governance is competent, accountable and transparent, we can show a surplus of income over expenditure enabling us to plough back progressively higher benefits to the people,” he explained. Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng: Minimum wage not enough to improve living standards
Posted by Kit in Education, Labour, Lim Guan Eng, Najib Razak on Saturday, 14 April 2012, 7:01 pm
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 14, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, April 14 — Lim Guan Eng told Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak today that his much-awaited minimum wage policy was insufficient to improve living standards without total reforms to the country’s economy, education and workforce policies.
The Penang Chief Minister said the new wage floor of RM1,100, to be announced this April 30, must come hand in hand with higher productivity jobs, increased female participation in the workforce and “accelerated structural reforms” to the economy aimed at reducing corruption and plucking leakages.
However, Lim added that although the new wage floor to be announced by Najib was purportedly due to opposition pressure, DAP would welcome the announcement.
Malaysians, he added, have “high expectations” of Najib.
“Malaysia is in sore need of structural economic reforms to make us more competitive, transparent, efficient as well as reduce leakages caused by wastage and corruption.
“Structural economic reforms such as open competitive tenders, full disclosure of contracts and personal assets of Ministers as well as a performance-based delivery system must carried out,” he said in his Tamil and Vaisakhi new year message today. Read the rest of this entry »
Hoping for winds of change
Posted by Kit in Elections, Pakatan Rakyat on Saturday, 14 April 2012, 12:17 pm
Aneesa Alphonsus | April 14, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
Malaysians want to see the country taking a turn for the better after the 13th general election, although some feel it will be the same old story.
FEATURE
If you’re going to ask any Malaysian this question, “What are your hopes for the government post- general election”, you’d better get ready for an onslaught of opinions, emotions and cynicism – not necessarily in that order.
In the case of Manaf Abdul Samad, it was just cynicism when he opined, “It doesn’t matter who wins, because all of them are the same. You ask me what my hopes are? I can’t even bring myself to say it because right now, it would sound funny because it’s all wishful thinking. Yes sure I’ll vote, but to be honest, I don’t think I’ll get to see what I hope for in my lifetime.”
Coaxed out of his reluctance with the promise of another hot Nescafe into sharing his thoughts, the 62-year-old Manaf gives in.
“The biggest mistake Barisan National made is to have underestimated Malaysians, using all kinds of scare tactics to make us feel that there will be chaos should a new government come into power. We are not stupid. Many of my peers agree that we allowed the government to do what it has because we trusted them and we gave them due respect.
“Many people are terkejut [shocked] when they hear that we are speaking up. My friends abroad are surprised and say that they never thought we had it in us. My reply to this is always the same – we have always had it in us, but we have been patient for too long. The fight was always there and the government shouldn’t have thought lowly of its people. So if you ask me what are my hopes for the new government, I would say that it should recognise that we are smart and that we should be treated fairly and not be taken for fools who will not fight back,” he said.
There are, however, Malaysians like Hameed Hamzah, a 50-something business owner, who feels that one party will do better than the other. He speaks passionately about a Pakatan Rakyat government which will bring a new dawn in Putrajaya, convinced that there will be an abundance of honesty, transparency and accountability – the holy trinity of what good governance should be all about. Read the rest of this entry »
Who ‘owns’ Dataran Merdeka?
Posted by Kit in Bersih, Elections, Hishammuddin, Najib Razak on Saturday, 14 April 2012, 8:54 am
Jeswan Kaur | April 14, 2012
Free Malaysia Today
It is annoying how the ruling government is going in a roundabout manner to kill off the April 28 rally.
COMMENT
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz has curtly asked electoral watchdog Bersih 3.0 to obtain consent from the owners of Dataran Merdeka if it insists on using the site for its April 28 sit-in protest.
Now that is new. Who really “owns” Dataran Merdeka? And each time the federal government or big-wig corporate companies uses the square to organise events, do they too seek perrmission from the “owners”?
It is annoying how the ruling government is going in a roundabout manner to kill off the April 28 rally, sparing no effort in trying to wear down Bersih 3.0 which is not about to scout for another location.
Bersih 3.0 steering committee chairperson S Ambiga is determined to proceed with the sit-in protest at Dataran Merdeka due to its historical relevance to the people’s struggle for independence and a democratic Malaysia.
“We do not agree that there is a necessity to change the venue to other places,” she said in a statement.
Ambiga added: “We certainly do not see any reason why Dataran Merdeka is unsuitable in the light of the many events that have recently been held there, including 205th anniversary of the Royal Malaysian Police [PDRM].”
But Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein is unwilling to cooperate and instead wants Bersih 3.0 to be “sincere” and “realistic” and compromise on the location. Read the rest of this entry »
Repeal of ISA a hollow victory
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA, Najib Razak on Friday, 13 April 2012, 9:49 pm
T Vicknaraj | Apr 12, 2012
Letters
Malaysiakini
The ambiance in Malaysia in April 2012 is both celebratory and festive due to the recent policy changes pertaining to Malaysian’s civil and political rights; and yet there is a strong sense of scepticism and mistrust at the ground level among the civil society movements, opposition politicians and the general population.
The general population’s feeling denotes a strong awareness that that this year possesses a crucial landmark in our nation’s history, as the concepts of participatory and parliamentary democracy are being negotiated and boundaries of civil and political rights are being rebranded, redesigned and rehashed in light of the impending general elections rumoured to be held in June 2012.
The stakeholders who are active in this negotiation for democracy are the political parties from both side of the divide, the ever growing civil society movements like Bersih, NGOs and the young adult population (gen X and Y), all of whom have a crucial say on how this political drama unfolds.
This mixed feelings and confused euphoria is justified. Read the rest of this entry »
Is the Tun hallucinating?
Posted by Kit in Mahathir, Pakatan Rakyat, Penang, Selangor on Friday, 13 April 2012, 5:28 pm
by P Ramakrishnan
Aliran
12 April 2012
In an open letter to Mahathir, P Ramakrishnan takes to task the former premier for his outrageous statements about the Pakatan administrations in Penang and Selangor of late.
My dear Tun Dr Mahathir,
I’m at a loss as to whether you are hallucinating or failing to see the reality.
Your views on Penang and Selangor are misconceived and misplaced. You come across as a dishonest politician determined to score political points and mislead Malaysian voters. You do no credit to yourself nor do you live up to your reputation as an elder statesman (Bernama, 29 January 2012).
Your statement, “They have already been given a lot of chances. A lot of unhappy things have happened in Penang, the same (is happening) in Selangor,” does not make any sense at all. “They have been given a lot of chances”, you unreasonably claim.
Pakatan only came to power on March 8, 2008. They have been in office only for four short years. What chances were given to them and who gave them those chances? What are you talking about? What miracles were you expecting them to perform in this short period of time?
Compare their short term of office to the Barisan Nasional’s nearly 55 years of tenure – truthfully and honestly. We can justifiably throw back at the BN the very words you had uttered: “They (BN) have already been given a lot of chances. A lot of unhappy things have happened in Penang, the same (is happening) in Selangor.” This is indeed a valid observation requiring an honest answer from you, dear Tun. Read the rest of this entry »
The foreigners can go fly kites
— Syed Feisol
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 12, 2012
APRIL 12 – We are on our own. This is what Malaysians who want to save this country from the corrupt regime of the Barisan Nasional have to realise.
Not too long ago, former Aussie PM Kevin Rudd praised Malaysia as a robust democracy. Can you imagine calling Malaysia a robust democracy? But the people in Canberra will do anything for business or some strategic interests, including sacrificing so-called sacred principles of democracy.
Today, the British PM lauded Najib Razak for the cosmetic surgery on the ISA, he probably wants Malaysia to go ahead and purchase the Typhoon jets.
This is my message to Opposition politicians, non-governmental organisation and Malaysians for change: screw the foreigners. Read the rest of this entry »
Lynas issue: Not learning from bitter experience
— Richard Pendragon
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 12, 2012
APRIL 12 — Every Malaysian should know that Australia has a land mass 58 times bigger than peninsular Malaysia. But the Australian government and people have not permitted rare earth processing to take place on Australian soil.
With a population that is vigilant and a government that answers to the people, Australia dares not permit a rare earth plant because the health and environmental risks are too high. Why does Malaysia – a country with less scientific and engineering expertise – think it is all right to go ahead with the plant?
The USA has closed most of its mines, and so has China. In inner Mongolia, vast tracts of lands and thousands of square kilometres have been rendered hazardous, with toxic runoffs destroying everything in their path, and with high radioactivity, tainting and polluting precious water supplies.
This chain reaction will continue for thousands of years.
It is a scene that Chinese officials do not want the world to see. Several villages close to rare earth plants have already been relocated because of pollution.
Malaysia is now planning to build the world’s largest rare earth plant. This is truly madness of the highest order. We must remember the Chernobyl meltdown which was not supposed to have happened and similarly too the Fukushima nuclear plant meltdown in Japan.
Peninsular Malaysia would be dead meat if any unexpected catastrophe happens. Read the rest of this entry »
So, what happened to separation of powers?
— Justice Seeker
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 12, 2012
APRIL 12 — In reaching her decision on the Lynas matter, High Court judge Rohana Yusof obviously was not interested in the separation of powers or the raison d’etre of a court system which is the attainment of justice.
I just read her reasons for not giving the residents leave to challenge the Atomic Energy Licensing Board’s decision to give Lynas a temporary operating licence to run its controversial plant in Gebeng.
She said that as a parliamentary select committee and the minister of science and innovation were handling two separate hearings, it would not be proper for the courts to give the 10 residents their opportunity for judicial review.
Rohana then went on to say that it would not be proper to circumvent Parliament and the minister. Really? Read the rest of this entry »
ISA removed but sword of Damocles remains
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA on Thursday, 12 April 2012, 7:35 pm
— Kim Quek
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 12, 2012
APRIL 12 — Many Malaysians may be pleased with the removal of the much-condemned Internal Security Act (ISA), but the sword of Damocles that hangs over the heads of opponents of ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) stays intact.
This is due to the embedment of two key elements in the newly-introduced Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill that will in reality allow arbitrary detention for many years.
These elements are the broad and vague definition of offences that fall under this Bill, and the loophole that will allow prolong and lengthy detention through exploitation of the judicial process. Read the rest of this entry »
Why I’ll be at the Bersih 3.0 sit-in
KJ John | Apr 10, 2012
Malaysiakini
Prime ministers make promises. Prime ministers sell to the nation the future into which they want to lead the country. Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak has in fact promised and set us on a different route, with an improved trajectory through his leadership.
Usually, if such change is begun at the centre, even if the change is just one degree, it is enough to facilitate a large change down the line. Therefore, when he made his first promise, and when I believed he was serious, I wrote, ‘Right direction, slow speed!’ in Micah Mandate of April 20, 2009.
Therefore, as part and parcel of ordinary citizens who are seeking improved governance of this democracy we call Malaysia, which my friend AB Shamsul still calls “a state but not yet a nation,” I will be at the sit-in so that the PM will fulfil the promises he made about many things, but most importantly for this general election (GE); the promise of clean and fair elections.
I did march with Bersih 2.0, but clean elections cannot be done without a valid and above-board voter list. Bersih’s primary objection is now about a corrupted voter list; and, it is not even yet about the weighted size of different constituencies.
Furthermore, as a public servant who has worked closely with those issuing the new identity card (MyKad) and working with the research group behind the original design, but fully aware of the technical capabilities and weaknesses of the 64k chip embedded in the new MyKad, I find their so-called inability to clean up the list absolutely unacceptable. Read the rest of this entry »
Repeal of pernicious and draconian ISA long overdue but new replacement of security laws raise grave concerns about human rights abuses
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 12 April 2012, 8:21 am
The tabling of the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012 to repeal the 52-year Internal Security Act which vests pernicious, draconian and undemocratic detention-without-trial powers on the Executive which could be extended every two years is welcome as it is long overdue.
This is the victory of the decades-long struggle for democracy and human rights which have been waged by patriotic Malaysians cutting across race and religion, many paying a heavy price in terms of personal liberties – culminating in the pledge by the Pakatan Rakyat for the repeal of the ISA.
However, the replacement of the slew of new security laws in the four bills presented to Parliament, namely the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012, the Penal Code (Amendment) Bill 2012, the Criminal Procedure Code (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 and the Evidence (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012 raise grave concerns about new human rights abuses which must be met and addressed by the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak if Malaysia hopes to approximate to be “the best democracy in the world” – practising “a functional and inclusive democracy where public peace and prosperity is preserved in accordance with the supremacy of the Constitution, rule of law and respect for basic human rights and individual rights”.
The Internal Security Act has stunted the growth of democracy in Malaysia. What is there to guarantee that although the ISA powers of indefinite detention-without-trial is repealed, the new provision limiting detention without charge to 28 days “for purposes of investigation” without judicial review will not be the new bane for democracy and human rights in Malaysia? Read the rest of this entry »
WSJ: Najib ‘barely keeping up’ with political reform demands
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA, Najib Razak on Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 8:18 pm
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 11, 2012
KUALA LUMPUR, April 11— Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak is “barely keeping up” with reform demands despite promising to lead Malaysia into an era of fair political competition, the Wall Street Journal said today.
The influential daily said in an editorial today that while the Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill tabled yesterday represented “real progress”, it was still “too broad” and could be abused for political purposes.
It also noted that the Bill was only one of two laws meant to replace the Internal Security Act (ISA) and that a second Bill on racial hate laws that could prove to be even more contentious had yet to be tabled in Parliament.
“Since affirmative action policies favouring the Malay majority are a major political issue, will politicians be detained during key periods for criticising them or organising peaceful demonstrations?” the paper said.
“Mr Najib could have shown more sincerity and avoided these problems if he had allowed public consultation on the ISA reforms. Instead he has tabled this bill with the clear intention of passing it as quickly as possible.”
The WSJ also cited opposition claims that while the Najib administration had shied away from using the ISA in recent years, it had still used the Sedition Act against political opponents. Read the rest of this entry »
BN’s Cold War siege mentality is omnipresent
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, ISA, Parliament on Wednesday, 11 April 2012, 6:50 pm
— Liew Chin Tong
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 11, 2012
APRIL 11 — Public attention yesterday was focused on the introduction of the new Security Offences (Special Measures) Bill 2012 (SOSM), tabled to replace the Internal Security Act (ISA). However, few noticed the simultaneous tabling of amendments to the Penal Code, Evidence Act and Criminal Procedure Code to vest an unholy axis of power in a government that will only lead to a ticking time bomb for all freedom-loving Malaysians.
Most disturbingly, the amendments to the Penal Code portrayed a government operating under a Cold War siege mentality, giving the authorities near martial law powers. In particular:
1) The new Section 124B of the Penal Code creates an offence known as “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy”, punishable by twenty years imprisonment. Flimsily defined in the new Section 130A as “an activity carried out by a person or a group of persons designed to overthrow or undermine parliamentary democracy by violent or unconstitutional means”, this section opens the backdoor for questionable convictions that could violate human rights if used by an irresponsible government.
Furthermore, under Section 124C, an attempt to commit an “activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy” is punishable by fifteen years imprisonment. Fears of abuse of process are raised when a mere attempt to commit the crime is meted out such a heavy punishment. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno: Dari Pendita Zaaba ke Pendita Syed Putera
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Apr 11, 2012
11 APRIL — Pada 7 April, saya berjumpa dengan Oracle Syed Putera atau dalam bahasa Melayu kita boleh sebut sebagai Pendita dari Syed Putera.
Kali ini nasib saya baik. Saya di jemput masuk untuk berjumpa bukan sahaja dengan Sang Pendita Syed Putera tapi juga dengan tokoh halimunan, Tun Daim Zainudin.
Dahulu di pinggirkan oleh Umno, sekarang di cari cari untuk memberi jampi serapah penguat semangat.
Tun Daim jadi macam bomoh besar menggantikan swami ji atau bomoh dari Indonesia yang selalu di rujuk oleh pimpinan tertingi Umno.
Bomoh tak bomoh, macam mana ya, Najib sang general tanpa soldadu. Soldadu nya soldadu upahan, pengikut nya, pengikut bayaran.
Wah, memang nasib saya baik pada hari itu. malam nanti, saya akan berceramah di markas Tarbiyyah PAS , Taman Melewar. Ada modal mahu cakap.
Sang Pendita: You boleh tanya direct segala kemusykilan dari Tun sendiri. Dia baru pulang dari Tokyo. He went there after memberi temu ramah Utusan Meracau dan beberapa akhbar Cina yang lain. Isnin ini Tun akan ke Afrika untuk suatu tempoh yang agak panjang. Tun kata dia mahu jumpa Sakmongkol yang sudah masuk DAP itu. Kami semua ketawa.
Sakmongkol: Saya tukar wadah Tun, bukan tukar aqidah. Orang Umno hari ini, kalau agama boleh mereka jual, sudah lama mereka lakukan. Tanah, bangunan, saham, akhirnya lembu pun mereka balun. Read the rest of this entry »
