Winners and losers at Umno assembly 2011
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, nation building, UMNO on Saturday, 3 December 2011, 7:18 pm
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 03, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 3 — In a few hours, the Putra World Trade Centre (PWTC) will be empty of the thousands of delegates, observers and supporters attending the annual Umno general assembly. The five-day meeting saw a slew of speeches that touched on the issues facing the dominant party in the ruling Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition.
Here are the winners and losers.
WINNERS: Hardliners in Umno because the speeches and tone from this year’s assembly suggest that the party has moved further away from the centre. Umno used to be a broad church of opinions from the farmers, religious scholars to the teachers and businessmen and pure political animals concerned about social justice, economy, religion and race.
Today, race is the dominant theme and the supremacy of the Malay race is being used to bulldoze and shut out other voices in the party. The DAP was singled out as the main cause impeding unity talks between the Malay parties. Ironically, PAS was formed by the Umno religious wing in 1951 and both parties only worked together in 1973 to 1977 in the aftermath of the May 13 race riots.
But the DAP gets the blame for the lack of Malay unity and the race riots. Read the rest of this entry »
200 brave water sprinklers to protest Assembly Bill
Posted by Kit in DAP, Human Rights, Parliament on Saturday, 3 December 2011, 6:51 pm
Nigel Aw | Dec 3, 2011
Malaysiakini
Despite what appeared to be attempts by the KLCC management to cause inconveniences, some 200 people converged at its park off Jalan Ampang in a carnival-like gathering to oppose the Peaceful Assembly Bill.
Instead of being met by police batons and water cannons on its second Saturday afternoon protest, the group of about 200, clad in yellow, were met with water sprinklers.
The group moved close to some trees in the park after the KLCC management, again, cordoned off its compound for a cleaning operation, including the area the protesters used last week.
There, they stood around national laureate A Samad Said, who is popularly known as Pak Samad, as he recited his poems. Then, the complex management turned on water sprinklers on the ground where they stood.
Undaunted, those who were caught in the sprays shielded themselves with umbrellas and continued to listen to Pak Samad, who recited his latest poem in tribute to the occupy movement, Merindu Ruang (Missing Space) after reciting his Bersih poem, ‘Unggun Bersih’. Read the rest of this entry »
A gathering of the National Organisation of Uncouth Morons
Posted by Kit in Muhyiddin Yassin, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 2 December 2011, 11:56 pm
David Martin
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 02, 2011
DEC 2 — With the 13th General Elections a day closer with each sunrise, Malaysians are served with a nauseating fare of daily news by major electronic and print media agencies.
It seems that these days, Malaysian lives revolve around that annual gathering of rabid humans in Putra World Trade Centre whose antics would put even simians to shame.
It’s a place where foul language is cheered upon. A place where religious bashing is commonplace. A place where pots and kettles gather to call others black.
It’s a place where one race reigns supreme, not unlike Hitler’s mantra. A place where seeds of hatred are sown, nurtured and watered. A place that reeks of corruption and hypocrisy. Read the rest of this entry »
An Assembly Tale
Posted by Kit in Articles, Human Rights on Friday, 2 December 2011, 3:32 pm
by Azmi Sharom
Wednesday, 30 November 2011
The scene is a small terrace house, somewhere in Kelana Jaya. Ten year old Mary and her younger brother Timothy approach their father who is sitting in the living room flossing his teeth after a large meal.
“Papa, Timmy and I would like to tell you something”
“Oh, really, both of you want to gather together and say something?”
“Yes, we think it is a very important issue and we would like to express ourselves to the whole family”.
“I see, so you want to assemble peacefully. You are not going to get violent are you?”
“Of course not Papa!” Read the rest of this entry »
The great pretenders
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Najib Razak, UMNO on Friday, 2 December 2011, 3:03 pm
— Ali Kadir
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 02, 2011
DEC 2 — You can only carry pretence so far, eventually your true self will emerge. This fact is true for individuals like you and me and for organisations or political parties.
And so it is for the United Malays National Organisation. Outwardly, its president Najib Razak talks about the party representing all Malaysians and in the run-up to the general assembly, he even urged his party members not to hurt the feelings of non-Malays during debate time.
But this posturing gave way almost immediately after the start of the assembly. Bent on staying in power, Umno politicians have used every opportunity to make the Malays view the Chinese as a threat to their political party. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno is never wrong, others are
Posted by Kit in Corruption, UMNO on Friday, 2 December 2011, 11:04 am
Mohd Ariff Sabri Aziz | December 2, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
Where are the Umno screamers and banshees when government-linked businesses are slowly dismembered to enrich a few people?
COMMENT
Umno information chief Ahmad Maslan is grossly and perilously misreading the ground swell.
Today, Malays attach blame to Umno for allowing the pillage and plunder of the country. Malays attach blame to Umno for the lot the Malays are now in.
We would like to ask Ahmad: when Shahrizat (Abdul Jalil) facilitated the giving of the government grant of only RM250 million to Dr Salleh (Ismail), did she and her husband think of all those downtrodden Malays? They didn’t, right?
Even after that, they didn’t think it was necessary to create other cattle breeders.
After almost a month, the issue finally blew up in her face, and she suddenly recovered from the mad cow disease to disavow any connections to the National Feedlot Corpoartion (NFC) scandal.
Similarly, when we paid an excess of RM6 billion for the purchase of the armoured personnel carriers (APCs), was the RM6 billion meant for the ordinary Malays?
Where are the Umno screamers and banshees when MAS was slowly dismembered to enrich a few people? And when we were caught out, what did we do?
We screamed this is a conspiracy by opposition politicians! It’s never us – always others. Read the rest of this entry »
Why the rush?
Posted by Kit in Elections, Human Rights, Najib Razak, Parliament on Friday, 2 December 2011, 10:46 am
by Hafiz Noor Shams
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 02, 2011
DEC 2 — I had listened to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s Malaysia Day address with scepticism. Part of the scepticism came after noticing all the qualifications made by the prime minister in the same speech. The so-called Political Transformation Programme does not look so bold if one reads the fine print.
As we have learned in recent days, the actual reform does not meet the high expectations set by the prime minister himself. The manner at which the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 was rushed through did little to alleviate the scepticism.
In these days of scepticism, only actions command confidence. The nearly six years of the Abdullah administration justifies that attitude. The bravado of Parti Keadilan Rakyat only adds to the justification of scepticism. Indeed, political scepticism against all sides is a sign of maturity of ordinary voters.
While the scent of scepticism was strong, not all shared it. Not all ordinary voters are seasoned political observers after all. Read the rest of this entry »
Others are 100 times more racist, claims Muhyiddin
Posted by Kit in DAP, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO on Thursday, 1 December 2011, 6:20 pm
Abdul Rahim Sabri | Dec 1, 2011
Malaysiakini
Defending an earlier speech which accused DAP of being anti-Malay and anti-Islam, Umno deputy president Muhyiddin Yassin denied it was racist and hit back at his critics, describing them as being “100 times more racist”.
According to the deputy prime minister, what he had said was not something different from the historical facts, and instead it could “consolidate the new awareness” among the Malays about the party’s struggle.
“Only someone who is too racist (would think it is racist). When some quarters say something about their own race, he will say it is racist.
“They don’t realise that they are 100 times more racist than us,” he told the media, without mentioning any names, during a press conference today at the Umno annual general meeting (AGM).
During his opening address for the AGMs of Umno Wanita, Youth and Puteri on Tuesday, Muhyiddin accused DAP as an anti-Islam and anti-Malay party which attempted to turn Malaysia into a republic. Read the rest of this entry »
Pemandu blames new measurement method for poorer graft score
Posted by Kit in Corruption on Thursday, 1 December 2011, 6:10 pm
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Malaysia’s corruption score would have improved to 4.5 if Transparency International (TI) had not included a new measure which dragged down overall performance, the government’s efficiency unit said today.
“TI’s Bribe Payer Index (BPI) was conducted only in 28 countries. This is the 1st time this has been introduced into the CPI,” the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) said on its @gtp_roadmap Twitter account for its Government Transformation Programme (GTP) section that covers anti-graft programmes.
“BPI is a new survey conducted to measure the propensity of Msians paying bribe to parties outside of Msia. If BPI was not taken into account, Msia’s score would jump to 4.5 and the country ranking would remain at 56.”
Malaysia’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI) score has worsened for the third consecutive year to 4.3 from 4.4 in 2010, according to a report released by TI’s Malaysian chapter today.
Malaysia’s country ranking also fell to 60 out of 183 countries — between Saudi Arabia and Cuba — from 56 out of 178 last year. Read the rest of this entry »
A party that celebrates wrongdoing
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Good Governance, UMNO on Thursday, 1 December 2011, 5:51 pm
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2011
DEC 1 — I am truly dumbfounded; how did we reach this stage where wrongdoing, abuse of power is ignored and even celebrated.
What was the trigger point or epochal moment when corruption, abuse of public funds and plain padding up bank accounts stopped being an issue for Umno.
This was supposed to be Umno’s show of unity and transformation, an audition of sorts before the coming election. But instead we have seen a party from the top — Muhyiddin Yassin to the rank and file — celebrating the National Feedlot Corporation scandal.
Umno Youth says it is on reform mode but that it just shallow speak given the movement’s pledge to defend Messrs Shahrizat Jalil’s family’s scandalous use of public funds. Just to recap, her husband and children were given a softloan of RM250 million to develop the feedlot programme in Gemas.
But the Auditor-General reported that the project was a mess and digging by the Opposition showed that money was used to buy condominiums, umrah packages, a Mercedes Benz, etc. Basically, they treated my money and yours like their own. Read the rest of this entry »
Kit Siang wants Cabinet, EC to implement polls reforms by Jan 1
Posted by Kit in Bersih, DAP, Elections, Parliament on Thursday, 1 December 2011, 5:40 pm
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
Dec 01, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 1 — Lim Kit Siang called today for Parliament to compel the government to implement the 10 recommendations put forward by the parliamentary select committee on electoral reforms by January 1.
Polls panel chief Datuk Seri Maximus Ongkili filed a motion today for Parliament to adopt the reforms which include the use of indelible ink, allowing overseas Malaysians to vote and forming a royal commission to look into foreigners being given the right to vote in Sabah.
But DAP parliamentary leader Lim asked to amend the motion to compel “the Cabinet, Election Commission and related government agencies” to implement the recommendations effective January 1.
“The question is whether there is any guarantee they will be implemented by the 13th general election.
“This will ensure our debate will have meaning and action will be taken,” the Ipoh Timor MP said in Parliament. Read the rest of this entry »
Rough politics in 1 Malaysia
Posted by Kit in DAP, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 7:43 pm
— The Malaysian Insider
Nov 30, 2011
NOV 30 — Datuk Seri Najib Razak wants a high-income and united nation under his 1 Malaysia concept, which is a continuation of the Vision 2020 idea and going back as far as 1971, the Rukun Negara or National Principles.
The Rukun Negara has five principles, namely 1) Belief in God 2) Loyalty to King and Country 3) Upholding the Constitution 4) Sovereignty of the Law and 5) Good Behaviour and Morality.
Number 5 is the basis of what is expected of all Malaysians, more so politicians.
But not today.
Today, Umno state youth chiefs took turns attacking Pakatan Rakyat (PR) parties with a specific focus on DAP, using foul language to accuse the party of systematically eroding the rights of Malays in states like Penang and Kedah. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin! Kalau panik pun janganlah tunjuk sangat
Posted by Kit in DAP, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 6:45 pm
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 30, 2011
30 NOV — Muhyiddin Yassin semasa meresmikan perhimpunan 3 sayap Umno, Wanita, Pemuda dan Putri semalam menggunakan isu sensitif yang tidak masuk akal semata-mata kerana desperate mendapat sokongan orang Melayu yang tidak mungkin mahu bersatu lagi di bawah payung Umno.
Ramai yang menghubungi saya bertanyakan kenapa Timbalan Presiden Umno itu menunjukkan sangat rasa desperado beliau dengan membidas parti-parti lawan dan individu yang tidak sealiran dengan Umno dengan tuduhan yang bukan-bukan.
Orang ramai tahu yang Umno sedang desperate tetapi sebagai pemimpin besar kepada parti yang buat sementara ini masih memerintah, elok jangan tunjukan rasa tertekan itu terang-terangan. Jika rakyat nampak serta membuat penilaian terhadap roh ucapan Muhyiddin itu ia tidak lari dari rasa desperate untuk terus berkuasa dan boleh di kira sebagai ucapan yang tidak setimpal dengan jawatan besar yang beliau pegang itu.
Apa yang di katakan oleh Muhyiddin itu boleh di baca dengan tepat. Kita boleh “menyelam air dalam tunggak” tentang apa sebenarnya dirasakan oleh Timbalan Presiden Umno itu. Agaknya sudah puas memendam rasa desperate itu, maka ianya terluah semasa ucapan perasmian pergerakan wanita, pemuda dan putri semalam. Read the rest of this entry »
Umno sudah sampai ke tahap defensif dalam semua hal
— Aspan Alias
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 29, 2011
29 NOV — Apabila negara sudah sampai ke tahap cerca marba seperti yang kita lihat dan alami sekarang ini, kita tahu pihak yang memimpin mempunyai masalah. Setakat kesalahan kecil-kecil orang Melayu dan rakyat amnya sentiasa terbuka untuk memaafkan kesalahan yang boleh diperbaiki dan terus sahaja memberikan mandat kepada mereka (BN).
Rakyat Malaysia amnya dan lebih khusus lagi orang Melayu sentiasa bersifat pemaaf. Rakyat bukan tidak tahu apa yang dilakukan oleh pimpinan yang tidak jujur selama ini. BN tetap mendapat sokongan di setiap kali pilihanraya.
Tetapi keadaan itu semua sudah tiada lagi. Rakyat sedar yang BN khususnya Umno telah mengambil sikap pemaaf orang Melayu itu sebagai kelemahan Melayu. Mereka terus melakukan perkara keji seperti rasuah dan berbagai-bagai lagi kerana mempercayai yang orang Melayu khususnya dan rakyat amnya akan terus memberikan sokongan dan tidak akan lari dari memberikan mandat terus menerus.
Mereka (pemimpin) terus terusan melakukan perkara yang selama ini dibenci rakyat dan mereka (pemimpin) merasakan yang kalau mereka membuat salah pun rakyat akan tetap mengundi mereka lagi. Tetapi sekarang kesabaran itu sudah habis hadnya. Rakyat termasuk orang Melayu sudah tidak tahan lagi dengan sikap angkuh dan sikap bermaharajalela mereka lagi. Read the rest of this entry »
Muhyiddin’s speech at UMNO General Assembly “the mother of all lies, falsehoods and racism”
Posted by Kit in DAP, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 11:48 am
The speech by Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin at the UMNO General Assembly last night to UMNO Youth, Wanita and Putri wings is the “mother of all lies, falsehoods and racism”.
It qualifies as the worst and most irresponsible speech ever delivered by a Deputy Prime Minister and Deputy UMNO President and I challenge any UMNO leader to cite any speech made by any Deputy Prime Minister and UMNO Deputy President at previous UMNO General Assemblies which is worse, more racist and tell more lies than Muhyiddin’s rants last night.
Muhyhiddin accusations against the DAP as anti-Islam and anti-Malay are false, baseless and pure unadulterated lies.
DAP is a fully patriotic Malaysian party wholly committed to the betterment of all races, whether Malays, Chinese, Indians, Kadazans or Ibans and all religious, whether Islam, Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Sikkhism or Taoism.
What is most despicable are Muhyiddin’s irresponsible, incendiary and seditious allegations, as for instance, that the DAP’s agenda is to form a republic, with the rhetorical question founded on the lie: Read the rest of this entry »
Ahmad Maslan dan kedangkalannya
— Sakmongkol AK47
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 29, 2011
29 NOV — Anggota Umno diminta tidak mendabik dada dengan kejayaan parti mendaftarkan 3.4 juta anggota setakat ini, kata Ketua Penerangan Umno Datuk Ahmad Maslan. Beliau berkata, jumlah sebesar itu belum menjamin kemenangan Barisan Nasional (BN) pada pilihan raya umum akan datang. “(Ini kerana) ahli Umno hanya satu per empat daripada 12 juta pengundi,” katanya kepada pemberita selepas merasmikan Seminar Agenda Melayu ke-7 anjuran Alumni Kelab-kelab Umno Luar Negara, di sini hari ini. Beliau berkata setakat ini kira-kira tiga juta anggota Umno adalah pengundi berdaftar. Justeru katanya, semua anggota Umno perlu berusaha keras meraih sokongan pemilih lain, terutama yang ‘di atas pagar’. “…..kita kena dekati dan tarik pengundi selebihnya untuk menyokong Umno dan BN,” katanya.
Inilah kenyataan yang paling dangkal yang saya dengar dari Ahmad Maslan, ketua penerangan Umno. Nampak sangat dia malas membaca kerana kalau dia membaca dan faham apa yang dibaca, dia tidak mengeluarkan kenyataan yang bingung macam ini. Helo brader, semua orang dah tahu hal ini.
Lihat sahaja keputusan pemilu 2008. Jumlah pengundi Melayu semuanya 5.7 juta. Calun Umno mendapat 2.38 juta undi. Katakan lah 380,000 pengundi tersebut adalah pengundi bukan Melayu. Itu bermakna, dari 5.7 juta pengundi Melayu, calun Umno hanya mendapat 2 juta undi. Jika ahli Umno sahaja sudah ada 3 juta lebih, maka itu bermakna 1 juta lebih ahli Umno tidak mengundi calun Umno sama ada kerana mereka tidak mendaftar diri atau enggan mengundi calun Umno.
Umno tidak lagi boleh mendakwa mereka mewakili suara dan aspirasi bangsa Melayu. Umno dah hilang monopoli.Bolehkah orang Melayu yang merupakan 65 peratus penduduk Malaysia, hilang dominance mereka? Matematik mana Ahmad Maslan pelajari? Read the rest of this entry »
Limit the parliamentary majority
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Najib Razak, Parliament on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 9:02 am
— Lucius Goon
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 29, 2011
NOV 29 — In a democracy it comes down to numbers. Barisan Nasional has more numbers in Parliament and is able to push through legislation, even when it is self-serving and meant for regime preservation.
This afternoon the Peaceful Assembly Bill was passed in Parliament by BN members and the frogs (calling them independent would be a disservice to independents the world over). Pakatan Rakyat MPs walked out because they wanted the Bill to be withdrawn and redrawn.
But that was never going to happen. As it is the Najib government was forced to eat humble pie and amend the Bill after it was pointed out that the legislation was even more regressive than Myanmar’s new laws on protests.
There is no use wailing or crying foul. BN has the numbers and we gave them the numbers in 2008. So it is perfectly legitimate for them to rubber stamp any legislation they want, except any change in law which requires two-thirds of Parliament’s support.
It is not the end of the world. We can always take back the numbers we gave them in 2008 and make sure that the next government repeals the Peaceful Assembly Act. Read the rest of this entry »
My invitation list to Umno’s assembly
Posted by Kit in Corruption, Muhyiddin Yassin, UMNO on Wednesday, 30 November 2011, 8:48 am
— Spencer Gan
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 30, 2011
NOV 30 — I can predict how this week’s Umno assembly will go: Some bit players will play the Malay card (this includes Ahmad Maslan and Muhyiddin Yassin) but then the man of the hour — Najib Razak — will saunter in and make this grand speech of how Umno cares for everyone, etc.
He will talk about how Umno needs to unite and win the coming general election because only Umno can guarantee the future of Malaysians. It will be one big party over the next few days.
All this is boring. To spice things up a bit, and since this will be the party of the year, I think we should also invite:
1) The MACC. This organisation has been talking tough about tackling corruption and how it needs more manpower. But here is the deal of the year: The biggest collection of miscreants is in town and all of them are situated in one hall. There are big fish (ministers, division chiefs) and ikan bilis (branch officials). All the MACC officials have to do is check out the cars many of these “unemployed” officials arrive in. Read the rest of this entry »
Standing up to bullies
Posted by Kit in DAP, nation building, UMNO on Tuesday, 29 November 2011, 5:51 pm
— Jacob Sinnathamby
The Malaysian Insider
Nov 29, 2011
NOV 29 — It may sound simplistic but the choice before Malaysians in the coming general election boils down to either good or evil.
And we don’t have to fear evil because evil can never prevail against goodness. You do not have to take my word for this. Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein believed that they could rule forever with an iron fist. They subjugated their own people, threatened them, killed them and struck fear into their hearts with secret police.
But when their time came, they were hunted down like animals and treated with utter contempt, treated nothing more than common criminals. They will be remembered with contempt in history. Contrast that with meek and humble people like Gandhi, Mother Theresa and others who are remembered fondly because of the good works they did and because they carved goodness in the hearts of everyone they met.
These people may not have been rich, backed by the state apparatus or holding senior positions in government but they were men and women of virtue and had goodness in their hearts.
Contrast that with people like Ahmad Maslan, the Umno information chief who today sought to create more division in a country polarised along racial and religious lines. Contrast that also with the state-sponsored demonstrators who were allowed to disturb a peaceful march by lawyers who disagreed with the Peaceful Assembly Bill. Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan walks out, will not vote on Assembly Bill
Posted by Kit in Human Rights, Pakatan Rakyat, Parliament on Tuesday, 29 November 2011, 5:25 pm
Malaysiakini
Nov 29, 2011
Pakatan Rakyat MPs walked out of the Dewan Rakyat during the debate on the Peaceful Assembly Bill 2011 and will not participate in voting on the Bill.
The MPs said that they were disgusted that the speaker had only allowed three Pakatan Rakyat MPs – one from each party – to debate what they consider to be a very important piece of legislation.
The three who were allowed to speak were Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim (Permatang Pauh-PKR), Lim Guan Eng (Bagan-DAP) and Abdul Hadi Awang (Marang-PAS). Read the rest of this entry »
