GE 13 Keyword – “PUTRAJAYA” – To Capture Or To Defend?
By Richard Loh
Is Najib employed to govern this nation as a whole or as an impartial Prime Minister that are more concern with his political coalition parties and to remain in power? What we hear and read from his speeches daily which are supposed to be official government functions are filled with political innuendos.
It looks like a war has been wedged between the ruling government and the rakyat. Najib has been calling its party members to defend PutraJaya at all cost even if need to ‘crushed bodies and lost lives’ and now calling out to the youths as well.
How naive Najib can be to make these calls:
“If in Egypt one million youths gathered in Tahrir Square to change that country’s leadership… in Malaysia, one million youths gathered to defend Putrajaya,” he said.
“Are you willing to defend Putrajaya?” he asked repeatedly.
The youth in Egypt are fed up with the corrupt, arrogant and incompetent government hence their march to change their country’s leadership. In Malaysia, those leaders running PutraJaya are no different, corruptions are as rampant or even worst then Egypt, so is Najib calling Malaysian youths to defend PutraJaya and allow these corruptions to go on and be happy with those incompetent leaders with no integrity? Read the rest of this entry »
The Institution of the Family
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa on Monday, 30 May 2011, 11:45 am
By Bakri Musa
Chapter 8: Culture, Institutions, and Leadership
The family is the most important social institution. To sociologists, it is the basic unit of social structure. Article 16 of the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights states that “the family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society, and is entitled to protection by society and state.” It is in the family that the young are acculturated and imbued with the values and norms of society. One learns what is right and wrong and differentiates the good from the bad through the family. Thus no matter now noble and moral the values of a society are, all that would be naught if those very same values are not transmitted to the young because of the breakdown of the family.
President Reagan in his State of the Union Address in 1985 following his landslide reelection declared, “For an America of wisdom that honors the family, knowing that as the family goes, so goes our civilization….” The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski observed that the biological role of the human male would be similar to that of other male species, that is, to impregnate and disappear after having fulfilled his duty to propagate his specie. “And yet,” Malinowski wrote, “in all human societies the father is regarded by tradition as indispensable. The woman is to be married before she is allowed legitimately to conceive… An unmarried mother is under a ban, a fatherless child is a bastard. This is not by no means a European or Christian prejudice; it is the attitude found amongst most barbarous and savage people as well.” Malinowski’s observation is one of the few universalities of human social behavior. Read the rest of this entry »
RM450m Tambatuon dam controversy – Why MP Kota Belud never visited kampong?
Tweets @limkitsiang:-
29th May 2011
Told YB has never stepped into KgTambatuon single time whether b4 or after election despite dam controversy. True? @Iskandarbak @mpkotabelud
Had media conference @KK MPHiew’s office on my visits 2Menggatal Kiulu KotaBelud KgTambatuon w leaders yesterdy. Touched on medley of issues
Most imp issue: Virtual unanimous opposition of KgTambatuon 2agricultural dam which was introduced in secretive insidious clandestine manner
4two yrs @mpkotabelud nvr stepped in2 KgTbtn 2dialogue w affected ppl n secure their support. Y if RM450mil dam meant 4good of Tbtn ppl?
Will @mpkotabelud agree unless KgTambatuon ppl sppt, d RM450 mil Tambatuon dam project shld be scrapped? Is YB rep of Umno cronies Read the rest of this entry »
SUPP makes a 360 degree turn
Joseph Tawie | May 28, 2011
Free Malaysia Today
After thumbing its nose at the Taib government, party makes an about turn and decides it needs its two candidates in the state cabinet
KUCHING: The Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) has made a 360 degree turn. Last month, after its poor election showing, it said it wanted nothing to do with Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud’s government.
The Central Working Committee (CWC), at a meeting last month, decided not to recommend any of SUPP’s elected representative to serve in the cabinet of Taib Mahmud after the party’s dismal showing in the election.
That decision nearly tore the party apart. But at today’s CWC meeting, it unanimously agreed that Wong Soon Koh and Lee Kim Shin should represent the party and the Chinese community in the new cabinet of Abdul Taib Mahmud. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA, don’t stop believing, says Adnan
By Shazwan Mustafa KamalThe Malaysian Insider
May 29, 2011
The Pahang BN chairman says that MCA leaders must start “believing” in their strengths if they want to win more seats at the next general elections. — file picGENTING HIGHLANDS, May 29 — MCA leaders need to buck up and improve if the Barisan Nasional (BN) component party wants to win more seats at the next general elections, Datuk Seri Adnan Mansor said last night.
Adnan, who is Pahang BN chairman and Pahang Umno Liaison Committee chairman, said that the only way for MCA to accomplish this was for its leaders to start “believing” in their strengths.
“We must know our strengths before going into the GE … we need to know our position.
“MCA needs conviction … if you waver in your stand, confirm kita kalah (we will lose),” Adnan said during an MCA retreat last evening. Read the rest of this entry »
Pua dares gov’t to declassify IPP contracts
Posted by Kit in DAP, Energy, Good Governance on Sunday, 29 May 2011, 7:40 am
Regina Lee | May 28, 11
Malaysiakini
The DAP has challenged the BN-led federal government to declassify the Independent Power Producer (IPP) agreements amidst the massive subsidy cutting exercise in the country.
The party’s publicity secretary and Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua said that this should be done to “justify the government’s refusal to restructure these wildly unfair contracts which allow them to make astronomical returns at the expense of the people”. Read the rest of this entry »
Make public PSD scholarship recipients
Posted by Kit in Education, Good Governance on Sunday, 29 May 2011, 7:24 am
Tashny Sukumaran | May 28, 2011
DAP veteran Lim Kit Siang says the prime minister must restore transparency and integrity to the selection process
KUALA LUMPUR: DAP stalwart Lim Kit Siang wants Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak to make public the names of PSD scholarship recipients.
“Najib must restore transparency and integrity to the selection process by making public the list of scholarship recipients,” said Lim.
“It’s a crying shame that even after so long, the Public Service Department is incapable of functioning in a competent and professional manner.”
The former DAP chairman added that as the government had spent billions of ringgit on computerisation, this should be achievable.
“If it was not possible, those responsible for computerisation project should be sacked,” he said.
Lim also underlined the importance of restoring public confidence in the system by ending the double standard of having two different pre-university examinations. Read the rest of this entry »
Here is why I stayed
Posted by Kit in Brain drain, nation building on Sunday, 29 May 2011, 2:16 am
John Rahman
The Malaysian Insider
May 28, 2011
MAY 28 — I shall start with a story of hope.
Two, actually.
I had an ex-colleague who runs a car wash business in one of the most ulu places in Peninsular Malaysia. It’s a simple business, so simple that his wife just sits under a tree all day long collecting money and supervising some school kids they employ to do the dirty work. He keeps his day job while earning a cool RM7,000 side income every month.
In my skyscraper of an office now, an old makcik pushes around a shopping cart (probably nicked while the guards at the nearby hypermarket weren’t looking!) filled to the brim with knick-knacks, kacang, muruku and stuff. She comes by once a week and without fail, my colleagues and I will stock up on junk food to munch on while working. Based on sales on our floor alone — okay, maybe we are gluttons! — but we estimate she profits around RM50 per floor, and with well over 50 floors in the building, she must earn at least RM2,000 a week (tax free!). Read the rest of this entry »
At a crossroads
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Brain drain, nation building on Sunday, 29 May 2011, 2:04 am
MD
The Malaysian Insider
May 28, 2011
MAY 28 — My wife and I met while we were studying overseas. After graduating, I returned to Malaysia while she completed her studies and eventually returned two years later. We started our careers and eventually got married and started our family. It never crossed our minds to settle anywhere else other than Malaysia. In university, I was active in the students’ movement and was determined that when I returned I would make a difference in my country.
That was 20 years ago.
Five years later, my brother decided to migrate. Deep inside I was angry and thought that he was foolish. He was an engineer with two degrees and an MBA, and he was seeking greener pastures? Well, he can leave… but no sir, I will stay and make this place I grew up a better place. Read the rest of this entry »
Laporan kajian tentang penyimpangan dan kelemahan buku teks sejarah
CPIASIA | 27 May 2011
Urutan Power Point di bawah telah disediakan oleh Centre of Malaysian Chinese Studies (CMCS) dan Nanyang University Alumni Association of Malaya (NYUAA, Malaya) and dibentangkan kepada awam yang menghadiri upacara pelancaran kempen A Truly Malaysian History pada Mei 15 baru-baru ini.
Laporan CMCS dan NYUAA membuat ulasan bahawa skop sempit matapelajaran Sejarah tidak berupaya memupuk generasi muda yang “berpandangan global”.
Read the rest of this entry »
I will never trade it for another country
Posted by Kit in Brain drain, nation building on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 9:01 am
Mohd Elfie Nieshaem Juferi
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
MAY 27 — If the principles of jus soli were strictly enforced in the country, I wouldn’t even be registered as a citizen of Malaysia. Thirty-one years ago, my father was working for an multi-national corporation based in the Sillicon Valley and he brought his young bride along. I suppose I was conceived during this time. I was born in San Jose, California in the United States of America.
I even have a US birth certificate and a US passport (expired in 1988) to boot. The US recognises dual citizenship so I have no doubt that I am already recognised as a citizen of the US. But because my parents had the foresight to register me at the US Embassy in Washington, DC using Borang W, I became a Malaysian citizen at birth. My father could have made the decision to stay. But he didn’t. He came home to Malaysia with his family in tow.
I grew up in a middle-class family and was for most of my life based in Penang, having been enrolled into a private school (Sekolah Sri Inai). The majority of students were non-Muslim Chinese, I was only one of the very few Muslim students around in the whole school.
Regardless, I had a lot of inter-racial contact and I count a lot of non-Muslims and Muslims alike as among my closest friends during this time period. Back when we were children, the issue of race and religion did not count for much, not even during the 1990s. Read the rest of this entry »
Why I moved to Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Brain drain, nation building on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 8:51 am
An American
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
MAY 27 — An overwhelming wave of civic negativity is sweeping through Malaysia; not a day has gone by for the past two-and-a-half years without one hearing the drums of depression beating throughout the country.
And while the ranks of rejectionists swell, a small but increasingly loud group of people are barking back about the greatness, exclusivity and perfection of Malaysia.
It seems that in the midst of this civic recession and polarisation (a temporary and short-lived one, I hope) the media has failed to highlight the vast middle ground: the real Malaysia.
From my limited exposure to Malaysia, I have found the fabric of the country to be extremely resilient. Countless Malaysians courageously wake up every morning, enduring horrendous traffic jams to attend to their professional obligations in a timely manner. Read the rest of this entry »
‘BN not worried about facing separate polls’
Posted by Kit in Elections, Lim Guan Eng, Najib Razak on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 8:06 am
Malaysiakini
May 27, 11
Barisan Nasional (BN) is not worried over the possibility of facing a separate election should the Pakatan-held states refuse to dissolve their state assemblies, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said.
“We cannot determine what they can do; we can only determine what we can do.
“So, I’m not worried about what they will do because I cannot control their actions. I will only give serious consideration to things that I can do,” he told a media conference after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting at the party’s headquarters today.
Najib said that under the federal constitution, state governments could advise the Sultan or the Yang Dipertua Negeri whether or not to dissolve their state assemblies. Read the rest of this entry »
Why I stay, but why my children should not
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Brain drain, nation building, NEP on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 7:59 am
Ekompute
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
MAY 27 — When the New Economic Policy was first launched in 1971, I really thought that it would only be for 20 years, just as what the government had said. But anyway, who can argue against the NEP when its two-prong objectives are to:
1. eradicate poverty, irrespective of race;
2. restructure society so as to eliminate the identification of ethnicity with economic function.
However, as Yogi Berra says, “In theory, there is no difference between theory and practice. But in practice, there is.”
If the two objectives had been pursued honestly and diligently, I think no one will object to the NEP, even if it runs perpetually.
However, the NEP has been turned into a political tool and interpreted to serve only those in power, such that even after double the time frame since its inception, the ordinary Malays are said to be still poor.
How can any wakil rakyat reconcile himself to this fact, that the people he claims to be fighting for are still living in poverty, while he himself, as a people’s representative, lives in a multi-million ringgit mansion? Read the rest of this entry »
No, Perkasa does not represent me
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Brain drain, nation building on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 7:49 am
Dr. Kamal Amzan
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
MAY 27 — This country is in a mess.
Before I begin, let me just say once and for all that Perkasa doesn’t speak for me. Neither does it speak for my family members and colleagues. Come to think of it, it does not speak for most of my patients, their family members and friends either.
Neither do the politicians and media in cahoots with this group of people with “special needs”. They will never represent me, be it in the present or in the future. Ever.
In case you are wondering, yes I am a tanned Malaysian, a group that Perkasa frequently embarrasses by claiming to represent.
Before they start rattling off their empty cans and pick a new fight, let me remind them that our purchasing power is about a third that of the Europeans. Our first-quarter economic growth at a pathetic 4.6 per cent is behind Singapore, Vietnam and even Indonesia, and while other countries woo talented minds into their midst, we are losing ours left, right and centre, replaced by none other than cheap unskilled foreign workers who are prepared to work harder than an average Malaysian.
Other countries are cutting down on fuel subsidies and consumption, searching for alternative fuel and going green. Many are abandoning their cars, motorbikes and taking to the streets on foot and bicycles and the same time finding ways to increase productivity to offset the expensive fuel. Read the rest of this entry »
Understanding the bonds that make a nation
Posted by Kit in DAP, nation building on Saturday, 28 May 2011, 7:42 am
Ronald Benjamin
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
MAY 27 — An article in The Malaysian Insider about the Democratic Action Party (DAP) reaching out to the Malays through its newly created online portal caught my attention. It made me reflect on a fundamental question of nation building in the Malaysian context: What would actually bond multi-ethnic Malaysia and how would such a bond be created?
There are indeed fundamental principles and endeavours that would bridge the ethnic divide in this country and transcend ethno-religious politicking and the constant political debates between the conservatives and liberals.
The first thing that political parties in Malaysia should do if they intend to cross boundaries of ethnic acceptance is that they have to understand the bond that holds human beings together. It is vital to understand the history, religion, language and culture of a nation and take steps to acknowledge that reality through the political dialogue of understanding and action. Read the rest of this entry »
NUJ: Utusan chose to pay subsidiaries over union workers
By Yow Hong Chieh
The Malaysian Insider
May 27, 2011
KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 — Utusan Melayu Bhd funnelled millions in profit into subsidiaries even while claiming it could not pay workers their mandatory bonus, the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) revealed today.
Utusan Melayu had asserted there was no need to pay its NUJ members a contractual two-month bonus for 2009 , arguing it had lost RM26 million as an individual company that year.
Article 44 of the collective agreement between Utusan Melayu and its NUJ branch stipulates that union members must be paid a two-month bonus if the company turns a profit.
But the Industrial Court heard recently that the holding company paid out up to RM37.5 million from its operating profit to Utusan Media Sales Sdn Bhd and even gave the subsidiary’s employees a two-month bonus in 2009 despite refusing to pay NUJ members.
Utusan Melayu also did not demand payment from subsidiaries Utusan Printcorp Sdn Bhd and Utusan Publications and Distributors Sdn Bhd, which owed it RM19 million and RM8.4 million respectively. Read the rest of this entry »
Tweetup at Kota Kinabalu and Kuching
@limkitsiang tweetup details:-
-
Saturday, 28 May 2011, 10am; Kota Kinabalu
Shangri La Hotel (conference room), Bandaran Jaya -
Monday, 30 May 2011, 7pm; Kuching
Lot 97, 1st & 2nd Floors,
Lorong 5a, Jalan Datuk Abang Abdul Rahim,
93450 Kuching, Sarawak.
All are welcome.
