Loyalty to King and country – or to BN?
Posted by Kit in Education, Elections, nation building, public service on Wednesday, 2 February 2011, 11:29 am
By P Ramakrishnan
All citizens owe their loyalty to king and country – that includes civil servants. Civil servants are expected to serve the government of the day faithfully, irrespective of whichever party that forms the government.
They shouldn’t align themselves to any political party whether it is the ruling parties or the opposition parties. They should remain above politics and stay faithful to their vocation.
Their dedication should be to their profession and their commitment to serve and discharge their duties should not be wanting in any way.
This is how they preserve their integrity and safeguard their professionalism.
However this simple thing was not understood by the Johor State Director of Education, Markom Giran. He despicably attempted to force teachers to play a partisan political role. He was trying to corrupt the civil service. Read the rest of this entry »
Soi Lek wrong on Chinese support
Ong Kian Ming | Feb 2, 11
Malaysiakini
ANALYSIS
Right off the bat, I’d like to state that the Tenang by-election result, including who voted for whom and at what percentage, is far less important than the property damage and hardship experienced by the voters in that constituency and in other parts of Johor as a result of the devastating floods.
Having said that, I still have the responsibility of analysing the by-election results. I had earlier predicted that the BN would win the by-election with a majority of 3,200, a 700-vote increase to the majority it got at the 2008 general elections.
The turnout assumption among the Malay, Chinese and Indian voters were 77%, 71% and 58% respectively and the support for the BN by ethnic group were 85%, 35% and 80%.
The eventual majority was 3,700 with the BN winning 70% of the popular vote on a lower than expected turnout of 67%.
One of the points of contention with regard to the election results has been whether or not the BN’s share of the Chinese vote has increased or decreased.
The DAP has said that Pakatan Rakyat’s share of the Chinese vote has increased to 70% based on the results in the 96% Chinese-majority Bandar Labis Tengah polling station. MCA has said that the BN’s share of the Chinese vote has increased to 45% based on the fact that the BN won three out of the four Chinese-majority polling stations.
At the same time, there is broad agreement that the Malay and Indian vote did indeed swing back to the BN, which explains the 1,200 increase in BN’s winning majority.
Is the DAP or the MCA right? Does it even matter? Read the rest of this entry »
Spammed by the Prime Minister!
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Kee Thuan Chye, Najib Razak on Tuesday, 1 February 2011, 11:55 pm
By Kee Thuan Chye
Malaysian Digest
Tuesday, 01 February 2011
NO less than the Prime Minister has just spammed me! In an e-mail wishing me Happy Chinese New Year. I’m not pleased. In fact, when I got the e-mail, I freaked out. How did he get my address? I take strong umbrage against whoever gave it to him. It is an invasion of my privacy.
Najib Razak (or rather, his assistants) reportedly sent out that e-mail to 1.5 million people. The Star reported that many were happy to get it – in a report quoting only three people. And two of them had Muslim-sounding names! From the tweets I’ve seen, it seems many Muslims have been getting the e-mail too. Some tweeters considered the greeting “insincere”, some suggested reporting the matter to Cyber 999 and even the police.
Many questioned how Najib or his assistants got their e-mail addresses. There’s a theory going round that it came from the database of a media conglomerate. If this is true, the practice is, of course, not right. It contravenes the cyberworld law of data privacy. Whoever gave the data to him showed that they did not respect that privacy.
My wife got a CNY greeting from Najib too – via an SMS. Did her telco give her number to Najib and Co? Is that a proper thing to do? This episode shows that the personal details of Malaysians are not safe from prying and abuse. And that Big Brother is watching. That’s a scary prospect.
Najib’s greeting is yet another of the public relations campaigns he has been mounting for more than a year now. Those who are aware realize they are nothing more than efforts to win votes for the next general election, but there are plenty of others who are not so clued-in. Read the rest of this entry »
Creating a harmonious, just, democratic and competitive nation remains the single greatest challenge of Malaysians
Posted by Kit in nation building on Tuesday, 1 February 2011, 11:05 am
The creation of a harmonious, just, democratic and competitive nation, which is a model to the world as an united, tolerant and successful multi-racial, multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-religious society, remains the greatest challenge of Malaysians.
Nation-building should not be a zero-sum game but must be a win-win formula for all Malaysians, regardless of race, religion or region.
Malaysia has strayed from this formula, with a world diaspora of a million-strong Malaysians – testimony that Malaysians are helping to create the greatness of other nations instead of their own country.
Although there is belated official recognition that human capital is even more valuable than natural resources as national assets in the era of globalisation, there is still no political will to introduce nation-building policies that will develop and retain Malaysian talent as well as attract foreign talent.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why PAS lost the battle for Tenang
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Tuesday, 1 February 2011, 11:00 am
By Kuek Ser Kuang Keng and Regina Lee | Malaysiakini
ANALYSIS Even before campaigning for the Tenang by-election started, much had been said that the Jan 30 event would serve as an important testing ground for a BN move to call for a snap general election.
It was easy to see why. With the racial breakdown of the semi-rural mixed seat being the archetype of most of the voting constituencies of Peninsular Malaysia, Tenang became a litmus test of sorts.
But is the BN victory with a 3,707-vote majority truly an indication of a return in voter sentiment and support for the ruling coalition? Well, yes and no.
The rather untimely floods and heavy rainfall – which the locals said were worse than the 2006 Great Johor Flood – had severely affected a few polling stations in the Chinese-majority areas.
Read the rest of this entry »
Enhancing Special Privileges
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Tuesday, 1 February 2011, 10:15 am
by Bakri Musa
Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #51
Chapter Six: Malaysia: Assets and Liabilities
Enhancing Special Privileges
To enhance the efficacy of special privileges I would first focus on the bottom 50 percent (better still, bottom 25) of Bumiputras. I agree with Grameen Bank’s Muhammad Yunus who feels that development should be defined to mean positive changes in the economic status of the bottom half of the population. Consequently I would cut off the top quartile Bumiputras (or those with certain net worth or income) from special privileges. Such a modification would effectively target special privileges on truly needy Bumiputras. At the same time it would reduce the resentment felt by non-Bumiputras. Disqualifying ministers, top leaders, royal families, and affluent Bumiputras would also have the additional salutary effect of forcing them to be self-reliant.
This “means testing” at the gross level would not entail much administrative costs or erecting another huge bureaucracy. A simple statuary declaration under sever penalty of perjury and intent to defraud the government would deterrent enough. For added weight, have those applying for benefits of special privileges submit their or their parents’ previous year’s tax returns.
For the royal class, I would eliminate many of their present tax-free privileges. Make them pay their share of income, property, road and other taxes. If Britain’s Queen Elizabeth has to pay income tax, Malaysian sultans should also do likewise. The aggregate impact of such measures on the Treasury would be minuscule, but the psychological benefits to members of the royalty would be immense. For one, they would share in the pain suffered by ordinary citizens, always a salutary experience. For another, if they had to pay their share of taxes on their luxurious toys, that would likely rein in their obscenely flamboyant lifestyles. Malaysia should not have to put up with such nonsense as when the Sultan of Kelantan drove off with his impounded luxury sports car without paying the necessary road tax.
Lastly, seeing families of leaders, royalty, and aristocrats being kicked off the dole would appease immensely the social sensibility and sense of justice of ordinary Malaysians. At the very least that would eliminate the current hypocrisy where many of these leaders would with nauseating frequency exhort the masses to be berdikari (self reliant) while they and their families are the first to hog the public trough. I am astounded at how many members of the immediate families of ministers are getting government scholarships, aids, subsidies, or otherwise dependent on public dole. They have no shame. If they cannot be independent on their ministerial income, then they have no right to lecture the masses on being berdikari. Read the rest of this entry »
Egypt’s Class Conflict
by Juan Cole
January 31, 2011
The Malaysian Insider
JAN 31 — On Sunday morning (January 30) there was some sign of the Egyptian military taking on some security duties. Soldiers started arresting suspected looters, rounding up 450 of them. The disappearance of the police from the streets had led to a threat of widespread looting is now being redressed by the regular military.
Other control methods were on display. The government definitively closed the Al Jazeera offices in Cairo and withdrew the journalists’ licence to report from there, according to tweets. The channel stopped being broadcast on Egypt’s Nilesat. (Al Jazeera had not been able to broadcast directly from Cairo even before this move.) The channel, bases in Qatar, is viewed by President Hosni Mubarak as an attempt to undermine him.
Why has the Egyptian state lost its legitimacy? Max Weber distinguished between power and authority. Power flows from the barrel of a gun, and the Egyptian state still has plenty of those. But Weber defines authority as the likelihood that a command will be obeyed. Leaders who have authority do not have to shoot people.
The Mubarak regime has had to shoot over 100 people in the past few days, and wound more. Literally hundreds of thousands of people have ignored Mubarak’s command that they observe night time curfews. He has lost his authority.
Authority is rooted in legitimacy. Leaders are acknowledged because the people agree that there is some legitimate basis for their authority and power. In democratic countries, that legitimacy comes from the ballot box. Read the rest of this entry »
MET sees non-stop rain in Johor this week
Posted by Kit in environment, Johore on Monday, 31 January 2011, 7:26 pm
By Boo Su-Lyn
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MET) has forecast continuous rain in major towns in Johor throughout the week.
Unrelenting rain in the southern state has forced thousands from their homes, cutting off Segamat and threatening other towns.
“Tomorrow morning, we expect isolated rain over coastal areas,” an official from MET’s Central Forecast Office told The Malaysian Insider today.
“We expect thunderstorms in the afternoon tomorrow throughout Johor,” she added.
Heavy rain is forecast in Segamat today and all of tomorrow, while thunderstorms are expected to occur in the afternoons for the rest of the week, according to the MET website.
Segamat’s first respite from the rain is expected to come only on Saturday afternoon. Read the rest of this entry »
In Tenang, Malay votes won the day for BN
By Shannon Teoh
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — More than half of Barisan Nasional’s (BN) 1,200-vote gain over PAS in Tenang was due to increased Malay support in the constituency, DAP statistics have shown.
Malays who had in 2008 voted against Tun Abdullah Ahmad Badawi’s stewardship of BN or abstained from the general election, came out to signal its support for Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s administration.
The Malays make up about 49 per cent of the 14,753 voters in Tenang. Chinese account for over 38 per cent and Indians, 12 per cent.
Umno’s Azahar Ibrahim received 83.3 per cent of Malay votes, up four percentage points from Election 2008, said DAP publicity chief Tony Pua on Twitter earlier today.
A Malay turnout of 81 per cent yesterday, up two points from 2008, translated to a 700-vote increase.
BN’s 3,707-vote majority was also due to Chinese voters skipping yesterday’s by-election.
Although Normala Sudirman managed to hold on to PAS’s 64 per cent Chinese support from the 2008 general election, an 18-point fall in turnout resulted in another 300-vote gain for BN’s majority. Read the rest of this entry »
Muddy waters: Post-Tenang reflections
Posted by Kit in Elections, Islamic state, MCA, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS, UMNO on Monday, 31 January 2011, 7:01 pm
Bridget Welsh | Jan 31, 11 4:58pm
Malaysiakini
COMMENT
Malaysia’s 14th by-election since March 2008 scored another victory in the BN column, as they held onto their seat. This was expected, as it was home ground for Umno and the contest was purely about the winning majority.
Even with the lower voter turnout, Umno did well with a comfortable and higher majority of 3,707. Rather than provide a numerical assessment of the voting results, let me share some broader observations and tensions that arise from the Tenang campaign.
Despite the centrality of machinery and money, this election highlights the increasing challenges of engaging the diverse electorate in Malaysia. Arguably, the dynamics of the by-election in Johor muddy the waters, making the decisions about national electoral strategies and tactics even more complex.
Decision to proceed irresponsible
The most defining feature of this election was the weather. It was dreadful, and it negatively affected the polling. Watching voters drench themselves to vote, despite umbrellas, and wade in up to knee-high water to the polling station, made me question whether the by-election was worth the risks involved.
I remain deeply puzzled why this by-election was not postponed. I woke up the morning of the poll thinking that it might already be time for Noah’s Ark as the overnight downpour had already affected roads and submerged parts of the constituency. Read the rest of this entry »
With 10% increase of Chinese voter support for Pas/PR candidate in Tenang, will Chua Soi Lek have the political courage to tell UMNO the truth?
Posted by Kit in Election, MCA, Pakatan Rakyat, UMNO on Monday, 31 January 2011, 4:05 pm
I had said at the close of the Tenang by-election campaign that Pakatan Rakyat would have cause to celebrate if it could achieve three of four aims – firstly, to debunk Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin’s boast of winning 5,000 majority in Tenang which he had described as a Barisan Nasional “fortress”; secondly, to slash the BN’s 2,492 majority won in the 2008 general election; and thirdly, to secure the votes of more than 55% of the Chinese electorate who voted for the PAS candidate in the 2008 general election.
The fourth aim is to win the Tenang by-election, which I had not considered as likely.
In the event, only two of three aims – debunking Muhyiddin’s boast of 5,000-vote majority and increasing Chinese voter support for the Pas/PR candidate from the previous 55% – were achieved in the by-election yesterday.
I have no doubt that all the three goals would have be achieved if not for the climatic disaster, resulting in incessant rain and heavy flooding aggravated by selective and discriminatory assistance given by various government agencies ferrying only Barisan Nasional voters to the polling stations. All this caused unprecedented low voter turnouts, especially in Chinese and Indian areas.
Read the rest of this entry »
Thousands leave homes as Johor braces for more rain
Posted by Kit in environment on Monday, 31 January 2011, 4:03 pm
by Shannon Teoh | The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 31 — Unrelenting rain in Johor has forced thousands from their homes, cutting off Segamat and threatening other towns, raising fears of a repeat of floods six years which claimed six lives and inflicted more than RM1 billion in economic losses.
Nearly 30,000 people have been evacuated so far, with 16 villages in Segamat inundated by as much as one metre of water. Two deaths have been reported so far.
According to locals in the Segamat area, the situation appears worse than the floods that hit Johor in December 2006 and January 2007.
The Meteorological Department is predicting more rain for the rest of the week.
Motorists had to leave their vehicles as three rivers in Johor burst their banks and five more are being monitored by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage.
Rescue workers are only able to access Segamat by boat as all three main roads out of the town have been closed off by police.
Read the rest of this entry »
Imperative that the public lock horns over ‘Interlok’
Posted by Kit in Education, History, nation building on Monday, 31 January 2011, 1:24 pm
By K Pragalath
Introduction by CPI
28 January 2011
The Star today frontpaged ‘Interlok stays’ as its main story and reporting Education Minister Muhyiddin Yassin as saying the contentious novel is to remain a Form 5 exam text but with amendments to several aspects “deemed sensitive by the Indian community???.
A section of the Indian community suspects that the selection of this more than 40-year-old book – only reprinted as recently as last year – was impelled by an ulterior motive. The novel Interlok not only portrays the Indian community as the ‘pariah’ class that emigrated to the peninsula but has as its running theme a recurrent allusion to the Indian and Chinese races as ‘pendatang’ as well as many negative, racial stereotypes.
Muhyiddin was quoted by The Star (source: Bernama) as saying that his ministry’s decision to retain ‘Interlok’ was made “after taking into consideration the views of all parties, which acknowledged that the book was good in nurturing and strengthening unity among the multi-racial and multi-religious society in Malaysia???.
The Minister’s rationale and claim of “nurturing unity??? fail to withstand scrutiny when there have been nationwide protests against the book, countless police reports as well as threats of civil suits. These very acts in themselves are already indicative of the deep cleavages and ill-will that the book has engendered.
Are we to trust Malay Literature teachers, predominantly belonging to one race, to exercise an adequate wisdom and tact over such an emotion-rousing novel when the racist utterances of the Bukit Selambau (Kedah) and Kulaijaya (Johor) school principals still leave a sour taste in the mouth? Read the rest of this entry »
Biggest losers in Tenang – MCA and Chua Soi Lek
Tweets :-
Pakatan decries selective assistance to voters – Mkini http://bit.ly/ifO1m6
Sunday, January 30, 2011 5:28 PM
Incessant rain bad flooding discriminatory govt assistance 2ferry stranded voters n low voter turnouts have messed up forecast of Tenang b/e
Sunday, January 30, 2011 5:37 PM
Tenang b/e – Voter turnout when polls closed @ 5pm: Total of 10,585 voters or 71.75 per cent of the 14,753 electorate.
Sunday, January 30, 2011 5:40 PM
Very low voter turnout in Labis town – in Labis Tengah only 51.82%!
Sunday, January 30, 2011 6:03 PM
Very low voter turnout in Labis town – in Labis Tengah only 51.82%! 2008 GE turnout @ this station was 69%
Sunday, January 30, 2011 6:09 PM
Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan decries selective assistance to voters
Kuek Ser Kuang Keng | Jan 30, 11 4:50pm
Malaysiakini
The day-long downpour in Tenang had caused flooding in many areas across this rural constituency in Johor, rendering several of the 12 polling stations inaccessible to voters.
Pakatan Rakyat complained that this had significantly reduced the turnout of Chinese voters, considered the ‘vote bank’ for the opposition.
Although police, army, the Civil Defence Department and various government agencies had been deployed to assist the voters to get to the polling stations, Pakatan leaders are upset that the assistance were not provided equally to all.
According to them, more transportation facilities were deployed in Felda areas, which are BN strongholds.
“Why are there no boats to ferry the voters in Labis town, which is also flooded, but Felda gets all the police and fire department boats?” asked DAP publicity chief Tony Pua in a tweet message.
BN secured 80 percent of votes in the three Felda settlements in Tenang in the 2008 general election.
“The failure to provide sufficient boats and trucks, and distribute them evenly across all polling districts will severely tilt the outcome of this by-election.
“The police and army should not just provide their assistance to selective areas because the flood is everywhere in the constituency.” he added when contacted by Malaysiakini. Read the rest of this entry »
MCA continues to tell lies in Tenang by-election through its newspaper Star – but good luck to Chua Soi Lek continuing as MCA President!
Today is polling day for the Tenang by-election, the fourteenth since the 2008 general election.
The outcome of the by-election should be left to the 14,753 voters but it is most regrettable that MCA continues to peddle lies and falsehoods through its newspaper The Star.
In its analysis report today headlined “Up to the voters now to choose who is best”, Sunday Star wrote:
“Never mind that the Barisan Nasional candidate Mohd Azahar Ibrahim is from Umno, it was the MCA that DAP, especially its adviser Lim Kit Siang, was after.
“A political observer viewed the DAP’s all-out effort to attack MCA as mainly an attempt to divert the community’s attention from the various breakthroughs the MCA has achieved since Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek became party president in March last year.
“’A stable and united MCA has always been a threat to DAP,’ reasoned a veteran MCA leader, pointing out that DAP’s survival hinged a lot upon MCA’s weaknesses as both parties banked on the support of the Chinese community.
“The fact that Dr Chua has adopted a low-key and personal touch in his campaign, such as personally meeting Tenang voters, has also put the opposition in a bind, remarked a political observer.
“As expected by many MCA supporters, Kit Siang had, in his ceramah in Tenang, challenged Dr Chua to step down if he failed to get the support of the Chinese community in the by-election.”
I had never in any ceramah in Tenang challenged Chua to step down if he failed to get the support of the Chinese community in the by-election.
Unlike the views of the majority of MCA leaders and delegates, I have no objection whatsoever if Chua continues as MCA President, regardless of the Tenang by-election result today. Good luck to him! Read the rest of this entry »
BN to win with 700-vote boost in majority
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Islamic state, MCA, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS on Sunday, 30 January 2011, 2:03 pm
Ong Kian Ming | Jan 29, 11
Malaysiankini
PREDICTION
Tomorrow, Jan 30, and just four days before Chinese New Year, voters in Tenang will decide on the 14th by-election since the 2008 general election.
The outcome is not in doubt. BN will win this seat. Even the opposition has conceded as much. The only question that remains is BN’s winning majority and why the margin may (or may not) be important in the larger electoral picture.
Like most analysts and observers, I anticipate a higher vote margin for the BN than in 2008 as a reflection of the larger national trend of voters moving back to the BN in 2010, especially the Malay and Indian voters.
But the winning majority will fall far short of the 5,000-vote majority Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin has been predicting. Instead, I anticipate a majority of roughly 3,200 votes, or a 700-vote increase from 2008.
The increase in the BN majority will be from a five percent increase in the Malay vote, from 80 percent to 85 percent, and in the Indian vote from approximately 70 percent to 80 percent.
I expect the Chinese vote for the BN to remain at approximately 35 percent. I base these calculations on a 71 percent turnout rate, two percent less than the 2008 general election because of the proximity to Chinese New Year, and turnout rates of 77 percent, 71 percent and 58 percent among the Malay, Chinese and Indian voters. Read the rest of this entry »
Factors that will shape tomorrow’s outcome
Posted by Kit in DAP, Elections, Islamic state, MCA, Pakatan Rakyat, PAS, UMNO on Sunday, 30 January 2011, 1:56 pm
Bridget Welsh | Jan 29, 11
Malaysiakini
ANALYSIS
In this semi-rural constituency, rain and floods have dampened the turnout at ceramah and made for a low-key campaign. Walkabouts and quiet face-to-face campaigning, sometimes backed by ‘gifts’, have been the norm, as the BN aims to reach the lofty target of 5,000 majority and Pakatan Rakyat fights hard to win ground in an area that is far outside of its usual base.
No question, political watchers are fatigued observing this 14th by-election since March 2008, and hearing the same old issues of money politics and racial politics shaping the outcome.
For some, the fight for a few thousand votes in the protracted struggle for power is a distraction and waste of money. With an estimated RM150 million cost for campaigns in this tiny constituency, it is no wonder that cynicism has set in nationally.
It is important to understand that the Tenang by-election – its campaign and political significance – symbolise an ongoing climate change in Malaysian politics that has evolved since Najib Razak came into office. As with climate change generally, we do not yet know the impact, but its immediate effects are significant.
The Tenang contest will affect future campaigns and political fortunes, even though the actual result will likely remain in the BN column. Below, I describe three broad transforming features tied to Tenang and point to a few key factors that will shape the contest in tomorrow’s outcome and the size of the majority. Read the rest of this entry »
DAP calls for Royal Commission of Inquiry into Kugan’s death in police custody as the criminal justice system has completely broken down beyond repair to deliver justice in cases of mysterious deaths in official custody
DAP calls for a Royal Commission of Inquiry into A. Kugan’s death in police custody as the criminal justice system has completely broken down beyond repair to deliver justice in cases of mysterious deaths in official custody.
It is not only Kugan’s family members and relatives headed by his mother, N. Indra, 41, hotel worker, who are shocked by this morning’s acquittal of constable V. Navindran for causing grievous hurt to Kugan, 22, when interrogating him at the Taipan police station in USJ-Subang Jaya on January 16, 2009, all decent Malaysians who had expected justice are also outraged.
This is another blot in the service record of the Attorney-General Tan Sri Gani Patail who had said that 11 officers were involved but only one was charged – and even the one charged ended with his acquittal when the Sessions Court judge Aslam Zainuddin said the prosecution had failed to prove a prima facie case against the accused.
If the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak can finally agree to the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into Teoh Beng Hock’s mysterious death at the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission more than 18 months ago following public outrage at the unsatisfactory “Open Verdict” of Teoh’s inquest, there is no reason why a Royal Commission of Inquiry is not established into Kugan’s death because of the most unsatisfactory and irresponsible handling of Kugan’s case in the past two years to establish the circumstances of his death, identify and punish the police personnel responsible for Kugan’s life and deliver justice to Kugan’s aggrieved family.
There have been too many cases of mysterious deaths in official custody as well as the result of police shootings. Read the rest of this entry »
Egypt cuts off internet access
By Charles Arthur
Friday 28 January 2011
guardian.co.uk
Most of the major internet service providers in Egypt are offline following week-long protests
Egypt appears to have cut off almost all access to the internet from inside and outside the country from late on Thursday night, in a move that has concerned observers of the protests that have been building in strength through the week.
“According to our analysis, 88% of the ‘Egyptian internet’ has fallen off the internet,” said Andree Toonk at BGPmon, a monitoring site that checks connectivity of countries and networks.
“What’s different in this case as compared to other ‘similar’ cases is that all of the major ISP’s seem to be almost completely offline. Whereas in other cases, social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter were typically blocked, in this case the government seems to be taking a shotgun approach by ordering ISPs to stop routing all networks.”
The cutoff appears to have happened around 10.30pm GMT on Thursday night.
Only one internet service provider appears to still have a working connection to the outside world: the Noor Group, for which all 83 routes are working, and inbound traffic from its connection provider, Telecom Italia, also working.
Protests in Egypt at the government’s rule have been building all week, and Friday was expected to see the largest demonstrations so far.
An analysis by Renesys, which provides real-time monitoring of internet access, says that “every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, internet cafe, website, school, embassy and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air.” Read the rest of this entry »
