Winners ignored, 5th placers lauded?
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Education, Letters, nation building on Saturday, 25 December 2010, 2:41 pm
by Ooi Chin Wah
Letters
Malaysiakini
Dec 22, 10
The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) is an event for science, technology and education, that brings together youths from all over the world in order to develop their creativity and problem solving skills through challenging and educational robot competitions.
Participating teams need to create, design and build a robot model that looks or behaves like human.
This year the task of organising the competition was given to the Philippines. The Ministry of Education and many private companies in the Philippines jointly sponsored the event.
The steering committee consists of well-known academicians from China, Taiwan, Japan, Korea and Singapore. 250 teams from 22 countries participated. Read the rest of this entry »
Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Posted by Kit in Announcement on Friday, 24 December 2010, 4:11 pm
Most Malaysians against 100-storey project, poll shows
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Good Governance, Najib Razak on Friday, 24 December 2010, 2:50 pm
By Leslie Lau
Executive Editor
The Malaysian Insider
December 24, 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 24 — The majority of voters in peninsular Malaysia are against the proposed construction of the 100-storey Warisan Merdeka project, a recent survey by the independent Merdeka Center has revealed.
The survey, conducted between November 30 and December 11, found that 65 per cent of those polled disagreed with the construction of what would be the tallest building in the country.
Opposition to the project was uniform across all three major communities.
Sixty per cent of Malay voters polled disagreed with the project while 76 per cent of Chinese opposed its construction. Among Indians, 58 per cent were against it.
The findings suggest that a recent online protest on the Facebook social networking site was a fair reflection of public opposition to the project. Read the rest of this entry »
Selangor Exco should review decision to ban 1Malaysia logo from billboards to prove Muhyiddin wrong that Pakatan Rakyat is afraid of Najib’s 1Malaysia concept
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Muhyiddin Yassin, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 24 December 2010, 1:26 pm
The assertion by Deputy Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin that the Pakatan Rakyat Selangor government has banned the 1Malaysia logo from billboards in the state because of Pakatan Rakyat’s fear of the concept is downright ridiculous.
He further claimed that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s 1Malaysia vision is increasingly popular and this scared Pakatan Rakyat.
Muhyiddin’s statement is downright ridiculous as he himself has declared that he does not fully endorse the 1Malaysia concept, whose official objective is the creation of a Malaysian nation where every Malaysian perceives himself or herself as Malaysian first and race, religion, geography and socio-economic grouping second.
When I challenged all Ministers in Parliament in March this year to declare that they are Malaysians first and their race, religion or region second, to demonstrate their support and commitment to the 1Malaysia concept, Muhyiddin had responded that he was Malay first and Malaysian second.
Read the rest of this entry »
A Year Won by Public Relations
Posted by Kit in Kee Thuan Chye, Pakatan Rakyat on Friday, 24 December 2010, 9:26 am
by KeeThuan Chye
MalaysianDigest.com
23 December 2010
IN politics, 2010 has been a year of the triumph of public relations.
Barisan Nasional (BN) played the public relations game to the hilt and scored major points. Pakatan Rakyat (PR), on the other hand, showed a lack of public relations savvy and is now suffering for it. Its public image is experiencing such a severe decline that the coalition may not soon find the road to recovery, much less the road to Putrajaya.
Public relations is about spinning illusions; it’s no substitute for good, honest politics, but unfortunately, its role in creating positive public perception about the party has made it an essential political weapon. Employing the services of Apco, McKinsey and Co, and other public relations companies, BN has wielded the weapon to its advantage.
This year has seen it come out with a series of three-letter abbreviations to sell as dreams to the Malaysian public. Considering how easily some Malaysians have fallen victim to Internet scams, you have to say it’s been clever of Prime Minister Najib Razak to hawk GTP, ETP, NEM and whatever else to make it appear he’ll deliver sure success. Never mind that he has done nothing to bring about the much-needed reforms that are essential to putting our institutions in proper working order again, such as restoring the independence of the judiciary, revamping the police force, freeing the media, making the Elections Commission independent, etc.
BN of course has the means to pay for the public relations advice using taxpayers’ money, and it has the government machinery to showcase the gimmicks. Not to mention the cooperation of the mainstream media as well. PR, however, has none of these at its disposal. It depends quite a bit on the vagaries of luck and circumstance. Read the rest of this entry »
100-day reforms: BN has lost and Pakatan deserves a chance
Posted by Kit in Election, Mariam Mokhtar, Muhyiddin Yassin, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 23 December 2010, 7:02 pm
by Mariam Mokhtar
Malaysia Chronicle
Thursday, 23 December 2010
Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin scoffed at Pakatan’s 100-day reforms in the event that they formed the federal government and reminded the public ‘why BN has been in power for more than half a century and counting’.
His shameless attempt to discredit Pakatan is an insult to the electorate. He said, “Pakatan can promise the sun, moon, stars and mountains… But that is not the way of the BN government. We cannot squander our nation’s wealth.”
Muhyiddin is far removed from reality. People are disillusioned. After 53 years, the nation is more divided than ever, and our economy is in tatters. Our standards in education are falling, our defence budget is spiraling out of control and the civil service is bloated. The Prime minister’s residence and the King’s palace are undergoing a multi-million magical transformation whilst some people live without piped water and electricity.
Does Muhyiddin still think the electorate deserves to give BN another chance? Is 53 years of failure not long enough? Read the rest of this entry »
Mid-term poll suggests Pakatan can keep Selangor
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat on Thursday, 23 December 2010, 6:33 pm
By Clara Chooi
The Malaysian Insider
23 December 2010
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — A Merdeka Center mid-term survey of voters showed that Pakatan Rakyat (PR) was likely to retain Selangor in an election, despite a marginal decline in Malay support.
According to the survey report released to The Malaysian Insider, 57 per cent of the 1,214 respondents polled believed that Selangor PR was heading in the right direction while 28 per cent thought otherwise.
There was a slight dip in Malay confidence, however, from 63 per cent agreeing in June 2009 that the state was on the right track to only 55 per cent in August this year.
Support from the Chinese community was maintained at 53 per cent in the same period despite a small decline to 47 per cent in January this year.
The PR government scored the highest with the Indian community, with a steady increase in support from 63 per cent to 72 per cent across the same period. Read the rest of this entry »
Nazri, Kit Siang clash over rights panel procedures
Posted by Kit in 1Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim, Parliament on Thursday, 23 December 2010, 6:18 pm
By Shazwan Mustafa Kamal
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz and Lim Kit Siang today differed over whether Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim had the right to defend himself at a parliamentary panel questioning his claim that government strategist APCO Worldwide had links with Israel.
Malaysia has no official ties with Israel, which is seen as an enemy by some Muslim states due to their occupation of the West Bank and Jerusalem.
Today, Nazri insisted that Parliament’s Rights and Privileges Committee was not a place for Anwar to defend himself on his APCO-One Israel claims, saying that the committee only served as a an “investigative body” to his accusations.
Nazri said the committee’s scope was only to determine a prima facie case on whether the PKR de facto leader should be suspended for misleading Parliament. He also reiterated that Anwar had denied himself the chance to put in his defence as a result of the “unruly conduct” by Pakatan Rakyat (PR) lawmakers in Parliament last week.
“The place for Anwar to defend himself is in Parliament, after the minister has tabled the motion (on Anwar’s suspension) and debated on it. If that did not happen, it was because Anwar had denied himself a chance to do so last week, resulting in Pakatan’s mass walkout,” Nazri told The Malaysian Insider.
Lim, however, claimed that Nazri was wrong is his understanding of the role of the committee, and that Anwar should have been allowed to enter his defence over connecting the government’s public relations consultancy firm to the One Israel campaign under former Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak.
The Umno minister’s arguments were then refuted by Lim, who claimed that the Rights and Privileges’ Committee was not just an investigative body but also a panel which conducted the necessary investigations and also passed a decision and findings on the matter.
The decisions and findings, according to the Ipoh Timur MP, would then be submitted to Parliament to be tabled, debated and decided on.
“The committee cannot just come to a conclusion without hearing the merits of the entire case, and this would have to include Anwar’s defence to his claims of APCO’s involvement in One Israel. The findings as well as a decision would have to have been made on the committee level, before submitting it to Parliament. I cannot understand Nazri’s understanding of the roles and functions of the committee,” Lim told The Malaysian Insider. Read the rest of this entry »
Just how dangerous is pluralism really?
by Farah Fahmy
The Malaysian Insider
December 23, 2010
DEC 23— Just when you think public pronouncements can’t possibly get any worse in Malaysia, along comes the recommendation that Jakim should provide some sort of definition of our various festivals and celebrations so that Muslims can steer clear of the virus of religious pluralism.
Intrigued, I tried to work out what “fahaman pluralisme” is, and as far as I can tell, this belief stems from the idea that Islam is no more and no less equal to other religions.
Obviously this is nonsense as far as our country is concerned. After all, Islam is the official religion and to help us Muslims behave in exemplary fashion there is a plethora of religious bodies funded by the government which is not the case for any other religion.
So dangerous is “fahaman pluralisme” that the Mufti of Perak was reported in Utusan Malaysia as saying that it needs to be rejected by all Muslims in our country as it could destroy one’s faith, and that those who believed in it are as good as being apostate. Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan’s got 14 days to apologise to Guan Eng
Posted by Kit in Court, DAP, Lim Guan Eng, Media on Wednesday, 22 December 2010, 8:11 pm
The Malaysian Insider
December 22, 2010
GEORGE TOWN, Dec 22 – Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has given Utusan Malaysia two weeks to apologise before he takes the daily to court.
Lim’s lawyer, Jagdeep Singh Deo, told reporters today he had sent a letter of demand to the national Malay newspaper yesterday asking it to withdraw certain words said to be slanderous in its December 20 article titled “Kebiadaban Guan Eng (The Rudeness of Guan Eng)”.
Utusan had said to have called Lim a racist and an “anti-Malay” in the article that ran a day after the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) rally.
Lim who is the party’s secretary-general also wants the paper to publish an apology and pay compensation for defaming him.
Jagdeep said Lim had denied the allegations in his notice of demand. Read the rest of this entry »
The future!! Happy people!? Beautiful country!?
Posted by Kit in nation building on Wednesday, 22 December 2010, 5:41 pm
By Ahmad Mustapha Hassan
The Malaysian Insider
December 22, 2010
In the 50s and the early 60s, when I was actively involved in the struggle for independence, I was more than convinced that with independence the country would experience a future full of promise, stability, prosperity, with a happy and united nation.
During the colonial period, economic activities had been segregated by race. The British were only interested in making as much as possible from the country. The arrangement that they had created had served them well.
Independence would mean the integration of all these activities, and as such, there would be interactive relationships among all. The breaking down of these segregated economic walls, however, did not materialise in a systematic and speedy way. Thus conflicts occurred.
Read the rest of this entry »
Utusan Malaysia has lost the plot
by Tony Pua
Umno-owned Utusan Malaysia has completely lost the plot with its daily extensive attacks against DAP and is the single largest hindrance to national unity
Never before in history has the DAP, a party Utusan Malaysia has previously regarded as irrelevant, become the object of obsession to the Umno-owned newspaper. In the last 3 of 4 days, the DAP made the front page of Utusan Malaysia with headlines like “Muslihat DAP”, “Guan Eng dikecam” and “Umat Islam perlu tolak DAP” on the 18, 20 and 21 December respectively.
Not only did the DAP and its leaders consistently make the frontpage, Utusan dedicated dozens of columns to DAP with titles such as “DAP perkudakan Anwar”, “DAP alat politik negara asing”, “DAP salur matlumat kepada Kuan Yew?”, “DAP gentar dengan 1Malaysia”, “DAP tiru strategi PAP”, “DAP yang sebenarnya memperalatkan 3R”, “DAP amal politik ala aparteid”, “Kebiadapan Guan Eng”, “Guan Eng semakin bersikap perkauman”, “Guan Eng perlu cermin diri” and more.
Read the rest of this entry »
Guan Eng defends ‘real Malaysians’ remark
Posted by Kit in DAP, Lim Guan Eng, Media, UMNO on Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 5:36 pm
By Yow Hong Chieh
December 21, 2010
The Malaysian Insider
KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has denied questioning the citizenship of any Malaysians in his speech at the Pakatan Rakyat (PR) convention, as claimed by Umno politicians and its newspaper Utusan Malaysia.
Lim implied that his remarks were taken out of context, adding he had merely stressed that real Malaysians were ordinary, peace-loving people who upheld the principles of justice, truth and freedom, and placed importance on economic rights and a brighter future.
“It is clear that Utusan Malaysia and Penang Umno leaders like Dr Novandri Hasan Bari are once again… spreading lies by claiming that the Chief Minister wants to question the citizenship of Malaysians,” Lim’s office said in a short press statement.
Read the rest of this entry »
Funeral fit for a king
Posted by Kit in DAP, Dr. Chen Man Hin on Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 4:02 pm
By Dr Chen Man Hin, DAP life advisor
On December 16th, about 10 DAP members attended Fan Yew Teng’s funeral, which was held at the Church of the Redeemer in Bangkok. Sdr Lim Kit Siang, Sdr Fong Kui Lun, Sdr Lee Kow and Dr Chen represented the DAP. Five other, members from Selangor drove all the way from KL to Bangkok for the funeral.
There was also a second service, this time in a Buddhist Wat. Fan Yew Teng found the chants, prayers and psalms very soothing when situations were stressful. He requested for buddhist rites, according to his wife, this service was well attended.
At both services, there were crowds of people. Among those present were Thais and members of the diplomatic corps representing countries of the world. You could say that Sdr Fan Yew Teng had a funeral fit for a king.
Read the rest of this entry »
Selamatkan Impian Bapa Kemerdekaan
Posted by Kit in DAP, nation building, Pakatan Rakyat on Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 2:26 pm
Ubah sekarang, selamatkan Malaysia!
Empat patah perkataan yang secara ringkasnya mengungkapkan segala belenggu sosial, kepincangan ekonomi dan kemelut politik yang sedang melanda negara kita pada hari ini.
Apakah yang telah terjadi? Bagaimanakah kita boleh sampai ke tahap yang parah ini? Tanah air kita sudah tenat, dan kini terpaksa diselamatkan. Kemanakah perginya impian tokoh-tokoh pengasas negara kita, seperti Al-Marhum Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra, yang telah bermimpikan sebuah negara yang maju ekonominya, demokratik institusinya dan bersatu padu masyarakatnya. Tetapi alangkah malangnya pada hari ini, setelah 53 tahun pemerintahan Barisan Nasional, segala impian dan harapan Bapa Kemerdekaan bukan sekadar tidak tercapai malah sudah hancur terkecai.
Inilah hasil satu pemerintahan yang berlandaskan formula ‘pecah dan perintah’, di mana rakyat marhaen dipecah-belahkan dan kemudian diperintah secara berasingan oleh golongan elit daripada UMNO (untuk orang Melayu), MCA (untuk orang Cina), MIC (untuk orang India) dan sebagainya. Tiada bezanya dengan sistem yang dipraktikkan oleh penjajah British.
Read the rest of this entry »
Why is Malaysia experiencing a brain drain?
Posted by Kit in Brain drain, nation building on Tuesday, 21 December 2010, 9:05 am
by Evelyn Wong, Guest Contributor
New Mandala
December 20th, 2010
In the past six months, there’s been a surge of local interest in the trend of brain drain in Malaysia. Out of a population of 27 million, there are an estimated 1.5 million Malaysians living abroad. Many of these Malaysians are skilled workers who emigrated to Singapore and OECD countries such as Australia, UK, and US. In response to this, the government has set up the Talent Corporation under the 10th Malaysia Plan to attract and retain highly-skilled human capital. Operating under the Prime Minister’s Department, Talent Corp will commence operations in January 2011.
While this is a promising step towards ameliorating the problem, the causes of brain drain are complex and deeply-entrenched in other aspects of Malaysian society. Read the rest of this entry »
How can Najib expect his pitch for moderation to have any credibility when UMNO organ Utusan Malaysia is allowed to preach extremism with lies and falsehoods everyday?
Posted by Kit in Media, Najib Razak on Monday, 20 December 2010, 5:07 pm
The Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Razak has again promoted the cause of moderation when he spoke in Penang when opening the 43rd International Convention of the World Chinese Language Press Institute this morning.
Najib urged the media to play the role as a promoter of moderation, “to take back the centre” and reclaim the agenda for peace and pragmatism.
He said the movement of the moderates could marginalise the extremists, and that the media had a significant role to play in this quest.
“With collective determination, we can build a more rational, secure and equitable world. As media messages about the majority who seek peace and moderation spread around the globe, this new world is indeed within our reach.”
Well said, but Najib is not walking the talk.
Read the rest of this entry »
1Choice for Malaysia
Posted by Kit in Election, Pakatan Rakyat on Monday, 20 December 2010, 3:18 pm
Malaysiakini
Mariam Mokhtar
Dec 20, 10
Malaysia’s upcoming general election offers the country its most significant choice for several decades.
The political tsunami of 2008 was an eye-opener. At the second Pakatan Rakyat convention in Kepala Batas, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang acknowledged the weaknesses in the opposition pact and urged party member to unite and remain focused.
The nation faces enormous challenges in the years to come. The economic demands are tremendous. The next government needs to stabilise the economy and stimulate growth in the private sector. It has to deal with its burgeoning debt, cut subsidies and rein in borrowings if it does not want to risk bankruptcy.
Our problems are not just economic. We are faced with a rising tide of extremism from Malay groups, borders which are porous, a rise in Islamic fundamentalism, a rise in racist incidents, problems in our schools and hospitals, the destruction of the police and judiciary, babies being abandoned, high levels of corruption and a weakening of civic society.
These problems demand a robust solution and a strong government to tackle them. The burning question is: Which party is best suited to lead us out of this quagmire? Read the rest of this entry »
Pakatan Rakyat ready to rule?
Posted by Kit in Articles, Azly Rahman, Election on Monday, 20 December 2010, 2:58 pm
– by Azly Rahman
Dec 20, 10
Just do it.” – Nike slogan.
As a disinterested and apolitical analyst of Malaysian politics I believe that for the good of all Malaysians, democracy needs renewal, either through evolution or revolution all through its inevitable march towards its final solution. It is not political philosophy that is at issue here but the people that translates it into practice.
Except for the allegedly orchestrated bloody racial riots of May 13 1969, Malaysia is fortunate to have seen peaceful stages of evolution although her prime ministers hailed from the bourgeoisie-class of hybridised Malays helming the race-based party that has no clear ideology; a party that is losing its effect in rallying the Malay electorate due to its own poor understanding of the meaning of nationalism and cosmopolitanism in an age of cybernetics and globalisation.
Is the death of Malaysia’s National Front or the Barisan Nasional near? Can Malaysian politics be “gentlemanly” or borrowing Kung Fu Tze’s word for gentleman, “Chuan tze” enough for the 50-year race-based coalition regime to give way for a coalition of multiculturalists such as Pakatan Rakyat to rule for the next 50 years? Are Malaysians ready enough for this gentlemanly act that will give meaning to the evolutionary democracy Malaysian-styled?
Perhaps the nation is ready. An era awaits no nation. It only needs to be cemented by political will. Read the rest of this entry »
Chapter Six: Malaysia: Assets and Liabilities
Posted by Kit in Bakri Musa, globalisation on Monday, 20 December 2010, 9:29 am
by Bakri Musa
(Malaysia in the Era of Globalization #45)
Our Plurality An Asset
Malaysians, especially the leaders, have always regarded their plural society as a liability. If only the nation were racially and culturally homogenous, these leaders would lament, many of our problems would be gone. Such wishful thinking! I argue the contrary. That is, Malaysia’s racial plurality, far from being a liability, is actually an asset. And a significant one at that!
Malaysian policies and strategies are constantly being looked at and analyzed in racial terms. Often the implicit assumption is that what is good for Malays must necessarily be bad for non-Malays, and the reverse, what is good for non-Malays is bad for Malays. This mentality is ingrained at all levels. As noted earlier, Malaysia’s racial plurality is another legacy of the British colonial rule.
The country’s multiracial society has indeed been a source of problems, both past and present. In part this Malaysian dilemma results from socioeconomic divisions paralleling racial lines. This is not a uniquely Malaysian problem. With the massive migrations and arbitrary drawings of political boundaries in the last century, many countries have ethnically and culturally diverse populations. Today’s headlines are filled with tragedies consequent to those diversities: the ethnic cleansing in the Balkans; the genocide of Rwanda; the continuing sectarian strife in Northern Ireland; and ethnic hostilities in Sri Lanka. Read the rest of this entry »
