DAP, Tunku Aziz and Dissent

The unfortunate episode where Tunku Aziz finally quit DAP has occured. Much has been said by many people but in the final analysis, a highly respected individual like Tunku has gone down the path in a distasteful way.

Is it that DAP cannot handle dissent? On the contrary. Just as in Pakatan Rakyat, they have plenty of issues they cannot agree on but they can agree to disagree. You can’t see that in Barisan Nasional. If you disagree, keep it to yourself.

Tunku Aziz has stood up for many good and noble issues during his time as the leader of Transparency Malaysia International (TMI). He spoke fearlessly and without favor. The people loved him as a genuine and honest and sincere leader of the society. But those were the days.

When in a collective leadership in an organization like the DAP, Tunku forgets that he is not the TMI head any longer. He is neither the DAP head either. So when he takes a public stand against party position, he became the embarrassment for the DAP leadership. It is no longer about dissent. Once it becomes a public matter, Tunku has breached his honor to the party.

Opposition Does NOT Have To Announce Shadow Cabinet

There are calls by many quarters for the Opposition to announce a shadow cabinet. These are foolish demands by vested interest parties who knows nothing of political parties setting up a cabinet.

I don’t believe the Opposition needs to do that for the federal cabinet or for BN to announce one for Selangor.

It is definitely too premature to announce a cabinet because we don’t know how the GE13 results will turn out. How many seats will each party win? Will the intended leadership personalities win their seats?

Why put the cart before the horse? Even in the US Presidential elections, the only known role is the so-called shadow Vice President, the presidential candidate’s running mate.

President Obama only appointed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State after he won the presidential election as with his “cabinet”.

So why is everybody clamoring for Pakatan Rakyat to announce a shadow cabinet? Maybe there are other parties that need to join forces to form the government. We shouldn’t think that there are only BN or PR only in the next GE13. We shouldn’t assume PR will win or BN will lose.

Dissecting RPK: He was just being honest

I didn’t read the spins that the Main Stream Media made. Just watch this video on the interview here.

The conclusion one can draw is that RPK was just being himself speaking what he believes is the truth albeit sometimes hard to take. Yes, they are his opinions and yes as opinions go, the interview doesn’t carry many facts to back them up except in some cases. I am not defending RPK but he is just trying to call a spade a spade.

There was nothing on MCLM so I can’t comment on the reasons why the movement’s president resigned. But what we can tell is as follows. You be the judge when you watch the interview.

Relevance of Anwar

This is politics. As long as it is expedient, Anwar will always be held in the highest esteem by the party, PKR, as well as by the Pakatan partners of DAP and PAS. RPK is right to say that the people is not in love with Anwar to vote for Pakatan. They see that Pakatan under Anwar is the only real alternative to Najib and BN.

PAS New Dawn

A new dawn emerges in PAS. Hadi Awang remains as President. Tok Guru remains as the spiritual advisor.

The new changes appear in Mat Sabu as Deputy President and Husam Musa as the new Vice President of three such posts who are now all professionals but grown up with ulamas (the other VPs are Mahfuz and Salahuddin).

These changes now gives PAS a good professional balance to their brand of ulama politics that the Malaysians can more appreciate in PAS.

The messages that Hadi Awang clearly articulated to put Umno in their place that PAS will not turn their backs on the Pakatan alliance. He had said many things about Umno and what they did that PAS will not support and the answer for Malaysia is PAS in Pakatan. PAS is clearly rejecting the Umno overtures and considers them as detrimental to PAS.

“UMNO as a Malay-bumiputera majority party was entrusted with leadership but the wealth of the nation has been turned into the private property of its leaders, while the ordinary people struggle to make ends meet,” Hadi told the assembly.

“Umno has created a flock of Malays and Muslims who are blind and deaf to money politics, with entertainment and media used to turn Malays and Muslims stupid.” (Read here)

With the new professional blood in the top leadership in PAS, we shall see how they continue a progressive path for all Malaysians while applying their religious leanings.

Umno’s overtures to PAS is purely for political expedience and appears that the PAS wisdom won the day.

Hadi also lambasted UMNO, the dominant BN partner, for “disgusting acts like corruption, money politics, slander, racism, lies and all manner of things which embarrass even our children who are watching us”. (Read here)

There is a difference of extremes in the PAS 57th Annual Assembly compared to Umno’s General Assembly. It clearly shows the maturity of the PAS candidates in the 21st century Malaysia for sure.

PAS is attempting to address the pan-Malaysian issues genuinely while Umno is staying on the racial politics to drum a possible dwindling support.

“We need to realise that a plural or majmuk society is part of Islam’s political message. It is compulsory for us to spread the message of no compulsion in religion, and that Islam is fair for all so that non-Muslims can see how Islam should be practiced, and Islam’s image which has been tainted by Umno’s antics can be redeemed,” said Hadi. (Read here)

PAS is definitely emerging as a more tolerant Islamic political party than Umno can ever be. PAS is honest about their aspirations to institute an Islamic State but also knows full well they can’t as long as they don’t command majority votes. Nevertheless, they are honest about it and nobody can say they have a hidden agenda.

Interestingly, Hadi Awang never once mentioned the Islamic State but gave allusions to an Islamic welfare state to take care of the poor and needy as opposed to corruption squandering the money.

So, all three major parties in Pakatan Rakyat may have some conflicting aspirations but they managed to set aside those differences without any single party overwhelming the others unlike BN where Umno’s agenda dominates. That’s the maturity of Pakatan Rakyat.

Certainly, no single political party is perfect. Not PAS, and certainly not Umno. In the public perception. PAS emerges as more tolerant, mature and most understanding of the plight of all Malaysians. They have moved on from a pure ulama culture to a more moderate and progressive front with the inclusion of professional minds.

Will this new dawn in PAS bring strength to Pakatan Rakyat to gain more support from Malaysian voters both urban and rural? We now have deep and renewed strength in PAS and DAP with a “growing up still” PKR who is the glue.

In the coming days, we may see the incarceration of Anwar Ibrahim in the Sodomy 2 trial. This is the way to break the Pakatan Rakyat teaming arrangement. The popular thinking is that without Anwar, there is no Pakatan Rakyat.

The possible way forward is for the new PAS to strengthen their ties with DAP. That will checkmate Umno and BN for the coming GE13 which may happen as soon as end-June or July this year.

Will the new dawn in PAS bring about a renewed strength of Pakatan Rakyat and new confidence by Malaysian voters in PAS?

Another Soi Lek Rant

MCA President Chua Soi Lek has a knack to say the darnest thing. Today, it was reported that he accused the DAP of fostering a 2-race political system instead of a 2-party political system.

Read the report here.

His trend of thought appears totally skewed and off tangent. Nobody saw that coming and is totally illogical.

Why is it that he must see things from a race viewpoint? He seems to feel that as an extrapolation of the recent Sarawak election results that the Chinese community is voting DAP and abandoned MCA but strangely MCA never stood for election at that time. How can this conclusion be made?

Why does he make such sweeping statements that ignore all non-Chinese voters who voted DAP and Pakatan Rakyat for that matter?

Did he not realise that Chinese also voted BN too or now that they are considered non-Chinese all of a sudden?

Soi Lek’s Strawman
Soi Lek loves to create the impression he is tackling a major issue where it is totally non-existent. It exists only in his skewed mind.

General sweeping statements are intended to cause friction and does not help in nation building.

If he thinks stirring this angle helps Malaysians vote MCA, then he must have his head in the sand. Look at all the Malaysians of all ethnic communities who voted MCA and BN. Why must it be Chinese vs Malay? This is very mischievious indeed.

His strawman that he is beating serves no benefit to the country and talking out loud of a myth doesn’t make it true.

His statements in this case belittles all Malaysian voters. There are no constituencies with only Chinese voters voting DAP. It just simply doesn’t exist but perhaps it can create a sensational topic for this MCA President.

Focus on Country Building Ideas to Swing Votes
Instead, Soi Lek should put his thinking cap on to tell Malaysians why they should vote MCA and BN.

It should be for the reasons they are more superior in ideas and execution to bring about dramatic growth and prosper all Malaysians.

It should be for the reasons that uphold justice and eradicate poverty and corruption.

Unfortunately, MCA has fallen prey to staging strawman arguments that drives voters away instead.

Bankrupt of Ideas?
MCA had lots of brilliant people or was that in the past such that they resort to racial slants?

Soi Lek should get himself a bunch of economic advisors who can prop him up as a country growth champion instead of saying such wild rantings and ravings.

MCA should look at how to help all Malaysians prosper instead of blaming one section of Malaysians for their failings.

He is much ado about nothing really!

Christians Don’t Care Who is PM as long as …

The General Election is definitely around the corner. The season of building alarm bells for the Malay community against others communities to boost Malay votes for Umno has begun.

First, to demonise DAP and now the guns are trained on the Christian community. One on race, the other on religion. Both are equally sensitive but yet the PM has stayed silent to let this boil up.

Christian Issues
For the past few years, the Al-Kitab issue has been simmering with the confiscating of CDs and Bibles. Only a few weeks ago, Najib had to step into the muddied water regarding the Malay Bible to allow the Sarawakians to use the bible freely but not applying to Peninsular Christians.

Really a 1Malaysia, 2Rules situation.

But that appeasement helped not to let the issue boil over to hurt the BN votes too badly. BN survived the Al-Kitab woes but all strains and complaints remain unresolved.

Certainly, over the years, the freedom of Malaysians to worship have steadily eroded and curbed to the point the Al-Kitab was considered a national security threat under ISA. Such actions have pushed the Christians to a point that their patience quickly abated. In turn, they were accused of being extremists and threatening to Muslims for reasons that baffles everyone.

Now, pro-Umno bloggers have played up a seminar held in Penang as a political aspiration of DAP and Christians and lying to the public blatantly to stir up strife amongst the Muslims and Malay community against the Christians. If it was anybody else, they would have them locked up under ISA being seditious and all.

Umno daily, Utusan Malaysia, picked this up to publish as headline front page news thereby legitimizing the lies as truth and news.

And the authorities are looking the other way. In fact, Pembela had the gall to call on the police to investigate the Utusan propaganda.

Simple questions to answer: did anyone investigate the facts and truth of the matter or what pro-Umno bloggers and Utusan Malaysia say is always true? The answer is a vehement NO!

NO! Nobody checked the veracity prior to publishing the news which make these lies instead.

NO! Not everything they say is true. In cases like this, absolutely seditious, malicious and mischievious.

Lies, Lies, Lies
They accused the DAP working with the Christians to plan to change the position of Islam in the Constitution. They lie about the Christians wanting a Christian PM of Malaysia.

These are the worst kind of lies possible. Self generated without a shred of fact, self serving for a political purpose.

What is happening to our country?

The Christians Don’t Care
It is a fact Christians are not interested to touch the Constitution for whatever reason and they have zero interest in a Christian PM.

There is really no such need either. And the lies spreaded by pro-Umno bloggers serve to fan a fire that is not there just for political expediency.

The Christians don’t care for any of the things claimed so wildly concocted by blind politics. Christians only care for respect and constitutional right to freely worship. They ony want leaders who rule justly, fairly for everybody.

In fact, it is customary and instructed of Christians to pray for the leaders of the country that God will bless Malaysia, that we will have peace and harmony and prosperity and freedom to worship God.

By a sheer slanted view and incapable of appreciating Christianity, Utusan Malaysia propagated the lies of pro-Umno bloggers possibly to fan religious intolerance amongst Malays and to stir them up against non-Malays in hope they vote Umno in the upcoming General Elections.

This is most dangerous play and denying the truth and peaceableness of Christians and other religions.

No one can bring to pass any of the allegations. Not BN, not PR, certainly not DAP or most unlikely the Christians. So why all the ruckus and emotional uproar on baseless reports?

1Malaysia Fails
Najib’s 1Malaysia is about to be fully destroyed day by day by people related to Umno. It seems there are groups that will undermine Najib’s noble national unity interests.

But with Najib being quiet and not taking a clear stand to reprimand such dangerous behavior and seditious actions of Umno related parties, it seems that Najib may be assumed agreeable to these actions and thereby silently consented too.

This is not the time for Najib to be perceived weak and play to the Umno gallery to the detriment of his policies of unity as the PM for all Malaysians.

Speak up now, Mr Prime Minister. Take charge of unity or be accused of promoting a divide and conquer policy under your guise of 1Malaysia.

Do not fail Malaysia!

Vote MCA for Chinese Representation in the Government – Irrelevant

The recent rantings by Chua Soi Lek and PM Najib miss the mark altogether.

It is a fact that the Chinese support for MCA is now at a dismal state. But it didn’t have to do with Chinese votes.

It is also a fact that it is not only the Chinese that voted for MCA. There are Malays, Indians and other communities who also voted.

Generalizing and singling out the Chinese is absolutely wrong and is factually incorrect and also dismisses all others in the process.

When the call is for 1Malaysia, why does it matter on the call that Chinese representation in the Government will be affected if MCA loses Chinese votes?

In GE12, Chinese voted for MCA, MIC, Umno, etc. Not every seat is MCA. They also voted for opposition parties. They did not vote with the mind of having more Chinese representation in the Government.

Just as in the recent Sarawak election that not only Chinese voted DAP but also the Malays, Dayaks and Ibans.

Nothing Racial Please
On the contrary, they as well as many Malaysians from all communities voted for who they felt can lead the country for a better future. It didn’t matter what ethnic background was the candidate from. It was the bigger picture that mattered.

In fact, GE12 is a true reflection of 1Malaysia where voters voted for who they felt can best represent their future. There were no racial lines drawn except where politicians forced it.

So why did Soi Lek and Najib mislead Malaysians with such political blackmail as some has called it?

Political Fear
The general fear of losing support makes politicians act strangely. They fear their political powers subsiding and hence, such irrational reactions and rhetorics.

MCA is now down in the dumps and need to drum up general support as it gasps for political air for survival. They can see how Gerakan operates today. MCA can be just that or worse.

Did the MCA not realise their own members do not support them? Soi Lek must deal with them first and then to address the shortcomings of MCA in relation to Malaysians at large because all communities voted for or against them.

Think General Election, Think About All Malaysians
Malaysians do not really think racial lines when it comes to elections. Certainly, there are those diehard bigots who are partisan but most Malaysians vote for those who can make their lives better.

Of course, some may say this is naïve and many Malaysians do vote whoever gives them money.

We can’t change that overnight but hopefully that change can come soon enough.

The point we must make is for politicians to uphold 1Malaysia and speak about Malaysians at large, not by race but by NEEDS. Malaysians have needs that politicians must address. It affects all communities.

When it floods, we must help all affected by it.

When there is injustice, we must stand up against it no matter who it is.

When there is poverty, we must help them all regardless what race they are and who they voted for.

This is in essence a true 1 Malaysia. It is about giving help and hope to ALL Malaysians, not a particular group.

If all the politicians clamor is for particular groups, then let only those groups pay income tax and all others be exempted. That is fair.

Obviously, there’s fair and there’s fair depending on who executes the fairness. That is politics. But Malaysians are simple people who wants a better future for us and our children.

Focus on what matters to Malaysians, not the political parties. Then the voters will know what to do when their time comes.

Najib, Soi Lek Message has no meaning to Malaysians

Najib has declared that if the Chinese won’t support MCA that they will lose their representation in the Government.

Chua Soi Lek today came out to defend Najib and said that is the reality, not a threat, that should MCA fare worse in the next General Election that they will stay out of the government.

These statements and comments about them have made headlines and waves throughout the main stream media as well as on the net.

What difference will it make to Malaysians?

Rhetorical

The latest rantings appear to be rhetorical given that MCA had the worst election results in recent years winning 15 out of 40 parliamentary seats in GE12.

Yet they continued to remain in the cabinet with 4 ministerial positions.

Gerakan, who was almost cleaned out, had Koh Tsu Koon becoming a minister via a senatorship backdoor even after declaring not to accept it if offered. Now that is history.

The statements made appear mostly rhetorical and many construe them as threats to the Chinese community. However, the reality is that most people who read such political rhetorics have pooh-poohed or ignored them as mad rantings.

Can the government of the day ignore the needs of any community? The answer is a clear NO! So what are these statements intended for?

Waning Support

The analysis that MCA and Gerakan have lost the support of the Chinese community and that they have backed DAP instead appears to have sparked the maddening ravings.

This is a skewed view of BN and in attempting to sow seeds of discord and confusion in the political arena, BN has aimed at the Chinese community especially because of the recent DAP success in the Sarawak election.

The reality is that many Malaysians are losing patience on BN and have lost the respect for MCA and Gerakan. It is not just the Chinese community.

In every constituency are always mixed with multi communities. The seats that DAP won had Chinese, Iban, Dayak, Melanau, etc. and they voted against BN.

There are also Chinese, Iban, Dayak, Melanau, etc. who voted for BN. These statements by Najib and Soi Lek will be taken that these voters who voted for BN are irrelevant. Only the Chinese is the primary cause of the loss of BN seats. That is an absolutely narrow and extreme view to cast a blame and find a political scapegoat.

Instead of improving the weaknesses that voters perceive the BN had and to make amends to win their support, such rantings only confirm the feelings of voters to continue to vote against BN.

Soi Lek is sure to lose more support for the MCA with empty lip service.

Mature Malaysians

Malaysian voters are generally more mature and know how to weigh the words of politicians. The general feeling is not about how great the opposition leaders are but how bad they feel against the BN.

The opposition has successfully rode this tide of disenchantment against the BN and GE12 along with the recent Sarawak election has seen the attitude towards the opposition growing very positive.

It has been clearly seen that the issues the opposition raised are all things that affect all Malaysians. The weak economy, rise of inflation and petrol prices, stagnant wages, etc are real problems we all face and they attempt to show how they can resolve them if voted to power.

On the other hand, BN kept on with personal attacks on Anwar, “sex video” revelation and the writing off the opposition claims on how they can improve the lives of Malaysians by saying it will bankrupt the country actually puts off all Malaysians.

Najib can’t put up any decent initiatives to prove he can do the job of improving our lives. Publicity of the Government Transformation Programs have drawn more doubts than positive support. Malaysia losing FDI to countries like Indonesia and Philippines cannot be excused and Najib has remained erriely silent on this matter.

Malaysians Suffer

In reality, all Malaysians, not just the Chinese community, are suffering. The prolonged agony started in the late 90′s at the time of a global crisis and when Anwar was incarcerated. Malaysia never bounced back.

After the Mahathir era, the Badawi era saw no movement. Now the Najib era has seen only hot air publicity to talk up economic growth.

Malaysians are at their wits end now and no amount of positive spin by Najib and gang or such diversions on the Chinese community can change it.

Unless and until the general lives of Malaysians improve in a real way (not perceived), the sentiments against the BN will continue to grow and it has no communal lines.

Mere Distractions

Politics make strange bedfellows. MCA in BN means MCA supports all Umno stands for and Umno supports all MCA stands for, at least in appearance for as long as the tolerance of each other remains bearable.

Political diversions such as these racial statements will continue as long as they think the diversion works.

Malaysians will ignore them and sentiments against BN will grow until they show they care for all Malaysians by fixing things that affect our lives. GE13 is not that thing but if it takes GE13 to make a statement, Malaysians may just rise to the occasion.

Make the Change Now

BN, please do something to improve our lives. Political rhetorics and blame on any community means nothing to us! So far, it’s been nato – no action, talk only!

What difference will support of MCA mean to the Chinese community and all Malaysians who vote for them? What difference has MCA ministerial positions mean for them? So far, if voting MCA means more of the same, there’s really no upside to voting MCA.

Tell all Malaysians something different, something more definite, things that will improve our cost and standard of living now! Before many more Malaysians run away.

That’s what all Malaysians care about. Not useless politicking like picking on particular communities for BN failings. You had 53 years already. You should know what and how to do it.

Don’t wait until it’s too late!

BN wins Sarawak but loses more seats to DAP, PKR

Taib delivers Sarawak yet again.

As the results are still coming in, the official announcement by EC was just made that BN has won by a simple majority. Indications are getting clearer that BN may just also get their 2/3 majority but just barely.

It is expected that DAP will win at least 12 seats with PKR between 8 to 12 seats. There is only 1 Independent winner.

What is clear is that SNAP and PAS did not win a single seat. Did SNAP help BN win by splitting the non-BN votes? We’ll know when the detailed results come in.

The biggest loser is SUPP where George Chan and many of his team lost to DAP.

What will this mean to BN, Taib and Najib?

This result is a wake up call to the BN to put things right and restore the confidence of the people. Fixing all the public grouses as well as reorganizing the BN parties, particularly SUPP, will be crucial.

Taib wins by not doing much and this will probably tells a story to Najib not to jump the gun in Sarawak. No matter how the opposition gains traction, it still can’t get that far. Sarawak is different from Peninsular. Although the Peninsular styles have certainly made an impact, the culture is still different from the Peninsula’s practice. The Najib intrusion was not appreciated and was a kneejerk reaction, a sense of desperation. But not for Taib at all.

The message can be said of one to Umno to please stay out of Sarawak. You don’t know how Sarawak works..

Now the opposition can be more effective in the State Assembly and will be a good improvement. It is good for the people to have a louder check-and-balance voice.

The people has spoken. Make their lives better or else the next election will see further erosion of BN seats.

Of Hindraf, HRP and the so-called 3rd Force

The Free Malaysia Today reported that BN has “upstaged Pakatan Rakyat in wooing the outlawed Hindu Rights Action Force (Hindraf)” (read here).  It is said that there is also a movement towards forming a so-called 3rd Force after the BN and Pakatan Rakyat (PR) together with the Human Rights Party (HRP) and other civil rights movement particularly from Sabah and Sarawak.

All this makes for interesting political reading but is it feasible and plausible to embark on such a major feat?  What are the merits and how will the average Malaysian voter view this new political play?